Gayle.

Can you please post feedback on the product after you've used it? I bought 5L of Odourgo and to be honest, it's not that fabulous. I was trying to remove cat pee odour from a couch and despite washing the covers and liberal doses of Odourgo on both the covers and the foam insert, I can still smell it when I lay down on the couch. I don't want to smell it, I want it gone altogether. As fas as I'm concerned, a faint smell is just as bad as a strong smell.

I had a barking dog, I knew he barked a fair bit but the neighbour confirmed it for me when she told me he (or they, as once he starts the others bark too) barks all day at everything while we're at work. Problem solved with an anti-bark collar. He wore it for a week, although he didn't bark after the first five minutes of wearing it. Instant peace and quiet. I'd like to think my dog doesn't bark, he IS very obedient and he's a lovely boy with beautiful manners.....but he does bark and it's bloody annoying and I can't blame the neighbour for bringing it to our attention. He doesn't bark at nothing, the breed isn't like that. He barks at people going by out front, he barks at birds in the trees, he barks at the dog next door, he barks at the neighbour hanging out her washing. He's not barking at nothing, to him it's something and he's just telling everyone about it. But he likes the sound of his own voice way too much so now he's made to be quiet. What you need to do is make your dog be quiet.

It happens, it's like the code of ethics doesn't extend ALL the way to the boundaries of animal ownership. I used to subscribe to the Ozshow email list (I think that was it, showies and breeders mostly bragging about their wins), and I quit it because there was a regular poster to that group who owned a pet shop that sold cross bred puppies, and that didn't sit well with me. I also used to be a very high profile poster on Cat World....the cat version of DOL, as I have pedigree cats. I quit that because of the double standards displayed there by some of the breeders......one in particular who breeds Birman cats and has a disclaimer on her website that she will only sell her kittens desexed and do not ask for anything else blah, blah, blah, and yet she saw absoliutely nothing wrong with an impulse purchase of a backyard bred shittypoopinschnoodlepup which she bragged about buying one Sunday afternoon when she was out with her husband for a weekend jaunt. And when I made my feelings about her hypocrisy known, the posts were removed. So no more Cat World for me. It really, really annoys me. To me, these people ARE NOT ethical breeders of anything, as their "ethics" extend only as far as they absolutely have to to enable them to get what they want.

I would love to be able to take a dog or two with me wherever I go. As it is, if I have to nick into town for something I take a dog for a car ride, unless it's too hot and I'm going to be a while because I can't leave the dog alone in the car. If I could take the dog into shops with me though, it would be fantastic. I loved that in Europe dogs were welcome everywhere. That's how it should be here.

We have 3 dogs and 3/4 acre which is very useful and very much used. They don't access the front yard which is quite spacious, but they have general, all day access to the middle part which contains the house, courtyard, paving, sheds, orchard, fishponds, gardens and a very wide, large driveway. This is their main play area and they can and do, run in it, play-fight, chase balls etc. Then down past the orchard is a paddock which is around 800 square metres, maybe more. It's flat, mowed and fully fenced and it's a lot longer than it is wide so it's perfect for frisbee playing and ball-chasing. And this we do every day, weather permitting. They aren't allowed in the paddock unless we are with them, and when we head for it, the excitement is high.....they LOVE it and it's a real treat for them, and for that reason, they won't ever be allowed free access. I also use the paddock for obedience training. Since we moved out here, I walk the dogs a lot less but I do walk them (and bike them).....but they are all fitter and slimmer with better muscle definition. Dusty has just done a huge coat drop so she's not hiding anything and she looks amazing.

It's awful, just awful when they get to the point where you have to face reality. I have lost two oldies in the past 4 years, the second one just yesterday. They seemed to age slowly, then all of a sudden they were old....slow moving, hard of hearing, sensitive to the cold, slept a lot more. Neither of mine ever had any health problems thank goodness, they were relatively healthy right to the end. The first one to go had a stroke which was so bad she had to be pts at 14, the one who died yesterday just got old and faded fast in the last week. However, they were both loved as much as they could possibly be and I gave them the best life I knew how. I honestly think I managed to extend Kassy's life by a few months just by moving house....she really seemed to love our new place and it seemed to invigorate her and give her a new lease on life as she trotted around inspecting everything and finding the best places for a snooze. Happy birthday Maxi, may you have many more enjoyable ones.

It doesn't matter how long you have them for, it's never long enough, is it? Let's just cry on each others shoulders, Rozzie. It's so hard to let these little oldies go, they are too precious for words.

