RiverStar-Aura

I also think that a lot of the problem with pet shop puppies is that many people wanting to buy a puppy, want one immediately. It's like shopping in general. I want a computer, so I'll go buy one, no waiting. I want a Big Mac, it gets made for me on the spot. Puppies don't work that way, however, it does if you get one from a pet shop. No waiting and no questions asked, take a pup home today. I myself fell vicim to it 3 years ago and even though I've ended up with the most gorgeous boy in the world, I will NEVER buy from a pet shop ever again. The sad thing is, I paid more for my "designer dog" than I did my pedigree Aussie. I'd gone out grocery shopping with my mum, and come home with a puppy -- you can't do this with a registered breeder. I hadn't even looked into the "breed"; just saw a cute puppy and purchased him. Luckily for Zeus, I was the type of owner not to give up on him -- I don't even want to think of how he would've ended up if I didn't take him in. He's been a challenge from day one, but I've worked and learned with him and it's been the most rewarding thing in my life. I love him to bits but knowing what I know now about BYBs and pet shop puppies, I will never again support them. If I wish for another mutt in the future, it'll be a rescue dog.

I tried a check chain on Zeus but all he does is still pull, pull, pull. I stopped using it for fear of hurting his throat and it didn't seem that any amount of choking was going to stop him pulling. The Infin8 halter that he now wears definitely just masks his symptoms of pulling but still has little effect on his reactivity. Once I'm finished with Kirah at this Back to Basics class, I'll be enrolling Zeus in it too. I totally understand that I'm the problem; I've just never 'got' the whole loose leash walking thing. I don't know whether it's how I'm applying what I've been told or whether I'm just doing it wrong. Hopefully I'll work it out soon!

Just be careful with a front attach harness. I've heard that larger, stronger dogs are able to get out of them very easily. I started off with one on Kirah but have since moved on to the Black Dog Infin8 halter. I find these better as it connects from the back and there's less of a weaning period with them -- you don't really have to get the dog used to wearing it. It works amazingly on Zeus whereas Kirah is scared of it (she even tenses up when I put a collar or harness on her) but we're getting better. Both Kirah and Zeus are highly reactive to other dogs on walks -- they bark and carry on because they want to go play. What I have to learn as an owner is to take them both out t separate times rather than walking them together and start shovelling treats into them before the other dogs get too close. Once the threshold has been breached and barking occurs, I have to stop treating as I wasn't fast enough in distracting my dog. I'm not very good at loose leash walking; it's just never clicked with me and I'm not sure how to get it to work. My two are fine if I hold treats in front of them but if there's no treats it's pull, pull, pull, all the time. Kirah will be starting a Back to Basics class at the end of August and I'm hoping that what I learn there I can try out with Zeus too. Bst of luck; staffies can be trying when they want to be!! It's the stubborn terrier in them!

Boronia. What a silly cat!!

Yay Skeeter! He's such a gorgeous boy.

I want to let you know that my thoughts are with you and Penny too, Esky! Your family of pekes is gorgeous and Penny is such a pretty girl -- fancy saying you've got no time for a dog after 6 years You have a lot to be proud of in giving these oldies such a great retirement; no matter how old they get, they all deserve continual love. I wish Penny all the best and i send you my love.

