Verdant Amphibian

Try the Traralgon 4WD centre. I know they're supposed to be distributors for the flexiglass who make whirlybirds. Phone: 03 5176 0102 Fax: 03 5176 0402 Email: [email protected] Address: 150 Argyle Street Traralgon

I would love to know how the temperature test goes. We're got a ute with a canopy and one dog at the moment who fits in the twin cab with us, we want to get another dog in a year or two and whether we get another medium breed or a toy breed instead depends on whether we can transport our dogs safely under the canopy or not. So being able to learn from your experience would be great.

Aww so many beautiful puppies! I have been rather slack posting photos. Bjorn came home on saturday and he's settled in beautifully. He's sleeping well, responding well to training and is just a sweet, gentle confident little thing. He did very well at puppy preschool on tuesday night, the trainer commented on how confident and placid he was in my arms and he played really well with the other dogs - very full on but not rough. I thought he did particularly well since he'd only had a lead on that morning and all the other puppies were 12-16 weeks compared to his 8. He loves going outside which is making toilet training that much easier "Pinebark is awesome Mummy." "Geez, don't panic I'll spit it out." "Wow what's that?" "Hey this one drops food! Daddy didn't think that through." Kirby, Evie and Bjorn on The Kitty Tower of Doom. Evie got stuck since Bjorn fell asleep there. They've now taken to sleeping in Ava's cot since he's nearly always under the scratching post now. I told them he'd be too big soon but it didn't seems to comfort them much

Hudson is so cute! Wow only four days you must be madly excited Two more weeks for us but I get to meet my boy in a few more hours! There will be photos

I'm loving all the puppy photos. I don't have any of my own to add but I will get to meet the little guy on monday so I should have lots to put up then. My OH is rather envious I've been planning for weeks to leave him with the 1yo and the 2.75yo so I could go to a dog show, which he agreed to readily enough, but now I'm getting to see our puppy afterwards so he's feeling a teeny bit jealous. emery - what a clever girl Kelari is, I love how focused she looks in the training picture. You're dog and cat play so nicely together, I'm rather jealous I don't think that will happen here. Borderfan - Not long to go now, less than a week. I hope we're going to keep seeing lots of photos though.

Kerry always did it when she was happy and excited either right before, right after or mid zoomies.

When I was a kid we had a parson russell terrier bitch, she was desexed quite young but still at least once a week she would steal a cushion off the couch or get her bed and have her way with it. She continued until she was 17 although it became less frequent as her arthritis got worse. I never saw her attempt it with a person or another dog though

In my family we've always view dogs as members of the family and not just immediate family either but extended family. Our family dogs were part of my Nanas family too and vice versa if something happened to her it was a given that her chi rebecca would have come to live with us. Our dogs spent so much time visiting each other that the council had to put notes in their files. It's the same deal with my great aunt. If something happens to my parents my brother and I will probably fight over their dogs Meg and Pippa (they are our sisters after all). When I get a dog (4 weeks and counting) my parents will feel the same. The only dog I ever had that felt like mine was our parson russell terrier Kerry who adopted me when she was 12 and I was 11. She got arthritis and got to sleep on a bed for the first time in her life (mine) and lived another 5 years. I loved her madly. Living out of home I've only had my two birman cats evie and kirby they've come with me through 5 moves including a few months where I had to live with my parents after a relationship ended. My life has changed a great deal in the years I've had them, I now have two young children and went through stages when the children were newborn that they got hadly any attention, Kirby got territorial and started peeing and pooing in front of the kitty litter (which she still does) and I was sick of being touched and took virtually no pleasure in their company. But I felt responsible for them, they were part of my family, so we worked through it, made efforts to minimise the changes for them - getting a cat net for over the cot so they could continue to sleep on the bed without me stressing and things are, mostly, back to normal and I love my kitties again. Evie still thinks babies are evil but in a couple of months Nina (who only just turned one) will stop trying to put Evie in her mouth and Evie will accept that Nina is actually human. Having experienced times when I haven't felt much affection for my pets (although this could well have just been post natal) I think we do but as there isn't the same biological imperitives on loving our pets as their is on loving our children sometimes when our pets become a burden for whatever reason it's our beliefs about what's right, responsible and our memories of how we felt for our pets during better times that makes us work through them until we are able to love them again.

OMG Lola is ridiculously cute! QBF -lol I know Lyn and Colin, Colin and my dad go bush together. It was his boy Sonny that I fell for.

This one I can see. I don't like it and it may well have just been an excuse but I remember nights up with my babies breastfeeding them every two hours having them decide they wouldn't go back to bed because they needed to do a poo at three in the morning. Wandering back and forth in the lounge room watching criminal minds for two hours until her wind had passed. I'd have tears streaming down my cheeks because I was so exhausted I couldn't stand it - just wanting to go back to bed. I barely got through it I have no idea what I would have done if I'd had a pet that made it harder - probably asked my parents to look after it until the baby started sleeping but if I didn't have those resources course once the exhausted depression had passed I would have regretted it terribly. A friend of mine who has a pet shop pappilon which she got mostly for her daughter, they started out trying to do all the right things. Then she got pregnant with twins and because she doesn't feel able to supervise them in the house the dog is stuck outside in a dog run it never gets played with anymore - because when the kids are outside she's getting housework done and can't supervise poor little thing would probably be better off rehomed.

Mindy is gorgeous! I love lab puppies QBF - Airedales are lovely, a friend of the family breeds them and they're just lovely. I was happy to leave the decision up to my breeder, I trust their puppy judgement better than mine I'd be sure to fall in love with all of them and be wracked with indecision. Can I ask who your breeder is? I'm going to sit down with the OH on the weekend and start talking about names, I'd like to have 3 serious name prospects before we meet our boy

I quite like Luka too but we already have a lappie named Luuka on the Spitz forum so I want something different. Bjorn is currently on the top of our list but I doubt we'll make a decision until we get up to melbourne to meet him. Hopefully our crate will arrive this week - our pretty pink one oops We better choose a very manly name. Yes only 4 more weeks to go, but it gives us time to save which is good, I still don't know how I will stand the waiting Borderfan - He is the cutest puppy, he looks so fluffy and full of mischief! Not spoilt a puppy that cute surely deserves that many toys Aussielover - I am so jealous! We will need many many photos

He's a finnish lapphund. We have a few names we're thinking on Bjorn, Isku, Niikko, and Mikku but we probably wont decide for a few weeks yet.

Aww I love all the puppy pics. We've chosen our puppy we're getting a little cream boy who sounds wonderful, here are a few photos he's 4 weeks old And of course his mummy the beautiful Cheeky

My parents are part of a deer hunting crew that hunted with foxhounds until the laws in vic changed and now hunt with beagles. These dogs had no formal training so I can only really tell you about their personality which is lovely, they seem much the same as the hunting beagles (only the beagles are much slower), they love everyone, they are sweet and affectionate. Back in my parents old hunting albums there are so many photos of kids curled up asleep with the hunting foxhounds, which demonstates how sweet their personalities really are as they were kenneled pack dogs not family pets. They are strong, these hunting ones had incredible stamina, I remember being whipped with their tails and dragged along while trying to walk them back to camp. The few people I know who have them as pets have found them loving and affectionate but with a very big dose of whats in it for me training wise, but these dogs all came from hunting lines so I have no idea how different other lines might be.