tlc

Just beautiful Jules, the pics are awesome, my fav would have to be Renae singing Happy Birthday!! :D

What about the therapy dog side of things, apart from the food thing there doesn't seem to be anything else that I have come across that has made me think twice. I know they don't like the dogs in head harnesses (haltis, gentle leaders etc) which doesn't affect me as I don't use them. They do allow easy walk harnesses, and you can use treats.

This is going a little bit OT but I know this food thing is really ridiculous but is there other reasons people are against Delta, I always thought they did good things??

Awesome pictures, what a great display of obedience!!

Well hopefully it won't filter through to Australia. The chicken thing is bad enough to have to give up! Gee that sounds like I'm going to miss having chicken

I am really struggling with this, only found out this info in the last couple of days. I knew they weren't allowed chicken if they visited a hospital, that I could have dealt with but the whole thing is crazy. I am having the girls assessed later in the year and now to find out they may not be able to have bones and worse still the boys cant have bones or chicken necks and wings either seems rather ridiculous. The raw part of thier diet is probly 30% so to have to change would be a pain in the butt. Not only this but they love thier chicken and they love thier bones. Would I sacrifice something that I think they benefit from and they love, to let them become therapy dogs and for a weekly visit?? It seems really silly that in an instant the dog could pick up something with thier mouth that could be far worse than anything they may pass on from raw food :) Maybe Australia won't go to the lengths that America has gone to??

It's funny with dog parks I have noticed a lot of people here don't like them and I think mostly live in big areas. Our big off leash park is great and we are not a huge city so all the people that frequent the park are mostly regulars. But on the odd occasion there will be a dog we don't know and it is amazing how good a judge of character my oldest boy Cooper is. He likes to go and say hello but he will go towards the other dog if it is off lead then he stops a little way back from the dog and just watches, probley 7 times out of ten he will keep going and has a little play till I call him back. and the rest of the times he just turns around and comes back so obviously there is something in the posture of the other dog he doesn't like so he doesn't bother going to say hello. Funny thing is the three younger ones hang back with me until Cooper makes sure the other dog is ok to play with I also used to tie up in front of shops but don't now, like KM said too much potential for something to go wrong!!

Crates here too, I never liked them, couldn't see the point of them (still don't agree with them for toilet training) but then suddenly having a pup that cried for hours on end, I tried a crate and it basically fixed the problem. For the first 3 none of them cried at night and they were all settled really quickly. but Bronson was totally different, he cried in the ensuite, he cried in the laundry, we put him on the bed and he just wanted to play and wouldn't settle, so on day 3 much to my horror I went and bought a crate and we never looked back. Even now at 2 1/2 he still sleeps in the crate.

Like me today, headed off to meet a friend on a walk with the dogs and when I got to the walking spot, her and her OH were talking to some other friends that were walking past and along we come and her friend says OMG four and my friend introduced me and said oh this is Barb the crazy dog lady I guess it is just what people get used to. if I go to my usual walking spot and don't have all of mine, people assume something has happened to the ones I don't have. Usually it is because they are with my OH. People are funny!! I just seen Ruths post

JJ, I hope these weren't friends or even aqaintences. What rotten stupid people and to do it in broad daylight So you did get the esky bacK?? Did you get to speak to them?? Jess, Hope Darcys cough is not too bad. 2 of mine had it a while back and the other 2 didn't get it. it wasn't a bad case but kept them quiet and at home for a few days and they were all good, although they didn't like it when the other two went out for a run and they had to stay at home. Sharon, I can just see you pushing Zac in a pram, maybe we should scout the op shops see if we can find an old one!!

Hi, Congrats on your new camera, the pics are awesome!n you will have an absolute ball playing!! I got my 50mm 1.8 (inspired by DOL) and I love it, not pricey and a very versatile little lense. My Nikon came with a kit lense the 18 - 135 but I decided to get an 18-250 tamron, cause I didn't wanna fork out the extra 400-500 bucks for the same in the nikon, wish I had of now. I hhate the Tamron and always seem to go back to the kit lense and it annoys me so much. The pics just don't seem as good a quality which doens't make sense really. Will be interested to see how you find the Tamroon once you have used it for a while!! Shell, what you upgrading too??

That would be the worst case scenario, They did have to put Cooper out to it to have a better look, you can imagine when I went in to pick him up and they told me, I was just like so shocked. They had to give him a general as when they tried to look in his ears they couldnt get near him, he just went nuts poor fella he must have been in so much pain. Trouble with Cooper was he must have a real high thresh hold for pain, he has also dislocated his toe one day and you wouldn't have thought that he had anything wrong with him. He just never complains, hes a tough nut! Can you run a tissue around in the inside of his ear to see if his ear is dirty? thats usually a good indication of an infection as they get a build up of gunk. Don't do it if it stresses him out as it could be painful. How long ago did the vet look at his ears? An infection can come on reasonably quickly? Are collies prone to ear infections, Im thinking not?? Is it possible he has a grass seed stuck? I know with my lot if one goes in, they do disappear so quickly. Just as an example we were walking one day and the dogs were off lead and all of a sudden Lacy had her head tilted to one side and was shaking it, I checked for a seed right away and nothing. I took her to the vet about 20 mins later as I was sure it was a seed and sure enough He dragged out a big grass seed from the middle of her ear, it had gone down so far and not visable, he had to use the eye thingy they use, and Lacy was so good she just sat on the table while he got the seed out. the second one she has had in her ear that they had got out while she was awake, she was so brave.

