Gayle.

My son runs most days, and doesn't take his dog. When he was staying here, I suggested that his dog might like to go too....he looked at me like I was mad and said "No way, I want to run, not walk, stop, trip over him, drag him, get my arm yanked off......get the picture?" Then later on he went for a walk with his girlfriend and I suggested the dog might like a walk too. He said they'd take the dog later....for a short slow walk. Cos the dog only likes short slow walks. And no, it's not a toy dog, it's an English Setter!

This is the song we made up for Dusty. Add your own words for your dog. (I need to think up something for Benson.) There's a little dog and her name is Dust When it comes to dinner, she's not fussed Miss Dusty, she's not fussy 'bout food.

I think lots of people are being very judgemental of how and to whom breeders sell their pedigree puppies. Just look at the big picture.....very few purebred pedigree dogs end up in shelters, pounds and rescue so the vast majority of breeders must be selling their pups to quality homes.

Dusty is 2 and she still does it. The worst thing about it is that it looks so cute I just want to smoosh her face and wake her up cos she's so adorable.

That's actually pretty much the response I got when I emailed Bensons breeder, although I was a bit more wordy in my first email than you were. She included her phone number for me to call her so I did right away and we went there the next afternoon to see the pups and possibly choose one. I would expect that had she not found us to be suitable owners, she would not have sold us a pup. $2000 for a Staffie pup? Jebeesus!

If I sent an email like this to ANY breeder, I would hope I'd get a reply that stated the price and availablilty of their pups. Any screening should come later and no breeder or anyone else, should presume to judge a buyer based on one email consisting of not very many words.

Availability and cost. My first choices were breeds that were hard to come by and very expensive, however I didn't find this out until I was a few weeks into researching breeds. My second choices took my husbands desires into account (didn't want a small dog and didn't want one that looked like an "alien", his words not mine) and so I broadened my criteria by quite a bit. Also, I wanted a puppy sooner rather than later. I didn't mind waiting for a couple of months for a litter to be born but I wasn't prepared to wait for a year for a litter that might never even be concieved. I stumbled across a local breeder who had a litter of Australian Shepherd puppies and went to have a look at them. We paid for the only boy left and collected him a week later. We now have two and they are the light of our lives. They are not what I originally planned to own. In fact they are about as far from it as you can get. Had someone suggested them first up, I would have thought they were crazy. Too big, too active, too hairy. But I had to take my husbands opinions into account as he had to live with whatever I chose so I had to compromise. In actual fact, they aren't big (more medium sized and the girl is a lot smaller than the boy), they aren't anywhere near as active as I'd imagined and their grooming requirements are much less than I'd thought. And they were reasonably priced. I know in a perfect world, price shouldn't come into it but it does for a lot of people, and there is no way on this earth I would pay what some breeds are selling for. The best thing for me to do in that case was to cross those breeds off my list and look for something else.

I agree with BC4ME. Treat the whole office to a lovingly prepared platter of fruit, and maybe cheese, kabana and bickies. It will be really appreciated by everyone.

Gosh they are cute! I love their little "intent on making mischief" faces and those determined, chunky little legs. Snowflake doesn't even look like the same breed though. She is so adorable. Mum and dad dogs are stunning as well.

I tend to think that if it doesn't look normal, it probably isn't. And that waddle/sway isn't a normal walk. I'd be inclined to get his hips and spine checked by either a vet or chiro or both. It might very well be the way he's put together, but at least you'll then know.

Little Noelle sounds absolutely delightful. Who wouldn't want a puppy that's full of joy. Star looks like she has an amazing head....or am I way off the mark? I don't know anything about Lappies, but her head looks very striking to me.

OHMIGOD!!! I would be beyond devestated if that were my dog. My dogs coats are kept in fairly good condition....regularly brushed, stripped and trimmed. I would be furious if anyone took to them with a pari of clippers.

Mine get mostly raw meaty bones, pet mince from the butcher (minced meat and offal, no preservatives), and a couple of tins of sardines between them each week. I also make a mix of veges....mainly cooked pumpkin, grated carrot and bok choy....rice, eggs and whatever else I have on hand that looks good....parsely, grated apple, tuna, cheese. I make separate freezer packs of the vege mix and add it to the mince.

The black and tan ones look like Benson when he was a puppy. Gosh they are good little bubbas to sit there like that for their photos. I am still loving Snowflake, I thnk I'm gonna have to start contacting Lappie breeders for a cream puppy after we move. I want to get another dog and am torn between a few breeds but I think a Lappie would fit in perfectly with the Aussies.....similar nature, similar energy levels etc.

