daisygirl

We now use Anvet at Kedron and they are great. Also very convenient as only a 10 minute drive away (we still drive past 3 other vets to get to them). We have also used Animal Options at Ormeau as wanted to try something different but personally I dont think their natural remedies worked on our dogs.

If you dont already own a caravan then you will need to look for pet friendly cottages. I am not sure if there are any rental places where you can just rent a caravan for the week and hitch it up to your car and take off. Especially ones that let you put dogs in the rental caravan. Sometimes you can find a caravan park that has onsite caravans or cabins but once again 99.9% of those dont allow dogs inside either. There are quite a few dog friendly cottages around but how your dog will react is totally up to how much it has been trained and how it normally reacts in new situations. Some cottages we have stayed in wont allow dogs to sleep on the human beds or couches and I think as dog owners we need to respect that so that all dog owners can continue to enjoy the few places that will let us take their dogs. There is no use taking a dog that is used to sleeping on your bed at home to a strange place and expecting it to sleep on the floor if it hasnt been trained to do that. You wont enjoy your holiday if you have been kept awake all night by crying.

We had one our our dogs stolen when she was 12 months old. Luckily we got her back about 3 months later but the pain of those three months was terrible so I certainly feel for you. This same dog passed away at the end of April aged 12 years but at least we had closure. We have now adopted a six month old rescue dog. She is absolutely perfect in every way. We did foster a few different dogs last year and early this year in the view to maybe keeping one but each time we knew that a better home for that particular dog would be found. Now we have our princess and she had to be rescued through no fault of her own. She is toilet trained, obedient, loving and extremely cute and entertaining. I would suggest to give fostering a try as the emotional attachment is sometimes a bit less but if you find the right dog then you have an option of keeping it. A bit like a "try before you buy" idea.

My 12 year old Sharpei was attacked several times over her lifetime but thankfully nothing as scary sounding as Sid, mainly just skin shredding. I still took her to dog parks and off lead areas but was careful to monitor any approaching dogs and if she looked uncomfortable I would intervene early and leave the park. Overall she recovered pretty much fully and went on to do obedience and agility training without any problems. I think the main thing is that if you feel confident in your body language then your dog will feel confident. If you hover and bend over her and feel anxious it is amazing what your dog will pickup on. Are you already going to obedience classes?? If not maybe that would help both yourself and Sid gain confidence around other dogs because they would all be on lead and in a controlled environment. You might meet some other doggy friends that you then feel comfortable meeting for a play date as well.

I used to own a Dont Fret Pet franchise and there are quite a few companies now offering this type of service where they match up a home minder for you after asking heaps of questions. The more honest you answer the questions the better chance of finding the exact right minder. I have never used a kennel and one of my girls is now 13 years old and we have relied on friends, relatives, Dont Fret Pet minders and housesitters and we have never had a problem. I know my dog and I know that she would totally freak in a kennel with all that noise and no human interaction plus she is so anal about going to the toilet that no way would she go on concrete. That is one of the main reasons we have never used a kennel. One place I spoke to said they only get out of their concrete cage for 30 mins a day. My girl likes to sunbake when she feels like it and snooze on her comfy pillow bed when she feels like it. Some kennels wont put bedding in with the dogs during the day because they say that it gets ripped up. I also have a fussy eater who only eats certain foods and is always too skinny and some kennels we enquired about said that they would only feed their food and we couldnt supply our own. I dont think anyone should be thought badly of if they choose to use other options rather than kennels. An accident can happen in a kennel just as much as a family home.

My ususual brag is that my 5 month old puppy can drink water straight out of a running hose. This may not sound unusual to most people with dogs but we are talking about a Sharpei. Most Sharpei hate water and drinking out of a water bowl is as close as they will come to having to deal with the wet stuff. My 13 year old girls have always voluntarily walked into water (but never swum) but I think my puppy is going to surprise all Sharpei owners.

Tupperware dont make Freezer Mates in Australia any more. Sorry you are all out of luck but I think some people sell them still on ebay from overseas.

My Sharpei hates touching the bare part of the bed. If the blanky gets scrunched up the dog has to rearrange itself so not part is touching (or plan B walk around and up and down the polished floor making a racket until mum and dad give in and put you on their bed)

Mine dont sleep in crates, even the five month old puppy that we got last week. The front and back doors are open until we go to bed and if they want to go out during the night I hear them walking around on the polished floors and the front door is only a few metres from my bed. The dogs have access to inside the house whenever we are home so they go to sleep when they want to and wake up when they want to. As I type this my 13yrs old girl is still asleep on our bed even though I have been up for about 45mins.

We go camping all the time with our dogs and lots of our friends and people in our 4wd club have dogs too. In fact this weekend we are heading off for a few days at the beach. Hard to give advice as each dog is different ie one of my dogs loving being outside even when the temperature is freezing but the other wants to be in the camper as soon as the sun goes down. Make sure they have a good tick protection put on them a few days before you go. Also a raised dog bed off the ground is good in case there are green ants, prickles or other nasties arouond. We have always been able to leave our dogs for short periods ie an hour or so just with a short leash attached to their beds and they just sleep but once again every dog is different and most dogs with probably get upset and bark if in a strange environment. Nothing worse than going camping and have some barking dog give all dog owners a bad name. Its harder and harder to find spots that will accept dogs so make sure you obey all rules and pickup their poo, etc. Enjoy going away and have a great time.

