piper

Peachykeen is a US Border Collie prefix. I worked out key points about the breed or words that I think of when I think of the breed and then played with google translator In my case I mostly looked at Gaelic and Celtic words due to that being the area they originated from. Words that I played about with were versatile, agile, stealth (known for stealth like movement), faithful, friend, loyal. I also looked at names associated with places around the Scottish border regions. This is what list looked like: 1. Talannach – variation on Talainne Gaelic versatile/able/talented 2. Ildana – gaelic for versatile/master of all 3. Reiver –gaelic for rivers in the border regions 4. Ildanach – gaelic, versatile/able/master of all. Variation of ildana 5. Ancith – gaelic, eager 6. Faili – Gaelic for stealth 7. Alsidige – Danish for versatile 8. Teliesh – Mum and Dads prefix (they used to breed shelties 30 years ago so I thought it woudl be nice to include on the list and I have often used it for online names and email addresses) In the end I had Ildanach first as the versatility of the breed is something that is important to me and I come from a background of participating in a wide range of sports and had the only dog at the first border collie nationals to place in all the performance disciplines on offer. So to me it reflected my bachground as well as what I value in the breed. These are some others I had on my list Cliste – Gaelic for intelligent Laidir – Gaelic for strong, powerful Daicheil – Gaelic for graceful Dileas – loyal Ailte – Gaelic, agile/quick/clever Caraid – Gaelic for friend Diomhair – stealth/quiet/secretive Ceile – Gaelic, partner Good luck. It took me ages to come up with anything but once I started on the keyword and google translator idea I had a list within an hour. I then sent it around to a few people whose opinions I trust and got them to have some input as well.

There are some benefits to being this side of town. LOL. You might want someone to text or call you so you know when to turn up. I would be expecting quite a lot of scratchings, especially from coated breeds on early. I had been disappointed I forgot to enter but am glad now. It is only 5 mins from home so I was going to drop in around 8 or 9ish but if it is like the last time we had weather like this for new years it was just about over by that time due to all the scratchings, lol.

Yes, I ended up being quite disappointed with it but it filled some time of my day while I am on leave I would also have liked to see a bit more of the performance side of it - a full run or 2 of agility rather than all the compilation bits they did, likewise with canine freestyle. I thought you had to pay to watch the groups online on Crufts webpage?

Another piece fitted into the puzzle is a good thing - 1 less that needs to be worked out. What is EPI? I know I have heard of it but can't recall what it actually is. Good to know that he is free of all parasites etc. I must admit I am less than vigilant on giving my guys wormers etc as I don't like giving them unneccesary chemicals so only flea treat etc if there are signs of a problem and if I do have to do it I use as little as possible rather than the 1 dose treats everything spot ons.

Don't be afraid to look overseas as well. For example, www.bhphoto.com has the A55 for $749 as body only. The best the walk in stores could tell me for body only was $1099. The A33 they have for $599 or $699 for the single lens kit. I have bought from them before and shipping is reasonable and very quick.

PossumCorner have you had problems with over heating, and what is battery life really like? They are probably my 2 biggest concerns. I didn't realise you had actually got 1. At this stage I am more likely to go for the A55 than the A580, purely because I can't even hold a 580 to see what I think of it.

