Chris the Rebel Wolf

Only sort of on topic but two nearly identical looking Rottys come to the dog park I frequent with Maya. One is her second-best friend and the other she never really played with and spend her time ignoring after maybe an initial sniff. She can tell the difference between these two rottys walking down the road from AGES away. She also recognized her friend instantly after an absence of a few months, when he was having skin problems. But I also think like people they can have memory lapses... the last time Maya saw the rotty not-friend from a distance, she thought he was her friend and got excited until he came closer and she realized it wasn't who she thought... you could practically see her deflate! I thought it was very interesting given her prior record of recognition.

Great work in your understanding that not everybody is as dog crazy as many people on this forum I am very glad that everybody enjoyed the day and it makes me really happy to hear the 8 year old got the courage to pat Bruno. With parents so dog-phobic interacting with a well-trained dog is probably something she rarely has the opportunity to do. Imagine next time she meets a nice dog and is a little less afraid all because of you guys... and the time after that and so on :D

Sounds like your handling is excellent to manage four dogs including foster puppy so well! I agree some people bring dogs that should not be there! What worries me is the lady who was looking after a friend's dog and brought it along and paid no attention... probably following the owner's instruction (I hope?) but still worrying to think if not! I too like to visit dog parks occasionally but now that Maya is fully grown and far less tolerant of dogs she considers rude, I do not usually allow her off with 'strangers' though I do still meet her friends there somedays. Nothing like seeing a dog romp with pals :)

Possibly one of the most sensible statement I have read. Hopefully it will help bring about change as I do not believe things can continue the way they have been... public less safe than before and the morons still running around with dogs they don't raise properly.

In my opinion the injured party should accept that there are offleash dogs in an offleash area and that involves a small risk of injury if you choose to enter said area. I do not believe the dog owners should have to be responsible for her medical costs as by allowing their dogs to play in a designated off-leash area, I do not see this as the dogs out of control. I see it as an accident and neither party was to blame for that accident.

I second that.

So sorry to hear of your loss, Brian. Thoughts with you. Different animal experience but when I bred cayvs and one of my healthiest, most promising one year old girls died without any prior symptoms I opted to get an autopsy done. It revealed she had serious cancer in several organs. I was so shocked by how bad it was, when up until the day she died she was so happy and healthy... you never really know what is happening inside, sometimes.

You have given me hope Chris the rebel. These days we even rollerblade together, I never would have done that with her when she was around a year!

I like Rogz for everyday and beach wear, I am always at the beach or river with the kids and Maya often keeps her harness on. After salt we just rinse in fresh and hang to dry :) I like that the metal rings are diecast so they rarely break, much more secure than a welded, plus they have lifetime warranty for breaks. ... Also they tome in awesome colours and designs :D

Loving these photos, keep them up

I think time may help as well and persistence. There was a period of a few months with Maya I thought 'she's never going to get this I may as well just let her walk ahead.' now I'm so glad we stuck to training for calm walkies!!

Griz I'm pretty convinced that Bella is the most stunning Saluki I've ever seen. What is her colour called? I don't know much about sighthound colouration!

Maya did her first lesson in Agility tonight and we had a blast! I was pleased with her focus, she only tried to entice a couple of dogs to play and was paying quite good attention. However she was on-lead the whole time of course. We're only doing it for fun - not to compete - but it does worry me because she isn't reliable offlead and the park is not fenced, she'll never be able to do it offlead.

I wish this happened up here in Townsville *sigh* Maya would LOVE this. I don't think I'd even need a toy. Just point her in the right direction and and release :p

Hey Pie, get that poor thing on steroids, stem cells and growth hormones right away!! :p :p :p

Skye I wish everybody put in the effort that they do with their dogs I work at a pet store and day in day out people come to me with problems that could have been so easily prevented with exercise and mental stimulation, just what you describe with Ava. I myself don't have a lot to do with the breed - though Maya has befriended a young red Dobe boy at the dog park! - but your girls looks stunning to me! Really beautiful coat, obvious benefiting from a good diet and lots of top-notch care there. How cute is she with the little Rotty :) More photos? How do you find people's reactions when you take Ava out in public? Do you get any of the 'Oh no, stay away from the vicious dog!' attitude?

Naww your Sunny, so cute :) Rats I love too, my favourite girl, Maverick, used to adore car rides more than anything and would ride on my shoulder to and from the car, and curl up between the seat and the headrest while we drove :D Mice are a little less interactive and robust, and I don't recommend them to very young children. But if you get ones like mine which have been bred for calm temperaments and handled since a day old, they are wonderfully friendly and trainable, brilliant for older kids or a household who might not have enough time for a rat.

They could! I saw Leo and was like-OMG. Thats my cat! I think he is as well- after looking at pictures of them on google we couldn't really doubt it. There are quite a few similarities between Jasper and an angora. We did, he was from a kitten rescue here- Advertised in our vets office :) His picture was on the wall. We got him at 11ish weeks old :) Ill go even better. A photo for two photos! I would have uploaded more, but apparently they are too big :) And i feel no one wants to see that many photos of my cat :laugh: Hey, what are photo threads for? :D What's Jasper's personality like? Leo completely has the ragdoll attributes. He flops over when you so much as touch him and is an attention hog. One of my friends over for a movie night remarked after Leo flopped upside-down in his lap and allowed his belly to be rubbed 'A normal cat would be biting me my now' :laugh: The photo below is his dramatic pose when we're watching TV and we're disturbing his beauty sleep:

OMG Denali, they could be long-lost twins! :D Actually your boy does look like he has angora in him to my eye. They have quite distinctive facial shapes. Did you adopt him? Do you know any of his background? Can I see more photos? I'll trade you... photo for a photo? :D

SO HAPPY To all those lycra-wearing commenters, for a change pop up here to the North. You'll see the same men wearing nothing but a speedo and a chest rug

Thanks Danny! Nice to know I'm not the only one... my cat Leo put on weight too stealing the food from the kittens I fostered *eyeroll* Urgh, it's genetic with the fawn mice though. I even went to the trouble for two previous girls of separating them form the girls' tub and housing them separately so I could control their diet strictly - not much grain, mostly fruit and veg, and you just can't get them to drop the weight! Here's the fat boy... a half body shot :p

I've just switched Zeke onto Paws Osteocare powder. Will let you know my opinion in a week or so when I've had to judge the effectiveness. I definitely think joint problems are one of those things where different dogs react better to different products. I've had customers at work swear by all different brands. Sasha's blend/pearnease powder is still a popular one but the Rose-hip vital is taking off, too.

And here's a few of my fancy mice: My straw brindle Manx girl, Anna The fatty boomboom sisters - like many fawn based colours Jenny and Abbie have weight issues. Sub-Zero, a longcoat blue burmese, looks tiny alongside the other girls. She's the most athletic of my mice and is always climbing or running on the wheel. Handsome man Johnny is a snow tiger, and I hope he'll sire some really love babies once the cooler weather turns up! And my other breeding male, longcoat Siamese, Vaughn.

:D :D :D Thanks! Here is Buddy, my Bearded Dragon. His last shed was really rough and left patchy bits so I gave him a bath to help loosen it up. He was not impressed when I toweled him off, either. Then I was cleaning up a claw that got damaged and he wasn't a huge fan of that either...

Borzois all right! Well Big W is Austrlian owned - Woolies I believe - so the odds are they're Aussie dogs :)