SparkyTansy

I am very sorry to read about Hank :D However I think you are making the right decision. I think you knew that Hank was not going to be right for your family at least at this stage... Weims can be very clumsy and distracted, and often forget where they are running or when to mind their manners. A LOT of work needs to be put in, in order for a wei to learn boundaries and unless you are prepared for mishaps from the start, it's not the best situation to put a family, or a dog, into. I have seen a wei bitch floor my 48kg mum because she wasn't looking where she was going and crashed into her... and she was trained and very well behaved. Even a much older wei still has a lot of energy... if you are set on a wei, assess each one very carefully if they come up for adoption, or simply look at other breeds which are more appropriate for your family.

I actually can't believe I amdoing NOTHING this weekend... i think i was trying to mentally prepare myself for the weim nationals the weekend after...

This has happened to me numerous times, particularly lately... i barely get the dog stacked before the judge is walking up to examine the head... and I do not stack slowly either, but i do not feel i should HAVE to rush. I have found with the OES i am given more consideration, which is funny because you can bank LESS on seeing the stacked outline of an OES than in my other breed.

what's happening on Sat?

Correction: There is no good place to live with multiple dogs in WA... dare i say Australia except for NSW!

Welcome to DOL Bails ;) the link lappiemum provided is a good one. There are many advantages.

oh ozjen she is just lovely

OH was brought up with "dogs live outside" rule... when we moved in together, the compromise was inside when we are home, outside when we are out... no dogs on beds etc... Spartan used to whinge when he first came, so he was on the bed with us... then James came along... was ok for a while but James had to sleep up near my head... he got too big and i was sick of waking up to a mouthful of setter hair... so i made the decision for no dogs on the bed rule...and they were turfed out to the living room! they are allowed on the lounges though... unfortunately all our lounges have the corner of one of the arms gnawed/chewed off thanks to a very naughty weimaraner puppy!

awesome pics!!

congrats boxagirl!!

Winpara - lovely photos!! Well done to everyone who did well in retrieving yesterday. I would love to have gone but i had an OES open show... a shame really as the show turned out to be a bit of a flop for Charlie and I! must remember to check that crystal ball every once in a while :D

Maybe it's a weight loss technique

MM - allergy to food i believe comes out differently... Faolmor's lab zep gets poo explosions, whereas spartan gets awful skin rash and then awful pussy scabs and has to have antibiotics, but hwen he was a pup he also had the bad gut and bloody stool... Jazzy my sister didn't get a call from them, and asked several people when she called to find out but they couldn't tell her anything.. she didn't get any photos from Studio Noah as she already had loads from them from a previous shoot. ValleyCBR of course you can borrow my show stackers... i just keep forgetting to bring them!! I've set a reminder for myself to pack them in the car on Saturday. the book, well, that might be a bit harder for me to track down cos i think it's in a box somewhere, but I will give it a go!!

Valley - i have a spare copy ofthe marshes and meadows one (was also recommended to me)... i accidentally ordered two copies so you are welcome to one if you want it... it's still in the plastic... i just have to find it!

We had a photo shoot done of our Greys by Studio Noah (East Perth but they come to you or anywhere really) it was on behalf of Advance Pet Food and the shots are absolutely stunning, I can't rate them highly enough but they are expensive, and we didn't have to pay for the shoot (thank god!), they took 52 photos of our dogs, we ended up buying 5 but could have bought them all they were that good - www.studionoah.com.au Probably the largest pet store in Canning Vale is Better Pets and Garden on Nicholson Road, Canning Vale (if your heading down South street, turn left into Nicholson Road and it is quite a way down at the other end of Nicholson Road near the Canning Vale Police Station, Dogs are welcome to go inside. There is a City Farmers in Canning Vale but a bit hard to explain where it is and they are doing roadworks outside and lots of detours plus it's not as good at BP&G. I can vouch for Studio Noah but yes they are pretty expensive... hey Jazzy, my sister got those Advance photos done too for her OES... did Advance ever contact you or use the shots of your greys? I think (and I could be wrong) that one of the border collie WA DOLers is a bit of a photographer... maybe Winpara? CruiseNHemi will know... Wazzat if you head straight down Warton road, past the golf course on the left (and CAWA on the right) and keep going down there is a set of shops on the left hand side... you'll see the big orange buiding on the corner there (city farmers) but i agree it can be a bit tricky to get into because of the roadworks... i haven't been to the better pets and gardens. Mason only gets itchy at certain times of the year and also on certain spots, tummy, legs, flanks, and face are where he itches. His eyes swell if he touches some plants and/or certain grasses. I have made sure that I am using a natural laundry detergent etc but it doesnt seem to have helped that much he is still itchy and he only used to itch morning and evening which is bad enough but now he itches early hours of the morning and that wakes us up. I am going to go to the Rally U seminar in July, I spoke to my club and they said that when they know more thay may offer training too, if they do thats cool or else I may also join Eden Hill for Rally O training. MM - being that it's certain times of the year, it's possible that it is atopy, or otherwise known as inhalant allergies... unlike us, the irritation in dogs allergic to certain things comes out in the skin. Common areas are as you described, face, feet and chest/tummy area. Without going into too much detail about desensitisation injections and cortisone, you can try things like getting Mason on fish oil or omega 3, using an oatmeal shampoo or, if very bad, a shampoo like malaseb can do wonders, but Malaseb can be very drying so only use if it gives relief. Another thing you can do, if it gets very bad, is have Mason have a skin test. A number of vets do these now and it helps to find what he is allergic to, so that you can get rid of those things if possible. You can go one step further and have a serum made up and do desensitisation injections. Spartan (far left in siggy) had very bad skin allergies and still has set backs now. he was diagnosed at about 12 months or so with Atopy, and had to go on cortisone because he was so bad. he used to have to wear a t-shirt and boots to stop him from scratching and biting. he started his desensitisation at around 16 months, and slowly came off cortisone. He has been steroid free for a number of years now, but unfortunately still suffers when seasons change, much like i do with hayfever!! Unfortunately, I am something of an expert when it comes to dealing with skin issues. Congrats to bedazzled for her win with brooklyn!! YAY WA!! :D ;) Hi ST, That is exactly what Mason has but lucky its not really very very bad, he does scratch etc at certain times of the day but not enough to break the skin or even make his skin pink, his eyes do swell if he touches diff plants. We went to the Naturopath today and I need to get him the EP Holistic Select Salmon and Anchovy, start him on fish oil capsules and give him some natural hayfever relief when he is itchy or has the swollen eyes. No chicken, beef or lamb etc, he can have liver treats though. I forgot to ask what I an use as training treats I usually use BBQ sausages but those are out, maybe I need to use fish fingers If he is allowed roo or fish you could make him some roo meatballs or fishballs perhaps. Nope only fish.... Hey MM - I used to use cheese for spartan... if Mason is food motivated, you only need small squares. It makes sense to be feeding fish at the moment, to rule out any food allergy i take it... we did fish and potato really early on with spartan, back before they had holistic dry foods! Unfortunately, we pinpointed that spartan was not only atopic, but also allergic to chicken!! Faolmor (DOLer) had a similar issue with her black lab...

