aquaticmalamute

Don't fear I didn't see a thing! It was too darn hot and mr noisy fussy pants wanted to go back into the shade of our gazebo, so I high tailed it back after we left the ring. Ahh so THAT was who said loud enough so the judge could hear him "My dog only needs 5pts to become a champion" Nah, Leo has never bugged us - so don't stress over that And yes, you hung out at the front of our gazebo in the shade at Morisset, yet we didn't realize till we got back onto DOL to report the days going-ons I'll probably be wearing my white and cream pinstripe skirt suit at Medowie so make sure you stop and say hi if you spot me - i'm terrible at 'shutting down' at shows and not paying attention to who is around me. I think it was a newbie coping mechanism - if I hear no evil, and see no evil, then i've had a good day!

We'll be there. Where are you coming from? If it's from Newy, turn left at the RAAF base roundabout and follow that road straight through into Medowie. The first roundabout into Medowie turn left again (Ferodale Rd) and follow Ferodale rd to the next roundabout and turn left. Viola! the rings will be right in front of you We'll be there all three shows Jessm, you must have been standing next to me at Maitland while we were waiting for our judge to finish his lunch. I take it you are talking about the people who asked you how old your pup was - I didn't care much for them either, letting their dogs wander too close to the rear of mine. They came across as being a little too high and mighty. Some people need to have a little more respect for others.

I feel your pain! We'll be at Medowie too

I'd love to go back to Gunnedah but my OH won't let me do any away shows unless it's under a breed specialist. I've only been showing for 3 years, first year with my breeders dogs, last two with my own, and each year we have gone to Gunnedah as it's really a fun show. Great to hear they have lights over the rings now

Yep, they sure do have powered sites. You need to get in early for those as they are limited, but since you are getting there on the Thursday you shouldn't have a problem getting one. Advantage of the powered sites is that they are nice and close to the showers/loo's, however are further away from the rings We usually take a generator for the lights/fridge/microwave/heater/laptop and phone chargers - best investment ever for away shows!

Nope, no booking a campsite at Gunnedah. Don't worry though, there is HEAPS of room to set up camp As you drive in just pop into the caretakers office and he will direct you to a spot to camp. One tip though, take ear plugs if you intend to sleep - the grounds are right next to a train station and the trains toot as they come into, and out of the station on an hourly basis.

Malamutes are reccomended to stay on puppy food till 18 months. If your Mal is small for the breed standard or not very heavy on bone then switching over at 12 months shouldn't be a problem. Agreed about supermarket pet food - too expensive for it's quality and the bag size wouldn't last half a week. You are better off going to a larger 'pet warehouse' or stockfeed type buisness to get your feed from.

Thanks for the book suggestion Nik! Will have to 'track' it down

Great pics Nik! I can't get over how creative you are with your photo ideas

I'm seriously considering training my young dog to track. Yep, I know, he's a Malamute But watching him in the yard makes me think he would really enjoy this kind of work. He is fantastic at tracking my scent and will often track me through the yard, taking the exact route I did many hours ago. He also loves playing fetch and the challenge of finding the exact stick I threw for him amongst the hundreds of other ones laying under the trees in the yard. Blind fetch is a favourite of his too, he doesn't see where I threw the stick but he will track it down with gusto

All of my animals will only ever be either purebred/registered or rescue. My Birman cat is from a reg'd breeder, as with the dogs. The fish are all 'purebred', wild caught, but am darn sure there has been no crossbreeding going on with my lot The current horses are a reg'd QH and a rescue Anglo Arab (I have the papers to register her but haven't gotten around to it). Next purchase is a purebred Friesian. My cow is a rescue Black Angus cross. Chickens are also purebred (pit game), and am researching to find some nice Wyandottes from show stock.

