Lasareina

I think he would be quite anxious ... he really is a big softie. Juno seems to have been doing well when we take Hunter to obedience, but she is naturally much more independent than him to start with. I was most worried that he would decide to go looking for her, or spend all day barking and get reported . I don't think there is any way for him to get out of the yard, but then he has never been determined to try before either. I do plan on separating them more often and leaving Hunter at home instead of Juno... I thought a whole day might have been a bit much for the first time. It could also be that I am just mollycoddling him and he would be perfectly fine of course :laugh:

Thanks guys, feeling a little nervous. She's so little Pretty sure my dogs love the vets more than they love me ... they are about 10x more hyperactive than usual when we go to the vet which makes it interesting holding on to 2 of them with a recently healed broken wrist lol. So much for the obedience work we did last night! PS am I the only one that takes both my dogs to the vet whenever one of them has to go? Juno has being staying home alone a couple of hours the last couple of weeks while Hunter goes to obedience but other than that they haven't been seperated. I'm not sure how Hunter would go all day by himself.

Haha yeah I look at some of his photos and think "I hope people don't think that his ribs are sticking out" ... it's actually little rolls of fat ... ahem, loose skin He's slimmed down quite a bit since he worked out how to play fetch. At the vets this morning he had actually lost a little weight from the last visit a couple of weeks ago I ha some bananas go brown in the fridge the other day - they looooved those. Juno likes apple and will eat it "whole" ... Hunter will only eat it once it is smooshed up with all his other veges and mince. Mine do this with pigs heads - few little teeth and a jaw bone is all that's left, they especially like the eye :laugh: :laugh: ick ... i think maybe a no go on the sheeps head for me lol

That's terrible. I had a similar situation with an old boyfriend who told me I was only allowed to have 3 dogs and they were not allowed inside. I had 5 dogs at the time. Guess who got dumped? Hint: It wasn't my dogs. This is awesome :laugh: EDIT: I meant the bit about dumping the boyfriend, not the insensitive comment

I think I'm just looking at the metal ones from a human perspective and going... That doesn't look comfy! They do look more sturdy and durable for sure. Not sure they will fit in with the bedroom decor though :laugh:

hmm food for thought... the pups are pretty laid back (read: lazy :D ) except for a few crazy spurts of activity a few times a day. Sounds like they might be ok as long as the door stays open at first. I THINK they are over the chewing anything that cost more than $10 a Kmart stage...

hah yeah i learnt quite quickly to shut the sliding door BEFORE giving them whatever "delicious" treat they were getting that day :p Juno is the expert in hiding her treats... Hunter is twice as big as her but he just looks at me with sad eyes while she sneaks a chicken wing out from under his nose lol. Chicken hearts is a good tip... I'll keep an eye out at the butchers next time :) Thanks Westimum ... you should have seen the spreadsheet I did up trying to work out percentages, and weights all all the variuos things to make it a well rounded diet. I think it's been said a few times that once you start actually DOING it, it falls into place and seems a lot simpler! It's funny because the dog's diet is a hell of a lot better than mine!

so reading your website you would not recommend the soft ones if they haven't been crate trained beforehand? Are the collapsible ones you mention just the wire cage looking ones?

sweet I'll check out your links. Apparently it is to do with the pecking order of the pack and whether they will give you the respect as the dominant members if they are allowed to sleep in your space. They recommend they sleep in your room so they are part of the "pack" and the communal pack smell but not on the bed Not really sure I'm convinced on that reasoning but they are getting preettty big and heavy and their ability to hog all the blankets all seems to be growing exponentially as well so seems like a good excuse to get tougher haha. They USED to sleep very nicely on their own beanbag, but then bf let them into bed one night while I was petsitting and that was it. Now he blames me

Poor dog ... sounds like he was a real lifeline for his owner as well . Bit scary they can do that when he was in his own yard. On a side not, when did police officers start to be called "members" ... weird.

haha I sent my BF an excited text ... we had friends over and they all looked at me like I was mad when I got home :p I was surprise to see them at coles... did the classic double take :lofl: Definitely need to try late night supermarket runs!

