Scottsmum

There's quite a few - I'd say about one in ten labs that show up at our local parks are killer attack labs. Only problem with that is - their owners are letting their attack labs go attack. ARGH. Well not all of them but it's crap when it happens. I don't take for granted that labs, or golden retrievers or poodle crosses will be friendly - I'm a lot more optimistic about an off lead SBT than one of the others. PS - woot - "bad idea" works for other people besides me :) My mum's a florist - tells a story about how, back in the day, when she was pregnant with me she did a flower delivery and when the recipient wasn't home she let herslef round the back and went to leave the flowers in the laundry - note on front door. Apparently this was pretty standard 30+ years ago, small country town in NSW. Anyhow - she successfully left the flowers to turn around and find herself bailed up by a big black lab. She had to lock her self in until the owners got home Unfortunately I was recently attacked by a lab bitch too - back before the move - she bailed me up - lucky I was close enough to home for Dad to come save my arse. She was people frondly, just dog reactive. It was very scary.

Worth looking into rail trails and travelling stock routes. :)

I love the feel of my syntek lead (I only have the normal length). That said I don't use the collar much anymore - it's too rough on Scottie's coat for everyday use (I find). You could also use a lunge lead: http://www.saddleworld.com.au/brands/Eurohunter/eh_tackroom/ehsafetylunge.html

Trying to charm / con Mumsy into something... 111 by Superspanger, on Flickr Looking dapper in a christmas gift from Grandma 112 by Superspanger, on Flickr Christmas road trip 113 by Superspanger, on Flickr

Relaxing in a fav spot in Pa's garden (before the move) 116 by Superspanger, on Flickr Mumsy plays a lazy game of tug 117 by Superspanger, on Flickr Fresh off the plane 115 by Superspanger, on Flickr waiting for the furniture to arrive. 114 by Superspanger, on Flickr

Cuddles with Mumsy. 20151223_073032-min by Superspanger, on Flickr 20151223_070054-min by Superspanger, on Flickr

A new toy made by Mummy. She makes lots of fun toys to ruin. IMG_3331 by Superspanger, on Flickr

Inspections with Dad while Mum takes photos. IMG_3328 - Copy (2) by Superspanger, on Flickr

Some out takes from the 52 project today. IMG_3358 by Superspanger, on Flickr IMG_3361 by Superspanger, on Flickr

Some recent shots of my boy. 122875c4-01f5-487d-9be3-5a644e824ad8 by Superspanger, on Flickr

Gosh that's gone fast. Lovely girl. :D

Not a dog I'd recommend to a novice dog owner. Tell me why so HW so i can add it to my own breed research, I'll come back later when I have time. I 'boarded' 2 Mannies for over a year and personally they're not a dog I'd recommend to anyone! Let alone a first timer! I've got a mate / acquaintance with three - really high maintenance. The three of them can't be walked together. Can't be taken to the dog park. I was walking with her for a while - Me with Scottie and her with one while she left two at home. All highly strung, nervy little things. The bitches are particularly nervy - the dog is OK - he was settled enough for me to pat. Bitches never trusted me. They were always OK with Scottie - and he's reasonably unflappable. One evening I had a friends kid with me when we went walking (11 years). Scottie and one of the bitches - both relaxed and dropped at respective owners feet when the kid pretended to hit me (we were joking around) and the bitch lept up, lunged at the full length of the lead and bit the kid breaking skin. Owner pretended to be shocked (which we all were) and protested "that she'd never done something like that before" -I wasn't convinced. Anyhow. I wasn't invited for walkies after that. But I never thought much more of it beyond that. Don't know any others - so that's just my limited exposure to them.

You can get a meat mix too. In the fridge at petbarn etc

I like Dr Bruces Vets All Natural

thats what I was going to suggest

Maybe Ziwipeak? Edit: http://www.ziwipeak.com/air-dried-dog-food-ziwipeak-daily-dog-air-dried-cuisine/ Also in my haze I didn't see she was in Alaska - I thought the dogs name was Alaska. LOL. I (now) think Ziwi would probably be too expensive to try. But who knows.

That's probably the most cost effective way to do it - as someone else said - a door big enough for a big dog is also probably big enough for a human. Access to the laundry is probably the best option at the moment. PLUS - if you install an approved deadlock your insurance will still be valid and later on you can install a doggy door into the laundry and still be able to lock the house when needs be.