Doggie Fantastic is a bit earlier this year as it was so hot last year. Great entertainment on Friday and Saturday night plus doggie activities during the day on Saturday. More details on website www.ncbr.com.au

Place and time has been decided: Nudgee Dog Park/Beach at 1:30pm on Sunday 1 August. Fuchsia and Cassie will be there.

I was the one in the Sharpei thread that bought the boots on Sunday. I got mine from a lady in Brisbane that works from home but she is linked to Top Dogs ie www.topdogs.com.au. There are different sorts of boots as some are for inside and some are outside. We bought the outside ones and they are only sold in a set of four for $90. I probably wont use all four because my dog is still growing so could sell you just one or two. We only need one for a foot that has had toes and her pad removed and will buy her a proper thearaputic boot once she has stopped growing. Send me a PM if you are interested and the Top Dog website has instructions on how to measure your dogs foot.

Dinner Plain at Hotham is outside of the National Park and a think ages ago someone on DOL posted photos of their holiday in the snow at dog friendly accom. Bit further to travel though. I have heard that Dinner Plain is where they have dog sled training as well so that would be interesting to watch.

I just got an email to say City Farmers are having a dog bed sale. I think the closest one to Bardon though is at Mitchelton

Is anyone a member of this club?? I am getting new puppy and want to talk to someone about the next puppy class but the webpage doesnt look like its been updated for 6 months and the links dont work. Does anyone have a contact phone number for this club??

Our dog passed away at the specialist and a friend of mine told our normal vet the next day and a card arrived in the mail a few days later. I thought that was lovely considering they werent actually involved in her passing away.

My dog eats the Barf patties and we microwave them for 2 minutes after getting out of the freezer so dont have to worry about defrosting. I have seen some leftovers sit out on her plate all day and she eats when we get home from work and there has been no effect on her so should be OK.

I placed an ad on Happy Housesitters and found a great couple who were vet students. Most will only come for longer stays ie over 2 weeks but I would certainly suggest to do a google search for Housesitters and place an ad. You screen them and ours provided lots of references. We have had four different housesitters over the years and they have all been great. I have come home to a house that was cleaner than I ever left it which was an added bonus!!

Our two girls came from the same breeder and were raised in a home environment. They came home like they owned the world, settled down to sleep and never cried, never flitched at anything and were big and brave from day one. They went everywhere with us from shops to camping to dog parks to the beach and never had any problems. I think thats a sign of the way they were bought up as a puppy by a good breeder.

What a terrible thing to happen. I think $2000 is way too much to spend on a crossbreed that you probably could have picked up something similar from a rescue shelter for a few hundred dollars. I have had dealings the small claims tribunal over a rental property and they were not very helpful but you might have better luck. You have to represent yourself so put in your claim quickly so that you can choose the court you go to as sometimes you have to travel to the court that is closest to the person that you are making the claim about. I am not sure how much money you want to spend trying to retrieve your $2000 as if the breeder says they have no money then you wont get it anyway. Maybe just have to right the whole experience off as a learning situation.

We got our first dog 13 years ago and then six month later we got her a "Christmas present" of another dog. The first dog (Fuchsia) was always daddys girl and second one (Daisy) was always my girl because we did obedience and agility together. Daisy only passed away 6 weeks ago and for a while we thought we would only keep Fuchsia until her time came to say goodbye but we now have a foster with a view to keep and it is nice to have them both. In our situation having two was never any different to having one except double the vet and food bills but they were both very quiet and very obedient so camping, the beach, day trips, shops, etc were never any problem. My friends have two dogs and they are definately double the trouble as spend the day ripping up stuff and running amok so I guess it comes down to the breed as well as the personality.

We have gone through a few vets since we got "the girls" 13 years ago. Changed to Dr Susan about 12 months ago and she is fantastic. Have also been to Animal Options at Ormeau and wasnt super impressed. I have heard good things about The Gap though as my mum and brother still live there.

We chose very early on in our relationship not to have children and have dogs instead. Our first dog was my husband present from me when we got engaged. Therefore not having the dogs at our wedding would be like not having our parents there. After the ceremony a friend minded the dogs while the lovely people from the kennel came and picked them up. Then my friend collected them from the day care at the kennel after the reception (lunch time reception) and took them home with him. Will be hard to find a reception place that has dogs but if you are getting married in a park shouldnt be a problem having the dogs in the ceremony. My two were so laid back that after having one walk me down the aisle and one as my husbands "best dog" that they just laid at our feet with no-one holding the leads and happy to snooze in the shade. Certainly weigh up the temperment of the dogs and see if they are suitable for a large gathering as dont want them barking or lunging around.

Wish we lived in Sydney as my Sharpei would be perfect.