piper

This is a genuine, not a stirring question. Could it be that not many are testing for it because there are not many places you can go to for an MRI? Do all states even have the facility? I believe in SA we have 1, possibly 2 now that Roseworthy is open. If there are others around I have no heard of them, granted I have never needed 1. But am just thinking MRI scanning for animals is still a relatively new and expensive test so may not be easily available in all states.

Luvlottie - what a beautiful family heirloom Dust Angel - hope those tablets did the trick:) Evolving - Ilove the clear blue sky Huga - I just always like your photos Zenith - lol, great capture! And everyone else- the standard of photos is fantastic as well as the range of subjects. January 6: Piper - Did you say dinner????

If you have a 100m Flying Fox to tie him to then you could convert that area to a dog run. 100m is more than adequate for a run. A run does not need to be big. The belief that working dogs need to run is so incorrect. What does a famers dog do when not working? Usually curl up in a ball and sleep so they are ready to work when next needed. Farms do not need the dogs to be working 8 hours a day 365 days a year. There are many times where there is little to no work for the dogs so they have down time at those times. They do not want a dog that is go go go every hour of the day as it would be a nuisance much of the time. They do however want a ddog that is ready and able to go when needed. A dog run, some mental stimulation in the form of training and supervised exercise is what is needed. Pers gave you another great response as did kelpiei and kelpiechick.

CM, you have made a brave and selfless decision and this thread is a wonderful way to celebrate his much loved life.

Fences. Working dogs are usually contained in a run or tethered when not working and that is as much for their safety as anything else. Pers gave an excellent response I have also known of a border collie in a situation you describe who became increasingly difficult to recall or do anything with as he was able to get so much self satisfaction out of roaming and car chasing. Why on earth would he want to stop that and go back to you?

Good luck Jules. She might surprise you. Piper took to them immediately, straight into work mode and still intense. But her body language and facial expressions were different. Almost like it was fun as opposed to the serious business of sheep. If you didn't know her though and just looked at her working she looked to be working just as hard. I could see a difference though, she was sort of doing it all with a smile on her face Jazz on the other hand works them nicely now but.... she will always look for the sheep first. Her first couple of trials she lost points on the cast as she went to the fence trying to check out the other arena and not looking at the stock at all. Now she keeps 1 eye out on where she is going while doing a quick scan of the other area without modifying her path. Once she has established there is no option other than the ducks she then works them. She does modify how she works compared to how she works sheep. Runs closer to the ducks - but that could be due to the smaller area as she is still often on the fence. She is also less intent on them - I have to be careful as I can switch her off of them if I change the tone of my voice too much whereas Piper still blows me off, kind of like "yeah yeah whatever, having fun here" lol.

Loving the photos. Epecially love the macro shots. Makes me want to go out and get a macro lens Today I have Jazz playing tug with me. Trickier shot to take than I realised. Keeping the SLR steady and prevent the lens crepping with 1 arm and trying to get the dog in focus were hard. I started off at a f2.8 but ended up at 4.5. There was too much unpredictable movement for me to keep her in focus at 2.8 and 4. We have lots of blurry shots or shots with her ears in focus or the tug rope etc. I am fairly happy with this effort and wish I had used it for my 52 weeks of Jazz. Might have to reattempt it another time for that project and see if I can improve on it

I keep seeing these photos with lush green grass and am so jealous. Ours looks nothing like that so taking a pic of her outside in it would be nowhere near as appealing. LOL

Well my computer spontaneously recognised my card reader again so here is today's photo. Evolving that yard looks familiar, lol.

I love the variety of images so far Terranik - that walking away down the jetty is great. Kirislin - you certainly captured the joy of the moment at the park Ravyk - I am on my only 2 weeks off for the year so have a spent a few mornings like that, lol My internet is back up and running. Our ISP had a hiccup and had shaped us incorrectly, so that explains why I couldn't see pictures last night. It has only been fixed in the last hour. But it must be me and technology at the moment. Noww my laptop won't recognise my card reader so I have today's pic there and I can't get it. I took a shot of the first of the apricots ready to be picked at last. When I manage to get my computer over it's hissy (all ready restarted to no avail) I will upload.

I will come back and look at pictures tomorrow as our internet is playing up and running reallly slowly. grrrr Here is week 1 of Jazz. It is a crappy iphone photo as I wanted a summer picture of her. This is her favourite summer past time and using the SLR while managing the hose and keeping an eye out for Piper who likes to bite the nozzle was just going to be too difficult :D summer fun2 by ricreag, on Flickr

Great pictures everyone. Pers we have had lots of those wasps around lately - I watched 1 catch a locust and drag it away. My effort for today. Not great as I just used my iphone. I was reluctant to take the slr out there and it was tricky enough holding phone and hose and getting a picture while also watching out or Piper who likes to bite the nozzle. This is how Jazz likes to play on warm days. summer fun1 She and Piper both know while is is on mist and I am watering not to touch but as soon a I turn it to Jet, watch out!