Abbey Addie AJ Ajanta Akira Alera Ali x 2 Alice Alika Alchemy Amber Amelia Amy x 2 Anais Andie (Andromeda) Aneira Annie x 2 Anastacia (Annie) Angel X 6 Angelina Anishinaabe Annabelle Annabella Anouk April April RIP x 2 Ari Arizona Arki Arya Asante sana Asha Ashka Askari Ashleigh Astrid Astro Athena Aubrey Audrey Aura Aurora Ayla Baba Babe Margaret Hoolihan Baci Bailey Basha Beanie Beans Becky Bella x 5 Billie Bianca Bibi Bit Blaize Blossom Bonny x 5 (Bonnie) Bonita Boss Bow wow Bracken Brandi Brandy x 2 Breagh Bree x 3 Brianna Bridie Bronte Buffy Buttercup Cally Cara Casey Cassie Casper CC Cedar Chapparelle (pronounced Shapparelle, and shortened to Chappa (Shappa)) Chalice aka 'Chali' Chelsea x 2 Cherrie Chevy x 2 Chloe x 3 Charley Chanel Charli Charlie Charlie-May Charlotte Cherry Chiko Chilli Choo Choo Chops Cider Cinders Cindy Cinta CJ x 2 Claire Claudia Clover x 3 Cleo Cleoparta Coco x5 CocoNut Colour (for a greyhound who's not grey!) Cookie Cossette Cossi Courtney Cricket Crystal Cristie x 2 Crupi Daenerys Daisy x 3 Dallas Dancer Danika x2 Darla Delilah Delta Demi Dempsie Dexta Diazz Didge Dinky Dixie Diva x 2 Dizzy Durham Dusty Dyzney Ebony Echo x 2 Electra Elizabeth Ella x2 Elley Ellie x3 Elsa x 2 Elsie Emily Emilly Emma Emmy Enya Erin Esky Evie Faith Fame Fanta Feather Feonix Finta Flame Flash Fleur Flossy Flute Frenchie Froggy Gabbie Gabby Gael Galadriel(Gala) Gemma x 4 Genie (not exactly a girly name but I thought it suited my goldy) Genevieve George Georgea Gertrude Ginger Ginny Gina Gita Glitter Goldie Gooby Grace x 2 Griffin x 2 GT Gypsy x 7 Gyrle Halo Harlow Havarna Hayley x2 Heather Heddy Heidi x2 Holly x 7 Honeyx3 Honour Hope Imme Imogen - Imy Indi India x 2 Indigo Georgia Ingrid Iris Isabella Issie Jade Jag Jamie Lee Jane Jasmine x2 Jaxx Jay Jay Jazz Jazzman Jedda RIP Jelly Bean Jenna x 2 Jersey Jess x2 Jessi Jesie Jessica Jessie x 4 Jeune Jezebel x 2 Jicin Jindi Jinxy Jodie x 2 JoJo Jovi Joy Juliet Juno Kamikaze Kara X 2 Kari Karma Karmen Kaos Kassy Katie x 3 Katy Kayla X2 KC Keeta Keilani Keira Keirra Keisha x 2 Kelli Kelsey Kenzie Kibah Kiesha Kimba Kirah -- pronounced "Ki-RAH" (the"Ki" sounding like that in "kid") Kiri Kiri-Lu Kirra (agility name Kiz) Kishka (called Kish most of the time) Kisses Kitty Kizzey Krissy Kuean - (Queen) Lacey x 2 Latte Layla x 2 Lea (lele) Leader Leia Leila Lexi x 3 Lexie Libby Lily x 4 Lizzy Lobo Logan Lola x 2 Lolly Lotta (as in Li'l Lotta) Lottie Lucia Lucky (yes, a bit tacky, but I loved her) Lucy x5 Lucinda Luka Lulu Luna Luuka Mable Mac Maddie x2 Maddison Maeby Magali Maggie x3 Magic x2 Maia Mallee Marie Claudette Marina Mary Marlo Matilda Matilda-Rose Maya Meeka Meg x 2 Meisha Meggz Merrique Mia X 3 Miekah Migaloo Mika Milky Milla Millie x5 (Milli) Mimi Mindy x 2 Minky Minnie x 2 (Mynni) Minouche Mischa Mischka Misha Missy Missie Mistletoe Misty Mitzi Molly x 9 Molly Coddle Monet Moochie Mung Bean Mya Nala Nandi Narla Natasha Nena Ness Nora Nyima Olivia Ollie Pagan x 3 Panda x 2 Paris Paxy Pchelka Pearl Pebbles Peggie Penelope Penny x 3 Pepper x 4 Perry Phoebe x 2 Phoenix Pink Pip Pippin Piper x 2 Pixie Polly x 2 Poochie Popcorn Poppy Porridge Porscha Poung Prada Priah Quince Quinn x 2 Rani Razzle Reba Rebel Reno Rhoda Riki Ricky River Rizzi Rogue Rommi Rose Rosey Rosie x 2 Roxie Roxy x 4 Ruby x 7 Rumour Sabine Sabrina Sachi Sadie Saffron Safire Sahli Sally x4 Sarah Sarah Jane Sari Sascha x 2 Sasha x3 Sarsha Satu Savannah Scandal Scarlet Scruffy Serena Seven Sha Shae Shandy Shannon Sharnie Sharon Sharna Sheba Shelby Shimmer Shine Shishka Siann or Cyan Sinta Sienna X 3 Skye x 3 SkySnow Snotty Dotty Sola Sonya Sooki Sooty Sophie x2 Sophia Sparkles Springy Sputnik Spook Stella x2 Stimpy X2 Storm Stussy Sue Summa Suzie x 2 Sybill Sydney Tait Tamar Tameeka Tango Tara x 3 Tasha Tashi Tassie (with a s sound NOT a z) Taya Tayla Teegan X 2 Tess x 6 Tessa Texas The Divine miss Sophie Thea-Rose Tia x 2 Tieke Tikaani Tilba Tilli Tilly x3 Tinka Tinny (tin tin) x2 Toot Tori Tully Tyche Tyra Tyneal Ulla Ursula Vada Vicki Vienna Viviane Voodoo Wandy White Whitey Whitney (reg'd) Whitneigh) Winnie Winona Winter Wilhelmina Willow x 2 Wolf Xena Xanthe Zara Zahli Zillah Zippedeedoodah Ziva x 3 Zena Zoe x 4 Zora

