SkySoaringMagpie

T-time the key thing is the $1000 threshold for paying duty and GST. If the products are over $1000 total in value then regardless of whether they are a gift, for personal use or a commercial importation, the duty (if any) and GST is payable. It generally works out that personal goods fall under that threshold, but they don't always.

Ring the Customs Information and Support Centre on 1300 363 263. They should be able to answer your question or put you on to someone who can.

When it's been possible we have stayed with them. Only one has fought it, a cat who was a fighter his whole life and half feral when we adopted him. I felt terrible because fighting seemed to indicate it wasn't time. But he wasn't eating, and looked dreadful, and had no hope of recovery. That experience was the first lesson that the right path isn't always a Hallmark moment path. The most gutwrenching of all was our dog Buzzie. He was at an emergency overnight vet and she rang us at 4am to say that she felt he should be put to sleep right away for humane reasons. We were at least 45 minutes away by car as we live in a rural area. I asked her if it was reasonable to wait, she said that in her opinion it wasn't because he was clearly distressed and had no hope of recovery. A quick 1 minute chat with OH and we OK'd the euth. We were both gutted that we couldn't be there, and spent a lot of time over "whatifs". One of the things that made that night so dire was that we went straight in anyway, knowing he was already gone but wanting to be there as soon as possible anyway. On the Barton Highway around the Capricorn Stud we hit a kangaroo right after it had been hit by a truck. The Roo's neck and head whipped up over our car's bonnet and made the whole drive in even more gruesome than it already was. I can still see it in my minds eye like it was yesterday. No-one ever said bringing animals into your heart was easy.

Why is SSM a Saluki nut? This is why: Best dog in the world, she's the reason for everything else.

Something I did more than once with my first dog who had a very sound front: I'd move the front feet after she pulled up beautifully. I know I did it more than once because more than once I had a judge say "she was fine before you tried to fix her". Have also done the usual stupid things like calling a female judge/steward Sir and getting so nervous I fiddled the dog's lead right off its head without noticing. Fortunately said dog was sensible enough to just stay there anyway.

Dogs refuse food for all sorts of reasons - some routine, some serious. Give him 24 hours and don't fuss over him. What is his gum colour like? It's possible he ate something iffy at the park and will be right as rain in the morning. Make sure he has plenty of water. If you get a chance, take a look at the colour of his urine. If it is a burnt orange/brown colour get him to a vet right away and get a full blood screen done pronto.

I really like "Culture Clash" by Jean Donaldson because it busts a lot of myths most of us were brought up with about dogs. A lot of those myths get in the way of successful dog training.

I agree with this, also they don't cost that much per ribbon when you consider that most people don't take them - they're not like fringies. I have only had to buy ribbons once in the last 3 years and that was only because we had a judge who preferred to give them out and it was only 1st place ribbons I had to replace. Haven't had to order any others and don't expect to for quite a while.

Hound Club of the ACT Inc Results. Judge: Terry Collicut (Tasmania) BIS: Deerhound - Ch Anduril Ravenscraig (Buckley) RUBIS: Beagle - Gr Ch Brialey Itn A Bit (Childs) Baby: Whippet - Zatini Two Timin Lover (Stephens) Minor: Whippet - Isilwane Makin Goodgirlz Gobad (Barrenger) Puppy: Basenji - Tamsala Wickedy Witch (Budd) Junior: Afghan - Karakush U Turn (Gibson) Intermediate: as for BIS Australian Bred: Mini Long - Gr Ch Briala Amazing Grace (Stevens) Open: as for RUBIS Congratulations to the winners and thank you to all the helpers, especially Barinya who lugged the gazebo and table back to the car for me and PF for staffing the tent!

Ooh, was that Mr Boris? Congratulations

Stafford?

