ozjen

Not corny at all, I love keeping in touch with my puppy buyers although as you say this does not suit every puppy buyer. I also think its great that you run puppy classes for your pups, this is something I have been considering for awhile. At present I make it clear to people that I am available to assist with training issues as well as the normal inquires for the life of the pup but am thinking that perhaps a more structured learning class might be a good starter to encourage those less confident owners who may be reserved about calling for assistance. It is also a good way to further build the relationship with the pups owner.

Woohoo, good to see so many other potential newbies who are interested, we can all be tracklayers for each other I might have to juggle abit as I got my Canine news in the mail today and alot of Agility trials seem to fall on a Saturday but hopefully we can combine the two activities. I remember reading somewhere that the great thing about tracking is that dogs both young and old (as in slowing down old) can do it as it is not overly stressful on them. Mind you I have also read that scent work is a good way to tire your dog out if the weather is not good for walking. Hehe, we might all be able to go back to bed after training and not walk the dog. Perhaps if quiet a few live a fair distance from the pineforrest you could team up with someone else in your area and share transport costs. If anyone is not sure they have a breed suitable for tracking don't be put off, tracking is suitable for ALL breeds including toy breeds.

Oh, comeone Rubystar, you can still sleep in on Sundays We could always take the van and share petrol costs. I hate getting out of bed early on weekends too but it isn't a long season and I think it would be great exercise for the dogs and us. Did some practice with Jenna tonight as we hadn't done any scent work for a while, started with a toy and then went through my food cupboard looking for something that might be good to use. Found some old infussion teabags which worked out great, that way I had one to give her the scent and one to hide and it was something she wasn't previously familiar with. She was a good girl and found it every time. How long is the season? And what is the start time? Sat mornings, eh? Sigh! Maybe :D I'll come to the information session in Gosnells (if I don't forget! You may have to remind me!) and I'll decide then. If we travel together and share costs I guess that would make it a bit easier My biggest decision though will be, which dog?!?! Millie already gets the extra activity on top of obedience (agility), but it's actually Millie I had in mind for doing tracking before getting into agility with her. I like sticking with just obedience with Ruby, she's my obedience guinea pig and I like doing everything else with Millie. Decisions, decisions!! Maybe we could use Giz as tracking bait!!! :p Don't worry he'll be staying home, so why not see how Millie likes it. I think from memory its 8or 8.30 till 11 am on Saturdays at the pine forrest. Season runs I think mid April to Sept, best bet is to check out the link as they have the details on their website, I have a shocking memory. I might have to miss some sessions where it clashes with Agility especially the Nationals.

Thanks all for your thoughts on this subject, I do like hearing others perspectives on this matter. Many years ago I had someone who had purchased one of my pups call to see if they could get another from me as they were so happy with the other one. I didn't breed often so I promised I would contact them sometime in the future if I had a litter to see if they were still interested. The next day I got a call from another puppy buyer (same litter) who could not keep theirs and I was able to arrange a rehome to the first caller who had origanally tossed up between this pup and the one they took. For many years we shared snail mail (before the internet) about these two pups who were truely loved and I recieved regular photos as well. It still amazes me though how well fate played a hand in this event and the amazing timming between calls.

Oh, comeone Rubystar, you can still sleep in on Sundays We could always take the van and share petrol costs. I hate getting out of bed early on weekends too but it isn't a long season and I think it would be great exercise for the dogs and us. :p Did some practice with Jenna tonight as we hadn't done any scent work for a while, started with a toy and then went through my food cupboard looking for something that might be good to use. Found some old infussion teabags which worked out great, that way I had one to give her the scent and one to hide and it was something she wasn't previously familiar with. She was a good girl and found it every time.

After the recent passing of a couple of friends I discussed with my oldest son the future of my pets should I die. When it came to my very mischievious spoilt Aussie, I asked if he would take her as I could not think of anyone else for her. His answer was " I hope you are going to outlive Jenna, Mum" but why was I left wondering if this was more because he didn't want my wildchild rather than him hoping Mum would always be around. Maybe it was that look he flashed in Jenna's direction.