Snook said it too - dick move by the lady. It would be unacceptable for her to do this to a kids soccer game or a seniors tai chi session - so why is it acceptable for her to do it to an obedience class? Anyhow - Very glad Thistle coped - makes me happy to hear that.

Yes, I was surprised about that. There are several events for pet dogs and a high jump competition, both of which always draw big entries and are popular with the general public. It does seem however, that the gap in interest between purebred dogs and novelty events for pets is forever widening Maybe the public just find traditional showing boring. Purebred dogs can do novelty events, or very physical sporting events which will show off their athletic abilities and are much better spectator sports for the person on the street. I don't see why it would be any more boring than poultry, cattle or rabbit showing? *shrugs* My understanding was that the decision had nothing to do with the public and everything to do with Show Committee politics. Most notably the politics of giving the horse exhibitors more room. How quickly some show committees forget how they made dogs centre stage during the equine influenza outbreak and how dog exhibitors kept them afloat. The impact on income will be significant. Time to wait and see what happens next. It would have been nice for people to see and meet Dachsie breeders if they were interested in the dogs as opposed to walking the mine field of finding a dog on Gumtree. What I meant was that I dont see alot of non show people spectating at dog shows, I dont know if they find it boring or not, it was just a thought. When I think about it our big aggie show's changed so much, they've even sold off alot of the grounds that once had beautiful historic stables and put shops there, pulled down the main arena and put lots of food stalls there. I was shocked when I went last September, I saw very few animals. My impression was it's mostly noisy rides and gourment food tents now. Maybe it's a bit like watching cricket? Gotta be interested to want to watch. I could watch the horses or dogs all day - I could even watch the cattle having shown them in highschool but cricket is just dudes standing in a field doing things I don't understand. Seems very boring to me...

What a whopper!

I'd have grabbed the ball!

I've got a 10 kilo foxie - black and white hair everywhere. Too many things destroyed out of boredom and in protest of being left at home - even with twice weekly visits from the dog walker. Oh. And as I said - he takes up more than half the couch. But he does have a booming bark for a little guy. Used to have the pizza and thai delivery guys fooled when we lived somewhere with access to menulog :) - and I liked keeping it that way. Yep, this is what I was thinking too. raineth , that's a great idea :) Please don't just assume that oldies are bombproof - ours is broken - and with reflection was from the day we bought him home - After a lifetime of owning dogs - fox terriers, cattle dogs, weims, mutts, jack russells... god knows what else I wont say he's the hardest dog I've lived with (that title is tied between a crazy blue cattle dog and a naughty jack Russell) but I love and adore him and wouldn't change him for a second. Oldies come with their own pros and cons too. Petar - maybe fostering is a good way to 'try before you buy'. You'd be well supported by your rescue group and it would give you a good idea of what it's like to live with a dog full time. It gives you lots of practice coping with different body and coat types too.

To continue the off-topic aspect: I heard years ago (on Oprah I think - LOL) that you should always keep nuts (walnuts, almonds etc) in the fridge - as they're full of oils and they stay fresh longer that way / they're less likely to go rancid. Then, very recently I read an article which suggested that you keep kibble in the freezer if you're not going to get through it in a week or two for similar reasons - to help slow the oils going off. Made total sense to me - but I just don't have the freezer space for that. To get back on topic: I only feed human grade meat as a general rule - only having one small dog makes that an easier choice. So I don't think meat marked for human consumption required freezing - only if you freeze as part of your storage. However I think fresh caught wildlife does require 3 weeks. I don't have a reference on that - but I think that's what I've seen on raw feeding groups.

Quite possible. He was amazed when Moosey appeared from nowhere. How did he know how to get to the off leash? Moosey isn't really supposed to go outside anymore - let alone to the park. But there he was! A doggy miracle. But to be honest - I had the shutter speed dialed up to the fastest setting - having learnt that it's how you fix what I call "fantail" and hoping to get some romping photos - but he was too revved up by Moosey to get anything decent. Will take a less exciting toy next time I try.

I'm sure Fox terrier -can translate into "anything that is yours is now mine." It's 'Oh, I thought it was a fox. No, no, I'm pretty sure it's a fox.' Oh. What's that you say? Not a fox? Still mine. K? Thanks. bye!