Mel774

My heart goes out to you. What a terrible loss. I'm sure Tulip will stay with you always and her spirit will be passed down into her beautiful babies. At least you know they are in the best of care - they are being looked after by Tulip's mum

Yeah something was definately wrong when I last visited him (he lived in Melbourne with my family) and my partner thinks he was holding on so he could say goodbye. I am sure he's with my dad at the moment, but I know he will come and visit me to say goodbye. In the meantime I have to watch over my puppy who had a paralysis tick removed last night. I took today off work to watch him and then got the bad news this morning, so dad was glad I was already at home. Leo was the first dog I ever had. He'll always hold a very special place in my heart

Just got a phone call from Dad this morning...... my bichon, Leo.. passed away this morning. This is sooo unexpected. I didn't even realise he was sick. My stepmum didn't want to tell me anything had been wrong until after he was out of the hospital so I didn't have to worry. He had pancritis and was on morphene until this after midnight morning when his bowel burst and they couldn't save him. I'm just in shock. Dad could barely even speak on the phone, he's been crying all night. My little sister doesnt know yet, she was going to visit him in hospital today. Goodbye Leo... I love you so much

Oh good, that makes me feel better. I'll organise to get it sometime next week, around mine and my partners days off so we can take him and keep an eye on him. I'll feel so much more relaxed when he does have them off, he was a disgrace yesterday at puppy class as far as humping goes! I went off for a few mins to come back to grab something out of the trainer's car, I came back and he said "Mel....your dog.." I said "let me guess, humping everything?" and everyone else laughed and sure enough, he was trying to hump a little dachie who was sooooo tiny that he stood right over her so she kept walking backwards under his legs!!

I've wondered the same myself about my golden retriever boy who is a 2 days off 14 weeks old. His balls haven't dropped...but he humps EVERYTHING - ESPECIALLY a poor little female dog at puppy class. I'm worried because I dont know what age he can start impregnanting girls and he's just hump-mad!!! Also just this week his wee has started to change smell and he appears to have started marking!! With me and Aaron standing there in shock going noooo don't start that! We want you desexed before you start cocking your leg everywhere!!!! He doesnt cock his leg yet.. but gosh he's developing fast. He's also very naughty when he tries to be dominant. Should I desex him early??

BONES ;) Plenty of nice raw bones to chew on, keeps their teeth healthy and strong

I knew nothing about BARF. I did know that my Dad gives Leo PAL and it's GROSS!!!!! (But he also gets lots of raw bones and leftovers too). I wondered what I would feed my pup when I got him. I assumed just whatever I was feeding myself... Just meat offcuts, pasta, rice etc. It would have been cooked though. Then I came here and found out about BARF. Read up on the net about what veggies to feed etc. My pup was eating raw chicken pet mince and Supercoat Puppy at the breeders. Now he eats mostly human grade beef mince, tuna, chicken or turkey mince, mixed with veggies. He LOVES it. Especially the beef mince, chicken mince is now his least favourite!! I also give him chicken necks for lunch and he always has a bowl of Supercoat Puppy around when he wants to munch. I find I can get away with using these as treats for training...even if the bowl is right next to me!! (Aahh the trust of a puppy!)

I dont know about the Spinach and Tomato. I have heard a few times about tomato plants but I actually found this about spinach on a BARF site... Under that list that I posted (just a word doc that a friend sent me) it said "varied toxic affects. Under apple, it specifically mentions the seeds, nothing else "Apple seeds - Varied toxic effects; rapid breathing, shock, dilated pupils, diarrhea gum inflammation"

Toxic Plants: Amaryllis Angel's Trumpet Apple Apricot, almond Asparagus fern Azalea American, English, and Western Yew Boston Ivy, Glocal Ivy, Heart Ivy, Needlepoint Ivy, Ripple Ivy, Ivy Bird of Paradise Buckeye Black locust Balsam pear Buttercup Chrysanthemum Creeping fig, Weeping fig Creeping Charlie Crown of Thorns Castor bean China berry Coriaria Drunk Cane Delphinium Daffodil Emerald Duke Elephant ears English Holly Fox glove Ground cherry Heart leaf (Philodendrum) Horse Chestnut Indian turnip Indian tobacco Japanese plum Jerusalem Cherry Jimson weed Jasmine Larkspur Loco weed Lupine Marble Queen Majesty Monkey pod Mushrooms Moonseed Matrimony vine Marijuana Morning Glory Mescal bean Nightshade Nutmeg Oak tree Poinsettia Pot mum Pathos Poke weed Peach Poison hemlock Pig weed Periwinkle Peyote Red Princess Rhubarb Spider mum Saddle leaf and Split leaf Philodendron Sprangeri fern Spinach Sunburned potatoes Tomato and tomato vine Umbrella plant Water hemlock Wild cherry Wisteria

I got a little bag of Nature's Gift treats that look pretty good! I'm going to try them out for training. I think they will work considering that Aaron's family's dog has been getting agro with me everytime he sees the packet still unopened. He knows they're not for him hahaha. I fobbed him off with liver treats this morning. He had this look that said "I'll forgive you this time, but I'm going to be there when you open that!"