While I let my puppy owners know that I will take a dog back or assist in rehoming at any stage in its life I do sometimes wonder it this is the correct way to go. Not that I'm not willing its just that I wonder if we make it too easy for people to not take any responsability for taking on a dog. I know circumstances change or an individual dogs personality might not fit the household, but are we giving people to easy an out. In this throwaway society are we encouraging people to do just that with their pets. No flaming please, but I am genuinely interested in peoples thoughts on this as in the back of my mind I have often worried that perhaps we are contributing to people taking the responsiability of dog ownership too lightly by offerring the easy out. Having said that, I myself have rehomed a dog after offering it back to the breeder. I was more than happy to do the rehoming and consulted the breeder with regard to whether they would prefer the dog to be sterilised first and transfered to limited register if they did not want it back themselves or whether they were happy for her to go to another breeder who had some of their lines. I also microchip my pups although it is not madatory in our state so that they can hopefully be traced back to me if any are found or end up in a shelter so that I can take responsibility for them.

http://www.trackwest.com.au/ This is the link if anyone wants to check it out.

I know there were a few WAers interested in trying the tracking when it started up again and have just read that there is an intro day in Gosnells at the end of March, anyone going? I'm thinking of going along and finding out more about it.

We've got a couple of Rouch Collies here in WA doing it and they are every bit as good as any of the other dogs doing it. Haven't been to see a comp for awhile but I'm sure that some have got their starter titles.

I can only hope that my dogs live to be that old, but oh how much harder must it be when they do pass.

I can't help but cry when I see an animal in this condition, how can anyone be so cruel. I really hope this poor little girl finds a very special loving home where she will never hunger for anything again. If anyone hears how she gets on I hope they post.

I can't imagine leaving my furkids behind in an evacuation or standing by and doing nothing if they were in danger but I honestly don't know how brave I would be if faced with a situation. I did once shoot down a steep river bank ready to jump into a river with a fairly strong current to save my sisters old Sheltie that got into dificuties even though I'm not a good swimmer and nervous in the water. Luckily I was able to grab her without taking too big a dip. Sometimes in an emergency you don't think of the risks, you just react. I do sometimes wonder how I would go grabbing all the fur and feather kids by myself if the need arose and how I would transport them to safety without the car if I couldn't walk them out. Hopefully I will never need to.

I'm sure they are just reacting to the loss of their pet although it makes it no easier for you. Ultimately although no one wants to see an animal killed by another the blame lies with the owner of the cat for not keeping it confined to their own property. If your dogs had killed it out in the street then both parties would be to blame and you then may have had a problem with the council and your dogs. I hope you and your dog mend quickly and it does not cause any lasting issues with your neighbour.

No, i haven't spoken to them since it happened. I will go see them once the rain stops. The neighbour did speak briefly about fixing the gap just after the incident, before his wife started calling out to him. Goodwill does still exist. I don't believe i could be up for any or all of the vet bill, if there turns out to be one. I won't be getting legal advice for a small incident like this. He wasn't running, i shouldn't have said that. I was aware he was interested in what was going on next door, but he wasn't showing any signs of aggression. I was outside with him at the time, but i can't keep watch over him 24/7. That's the idea of having secure fencing. I think you are right not to start looking at legal advise as it can add a sour note to what could be a perfectly amicable settlement of the incident and blow it out into something unpleasant for both parties. While your dog may have jumped on the leg coming under the fence out of curiousity and accidently hurt the pup the pups leg was on your side of the fence so its owners have to assume the blame and I am sure that if they are decent people they will see it this way too and not expect you to pay the bill. I hope the pup is okay and the matter gets resolved quickly to save you more stress. Perhaps if your Rotti is friendly and gentle towards small dogs you could suggest giving the dogs a supervised playdate occassionally and this will help reassure them that there was no malise on your dogs part.

Before you run down crossbreeds, I suggest you be aware that many people on this forum have crossbreeds and that stupidity and eating whatever they feel like trying isn't limited to crossbreeds. There are also many attractive crossbreeds. I have no doubt Rivergum are puppyfarmers but running down crossbreeds wins you no points. Im not running down crossbreeds? I have a crossbreed myself. What I am saying is that the oodles from this place are extremely dumb dogs. Granted I have only met two, but they were both from different litters several yrs apart I tend to think they are typical of what these ppl produce. Perhaps you should not be so quick to assume.. Maybe they both belong to someone who has not trained them. 2 dogs 2 different litters but same home, coincidence maybe. Perhaps is was more to do with the lack of mental stimulations in their early life as pups from a puppyfarm that makes them appear dumb rather than the breed mix. I can only imagine that dogs kept in the conditions that pupyfarms have that they would have to shut down mentally to survive in these shocking conditions. If the mother dog isn't stimulating her pups by playing with them and they have minimal human contact and mental stimulation what can one expect from the pups. Not flaming anyone here just another opinion and perhaps this is what the OP was trying to point out rather than blaming the breed mix. I know I sometimes don't come across as clearly as I'd like to when posting.

