Aetherglow

It's funny how once you have a dog you notice the dogs in your neighborhood. I've my girl for just over a year, and so far in my local park I've met 3 Samoyeds, a Brittany, a lovely pair of Airedale pups, an elderly Visla with a young pup, and a German Wire Haired Pointer, none of which I ever saw before I had my own dog. There's also a Bedlington Terrier somewhere in the area. Not so much my neighborhood, but I quite often see a gorgeous adult Chow and pup being walked in Royal Park in the mornings.

She always looks so proud of herself when she's found a treasure Shae has an obsession with dirty socks. Each night before she settles for bed (she sleeps in our room), she rifles through the pile of dirty clothes on the ensuite floor, chooses a sock and takes it to bed with her. Usually the sock belongs to my husband and she lies with it between her paws and rests her head on it. It's so cute but honestly, I don't know how she breathes! I caught Tarja only 10 minutes ago very slowly and quietly attempting to sneak the dirty jeans I wore to a show on Monday out of the washing basket and into her crate. She amuses me

In my house, that's the job of the Ragdoll. Anything he can pick up and carry from his bowl will find its way onto my bedroom floor. He's a bit strange

So when I refer to Tarja and her "treasures" I'm not the only one? Tarja thinks that oranges, apples, lemons and potatoes are all treasures, not for eating but to be tossed, carried around and shown off before stashing in her crate. She also has a doorstop obsession, to the point that some friends whose house she visits regularly awarded her her own doorstop so she would stop hunting and collecting theirs. And socks. She's forever bringing me socks, usally smelly ones that my housemate has left lying about somewhere he shouldn't. She always looks so proud of herself when she's found a treasure

You should take that up, Poodlefan - Ish's young girl has met my lappie and she was an absolute delight :-) Sorry, I think you've confused me with someone else?? Poodlemum perhaps? Yes, it was me - Poodlefan is the smart one, I'm the naughty one And apparently I'm the spacey one I'm not a huge fan of small dogs, and of one popular small breed in particular (I'm not going to say which), which was amusing in some ways because I used to have a friend who had one which for some reason absolutely adored me. I had to overlook his breed in order to like him back, but he was a very nice little fellow, and it is rather flattering to be so admired

You should take that up, Poodlefan - Ish's young girl has met my lappie and she was an absolute delight :-)

I know someone who has a dog with a pembroke corgi x cav mother and a Jack Russell x pointer dad. It doesn't look like any of those - just a small/medium sized, slightly short-legged black and white bitzer dog. I did once see a dog that looked like it had a basset body and a bull terrier head. Possibly the most ridiculous-looking dog I've ever seen!

Does Tarja's habit of throwing herself on her back at the feet of other dogs count? The boys all like her - to the point where I got freaked out that she was coming into heat way early at her first show outing as a 4 month old baby puppy!

The Hound of the Baskervilles is a Sherlock Holmes tale, and from memory (I'm sure Google or DOL will correct me) the dog had a wicked howl... (and ended up killing much of the cast...) It's likely in one of the screen adaptations of the book, a beagle was used as the "hound" Ah ha, I always assumed the Hound of the Baskervilles was a very big dog, but if it's about the howl, then Pudding is turning into an excellent candidate! The Hound of the Baskervilles was a very large black Mastiff-type dog. I put this on the Spitz thread the other day, but my lappie has been called a Chow (as a baby puppy), GSD x, Husky x, Kelpie x Sammy (which was actually not a bad guess IMO), a "really large" Pomeranian (which makes more sense with her dad, who is a brown and tan with a very dense coat), and "is that a dog? it looks like a fox!" I've never seen a black and tan fox. I mean, seriously, I can take just about any guess at her breed because I understand that most people aren't as dog-nerdy as I am and she is a rare breed, but clearly she's a dog!

We assume it's a similar reason for the Lappies but both of us being novice handlers we didn't think to ask when the steward told us there wouldn't be a challenge. We had a minor puppy bitch and puppy bitch, both of them have been awarded challenges before. Oh well! I'm calling it good practice.

