wuffles

Mine both play nice, but Ava has been a target of aggressive dogs in the past and she doesn't deal well with it. It doesn't help that I am over sensitive since a dog had a go at her, I put my leg between them and it bit me (broke the skin). Scary We'll see how we feel on the weekend!

I was a bit anxious before we went to the Yarralumla one, too because of strange dogs. We are a bit naughty and hang out in the smaller yard which is for "old, small or light dogs". I rarely even go to Casey anymore even though it's within walking distance I don't think Satch can really pass as a small dog. He is getting old though? :laugh: Edit: I had no issue with them until about a year ago, if I only had Satch I wouldn't worry so much.

We may be there as well, depending how I feel! We have a new car and I am feeling precious about getting it muddy, ROFL. Although I enjoy dog parks I find them a bit stressful Iskiea I will let you know whether we will be going, we should be able to pick you up if so. Ri has a seatbelt, right?

:D It was funny, the other people in the dog park were tsk tsking and saying, "How do you let your dogs get so dirty?" Ummm.. they are DOGS in a DOG PARK! They had a great time!

Yes :laugh: I've posted this a million times but here are my two at Yarralumla Dog Park last year...

I squee'd so much over the owl I think hubby had to drag me away from the enclosure. What a stunning animal and so close up.

Yes OSS I like the idea of a small bit of articifial turf, if it is not too hard to maintain :) I worried with the larger kennels that my dogs would not get pee breaks but even with the smaller ones I think it's a good idea just in case! I just thought of one other thing, I think it is ridiculous that many kennels around here only offer daily exercise with an additional fee And then I worry about things like them hosing the kennels with the dogs still in them I know you wouldn't do this but in your advertising maybe make it clear that this doesn't happen, to put people's minds at ease :) I was worried about this too (my girl is drivey and energetic, my boy will sleep). I gave the kennel owners a treat toy and asked if they would feed her breakfast in this, which they did. I also sent some deer antlers and a tough toy for the kennel so she at least had something to chew if she was bored. They also gave clam shells in the exercise runs. It seems like she has been doing a lot of running in the exercise yards because she's still well muscled and lean. The owner said that she was very interesting in what was going on during the day so she got a lot of talking to and liked to watch all the activity :)

We just picked up my two from kennels yesterday, they were there for nearly 3 weeks. The reason we picked these kennels were: - small kennel (number of dogs) which meant more personal attention - guaranteed time in exercise runs, and enough exercise runs for all dogs (again due to small size) - large enough runs for both dogs to share comfortably, one large and one medium dog, as my large boy needs his personal space - runs with surfaces other than just concrete, as mine would rather burst than pee in concrete runs - ability to feed own food (brought from home) - ability to leave personal items (eg. beds and toys) - runs which are separated from other dogs - this was great for one of mine who is really stressed by other dogs barking - not really a reason we chose them, but they have a pick up/drop off service which really comes in handy! When we arrived to pick them up they were in the exercise yards and looked very happy and bright! They are in great condition, weigh exactly the same as when they went in, have been brushed (my girl is an Aussie, her pants and behind her ears have no matts at all). Very happy

I could probably tick all the answers :laugh: Mine sleep inside, wherever they want. One stays in the lounge room (his choice), and moves from dog bed to carpet to other dog bed as he sees fit! The other is generally on our bed if it's cool, or under the bed if it's too hot. Occasionally she sleeps in her (open) crate in the lounge, or beside the bed, or wherever she takes a fancy to!

Put husky sledding in Lapland on your bucket list everyone, it was awesome :laugh:

:) Yes, none of the dogs showed any signs of being cold at all. The ones that didn't get to come out for the day's run were a bit upset though :laugh:

Nope, no rellies over there, just wanted to do something completely different! We managed to arrive in the middle of a cold snap in Helsinki so it was -25 degrees. A bit of a shock to the system, but then when we got to 0 degree temps in Norway we felt positively warm!!! I loved the Alaskan Huskies, they have to breed them quite selectively to get the fastest dogs but also to keep a little bit of coat and bulk for the weather. You can probably see in the pics they don't actually have much coat at all! They have a few Malamutes and Sibes that I believe they cross in now and then. And they are FAST!!!

Thanks :) The snow was amazing, there was a cold snap in Finland so there was more than usual. It was soft, powdery and dry. Amazing! The dogs at the husky farm have individual runs (except some of the younger dogs who share a larger one). The runs even have each dog's name inscribed on the outside, and the owner and staff can identify each one by name immediately. The dogs were all extremely happy and they are kept in good condition as they do long distance races! The puppy is an Alaskan Husky pup :) The reindeer come in many different colours, white is one of them but they are not albino.

Last lot. This is their one and only Samoyed: Baby puppy These young guys were desperate for attention: Such a cute face: Just chillin' This guy stood up, stretched, then woo wooed at us when we came close :) The kennels

We went to a husky farm in Rovaniemi, Finland. The owner competes in races. The dogs were hilarious, they hated standing still and just wanted to run their little hearts out. They were pretty noisy when we stopped :laugh: These are the dogs we had pulling our sled, they are Alaskan Huskies.

We went to a reindeer farm in Inari, Finland.

Animals at the small zoo at Skansen in Stockholm. Wolverine (check out the paws!) Grey wolves Lynx Great grey owl... this guy was awesome.

I think this was a Shiba we saw somewhere in the middle of Finland :p This guy was on our ship (Hurtigruten) for a few nights! Iggie in Oslo... didn't seem to mind the cold until she asked him to sit, which he objected to :) Super well behaved Bernese Mountain Dog, heeling off leash at the Opera House in Oslo. Cute wire haired dachshund (these seem very popular) in an optometrist!

We just returned from a trip to the Nordic countries and I thought I'd share some of the dog and other animal pics I took while we were over there :) The ones of dogs are quite candid and not great quality but hopefully you enjoy them anyway. The dogs we saw were allowed in a lot of places and were all well behaved. Everyone just ignored them! This was in Helsinki... a Finnish Lapphund perhaps? He sniffed the snow and got a gobful. Then created some yellow snow. Two cavs being taken for a walk in Helsinki. Dog park in central Helsinki... not being used at the time! Two border terriers that came across on the ferry with us to one of the islands.

We comfort our boy, it doesn't make him worse, he's scared and that's never going to change. If he has a safe place close to us he will be ok.

I have a Gentle Leader branded one. I use it very rarely these days but it was valuable for walking my two dOgs together as the younger gets very excited. She learned to pull into it, and it alsO rubs under her legs. But I found it useful in the short term.

Also how about dog sports where the scientific consensus is that early desexing is detrimental to their structure?

My girl is from a registered breeder, I was happy to get her desexed (did so at 11 months, desexing contract said by 12 months). But now I have a great relationship with her breeder, and can also put up an argument to other breeders if required, as I've put titles on my dog and demonstrated what I am like as an owner (with regular updates to the breeder, promoting the breed, helping out others in my area, etc). I'm quite confident that I won't have an issue getting an entire dog next time around, if that's what I want. Relationships are very important.

One of mine would be happy as an outside dog, that said he is super laid back and would be happy wherever you put him. He would bark at things if left outside overnight though. I think a lot of it comes down to individual personalities. My Aussie needs constant company (human or canine) but I have met other Aussies who are fine being alone. Mine are inside because I like their company :)

Ava seems to think the bathmat is a perfectly placed bed for her to stare at me in the shower...