Two Best Dogs!

Oh poor Justice I was hoping the whippets hadn't affected him so. He does seem to recuperate a little bit faster each time. He was doing so well up until this! Is there a different angle you can come at this, instead of the dog park maybe find a random street not near home with front yard dogs and you can park across the road and do LAT there to build resilience back up to the park? Tassie - I would love to hear how that goes!

Jesus. That poor child. There's no words for how sick to the stomach I feel. That poor child.

Lets see, in 9 months I have aquired: Two "official" dog beds. One work-in-progress dog bed which has 4 blankets on it (currently all over the floor). Two "place" mats. One small mat. Two towels. One pillow. She has three dog coats.

Seven hundred cheers for Didi and her person for continuing to be champs! They had an (unintentional, the lead broke) offlead rhomp today. Glad Didi doesn't mind Thistle's play style (chasies followed by a rugby tackle)! And glad Didi has such a great recall! Thistle just followed her big black source of fun. Am very pleased with Thistle, even though there was much excited lead pulling, including in the direction of a slightly barky but behaved SWF, but no playing up. Hoping to hang out again soon, maybe even a kepala hangout because water puppies! No pics sorry, forgot my go pro :C So glad we have at least one dog she can dog-out with. Although she's been having friendly nose-boops with the customs-dogs at classes.

These guys popped up on my facebook today: Boston, 6yo mastiff x ...one day I hope to help out one of these dogs in retirement. So many potential new family members!

woah well done Penny!

Please don't give them that idea!

I was there today to pick up a cheap lopper and saw someone with a muzzled kelpie looked to be well behaved, in a heel. No-one was paying it any mind and I'm sure s/he appreciated the coolness of indoors. I think I might use weekday-bunnings as a training location in a few months when the initial "must take our dog for novelty" is over with, if dog seems amiable, the staff are amiable and we finish our muzzle training (it's touching her face, the horror! )

Today was an "oh f*** sorry!" because I accidentally kicked her in the face while going down the steps... So... yes

Awww what a cutie! I don't know much about whippets so maybe it's cause she's still growing, but she looks different to what I've seen? a longer neck and just...looks bigger? But maybe it's that gorgeous confidence she's got going on.

Closing down 22 dec 2016

Just to touch on, plenty of well behaved dogs are muzzle trained and their owners have muzzles in the car. It pays to be prepared in an emergency! I got my muzzle before the incident that damaged my dog, for any emergencies + hopes to take her on public tranport sometime (muzzle required). Muzzles aren't just for "bad" dogs, plenty of good dogs have them too.

When you meet your professional, you could ask them if they have any recommendations on people with a dog like you described (and if they could ask that person if they'd be inclined to meet yours and exchange details. They may even know professional trainers who have a trained calm stafford). And a third party (professional) supervising and instructing both sides is a godsend in my experience. Afraid I can't think of any off the top of my head, all the ones I know own gorgeous rottweilers ;) dalmations, GSD and mixes... Good luck!

The new rules in response have been implemented! http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/bunnings-enforces-muzzles-leashes-for-dogs-in-store-after-bite/news-story/c08324b8870d975ae65f936c2283caad#load-story-comments

In Victoria, if you see a dog in a hot car you are meant to call the police on 000 (not the RSPCA cause they don't have the gear to break in). They then advise if they have someone nearby who can do it for you (much safer for everyone involved) or give you guidance on what to do.

Poor sweetheart

I live in the city and it takes practice (to fight the silent social expectation) but I have had very little problems with telling kids not to bother the dog. You want to get in BEFORE they even start interacting. You know the look, intent face staring at the dog? Interrupt and tell them to leave her alone then. Most people are surprisingly respectful but if you suspect they're not going to listen - move off and leave, come back some other time. (I find young adult men the worst. They ask to pat, I say no, then they try to pat her anyway. I repeat "I said leave the dog alone" louder so everyone else can hear and frown at them for breaking social expectation ;) and I leave the location) But you do need to accept unpredictable situations can occur, ranging from a small child being recalled and your dog going for them (knock on wood no-ones dogs do that) or that child running pass "too close" or continuing forward/falling/doing something to startle or god forbid hurt your dog. Multitudes of things that can happen before they even get to the fabled pulling ear stage. All you can do is mitigate it and use your best judgement based on where you are, time of day, your dogs personality+training. (was absolutely baffled by an unattended 3yo who came running up with a squeaky toy (aaahhhh!), last week. Stopped her with a "woah! Hey there sweetie. You can't run around the dog! You can stand there quietly and look though", then positioned myself between Thistle and the kid to avoid any accidents from either party. Father was found a couple of minutes later, he'd lost her lol) Edit: Here! I found this video helpful in helping me to tell people NO in regards to the dog:

Darn, my dog is the wrong colour! XD

So I think I have tested these sufficiently to give feedback! I ended up buying two boomerang tags (the open one for the side release collar and a closed one for the buckle collar) + two large plastic ones with my number either side - visible from a distance! So far they've survived daily wear, river swimming, dam swimming, thick underbrush, never ending grass rolling and general doggy days. Colour me pleased :) Major fan of those plastic tags and their visibility from a distance. They're surprisingly thick, although I think I should have gone yet another size up to giant. Guess I'll have to order some more in the future (for laziness sake so I don't have to take them off and put them on different collars)

There's a pull out draw in my pantry, it holds about 25kg... I have ant surface spray on the outside of my windows/door entries and any suspicious cracks.

I am in the city suburbs, we've had two dogs bitten by snakes all ready. One made it, one didn't....and unfortunately a friend of mine up in newcastle lost their old jrt x this week to a snake bite The council has posted out advice and newsletters on reducing snakes be keeping grass low etc etc. Even if you don't live near snakes in australia (damn near impossible, especially in summer when they come out and move down) - many people take their dogs with them to the beach or on camping trips or trails or the local dog park. I would think unless you lived in an apartment building in the CBD, you are near snakes - and even then the snakes have popped up in myers and city streets. I agree with snook, I wouldnt expect most people know about avoidance training. I didn't know about it either, it was just something I saw an opportunity to work on when teaching the dog to leave rabbits/lizards alone. So this thread was a surprise, but lots of information and different methods is coming out of it.

Thank you much Snook! You're awesome. I'll add these when my phone is charged up and have a poke around :D I've really been struggling with mastering action shots, even in daylight.

(Please picture a slightly overwhelmed looking face as I ask this) But...would you have a suggestion on one of the bolded for a Nikon d3100? Is there a term or phrase I can use to hunt around for a second one on ebay? A fixed aperture sounds like a godsend as I try to use my poor camera. Currently just have the lens it came with. My suggestion would be the same for your camera. A 70-200 2.8 (very heavy and expensive but awesome) or a 70-200 f4 (much lighter and cheaper but still several hundred dollars new and also awesome). You'd be able to get results on eBay by using those as a search but there are also groups on FB just for buying and selling camera gear. I'm happy to get some links for you if you want them? Yes please! I think if I can grab one secondhand somewhere would be awesome. Doesn't have to be soon but it'd be good to keep an eye out so I can snap it up!

(Please picture a slightly overwhelmed looking face as I ask this) But...would you have a suggestion on one of the bolded for a Nikon d3100? Is there a term or phrase I can use to hunt around for a second one on ebay? A fixed aperture sounds like a godsend as I try to use my poor camera. Currently just have the lens it came with.

Oh no poor Justice, those inconsiderate f***heads Selfish pricks not giving a shit about how their dogs are bothering others and now Justice is suffering for it. I really hope it doesn't throw him too far backwards Hopping mad for you as well, some owners are so shitty and inconsiderate.