The are in the business of boarding dogs. They kennel them, feed them, make sure their medical needs are attended to.......and you pay for that service. Grooming seems to be dependent on the kennel. I boarded two small long haired dogs once, for a fornight and they weren't brushed the whole time. When I asked why they weren't brushed, I was told I should have requested grooming (they also had a grooming salon) and the charges would have been added to the bill. It didn't occur to me that it would be extra, but from then on I knew to at least ask about it. What did you want them to say? That he was cute? They might not have thought so, a lot of dogs are cute only to their owners. That he was well behaved? They might not have noticed. Poorly behaved dogs tend to stand out, quiet well behaved ones don't. That he ate, didn't eat, pooped, didn't poop, barked, didn't bark? That's what you pay them to worry about while you're away, now you're back they can hand the dog over and they don't have to worry about him anymore. If he had medical issues he was there, then yes they should say something (and I think most would) but general behaviour? They don't know what his normal behaviour is like so don't have a yardstick by which to measure.

Give Pauleen a ring, she has a litter ready to go right now. http://www.hevnlee.com.au/

My guys get called Border Collies all the time. It's understandable, they do look a bit like them to the untrained eye and everyone knows a Border Collie but hardly anyone has seen an Australian Shepherd. I just correct them gently and introduce them to a breed of dog they've never heard of before.

Hahaha, the white one is assuming the "Bruno pose". Dead but still breathing, we call it. Tongue hanging out and all, cos it's too hot to put it away! Bruno (Burmese shithead) hates the heat and he walks through the house then just falls over onto his side at our feet. If he thinks we haven't noticed he's hot, he does it again.

Don't rule out a breed just because one dog sounds more active than you'd like. At least start talking to some breeders and find out if there are some that are less active than others. Breeders can usually tell you which of the litter is laid back and easy going, or more active and more likely to be a handful. They may even have an ex-show dog they are looking to rehome that they KNOW is not active and will suit your lifestyle. I have a breed that is traditionally very active, but my boy....yes he loves a walk and a run by the bike......chases a frisbee twice then lays down under a shady tree. My girl is happy to not walk anywhere if we can drive, thank you very much. They love being with me, and probably should get more exercise than they currently do (but it's too bloody hot), but they are no worse for it. They aren't destructive, don't dig, don't chew things and are warning barkers but not nuisance barkers. However, they are family dogs and with us when we're home and to them, that's the most fun of all.

We found a little JRT puppy in our driveway one evening last year, she would have been about 4-5 months old. She was the sweetest little thing and very smoochy and cuddly. I said to my husband that I could see how people fall in love with these little dogs. She went to the vets the next day and was reunited with her owners but oh, I could easily have kept her if no one claimed her!

The working group in the US looks to be a bit of a blend of our utility, herding and non-sporting. The Great Dane (non sporting here) is there, along with the Rotti, St Bernard, Malamute, Sibe, Samoyed....all of which are in the utility group here...as well as the Komondor, which is working group here. And their non-sporting has a heap of little dogs from the toy group here as well as the bullies and poodles. I would probably put the Dane in Utility here, it definitely doesn't belong in Working in Australia (it's not a herding or stock dog), but then it does belong in Working in the US and not in non-sporting. LOL! Oh well, confuses me. But I never new that Great Danes were bred for hunting boar, so I learned something.

What work do they do? In the UK, the group we call working is the pastoral group. Our working group is made up solely of herding and stock dogs. In the US I think the same group the herding group. It's a bit confusing as "working" is also carting, guarding etc and yet they are in utility.

The non-sporting group is a "leftover" from the early days of dog showing. There used to be just two group....sporting (hunting dogs, retrievers, hounds etc) and non-sporting, which was all other dogs such as guarding, herding, companions etc. Eventually over time, other groups were created for the definite "types" of dogs and the activities they did.......so toys got a group, terriers made up another group, gundogs, hounds, working (herding), utility (working that isn't herding) and all the ones that didn't fit into the groups as they were created got left in non-sporting, although the sporting group was done away with as the occupants got sorted. There are dogs in non-sporting that I believe should be in other groups. The Tibeten Terrier has a herding background and would fit comfortably in the working group alongside bearded collies, Polish Lowland Sheepdogs etc. The poodle should be in the gundog group, the dalmatian belongs (in my opinion) in the utitlity group. So non-sporting definitely doesn't mean not active.

I think when you visit a place such as a dog park, it's not all about you and your dogs....it's about the behaviour of every dog there. And the lowest common denominator will be the one that behaves the worst and that's the one you need to watch out for, especially if your own dog is well behaved. Your dog might not be a resource guarder, but other dogs might and as you entered the park with food and proceed to give it to *a* dog (your dog), a die hard resource guarder that's wormed it's way in by your side might start to guard what it sees as rightfully his.

A woman at our obedience club has got a poodle x cocker spaniel and it has the most manky coat. I don't think anyone told her she's supposed to brush it daily because it always looks knotty and matted. Occasionally she gets it clipped off and then it just looks downright stupid.