Sydoo

My mum always used to advise me against it because she didn't want the drains clogging up with hair, but I haven't had that problem!

Oh important point! I have to use Draino semi-regularly to keep ours running freely. My hair + dog fur must be too much.

Another shower user here. Our ensuite shower head is on a rail and I lower it so she doesn't get sprayed in the face. Sometimes I sit on the recess floor with her and use the shower as a handheld...always with me between her and the door! Getting her to shake off inside the shower also helps keep the bathroom a tad drier afterward.

I am happy with our vet surgery. We are newish to the area and have only one dog (certainly not VIPs) and I couldn't fault them so far. Some of the nurses sound more chipper than others on the phone but they all seem to provide good service regardless. I don't mind what mood people are in as long as they are still helpful. Our preferred vet is lovely and Billie goes a tad manic in the waiting room when she hears her voice.

lol good topic :D

We had a dog chew up a cassette once during the night and then the next morning we found a whole heap of the string stuff everywhere. Off to the vets we went with our boy to get it removed.

Was quite funny though as the vet had a thing in the paper at the end of the year of all different things that dogs had come in with and yep our dog was on that list and even named with what he did. I guess it was kind of name the dog and shame them for their naughty habits.

However he never chewed anything up again after that dont really blame him either

Did you clip the article and put it up in his kennel? Billie took a shine to a lightbulb one day (luckily no surgery required in the end) and several times when I've taken her to the vet for something else, I've been sitting quietly in the waiting room when a nurse pipes up with 'excuse me, am I reading this right? A lightbulb?'. Cue red-faced nod from me and stifled giggles from other people waiting. We'll never live it down.

I am very careful with my hosiery as Billie would snaffle any worn item given half a chance.

My mother lives on a million acres and their pet dog never gets 'walked' as such. She gets a lot of human interaction from both family and staff and accompanies them around the houses and nearby yards. She could easily go months without seeing another canine though...just the odd lost/dumped camp dog. They do take her further afield when it is practical and safe to do so - I suppose that is just as much an outing as me taking Billie to the beach.

If something happened to both of us, one of Billie's options is to live on the station. I made that decision knowing that while she loves getting out and about here, I'm satisfied she would have enough stimulation there to outweigh the loss of neighbourhood walks.

Elbie looks nonchalant in an attempt to make us think that it wasn't him ... I've already stitched up both toys but reindeer remains footless.

Perhaps he was framed? No sign of the brown monster...

If this wet weather keeps up, I think Santa might have to make a second trip here with a kennel on stilts.

Orbit certainly won't need dinner tonight

Billie got an oversize tennis ball (about the size of a basketball) and a giant stuffed dinosaur toy to replace her sad decrepit donkey. She wore herself out playing with visitors then slept right through lunch so I had to put her share away for later.

I have a friend who has a nifty trick of giving the whole egg to his dog and the dog will gently carry it out to his food bowl ready for dinner without cracking it open..... It'd be gone in seconds if I tried that with Harvey....

Billie will carry an egg carefully out to the deck then drop it. Then she rolls it around and checks for a crack...if no eggy goodness, she will pick it up and drop it again. Rinse, repeat until the shell breaks. Took 6 drops last Saturday!

She has one every weekend, and occasionally an extra during the week.

There is a national registry

national pet registry

Both Charlie and Em are on this. That is the green thing you see on Charlie's collar a lot in photos. On it there is a phone number you can call, and his membership number. You can also go on the website to write down the number and get the owners details. I hope all this makes sense.

Emmy as one too but it's under her fur!

Billie is on this register too. I will have someone check for the chip and verify details next time we are at the vet.

She had a collar on (with this, council tag and ID tag) when I left for work yesterday but not when I got home. I can't find it anywhere

Hopefully you hear from someone this morning

A lot of my colleagues live in the area so I'll spread the word at work today.

dirt adds extra flavouring for the chicken :D :D

what pers said... very normal

;) Billie must like seasoned chicken - often rolls it in some dirt before settling down to eat.

Most Coles and Woolworths around here stock a human grade range. I give Billie the odd bit of mince or steak as a treat.