Kassy was all the wrong things a dog should be.......an impulse buy from a pet shop and given as a gift. When I lost a little dog to a car accident, my ex-husband brought home Kassy one day when he saw a pet shop selling puppies in Melbourne. She was sold to him as a Lhasa Apso, and while I think she probably had a fair bit of Lhasa in her, I'm almost certain she was from a mixed marriage. A puppy farm puppy? Probably, who knows. But she came to us and we loved her, and so did Gemma, my Maltese girl. The two of them grew up together and were inseparable. Kassy was the cutest puppy.....dark brown and fluffy with black points. As she grew up, she lightened to blonde and she was blonde to the bone. Kassy was gorgeous and not very bright. She wasn't blessed with many brains, in fact some days I'd think she wasn't blessed with any, but she made up for it with her friendly, happy nature and her complete and utter belief that she could do whatever she put her mind to. Usually she couldn't, but that mattered to her not one whit. Kassy wasn't untrainable, I could spend hours teaching her to sit, and she'd eventually get it.....til the next day when I'd spend the same hours teaching her to do the same thing, Eventually I gave up.....she was only little, her bum was already close to the ground, she didn't need to know how to get it closer. She wasn't fussy with food, but she didn't hold with these newfangled ideas of super premium kibble and raw meaty bones, To her, real food came in a foil packet or off someones plate. Although she'd happily accept kibble as a treat from my hand. Kassy raised 4 kids, including a newborn baby, and in recent years she's helped raise 3 Australian Shepherd puppies. They were all bigger than her but she commanded their respect and while she wasn't the most maternal dog in the world, she always kept the puppies in line. Kassy's best friend Gemma died suddenly in 2007, and I thought my heart would break.......then I looked at Kassy and knew her heart WAS broken. She got up on the couch, refused to eat, refused to go outside and I knew if I didn't come up with a plan, I'd lose her too. So I got a puppy....Benson, the first of the Aussies. Kassy took one look at this big black bundle of fluff and hated him on sight. She got off the couch, defended her food bowl, her bed and her backyard and came back to life. She had a big "adventure" shorty after we got Benson, one no one wanted her to repeat. When he was 12 week old I took him to the vet just a few doors down from our house for his vaccination. It was a Saturday morning and we walked there and back. Later that afternoon, I realised I hadn't seen Kassy for hours and went searching for her, and eventually we realised she'd gotten out of the yard, so hunted high and low in the neighborhood for her. No Kassy to be found anywhere. We spent the entire weekend looking, doorknocking, walking, driving, asking passers-by and she was nowhere to be found. On Monday morning, in desperation I checked the pound website and there she was, starring in her own jailhouse drama. We got her out the same day, paid a bundle in fees and fines and nicknamed her Schapelle Kassy for a short time. She was the only inmate of the pound to be wearing clothes......when she was picked up she had her warm winter jumper on. She was ever so glad to be home though. It turned out that she'd tried to follow us to the vet and must have been in their yard or a neighboring yard when we came out and walked home. Someone found her and didn't realise she was ours so called the pound. Kassy loved moving out to our new property last year, she loved trotting around the place with me, checking on the chooks, weeding the garden, sleeping under the shrubs, looking out at horses going past. She was 17 years old, that's a great age for any dog to live to, and she had a fabulous life with a family who loved her. Today she slipped quietly away in her sleep. We will miss her. And for the first time in over 20 years, I don't have a little dog at my feet. Kassy....cute as a button, brave as a lion and thick as a brick. That just about sums her up, she was one of a kind and I absolutely adored her. Rest in peace, my sweet girl. And run with your best mate Gemma at the bridge. Kassy in May 2007. Kassy with Dusty, mid 2010. She would have been 16 here and while she was starting to slow down, she was still pretty sprighly for an oldie.

In the end I was kind of glad he talked me out of it. I got to give Kassy a few final days, which she spent on a fur rug. She slept for most of it but every Noe and then she'd wake up and we'd help her to the garden. She loved her fur rug and every time one of us passed her we'd tuck it around her and make sure she was comfy. She didn't suffer, she just quietly slipped away. She will be buried in our paddock tonight. She loved going to the paddock for a play and to bark at the chooks. So that will be her final resting place.

My husband got his wish, he was so unhappy about taking her to the vet and so adamant she'd go peacefully at home. And she did. Our dear old girl passed away quietly in her sleep this morning. RIP Kassy Nov 1 1993 - Jan 20 2011. Rest quietly, my friend.

Dusty cane pretty much perfectly behaved from when we got her at 8 weeks. Although she's been going to obedience training and competed in dog shows most of her life, I really didn't need to put a lot of effort into making her a beautifully behaved dog. She is just that type that would rather die than displease me. She's never really been naughty, not even as a puppy. The boys, on the other hand, are a different matter ;-)

How far have you got with Daisy in obedience? If you've got as far as say....a novice title....maybe look to a more traditional sports breed (Aussie, BC, Kelpie, GSD, etc) and shoot for UDX. To me, that would be the ultimate challenge......and from there an obedience championship title. That would be the most satisfying thing ever, to reach those heights with a dog that just wants to keep learning.

