Gayle.

I can close my eyes and see a little "movie" in my mind of Benson.......the day we chose him, the day he came home, lying under the dining table with his head on his paws, at the park, at the lake, at the beach, sitting in the back seat of my convertible as we hurled down the highway with the wind in his hair, at obedience, at dog shows, stalking chooks, being groomed......it's like the life of Benson in little snaps. I can see the same things when I browse through my photos. I have thousands of photos of him and so, so, so many fantastic memories. He was in my life for four wonderful years and those years were wonderful because he was there. And I'd rather have that than not.

Actually, collies are a breed that really appeal to me, I always sit near the collies at dog shows and I've met some absolutely gorgeous ones. But I look at them and think....hmmm.....they're a lot like an Aussie, might as well just get an Aussie. But I can actually see a collie in my future at some stage. Not for a few years but my perfect one would be a smallish blue merle bitch with a sweet, soft temperament.

I've found that a lot of breeds that appeal to me on paper, in pics and from DOL, don't hold quite the same appeal once I see them in the flesh. And then I keep veering back to group 5 dogs and in particular the collie breeds, then I look at them and think I might as well get another Aussie!

Thanks for your words, it's been over 2 weeks now and I miss him so, so much. I keep "seeing" him, and going to call him when the other three come and he's not with them. It's a different place without our big black boy.

After losing our beautiful Australian Shepherd boy a few weeks ago, I went for a wander at a dog show to see what other breeds appealed to me. Kind of figured I might as well get something other than an Aussie but nup, nothing else measured up. Looks like it will be another Aussie.

Isaak pees on the weeds along the edge of the garden beds and he gets so focussed he forgets his aim and piddles all over the fluffy bits on the back of his front legs. Thank dog for Wonder Wash!

It's not just poo.........there's also allowing dogs to pee on chair legs, gazebo poles, car wheels etc. Bloody disgusting.

Dogslife, that's tragic. I hope the outcome is better than you hoped for. I am thinking of you.

We locked her in the courtyard with a neutered male friend, and him in the backyard with a neutered female friend. It was noisy (he was 10 months old and went as far as trying to climb trees to get to her, and screamed the place down) but effective. It was not, however, fun. Not in any way, shape or form. In fact I'd go so far as to say it was the week from doggie hell.

The problem with them having already visited is that they know where you live. I adopted my most recent dog through breed rescue, who also happened to be the breeder of my dog, and in amongst the emails going backwards and forwards to get ownership and paperwork in order, one was forwarded to me from her previous owners with a document attached that I needed. They had surrendered her when they went overseas and in the email, there was a question as to how she was going and concern for her well-being. I emailed them to let her know I was her new owner, I told them of my situation and the nice life the dog was now living, I sent her some photos I'd taken and let her know of my plans to teach the dog herding. And she emailed me back absolutely surprised and delighted that I'd taken the time to contact her. But I never told her where I live. The dog is now completely transferred into my name....mains registered, microchip, council rego, everything.

I lost my first Australian Shepherd just two weeks ago. He was 4, he went suddenly due to kidney failure. He was not "inbred"......in 7 generations of pedigree there were hardly any common dogs. There were no known health issues in his lines and as far as I've been able to find out, kidney disease is not a known health factor in Aussies. When I look back over the past two years, I wonder if he'd had it and we didn't notice it. He wasn't an active dog, despite being very active as a pup, and he was a very slow eater. He always drank a fair bit of water, and he didn't appear to have a lot of stamina. We thought it was just him. Our other Aussie isn't active but she never has been. Were there signs that we missed? I have no idea but Im over beating myself up about it. He was one dog I thought for sure I'd have til he was very old, he was from robust, healthy, long lived lines and there was no indication that we might lose him at such a young age. I could get very paranoid about my other dogs but no one will enjoy that so I'm committed to giving them the best life possible for as long as I am lucky enough to have them. No matter how long they live, it's not going to be long enough so no point worrying that time away.

If they wanted to have constant and unlimited access to the dog, they should have rehomed her in a temporary situation, maybe boarded her in a kennel, not sold her. Sold is sold, she's not theirs to visit anymore.