Whatever! I didn't intend to write them all out, just wanted to make a point about intestinal worms.

Just remember that heartworm jab only covers heartworm. So if you use it, keep giving your dogs something like Drontal all wormer to keep away the intestinal worms (tapeworm, ringworm, hookworm etc)

Correct me if I'm wrong but I was under the impression that C5 = C4 + kennel cough.

haha yup, it's the cold and grey!!! I was a total grump before I left Melbourne, but mostly because my situation there needed major improving. I still marvel everyday at the fantastic atmosphere Queensland has compared to Melb though! Everyone here is soooo nice!! Very relaxed feel to the place. I work for a big company with lots of staff too and everyone there has been fantastic and so welcoming. I like to make friends with strangers as much as I can now :D You can't always get away with doing that in Melb, people are so rushed and stressed. Here everyone is on holiday or moved up from a colder climate (haven't met too many qld-born people here!) so we're a happy bunch! hehehe Nothing against Melb people though...I lived there for nearly 21 years!

Yeah my pup is sleeping in his crate from day one (well...week 8 in his life!) and my family live in Melbourne so he'll be used to the travel. We'll only be down to Melb once in between now and March, so we specifically organised the trip to be after his c5 vaccination so that he can tag along :D I'll make sure his trip in Melb is extra special and that he has lots of fun, cuddles and sleeps so he'll be raring to go in March. I can imagine it would be a bit chaotic with so many dogs and people around! Hopefully Kaden will be used to it, I'll be bringing him to dog training every week to socialise and play - as well as become used to seeing me handle lots of other doggies. StaffordsRule- hopefully they do have the next course in Queensland! This year is the first in ages that they have brought it back to Gatton. It's stayed at Dookie for quite a while and they said whether they bring it back to Gatton will depend on how smoothly the course runs this year. I love the sun of Queensland. All my "melbourne" (pale skin and grumpiness!) has gone since I have started working outdoors more. Nice and brown now Lucky I had a really good excuse to come here and stay here for good (got engaged to a qld resident..but not for that reason! Love him to bits!)

Hi Linda, I'll be bringing my golden (retriever) baby with me (unless they say he's too young as he'll only be 7 months in late March). I think he should be fine, one of the instructers I work with said I was lucky to be taking a dog at that age, before he becomes a naughty teenager!! I don't actually have him yet, he's still with his littermates and parents, not long now though!!! What breed is your dog?? Mel, hope you can make it another year. My situation just barely permits me to go! I scraped together the $950 with my partner's tax return and am glad that the next payment isn't due until May 05. After missing the 04-05 course in Queensland though, there was nooo way I was prepared to miss this one.

I'm flying down from Qld and getting the airport transfer (delta organise a bus for the interstate travellers) and then at the end of the week I'll go back to the airport and probably meet my family there and stay an extra few days. My whole family lives in Melbourne (no where near Dookie though which is why I'll get them to pick me up from Tulla).

Yeah I can't wait! I loved the course outline, there is so much more than just obedience, I think it's great. Two girls used to work for the place I volunteer at and they did the Delta course - they now own their own school and thought the course was fantastic. It hasn't been very long since I studied (well...actually not long since I did uni anyway, dont know about the study part! :D) I wouldn't worry too much, when it's something you're passionate about, study is a sinch. I just LOVE learning about dogs and obedience so I think I will breeze through. I wont be able to stop myself from studying (that's why I am here every night, I want to know all there is to know!) I'll see you and your doggy in March then

They took my rego money out today so I must have been accepted :D YAY!!!!!!!! I can't wait!!!!!! Just wondering if anyone else has/was going to enrol in next year's Delta course??

You're right greytmate, it's all very interesting and helpful! I am learning so much about dogs everyday through this forum, it's fantastic. Things I would have never known. I'm so glad I have been here for a few months before getting my pup, I feel more confident that I will be raising him the right way. I'm looking forward to learning things like canine first aid etc as part of my course. I think it's so important for instructers to know more than just how to teach a dog, because most owners come to training for help and advice on how to raise their happy, well behaved dog. Thanks everyone who has given me such valuable information

hmm..... The puppy school classes go for 45mins, but it involves mostly socialisation at the beginning and end, and not much walking because it's all done in a pen. The jouvenile classes are 45mins and there are large breed dogs there (like a little growing german shepherd) that are quite young. Maybe I should discuss this with the owner and with the teacher (I watch the puppies and jouveniles every week as part of my training). The classes are not all walking and there is a lot of completing an activity one at a time.. but I don't want to put stress on my pup. Also I'm doing the delta course next year and want to take my dog who will be about 6 months old then but now I'm worried that he may be too young (I wanted to get him much earlier but unfortuantely we had a long wait to get approval, make sure I had the means to care for him, and then find a litter). I don't know how much work we go through with the dogs during the course, but I know theres a few deltas here that I could ask. Edit to say: My pup is not a giant breed, but still a large breed suseptible to hip and elbow issues (Golden retriever)

What about training? Like a 45min session of dog training... that involves a fair bit of walking. Is this going to be putting stress or is this ok because it's on grass and not constant walking??