I remember having a good laugh at that when you posted on the Aussie list as I could just picture him doing that. Its hard to get mad at them when they have such a sense of humour. I know dogs aren't mean't to have a sense of humour but I think that is the only way to describe an Aussies behaviour at times especially with some of the expressions on their faces. I love Benson's personality, he would suit my any day.

Check with bedazzeledx2 her mum makes a fantastic dog cake, she made it one Christmas breakup for our Agility club and the dogs all loved it. Nice and dog healthy too. I've misplaced my copy of the recipe but its a great one to have.

Beat me to it! This dog was the one I was thinking of when I read the OP. Yep, us Aussie owners love this site don't we.

When Benson was a puppy he used to nick off with shoes, socks, slippers, undies etc and I'd retrieve them and give him a reward. Til I realised he was deliberately walking past me with things in his mouth, "daring" me to get it off him so he'd get a treat. Smart little bugger. But I think the cleverest thing was when I saw him "measuring" gaps in the fence til he found one baby Dusty could fit through and then showing her where to break out of the puppy run. Had I not seen it, I would NEVER have believed a dog could be so clever. The thought process he must have used for that just astounds me. Firstly, he had to recognise that she couldn't get out to play with him. Then he had to want her out to play with him. Then he had to understand that HE had to find a way to get her out, then he had to discover that the escape hatch. And measure the spaces between the fence posts and recognise one gap that was a half inch wider than the rest. And after all that, he had to make her understand that she could get out in that spot and guide her to it. Had she tried to get out of any other spot, she'd have got her head stuck but they did it 3 times before I realised what they were doing, then another two times while we watched them and she never got stuck once. He was only 10 months old at the time, so technically still a puppy himself. Aren't you glad they don't have opposable thumbs? They'd give us humans a run for our money! Yep, I know what you mean, I have seen them move objects to make themselves a step up to things that we think are out of their reach. When Jenna had her last litter I taught three of the pups out of the eight to sit on command, when the others realised that when these three sat on command they got a treat they all started to sit on command. Could have done with being an octopus to reward them all though. they all started to sit on command

I love it! My kids wanted to teach Annie this trick, but now I'm thinking it might be a bad idea. Admittedly some of the places she has found them I would never ever have thought to look and she has saved my bacon more than once when I've had work to get to. Your kids might like to check out my girls videos on Youtube under PAWFX for some trick ideas, also leopuppy04 has some great Aussie trick videos too.

Comeon Rubystar, I know I'll have to check your pockets for puppies when you come over to socialise with Jenna's babies even if there is no reds. That's if all works well for a litter this year, fingers crossed. At least we will get the Agility Nationals out of the way before she goes on maternal leave.

Mirrawee will be able to give you a comparison between these two breeds, she has Lappies(including one starting in Agility) but also competes in Agility with Aussies belonging to myself and my sister.

Even before I read that you where thinking about an Aussie, I thought an Aussie sounded just right. They seem to be great with other animals and kids and generally adjust to their owners level of exercise as long as they are getting some form of exercise. They are very much a thinking dog though so mental stimulation is a must. You will get a shock at just how quickly they learn but that isn't always a good thing. My Aussie was trained to find my carkeys and would get a big reward for finding them until one day I saw her take them of the sidetable and hide them in her toybox. She didn't know I'd seen it and later when I asked her to find the keys she didn't need to sniff them out just went straight to her box, got them and then looked at me for her reward. Now I only ask her to find them if I'm really desparate and they are now kept out of her reach as much as possiable. Makes me wonder how many times I misplaced them and how many times she had hidden them. I'm had several really wonderful dogs(including X breeds) in my life but have to admit the Aussie is top of the list and is my heartdog.

http://www.ashgi.org/color/Aussie_somatic_mutations.html This site shows a black and yellow Lab as the second image showing unusual mutations. Perhaps the advertised dog had this mutation