Steph M

I agree. Not much of a review if you're just going off word of mouth...

That sounds lovely! Shame it doesn't line up with a DOL Kepala day!

How do you even clip a lab? Its pretty short as is...mind boggles!

I love Altona! I'd be up for a tour one day if you like. Not a beach but warrandyte river is fabulous too.

Gus makes a great game of wallowing in his shell pool and it always ends up empty and dragged around the yard. We did have two and one had the bottom caved in somehow, I don’t know what they get up to of a day but that’s certainly out! We put them away when we aren’t home, they’re beasts. We’ve tried galvanised buckets and they make an AWESOME noise when dragged around, and I worry they get too warm too quick. That and we don’t have a post to chain it to, really. I am not game to chain it to the tap…haha. I thought about the pots with holes filled in, but someone mentioned the glaze etc might not be great for them? I don’t know to be honest, you can go mad reading the net. Spot on Pots is a fab tip! Long way but might have to bite the bullet and do the drive, they look awesome! Will grab a few I think, we have a huge metal bowl in the kitchen but might pop one out the front to share with the birdies and local cats. Haha.

That's awful grammar and my phone won't let me edit. I meant dogs who are super easy to motivate and reward is a huge perk when training, but doesn't make them easy dogs by any stretch.

Absolutely, god love them. Another thing I was discussing with mum the other day is the misconception dogs who are easy to motivate and reward, who love everything aren't as easy as some believe. I find if not set on the right path from day dot, Gus will absolutely make his own rewards. Give him an inch and he will take a mile and make a game out of it. He's been known to make his own rewards if we aren't absolutely obvious with what we want from him, and once its fun once, its fun whenever your back is turned. We need to be 100% more fun than everything somedays to keep him out of mischief. Its a burden we accept because he is absolutely the perfect dog for us, but I can see how some would struggle. Haha.

Hi all! Anyone know where I can get a large concrete dog water bowl for this summer? Little beasts drag buckets around and tip everything else over. Any ideas at all would be fab!

Hahaha, WHAT ARE YOU SAYING, TSD?! Kidding, I can vouch. Gus is bouncy as all heck, but we also don't have kids and he does slow right down and is very gentle with kids. My sisters 1.5 year old was running/toddling about the house last week and he was crawling alongside her and was an absolute gem. He also surprised the life out of me with a kid at the park who had Cystic Fibrosis and was in an electric wheelchair, which Gus had never seen before and he was as gentle as a lamb and didn’t try to climb aboard for love, like I half expected... Having said that he has bowled a kid or two over in his early years, before we really instilled the no jumping habit. Ahem.

I work for a transport company, and Sydney to Coolangatta will usually set you back about 10% of that including a crate. Ouch! Also I imagine it would be a fair bit louder than in the cargo hold of a commercial aircraft, which is soundproofed? I can see the value in perhaps sick animals or emergency cases where you need to have them accompanied?

We have a flat coat, feel free to PM me any questions you might have or you can come meet him if you like? We are in Vic too. :)

That's what I was thinking too, what kind of lesson is that for the daughter? Just ask and mummy and daddy will get you whatever you want with money, even if it belongs to someone else

I would love to give this a crack with Gus! Shame we are in Melbourne!

With ALL due respect, please read what I wrote. I made no such statement. To note further, I do not intent to argue online with strangers after having to have my own dog treated because of numerous issues post vaccination. I don't think anyone was arguing, but making a point based on the science currently available for those who might stumble across this post with similar issues. There is already enough panic and dramatics around vaccinations as is, we needn't spread that further. A point was just made for future reference, no one was calling you a liar or starting a fight.

It's important to remember that autism is not caused by vaccinations :) YES.

Gus loved the poo! No I'll effects, and he is a retriever with a gut of steel! Must say, it didn't stink or anything, just the poopy drool was a bit much for me.