Go and see Jane at the obedience club.

Lovely judge you will have too. Sue has an Aussie. Good luck. Yes, she's the president (or something) of the NSW Australian Shepherd Club.

Shae and I are in our first proper trial on Sunday, the Australian Shepherd RTB one at KCC Park. This is our first step towards a title.....she's doing one run in HT and one in PT just to give her extra time with the sheep. Only one judge, so if she gets a pass in either, we'll be back under another judge as soon as we can to get that first title under her belt.

Losing Benson has given me a bit of a perspective adjustment as far as my other dogs go......life with them is for enjoyment....mine and theirs. Dusty is now un-retired from showing, someone said she wasn't good enough to show, well I love showing her and while she might never win anything, she's got all the credentials needed to take part in a dog show. Shae is getting two runs in a herding trial next Sunday, one at a level higher than she's ever worked before, just because she can. And because if she passes, that's one leg to a title.....if she doesn't pass, well we'll have had a good fun time with the sheep anyway. Life's too short to worry about winning, we're in it for the fun.

Yes really. Babies don't need powder, spray or any product. They need to be trained to stand still and enjoy being groomed, they need to get used to their feet and ears being trimmed. They don't need product through their coat though. And I take my grooming tips from the top Aussie breeders in the state. There are plenty of ways to get a puppy used to being chalked without using chalk. Rub thier leg gently, back comb the hair on their paws. Use a water spray bottle sparingly on them to get used to the sound, but puppy fur and skin don't need anything extra.

For the first few shows, you won't actually need anything beyond a puppy shampoo and maybe some scissors to tidy up his feet, or at least get him used to having his feet trimmed. Babies don't need powder, voluminiser, hairspray etc. They just need to be clean and sweet smelling.

Benson was the leader here too, in a non-pushy way. They seem to be OK, no one is vying for top dog, although Shae is probably the most dominant dog I've ever had. They seem quite happy but I'm not because I'm back to the original quandary I had after Kassy died.......can't take two out cos one has to stay home alone. I have entered Dusty and Isaak in the ASCV open show next Saturday which means Shae has to stay home. Her turn will come the following day because she's got two runs in a herding trial, but she won't know that when we head off Saturday morning and leave her behind.

The best show outfits, in my opinion, are the ones you don't notice. The show is about the dog, not the handler and the more unobtrusive the handler, the more the dog stands out. For a blue merle dog, I'd go with black, charcoal grey, navy blue or dark brown/tan. Flat black or grey shoes and no hat, no patterned fabrics, no chunky jewellery. If you choose to wear white shoes, make sure they are sparkling clean. If you're unsure about lead colour, black is always safe as it tends to "disappear" into the background.

I am finding I am more "accepting", for a few days it was just shocked disbelief then I wanted to know why, why, why. And I can now talk about him without crying. It's not the same though, not at all. It never will be and that's what I'm accepting.....the change in the family structure. Eventually we'll get another dog, there'll be more change, a different family structure but hopefully we can restore the balance.

Congratulations to both young handler and dog. An awesome achievement!

I use a snake chain, I also have a thin black slip lead I sometimes use. For grooming, I have single sided thinning scissors, straight scissors, a pin brush, a bristle brush and a small soft slicker brush for leg hair. Chalk powder, Wella cholestrol cream for it to stick to, Plush Puppy Wonder Wash for grubby feet (it's self rinsing shampoo for the bits that get dirty between bath and show, usually the feet). For bathing I use a horse whitening shampoo called Champion Tails Glo White. Dilute in water and spray on whites and leave for a few minutes, lather well and rinse. Plush Puppy conditioning shampoo and a good quality conditioner that I dilute in water and spray on after the bath and before drying. I have other bits and pieces such as a small soft cat brush for applying the chalk, a velvet mitt for making the coat shine, a block of chalk for whitening the facial markings,a wide tooth comb, an undercoat rake.

Feeling your pain too. It's not how long you have them for, it's how deeply they bury themselves in your heart.

Jules, my last 2 went at age 13 and 17, to see one go at 4 is just beyond devastating. And he was the nicest dog I've ever owned.