kelpiecuddles

So true sandgrubber, I have a compromised immune system and despite being vaccinated I have to be very careful of the possibility of chicken pox and all the 'occals'(pneumacoccal, meningicoccal, etc). Funnily enough I trained as a primary school teacher, what was I thinking! I have to say psitticossis was not fun at all, I felt atrocious. Made me very glad that I practiced good quarantine though, despite those birds dieing from the disease and me becoming ill my own birds were kept safe.

Cheryl can you PM me your address.

Yuck JRT, that would drive me crazy too! Did the lab have a double coat because I find that makes a huge difference. My basset has a single coat and hardly sheds at all, the kelpie has a double coat but thankfully she only blows it once a year all at once so as long as I catch it then and brush it all out with the rake I never have furbulls floating in the house which is nice.

We have an outlander currently and they do ride in the back of that but there are little hairs stuck in the carpet upholstery everywhere, it will be a nightmare if we want to sell it!

I have two shedding breeds currently and intend to get a non-shedding breed next time. My reasons: I want to be able to travel with the dog without a car covered in fur I have asthma and hayfever and although my dogs don't bother me that much i suspect they do set me off a little Cleaner house The second two are minor issues for me and obviously I have two dogs that i love and it doesn't really bother me currently. It mainly comes down to planning to travel and wanting to be able to just throw the dog on the back seat of the car without hair getting stuck into the upholstery everywhere LOL That said I wouldn't buy a dog solely based on whether it shed, I'm very picky about temperament and compatibility with my lifestyle in terms of activity level, etc so fur is only one factor in a long list.

Wow, clearly I've had it good then! I'm guessing it's because they run on a lot of sand/gritty clay soil which would wear them down a fair bit.

What about a dachshund, the big kind not a mini

Except for maybe the size(although i think of Josie as medium sized because she is shorter than my kelpie), my basset baby girl ticked all your boxes.

Just curious how often others find it needs doing. Due to a very wet summer here and the ground being so soft I just had to cut my girls nails for the first time in their lives. That's 9 years for my kelpie and 5 for my basset.

Maybe run him on a long line instead for now.

I'm not surprised. I've contracted psitticosis from some birds I rescued. Thankfully they were in quarantine and I was following procedures to ensure that they were isolated from my other birds but they did not look unwell so that figure could potentially be skewed by those animals that seem OK but still carry something which they pass on. When i was working as a vet nurse I don't remember any of us ever wearing masks but we did use gowns and gloves.

Basset Hounds are renowned for loving kids which was one of the main reasons we considered them. We took the kids to a show and even the breeders dogs who rarely were around children just adored smooching the kids and leaned against them for cuddles. My daughter gives Josie facials with a facewasher, snuggles in her bed with her and lies on top of her and Josie just wags her tail through it all and comes back for more. Personally i think even a toddler can be taught. My children have known from tiny babies that there are strict rules about animals in this house that are non-negotiable. All three of my kids knew how to pat an animal gently as young babies without pulling fur and appropriate behaviour has been taught as they got older and I felt they were able to do it in a way that the animal would be happy with(at 9 years old my son is only now allowed to occasionally pick up the cat if necessary). That's not to say that I don't think it's necessary to supervise but I think people need to realise that just as much if not more training needs to take place with the child as it does with the puppy/dog.

If you hold off until mine arrive I'll let you know how they go. i figure if they don't fit right I can tweak them with the sewing machine

Here you go jemappelle, they aren't the most stylish fabric pattern ever but for the price I don't honestly care, they'll be inside the plastic beds anyway and the dogs don't care! http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Soft-Pet-Dog-Puppy-Cat-Warm-Bed-House-Plush-Cozy-Nest-Mat-Pad-Mat-Cushion-futon-/350779731694?pt=US_Pet_Beds&var=&hash=item51ac19eeee Smallest size is $4.99 and the largest size(69cm) is $8.57 with free post.

I did order a couple of the cheap padded beds(same shape as these but fabric) off ebay for $8 each which will probably actually fit inside the plastic shells and make them even more cosy. :)

No worries Cheryl, fabric is out and ready to go so I'll try to get it in the post nice and quick for you :)

Cheryl if it is possible to do without upsetting her could you check how deep her chest is for me when you are next out there. I'm concious of the fact that her sizing might be a bit funny given her state and don't want to make anything too baggy on her. Rather than trying to get her chest circumference the length from her spine down her side to where the edge of the coat would sit will tell me half the total width for the coat.

No worries Cheryl, I'll get something out to you. Do you need something waterproof or just warm?

Cheryl I have next to no spare funds at the moment but I do have a spare 5kg satchel sitting there and a sewing room full of fabric, is there anything at all you need for either Gnarla or the babies? A jacket of her own maybe.

A big thank you to Anne who kindly gave my girls their new beds and the good news is Josie is quite happy to tuck herself on to it. Made the mats some new covers and they are happy campers :)

Your dog, being fairly large, would have to eat quite a lot of rat bait before becoming very ill. Our basset got a rat bait and we were told by the vet(she was treated with Vit K in case) that she would have needed to consume the equivelent of two 28g blocks before she would have been in major trouble. From recollection it was about 1 block per 12kg before you got into the danger area for the bait we were dealing with. So if it was crumbled up and mixed with chicken it would be hard to get enough without it being obvious and a liquid would be hard to get.

As understand she just is a small dog person so it wasn't necessarily a case of older person =small dog. I'm going to pass on all these suggestions guys, might even point her in the diresction of this thread so keep them coming :)

I'll just have to wait now and see if she calls me, can you PM me with whatever way is best for her to contact you if she wants to talk to you.

You should have seen the look on this ladies face as it dawned on her that there was another option out there other than a pet shop and that not only would she be able to find a dog that might suit there were people who would actually work with them to ensure that the dog they wanted was right for them. I felt like I really opened her eyes LOL

She's lovely dogmad. I think a major problem with the other one was that being a puppy it was very 'under foot' and she was worried she would trip on it. Because she is living alone since her husband passed away a trip would be bad if she injured herself and couldn't get up. How is this little one around the house, as in whether she is with you but not right under you if you know what I mean?