Off topic sorry hope this is ok - but can anyone tell me anything about the crates in KoalatheBear's photo? Our obedience instructor has told us quite sternly that the dogs should not be allowed in bed with us :D ... I think something like these would be a good thing to transition to at the foot of the bed? Do you guys think they are good? PS love the photos mixeduppup - they look quite curious about the strange woolly dog haha

I must remember to get some tinned mackeral or similar ... I forgot to get some of the frozen mince out to thaw this morning and had to buy mince from the corner store on the way home... expensive! Buying in bulk definitely the way to go lol I need a back up plan because I am sooo disorganised. I have been feeding chicken wings in the mornings with a chicken frame switched in maybe once a week and something like lamb shanks for a treat every now and again. For dinner they get human grade mince mixed with whatever vegetables are starting to look a bit sad in the fridge wizzed up super fine in the ninja blender and combined with the mince with an egg. I fed the other day and didn't have an egg to mix in... the ate almost everything but the was a ring of left over veges that obviously didn't combine with the meat well enough left around the edge of the bowl lol. The egg really helps combine it all together. I also found some salmon heads at coles the other day - very exciting! Hunter wasn't too sure on his but Juno took hers off quick smart - and then came back for his!... not sure if she ate them or fertilised my garden for me :p I have only recently started and haven't quite got to the offal part yet - I know it is important! I icked up some liver the other day, just got to get over my squeamishness. Really happy with results so far - Juno was very picky on the kibble even though it was avery good quality one. I was always worried she wasn't eating enough. Now she is actually beating Hunter to finish and loving it. They do seem a little less hyper as well! Hunter gets rashes if he has any grain so he is also doing well on it ... I reckon you could give him an old boot and he would do well on that too though haha little piggy.

wow never heard of the Guinea Fowl thing... do they just get "baby" snakes, or the big ones as well? Growing up on acreage we saw lots of snakes... luckily most of the dogs seem to have the sense to stay away. We had a couple of miniature pincers (sp?) that we brought up from suburban SA when my grandparents died and the both managed to get bit by a brown snake within months of moving to QLD. Only one survived unfortunately :(We think one of the cats brought in a red belly black into the kitchen one day too, but he had no effects... maybe too fluffy?

haha either!

thanks guys - hopefully everything goes smoothly :-/ - good luck with your pug Andisa :)

Ahh sounds scary just talking about it :) ... I am off to my second obedience class and don't even know what CCD stands for, so that might have something to do with it :laugh:

do you think the bf would notice if i snuck it in the back yard :p

oh wow .. that is hilarious. Mum's chickens all stay in the chicken yard with our current dogs... We have a German Shephard x kelpie, and a wolfhound x who knows what and they have both shown a little too keen an interest. Not sure the chickens would be creeping back anywhere after Ninja or Buffy "played" with them.

ooooh I really want one of those ... for the lottery haha

OMG SQUEEEE .... The photo with the ears just did me in. I thought my boy was big haha What a gorgeous dog.

ahhhh exhibitor, of course. Yeah I looked at "shower" and went... that's not right haha

i didn't mean to say that they don't have a sense of humour... just that I am less invested / less passionate than someone who spends a lot of time and effort developing, showing and breeding their purebred dogs. Most of my dogs have been "bitsa's" so maybe that gives me a different perspective- It is only my current dogs that are anything approaching a purebred. Again, it is different if they are trying to create a new "designer" breed of a firetailed border cocker or whatever it was... but I think they are deliberately making the names sound farcical enough to show that it is just a cute way of describing individual dogs. Some of those new "breeds" look like they might be a little diffcult to recreate :laugh:

I saw it as sending the message that even if a dog doesn't have a mile long pedigree, it is still special. Rather then calling it a "mutt" which seems to denigrate the dog they are giving it a fancy name to highlight the unique qualities of the dog. I don't think they are seriously suggesting that they are creating a new breed... just using a lighthearted approach to get people thinking about "mutts" in a new, kinder way. It looks like a very effective advertising campaign to me, and anything that helps match up dogs with their forever homes is surely a good thing? I am not a breeder / show-er (what is the correct name for someone who shows dogs??? ) so that possibly means I can see the funny side of it? Also, i'm watching at work and have no volume... don;t know if that affects the message :laugh:

yeah they go alright Imagine what they would look like if I knew how to take a decent photo (and not on my iphone) lol. besotted is right - I think I am at that age where the biological clock is kicking in... and I'm substituting furbabies for babies :laugh: much better idea!