pebbles

Oh that's not good news. Not meaning to upset you but did the Specialist give you any indication of the rate of survival during this operation? If her heart is so bad perhaps the alternative of medication for whatever time could be looked at? Sometimes I think we put our dogs through too much for our sake.

I have a doggy door set in the wall next to the people door and my two generally beat me either in or out, they sleep on the bed, sit on the couch, actually Abby has her 'own' chair and it's quite funny if a visitor sits on it, she stares for a while then lies down with the most pathetic look, rolling her eyes at me 'please remove that person'. eta thought I'd better add - I'm not that well trained that I ask the visitor to move

When my kids were young, baking day was sort of fun. There's be 7 kids lined up waiting for a taste and 3, 4, sometimes 5 dogs lined up with them, couldn't resist the row of pleading eyes so had to make sure I baked enough extras for everyone Now my 2 little guys will let me what they want, biccie, drink, walk, etc. sometimes they get it but like Gayles they also know 'enough' 'not now' or whatever. Love the communication

I had a fairly serious heart murmur picked up in a 6 year old show boy during a yearly checkup. He had no symptoms, no sign of it 12 months earlier. It didn't affect him at all, went at 13 years of an unconnected illness. I tried to keep him quiet for a while but he wanted to enjoy life.

A Min Pin would fit the bill exactly but you would have to be very careful and check the temperament, so many of them are getting nervy and skittish - not many "King of the Toys" around now. Have you met any Border Terriers? they are a totally different temperament from most other terriers or they're supposed to be lol. Again research into the breeding would be necessary as some are getting too fiesty.

Been in the show world in Victoria for over 50years and babies haven't been in the CC line up to my knowledge. Personally I wouldn't like to see them included for a number of reasons. As an exhibitor I like to see bubs having a bit of fun in the ring and the CC line can get rather serious. To go into their class then often around again for best baby of breed, then (hopefully lol) in again for baby in group I reckon is enough for a young'un to experience when starting out and there's often a baby sweepstakes as well. As a retired Judge, I know you are judging on the day but I wouldn't have liked to be considering babies for CC's. Some breeds at 6 months are nearly looking mature but other breeds are still very much babies and all are still bubs at 3 months. JMHO

Covers on pools reminded me of an instance years ago - friend and I stayed at a motel overnight before a show. Show morning friend who was dressed ready to leave, got her English Springer out of the trailer for a walk. As they came back into the motel grounds she let him loose saying "into the trailer". Dog heads for the trailer, unfortunately between him and the trailer was an inground pool with a cover. Dog just ran straight over it, the cover started to fold in and dog was disappearing into the pool. Friend had to jump in and rescue him. Luckily Group 3 was on second, weather warmed up so both dog and friend had nearly dried out when it was time to go in the ring

I'm a fan of Joint Guard too. Tried Sasha's Blend but returned to the Joint Guard. Have you checked that your dog hasn't got an allergy? The attention to the leg area and biting the hair from the thigh could indicate an allergy, worth checking.

Oh bugger, sorry to hear this Sway.

Keeping my fingers crossed for Willow's safe return. Wish I was closer to assist but will keep an eye out/ear open around here - who knows?

My friend just had to produce a Doctor's certificate to prove that she wasn't capable of the training etc. and no problem, it was done. I think there are some circumstances where going straight to de-barking is justified. eta -spelling lol

I have a lifelong friend who was living on a property well out of town with her 4 pet dogs. Due to age and health she could no longer live way out there and had to buy a house in the town. The dogs became very noisy due to the change of enviroment and she wasn't well enough to go through all the training and supervision to check the barking so they were de-barked. No ill effects and the dogs are all living happily in the town, making all the 'noisy' they want to without disturbing anyone.

Wow, love the lush menu's for the dogs, mine would probably throw the lot up on the carpet Still think I'd rather go bush camping near a river, much more fun

A breed I had many years ago, noted for their independent, stand-off attitude and while that could make them hard to live with, you accepted that was 'the dog'. Not a breed for a lot of people but they became a glamour status breed and their temperament was changed through selective breeding. Now they are just 'another dog' in the ring, gone is the haughty, majestic dog.