Mason only gets itchy at certain times of the year and also on certain spots, tummy, legs, flanks, and face are where he itches. His eyes swell if he touches some plants and/or certain grasses. I have made sure that I am using a natural laundry detergent etc but it doesnt seem to have helped that much he is still itchy and he only used to itch morning and evening which is bad enough but now he itches early hours of the morning and that wakes us up. I am going to go to the Rally U seminar in July, I spoke to my club and they said that when they know more thay may offer training too, if they do thats cool or else I may also join Eden Hill for Rally O training. MM - being that it's certain times of the year, it's possible that it is atopy, or otherwise known as inhalant allergies... unlike us, the irritation in dogs allergic to certain things comes out in the skin. Common areas are as you described, face, feet and chest/tummy area. Without going into too much detail about desensitisation injections and cortisone, you can try things like getting Mason on fish oil or omega 3, using an oatmeal shampoo or, if very bad, a shampoo like malaseb can do wonders, but Malaseb can be very drying so only use if it gives relief. Another thing you can do, if it gets very bad, is have Mason have a skin test. A number of vets do these now and it helps to find what he is allergic to, so that you can get rid of those things if possible. You can go one step further and have a serum made up and do desensitisation injections. Spartan (far left in siggy) had very bad skin allergies and still has set backs now. he was diagnosed at about 12 months or so with Atopy, and had to go on cortisone because he was so bad. he used to have to wear a t-shirt and boots to stop him from scratching and biting. he started his desensitisation at around 16 months, and slowly came off cortisone. He has been steroid free for a number of years now, but unfortunately still suffers when seasons change, much like i do with hayfever!! Unfortunately, I am something of an expert when it comes to dealing with skin issues. Congrats to bedazzled for her win with brooklyn!! YAY WA!! :)

Love the colour changes - they are so perdy ;) P.S I replied to both your emails and not sure if they went through!! i sent you new pics for them for Charlie and Ari but my email sux! still, i like the ones below. :D

Thanks ValleyCBR for my awesome new siggy!

Big Red All the English setters and the GWP in Biscuit Eater The weimaraners in Sesame Street The Weimaraner in Best In Show (I also love love love the bloodhound!) The original alfred who i think was a Lurcher owned by Greengrass, from Heartbeat. The dallys from the 101 Dalmatians remake (even though it screams irresponsible breeding ;))

wow we're at the bottom of page one :D time for a bump... don't want the rest of australia to think WA is boring now do we? I got stuck in traffic at ten to six last night when i left work... so it took me half an hour to get homefrom a 15 minute trip... ;)

Yes a severe weather warning, but don't panic, it's no where near as bad as the last storm... just possible storms and showers, with heavy gusts... no hail thank goodness! People appear to be panicking a bit but it's nice working in a place full of pilots... they know the weather

Longdog Ruby is beautiful :D

Welcome Rubstar! you need to post some pics of your dachy i think

tiggy i know.. perfect day to be at home curled up with a movie and a blanket and dogs... shame i'm at work!

oh that's good RS... for some reason i thought that she was attacked by one of the other dogs and put off... well, that's what i heard but it wasn't necessarily about Ruby... mirawee i'll remember that and yell out next time! you probably didn't realise it was me because i wasn't flustered, covered in OES hair