Jemmy

Just my 2c, I think everyone understands if you try and manage kids and dogs but can't for whatever reason. But just saying "whoops I'm pregnant, better get rid of the dog" shows lack of foresight and planning.

Great leads! Nothing beats the look and feel of a good leather lead IMO

I'm so happy with them. I always used leather reins when I rode as a teenager, I had honestly forgotten how comfortable leather is in the hand. Now to decide which one to use for our walk and dog class tomorrow!

I crate trained Luna early - I would pop her in there in the mornings when I was going for a shower for example, because shower time seemed to be her destructo time. She is also in crate in the car. The house crate was put away at about 12 months old because she had earned a level of trust, but she still has the car crate - she jumps straight in and curls up and goes to sleep on drives.

Advantages:

She didn't fuss when she had to be crated at the vets for desexing (and when she went for xrays after consuming sewing pins ).

When went to her breeders for an overnight babysit she went straight into the crate they had in their lounge and had a nap.

When we had a visiting overly playful puppy I brought the crate out and she went straight in for some peace and quiet.

Could we have managed without it? Yes. But I'm glad we did it because it wasn't a whole lot of hassle to train her with the crate, and it's got it's benefits.

Time for an update! I was so indecisive, and then I found 2 local leather workers. Then I couldn't decide between them, so these are what I got! Both places have Facebook pages.

From Thorndene Saddlery:

From Tania Burbury - Leatherworker:

You're better asking in the other thread, it gets a lot more traffic. Are you looking for a working line? "Straight back" is most commonly seen in BYB advertisements imo, the show lines do not have as much of a slope as internet searches would lead you to believe.

Remember that pictures from shows have the dogs stacked. I remember being pleasantly surprised when I went to view my breeders adult dogs.

Some idiot in the park this morning said my dog is the same kind that bit the babies face!

That's so frustrating! I think the appropriate reaction should be that people rethink how they will manage their dog and baby, and make appropriate plans like screens and gates. Not just all go crazy on Arctic breeds.

Check her business' FB page.

It's public, you don't have to log in.

Hahaha! Good find.

I always thought if I had kids I'd put a screen door on the baby's room, as I have cats that like to lie on people and warm things - translate that to a warm snuggly baby and it would be a recipe for disaster. It would work for dogs too.

While I'm here, an update on us. Luna is doing well, I'm currently working on some impulse control with her. At training she is no longer reactive in a barking style, however she's swung too far the other way and now wants to play with the other dogs

We went to the million paws walk and she was an absolute superstar, we didn't stay for the whole walk as I could see the crowd was starting to get to her once we were walking near a road (she is not a fan of traffic). She did have a couple of barks at the walk when everyone was milling around before the start - one was at a dog who wasn't being watched by it's owner, and it was just running up to other dogs faces if they were within leash range. Luna told him she wasn't interested - and I moved us out of his range so she could chill out. Other times we had barking was when she showed interest in meeting other dogs - I would ask their owners and if they were ok with it, we would let them have a sniff. She then barked a bit in frustration when I recalled her back from her face sniffing.

All in all I think she's made some really positive strides. We haven't seen any unknown dogs on our walks recently, so I'm not sure how she is in 'the real world' at the moment, but in the situations I'm deliberately putting her in she's been excellent.

I don't have any of these at the moment, but they're things I've considered :)

Searching for 'car organiser' on ebay brings both these types of things up.

I'm actually thinking of buying or making something like the second picture to hang inside my linen cupboard door, there's some wasted space.

@Better Late - I'm so sorry you've had this happen, I know it's tough to deal with these types of encounters. A muzzle will certainly give you some piece of mind, I also use a long line rather than have Luna off lead entirely. She gets some space to make her own decisions, but if I see she's on the brink of making the wrong choice I can reel her back in. September will be here before you know it!

Does anyone else have information on hip dysplasia at 6 months? I have a different breed but was told to be very wary of HD diagnosis so young and if it was a concern to have xrays done by or sent to a specialist in the area.

Haha, that's fabulous! It was definitely cold this morning, I'm glad there was such a good turnout :)

How was our local walk Maddy?

I can only imagine how stressful this is for you *kirty*. I know from your posts here how important your animals are to you, I hope you can get some help with Toby

I think facilities like the one you go to Westiemum are great, and when you've weighed up the pros and cons it's something that works for you. I don't think anyone is going to flame you for that. If you put dear old Mac into one of these free range day cares with multi sized dogs together and inadequate supervision, that would be another story.

She is so beautiful!

We had a great time walking out at Hollybank this morning so I thought I would share some photos :) Edit: These were taken at Hollybank - which is near Lilydale in Northern Tas.

that's the best thing I've heard all day

I think that's about average for mine. I think we pay about $70

Sorry to be a n00b, but how do you know if your area is a high or low risk area for heartworm?

Your vet will be able to advise you. It's got to do with mosquitos. It's not treated in Tasmania, but anywhere else you should ask your vet for advice.

I looked into it before I was advised it's not necessary here in Tas. I was going to go the tablet route, the injection just didn't sit comfortably with me.

I'd call the council and/or the rspca.

Is your dog crate trained?

Yes

When (age) did you crate train him/her?

As soon as she came home at 8 weeks

Do they still sleep in their crate now they are older? If not where do they sleep?

No, she sleeps on my bed

When did they stop using the crate?

At about 1 yr old

Where is their crate in the house?

It used to be in the lounge room, it is now packed away unless needed

Does your dog use the crate only for sleeping?

No, it's a safe zone. If there are unknown people or dogs coming to visit it comes back out so she has a retreat.

I can understand the stories being a bit weird, I know when I've been given horrible news and everything becomes a blur.