tlc

What a lovely girl, can you tell me a bit about her breed? I have never seen a dog like her before.

Thats the funniest thing I have heard in ages! and to answer your original question I think it means yes you do!

Funny dreams, I have such weird ones but can't say I have ever had any about my camera! I like to try to decipher dreams but I am usually grasping at straws, but with yours I would say you are worried something is going to happen to your camera AND you are obviously doing way too many dishes..

Hi Your new girl looks lovely, just curious if she is already 3 wouldn't she have had her vaccinations?

Thanks SP, your right it really is a simple idea that makes such a difference. Another quick story, we went into a 4 bedroom one day and one lady said oh don't bring the dogs near me, I don't like dogs, we were talking from a distance and she told us he had been attacked as a child. As the weeks went by she was still in and seen us a few more times then one day she said could you come a little closer with the little white one, so over I went and she gave Tully a little pat, very proud of herself, it was an achievement for her to be even that close to a dog let alone touching one, we only seen her a couple more weeks then she went home, but she went home no where near as frightened of Dogs as she was! So any stories, I could go on all day! I think my first day was the worst for me when we come across a lady that missed her own dogs so much as soon as she seen us she just cried and cried, it was very upsetting and all I could think of was bloody hell I don't think I can do this. I'm such a softie, anyway she was there in rehab a lot of weeks, and cried a bit less each week but she sure dd love her visits from the dogs!! Edited due to silly auto correct!

Lilmissach, just go for it, if it's something you wanna do, what's the worse that can happen, however I was really nervous about the assessment but afterwards I just thought bloody hell what was I worried about hat was a breeze!!

Thanks Lisa, intrude all you like, you keep up the good work too, probly time will go so fast we will be back in Geelong for the next assessment before we know it! Snook I meant to say in an earlier post Justice sounds like he would be a perfect candidate for a Delta dog. Do you know if there is a program over your way? One of the main reasons I thought about doing Delta work was due to Tully my youngest girl, she just has that kind of nature with people that makes you go Awwwww, she is a very calm dog around people and from a tiny puppy I just knew that one day she would be making people smile as much as me!! As for Lacy I just thought I'd get her assessed too and she passed with flying colors as well, but like I said earlier as much as she lives it, I enjoy it more with Tully but it doesn't really matter as long as he patients are happy that's what we are there for. It's also nice to give something back to the community, it's in win for everyone really, I don't do it for I do it cause he patients love it and so do the girlies!

Lisa, I was wondering when you were going to pop in! Dezzy looks so happy and your story bought a tear to my eye as I can picture exactly what your talking about. Dezzy and Jessie are certainly another great example of how Amstaffs really are and should be!! Great photos! SLLH, The hospital is great, Are you finished for good or just for a while, it is hard sometimes to fit everything in and there has been weeks where I haven't been able to go due to other commitments work changes, sickness etc.

Mine was an extra $7 onto $166

Well Panto definatley sounds like a good contender, no harm in giving them a call or flicking them an email for some info. Good luck. Just reading back some of my post words don't make sense, I blame it on auto correct. for eg I am not surgeon the rule, that was meant to be I am not sure on the rules! Think I might have to turn my auto correct off!!

Thanks I am very proud! Sorry I got Demi and Abby mixed up. It's funny when we visit I usually go with Shan and Mawson and it's a real mix of people being drawn to the big black dog and the smaller fluffy dog, I can see why the lappies appeal to people they are beautiful, and although I've never met one in person if going by DOL they have wonderful natures.

Mawson is totally awesome, he is best mates with all of my guys, they just love him and he is the uber perfcet Delta dog, everyone loves him. Here a little vid of the dogs out of uniform so to speak. Thanks. It really is as great as it sounds, the good outweighs the bad/sad side it really does. I had a couple of PMs asking me about Delta and about doing an update and I had been going to for a while.

