Gayle.

Depends on the time of year, the other party and the flights. Dusty was put on the plane in Adelaide at midday and we collected her at around 2pm. I was on holidays so that worked out for us as I didn't need to take time off work. When Shae came, we arranged for her to go on a flight that would arrive in Melbourne at about 6.30pm on a Thursday, as I couldn't take a whole day off to collect her, but had 3 hours flex time up my sleeve, and an RDO on the Friday. So using my flex time, I finished work at 2pm, went home and got organised, drove to Melbourne and arrived at the airport at about 6pm, had dinner there, collected the dog and came home by 9.30pm. Then had 3 days to settle her in. That worked perfectly for all of us, because an earlier flight from Perth would have meant a very early wake up for the person putting her on the plane and I didn't want them to be put out more than necessary. And I wanted her to arrive on a day when I'd have multiple days off work to settle her, not just throw her in the back yard with the other dogs and go back to work the next day.

Dusty came to me from SA at 8 weeks with JetPets. Her flight cost about $135. She wasn't fazed at all by the flight, the fuss or being collected by strangers. I recently had Shae flown to me from WA. I emailed both JetPets and Dogtainers for a quote. JetPets got back to me the following day, I'm still waiting for Dogtainers to email me their quote. Shae came as a rescue dog from a registered rescue organisation and her flight was $305. The standard price (non-rescue) was about $380. Shae is not a puppy, she is 5 years old. When we collected her, she was very shaky and nervous........but whether that was because of the flight, the strangers or just that she doesn't cope well in those situations, I'll never know. She recovered very quickly though. I have found JetPets to be easy to deal with, fuss-free and very professional. I have no idea about Dogtainers, quote must have got lost in the mail.

http://www.dogtreatsaustralia.com/ http://www.dog-e-treats.com.au/ http://www.aussiepethealthtreats.com.au/

Just want to clarify something here.......shaving a dog won't prevent it from shedding, all it will do is ruin it's coat. The hair still sheds, it's just shorter pieces.

My Aussies know other Aussies, and other Aussies recognise them as the "right" breed too. They definitely can distinguish between them and Border Collies....there's a chocolate merle BC at obedience training who the dogs have no interest in but if she were a red merle Aussie....which she looks very much like.....I think they'd be all over her.

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My unwanted furniture, whitegoods etc, go straight in Freecycle and they are usually gone within 24 hrs. Last week I gave away a working dishwasher on there. I've also given away a lounge suite, fridge, freezer, desks, computer monitors and various other things I don't need anymore. Saves on landfill and someone else can use them. Best thing ever. I've never had something sit for more than a day before it's claimed.

I think you get some rough and some smooth.

Is it for a guardian type of breed, or a rare breed? I can't imagine why you would need to supply a reference to be able to buy a puppy. I'd just move on to the next ad.

Awwww, that's so sad. RIP you lovely boy.

And with good reason, they are an awesome breed. But as popular as they are here, they are still relatively unknown to the general public. I can walk my dogs down a busy street or through a busy park and I invariably get stopped and asked about my "Border Collies". I have pics up at work of them and often get colleagues come by my desk to look at them and comment on how beautiful my Border Collies are. Last time I was at the dog wash, the girl in the other bay was washing a Border Collie and stopped by to look at our tri-coloured BC's. She had never heard of Australian Shepherds before, but was interested when I pointed out the very obvious differences. Even at the dog obedience club, I get asked what breed my dogs are.

Some states are very poorly represented with some breeds, so to show in those states, where there is little to no competition, the breeders would need to keep a very close eye on other states and make careful note of what's happening there and breed to better THOSE dogs, not necessarily their own. I know of a breeder who thought he was breeding nice dogs, he had nothing in his state to compare his with, he went overseas and visited a successful breeder of the same breed, came home, desexed every dog he owned and re-homed them to pet homes, then started again from dogs he imported. This is where I start to wonder about the show points system in Australia. The title "champion" doesn't mean a lot if that dog is the only one of it's kind being shown. The points are racked up regardless of whether the dog is first class representation of the standard or not.

I happened to wander past Pets Paradise in Melbourne Central yesterday, and there was a little blue merle puppy bouncing around in a cage in the window. Advertised as an Australian Shepherd. Short, close hair, prick ears, pointy face.........aaaaaaaah don't think so. Looked like a Koolie to me, poor little mite. They were also advertising Pomeranians that looked as much like a Pom as a Labrador looks like a goldfish.

