Gayle.

Naah, Ripley's just the same. He was gorgeous when he came here, and he's still gorgeous. Shae was a bit of a special case, she hadn't had a really happy start to life and while her most recent owners loved her, they didn't seem to take a lot of pride in her appearance and she was really just a bit of a backyard ornament.

Shae came to us in February after her previous owners left her behind when they moved overseas. She did a short pit-stop at her breeders in Perth then they put her on a plane and she touched down in Victoria and she's been with us ever since. When she came here, her coat had been clipped short, she was pudgy with a soft fat belly, she didn't look to be in proportion and her back legs didn't match the rest of her. She walked with a funny stiff-legged gait and her teeth were manky and coated in brown muck. Just this week I was looking at her with a critical eye and realised what a beautiful dog she's turned into. Her coat is stunning....it's long, thick, flowing and totally gorgeous. She's a ball of muscle and bone, and as fit as can be. She gaits smoothly and is an absolute joy to watch on the move. Her teeth are sparkling clean, she now eats raw meaty bones daily and has a top quality diet. Before she came here she'd never, to my knowledge, participated in any dog-specific activities.....well, last weekend she gained her second herding title and she's proved to be quite handy at moving sheep. The before and after pics tell the story, it doesn't even look like the same dog! She is Borderton Dappledinshade PT. Aka Shae the Short Sheepdog.

When I got Isaak, we blocked off the front entrance and hallway from the rest of the house by making use of bi-fold doors and latches. It was plenty of space for a puppy, our front entrance is a hexagonal shape lined with windows which he could see out of, and we left some toys, water and a crate with the door propped open. That was his home while we were at work until he was big enough to be left outside with the other dogs.

My girls are smoochy and cuddly with me, my boys like to share the love. Dusty would be happy to crawl inside my skin and live as close to me as she can get, and Shae likes my lap. Neither of them barrel up to strangers for pats or cuddles, they are both reserved and quite stand-offish if they don't know the person. The boys aren't quite so picky, they'll bowl anyone over for a pat. I love that my girls choose me over and above anyone else.

My desexed girl (neutered at 8 weeks) marks outside, she cocks her leg to do so and she's the most dominant of my dogs by a country mile. She's pretty and sweet natured with me, but she will start a fight AND finish it if she deems another dog has invaded her space. My entire girl is soft, sweet and submissive and would rather die than put a paw wrong. She is not outgoing with other people though, and I'd describe her as reserved, which is correct for the breed. Both girls have 10 times the brains of my boys and both boys (one desexed, one not) are outgoing and friendly with everyone.

I have two of each and they both have thier advantages. The boys have better temperaments, but they don't have much up top. The girls are easier to train and I prefer the size of the girls. I love both, but given a choice I'd probably go for a girl. They seem to grab my heart more.

Would the judge even look at the "spots"? I'd like to think they're too busy assessing the overall structure, movement, balance and type than checking each merle spot individually. I wouldn't worry about it and I wouldn't be putting any heavy product where the judge is likely to be feeling for the underlying structure.

I must admit, a few weeks ago when I had some leftover cooked sausages, I chopped them up and buried the pieces under the kibble in their bowls, and every dog nudged the kibble out of the way to get the sausages first.

Black Hawk Holistic. I ran out last week and bought a bag of Optimum from the supermarket on Friday night to tide me over til our new order arrives, and they certainly don't tuck into it with the same enthuiasm. In fact, Dusty won't even finish hers and Ripley views it with suspicion.

We were at the Scottish Breeds trial yesterday, I'd entered just to give Shae some paddock time with the sheep and another run on the PT course. I was planning to call it as soon as she started to get too big for her boots (a bit of a problem lately) or went feral and chased the sheep all over the place (which was our previous PT attempts). The weather was crap.......pissing rain, freezing cold, windy......but knock me down with a feather, the little bugger worked beautifully and she now has her PT title! We made heaps of mistakes.....mostly mine.....and in the past my problem has been not knowing how to fix them and panicking and just going to pieces. Not yesterday......maybe the crap weather gave me a clearer head or maybe I'm just getting more confident with my skills (I have the same fantastic trainers as Smoothie Girl)....but with each mistake, I stopped, thought about it, went into position to fix it and off we went again. Shae went feral only once, and I think it was my fault for not giving her proper direction, so I called her off and made her wait while the sheep gathered, then we started again. I was so happy with the outcome for both of us, it's given me so much more confidence for training for the next level now!

