ShesaLikeableBiBear

Have found an xray in the last 7- 10 days to be far more accurate than an Ultrasound at 24-30 days. The xray has not been harmful in any way. :)

I found this really helped when I lost my boy recently, Russell is one of my favourite artists.

SEQ here as well. Since arriving from NZ in 2005 we have used Advantix fortnightly over the summer and have not had a problem with either ticks or fleas, cross fingers. We have had up to 8 house dogs and not had a flea problem(Some sleep on the bed). Our dogs weigh a max of 10kg, we use Advantix for dogs over 25kg and the one pipette treats them all.

Having said goodbye to my best mate, Panda, this morning, I hope that you will all appreciate this wonderful video clip. Russell Watson's rendition of You Are So Beautiful To Me- Enjoy it as much as I have- you have an awseome voice, Russell.

Hope you all enjoy this video/music clip as much I do, it personifies the love we have for our friends.

Panda's ashes have been scattered in one of our sheep herding arenas. I took his sister, niece and great niece with me in the car and played Russell Watson's rendition of "You are So Beautiul to Me". They had a run around and some of Panda's ashes fell on each of them. I hope a fitting tribute.

Run free my beautiful boy.

Hope we are not jumping the gun here. Bree has been mated today to the same dog we used for her last litter, all going well she will be due around 11 December.

She has come into season 2.5 months early. Hopefully this is a good omen as I lost the first bi-black I bred on 02 October at age 12.

Her litter born in Feb produced 4 bi-blacks so will keep fingers crossed that we will have at least one in this next litter. :)

PS You will see I have changed my pseudonym as the last was the name of the dog I lost.

Thanks, Staffyluv :)

Thanks everyone for your kind words and condolences, they are most appreciated. The next step of the journey will be when Panda comes home. He always loved herding sheep so I will speard his ahses in one of our herding arenas.

This is Panda when he first started Herding.

Thanks, all.

He was known to us as Panda :)

Unfortunately on Friday you were diagnosed with a tumour on a kidney which had spread to your liver. We made you as comfortable as possible over the long weekend. That extra time with you was very special.

You will be sadly missed by your family, both two and four-legged. Your name Bear continues to run through the pedigrees of the black and white shelties we have bred since you were born.

Run fee my special boy, my first black and white sheltie, MY BEST MATE

Safaree Hesa Panda Bear HT PT 25/09/2000 - 02/10/2012.

Welcome. I am Laddie Braveheart, Second Year Resident of the Rainbow Bridge.

This is your introduction to the Rainbow Bridge. I have been a resident here

for a little over a year and am now a member of the Welcome and Orientation

Committee, Shetland Sheepdg and Scottish Breed Division. I have the extreme

honor of escorting you to the Scottish Ancrestral Section of the Rainbow Bridge where

those of our kind wait.

You have already received your Silver Harness, and it looks so good on you.

Now, let us begin our journey.

As you see there are fields of sheep and cows for the herding dogs, and over

there are the lakes, marshes and fields for the hounds and sporting dogs to

play. And here are Beau and Sam, the Goldens I lived with -- we visit often,

after all we have loved and are waiting for the same Humons. {See ya later,

me mates)

Oh, look! The agility games are going on. This is one of the newer areas at

the Bridge and they have just finished the Rally-O field--this time with the

directions for each station written in Dog.

All the areas at The Bridge are for all the animals here and we have a lot

of fun together. I have even seen some of the cats at the swimming ponds.

See that area over there? Where the sun shines bright and warm all the time,

and there is a gentle mist for a few hours each day? That is where all the

reptiles and amphibians are. They all have nice tree limbs and warm rocks to

lounge on.

But let's continue onwards.

Oh, check out those hedges and trees - that is where the bunnies and the

mice, rats, gerbils and ferrets are. I like to come down and watch them play

they just have so much fun -the flurry of activity and squeaking for joy

when one of their Humes is coming is a treasure.

Now watch your step, this is the Large Animal area. Occasionally all the

horses, mules, donkeys, even the cows and goats get a little carried away

with the Herd Running Game and can give a smaller critter like us quite a

surprise as they break the hill at full gallop. Even the pigs and chickens take part.

Here, the hills get a little steeper and woods a little thicker. It is so

much fun to run full speed, up and down the hills dodging the trees. Here

you will see the 'exotic' animals. The tigers and lions and bears and wolves,

all the animals thought of as wild but have hearts shared with humans. They, too

will cross the Rainbow Bridge with their special person.

But our journey carries us still further.

You feel the air getting crisper? And look, your coat is fuller and your

Silver Harness shines brighter. We are getting close.

Now, step carefully we are crossing the Crystal Bridge. Here, the weather is

always clear, the snow just the right depth and the tracks are, perfect.

Since we have arrived during the afternoon, I can show you some of the

activities we have.

The Scottish Breeds have many interests and enjoy many different games. I

know you are used to having your Humon hook your harness to the car or the

lead but your Silver Harness has magic and will hitch to what ever you want.

Over here are the sheep right next to the croft which has to be guarded and

over there is on the far side of the isle, are the fields of joy, where you

can run and play with your friends and share a ball or just laze away the

sunny afternoon.

And yes, there are a lot of other breeds up here all doing what they do

best, even though the Humes arnt there to see you, we all gather around to

watch you and enjoy your times as though they were ours.

The Sammies are over there herding reindeer, and there are open streams for

the Inuits and Greenlands to fish for salmon.

The Shelties came up with a great idea that has now become a tradition with

all the breeds. Each year during the National Breed Specialty there is a

Rainbow Bridge Specialty Show.

All the dogs who had show careers and those

who just wanted to be a show dog go into the show ring and go around one

more time.

The Shelties have gotten permission to have visitors from Heaven during that

time.

