kiesha09

This is the one thing about having children that scares me to death. I have two non-shedding dogs that live predominantly inside. Actually the only time they are outside is to go to the toilet or if I'm out there. I don't believe they would cope out there all the time. One of the dogs I could rehome with my parents (but they travel alot so not sure how that would work). I know he would be more than happy to live there. But the other is not rehomable at all so I have no idea what I would do. I just pray that its not something that I will have to deal with. My niece is allergic to dogs and most other animals really and she isn't allergic to my dogs so fingers crossed being no shedding they would be ok.

Yay I was so hoping for tiny pony pics!!! He's simply adorable. Love the scratches pic!!

You laugh but that is a total reality. Before I got my first dog I had no idea about anything to with dogs. I thought the sale documentation were his 'papers' But then funnily enough my OH's sister bought a Boston Terrier from a registered breeder. The breeder sent her the papers and she assumed they were probably fakes. I had to convince her that no they were actually real But then she didn't understand their relevance. So for people who don't know anything about dogs and the relevant associated bodies I can see how they get confused. Obviously I now am much more informed :laugh:

LIKE

My bet is she stays

This was going to be my exact response. SM your two are just adorable and the way you describe their antics and personalities is awesome.

Thanks for the responses!! Makes sense TSD to wait until the cat is bigger before introducing a puppy.

In the distant future I would like to have one dog and one cat that I raise from a puppy/kitten. I've never had a cat before so have never done any kind of dog/cat integration. So I thought I'd do my first poll here and ask your thoughts on what works best and why.

Wow! I can't believe people can let it get that bad!! I normally keep my two clipped quite short because I don't like the maintenance but I have found that this winter (when I let them get a bit longer) if I regularly wash them and dry them with the doggy drier (proper grooming salon one) it goes along way to keeping their coats mat free. Obviously I brush them alot but the dryer is certainly a godsend!

I'm not from Perth but WOW... this dude is crazy!!! I hope the police are involved because having such an unstable person around the place is scary!

I'm not from Perth but WOW... this dude is crazy!!! I hope the police are involved because having such an unstable person around the place is scary!

These dogs are so used to being groomed that it would be no less 'normal' than being given a bath, clip and then being dryed. It's not like the dog cares less about what motifs are being put on it either.

Wow that is really cool to see such a close up!

For me I have found that 2 dogs are definately better than one. I personally wanted another dog for me, but part of that reasoning was so that my other dog had company during the day. I suffered the major guilts leaving one dog at home alone but felt so much better having two. It has worked perfectly and they are the best of friends. I'm not sure what I would have done if they didn't get along. Initially I did find it was twice as much work. A puppy needs toilet training, individual attention, manners training etc. But now that they are 6 and 7 years old I don't find it twice as much work at all (or I've forgotten how little work one dog is :laugh:). Now we generally just work on maintenance training and I walk them together. They are fine if seperated though. I do think it depends on the dogs though and I may have got lucky.

I love her little pink paws in the second to last one :laugh: sooo cute!

I tiny pony! And I reckon you should keep the name 'tiny pony'. It's almost as cute as him and you could shorten it down the track to 'tiny' :laugh:

Oh I can totally relate.... in fact I think it probably was one of the causes of the demise of my relationship with ex OH :laugh: He just never listened, did his own thing and then I had to fix the problem behaviours. Ex OH is now gone and I'm still left with some annoying behaviours - ie jumping on people and pulling on lead - but they are better than they were. Now the new OH is a total pushover - for the dogs that is. They have him wrapped around their paws. They are meant to sleep in their crates at night but the new OH 'jail breaks' them in the middle of the night so they can sleep on the bed. Every morning I roll over to him and the two dogs. I give up on most of it but will NEVER let him walk them!!

I always find these kinds of things hilariously funny. Even the most well behaved dogs slip up sometimes and for me it reminds me to keep my sense of humour :laugh: MRB your list was so funny I was giggling at my desk, I can also relate to so many of them

That is frickin hilarious!!!

I agree with these two posts above. But also think that perhaps its just peoples way of making conversation. I see an old man walking his old Samoyed every morning. My girl absolutely loves his old dog and we always stop to say hello. The cold weather makes the Samoyed a bit stiff with arthritis and I will sometimes comment that 'ahhh it must be a bit chilly this morning the old guy is a bit stiff today.' The old man doesn't get offended and normally makes some kind of joke. The fact of the matter is the dog is old but there is nothing wrong with that.

I just don't understand how this is ethical at all. The puppies are being culled before they even know if there are suitable homes out there for them. There may be a perfect pet home for one of these puppies but the breeder hasn't even tried to find them a home. They've just automatically culled them because they are the wrong colour and they assume people won't pay more that $1000 for a pet (which is rubbish). I just think as a breeder if you aren't willing to keep the puppies if you can't find homes for them then you shouldn't be breeding at all. The other thing I wonder about is that the blue merle colouring seem like they are so popular with many other breeds, surely there would be people that would want a blue merle dane???

My boy (swf) can swim for a few metres and then its like his back legs don't paddle fast enough so his back end sinks. Once he's verticle he sinks straight away so I'm always very careful with him and the water. I think your Abbi might be able to swim but the shock of falling in took it out of her for a few minutes. I also think some dogs just need to be taught how to do it.

My two dogs actively seek out either the carpet, floor rugs or my doona over spewing on the tiles. What is with that?

It's probably a bit far for you but Derek McNair from The Parade veterinary clinic is fantastic. I can't speak more highly of a vet. He has a fantastic repore with my two dogs and they just can't wait to get in there and see him. He is also very thorough with his testing and diagnosis. My boy has an auto immune disease that was quite complicated to diagnose and he was fantastic. Then when my girl was hit by a car he cancelled a BBQ and came in on his day off to see to her even though there were other vets on duty. But because she is primarily his patient he made the effort. I was impressed and so grateful!

Isn't it just so annoying! I have given my parents strict instructions that my boy is to ONLY be fed at his mealtimes ie he gets a morning and night feed in HIS bowl. For us its not because he gets sick (although he puts on weight very quickly) but because he growls and whines constantly if he thinks there is any chance of getting food. But its a vicious cycle with my parents. They have obviously fed him food from their plate at the table because if we all sit down to eat off he starts growling and grumbling. I always get mad at them but Dad's theory is that he growls because he's hungry and the only way to make him quiet is to feed him. ARGH!!!! He just doesn't get it that the only way to make him shut up is just to NEVER feed him at the table. It only happens at their house which is the only place he gets fed when he demands food. I am grateful to them for babysitting for me sometimes but geez the dog with a lack of manners I get back is never good.