I have an old Konika-Minolta dlsr, Sony took over shortly after I got it. I am at the point of upgrading and was seriously considering moving over to Canon as getting lenses was much harder and I was not super keen on the bodies Sony had. After a comment on here by PossumCorner who uses Sony stuff, I started to look closer at the new Sony offerings and lenses available. Sony lenses are expensive but Sigma and Tamron now do most of their lenses in a Sony mount whereas last time I was looking a lot of their stuff, even when looking at US pages was Canon and Nikon mount only. The A33 is getting some good reviews. I am considering the A55 and had a play with it at the camera store and was quite impressed. As the guy said I could get the body and a bloody good fast zoom lense with a lot left over compared to changing systems (different situation to you as I have the kit lenses, 2 sigma lenses and a sony flash) and the sigma lense he suggested gets much better reviews than the Canon 1 I was looking at. I'm also really liking the sound of the A580 but they are not releasing it in Australia and while buying from OS does not bother me, I would rather get my hands on 1 first. Go with what you are comfortable with. The A33 and A55 are very compact and have some nifty features. Some people don't like them as they are so compact and also the view finder is electronic not optical, this reduces battery life a lot. I liked the view finder and can see benefits in it for someone upgrading in the way it explains each menu option on the screen/viewfinder for you as you change them. For me the shorter battery life is a big downside (apparently only 300 - 400 shots and I can rattle that off easily, and if you use the burst mode at 7 frames per second you will chew that up very quickly.) Video on them compared to other DSLRs is apparently very good as they have continual auotfocus, again it depends on if this is important to you. For me it is not, I want my camera to take pictures not video. I have been keeping an eye on www.dpreview.com and their forums to try and narrow down my choice a little more. Just remember though that there is often very little difference between things and what the reviewer find important, you may not. Short list the cameras you like and then go to a store and handle them all. (I was looking at changing to Canon 60D when PossumCorner mentioned the A55 to me and looked at both in the store. Both have advantages to me, both have disadvantages. And remember when getting a dslr that you are basically getting a system - changing over from 1 brand to another is not cheap. Once you have bought a few lenses etc when it is time to upgrade you will most likely just get a new body and not a whole new kit.

If anyone is like me and missed this (all 3 times it was on!!) I was just looking through the Foxtel On Demand list and it is in the Free On Demand section until Monday morning. I am about to sit back and watch

I'm in with Jazz. I have had a really slack year when it comes to picking up the camera but am hoping for a new body and lense early in the year so that should keep me motivated http://www.flickr.com/photos/8799389@N04/s...57625569720415/

My vet it varies. If it has been 2 quick things then I have just had the 1 fee. If a bit more time has been needed then it has usually been a long consult fee. I dont think I have ever paid 2 full consult fees though. If I am taking in 2 I do always mention it on booking and I guess it is left to the vets discretion as to how it is billed. I have been using the same vet for 16 years and rarely pay full consult fee these days anyway. Although he has just retired and sold the clinic so I guess I am prepared for a full price bill for the next visit.

I have the computrekker as well and love it, mine has had a half chewed webbing strap on 1 side (courtesy of our evil beagle!) for a couple of years and is still going strong.

I struggled to choose. Everytime I decided what I liked I would spot another fabric I liked. I ended up picking 4 and copying the pics into photoshop as well as the leather colours and then playing with different combinations. For the canvas I used the eye drop tool to select the colours and do "swatches" of those against the fabrics in photshop, same for the interior. I used the layers and made different layers visible or hidden to check out combinations and narrow it down as I just can't picture how things work together. I ended up with the purple aztec on distressed brown leather with olive canvas and dark lime interior with brown webbing. Good luck - there are so many really cool combinations on there. Other fabrics I had in the final shortlist were blue green vines, olive paisley and red tapestry.

If you go here: http://porteengear.com/ she has all of her available fabrics up and you can do a custom design. You work out what you want and send her a message on her etsy store (link on that page), she then puts it up as a custom listing for you to purchase. This is the fabric that I selected for mine http://porteengear.files.wordpress.com/201...aztecpurple.jpg

I have heard of a small pen light or laser pointer being used as a clicker. The kind where they are only on when the button is held in. I have seen some cheap key chain type 1s at various times in Cheap as Chips and Reject Shop. I think positive reinforcement is a very good way to go for a deaf puppy. Many corrections the dog can learn to avoid as it receives a warning before the correction. Many of these are based on hearing - a beep of a collar before it shocks, the rattle of a check chain before it is checked, even a verbal "steady" or "ah-ah". A dog that is deaf can not pick up on these cues and alter their behaviour. Also the dog needs to really want to look at you as it will rely on body language and hand signals for so much more. Positive reinforcement that comes from you will make the dog keener to look to you. There used to be (and could still be) a very active training group on yahoo groups called deafdogs. Also try googling deaf dog training and I think there are articles out there. Some strategies I have heard of are a vibrating collar being used as a clicker or alternatively like a "pager" to get the dog's attention, flicking an outside light on and off a couple of times as a sign to come inside, if living with floor boards the use of tapping on these for different things. I am fairly sure I remember reading about use of scents for deaf dogs but I can't remember how or why. You do need to be careful to approach from an angle they can see you and be careful of how you wake them as they tend to go into a deeper sleep. I would also suggest that you try and look into some private training first. Good luck.

