Fatsofatsoman

Hi Jason, We had a good long look at our own lifestyle and what dog it would suit, from the amount of exercise time we could give, the yard space we had - our impending family we hope to start and then did a bit of research as to which dog we should be getting. And a Lab was ours - obviously not the only breed that suited but I have had some experience with labs via friends and family so it got the nod. I don't think I'd stray from this breed now either. If we did it'd probably be for an Airedale Terrier. Cheers, Dan

My boy Boonie at 7 weeks and then last week.

I made a run using star pickets and running two lenghts of wire through the holes then attached Dog fencing wire from Bunnings. My biggest worry was if he was a digger, and digging underneath and getting out - I just tent pegged the bottom down all the way. He hasn't got close to getting out, I also think I'm quite lucky in that he is a very visual dog, if he can see a boundary or enclosure he wont test it at all. very lucky with that. The cost was quite low but probably not as asthetically pleasing to look at.

My father has never had any problems with Jet Pets. He uses them quite regularly for his greyhounds

matching coat colour to couch colour

we got ours (pictured) from rugs a million I think - that is 5mths without a clean in the pic (other than when my wife drunknly spills her red wine ) as you can see from the second pic he likes to spend more time on the lounge than rug anyway, and with that luckily his coat mixes in quite well colourwise.

as long as the pailings are nailed on just fine I'd also go with the star pickets option - and then run some dog fencing from bunnings along it just for some extra piece of mind. It may not look all that pretty but it's only temporary while waiting for the colourbond and you'll be able to rest easy. or dig a 6foot moat along the fence line with pirhanas in

I've got Pet Plan for my lab - we have the middle plan - around $45 a month. This provider was highly recommended to us. So far we haven't had to use it and long may that continue. It is good for peace of mind.

not sure about the buddies - but the bona fido (my post above) does.

we have this hammock - and it's really stood up to the test, wet beach dog, dog vomit from drinking at the beach and all sorts of test and has passed leaving the back seat still clean. http://www.bonofido.com/s.nl/it.A/id.152/.f I forgot to add - was about $40.

Boonie (lab) jumps up if he's not feeling lazy. He likes to use the getting off of the bed as a stretch though - slowly puts front feet down and drags himself off leaving his back half stretched to full until the last moment then plops them off. Really looks like he enjoys the stretch - holds it there for a bit longer sometimes to get the full effect.

I reckon my boy Boonie goes close unbiased obviously.

We took our boy down to the parks and straight away off leash around 14-15 weeks old. We did a bit of scoping out of the parks in our area before actually entering so had an idea of the time of day when only 2 or 3 dogs where in (size of the dogs wasn't really an issue for us) and slowly started going at busier times. We found the parks without a small dog area were actually better - mainly because the bigger dogs were used to interacting with smaller dogs and he got used to mixing it with the bigger boys. We have our 3 favourite parks we go to - found a couple we wouldn't go back to (mainly bad owner behaviour rather than dog behaviour) and have never had any problems. Again most parks will have 'regulars' and your dog before long will have mates that he likes to play with more than others. We tend to co-ordinate with like minded pups/dogs to meet. It's really worth the scoping out though - we have made fairly good friends at the parks we attend and most owners seem really vigilent. It really is all about watching your dog closely and keeping a look out for any potential incidents. But I suppose everyones experiences differ and we were very lucky we had quite an outgoing social boy.

out of curiosity is the park with a beach Nudgee? our lab loves it there. he loves our local park but really enjoys his swim after socialising at Nudgee.

We've had nothing but great experiences when having to be apart from Boonie so I no longer worry - although the first time we did. We've used Fetch Pets in Stafford Heights and they are wonderful - she owns two Standard Poodles of her own, instant friends - Boonie was hesitant to leave when we came to pick him up. He's great staying at home with others house sitting - our only worry is not for Boonie but for the house sitter getting tired out. I was a bit worried when we took him to be desexed but given the reaction every time he goes back to the vet he was fine - I haven't seen a dog happier to see a vet in all my life - he wags his tail and has a sniff with the receptionist but when the vet comes out his excitement is unbelievable. makes for easy vet trips for us. I'll give Kedron Vets a plug. So I guess I'm saying I can understand the worry but dogs are pretty damn adaptable and if you're leaving them in a good/caring environment they'll get on just fine without out you. Plus the welcome back playtime is great fun.

We are on Pet Plan Australia - so far we haven't had to use it and hopefully it'll be a long long time before we do. But they seem to be very good and came highly recommended.

Not to poo poo the story - because I believe the dog could quite possibly have known of the chemicals. But... She later died of the same cancer.... who? the dog or the mum? either way cancer can't be passed on, it's not contageous. Of course the toxicity is dangerous to others.

Our boy stays in the yard - I've built a run with kennel ect.. my only worry now is cane toads, up until recently if we were going out of a night he'd stay outside ( I hadn't even thought of the toads) He's only 9mths old so this is our first summer/cane toad season with him and I came home the other night to see him chasing one and for all the world about to chomp down on it. Now I'm worried sick about leaving him out at night - he's an inside boy at night when we are there, I guess a little bit of trust might be needed of him and let him stay inside while we're out - we'll trial one night and see if we come home to anything destroyed (I'd much rather that than a prone dog on the floor).