Gayle.

Oh, go for an English Setter. I dare ya. My ES grandpuppy, who is now at the bridge, was the dumbest, laziest dog I have ever met. Totally, totally gorgeous but god he was thick as two planks, Now THAT would be a challenge! And there's a breed you never see at trials.

Are Pointers and Dallies very drivey? I know they are relatively active breeds. I actually quite like ACDs, but not sure I could own one. Though the well bred ones I love have temperaments that quite appeal to me. I like Aussies but they are probably a bit too common for me (kinda like BCs, Goldies, Labs etc). At the moment a working line ESS is probably appealing to me the most, I've never even considered them, but they seem quite lovely and on paper are ticking all my boxes. I know nothing at all about them though. Aussies aren't common at all, why would you think that? Whenever I take mine out, no one knows what they are and they certainly aren't in abundance at our dog obedience club. Labs, GSD's, BC,s Goldens and Kelpies are ther ein droves, but there's usually just me and one other person with Aussies and occasionally a local breeder shows up. At a recent obedience trial I entered, there were only 4 Aussies entered and only 3 competed. And your state has very few in numbers at shows. compared to here and much fewer breeders.

Can't you get a refund? I doubt they'd expect to keep your money if they've cancelled the show. The grounds might very well be used for other purposes such as regular sports (cricket, football, soccer etc) and an ag show held there while it's so wet could destroy the grounds for at least a year, which means the regular occupants can no longer use the grounds. That's not fair on the local community. Why would you not enter next year? It could easily be warm and dry for next years show.

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Any herding breed and most terriers, specially rough coated ones, are good candidates for an outdoor life. Cardigan corgis are supposed to be great little dogs, so are Swedish Vallhunds.

I'd say dog events held on grounds owned or leased by Dogs Victoria are an entirely different proposition to those held on other grounds that have been leased or borrowed for the day. Who's to say the entrances and the tracks around that ground aren't very, very wet and muddy? And a photo of a patch of grass doesn't show the condition of the ground beneath........a very wet ground without good drainage can take a very long time to recover from a large event such as an ag show.

My fish stay outside all the time. They aren't allowed inside ever.

Our main living areas and our bedroom all open out to the back section of our property where the dogs are. We are in and out a lot when we're home and we spend heaps of time with the dogs. If my husband is working in the sheds, he'll have 3 helpers lying at his feet. If I'm gardening, I'll have 3 willing accomplices, usually dragging weeds and plant pots all over the place. We bought a place with a good sized flat paddock for doggie games.......frisbee, ball, training and just hanging out. The gate stays shut unless one of us goes to the paddock with them, and they go there at least once a day, more on weekends. I honestly dont see how the dogs being outside a fair bit of the time has a negative impact on their lives and on their companionship. They have a wonderful life, and I'd go so far as to say they'd have a much less fun existence if the were confined to the house for 6-10 hours each day while we work.

My dogs don't dig, we have beautiful gardens and while they squash a few plants by sleeping on them, they don't dig them up. They don't jump fences, and the one that had a barking problem barked when we were home, when he was inside, when I was outside playing with him....he just loved the sound of his own voice. That's now under control and none of them bark much except at strangers coming by. They are too active, too interested in everything and enjoy playing with each other too much to leave inside while we're at work. They are much better off outside where they can do what they love doing.

Well, I'd kind of dispute that. I've had Isaak since he was 8 weeks old, he came to be from a very reputable breeder who still owns the back half of him (I get the eating half, she gets the puppy-making half ;-) He was inside from day 1, while I was at work, til he got big enough to run with the other Aussies and not get hurt (to be honest, I think I erred on the side of caution there). He slept uncrated in our room til he was 8 months old. Then the shoe fetish started. He ate 3 pairs of brand new shoes, not to mention my glasses and a few other things off my bedside table....either while I was in the shower or asleep. In the end I couldn't trust him so he got put in the pergola to sleep, where he was quite happy and settled right away. He's now 9 months old and last night I thought it might be nice to have him back in the bedroom. So I put everything up and away, secured the sliding wardrobe doors with planks of wood laid in the tracks, and brought him in to bed. He jumped on Dusty and humped her head. He tried to bite her muzzle, then he leapt all over me. I pushed him off and put him on his bed so he started on Dusty again. Then he started pacing, whining and being a general annoying pest. I said "Bed! Now!" and he went to the back door and stood there til I let him out and I didn't hear a peep out of him all night. He met me at the door for breakfast, happy as can be.

I heard a cute story about an old farm dog yesterday. The owner was preparing for the floods and brought the old dog inside and took her upstairs where she'd be safe from harm. Old girl had never set foot in the house and was clearly nervous and slightly stressed about being there. Owner left her there and went back to keep bringing things in and she said the next time she went back upstairs, here's the old dog, stretched out on the most comfy couch in the house, sound asleep like she was born to the life of an inside dog. LOL, just goes to show, they're never to old to be princesses.

She's a princess and she thinks that's her throne. I told her only queens have thrones but she insists princesses do too, they're for sleeping on though.

mine use the garden furniture to their fullest advantage.