Yep. Lots of things that the person could try before resorting to rough handling, yelling and rewarding the behaviour by putting distance between the dog and her handler and the other dogs. A good trainer could help, shame they seem to have run into a chest-beater. A couple of the posters in this thread witnessed what happened when OH's dog went snarly at another dog on a walk the other day. I took the lead, and took her away from OH. OH then went and patted and made a fuss of the dog she had carried on at. So the consequences of being aggro on lead were that she wound up with me (the evil long haired boss) and worse, OH went and patted the other bitch. For the rest of the on leash walk, apart from one incident with a strange lab cross with issues of its own, she was well behaved. I'm not saying we're perfect dog handlers, far from it, but manhandling and growling is not necessary. In our case, we know that she guards OH as a resource, and so it becomes a case of "make sure unwanted behaviour is unsuccessful". Of course, friends with eminently sensible dogs help too!!

I have found this too. I wonder if some much more experienced exhibitors have a more assertive air in the ring? That is definitely part of it, but I also think some people are well known and that factors in to how they are treated. That is not the same as making allegations of face judging, it's just that some (not all) judges are intimidated to a greater or lesser extent by their peers or very successful handlers.

Sometimes they've seen enough on the move already or they want to go over the dog as it pulled up naturally rather than as placed by you. I don't have a problem with it providing the actual examination of the dog isn't a pat on the head and pat on the bum. There's a difference between moving in quickly to examine the dog and being perfunctory.

Mine found spitzes hard to deal with at first, and I've also noticed that while they are fine wtih most herding breeds, border collies can set them off. I've theorised that it's the "eye" with a border collie, and the prick ears and fluffy coat on the spitzes.

People are concerned about them being called choker chains and objecting when others say that they are a higher risk tool than a flat collar. They are a higher risk tool. Wikipedia has the basics. It's a more critical turn of phrase than anything I have said. Edited to fix my bloody awful quoting!

Anyone who who suggests checking a dog on a chain doesn't rely on the dog's reaction to having something rapidly tightened around its neck. Aversives work because they are aversive. There is a place for them, but let's not pretend they're rainbows and kittens. What do you think of the expression "dog garottes"?

It's not so much age as the approach you use I think. You can burn out a young dog if you go too hard too soon but if it's all games as others have mentioned I think early is great.

A flat buckle collar doesn't tighten, and even a flat martingale generally spreads the pressure over a wider area. While I have seen plenty of flat collars used abusively, if we are talking about the risk inherent in the tool, the risk is, IMO, higher with a chain collar than a flat collar. Like Aidan I'm not saying I go around calling them Tools of Death , I've shown dogs on chains collars before. I just don't think it pays to bullshit oneself about why a tool works - be it a halti or a chain or whatever.

This is it for me too. It's partly why I get irritated with the "there should be no breeding while dogs are in shelters" argument. Pure bred dog world doesn't always cover itself in glory when it comes to its stewardship of breeds, but in my breed at least there are people who take seriously the idea of preserving the breed and I think that's a worthy cultural heritage goal. Throwing that away because there are people who irresponsibly BYB doesn't make any sense to me. Some pure breed people are snobs, even within their breed. When you get people calling dogs in their chosen breed "rubbish" or "that bloody awful dog" it pains me. I might not like the conformation, but it's still a Saluki and still worthy of respect and a loving home. However, snobbery is everywhere and not just the preserve of pure breed people. Rescue snobbery can be really dire for example.

Well, to be fair, they have been used in the past and are still used by a minority of people to hang dogs off the ground to "correct them". Combined with Aidan's point, it's not surprising that people have called them chokers. I think we need Cosmolo's "high/low risk training tools" discussion idea as a thread.

The Kamal Fernandez Seminars are also on in Sydney that weekend I think?

I've used check chains as "fail safes" with head collars too. But in essence, they are a training collar, as are martingales. Maybe in your world as a pro trainer martingales are. I notice Blackdog are selling a martingale as a "training collar" now. However, I first encountered martingales as sighthound fashion and walking wear - big flat fabric martingales like these which I would not describe as a training collar: http://salukistation.com/silk_martingales.htm (need to scroll down to see the collars) Edit: I'm not being sarky about the different worlds thing, just trying to point out that terminology is not absolute.

I don't use martingales as training collars. I use them as security backstops - ie, they are there to ensure that my dogs (who have heads smaller than their necks) can't back out of a collar if they spot a cat or a rabbit.