Alaska has just fathered a litter in the USA where there have been two wolfsable puppies born. Yes, but from how I understand the genetics, wolf sable is dominant to all other colours apart from cream which works separately from the black and tan/brown/recessive black colour genes. That means you need a wolf sable or cream-masked wolf sable parent to produce wolf sable with a dog of a more recessive colour, and there are none in Australia now Memphis is gone. Alaska's American pups have a cream-masked wolf sable mum, so the colour comes from her. If Alaska had the wolf sable gene he'd be wolf sable, because it's dominant to black and tan and would mask it. I live in hope that someone will import a wolf sable though :-) Someone feel free to correct my understanding of colour genetics if I have them wrong, they are far more complicated in dogs than cats and I'm used to working them out for cats. Just to complicate it further the reddish/creamy colour called sable overseas is more dominant again, but there's none of those in Australia either so I left that out. A sable of that colour which was carrying wolf sable could also produce wolf sable pups with a black and tan.

Hi Revontulet, I can't answer all of your questions, but I can probably help with some. Lapphunds are pretty adorable! Their coats do vary a little bit though, so it may be best to see if you can arrange to meet some and see how you react. Are you able to get to Sydney or Melbourne for a Lappie Meet? We have had them four times a year in Melbourne, but there's no details yet on the next one. Alternatively you might like to contact Watersedge or Theldaroy, breeders who are both in Queensland. Generally speaking it's much easier to raise puppies separately, but two of my Tarja's littermates, a brother and sister, went to the same home and have done really, really well, so it's possible to raise two together if you're prepared to do a lot of hard work. I personally took the adult-and-pup option, and had the wonderful opportunity to foster a good natured, well trained adult male for Tarja's first three months with me. I eventually plan to get another pup when Tarja's adult and more settled, but she's still in teenager phase at the moment. I know I could not have raised two puppies together very well, but your circumstances may be different. Unfortunately there are no dogs in Australia capable of producing wolf sable at the moment, much to my disappointment - it's also my favourite coat colour, which I fell in love with before ever meeting a lappie in the flesh. The only wolf sable that was around has unfortunately passed away and had no offspring, but he was totally gorgeous - the first Lappie I met, actually. I can't help you with vets in Canberra, but a couple of people have already given you some advice there.

My family dogs growing up were boxers and my parents still have one, and I always thought a boxer would be my first "own" dog. I researched and met breeders, and then finally decided a boxer was a bit too high-energy for for my current lifestyle. Further research led me to the Finnish Lapphund, which is...quite different. I'd never particularly wanted a long coated breed, but I've found it easier in a lot of ways. The lappie needs a brush every now and then, but I don't find many hairs around the house. The boxers all left a constant supply of short hairs that were difficult to remove on carpet, chairs, and clothes. Their behaviour is quite different, too - the boxers, particularly the boys, have been smart enough to train, but boofheads who don't seem to think things through. If it was fun, they were in, no matter what, although our girl was a bit more of a thinker than the boys. In contrast, I can always see the wheels turning in my lappie's head as she thinks about things, and she is quicker at picking up new tricks. She is much more willing to please than any of the boxers, who all liked a cuddle but didn't have anywhere near as soft a nature. She is high in energy, but it seems to be displayed in different ways and has more outlets - training and outings both work as energy outlets for her even if she doesn't get a big walk, but the boxers still needed lots of physical exercise. Puppy-raising has been quite a contrast because of the different nature. I love the bully breeds, but I'm not sure I'd go back. I've found a new love! Maybe one day I'll get another brindle boxer girl, though.

If you're referring to the new Vic state registration laws (which I don't think are official yet but appear certain to go through), there's another thread: http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=201746

my family's boxer did the same thing. I had a theory that she preferred going in long grass and was getting one in while she had the chance. My cats insist on going just after I've cleaned the trays, too. In answer to the original question though - I think dogs consider poo a supplimentary territory marker, so maybe the dog is just replenishing the signposts you're taking away.

I have met an Italian Spinone and a Bedlington Terrier in my area in the last year or so. It's rather funny what people come up with for my Lappie pup - so far she's been identified as a Chow, a "really big" Pomeranian, a Husky, a GSD cross, a Border Collie cross, and a Kelpie/Samoyed cross.