dwynwen

Or one of these? http://aedmapper.com/dogs/long-coated-akita/ My girl looks similar to this one - 35kg and a bit shorter than most femaile akitas around.

Wow, those beds are full on - heavy weight though, are they available here ? They only sell from their own US site sadly - they sell a rollup mat which straps to the side of the duffel - lightweight for travel but probably still mega$$$ to ship here. My dogs have their own bag - but it is an old beat up one of mine!

Skookumdog.com does some nice expensive travel gear for dogs ... Have a look at this video for some camping p0rn ... Gorgeous scenery and a cabin to die for. ( cute dog too )

Got me thinking ... I have been considering a bokashi bucket for kitchen scraps ...They do a pet "system" too Worms haven't worked for me .... Maybe microbes will. I have two large dogs who do most of their pooping on walks - i'm not undoing baggies ... No way. But this might work for the few they do at home.

I have never had any success with composting of any kind. That bin is certainly more attractive than any others I've seen though.

I used Meadowmist years ago and was happy enough with it then. As far as I can see the ownership hasn't changed so I would need more than a single negative review , particularly from a poster who joined in order to publsish the poor review, to not use them. Tussa - not saying you didn't have a bad experience - just that damning a business without context is a little unfair. I assume from your wording that you lost your pet and if that is the case you do have my utmost sympathy.

So sorry to hear this - try to take it easy on yourself today.

3 would be unmanageable for me - i have two, 56kg and 35kg and can't walk two together anymore. To have three (which would be nice) I'd have to get a new car AND move to a place with more run/play space ... Also, my current two are very compatible and i wouldn't mess with the dynamic.

I carry mine home - generally swinging off a carabiner on the belt of my treat pouch - doesn't bother me particularly. I will seek out a council bin if I want to go to a cafe as even double bagged ... it can still smell (I have a sensitive nose and I notice so I expect others will too. Curious about "green bin" though - is this the green garden waste bin? Or just the colour of your garbage bin? Or an organic waste type collection that includes kitchen scraps etc. I'm in NSW and we only have garbage, paper, bottle/can and clean garden waste collection. Dog poo goes in the garbage. I used to have a dog waste compost bin but it didn't work (operator stupidity probably) This topic always provokes some passion... I figure if a goodly proportion of dog people don't want other people's dog droppings in their bin (including me), the non-dog people probably really hate it ... and I don't like to upset anyone .... Of course my bin usually had mcDonald's rubbish in it when I bring it in .. interesting that no-one seems to finish their mcDonald's meals.......

http://www.motoraccessories.net.au/custom-made/3 This one in belmore - i havent used them. Just had the link saved.

There is an online course "Introduction to BAT" taught by Grisha Stewart starting Aug 1 on Denise Fenzi's site - I've signed up for the Bronze level. Thought it may be of interest to folks in this thread - apologies if it's been mentioned before (I did search and didn't find any mentions)

We had a pilates instructor do some sessions at home for us years ago - dogs were very interested so we barriered off the deck with chairs and benches. MrDwynwen was sitting on his mat cross legged and Suki slithered under a bench and came and sat in his lap - all 40 kg of her - and stared balefully at the instructor. He goes to a studio now - much easier without an akita sitting on you.

Audacity is great - I'm a bit paranoid about mine making a noise so have used it a lot - I can pick a bark from a passing plane just by looking at the soundwaves.

This is just wrong - the "Do you care about the environment" crowd outside the shopping centre are bad enough (I usually smile politely and say "No I dont", stops them long enough for me to flee - I understand a business expecting it's employees to "upsell" their own goods but soliciting donations is over the line IMO. I don't mind a donation box on the counter - although I rarely put anything in them - I make a regular auto-donation to my favourite charity which I set up myself, without any assistance from a backpacker.

