Kirislin

come on, we're all wanting to know the story FM. I see you're getting the flower pot training started early. :laugh:

who belongs to this adorable puppy? You've taken great shots of him FM

OMG! they'll slow him down a bit! :laugh: Is he your puppy FM?

What a great idea I swear to god, Kirislin, you take the best photos and tell the best stories. "A day in the life of Kirislin" would trump what some people do in a year. What a lovely thing to say. I'm not sure about the pictures, or the lifestyle but I'll gladly take the compliment. :D These really were just snapshots taken from the side of the road and a long way away. I might try for some better shots next time. I know now he'll certainly perform for the camera, although I dont want to stress or harrass him. Can someone in the know tell me, is he a Maremma?

beautiful dog teekay, what is it? here's one from yesterday, it was still misty on the river but the sun was just starting to come up. 5F6A2970t by kirislin, on Flickr 5F6A2983dppt by kirislin, on Flickr

same here, all of mine are desexed, none are fat. If desexed dogs put on weight easily they should be cheaper to care for, cause they dont need to be fed as much.

Thanks guys, I didn't think the photos were particularly good, as photos go, but I thought they are interesting especially for anyone who's never seen these dogs working before. Glad you like them. Dxenion it hadn't occurred to me to try to find out who owns him. I might look into it.

yep thats how they work .Mine pick you up as soon as you slow down out the front of the house about half a kilometre from where we are and let me know to watch out .That dog has heaps of shelter - there are trees there .I give mine kennels and build lean to's for them but they never use them they go where the sheep go - from minus 6 in winter up to 45 in summer ,They dig a hole for a windbreak and even as pups given the choice they prefer the middle of a paddock to a nice warm kennel. Those trees are in another paddock, I dont think the dog or sheep have any shelter in the paddock but they all seem to cope. I suppose if it's good enough for the sheep, it's good enough for the dog.

I was very impressed with how alert he was. When ever I drive past I always look for him, and when I see him sometimes he's flat out, seemingly sound asleep, but the instant I stopped my car today he was watching.

I've been aware of this dog for several years now. I pass by and sometimes see him laying in the paddock. As far as I know he has no shelter, he really does live with the sheep. One day I saw a man feeding him but I'm not sure how often he gets fed. I'm not saying that because I think this is a welfare issue, I dont think it is, this dog is a fair dinkum livestock guardian dog, the only one I've ever seen doing what it's bred for. I've always wanted to get a photo of him. Today was my lucky day. I've never even stopped my car there before today. I parked about 200mts away from him, and didn't even get out of my car, but he was instantly alert, and within about 30 seconds of me stopped he started telling me to bugger off. He's spotted me, my car was on the other side of the road from him, but he immediately took notice IMG_3138dppt by kirislin, on Flickr Ok lady, you've been there long enough, move along now IMG_3140dppt by kirislin, on Flickr be off with you! IMG_3141dppt by kirislin, on Flickr who would dare be silly enough to go in there with him on guard, not me. IMG_3143dppt by kirislin, on Flickr

Yep. It's beautiful along that road. I dont remember fruit bats or rainbow lorikeets in Vic when I was a kid. I think they've only started coming down here as it's warming up.

I got up at 5am and was on the road by 5.30am driving to Kew to see the fruit bats on the Yarra river. Misty morning, the sun wasn't even up. Strange fruit on these trees. 5F6A2868t by kirislin, on Flickr 5F6A2863dppt by kirislin, on Flickr 5F6A2862dppt by kirislin, on Flickr 5F6A2861dppt by kirislin, on Flickr 5F6A2939dppt by kirislin, on Flickr 5F6A2940dppt by kirislin, on Flickr 5F6A2973dppt by kirislin, on Flickr

I'm sorry. RIP little man Cal.

OK then, leave extra so there's still some left for the dog after all the maggies have had their fill.

He cant be that hungry especially if he just watches the maggie steal his food. I wouldn't leave food out but if there's a single skerrick of anything vaguely edible and a bird had the cheek to try to eat it in this backyard they'd be deady bones. It doesn't sound like he needs food left out.

How old is he?

Checking in to see how Cal is this morning. I'm hoping he's much improved.

Yes, if he'd raced I would have had to think up a racing name for him. Well he couldn't anyway 'cause he was too heavy, but I wonder what I'd call him if he could. Maybe the Incredible Hulk, or Gigantor. :laugh: Penny was Little Savage, because she was exactly that when she was a puppy. Kibah was Pocket Rocket and Feather was The Blue Flyer. It's fun thinking up names for them.

Poor old boy. I hope he gets more comfy soon and you can get some rest too.

Tag was going to be my foundation sire of pedigree racing whippets. My logic was simple at the time. I got the fastest pedigree racing bitch of the year (my girl Penny) and mated her to the fastest pedigree racing dog of the year. I thought I'd have these really speedy pedigree whippets, but although Pennys healthy mature weight was about 12.5-13kgs and the sire was around 14.5-15 kgs Tag matured to a clydesdalish 18kgs!!! Where the hell all the bone came from I dont know. I couldn't race him because they have a 15kgs weight limit, and I wouldn't want to breed from such a gigantic dog so I had him neutered and kept him as a pet. Since I've been involved with the other fun racing club I haven't really had the time to train him, I've been busy with other stuff, but I just thought I'd give him a go for fun. He loved it so I might take him again.

Perhaps with all the goings on with puppy farms etc the word is slowly getting through to people and they are not buying from these places any more? We have recently had a pet shop close down in town too, they had started to go bad so trying to boost business thought they would add puppies to their list of items for sale. They are now closed. Although I think it might have been more than one as it was part of the PGD franchise. I don't think Kirislins OP or BC's crazy celebratory emots were directed at the shops misfortune at having to close down, more at the fact that its one less place for puppies to be sold from. spot on tlc. But I've seen on another thread that PP shops seem to be shutting down all over the place, I think that's what this one was.

aha! Today I noticed the one at Chirnside Park has closed, seems perhaps the whole lot of them are winding up. http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/242469-business-must-have-been-bad/

I saw the pet shop at Chirnside park has closed. It's been there for as long as I've been shopping there, must be close to 15 years. I dont know if it's the bad publicity that puppy farms have been getting lately but they always had a window full of puppies, so I'm pleased it's gone.

Yep, I think you're exactly right, although he was good and followed it right through, he didn't stop short to run to me.

Tag has never chased a lure or raced in any way, other than playing chasey with his brother at the park. He's 8 years old now, mature by racing standards, but I decided to let him have a try at our last whippet fun day. I know my dogs well and I was pretty sure he'd chase it immediately. I was right, the other thing I was right about, was that I've never thought he was very fast for a whippet. :laugh: But he loved it and I could see him getting a better understanding of it after each run he had. Erica leads him to the start. He's pretty compliant and didn't carry on like a pork chop because he was taken away from me. 5F6A2343dpptcr dop by kirislin, on Flickr Tag in the red jacket far right. I dont really think he understood what was going on here, he just picked up on the excitement and ran with the group. But that's OK, he'll still learn. 5F6A2361dpptcr dop by kirislin, on Flickr 5F6A2362dpptcr dop by kirislin, on Flickr 5F6A2363dpptcr dop by kirislin, on Flickr 5F6A2364dpptcr dop by kirislin, on Flickr my camera was brilliant here, although it doesn't necessarily make for a great photo it's pretty clear who I was following :laugh: my darling boy of course. 5F6A2366dpptcr dop by kirislin, on Flickr and the camera held focus even when all the others got in front of him. He's spotted me here and seems to be saying what am I supposed to be doing? 5F6A2367dpptcr dop by kirislin, on Flickr