Gayle.

Yes, Dusty thinks that too, and spits them out in disgust until she realises that the dog bickie I just handed her is the ONLY thing on the snack menu, and nope she ain't getting dried liver, smoked bone or cheese treats. Then it tastes pretty darn good, apparently.

When you figure it out, can you please explain to supermarket checkout operators that dry cat food IS food and does not belong in a bag with highly toxic cleaning products? It seems whenever I buy my cats a treat of Dine kibble (they'd walk over hot coals for the little dried fishies in it), the idiot at the checkout tries to pack it in with the cleaning goods and I have to take it out, explain that it's a food product and does NOT belong with the toilet bleach.

But with poodles, how often would the average person even see one in a full show clip? Rarely, I suspect. So rarely that they would stop to take a second or third look. They might think they look "silly" (I personally think they look amazing) but I'd bet pounds to peanuts they'd be able to count on one hand the amount of times they've seen one being walked in public. On the other hand, poodles are popular pets that most people wouldn't even realise was a poodle if they saw one because the vast majority of them AREN'T kept in a show clip. Due to the mass media, a lot of peoplke would see a purebred poodle and just assume it's a maltipoopenschnoodledoodle.

I want one like this. The more I see these cream Lappies, the more I think I'm gonna have to start putting my name down with breeders so I can get one when we move. I definitely want another dog, and Lappies seem to have temperaments very similar to the best Aussie temperaments.

The breeder I bought Benson from breeds Lagottos and co-incidentally has a litter at the moment (advertised on DOL). She is a fabulous person, a really lovely breeder to buy from and she has the very best interests of her puppies and the buyers of them at heart. She is very highly qualified (PhD, I think) in animal behaviour and specialises in pets. Her Lagotto mummy-dog is named Riff-Raff and she was just a puppy when we bought Benson and I just fell in love with her. I would suggest your friend at least ring her for a chat, her name is Pauleen and she's always happy to talk about her dogs. She also breeds Australian Shepherds and with my boy she bred a dog with the best temperament of any dog I've ever met.

Running away with it was a real clue....and running fast. But also while he was running, he had his head ducked low and was looking back to see if I was looking. I've watched him before getting something he's not supposed to have and he gives very furtive glances towards me to make sure I'm not looking at him. On Christmas night, my sons English Setter, the dumbest dog in the world, was in the living room with everyone and a whole lot of food was spread out on our big coffee table. He laid on the floor and ignored the food but we all got up to go outside and look at something, and as everyone left the room, I doubled back to find the dog helping himself to a shortbread bickie. Until we were gone, he'd shown no interest in the food and hadn't been told not to touch it. We don't usually have food on the coffee table, and hadn't for the whole time he'd been staying there. He defnitely knew he shouldn't have it and when I walked back into the room, he hastily gobbled it down and quickly assumed his position back on the floor.

What about if you're not there though? Benson has occasionally got a brush out of the grooming bag when I've been outside....he's seen his chance and taken it....and hidden it in his little bolthole. It's only been later when I've gone to groom the dogs or tidy up the laundry that I realise the brush is missing. How does he know he has to hide it if I'm not there for him to read my body language? And other items he's never nicked before but seems to have an uncanny knack of knowing he's not supposed to have? He stole a lens cap out of my camera bag one day when we were out, and took off across a footy oval with it. He'd never been near my camera bag before so he would not have known that it was out of bounds. And yet HIS body language showed that he knew he wasn't supposed to have it, and I never even realised he had it until he was halfway across the ground.

Benson definitely knows what "stealing" is. If he knows he's allowed to have something....his toys, or new toys that are bought for him, he picks them up and carries them around the house looking for someone to play with him. If he knows he's not allowed to have something......scored from the bin, the kitchen bench or the grooming bag (he has a thing about brushes!) he sneaks off with it into a corner where he thinks he can't be seen. If he's stolen food, he eats it REALLY fast.....but his dinner he takes his time over.

A couple of years ago at an Aussie speciality show, I was standing watching a ring full of blue merle dogs being judged. It was a very large class, I think it was open dogs or something like that, and they made a spectacular display. An elderly lady was standing next to me watching as well, and she asked me "What breed are those dogs?" I told her they were Australian Shepherds. She looked a bit bemused and puzzled, watched the dogs for a few more minutes then wandered off saying "Australian Shepherds? Hmmmmmm, I don't think they're supposed to be all fluffy like that!"

I'll admit the first time I saw a Vallhund, I thought it looked like a GSD head on a corgi shaped body. There's an elderly lady that was showing some in Melbourne and had I not seen them being judged, I would not for a second have assumed they were a purebred.

Although looking at that tail........Pug x Sibe.