Well good luck with your assessment, if they haven't contacted you make sure you contact them again, most of the program is run by volunteers and they can get very busy especially at this time of year. As far as tips go I think if your dog is friendly and has general obedience you should be fine, the assessment was easy although in saying that I know of a lady who's dog didn't pass due to the dog being too friendly and even though she is obedience trained she was just too over the top. They don't allow harnesses of any sort for the assessment. I remember how worried I was that my girls wouldn't pass but afterwards I could see that there was never any doubt. and whats the worst that can happen, just try again next time. My dogs are all Cocker Spaniel x Poodle Good luck to you guys, I do think greys would be awesome as Therapy Dogs, they have something calming about them I think! Toshman is onto it with the delta webiste, it is very informative. Your right it is totally worth it, Is Demi your Kelpie? I think it is fantastic when you see breeds doing Delta that are usually marked as working dogs, it goes to show how different breeds can adapt to being anything really. I get sick of people telling me my dogs must be nutters because of the cross they are but they are the exact opposite, my girls just love their "job" and are always looking to me as if to say "I did good mum didn't I" I get so much enjoyment out of their work too, it is lovely when you hear stores from patients about how the dogs make their time a little easier. An example from a couple of weeks ago, we were going to by pass a room as the lady looked to be asleep and had people standing around her bed, the patients daughter called me in and said please can mum see the dog, I said yes of course, mum was very elderly and was heavily medicated and seemed asleep the daughter got the mums hand and petted Tully while I held her up and the daughter said that was the first time in weeks that the mum then became relaxed, just from one little pat. Animals as therapy is amazing. Thanks. They sure do, I would love to take more photos with patients because some of them are just brilliant, the lady int he photos above had dogs at home and she was very open to having her photo taken and wasn't worried if I used it, she had treats ready for the dogs every week, she even had her friends there for when the dogs visited so they could enjoy them too. I am not surgeon the rules now with age, i know once the dog hits 8 they have to be assessed every year. As far as food goes, you can always ask for the dog not to be fed, I started off not wanting the girls to be fed unless I was handing out the treats for a trick etc, but you would have to be on guard, it seems built into some people to feed feed feed One guy one day as we were walking out of the room called us back and as Tully turned around he stuck a whole sweet bicky in her mouth. I didn't get a chance to say no food and I didn't have the heart to take it off her, so there she sat till the bicky and all the crumbs were gone. So now it is a case by case basis, but the dogs do sometimes expect to get food it doesn't take them long to figure out that these rooms have food somewhere. But it is all good, My friend who recently lost her dog, she visited a nursing home and a centre for mentally disabled people (hope that is the right term) the nursing hem was fine and all the residents would be in one big room for the visit and the dog got a small bit of treat (shacko) from each patient. But at the other place the residents were hard on the dog, pinching, hitting, pulling tails that sort of thing and he just took it in his stride. My friend got to know after a while who the pinchers and hitters were and steered clear as much as she could and was very careful to avoid those situations. I will admit I don't think I could subject my girls to any sort of rough treatment from patients, mind you some of the kids can be a bit rough but the girls seem to accept that ok. Panto, do you have a younger dog you could train up for Delta, might be a good excuse to get a new doggy.

I don't know why I keep popping I here either, just can't seem to help myself! Hope you enabling girls ears were burning last night, you got a mention In the Xmas present thread.

Yes the kongs are great, I don't use mine a lot, I used to when they were younger and imwas going off to work etc but now I only use them when I'm home to supervise as they are all together, same with bones the youngest gathers up everyone else's till he has a pile and the rest miss out, cheeky boy he is, as soon as they are not looking swoop, He's not happy till he has all. I just thought the treat balls might be something different but otmsure if im willing to spend that kind of money! Gayle, glad I'm not the only one with a good reasoning for 4 of course not the only reason. People thing I'm nuts when I tell them I have 4 dogs, but people who know the dogs really get it.

I must it's 3.45 am what the heck am I still doing awake, I'll be sorry in the morning. Very exciting about your new job, good luck with it and your new puppy! Night

Awesome, they are beautiful, so many great examples of the breed here on DOL, and there you go Gayle has 4 bet she will tell you the same as me when it comes to numbers. I think leopuppys Aussies are just divine, not sure who else breeds here? Sorry I am enabling now.

Oh and I meant to ask you would you get another Sheltie?

well if you get a third be prepared to get a fourth. I actually found 3 didn't work well here, well it did till I got 4 and realized how much better it was with 4. With 3 if I wanted to take only two, one had to be left home alone and I just couldn't do it, so places I could only take two I only took one if that makes sense. And now if I take two somewhere there is two left at home. I wonder if other 4 dog families notice the same stuff? Or am I just justifying having 4 but no seriously it works for us, they are all great mates and well behaved and happy so it's all good. 5 would be an uneven number and then I'd have to get 6. I don't even think its legal to walk 5 dogs on your own and 99% of our walks are done without my OH so that would be a downside, I'd have to leave two at home and that would defeat the purpose, I'd spend the whole day rotating with excersise and I still have to work. is it obvious I can't sleep and have too much going on in my brain. It's all those girls fault over at the clean run thread, I blame them, I'm on a high from spending so much money on cool doggy stuff!!

me and my 4 would looovvvveeeee another puppy but sadly one member of our family doesn't think it's a good idea to add another to the pack, he's probly right! But we love puppies sooooo much it seems like a lifetime ago we had a puppy. In reality my youngest will be a puppy forever, he's 3 and a total goofball!!

I just finished my order tonight too and fingers crossed it gets here by Xmas. I think what I got would have cost me at least 3 to 4 times as much in Oz and it only cost an extra $8 with the exchange rate to $AU.

Seems I'm in here on my own lately, everyone must be busily preparing for xmas!! I dropped into the new dog wash place today and the man who owns it said it should have been operational this arvo, really nice guy his name is Ian, the wash bays are bigger than Caramut rd and he has 2 washers and one dryer. The washers are $10 for the smaller one which I think fits about 14 kilos and then $15 for the next size up which fits more. The bath is a little more exxy than Mut rd at $12 for 10 minutes but for me its worth not having to drive out there. He said it will be maintained more often than Mut rd as well, they don't have the time out there as they are busy building the baths for other areas, fair enough. So I am looking forward to being able to bath closer to home I suggested he put n benches so I could take my own dryer and dry mine after their bath as I told him the dryers weren't warm enough. He did say he is open to suggestions also so if anyone thinks of anything.

very cute!

bloody hell thats aweful, I can certainly understand how you feel, I would be exactly the same. I'm sure they are doing everything to make the little guy as comfortable as possible. Do you have a crate for when he comes home, Im sure he will have to be kept quiet and in an enclosed area for some of the healing process?

So you mean they don't last long? Perhaps I'll try the antlers. Thanks