Absolutely devastating. So, so sorry. RIP beautiful Bracken.

So so sad for you. I lost my most beautiful Aussie boy Benson in July, in similar circumstances. He became very ill very suddenly and died the same day of kidney failure. It ripped the heart out of my world and turned my whole life upside down. I would never wish that unimaginable misery and grief on anyone. I sincerely hope Bracken pulls through. Thinkng of you.

Happy birthday Daisy! Did she get donuts? I seem to recall she likes them in packs of 4 or 6 at a time, preferably stolen.

When we got Isaak, we picked him up on a Sunday afternoon and both went to work the next morning. We left him inside, we blocked off our front entrance (inside the front door, its huge), so he had that and the hallway to play in. We left a covered crate with the door propped open, a comfy nest of rugs in the crate, water, toys and newspaper. He was fine, I'm sure he screamed the house down but we weren't there to hear him but when we got home that evening he was sound asleep in his crate, and that was pretty much how we found him each time we came home. We started leaving him outside with the big dogs when he was about 3 1/2 months old, he was a big robust puppy and the other dogs were gentle with him. With out next puppy, I'll probably also leave it inside but with Dusty for company. She loves puppies and she's very motherly and gentle with them.

I've added two adult dogs to the family this year.......the first after my 17 yo Lhasa Apso passed away and the second after Benson left us. The first time we didn't even consider a puppy because we'd recently been there and had no desire to revisit the chewed shoes and piddled on carpets in any kind of a hurry. The second time we weren't considering anything but an adult male was offered to us so we took up the offer. Adults are easy....both dogs fitted in pretty much straight away and after a few days of hanging back, they were soon part of the mob. They were already toilet trained and had lovely house manners so all the hard work was done. They were 5 and 4 years of age, good ages to introduce to an established pack as they aren't too old to want to just lie around and not play, and old enough that the brain (especially in the male) has matured. A younger adult or teenager might not have the sensibility to read subtle signals from the other dogs and an old dog might just want to be left alone and might feel harrassed by youngsters. My next dog, however, will be a puppy as I want another one to show and I have specific requirements that I won't find in an adult.

She did listen, she heard what you were saying and made a decision based on the information you provided. Unfortunately it wasn't what you wanted to hear. Mini foxies and Tenterfield terriers are tiny dogs, maybe she was worried a puppy would be hurt by your boisterous, hyperactive son. Maybe consider a more robust breed?

Yes, I'm interested too, so keep updating. And thanks for what you've written so far.

How about sodium There must be some form of salt in pet food Copied & Pasted, excuse the quality Crude Protein……… 25.00% (min) Crude Fat………… 14.00% (min) Crude Fibre………… 4.50% (max) Crude Ash ……. 11.0% (max) Phosphorus(P)………… 0.80% (max) Calcium (Ca)……….. 1.45% (min) Moisture……… 10.00% (max Ingredients Statement Lamb Meal, Ground Brown Rice, Ground Oats, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols source of Vit E,Citric Acid & Rosemary extract), Brewers Dried Yeast, Flaxseed meal, Fish Meal. Canola Oil, Emu Oil, Dried Carrots Dried Kelp, Choline Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Chicory, Yucca Shidgera Extract, Glucosamine Chondroitin Sulphate Dried Blueberries, Dandelion, Peppermint, Rosemary, Tomato Meal,Zinc Oxide, Zinc Amino Acid Chelated, Iron Sulphate, Vitamin A-Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement. Manganous Oxide, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement Copper Sulphate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Riboflavin, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Folic acid, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, D-Biotin, Calcium Iodate Sodium Selenite, Cobalt Carboinate. Sodium Selenite = salt It's not the salt you put on your tomatoes, it's commonly known as selenium and it's a trace mineral found in a lot of foods. http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/selenium

I have an entire boy and a neutered boy and they are both just big sweet goofballs. Neither of them do much marking, neither show any aggression and aside from differences in their coat and the lack of balls on one, you'd be hard pressed to tell which one was entire from their behaviour. When my entire bitch is in season, the difference is obvious....the one that can do the deed gets very amorous and noisy for a few days. I also have an entire bitch and a neutered bitch. The only dog of mine that marks (outside) is the neutered bitch. She will lift her leg and mark where other dogs have been. She will also respond to aggression with aggression.......she's tiny for her breed but she thinks she's 10 feet tall and bulletproof and if a dog snaps at her she'll go at it all guns blazing. My other 3 dogs avoid those situations, they just duck for cover. The only dogs I ever had that fought were my current neutered girl and my previous neutered boy who died in July. They'd go at it every now and then, usually over food, and we had to be careful about feeding them separately and making sure there were no food scraps around they could fight over.