We are having OH's family to our house for the day so Billie will think that is a present! Won't be interested in toys with people around. We are also dog-sitting for a friend that week so she will have a playmate.

But if I happen to find myself in a pet shop before Christmas and they have something nice...who knows, I might just end up with presents for both her and the visitor. :D

Walk without a second thought. Even if I held a juicy steak up to her face, Billie would clamp her mouth shut and turn her head away and just wait for me to stop messing around and open the front door already.

It's not great for your stomach if you have to pick up after your dogs either.

LOL!! Brings back memories...

I fed Billie canned food for a few days (after she mistook a lightbulb for a chew toy) and was gobsmacked at the sudden volume of output! We had to check every poo for blood and I remember OH trying to point out where she had gone from up on the deck...I thought he was pointing at a big stick.

I would like to see a really good selection of leads, collars and harnesses, every where here is Rogz, I HATE Rogz......

It feels like that here as well. I found it unexpectedly difficult to buy a simple unadorned solid colour collar recently - do dogs not wear these anymore?

my crotchedy old maltese (RIP my darling Daisy) and my golden retriever puppy were the bestest of friends. I just never left them unsupervised.

You have two pups that you can train and teach manners. I would work out what is acceptable behaviour and what is not particularly on the basis that the GSD is going to be much larger than the maltese so boundaries will need to be stricter. Have a good chat to your friend about it all and your girlfriend as well to set those boundaries you all need to be consistent.

Take the two pups to a very good puppy school as well.

Gosh you are going to be busy with two pups in the house but it will be so much fun

Is it possible to train my GSD to ignore the maltese when the maltese biting him? My friend's pup ALWAYS bite everything, included people.

Thats why I worried about my gsd pup...

I'm not a dog expert but wouldn't you train the maltese not to bite instead?

Apart from stealing a pack of Coke bottles from the kitchen bench and chewing them, spreading Coke all over our floor and carpet... the dogs did ok at home alone

*beware the interloper*

You poor thing! I hope the carpet recovers. ;) Our bedroom carpet has never been the same since doglet decided to take a half full mountain dew bottle in there.

Are they still hyped up from the sugar?

I lose more hair than the dog. OH has never suggested I sleep outside.

Unless the landlord is planning on doing surprise inspections (which I'm pretty sure aren't allowed) there is nothing stopping her from letting the dog inside in the evenings.

Until they are busted for having the dog inside and if the landlord isn't happy about being lied to, they may cease to rent to someone with a pet.

No harm done, except the loss of another pet friendly rental

If I wasn't willing to allow animals inside, I would be a no-pets landlord for that exact reason. I know too many people who agree to conditions with no intention of following them.

We have actually had some trouble finding a local agent who will go along with our pet-friendly approach. Most tried to talk us out of it; one said ok then advertised as no pets.

I can't comment on how breeders will treat her, but if I was the OP and wanted an indoorsy breed I would wait until I lived in more suitable accommodation (and actively seek it if getting a dog was a priority).

Definitely go to the doctor.

I think I posted this already...my parents assumed I was allergic to dogs as a child so they were kept outside and I took medication daily. Turns out I am allergic to a zillion things but dogs are not one of them.

This might sound sad but my allergist telling me I'm not allergic to dogs or feathers was one of the best days of my life.

P.S. I love the suggestion of romping nude in the backyard - that would sure induce the parents to move the trampoline

Or it might just entice the parents to start using the trampoline.

I don't bother taking food any more as Billie has no interest in treats when we are out and about. Clamps her mouth shut and won't have a bar of food rewards.

That said, I wouldn't have a problem with what you are doing even if I had a foodie dog. Billie loves children and will run to them at the park. Whilst I personally wouldn't take very small children to a dog park, it is certainly not the parent's fault for distracting my dog with their children! It was our issue and we managed it accordingly whilst working on her recall and she will now leave kids if we call her. She will undoubtedly encounter children outside of the dog park and needs to know how to behave.

Billie will spend her summer days outside. She has access to the backyard with wading pool, deck and the undeveloped side under our house. Have a feeling she'll spend a bit of time under there on the cool dirt.

We left her inside with aircon as a wee pup last summer. Won't do that this year now she is grown...well, maybe on extreme days.