blacklabrador

Just dropping in with a story that I read. It seemed relevant and I hope it inspires all those who are supporting Jed at the moment, those who are supporting her directly as well as those supporting from distance. Two Horses Author Unknown Just up the road from my home is a field, with two horses in it. From a distance, each horse looks like any other horse. But if you get a closer look you will notice something quite interesting... One of the horses is blind. His owner has chosen not to have him put down, but has made him a safe and comfortable barn to live in. This alone is pretty amazing. But if you stand nearby and listen, you will hear the sound of a bell. It is coming from a smaller horse in the field. Attached to the horse's halter is a small, copper-colored bell. It lets the blind friend know where the other horse is, so he can follow. As you stand and watch these two friends you'll see that the horse with the bell is always checking on the blind horse, and that the blind horse will listen for the bell and then slowly walk to where the other horse is, trusting he will not be led astray. When the horse with the bell returns to the shelter of the barn each evening, he will stop occasionally to look back, making sure that the blind friend isn't too far behind to hear the bell. Like the owners of these two horses, God does not throw us away just because we are not perfect. Or because we have problems or challenges. He watches over us and even brings others into our lives to help us when we are in need. Sometimes we are the blind horse, being guided by the little ringing bell of those who God places in our lives. And at other times we are the guide horse, helping others to find their way.

Disolvable suture are not new. They've been around for a long time, although in better materials than they used to be. Cat gut has been used for a long time.

RIP Rex. I never met Rex but always considered him to be the most handsome Dobe I've ever seen. Such a beautiful example of the breed. I'm so sorry Mon.

Possibly just some relaxation of the muscles that have been incised, perhaps an accumulation of fluid from surgery. I think it's still worth getting checked out though in case it's something that requires hands on diagnosis like a hernia or a collection of blood or something.

I have a new SUV with a proper cargo barrier, fitted before I bought the car. The dogs travel behind that. Some hair gets through the car still but it's much cleaner than my old car. I can't say the dogs are that thrilled with the new arrangement - they prefer to be closer to me while driving (my two boys are very sooky) but they are getting used to it. I can't have them jumping over the seat when I have two newborns in capsules there so I've had to do this for safety. I try to take lots of short trips to the dog park so they get the positive association of going in the car again.

Of course it does JB. She should be aware that people's attitude may change once she starts winning though. I've seen some people treated so well while they have a crap dog or a puppy that doesn't look like it's going anywhere. Then things can change once they start taking the points. You can "watch" who you get involved with all you like but you don't know how people change when the circumstances change. Really it seems to take more than many people have to give to truly mentor somebody without intimidating them - staying a constant and supportive figure, not getting all shitty if they don't take advice, remembering that they may have more than one person giving them advice (and that person may be your biggest opponent in the ring), to allow them to make mistakes and grow and not tell them "I told you so, if you'd done what I said..." All the insecurity and infighting and power play gets a bit much for some. I have hung around and listened and watched for several years, shown a few breeds etc, been a shoulder to other newbies and of course read much of what is said here. I wouldn't even bother going near the show forums - just hearing about the crap and the power play is enough. Of course there are lovely and ethical people in the sport who are there for the right reasons and are totally respectful of others regardless. It would be great if there were more of them.

Let's face it Warley - you've been breeding and showing a long time and are a very direct and no nonsense person who doesn't tolerate crap. People aren't going to be nasty to you... simple as that. You'd probably tell them where to get off right to their face (and more power to you) but you do have to realise that it tends to deter people. You probably wouldn't be exposed to what some other people have to endure. Often from what I've seen it's the people who are doing the winning who make it difficult for others and throw tantrums when they don't win on occasion.

So sorry to hear about your darling girl. I hope she makes an adjustment soon.

There is so much more to it than that Valley CBR. The politics go a lot deeper than people making comments (which I've never had a problem with personally). When you start breeding, it does get serious. You have a short haired working breed - he should be able to be a dog - brush the mud off him and take him to the show - but it's not about grooming either. I agree with whomever posted earlier describing the many reasons that membership is down. My comments were more about why exhibiting numbers might be down.

That kind of behaviour is just p*ssing on trees RubyStar. Sorry that you were humiliated like that. :D

Yep - laundry cupboard. At my old house I kept the dog stuff in the top shelves of the cupboard and my dog on the bottom shelf. I took the doors off and made it T bone's bed.... it was his man cave and he just loved it to bits! Sometimes the cat would sit in there and he'd be all "Marrrrrmmm... the cat's in my bedroom touching my stuff". Anyway.. back to storage stuff.... I still have the cupboard but the dog sleeps on the futon with the other lab now. I keep all dog related shampoos, medications and stuff in it and the bottom is dog towels and spare sheets and bedding for them. I have a set of hooks in the garage, one above the other. The top one has my caps and the bottom one has dog leads. I have a hanging thing with pockets beside it that holds things like harnesses, walk belt, spare collars, reflective vests, flashing lights etc. Everything we need to go on a walk is right there.

say what you really think!...... I usually do - why should this be any different?

