piper

Seal was my thought too but I knew I would never explain it right and hoped you would see the pictures to explain it :)

OMG

Could you buy 1 of the shampoos that is supposed to be diluted, discuss this with him and then make up the solution together, according to the instructions on the bottle(I find a sauce bottle or pop top drink bottle works well for this). Then he gets the diluted bottle to use?

That kite photo is stunning!!! Amazing photo, well done :)

The last bag I got had 4 necks in it and was close to 2kg. Our Woolworths often has them in the reduced to clear section so I got that bag for less than $3.00. The border collies get a whole 1 each and I take a meat cleaver to 1 for the beagle.

Yep, and they have even had DNA studies done on them to determine that they are in fact a breed. They form a definite "cluster" (sorry, no idea of the correct terms fo the charts I have seen) that is quite separate to other gun dog breeds when comparing DNA, but as similar to each other within the breed group as other recognised breeds.

Aperture prioroty and shutter priority are also good for learning on - depending on what you want from the shot you can set 1 or the other and the camera finds the other for you. Eg if taking a portrait shot I will use aperture priority so I can pick the depth of field (how much is in focus) and if taking photos of dogs at a show or herding or something where they are moving then I use shutter priority and can pick a nice fast shutter speed. Either way I know tht it will be exposed about right as the camera will find the other value for me.

They say it gets easier with time. I'm still waiting. Sitting on the coffee table next to me is the catalogue from the herding state champs held in August. There is a page in there dedicated to you, written by a friend. I still haven't ever opened the catalogue, I just can't do it.

Yep, I was going to add that as well. Pet Barn definitely sell it - I have bought it a few times. Quite expensive but I have managed to get it on sale for close to half price.

How are you currently using your camera? As in, do you mainly leave it on Auto/Sports etc or do you use manual/aperture/shutter priority modes. Are you aware of the different functions/features and ho to use them eg different focus modes? If you are still mostly using it like a "point and shoot", I would probably get a better lens and then work to learn more about what your camera can do and using it in different ways before worrying about upgrading the body as the 450D can still produce very nice images. I was in a professional photo store in Adelaide a couple of months ago, and they were the types of questions that 1 of the sales guys asked someone who came in to upgrade their body - they suggested the person held onto his money for now until he could use his camera more. If using mostly auto and the programmed modes, you may find an upgrade disappoints you.

I'll vouch for that - I know some beautiful, versatile rotties. And have had the pleasure of judging the beautiful Seven in herding and witnessing her versatility first hand :)

I have fed lambs spines without a problem before. I would have thought, even chopped in 2 that a pigs head would be too big for a puppy? I have fed them a couple of times in the past to adult border collies - a half each, and they were way too much for them in 1 meal and followed up by a fast. Be warned though, my guys have NEVER had gas like they did after the pigs heads

A friend of mine has a girl who has had an eye removed due to Glaucoma - she was already blind from it in that eye but was so much happier one the eye was out.

Yep, that's the 1 :)

That peacock is stunning. You didn't put my favourite of the tiger shots up there - the 1 with the tongue out. I love the detail on it.

I agree - although I would love to see some more "big" animals, there just isn't the room for them. The bears used to make me so sad to see them pacing in their little areas. There is an old cage left near the nocturnal house and they had 2 siamangs in there a long with a heap of enrichment toys and it shocked me to think they all used to be lined up in rows like that, with no or very little enrichment and we thought it was ok. Not that it is an issue with membership. but I like the way they offer a 2 zoo pass now. Monarto is amazing and they have worked so hard on it compared to the first time i went when it was just the single bus tour and that was it. So many places to hop off and look around now. It is brilliant and almost a full day required. The way they have mixed exhibits to mimic the wild is brilliant and the animals always look so relaxed up there.

We are un Melbourne next weekend and their zoo is on our list of things to do. Apparently we either get free or discounted entry as we are zoo members here. Your membership probably gives you discount or free entry at other zoos too.

Thanks :) It is funny because I look at your Taronga 1s and wish we had some of your animals. LOL We have no gorillas here or a Monarto and I think I could spend hours watching them. We have the 2 orangs, some siamangs, mandrills, babboons and white cheeked gibbons but no chimps. The chimps are at Monarto. No elephant at either zoo. These days Adelaide Zoo is becoming more of an Asian focus and Monarto an African 1. There are only a couple of giraffes left at Adelaide, the zebras are all at Monarto now. A couple of the older lions still at Adelaide Zoo but I suspect when they go that they will not be replaced and we will just have the pride at Monarto. And that is fine - the area at Monarto is so much more appropriate for them - the whole of Adelaide Zoo would fit in the lion enclosure at Monarto. I think it is still a bit cold for the orangs here as well - they frequently walk around with blankets draped over them :) The pandas prefer the cool though - once it gets warm they relocate to their indoor area where it is air conditioned and nearly impossible to get a photo of them.