Pug x Collie

She's 2 now and still does it, but only at home or in our cars. My husband takes her to the tip with him cos she barks at the bloke on the gate and he waves them in for free. Then they go home via MacDonalds and she gets an icecream cone for doing tip duty. She went to dog shows, obedience club, beach, lake, lots of socialising right through that particular period when she started her protective barking, so it wasn't through lack of outings. But it's very, very typical of an Aussie. She's your best little wigglebum friend though, once she realises you're not there to steal our stuff!

Dusty never went feral in her teenage months. She's always been a really, really well behaved girl, biddable and sweet natured. However, at around 6-8 months, the protectiveness kicked in and she will now bark very loudly at strangers who come onto our property (near our car etc.) That's part of her breed, and I don't mind it one bit. But she has never chewed anything, never raided the bin, always comes when she asked....she's just a really easy dog to live with. Benson, on the other hand, definitely had teenage months and I think some days he's still in them.

After watching that video, they look for all the world like a kelpie x corgi or some other short legged breed.

There are a few breeds I've seen in the show ring here that one could say the same about. But then I suppose it's all in the details, I had my gorgeous, wonderful, perfectly pedigreed boy call a "kelpie--crossy-thingo" by someone who should have known better.

Wow, the cocker spaniel and the bull terrier have changed heaps! And the Shetland Sheepdog looks like a little Border Collie and nothing like the Sheltie we see today.

Not for a dog, but I buy Royal Canin Maine Coon food for my Maine Coon cat. Most cat kibble is tiny and the RC breed specific one has larger pieces for the bigger jaw of the Maine Coon, and they are also an easy shape for their rectangular jaw to chew. Plus it contains extra goodness for their much larger than agerage frame. Does it make a difference? Well, she likes it but she's just as happy to chow down on Dine kibble from the supermarket (she's a slut for the dried fish pieces it contains) and the Burmese brats eat the Maine Coon food as easily as she does.

I read right through that document, then I searched it....and nowhere did I find a mention of neutering preventing unwanted puppies. Isn't that the main reason we have our pets neutered?

With Australian Shepherds, it's actually very common for a breeder to both exhibit and "work" their dogs....mainly in herding. And I know of a few Aussie breeders who not only compete in herding trials but are also herding judges and run herding clinics for beginners and more experienced dog owners.

When I bought him, it was on the condition that I have him desexed as soon as possible. He was bred from some serious working lines, the sire was imported into Australia by the breeder and she wanted to protect her lines by not allowing the offspring to be indiscriminately bred from by someone who wouldn't have a clue what they were doing. Can't say I blame her for that, she paid a lot of money to import the sire and if it were me, I'd probably do the same. The vets will desex from 8 weeks of age....founr months was absolutely not a problem for them. He is the right size, the right build and has all the right features (bar his balls) for a male of his breed. His legs aren't longer than they should be, he isn't taller than the standard and he looks perfectly proportioned. And he has the very best of temperaments. He is sweet natured, friendly, funny and a great big smooch. Being neutered at such a young age did him absolutely no harm whatsoever.

You have to keep in mind though, that not every dog bred for work will actually have the ability to work. Even the working farm dogs....kelpies, border collies, ACD's, where the whole ancestry is working, will produce dogs that don't have the ability, aptitude or desire to work stock. It doesn't make them a bad dog, is doesn't make them a poor representative of the breed and they might very well produce fabulous workers themselves, it just means the genes are "wired" differently in that particular dog. Benson's woosiness with sheep just makes Benson that bit more charming. He's a funny boy, he has the best temperament of any dog I have ever met, and when he hides behind my legs around the sheep he just cracks me up.

My boy was desexed at 4 months of age, and at almost 3, he is very much a male. He started lifting his leg to pee at 10 months, he had no other male to copy so it is not learned behaviour, nor is it linked to sex hormones. He looks like a male of his breed.....he's developed a broad chest and shoulders, a full ruff, good bone and he definitely has a big, solid male head. He never got the chance to produce sex hormones as he was neutered so young, but he didn't grow up to be girly or have feminine features. If you saw hime side by side with my entire 2 yo female, you'd be able to pick at a distance which one was the male.

Mine can herd sheep, although Benson doesn't like them much. He's actually bred from very serious working lines on the sire's side, but he missed out on the sheep-loving genes and prefers to hide behind my legs instead. Dusty is a very enthusiastic little herder and now that she's matured, I might have a more serious crack at the sport.

Benson drinks water exactly like FRHP's pic.....muzzle and paw in the water and he either drinks under the surface or scoops the water up with his nose and catches it with his tongue. Messy bugger he is, and I can't leave water bowls for him inside the house because he gets it everwhere, makes the floor slippery and ruins the laminate flooring if it's not mopped up right away. And if the water container is big enough (a clamshell pool) he gets both front paws in.