I don't see any Mal in him either. The facial structure, feet, coat and ammount of bone are simply not anywhere near that of a Malamute. I'd be inclined to say GSD x Lab too

And one more for the "I hate Christmas" brigade (wording humerously added by FranCQ)

Christmas spirit and enthusiams just oozes out of Boh when we try to take shots for this years card

I might try for Christmasy/doggy ones for tomorrow. I'm itching to do something with them after seeing everyones great pics here :nahnah:

I might do a month of my favourtie ornaments. They all mean something special and it will be a great way to celebrate the month

Awesome shot I seriously don't see the obsession though. C'mon, it's not like we follow them out to their favourite spot in the yard and woefully watch them while they are toileting, why do they insist on doing it to us?

S&S - One man dog refers to a dog that will strongly bond with one person. Malamutes don't attach themselves to the one person in a family pack, but will share it's time between the family members and generally take orders from everyone. They will quite happily befriend total strangers and if given the chance, will readily 'dump' the family for their new buddy - the beach and offleash situations are prime hunting grounds for new friends, leaving their owners feeling quite dejected that their dog wants absolutely nothing to do with them

Thanks Mick I think he is pretty darn good lookin' too :D He has been much better at home over the last 2 weeks, but at shows he is still acting very DA. We have one last show this year, which is the NSW Malamute Specialty next Saturday, then i'll be taking him in for his thyroid test (can't have the vets shave him before the Specialty!). I have also been giving him Zinc and Multivitamin supplements which I think are helping. We move house in a week (the day before the Specialty ) so I hope the huge change in routine/atmosphere doesn't send him bananas again.

Thanks Ash! I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed

I spose i'd better offer a pic of Boh for this years calendar, I totally forgot last year!

Great topic for this month! This was taken two weeks ago as a storm was rolling in...

KJA - I hope I won't regret it! I just bit the bullet and bought a 6 month old lens with soft case, padded and pressurized hard case, hood, tripod ring, and a 2x extender for just shy of $2000 (over budget, woops!). I have a feeling I won't use the extender, but if I don't then I'm happy to sell it to re-coup some money. Now to organize freight or take the 4hr round trip to pick it up Ripley - Ooooh sounds intriguing..... and expensive

I use Listerine to dry out hotspots, applied a couple of time s a day. I have recently been put onto Anusol (Haemorrhoid cream from the supermarket), and as mentioned it is an anitbiotic and numbs the area so the dog isn't inclined to lick it, and if the dog is so inclined then apparently it tastes aweful (my dog aggrees with this) so they leave it alone to heal. I was showing my boy over the weekend (when Anusol was mentioned to me), bought some Anusol on Monday, by Tuesday the hotspot was dried out and he has not touched it since. Best $8.00 I have ever spent!

Too true! I think it only took us about a month to find the right house, and now we have finally bought one I'm stuck home all day renovating this one so that we can rent it out. With all the birds, insects and flowers starting to 'spring' into action I can certainly say that i'd much rather be outside taking it all in, rather than being stuck inside painting, blech! That reminds me, i'm still in hot water about the last lens I bought (100mm f2.8) with my 'stimulus money' *cough* Too bad I forgot that I got all of my previous years tax back, so theoretically didn't pay tax so was ineligable for the stimulus money. I bought the lens with thoughts that i'd replenish our saving when my cheque arrived.... woops! I thought i'd be happy with my 70-200, which believe me, I am. But I feel I need something a bit bigger, and the 100-400mm seems to tick all of my boxes. And although I'd like to upgrade my body, I can do that at any time, my 20D is still serving me just fine - I'd rather buy quality lenses first New question: Anyone with a 100-400mm? Any reviews, good or bad? I've been reading all good reviews about this lens so it looks like i'll be buying one, whether it's sooner rather than later I don't know (I might still have to hire one and give it a test drive). I'll just need to convince my 'Mr Minister of Finance' that I need yet another lens. Heck, doesn't he understand I have a nest of Wedgies to take photos of? And my current assortment of lenses will not do for the zoo trip, not at all.......