He is gorgeous! I've alway been a bit taken with your Oberon and have enjoyed watching him grow up, so I'll enjoy seeing Adonis grow too.

Hi, I'm in the Latrobe Valley too. You can't take dogs into any national park anywhere in Australia. For dog walking places, there are some really good rail trails......one in Moe which starts at the botanical gardens and ends at the Yallourn W power station. And one that goes from Glengarry to Cowwarr. I live in Toongabbie, which is halfway between the two and the rail trail goes by our place about a half block away. In Traralgon, the railway reserve in Hickox St is a lovely area to walk your dog. but keep it on lead as there's birdliife that can't be disturbed and snakes that you don't want to disturb. Have a look here for off leash areas, on the right side of the page. http://www.latrobe.vic.gov.au/Services/Animals/ Also, the Gippsland Dog Obedience club has grounds in Toners Lane Morwell that you can take your dog to for a run, but it's not fenced so your dog needs good recall.

That's pretty much how I feel.....I *don't* get to choose what people do with their dogs, because they aren't MY dogs and it isn't my right. And I would hate it if someone started moralising to me about my dogs. I'm not keen on bringing up the health testing angle either, because I really don't know anything about Staffies, and to be honest, pedigree dogs....health tested or not....aren't immune to health problems, and all my colleagues know I lost a much loved pedigree dog to kidney failure only recently. The new Vic laws is probably the way to go.

It was their lunch hour, and the rest of the phone calls took place in their tea break. They weren't skiving off work, at least.

Mostly I just keep my mouth shut about the purchases on schnoodledoodles, the advertised litters of unregistered labs etc......I don't want to sound fanatical, because I have to work there and I'd prefer not to be viewed as crazy. They already think I'm a bit weird because I have 4 dogs of the same breed and my life revolves around doing activities such as showing and herding with them. Mind you, some people are extremely interested too.

I happened to be in the middle of this conversation, which took place between the two women at the desks either side of me. And I'm still shaking my head in amazement. Lady 1 held up her mobile phone and said to the other one "Awwww, look at these pups, they're so cute and the price on them has just dropped from a thousand dollars to six hundred! They'll get snapped up fast at that price!" and they both proceeded to oooh and aaah over what I eventually realised were byb staffies. Lady 2 said "My husband has been talking about getting a second dog, I'll see if he wants one". So she got on her phone and rang him and I could hear her saying "Now this will be 100% YOUR dog, darling!".....(good justification there, and if it doesn't work out you just blame the husband for getting the dog in the first place). So lady number 3 wanders over and they show her the photos and lady 2 explains how she's alerted her husband to this amazing bargain and he's now thinking about it, but then goes on to explain that the "breeder" (choke choke) lives close by so she can collect the pup on her way home from work this afternoon. Lady 3 says to lady 2 "Isn't your other dog a pain in the arse?" and lady 2 agrees that yes he is. And lady 3 asks "So how is this one going to be any different" and lady 2 says that it will definitely be different because this one is SOOOOO much cuter. And lady 3 gets up and says in disgust as she leaves "Puppies don't stay puppies forever you know, and this one will end up being as much a pain in the arse as the other one" (silent applause under the desk for her good sense). Well, the afternoon wore on with phone calls being made to husband who decided he definitely wanted the brindle male with the white chest (well at least they weren't blue), and both women kept checking Facebook to see if the "breeder" had returned from wherever it was she'd been so they could phone her....but damn, when they did, brindle male pup had been sold and he was the only male. But never mind, they'll breed again and there'll be more pups for sale. And in the meantime, maybe lady 3 and I can start a subtle campaign for buying a real staffy from a proper breeder......or going to the local pound and taking her pick from the unbelievable amount of staffies that show up there each week. Or alternately (and preferably).......not getting another dog at all seeing as they can't deal with their current one. What do other people do when they hear conversations like this in their workplace, without sounding like a judgemental, moralising fanatic?