jerojath

I hope so too, they are really lovely people. Wish all my customers were as nice! :) :laugh: @ "Huff n Puff" Classes!!! Geez, I remember those.....

:laugh: She really is a beautiful baby!!! You are very lucky. :) The customers are a young couple (don't want to name them here). They had a little girl too, called Amelia(?). They said they'd seen you and yours in Target the other day.... As if a new baby isn't enough, they will soon add Tree Frogs to their family too! :laugh:

Not much info on that Jess. Privately owned PP stores will continue to operate as normal. Head Office-owned stores (including Warrnambool PGD) will cease operations, probably on the back of "If buyers can't be found" but I should think that would be highly unlikely.... Gary has been loosing a lot of money for a long time. He has shut-shop in many, many locations, with the Pet Barn chain taking over some of them. Quite a few stores have been closing of late, including Geelong Pet Goods Direct which went under very suddenly. Edited to say... You're dead right Jess.... I went in to look at Reptile Enclosures, and even at 50% discount they were STILL dearer than my full retail prices! They had one there for over $1100, down to $550+..... I sell it for $499.

Congratulations Cav on Emma Rose!!! Hope all's well. :) How is everything with you Tim&Tanya??? Still waiting for pics! I hear you were in Hospital with one of my regular customers who was also in to have her baby, she says your little one is VERY cute!!! Tenties how is Bundy going there???? Been "attacking" you I assume??? Glad he's back with you by the sounds..... what a piss-weak 'excuse' for moving-on a dog anyway!! Edited to say.... I saw on Facebook that Pet Goods Direct are selling EVERYTHING at 50% Off! As soon as I read it I thought "Oh well..... Looks like they're closing down now too" and then I read tonight here on DOL that the whole Pets Paradise, Pet Goods Direct (and others within the company) have collapsed and are now in receivership. To be honest, I'm surprised they lasted as long as they did. I feel sorry for the local staff though.... there are some nice people working there, especially one girl who is really lovely. The Manager came from the Geelong store, promising to "turn this store around" but when I heard her last store went bust and closed, I didn't hold much hope.

I heard this earlier.... good news for puppies everywhere! :laugh: I knew something was up when I read on Facebook that my local Pet Goods Direct (PP) were selling everything store-wide at half price! This chain NEVER have sales like that as Gary Diamond is such a tight-a**e!

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/rspca-raid-for-killer-dog-virus-20120724-22nkj.html Just read this on Facebook.... QUOTE: Here's an interesting article from The Age. Read it, then consider this: Pet's Paradise constantly claim they do not source their puppies from puppy farms. Recently Pet's Paradise puppies were found to be infected with parvovirus. Now the RSPCA has raided a puppy farm, which was also found to be contaminated with parvovirus. How did the RSPCA know to check that puppy farm for the virus? Because records show that the infected puppies at three Pet's Paradise stores had been purchased from that farm. And yet Pet's Paradise still claims to not support puppy farms. I find that insulting, do they think we are that stupid? They must be stupid themselves to think they can keep people fooled. But then, that kind of stupidity really should not surprise me, after working for the parent company of Pet's Paradise (P.R.H.) for about 3 years I am well aware of the stupid and dishonest things they do. END QUOTE.

We went into PGD today as we need a timber bird nesting box.(not for $130+ though!!!) There was a number of litters in there and as Jess said... all on concrete with a small amount of torn-up paper as a liner (which was pushed to one end where the pups were NOT laying). The whole shop is dirty, dusty, messy and smelly. I heard the new manager was gonna "turn things around" in there but the whol;e joint has turned to shit. It's nothing but a dingy typical pet store now..... complete with puppies. There were ducks penned, with no food and a very small water bowl for drinking only. I was also shocked to see signs on ALL the pens INVITING people to pat all the puppies, rabbits, Guinea Pigs and Ducks! We were looking at the reptile section, and found half an inch of dust on everything.... then we saw there prices and realized why it had been sitting there so long! :laugh: $105 for one heat lamp that I sell for $49.95.... same lamp, same brand, same everything. Most of there products were at least double my prices, which was good to see. Surely their days are numbered out there.... clearly they are not selling much, and the staff have clearly lost interest as the place was generally filthy. While we were there, we found a hose hanging from a big display fish tank, siphoning water all over the floor, flooding the floor and damaging furniture and products. We couldn't find one member of staff the time we were there, so we just pulled the hose out of the tank and walked out. It was really depressing to see what could be a decent pet store, collapsing in upon itself, and finding it necessary to go the way of so many others, just to stay afloat. If I didn't know the stubbornness of the owner as I do, I'd have said it would be closed by the end of the month. Unfortunately, it has struggled-on so long now, he may just keep it running to save-face, as that is what he would be doing now.