I very nearly got that 1 last night, I really liked it. I sent through my custom order request about half an hour ago. I just hope it looks ok and what I selected works well together.

Hubby got me a voucher for a design it myself bag from her Now I am struggling to make decisions. Way too many options. I am copying the pics to photoshop and playing with combinations. The 1 I loved she doesn't do anymore but there are lots of cool fabrics to choose from. Unfortunately I suck at visualising what something will look like which is why I am playing with options in photoshop.

If I recall Belladonna has beginner dogs, so would that not be a bit diffcult to get them to break lambs in? I remember working some lambs with Piper and they were very very light and did not flock tightly at all, not sure if that is normal or not as it is the only time i have worked lambs but if it is I don't think I would want a beginner dog out there on them. Just thinking that both the sheep and the dogs could learn the wrong things. Happy to be told I am wrong though as I have extremely limited experience of starting lambs being worked

The only thing I have managed to get reliably on a whistle is a stop - a long continuous blast. Flanks are not so good, but that is handler error - I can never remember what pattern I use for what, heck remembering my words is hard enough, lol. And in all honesty the most she goes away from me is 200m or so and voice works for that. I would love to get the opportunity to develop those long long casts and increase the distance but we struggle for access to stock to trian so it kind of limits things.

There are cheaper plastic and metal versions around. Be warned, getting a consistant sound out of them is difficult. After months of trying I got to the point where I could get sound out of it everytime but trying to get it the same tone was really hard. And then when I was training and not totally relaxed it was even harder. I know some people that just use standard dog whistles or even umpire whistles - they just use different patterns for different things.

Jazz at the Royal last year And a friend's youngster, Aspen earlier this year.

My 2 old boys Ricky and Reagan used to have the best head tilts. I have so many of them with synchronised head tilts, but most are pre digitial. I miss my boys.

All Adelaide metro beaches are off lead before 10am and after 8pm during daylight savings. Unless things have recently changed? Personally I like going to Largs of an evening. It is not such a popular beach for swimmers and families and is a nice wide beach.Mornings tere are often para sailers there and those go kart type things being pulled along by kites so it isn't so good for free running the dogs. As for how to introduce to water, I would wade in the water with him on lead first and see how he goes. If he doesn't freak out and try to back away, take the lead off and be prepared to get wet. I usually go out to just over knee deep and walk along out there, it encourages the dogs to stay in the water with me. Otherwise mine will only go in to fetch something. If I walk in the water so they are at swimming depth they will happily stay out there as long as I do.

Fussy is not in the vocabulary of 2 border collies and a beagle. LOL That is a good price compared to other options, get more and pay less - always a good thing.

I would agree with what Ness said. Getting a sport going over here is HARD work. Even Flyball took ages and ages to get going and is still not oferred by many clubs and doesn't have many comps and I remember being involved with trying to get that going at a club over 10 years ago now. Herding has and still is a hard slog, but that is of course expected due to breed limitations and stock requirements. Dances with Dogs has only just started a working party when trials have been held for what 2 years now? I would love to see what Rally is about and would go to a workshop if I was free when it was on.

After reading it on here somewhere I bought a pair of rubber gloves and wore those while giving the beagle a vigorous body rub. She loved it and I could not believe how much hair came out. Which reminds me I haven't done it again for a week or so, will do it again today and see how much more comes out. I have never got as much coat out of her as I did with the rubber gloves.