Too much politics and in fighting. Most people have enough crap to put up with at work without deliberately exposing themselves to the childish crap that goes on in breed clubs and dog shows out of hours. Problem is that the people causing the problems can't seem to see that they share any responsibility in the decline in memberships. It's not all bad but it's sufficiently bad to make sure that a lot of newbies walk away and don't go back.

That's a shame. The dogs needs are no different. actually they are - dogs in the pound are facing being put down in most cases - their need is quite often far greater and far more immediate. Many rescues take private surrenders when able and dependant on the individual situation but in a straight out comparison between a dog that has an owner there that can take responsibility and a dog in a pound facing a count down to death, it is no contest who has the greater need. Fair enough. Hopefully there are breed specific rescues around who can take the dog if it's still available.

That's a shame. The dogs needs are no different.

Why doesn't she buy her back? She must have their contact details. Why don't you buy her and pass her on to rescue?

As far as I am aware, I don't think you can... Oh poos! Macros are pricey LOL If you want to get a macro though you don't want the kind of quality that often accompanies lens kits. You want really decent quality as it's really important with those lenses.

AWL shelter at Coombabah - I doubt you'll find cheaper. It's the pound for the Gold Coast so their vets are very practiced at desexing!

Ditto. Well, I have just googled Lab x poodles and they don't quite look like Chelsea. Seems that the lab x poodles have a slightly more profuse coat. I can't imagine a lab x poodle turning out black and white either but then I am no geneticist. Being a groomer I see all the DD's in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Some I would have sworn were Deerhound or Wolfhound crosses and they were most certainly Lab cross Poodles. The owners were a little surprised that they grew up to look like large hairy hounds. You can almost knock me down with a feather SBT; I was almost convinced that there had to be wolfhound in the mix. Have you actually seen lab x poodles with a sparse coat? I agree. I've seen tall, leggy dogs with a shaggy coat in the dog park and asked if they were wolfhound/deerhound crosses because of their coat and leg length. Nope! They are Labradoodles. The owners always seem a little put out that they didn't get the cute curly-coated version. (I always want to say "you paid $1500 for THIS?")

;) ;) We freely eat animals which are not only valued but religiously sacred in other cultures. It's the way that the Chinese treat and kill some dogs which is extremely upsetting. Torturing them to increase the "power" of the meat once the dog is dead, keeping them in terrible conditions etc.

OH has recently fallen for the Olympus - the lenses are very good quality, it's smaller DSLR than the Canon and the price is RIGHT!! It's around $600 - $700 with a good quality lens kit. I must admit that I'm fairly impressed with it too. We both have Canon 40Ds so are used to a fairly high quality camera and lens. He uses his for clinical photos so is very picky about lens quality and has a very good technical knowledge base. He is currently researching to buy new cameras because he had a lot of stuff stolen from the surgery a few weeks ago. I know he isn't at all impressed with many of the kit lenses that go with the Canon cameras. The 17 - 85mm image stabilised lens which goes with the 50D (I think) is okay. I agree with OMD on that 50mm 1.4. It's an awesome lens - my favourite! The 1.8mm is a fair compromise from what I hear though and much more affordable.

Yes - that looks as thought it would interfere with the way he moved. His back legs are three inches too long! (God I hope I'm not insulting someone's Gr Ch). ;)

You can have 3 pics, so I would ideally like to have one of him not at a show, so people know my dog goes other places ;) . In my breed the standard states "Topline may have slight hollowness, with the hindquarters level with the withers, or slightly higher." So for a 6mth old to look bum high is fairly normal in the breed as many dogs end up with higher hindquaters the withers. I change my profile pics once a month at this age because he is changing so much. Once he is fully mature I will keep my profile pics the same. But I was just frustrated because the next pic is him running off to chase the bird he was staring at and is a blur of motion. Yeah I had a look at the DOL pages and noticed that many of the adults are bum high - I just hadn't noticed it in the show ring before. Most 6 month old large breed pups will look bum high - I would just try to hide it in a photo because it's not acceptable in most breeds. No need to hide it with your guy though I guess. The photo is pretty out of focus too, or has been taken at low res and zoomed in a lot? Either way I wouldn't see it as a great loss. Keep your camera out and keep snapping him playing. If you don't have a DSLR you may get better action shots by using the fill flash. When profiling a pup or immature dog it's also good to put on the profile "pictures taken at 6 months" so people know that they are looking at an immature or adolescent dog and can make judgements accordingly. He's a handsome dude though! Good luck in the show ring with him. ;)

It's actually not a picture I'd use even if he was looking straight ahead. It's not the best angle. He is also going through a bum-high growth stage (which most of them do) and I'd be doing what I could to hide that in a profile picture that was showcasing the dog. Get him stacked up and have somebody take a photo of him at his level which shows off his front a little bit.

Yep - this would be my guess too. One of the signs of congestive heart failure is moisture in the lungs. So sorry Di. RIP little man,