perfect partners

Thanks oakway. I've bought turkey wings and drumsticks in Woolworths but haven't seen necks. I guess the necks that belonged to the wings and drumsticks must have gone somewhere!!! I'll see if I can find a pet food butcher. Nope they are not - they go over the other side of cold cabinet to the pet food section with Brisket bones, chicken necks and dog rolls! Thanks First Time Puppy. I'll do some detective work in the whole meat/pet food section next time I go there to see if I can find where they are hiding!

Thanks oakway. I've bought turkey wings and drumsticks in Woolworths but haven't seen necks. I guess the necks that belonged to the wings and drumsticks must have gone somewhere!!! I'll see if I can find a pet food butcher.

Does anyone know where you can buy turkey necks, east, south-east of Melbourne? I was buying them from my local chicken shop around Christmas time but hven't been able to get them since. The shop owner can't get them from his supplier either. Thanks.

Years ago I worked with a guy who had an old Silky Terrier who had really good teeth and he told me the vet had said it was because he'd been fed on lamb necks all his life.

Does it? I've successfully trained plenty of older dogs with Drive Training techniques, some to quite a high degree of competitive obedience. I personally think the trick is to find the thing that switches your dog on. Whether that's a toy or food, and in one case I had a dog that just went crazy with purely verbal praise. He was a dynamite obedience dog...pita to live with with! But we loved him anyway. As to dogs that appear to have no interest in anything, you can work on that. Dory wasn't too interested in toys when I first got her if you tried to wind her up she'd look at you like you were a nut. These days it doesn't take her much to kick into drive with a toy and do some nice heeling. (Short lived as it is...I've gotten waaaaaaay slack and have lowered my standard quite a bit these days). It just took a bit of patience, lots of praise and training her to let her know she could go crackers over a toy not just rough games. She has learned to LOVE tug. Where can I find more information on drive training? My puppy seems to be very play motivated so maybe I could use that to my advantage in training. K9 Pro web site

No, actually I know what you mean. I guess I expected the dry food to soak up the water and become soft like fresh food.

Thanks for posting a photo. Doesn't look a lot different but were the 'bullets' soft? Mine were still quite hard.

She must think your place is like an adventure park!!! Lucky girl!

Maybe I didn't have the water warm enough.

Same here. I tried using warm water and broke up the lumps and it mixed with the water but didn't seem to absorb it at all. Dogs loved it though. Because of the price, I only keep it for 'emergency' use.

Great photos and great to see a Newfie out there with the other breeds. My Newfie girl and I took part in an obedience demo at a pet expo - about 20 dogs in a stay and we left the ring. She was'nt quite 2 years old at the time so I was proud of her. Go Newfies!!!

Sorry to hear about your poor dogs. It makes it even worse for us, not knowing what happened. I'd suggest taking Rosie to a veterinary chiropractor. Don't know where you live, but there's a very good one at Morwell/Traralgon - Kate Haines.

Another option is a backpack if your dog isn't too heavy. My sister used to let her old Maltese x Shi Tzu walk a little bit then put him in a backpack while she walked her Aussie Shepherd. When they got to the park she'd get him out for a bit of a sniff around then put him in the backpack to go home. He was quite happy with that arrangement!

Cesar Millan says - exercise your dog first THEN take it to the dog park to socialise. Sounds like a sensible idea to me.

Ring his number and tell him you're going to send the media/RSPCA/council out to check out his puppy farm!!!!!

Gorgeous photos. Newfs are the best! Although I love all dogs and have had several other breeds. Happy birthday Annabelle. You are a lucky girl.

Not just the velvet helmets! Years ago, when I was trying to get my husband interested in horses he said he'd 'rather do western riding because he didn't like the poofy clothes the English riders wore'! So, anything to get him involved - I took up western riding - competing, judging, training - had a lot of fun, but in the end got out of it because I didn't like the abuse that was going on in the name of 'training'.

.... nice that there are some who can empathise, although I strongly suspect that you are in the 'over-lap' generation, Star. We had typewriters at school too (certainly not computers ...... to have a computer you had to be a multi-millionaire and you also had to have a whole room dedicated to just the computer engine !! ) .. Oh - and the typewriters we had at school were manual, not electric. But we thought we were the bees knees because we had them . I also remember the transitional period - I was working by that stage. It was a type-writer, but with a computer screen. You could type up your docs and proof them before you printed. It was just a step up from the normal electric typewriter though. Then along came computers and boy, we've ventured a long way with them since then. But Facebook? It continues to puzzle me. As so many other computer-techno/internet things do. Never mind ..... I'll muddle along as I do and learn piecemeal, ever so slowly . That all brings back memories Erny! I too started with the manual typewriters, then electric, then those with the tiny screens. Thank God for computers is all I can say!!! I also have a daughter to turn to with my facebook and other computer related problems, which helps a lot.

What a wonderful hubby - could you clone him???

Bunnings sell several types of cones.

That's a shame you had to stop doing agility with your Danes. There are also quite a few Newfoundlands with agility titles in America yet here people look at you like you are insane if you mention doing it with a Newf. I'm teaching my Newf to do agility obstacles at home using equipment I have for teaching my horses jumping and trail obstacles and I've got some agility DVDs to give me some help. Once I've taught her the basics I'll look around for a club that is open minded! I do think that if you're going to do physically demanding activities with a giant breed it is crucial that they are fit - something I was also fussy about with my horses as well.

Would Australian Shepherds be considered a collie related breed in this situation? Yes. One of the best souces of information on the genetic mutation which causes the problem is in this information by Washington State University link . You can have your dog tessted to see if it has the sensitivity. There's quite a bit more out there - try putting something like mdr1 gene ivermectin sensitivity into your search engine. Thanks. Will look at those links.

Would Australian Shepherds be considered a collie related breed in this situation?

The link between Ivermectin (used in Revolution) and Collie deaths has been established for some years. There was a lot of controversy about ivermectin killing dogs when it was first used in horse wormers years ago. I can't remember all the details but the dogs apparently died after licking up some of the paste that had been spilt. I think the manufacturer denied it at first but eventually there were enough cases to prove the link. It also doesn't break down in the horses system like other wormers so I'm careful to make sure my dogs don't eat any manure for a few days after worming my horses.

I would also rather my animals be euthanised if a loving home couldn't be found for them. I couldn't think of anything worse than them spending the rest of their lives in kennels after being loved family members - enjoying the comforts of living in a home with daily exercise, training and attention. I think quality of life is more important than just existing.