Always a good idea not to travel NEXT To a trailer ... (a) you are probably in a blind spot and (b) sometimes people just forget about the trailer. (yes it is the responsibility of the towing driver to make sure they have room but I like to minimise risk where I recognise it) From one who has jackknifed my box trailer because I forgot I had the damn thing on the 4WD (thankfully on my own property where no-one saw ... had to explain the ding in the truck though)

This forum is more about doing than watching but .... since we can't be there.. The Iditarod starts tomorrow (ceremonial start was this morning - official 'restart' tomorrow. Good info on the iditarod page (free and subscriptions) and at Anchorage Daily News

Got an email from the Susan Garrett this morning ... watched the video .... oh my ... where's the buy button??? whoa! ... apply coffee ... thinks ..... oh yeah I already have a subscription to one of these courses (didn't cost anything like that btw) ... which may be ended but I have no idea because I couldn't get into it ... and somehow just never got round to cancelling within the 30 days .... I swear the woman has got some sort of subliminal hypnotism thing going .... how does she get me reaching for the buy button when I KNOW this style of learning doesn't work for me? Is it just me? Or does she have this effect on everyone. (not dissing her training, she's clearly bloody good at what she does)

I have leather seats - we're using the back seat buddy (bought 3 cars ago) with towels underneath - the cover doesn't quite go to the edges (an inch or so) and I have the towels hanging over the end of the seat which protects that bit. The towels are needed to stop the cover sliding on the seat when muggins puts his feet on the suspended bit. If I wanted an actual seat cover I'd be looking at the black duck ones .... after all the hay crumbs on the driver's seat yesterday I think maybe I should get them for the front .. (no experience with them but they look good - and they seem to understand about airbags - important in the front.

Might be easier to call into a local vet when you're out and about and weigh him - they mostly have the scales in the waiting room and I've never had one refuse a polite request to use them.... that wiggly 43 .. 44 ..45 ...50 kg puppy will do your back in eventually :-)

He's beautiful - and looks very puppyish in that second picture. Pulled out my copy of "Akita: Treasure of Japan" - and it has this to say in the section on Growth... Akita: treasure of Japan Volume II by Barbara Bouyet, 2002 (Magnum Publishing) Note despite the title, this book is by an American and deals mainly with the "American" style akita. As a worrier and hypochondriac-by-proxy ... Personally I might be tempted to run some blood tests on a pup that wasn't growing in at least one dimension for an extended period - just to put my mind at rest ... but as I said, I'm a worrier -

If you're still around Crablord, pm me and I'll put the photos up for you if it's not working from your phone. For what it's worth, my boy is coming up to 3yo and is a twitch under 29" and 55kg (not a show dog :-) My first boy did a lot of growing after 8mo - got to about 45kg, probably within standard, not from huge lines.

What make of canopy is it? We looked at a bunch and I think only one or two had an insulation layer .. muggins travels in the back seat of the dual cab, I was hoping to do some rescue transport but ended up getting overruled in favour of better visabiliy (got a tonneau instead)

If you have a hatch or a wagon - please remember that it can get pretty hot right up the back under that sloping rear window, and the aircon often just doesn't get that far) That is all. (From she who was possibly getting a little close to the back of the little hatch yesterday checking that the cocker spaniel was doing ok in the 40 degree conditions)

Some of us like to look at doggy gear even when we aren't going to buy it ... The folk at Tom Bihn (excellent US made travel bags and backpacks) have a new company and a pretty website. http://www.skookumdog.com Worth a look for the scenery around Seattle if nothing else... The range is fairly limited but they apparently have a lot of stuff under development - not shipping internationally yet (easily solved by using a parcel forwarding service) The stuff is pretty expensive but if it's as good as the TomBihn stuff in quality then it's top notch.

Two groups for the arctic breeds - I know the people and have fostered for both groups. ALASKAN MALAMUTE REHOMING AID AUST. INC - Currently with dogs listed in all states bar TAS and NT http://www.amraa.org.au ARCTIC BREED RESCUE - NSW, QLD http://www.abrinc.org.au