Lots of valid points. I wasn't debating their right to be there, more why you'd want to? Its a long beach, but this particular strip is the dedicated doggie section, there's always upwards of 20 dogs there on a weekend, more in peak summer. Its also a cycle path and a playground over the other side, in the on lead area. It just struck me as strange as I'd never seen it before and its such a densely populated bit of park, with bikes, kite surfers, dogs and people. Like I said, I wasn't worried about my own (though Rosie is questionable and flighty, and I know either would certainly come off second best) but they wouldn't know that, and there is a lot of dogs about, it seems an odd decision and was wondering what everyone else thought! For me I'd have assumed the risk to be too high, especially given as they had floated the horses in to that specific spot and that end of the beach.

Today we went for our daily walk to the off lead dog beach and attached off lead park. There's a path that runs through which bikes tear up and down, so we mostly stick to beach or grass, but today there were a couple riding their horses through. My dogs have never seen horses so I called them to me and had them in a stay while they passed. I commented to mum that seemed a little silly, given we are in suburban Melbourne and I don't imagine many dogs have met horses before, the potential for disaster seemed pretty high to me. She seemed to think I was the one being silly and that its no big deal. It didn't really bother me as mine are pretty easy going, and I appreciate exposing them to new things and practicing new distractions, but I do think not every dog would shrug it off and one or the other could easily be hurt. I do respect though that there's not a lot of places to go with horses around here, but I'd think it it were me I'd go off-peak, so to speak. Just wondering what everyone else's thoughts are. Also Gus ate a huge mouthful of horse poo before I noticed and before he got in the car....what a grub...

You did say puppy cuddles, Leah... We just have 20000 things we SHOULD be doing and aren't. Problem.is I don't WANT to do them. Haha.

We are tentatively in. I need to get out of the house! Will let you know beforehand, don't count us in 100% but if we do make an appearance I will do potato salad and something else, yet undecided!

Ooooh yeah. Beach is much worse than park here, but also some parks are worse than others. I can guarantee you it's not to do with the setting, but who frequents these areas. I actually love our off lead park. combined with a lot of work, I attribute a large chunk of Gus's happy go lucky friendliness to people and dogs and his decreasing value for other dogs to our frequent park trips. Every visit is an opportunity to learn something, for both of us! We have had the lows, we've had nasty dogs come at us and we have had idiot owners, and my own idiocy. I've had Gus get out of the creek sopping wet and sit next to a woman on the seat and attempt to sit on her lap, which was horrifying. No matter how nice she was about it. I've had times when he flat out ignored me (so we left) and times when he got in another dogs space and deserved a snap and a growl. We've also had huge wins though. Last night we took him out and he met a little boy with Cystic Fibrosis who was there with his dad and his dog and his motorised chair. I was sure Gus was going to either be afraid of the chair or soak the kid but he sat down next to him and gave him a gentle lick on the arm and let the kid pat him and talk to him. Anyone who has met this dog knows that's nothing short of a miracle. He is enthusiasm central. If you so much as sneeze he's up in your space for a hug. We've got to a point where he has a fabulous recall, doesn't stray more than a few metres away and isn't all that interested in the other dogs. A lot of situations we've come across we might not have had a chance to otherwise, so yes there are some negatives but some huge wins too. With regard to the original situation we had a similar negative. Before our English Setter was PTS mum took him for one last jaunt around the park he loved, as much for her as for him, and so help me had any other dog had a go at him on that day I might have punted them across the creek. You don't know why someone is there, what they expect from the park or what they're there for. I just assume not everyone wants Gus slobber or to be whipped with the happy tail of doom, so we stay clear until invited (99% of the time...haha)

Just a little update, cheapest I have found so far!

Hi all! I have a two friends, the most lovely couple ever, who are after a pug. They are looking toward a black one, but of course colour is totally up for discussion and temp and soundness are more important. They want a really fabulous breeder, ideally in Victoria, but again, that’s negotiable too. If anyone could PM me suggestions and also which breeders and lines to run a mile from, as I am sure there are some doozies! If you also wouldn’t mind giving me some info re what to look for, what test results to ask to see and what else to ask that would be great. My breed is miles different, so I promised them I would ask around for recommendations and ones to avoid.

I'm gonna back it. Would be a nice inside toy!

It certainly isn't a bad thing to do cheaper vaccs/worming/low level stuff. I'd hope they have links with surgical hospitals. Perhaps a referral system would be good too?