Petsville used to sell it when they were in Traralgon, they might have some at their Morwell store. You could give them a ring.

My Aussies have always been with my elderly Lhasa. She is tiny and very fragile (and about to go to the bridge) but I have never seperated her from the big boisterous puppies and she has never been hurt. Even with 3 full grown Aussies, she was absolutely fine and in no danger.

Oh shedding on an Aussie is variable. Benson is neutered so he doesn't drop coat, we just find fuzzy bits here and there around the house. I would rather he did drop coat because he gets itchy skin from dead undercoat that needs to be stripped. Dusty does a twice yearly drop that is spectacular in that she loses 10 times more than she ever owned. Those drops last a couple of weeks and are best dealt with by a good vac and a few hydrobaths. The rest of the time she doesn't lose much. She is so, so worth it though. Isaak is yet to lose coat, his is currently like a big fat fluffy bear, so I'll update you when he does.

Aussies are adaptable and not all of them have high exercise requirements. Dusty doesn't need hours of exercise or mental stimulation as long as she's with me when I'm home. My 3 amuse themselves in a non-destructive manner while were at work all day. Befoe we moved we had 2 in a normal backyard, they were absolutely fine. And I know other Aussie owners who don't have tons of space but have happy dogs.

Thanks for all your thoughts. There's a bit of a conflict here as my husband does not want me to take her, he thinks she deserves the right to die here. He says she's not in pain (I'd question that), and we should just let nature take it's course. At the moment, the best I can hope for (and I've been hoping for this for weeks) is that she goes to sleep and does not wake up in the morning. She is very old, she hasn't eaten for days, she looks like a chicken frame with matted fur. I can't brush her as her skin is so thin and fragile, she is winding down to the end and I just want it over. She sleeps all the time, and when she gets up she walks very gingerly to the garden, does her wee then walks very gingerly back to bed and goes right back to sleep. And she sleeps like she's already dead, I often have to touch her to make sure she's still breathing. Her best mate Gemma who went to the bridge in 2007 will be waiting for her.

The past week or so my old Lhasa girl Kassy has been going downhill, and in the past 4 days it's been a rapid decline.She is 17 years old, she's had a great life, but now it's time to let her go. She will get her ticket to the bridge tomorrow. And a big piece of my heart will go with her.

My girl arrived here by plane from SA, aged 8 weeks. She bounded out of her crate fresh as a daisy and happy as can be. Not scared, not stressed at all. No way I'd be doing a 16 hour round trip, which would entail an overnight stay somewhere, when it can all be accomplished with a short flight. My girl flew with Jetpets, the plane arrived a bit early so the driver went to the airport early and collected her so she wouldn't have to wait. They were brilliant and I would highly recommend them. BTW, even contemplating a 16 hr round trip in a day is extremely foolish and very dangerous.

The most challenging dogs at the obedience club I go to are the tri coloured beagles.......actually all the beagles there are tri coloured, so maybe there's your challenge. They don't lack energy, that's there in abundance but they all seem to lack a certain something between their ears when the nose hits the ground. I would find them frustrating, and most of the owners there do, which is why they are there. I met a basenji last week and she was the sweetest, prettiest little thing. Really a lovely little dog. It was a brief encounter at Petstock, so no idea what they'd be like to own though.

I saw a doco on pumi's and how they compete in herding trials. They are cute looking dogs but my god they have the most annoying, high pitched yap yap yap yap yap yap, and apparently they are very, very barky. VERY barky. Part of their herding method involves a lot of barking. Polish Lowland Sheepdogs are fairly rare, last I heard there was something like a 5 year waiting list for a puppy. I met one at a dog show once, her name was Diva and she was absolutely stunning. Very high maintenance coat though.....kind of a small-sized beardie.

Petit Bassett? I think they are gorgeous dogs with awesome attitude and presence. Not too many of them in dog sports, I wouldn't imagine.

There's a few I've met that I don't like....a nasty rotti bitch at obedience training, and a GSP we used to live next door to. But I don;t think they are indicative on their breeds and probably more to do with their owners.

I have got an NBT Aussie girl and honestly, she's got the untidiest natural short bob I've ever seen. Nature did a bloody awful job with her. Her tail is about 2 inches long and has a kink in it. The end is blunt, and it's set high so when she gaits it stands upright and looks awful. But the breeder did the right thing in not having her docked (which she easily could have been given the angle of the kink). It's a bitch to trim because it never looks nice, but she's a gorgeous girl in every other way. My NBT boy also has a 2 inch tail, but his lies lower and isn't really noticeable and is much easier to trim into a nice blended shape to fit with the rest of him. NBT's aren't always NICE bobs, some of them are very untidy.

The few TT's I've met are very full of themselves. They'd be great dogs to trial as they are active, attentive and smart, and probably a bit stubborn. A fair bit of work in that coat though. They aren't overly small....bigger than a sheltie, maybe?