I finally got back to Adelaide Zoo yesterday. I went the week before I got my new lens and have been wanting to get back there again but it has been too busy. I had yesterday off and it was a nice mild day after a couple of awful days so I thought it would be a good day to go in. I am glad I went early though as it is school holidays and the hordes of families and vac care groups as well as a McDonalds team building day with teenagers racing around the zoo on a treasure hunt started to irritate me. I went to the pandas first in the hope to see them out and about foraging. Funi was obliging but Wang Wang was having a lazy morning He did eventually move from that spot and went to eat his bamboo but the bugger went and sat behind the glass to eat it and the reflections were awful. Next it was off to the Tigers and Orangutans, the tigers were in hiding and I never managed a decent shot in 4 trips back to check on them. As I was on my own it was nice to have time to do what I wanted, hang around in 1 spot or go and check out the less popular animals. These next few were all through wire so I am particularly pleased with how they cam eout. The Meercats were busy as usual and I got angry at some idiot teens and their ignorant parents who were allowing them to throw food in there. Told them off and they just ignored me and accidentally "dropped" more in before moving to a different spot and continuing to do it. I couldn't see nay staff members nearby to inform The rest of the photos can be enjoyed here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8799389@N04/

My old girl cracked a sesamoid bone in her toe as a puppy. We xrayed but she only needed very light sedation, not a full anaesthetic. End result for her was just rest and time. It took ages - everytime I thought it was fine she would knock it twist awkwardly and it would flare up and she would limp again, it did get there in the end though.

Wow, that is slow. My first litter of 9, DogsSA processed the names and sent the papers the same day. Second litter, was about 2 days.

He is the "lumpiest" of the giraffes. Apparently they are like calcifications that form and also serve as a bit of protection if head-butting with other males. We will go back at some stage Grizabella as we have membership now, not that it is likely to be any cooler for sometime yet. I am going to head into Adelaide Zoo 1 day next week when I have a day off.

The joy of black and white - pretty much anything will go, so what colours do you like? :)

Gah, ears! My first 2 border collies had perfect semi-erect ears. They just were. I never touched them. Then along came Piper, and I learnt to love prick ears.... Then Jazz showed me the other end of the spectrum. And now I have Cinna, who is a bet better than her Mother but I would have been happier with a bit more lift. I can't find a recent 1 of her to share. Of course my red boy in a pet home has perfect ears, typical! LOL I have to say though, until recently I had no idea that Rotties needed their ears taped. I thought how hard can it be for rotties and other breeds with heavy ears, then I got told of how they can go wrong too. You will love Willow either way, but I totally get you on the liking the right ears :)

Agreed. I have only had 2 litters. The first of 9 and the second of 2. But even with the 9 I rarely had an issue with poo and puppies in poo (only when their mum was on antibiotics when they were a couple of weeks old and it went through them a bit). I used a method similar to the 1 linked earlier with both litters and gave a designated toilet area in the whelping box from a couple of weeks old. I found that when I changed the box that the majority of wee was in 1 corner anyway and it was the corner near the door to the box. I placed a small piece of artificial turf there to start off with. Then as soon as they were getting in and out of the box, I moved that to just outside of the box and then eventually to the corner of the room furthest from the door. With the litter of 9, I then placed a larger piece of artificial turf down and found all wees and poos were confined to that area when they were inside (that was a winter litter so they were inside from about 4 or 5pm until around 8am) and I missed taking them out in time or overnight. The litter of 2, as I described were inside due to extreme heat for the bulk of the day and I just walked outside calling them whenever I noticed them stirring from a sleep or when they had been playing and starting to slow down, or anytime I felt like they looked restless. The girl we kept from that litter, I can honestly say was house trained by 10 weeks and taking herself outside as needed. By 4 months she was not even confined over night and the only "mistake" was me not getting to the back door quick enough in the middle of the night so she went right by the door. The effort is worth it - I would rather put in that bit of time than deal with poo covered puppies and poo tracked all over the place and your puppy buyers will thank you for it.