Humes who have no dog with them are allowed to come visit and watch the

show.

Judges and Stewards come and take part. And the old breeders come to see how

the breeds are developing and visit with their great-great grandpuppies. All

the dogs participating the first time get their Silver Rosette.

You see, every dog here is perfect.

If you look around you see not only are there warm straw beds to rest on,

but houses with soft sofas and fireplaces to just lounge on and swap

stories.

Many of the residents wait here for the night.

That is the time all of the Scottish Breed dogs assemble.

Each night a shelties team is formed and they run and play and herd the

sheep and the cattle.

They can be seen from earth as the Southern Lights and now we are getting

members from the Northern, Eastern and Western Hemispheres, and they also

run and play sometimes as far as the North Pole of earth, to give them

lights too.

Each March is a special run. That is when the Iditarod is run on earth and

all the dogs who have raced and played and worked together, team up for a

special display.

Many of them are cheering on their Humes who are racing. Many of them have

family members in the fields. It seems the Collies and the Borders work

their hardest to make the most spectacular light display.

Well, I think you are pretty well acquainted with the Rainbow Bridge both

North and South, East and West.

There are just a couple of other things you should know.

You are able to see your Humes when you miss them most. They may have gotten

a new puppy. That is good.

It means they have started to heal from the loss they felt when you left. But remember,

a part of your heart remained with them to replace the part of their heart they gave to you.

Now, occasionally, your Human may be particularly sad and missing you. You

are able to send your love to them any time. They will feel your love. It

may be as a shadow in the corner of their sight, or the soft sound of your

oice, or a gentle breeze caressing their cheek. And it will bring them comfort.

And there is one special night, Christmas Eve. All the animals waiting for a

special person gather together and send their gift of love to that person.

That night we are able to see into that person's home and if the person

looks, there is a star shining particularly bright. Just for them from us.

Oh, I see the sun is setting and you are looking at all the dogs gathering

together.

Go, and run, play, run and jump, . It is your night.

Godspeed.

We wean our puppies onto puppy food, which we feed until they are a minimum of 8 months old, and are currently feeding Black Hawk Holistic.

We have NO issues with either smelly or runny poohs. We have 7 dogs here, 5 of whom are in the house, the pups (7 mo.) haven't learnt to come in the pet door yet. :D

When we feed beef mince we feed PREMIUM which we purchase from our local butcher. Other than that they have raw chicken necks/wings.

Monteba, can you please delete us from a bi-black sheltie litter due in September.

Nikki will be staying in Sydney with her Grandma until she comes into season again in Dec, and we hope for better luck next time. :D

We used to take three of our shelties to lure coursing, only stopped because we set up a sheep herding training facility which keeps us busy on Sundays which clashes with lure coursing, they absolutely loved it.

We should know in the next 10-12 days. Nikki will be staying with my friend who will be a great midwife. Have had some medical issues which I hope we will have an answer for on 17th. At this stage wouldn't be able to cope but she is in the very best of hands. :)

Somewhat premature having today sent one of my bi-black sheltie bitches to my best friend in Sydney to be mated to her bi-black dog. Keeping fingers crossed we will have a litter mid-late Sept. :) :D

LIzT, LOVE your description. You are lucky re the cavs. There are a number of sheltie bitches being shown here in QLD who I am sure are oversize, but given they have huge coats it's not too noticeable, whereas my girls don't carry the coat and the judges can see right through them so to speak.

Have you ever seen anything as ugly as this?. :laugh: Odin at four months at his first show, and at a year old. He certainly came into coat. :D

Shelties can be very unpredictable with size as a general rule of thumb. e.g. Both bi-black dogs I have bred here been within the size range, Hamish also appears to be doing well, whilst the bitches have gone oversize. :D

Bi-blacks are recognised and can be shown, just that there have not been many here in Australia. The colour is more popular in North America and Europe.

Bi-blues are also recognised, i.e. the blue merle without the tan. A few have been shown here, but subsequently scratched from the ring as have gone over-size.

Then there is black and tan which is also permissable but I have yet to see a photo of one, let alone in the flesh. :D

Thanks again for your congratulations, stans mum. :) Odin was also only the 3rd bi-black to gain a title in the conformation ring here in Australia, in over 50 years :D

Ooh no, we might both be getting too many congratulations. :laugh:

Thanks, stans mum. :)

On the left of my siggie is Bree, the mother of this litter, (who had a bi dog and a bi bitch in her first litter) and on the right Odin, her brother, who is the first bi-black Ch. in QLD. :D

Thanks,andrewang,they are known as bi-blacks, i.e. the two colours rather than the tris which have the tan.

The bis are not easy to breed as the bi-factored gene is recessive.

I have been very fortunate that we seem to have a very strong gene in our lines. I have in the last two litters prior to this one had a dog and a bitch. In the first litter we had QLD's first bi-black champion, and Australia's 3rd CH. Unfortunately though our girls tend to go oversize for showing.

After all the ups and downs with our litter, born 29 Feb 2012, Hamish and Mairi are coming along nicely, albeit that Mairi is going through the daddy long legs stage . She is a lot finer in her features than Hamish. They both have great laid back temperaments. The first two photos are Hamish.

Hi Aidan

We have a sheep herding training facility at Woodford and have people, and their dogs, come out every Sunday morning- beginners and more experienced, alike.

Our instructors both have kelpies, and we have probably another 8 kelpies who come out, OH and some borders, plus the odd sheltie.

The only other place that has training is at Toogoolawah, and they have fun days/training approx once a month. The group at Toogoolawah are Queensland Herding Association and they are on FB.

You can also find us on facebook- sheepherdingqueensland. You will see some photos on there of the dogs who come out.

Perhaps you would like to send me a message on FB if interested?. :)

PS: http://www.sheepherdingqueensland.com/