No idea why I do this as I never manage it, lol For Piper, who I had retired: To get her HXAd title. Need 2 passes. I never expected to even have a go at it so am please she got 1 in our first try. For Jazz: To finish her HIAd To have a try at least once at HIAs If HSAb is oferred here to attempt that To commence agility training To whelp a healthy litter with no complications. Of course the timing of this could have a big impact on the other goals. She should be in season by now, but Jazz doesn't follow the books.

I thought Harvey Norman had it for $498 last week. Not sure if that was with twin lens kit though. eta: Nope was only single lens for that price. $598 for the twin.

Janba, it will be Feb/March before I get back out there as well. THe guy I am hoping to start training with has been too busy with harvest etc and now we go into our hot period Most of the time that I camped I went with a friend and we would have 5 dogs in our 4 man tent together. I always laughed as I had the bed to myself and my 3 all tried to sleep with her. They know I like my space and not to get on my bed!

I didn't notice this thread yesterday so don;'t have a day 1 but am going to aim to get further than the day 5 of last year or day 10 of the year before So here is day 2. We went for a drive up to Blanchetown on the River Murray. God it was good seeing the water levels so high and actually being able to see movement in the water. Blanchetown by ricreag, on Flickr

Lol, superminty. The first time I camped with a dog, I borrowed a tent from the dog club and my dear old Reagan was not keen on tenting and repeatedly hit the zip until he split it and I could not get it done up again. I ended up sleeping with both dogs on lead and tied to my camp stretcher. An hour or so after I went to sleep friends that had been off doing other things returned and 1 of their dogs came bounding in to the tent so they apologised and got the zip repaired when we returned thinking their dog had done it, lol. (and I don't feel too guilty as they were upholsterers so did it themselves and probably W would have anyway )

You never get to sleep at the NYE trial do you?? I am so glad the idea of the trial has taken off. When I first mentioned it when I was on committee some of them initially thought I had rocks in my head I think. LOL Never know next year I may even actually have Jazz trained to go in something, mind you that will also depend on when she comes in season and has her litter.

Hollywood, I am not familiar with the KCCpark indoor setup but my guess would be 1big part of it is that those getting good are probably using much faster (ie:more expensive) lenses that can cope with poor lighting better than the cheap kit lenses. This is especially true if you are trying to take movement shots indoors or in poor light. I don't think there is a capabiliity to save settings like that, and also what works 1 time may not be the right setting on another occassion. I think it is more learning your camera and lenses. For example I have 1 lens that I always drop the exposure compensationby 1 step otherwise it over exposes some areas on my border collies. My other lens I don't need to do that with.

According to BOM the temp is down to 33 at Edinburgh and 34 at Roseworthy so it could end up being a nice evening out there.

Temp has already "dropped" to 35 at Edinburgh so they may not delay the start. Dova - are the locusts still around there? Thought they would have moved on by now. They were bad at Gawler a week or so a go but gone now and are as far down Main North Rd as Munno Para Shops but not in the numbers that I saw them in Gawler and Cockatoo Valley. Good luck to those competing. I may or may not drop in to say hi.

The BBC used to do an hour per day. A friends parents used to live in the UK and record it and post over for us. Their coverage was quite good and showed performance stuff as well as full group judging and if I recall (it has been a fair few years since I have seen it) they had a feature breed or 2 for each day where they would talk to breeders and provide info about the breeds. But of course since the pedigree dogs exposed doco they are no longer involved, a shame as their coverage was definitely better.

I get a message saying the photos are private so you might need to check your account settings. It is possible to opload from flickr to DOL, I just can't remember how to. Hopefully someone else will see and be able to explain it to you I am keen to see photos and hear what people think of the a33 and 55 as the a55 is 1 of 2 cameras I have shortlisted.

They said on the news last night that they expect it to be high 20s by midnight so I wouldn't expect much of a drop before the sun goes down. Hubby is in CFS and the warnings they got today about tomorrow included info on 50 - 60k winds

I just thought of something. I am REALLY glad I chose Jazz now. I am mating her when she comes in season so it will be really cool to have a record of her week by week through the pregnancy and hten there will be cute mum and pups pics for a few weeks too with any luck