G'Day stranger! Yes I have seen this, and I've been getting stuck into them on Facebook but they just remove my posts and I have now been blocked. (fair enough I 'spose!) Unfortunately they are doing nothing 'wrong', even if it's unethical. Pet Goods Direct are the same company as Pets Paradise, but always had a rule of not selling puppies.... times are tough, however, and they have done a back-flip. Most PGD Stores are privately owned now, and the owners are able to do whatever they like in their stores, so we are seeing more and more PGD selling puppies, I'm afraid. I'll hand it to Petstock..... they have always stuck to their guns regarding not selling puppies!

"Knox?" I have Googled without luck. Could you please post a link or a few more details to help with a search?

Not necessarily.... I know of a "Puppy Wholesaler" who travels the state buying entire litters from "Backyard Breeders" and then on-sells these to the retail Pet Stores. He has NEVER bred a litter himself, so no, not a Farmer. I only know how this particular 'dealer' operates, but I can assure you.... if just ONE puppy who goes through this channel has Parvo, they will ALL have Parvo. Entire litters in the back of his car.... all in together..... no quarantine. Often they are IMMEDIATELY on-sold to the retailer, before he could even have noticed any signs of illness. It's bloody awful.

What have we been up to??? Not nearly anything as exciting as you! Glad all's well.... now the 'fun' begins 'eh? Look forward to pics :)

Congratulations Guys! Hope all's well with you all.

There is also a Flat-Coat breeder here (can't think of the name!!!) who has imported more than one from Sweden, I believe.

Yup. That's the one. On reflection, it doesn't look exactly like her, but pretty close! :) Just caught me by surprise when I turned the corner and there was Lacy staring at me!! :laugh:

Hey tlc I was walking through K-Mart tonight and thought I'd seen your Lacy! There is a Novel out in the book section called "A Dog's Journey" and the cover picture is of a dog who looks just like Lacy!

Yeah nice pics, tlc! How you holdin' up, Tanya?

Are you leaving us Monah?

Nice and Toasty in MY shop on days like these! (Pretty awful in the Summer weather though!)

Great Photo!!! :laugh:

No worries Tanya..... and sorry I didn't recognize you, you poor bugger! :laugh:

Oh yeah..... you gotta have your own office! :laugh: I saw Lauras group mentioned on FB. The fact that times will vary so much would be a big factor for me to not join in, but then again.... I really don't know what time would suit me! ....might look into it. :) Not much else happening here.... shop is getting busier all the time. Off to Melbourne again this Sunday trying to keep-up with demand! We are flat-out breeding Bearded Dragons and Bluetongues to supply the shop which means we can sell them for about one third that of our competitors!

Less of an issue than with the sandpaper, I reckon. :)

Actually I always use the grinding stone/wheel. The sanding bands wear out way to fast. The grinder is faster and will virtually last forever.

So I looked around and ended up with an Ozito. 3 Year Replacement Warranty and under $40. It came with an extensive accessories kit (most of which I'll never use), Gave it a run today and was very impressed. I think it is probably louder than the Dremel, but I only had it on #3 Speed Setting so it isn't a problem. Thanks for the feedback!

Yep - All busy and all on Facebook! Yeah I have been pretty busy... Winter is very-much a quiet time for us, but we are still ticking along nicely. In fact. Saturday just gone was the best day we've had since we opened! Flat-out today too. I am open on the public holiday Monday and have people coming from Millicent (SA), Bendigo and Melbourne especially to check us out, so hopefully they'll give me all their money!!! You'd be counting the days now Tanya?????