Mine stay in the backyard. Always have, even when we lived on a main highway.

The breeder I bought Benson from does not show. She used to when she first got into the breed but hasn't done for years. She also does not participate in any dog sports herself but has bred dogs who are very successful in obedience and agility. She has a PhD in some kind of animal welfare....dogs as companions is her speciality, and she breeds absolutely awesome dogs. Benson is a dog with a temperament that is highly desirable for a pet, and if I ever decided to give him away I'd have people lining up for miles for him. I've aslo had breeders gnash their teeth at the fact that he's neutered, and I've had a group 5 judge ask why I haven't got him in the ring. He's beautifully put together and moves like a dream, although he's not a conventional "show" prospect due to his very dark colouring. His breeder has an agenda other than showing, but she is producing awesome pups (not often though), doing all the required health testing etc, and has imported one of her sires to complement the lines she uses. She also breeds Lagottos, and used to breed pedigree alpacas but she's gotten out of them recently.

That was the impression I got from the doco I watched. They are great little herders, but they bark the whole time they are working, that's their style and it's a high pitched, ear-cracking yip-yip-yip. It's a sound that would drive your neighbours to justifiable murder if they had to listen to it for any length of time.

I didn't even know there where any in Australia. I saw something on TV about them a while ago......cute but very, very barky. And definitely not a dog for close suburban living.

Can you just say "STOP IT!!!" and get his attention away from making a noise? Our new girl Shae has a tendency to howl when she's stressed......she did it the first few mornings she was here.....5am....and I'd just tell her to stop it and she did. A few times I've caught her with her mouth wide open and the beginnings of a howl there and I just say "uh uh" and she closes her mouth again.

My dog barks at 3am when my teenage daughter comes home. At the first sound of someone at the door, the dog doesn't have a clue who it is, but she knows it's not right for them to be there in the middle of the night so she warns us. The fact that she sleeps next to my bed and has the loudest bark in the world means I have to peel myself off the ceiling.......but I'd say it's normal, and to be appreciated rather than stopped. The dog barks because she hears someone entering the house in the middle of the night. That has GOT to be a good thing. Barking dogs doesn't automatically mean bad dogs or badly behaved dogs. My girl is the best behaved dog ever, she would rather die than do something wrong. And barking at 3am is not always wrong.

One day when I'm too old to cope with Aussies, and I downsize to one dog, I plan on having a breed I can fuss over, groom, trim, play hairdressers with......and a bred with loads of personality and panache. I'm gonna have a Tibetan Terrier. I would love a white and black one.

Just a comment (or open-ended question) on breeders and showing. The show judges judge to their interpretation of the standard. The judges don't own or breed all of the breeds they judge, although they may own and breed a few. So on a vast number of breeds, they are knowledgeable about the standard but judge to their interpretation, wthout having the intimate knowledge of the breed that a breeder has. How is a judges interpretation more valid than the interpretation of a long-time breeder who's owned, lived with, studied and recorded data about the breed for generations?

Any of my dogs would be great dogs for novice owners. The boys can be a bit bouncy, although that settles with age, but they are all easy care, laid back dogs that don't take up any more space than is under my feet.

My Lhasa Apso (not purebred) died recently at 17. In her lifetime, I had a baby, got divorced, remarried, re-entered the workforce, saw three kids to adulthood, bought, lived in and sold a few houses, changed careers, changed lifestyles. That's a LOT in one dogs lifetime, and it went by in the blink of an eye. My current dogs, if going by the breed average.....are likely to live to 12-14. Benson is already 4, where did those 4 years go? It seems like only yesterday he was a ball of black and tan fluff, now he's all grown up, gorgeous and sensible. That could be one third of his life already passed. To be able to choose dogs that are genetically disposed to live long and healthy lives would be wonderful. I would love to own one or two of the bigger breeds but won't because of their inherently short lifespan. I couldn't fathom a dog being old at 8, that should be the prime of their life.

I get the point of the article, I think. Correct me if I'm wrong but I see it as this. Breeders should worry about themselves, they should be making sure they do the best they can do for the dogs they breed. They should stop worrying about and criticising what other breeders are or aren't doing because that creates division in the ranks of breeders and makes it easier and easier for third parties to divide and conquer. Believe in yourself and trust that others believe in themselves too.

Ours always slept with us or my daughter. None of them sleep on the bed now, they have their own beds in various places but they are always welcome to sleep in our room. I couldn't stand the thought of taking a puppy away from the warmth of all those other little bodies and expecting it to be alone in the dark.