Agreed about Sibes and obedience, I wonder if anyone is trying to breed out the independent / obstinate streak in Spitz breeds? Oh gosh, Sinta, I hope not! I've seen a couple of breeds' temperament changed over the years to suit people's ideas and they just aren't the same dog, seem to lose their character. There's always a suitable temperament for nearly everyone, why mess with a dog's characteristics?

Wow, what a happy bunch and enjoying every minute. Imagine being able to run your dogs like that and so obedient, roads weren't a problem. Noticed a really fat Daccie(?) near the end, owner needs to buy a bike lol.

Must admit it's about 15years since I lost my last Gordon. Back then they were the sedate one of the Setters, very easy going and I really didn't do much training, they were just like that. Over recent years I've only seen them at shows, most of the group who had them when I did have gone out of showing etc. Perhaps like a few other breeds their temperament has been changed (not for the better ) Maybe if you do consider a Gordon quite a bit more research is needed, don't want this old lady to lead you astray

Of the Setters, I would suggest a Gordon Setter. More laid back than the Irish and English, love excercise but are also happy to miss a day or two as long as they have human interaction. Coat is medium care, a good brushing after any bush walking is great otherwise a couple of times a week will keep them looking good.

I have seen a sign which said "Please keep this gate closed. Dogs loose on property". No 'beware of the Dog" but it could make people think twice about opening the gate.

Personally I think these basics should be included in puppy classes and beginners obedience. I would like to see some course/standard set for training obedience trainers. I took a pup to one a while back purely for socialisation and couldn't believe the mish-mash of directions being given, no help to a novice! Just have your dog on the left and walk around in a circle

I showed a chocolate Miniature Pinscher and sun bleaching was a problem as she loved lounging in the sun. I was home and spent a lot of time calling her inside lol. I've heard of different things to feed which is supposed to help but I think the sun always wins. Would your dog wear a light coat? That wont protect the other bits, head etc, though. Can you set up a spot in the shade? Shade is the only guaranteed answer IMO. ETA - All else being equal, Judges shouldn't penalise this but a gleaming coat always looks better. Dyed coats - getting exactly the right colour is hit and miss and it doesn't do the coat any good besides being illegal! Don't know about sunscreens being effective over a whole day and they can collect dirt.

I wouldn't worry about him, lucky you. If he's drinking enough fluids and is happy. has had a Vet check then all will be Ok.

I think when you have a regular Vet/s they get to know how capable you are of looking after your dog. The new Vets at the clinic I use, came from City practice and have taken a while to realise I'm not completely dumb and do know a bit about dog treatments :D I'm assuming the City Vet doesn't know you very well, Colliehound? Ummmm RubyBlue - I'm a bit confused (nothing unusual for me lol) "Bird Vet" "microchip and supralorin implant"? For a bird?

Yes, really, really scary those sort of happenings. glad Bella is Ok now. Had something similar happen when I was traveling into NSW some years ago. Stopped at a wayside area and gave the dogs a walk on lead. Sam, Miniature Pinscher, threw up, started shaking and collapsed. Naturally it's miles from anywhere and I didn't know anyone. Roared into the first service station, got help finding the nearest Vet and phoned. They gave me directions and said they would wait until I got there. Their clinic was in the middle of town and had the 'reverse into' parking in the front. Being from Vic and upset about Sam, no way could I park the damn car so left it double parked and ran in. Vet was great, Sam had a couple of injections and after about half an hour he was back to normal, some sort of bite. The Vet then phoned the Vets in the next two towns and gave them a rundown and gave me their after hours numbers to ring if I had any worries. Luckily there wasn't much traffic as I drove with one eye on the road and the other on Sam but he was fine. Sure scared the h*ll out of me though.

Hi, Anky Berry, don't forget we want all the results on here Sunday evening