Y dogs follow me everywhere when they're inside and I think it's because they're bored and they think I'm going to do smething exciting. Well more exciting than watch tv anyway, and they don't want to miss out.

My dogs would go absolutely stir crazy if they were forced to be inside all the time. They are bad enough when it's raining.

Mine are outside when we' re at work and inside in the evening, then Isaak goes outside to sleep and the others sleep in our room. On the weekends, they are still outside if we're home but we spend heaps of time with them because we're out there with them. The climate in the UK is a bit different to here. And Aussie breeds in particular are highly suited to living outside.

I WILL own one of these one day, when I don't require a full on Gundog like my beautiful Labs Received my free Eukanuba puppy book tody with voucher and the first page I flick to has an English Setter puppy They are just beautiful dogs and I must own one in my lifetime My son had an orange belton ES. He was absolutely gorgeous.....very dumb but so lovable. Also the laziest dog ever, he was never up for a walk or a game, he'd alwas rather just be laying around snoozing. He was my grandpuppy and I loved him, loved his big slobbery cuddles, loved his fuzzy spey coat, loved his total lack of intelligence.......highlighted against the collective brains trust of Aussies. He was PTS a couple of months ago, he developed epilepsy which, despite being carefully managed with medication, got worse and worse and the seizures got longer and more violent. So, so sad, it's a breed I came to really like via my grandpuppy. He was a sweetheart.

I would always want a show quaility dog but that doesn't mean I'll be outcevery weekend showing it. My pup is 9 months old, he's been shown 3 times and one of those shows was the breed speciality show. Once he's matured, grows a neck and his bum looks in proportion to the rest of him, he might see the inside of a show ring more often. For me, it's having the option to show, not necessarily dedicating myself to the cause.

I'm a bit like Corvus. I like calm steady dogs that aren't too needy, and I love a canine sense of humour and a mischevous streak. Not too much mischief though! Aussies provide a good balance for me, they're pretty much up for anything I want to do, or they'll amuse themselves or take a nap. They do like to follow me though.

You would be surprised at how much difference a carpet-covered board, or similar will make to the noise levels if it's placed between barking puppy and annoyed neighbour. It doesn't even need to be very high, it just needs to be there. Just a sheet of plywood or chipboard and some old carpet tcked to one side of it.

Mine all went out on their own at different ages depending on their size/circumstances. Mine are all Aussies, all gotten as pups. First one, Benson, came home when he was 10 weeks old. He was a big, solid puppy and right from the start, he got to be in the backyard while we were at work. He coped just fine, he had shade, shelter, water and toys. And secure fences. Puppy 2 was Dusty, she was 8 weeks old when we got her and she was tiny. I had 2 weeks off work to settle her in, and we built a puppy run for her so she could stay in there during the day and not be accidentally injured by the much, much bigger Benson (he was about 1 year old). She got put in there at 10 weeks when I had to go back to work. She had a kennel, shade, water, toys and Benson for company although there was a fence between them. Puppy 3 was Isaak, he came here at 8 weeks, but by then we'd moved to a small rural property (with secure fencing). He stayed in the house on his own until he was about 4 months old. I was a bit worried the older dogs would be too rough with him, and we could easily block off a big tiled area for him to stay in during the day. Aussie puppies are generally robust and adaptable. Puppy will cope fine with shelter, shade, water, toys, a comfy bed and some toys. But your fences will need to be secure, they are smart little buggers and WILL find a way out if there is one. ETA, Aussie pups need loads of socialisation right from the day you get them, so take him out, take him everywhere you can and get him meeting friends, strangers and other dogs. The breeder I got Benson from said there's a much higher risk of an unsocialised Aussie being PTS or dumped later on because of bad behaviour than there will ever be of catching a disease through not having had all their vaccinations.

But they do... Saw a dog limping around the ring get put up BIG recently... I saw one win a dog challenge (and it was a very competitive breed that usually has large classes)....dunno if it went any further because I was so disgusted I didn't watch any more. The dog was very clearly lame, the bloke standing next to me commented on it and he was as disgusted as I was.

But it happens all the time ;) Yes, I've seen it happen. And I stand by that. He should not have been judging.

Good on you for starting as you mean to go on. Border Collies are working dogs, they can easily get used to sleeping outside and she will. Pity about the neighbours, they have every right to be annoyed. Can you possibly put up some sort of soundproofing barrier so her barking doesn't carry? Things like chipboard covered with carpet or some other soft, thick fabric will muffle the noise. My young fellow got turfed outside to sleep about a month ago, after 5 months of sleeping in our room. He learned to open the wardrobe door and raided it while I was asleep and ate a couple of pairs of brand new shoes. We locked him in the rumpus room the next night and he ate my husbands new headphones (husbands fault, he was told to put them eslewhere). So baby boy now gets put outside before I go to bed, he gets a handful of kibble which I scatter for him to find and then he settles in his bed. He is fine. Lots of dogs are left at home like this and they cope just fine as long as someone looks in on them daily and takes them for a walk. That's what pet minders such as Teebs get paid to do.