Hi Tess, Could be something as simple as an ear infection?? Has he been swimming latley? When Cooper was younger, he only showed slight signs that he had a sore ear, just occasional head shake and no smell, it turned out to be not one but 2 perforated ear drums, and bad infections in both ears. It really shook me to discover and I felt so guilty but the vet said as he wasn't displaying any of the usual signs it was hard for me to know. Luckily I only took him to the vet on a whim and others thought I was being paranoid but I was convinced there was something wrong just didn't know what it was. Hope you get to the bottom of it soon.

Hi Jess, Brierly classes are most Sundays with the odd Sunday off. The pricing has changed it used to be a $6 a week fee but now you pay $50 for the whole year the cost is broken down into two lots of $25 so $25 is for training fees and the other $25 is for Membership ( I think) Tez might be able to confirm this as I don't pay so not 100% sure. But I reckon $50 for the whole year is pretty good. the other cost involved would be $40 if the dog is over 16 weeks for a one of assesment lesson before she begins training, this is just to asses temprament, the dogs obedience level and to make sure our method of training will suit the dog. or $60 if the dog is under 16 weeks this covers the classes for the following 6 weeks. Generally RSPCA dogs are all good as they are assesed before they go to thier new homes. Did your friend get the dog from the Warrnambool RSPCA. One of the RSPCA staff there is a trainer at Brierly, so will more than likely know the dog. The contact is Trish on 55607362. Is your friend in Warrnambool. Trish also runs classes on a Saturday morning at Hawkesdale. The classes are stuctured as follows. Puppies at 9am Well behaved dog program at 10am, this includes a structured class of all things the dog needs to be well behaved such as Walking nicely on a lead, meal time manners, car saftey, out of site wait, doorway manners, sits, drops, stands, stays and a few others I can't think of at the moment. People with dogs past well behaved program then do general class work. If we only have a small class with a mixture of both we all join in together and do a bit of everything. It is a very casual atmosphere. We dont have anyone who comes that is training thier dogs for trials etc most of our people just want thier dogs to be well behaved and have general obedience. The dogs get off leash time before and after class and everyone is to be mindful of thier own dogs behaviour. There is some people who prefer to leave thier dogs on leash and we just ask that if you know your own dog can be DA that you leave the dog on its lead. General common sense applys. We do have a few that come and thier dogs never have off leash time as they are DA but they join in with general training which is great and the owners are very aware of thier dogs and making the enviroment safe for everyone dogs and owners alike. We have had a couple of people over the past few years that don't like the off lead time and have gone to Harris street as they don't have off lead time there. I will occasionally not let mine have off leash play it just depends on what other dogs are there such as my girls are not keen on big dogs they don't know so they stay close to me and prefer to be on thier leads but the boys are fine. Or if there is a mix or boisterous dogs mine stay on. The group is not usually huge with an average of about 10 people most weeks. (not including trainers) Training is held at the old Brierly site which is at the kmart end of Moore street past the race course. On the oval at the far end of the long drive way. I hope I have answered all your questions, if you have any more or I have left something out please let me know.

Great shots, I just love the little boy Aden, he has the cutest face!! I wish I could work form home and watch my doggies all day!

Lovely shots everyone!! Bellatrix, I love the hand shot, just lovely!

Happy Birthday Penny!! Hope the girls are getting on better since thier little disagreement.

All good here, I can't really help out with Vets, Im sure Shan would know but she is OS at the moment. I guess just do a ring around to the clinics and see what they say?? Is one of your Oldies getting a bit past it now?? Hope they are all going well. I have an 18 year old cat and she has been doing some wierd stuff lately!!

Is that Munchin I see??

Geez, your good with 2 weeks notice, I would have said go now

Well he did get to catch up with his little fluffy girlfriend!

"With tomatoe sauce", your so funny Linda, you crack me up!!

Your right Jess, I should suggest it to Maws for next years event maybe they could get a few people interested from the dog clubs in the area to do a couple of demos, maybe a bit of Obedience and a bit of agility. Like the lady that commented on my lot sitting and staying it is very basic obedience, I wonder what she would have said if she could have seen what they are really capable of !! I have been to the MPW the last 4 years running twice in Melb once in Sale and once here and have never seen an incident that had me concerned. Melb was just awesome, not a hiccup. Just people out for a nice day with thier dogs and it was pretty much the same here. The only thing was the poor fella with his kelpie clearly wanted to be involved and trying to do the right thing but the dog was DA so he did put the muzzle on him. Pebsnme, sounds like Cairns was a great day out too! Gilla, the Majority was PB, I actually thought it would be like footscray, spot the Aussie but it was the other way around. I just wish I had taken my DSLR to get some better shots of all the dogs it was a photo op gone mad I had it in the car too but didn't fancy carrying it for the walk. The main reaosn I took all the photos was for our absent DOLer Mawson, she usually leads the walk every year with her dog Mawson but she had to go OS for her Bros wedding, she was so dissapointed. I was thinking of her throughout the walk and dissapointed she wasn't there.

What fabulous shots, Lots of lovely doggys!!

In true Bec style, lovely photos, georgous dogs!!