kelpiecuddles

I would be more than happy to source a large number of articles for you that will irrefutably prove that research causes cancer in rats...

Females can be pains in the arse to have together. Personally I'd be desexing Beau and then looking at another boy.

Do your councils not send out a confirmation letter? We received a companion animal register print screen showing all the details as entered in the system, sent out by our council when we registered them and again when we changed address.

Wow, that's a change from when I trained my kelpie there. She started out in the beginners class and by 14 weeks she was working in the advanced class(took some convincing but in the end they gave her permission) Back then haltis weren't very common at all there, a few around but everyone started out on flat collars. I would have told them to stick it if I had been told she would have had to wear a halti. Seems odd to me given they do agility, etc there as well.

Poodle Wrangler is that the one at the showground? I used to train there and haltis were a rarity then...

We've always just used standard tennis balls, but Sascha doesn't chew them and we only really throw them in to the water for retrieves. She won't retrieve the rubber type ones but her teeth are perfect so I figure at 9 years old they can't be doing to much damage!

I'm not saying he is Aussie but how much do you know of his background? Do you know for sure he's never shown aggression, do you know for sure he's been well socialised around small children? I ummed and ahhed over whether to buy my basset as a pup or whether to source an adult, I decided that for me at the stage we were at with having babies, etc I needed the certainty of training and socialising my dog the way I wanted it done from the time she was a puppy. Our family has grown up with mastiffs and mastiff crosses, I'm very comfortable around big dogs but with any rescue dog there will always be an element of the unknown.

I love, love , love big dogs BUT I doubt I'd ever get one as a rescue with unknown background while my children were small. A big dog, raised from a puppy in your own home properly socialised and supervised with children yes but an unknown rescue no. Just my personal feelings but unless you have a very detailed knowledge of the dogs previous life there can be so many unknown that may show themselves at any time with any rescue dog.

Is it just me or does this statement ring alarm bells with anyone else?

Yep, I was going to suggest obstruction too, could explain why he'll drink but not eat

I think some animals are just a bit weird that way, my british shorthair will only drink out of her water bowl if it's in the bathroom, put it anywhere else and it sits there full being ignored and she walks in circles meowing at you to fill up a bowl in the bathroom for her. She's been like that ever since we got her as an adult rescue

Have you tried introducing a third one, maybe even just putting a third one right next to her favourite so there's double the amount of water there?

My vet isn't open after hours to ask, I'm leaving in about 20 minutes and won't be home so I needed to have a good idea in my head that I would be able to feed her in adequate time or get someone else to feed her if necessary so she doesn't miss out.

OK, should be able to make that work, i'll try to remember to tip out their outside water bowl tomorrow arvo so that I don't send her out to the loo in the morning only for her to gulp a bunch of water!

My basset is having her dental work done on Wednesday and I have to drop her off around 9am. What's the latest I can feed her tomorrow? I'm maybe going out and trying to work out whether I need to arrange someone to come and feed her earlier.

The ones I used to pull off the echidnas and the wedge tail at my old work were that colour so I don't think they change colour other than based on how mature they are.

Did you ring a statewide number or the shelter? If you rang a statewide number I'd try ringing the shelter and seeing if they can transfer you directly or give you a direct line number.

Have you tried recruiting a friend to come over and sit and drink a cuppa while you pop him on his lead and do some at home obedience training practice with him? he's doing well at obedience and is comfortable there with strangers, by getting him to focus on you and learn to ignore the 'stranger' at home it might make him realise that you aren't worried about the stranger either so he doesn't need to be. If that works and he gets better about it over time with the on lead training at home then I would progress to doing training off the lead and finally with you sitting and talking to your guest while giving him quiet commands next to you to sit, etc.

There are no keeshonds in the listingas at the moment, I would contact the Keeshond breed club of Victoria http://oz.dogs.net.au/keeshondclubofvictoria/ You are priviledged to currently be on DOL Lola, DOL is short for dogzonline. there are breeder listings that include available puppies but at the moment there are no Keeshond pups listed, doesn't mean there are no pups available at all, just that none of the breeders who advertise here are currently advertising any. It can be worthwhile contacting them anyway as they may be able to tell you when they are planning their next litter: http://www.dogzonline.com.au/breeds/breeders/keeshond.asp

I have done it in the past for a few weeks at a time back before I had children. I imagine it would be very hard to find people that fit all your requirements, especially if your frenchie's medication requires somebody to be there in the middle of the day to administer it (therefore they can't be working). One day when my kids are grown up maybe I'll travel the country house sitting for DOLers LOL

She would e very unhappy if I did that, she really dislikes the vet. I think I'm going with a ball work out and then in the garage with a cosy bed.

Seems odd to me too that he didn't cut his losses and head back earlier, sounds like he had something to prove and didn't want to admit he'd screwed up. I got lost in the bush once for an afternoon, I was literally within 30 minutes of calling emergency services when I got a lucky break that got me out of trouble, I had my dog with me and I was glad I did because I felt there was a reasonable chance I would need her warmth if I was stuck there overnight. I didn't go in unprepared for what my original plan had been and had water, a rain jacket and some muesli bars in my backpack which I always carry as standard, but I'd only been taking the dog for a walk and took a wrong turn. I'm experienced in the bush and knew what to do to look after myself but I screwed up and got myself turned around. There's nothing wrong with screwing up, what's wrong is having a way out and not being willing to admit that you need to pull out and wasting peoples time and money as a result when they have to rescue you too late.

I like the look of this one! http://store.petsafe.net/keepsafe-collar

People think i'm a weirdo when I say that if I knew it was fresh I'd happily eat road kill, I LOVE roo! My lovely father is lending me the $500 for my bassets bad tooth this week. Yes I could have insurance but she's 5 years old and this is the first time she's had any issues, my kelpie is 9 and has only ever had one real issue which cost us about $600. We do have a credit card we can use in emergencies but getting it off dad saves the interest. I considered insurance but decided to take my chances given my careful choice of breeder, puppy, food and exercise regime. So far it's paid off, over the course of three dogs(over 20 years total of dog life) we've spent less than $2000 on non-routine stuff, would have cost us a lot more than that for insurance.

Is there such thing as a breakaway collar for dogs? Like you get for cats?