Appollo Archie Armand Arminius Asher Aussie x2 Axl Bailey x 4 Balou Bandit Banjo x2 Bardigrub Barkly Bart x 2 Barton Baxter Basil Bear x2 Benji Benny x2 Bennett Benson x2 Beowulf Bert Bertie Billy Bing Bluey Boss Boxer Brady x 2 Brock x 2 Brockie Brody Bronson Bruce x 2 Brutus Bud Buddy Bundy Buster Caleb Caramel Carl Carter Cash Casper Cedar Champ Chance Charlie x 5 Chester Chester McNoggin Chevy Chip Chisel Coco x 2 Cobber Connor x2 Cooper x 4 Cowan x 2 Cruise Cuba D'Artagnan Dakota Dalton Damit Danny Darcy x 3 Dashx2 Deakin Deek Dean Declan Delgado Denver Denzal Dennys Dog Deputy Dexter Diablo Diesel Digby Digger Dinky Disco Doc Dog Douglas Dozer Dragon Drifter Drogo Dumas Dylan x2 Ebon Eddie EJ Elijah Elliott Elvis Edge Enuff Esky Fender Fergus FEZ Fido Fionneaghan (Fionn) FlashBazil Flash Harry Fox Frank Franky J Holden Fred Gandor Gimmick Granger Greedy Griffin Gus x 3 Guiness McGuinness Gypsy Hail Hamish Harley Harrison Harry Hemi Henry x2 Hiram Hogan Hudson Hugo x 2 Ivan Jack x 3 Jacques Jake x 3 Jasper x 2 JayDee Jethro Jett Jingles Jock Joe Jonty Jordan x 2 Joshua Judd Juggie Kahn Kaiser Kasper Kaos Kiba Kei Kippy Kisho Kobe Kyle Kynan Kyojin Kyzer Leo Leroy x2 Lestat Link Logan Louie Louis Luca Lucky Lughie Lukas MacKenzie Magnus Manny Mars Maui Maverick Max x 4 Maxey Maxie Mel Merlin x 2 Merlot Merry Micah Midge Milky Milosh Minook Mistral Mogwai Mocha Mokha Morrison Morris Moses Mr Darcy Mungo Murphy Murray Nammu Napoleon x2 Ned Nelson Nicky Nigel Nikolai Nipper Noah Nova Nudge Nugget Nutnut Oberon Obi Odin Ollie Oliver Onslow Oscar x 2 Oso Oz x 2 Payton Percy Piikki Porsha Porthos Punch Quick Rafe Raffy Ralph Rambo Randy Rasta Rauri Reeve Remy Rex x 2 Rhaegar Rhino Rico Riku Riley Ripley River Roary Rocks Rocky x 2 Rolly Rommi Rookie Rory Rove Rover Roy Jones Jnr Ruff Ryan Rupert Rusty x2 Sam Samurai (Sam) SARGE Scout Scrap Scratch Sebastion Shadow x2 Silas Skeeter Snitch Snoopy Sonny sox Speed Spencer x 2 Spike x 2 Sport Spud Stanley Steed Sterling Storm Sully Swanky Tango TanninBazil Tazz x 2 Ted Teddy Tey Dog Theo Thunder Tiger Tirra Toby x 2 Toffee Tonka Trojan Trusty Tub Tusca Tye Tyrant Tyson Ulf Valentino Viserys Vulcan Wade Wags Walker Walter Watson x 2 Weave Will Willow Willy Winston Woody Wolf Xander Yelka Zac Zander Zedley Zep Zephyr Zero Zeus x 2 Ziggy Zontie

I always have to keep telling people that Kirah is a purebred Australian Terrier and that no she's not crossed with anything. It seems that the general opinion is that if they haven't heard of the breed, then I'm lying or making stuff up.

Crossing my fingers for the safe return of this little girl. I really hope she's found very, very soon!

I have his details from the latest DogsNSW magazine. I'll PM you!

I use a rake on my cat's thick undercoat and the amount I get off her is amazing! The rake removes all her thick, soft but loose fur and I love it. She's a moggy but is crossed with oriental breeds and has Birman in her, hence the dense coat. Edited to say that I'd originally bought the rake for Zeus but he's got the wrong coat type for it.

If the ears aren't too bad, could a cleaning solution like Epi-Otic be of any use?

I can understand the situation as I have two reactive dogs: Zeus who goes ballistic with excitement and Kirah who reacts because Zeus does (I'm positive she has NFI what she's barking at). I always step off the footpath as far as I can and start shovelling treats into both of them and quite a few times have had other owners bring their dogs over. I dislike having to tell them not to approach but it's hard. It's harder on my training too because Zeus is only reactive because he WANTS to go greet the other dog(s) and barks out of frustration because he can't. By them bringing the dog over isn't helping my training and giving Zeus what he wants.

That's so fantastic!! Who'd have thought that FB and Twitter could be used for something like this -- and be highly effective? Patch is such a cute little guy! :D

I totally agree Perse. I believe that Zeus destroys his coat to get it off as he's only ever just eaten the straps and not the rest. I feel he gets too hot in it so I'm happy to leave him heaps of blankets in the kennel -- he always makes a cute nest right at the very back and blocks the entrance with the blankets. :D Me knitting coats is just something to do really -- I doubt I'll ever put them on my dogs!

It's such a horrible thing to have happened Rozzie and I feel for all involved. My heart broke when you wrote about the little boy thinking that Pets at Peace would fix poor Sarge. That's so sad and everyone must be devastated.

My two just eat their coats so now they just have a pile of warm, fluffy blankets in each of their kennels. Works out much cheaper!! I have just bought a book of patterns for knitting 10 different dog coats from Big W though. The only problem is that I don't know how to knit and have no one in the family who knows how. I am determined to learn somehow!

Poor Pebbles; I hope she recovers well! People are such pigs with their rubbish and never seem to learn. I've had Zeus squeeze under the fence of the dog park to get to a public rubbish bin because logic states that when the bin is full, you keep cramming your maccas rubbish in it so that it spills everywhere rather than using the empty bin 2 metres down the path. I really hope Pebbles is ok!

Any sort of breakfast cereal would do the trick. Cheerios are yummy!! Cornflakes if the dog eats them?

I think "Away with ye" would be funny! Or you could just use "away". My two only know "go play" when we're at an off leash park.

Zeus was much the same after we lost Poochie. I think it was because he was so used to the company of another dog and then went to being an only child of sorts. He's having a blast with Kirah and back to his fun self!! It's lovely to hear that Isobel is back to enjoying life -- now it'll be a matter of who's teaching who the bad habits!! :laugh:

To me it would be more beneficial to have Dasha outside the pen for the most part and when you need to leave to do something (be it the loo, shower, cook etc) put her in the pen then walk away and ignore. That way, she's been kept busy and will most likely be sleepy when she goes back in. Does she get to use your backyard at all? Why not put the pen outside for a bit during the day of just give her free reign for a bit? When Kirah came home at 8 weeks she was outside from day 1. My mum won't have dogs in the house so she learnt to be outside. If I wasn't outside supervising playtime with big brother, then she was in the garage in her play pen alone with Zeus outside. Puppies are amazingly resilient and will quickly learn their place. The best advise I was given was to start off how I mean to finish. I didn't take time off work and Kirah learnt to accept me coming and going. There have been days where I haven't seen her at all as its very late when I get home. She'll bark when my car pulls up but I ignore it and she settles -- tonight was a perfect example. I'm not going to teach her that I come see her when she demands it; I'll go outside and play on my terms not hers. Try leaving the house and go out shopping or something. When you come home, ignore little Dasha as she'll most likely carry on when you get home. Then once she's quiet -- not immediately after she's quieted -- you can choose when to take her out for a play. Just don't make a big song and dance about coming home and don't get her out immediately upon returning otherwise this will become her routine. It is hard work in a way but boy is it worth it!!! Little Dasha is gorgeous (such oversized floppy ears!!) and good luck!

Make sure you have somewhere for the pup to have time out in -- even a playpen. This can be used to separate the dogs when supervision can't be provided, for a place too doze after puppy wears herself out and also as a place to put the pup to give Jaffa some much needed him time. Hold the new pup in your arms and make sure Jaffa is sitting. Slowly bend down or kneel so Jaffa and pup can sniff each other. From there depends on the interaction. If Jaffa is cool with the pup you can place her on the ground but you still must supervise. That's the most important thing!! What's her name? Edited to say: you could always have Jaffa on a lead too just to restrict his movement.

I'd be tempted to catch the dog next time she wanders and drop her in at the pound. Maybe that'll teach her owners to lock her up more securely. It's not amusing that this dog is stealing and it's definitely not amusing that she's in danger of being hurt.