Scarlet

Mine have free run of both the house and yard - no air conditioning though :laugh: They are trustworthy except I know they sleep on my bed while I'm out. I don't allow them on beds or furniture and they would never do it while I'm home

Apart from the coat I immediately thought Sheltie. They would certainly keep up with a 9yr old boy but can also be lounge lizards. Simply love people.

In my experience oncew you are away from capital cities most caravan parks allow dogs - just not in their vans etc. If you ring ahead you'll be fine. Years ago we used to camp along the "travelling stock routes" where dogs were obvoiusly allowed. We did ring ahead and book and pay. It was only a couple of dollars a night and I think it was via Department of Lands - it was crown land. They also gave us a map of where they were. There no facilities, it was bring your own everything but great for dogs and often alongside rivers. Have fun but yes be prepared to use kennels

My very young children grew up with a curly coat retriever. Again ticks your boxes but I'm not sure about chooks as we didn't have them. But she never even looked at neighbours penned chooks and the dog was in and out of their yard. Keeping her out of the water may be the problem

You must be so proud!

Maddy sleeps under my bed. Charlie hates sleeping inside at night and sleep on the verandah.

I think these look wonderful

Sorry Bully people but I used to think they were the ugliest dog ever until.............. I came home from a holiday to find one in my back yard, called the council to report it and was ready to drop her down to the pound when my then OH came home. IT was his sisters who was going to get rid of IT so he drove 4ookms each way to pick her up and bring her home. I had been on holidays with my family and he was going to surprise me when I got home. Well I instantly disliked her and was worried about her and my old rough collie. Well within a couple of days I was well and truly won over. She had the most divine temperament and was the LOVELIEST dog ever. I eventually even believed her quite beautiful. I don't think you could find a more people orientated dog in the world, she simply loved everyone and later when we had children she was just THE best. Prejudices can change, you just have to get to know dogs you "don't like".

Great news Unfortunately a work colleague was broken into with her 12 week old staffy inside. She thought he was stolen but accidentally found him hours after coming home - scared shi#less cowering in a wardrobe. He hadn't come when they called him and it was months before he was "back to normal" He was badly bruised so heaven only knows what he went through.

I just don't like it so no I don't let my dogs lick me. I don't like the sensation, I don't like the feeling of my skin after licing and I know where their tongues have been

Both my dogs hate their advantix; frontline or any spot on. As soon as I go near it they take off, but there is no reaction when I apply it so I don't think it stings and I assume they hate the smell.

Shetland Sheepdog Tibetan Spaniel Two of my favourite small dogs and I think they would both fit your requirements. However even though Tibbies are very smart they won't always "perform" tricks on que as they can have a mind of their own.

No Border collies yet. Although a few colours are common now I think Black and white is still the most popular. I prefer the black and white, says the lady with 2 red and whites

I find it sad that we have shelters and pounds. Yes we need somewhere for the odd escaping animal and the odd animal where the owners circumstances change but sadly we need to change owner's expectations and ownership of responsibilities. Too many pets are impulse buys and many people don't value the life of animals. And we need to make desexing readily available to everyone. I don't believe in compulsory desexing but desexing animals should be the norm for most pet owners.

Maddy is 8ys and up til now she had had someone at home most of the time apart from the odd 2/3 hrs and for shopping etc. She's had 4 young people go through uni meaning there was usually someone at home. I also did some shift work meaning I was often home when others were out. Now for the first time in her life and since I've had Charlie they are living with only me and are at home 9/10 hrs a day by themselves during the week. They have taken this very well but I'm sure they sleep most of the day. When I'm home they have the opportunity to be with me all the time.

Looks pretty good to my knowledge but I didn't realise that Tassie had them. There are some pretty good tick preventive products on the market - expensive but I have found them really good. I use Advantix fortnightly in summer and monthly in winter. I also do physical checks (the dogs love this!) but with long haired dogs it isn't really easy or effective for me

Is he only getting out when a car uses the gate? If so then you may need two people when the gate is used, one to hold the dog and the other to drive the car. If other people are using it when you're not home I'd tie the gate up. Sounds like you'll have to use the gate as a manual gate. Bit of a pain but it will keep him safe and stop neighbours complaining. Is he safely contained otherwise?

Congratulations I hope you spruke your success amongst other councils. Ipswich is a leading council, especially in Community Affairs (and I have no association with anyone from the council )

On the news last night "they" were saying that black rhinos are now extinct in the wild and only exist in captivity. Just a point in how media vary............but there is no denying that black rhinos are under serious threat

On your list is a curly coated retriever - problem solved Perfect for what you're after. IMO they mature earlier than labs and are maybe even "tougher" and love rough play. Very smart but maybe not as complaint as a lab. I'm not too sure if one would be happy if it didn't get the occasional swim - they :heart: water. Very little grooming and very little shedding. I think a boxer would suit but I'm not too sure about border collies. My BCs run a lot, and mouth a lot when they play but aren't all that rough.

Most markets in Qld allow dog on leash so I imagine Sydney would be similar. Sorry not a specific dog "thing"

One of my BC's won't catch food - anything else she is brilliant with, fanatical actually -go figure

I'd make contact with a local obedience club and ask if you come along to a training session and watch. I'm sure if there are lab people there they'll love telling you about their dogs - good, bad and undoubtedly funny.

I also like the idea of a largish, strong dog for kids. Something the kids can't accidentally hurt. I had 4 young boys and got a curly coat retriever pup. She was brilliant. Little one DO have to be supervised-especially at zoomie times My boys were taught to lie flat on the ground so she could jump over them and not knock then over. In my experience curlies are a little quieter than a lab (I've had both) but maybe a little more stubborn. They need lots of attention to tire them out and you need not to have a prize garden. We had a large car so she went everywhere with us, especially swimming - they are brilliant. I would recommend obedience classes after puppy school-for a year or two. Recently I dog sat a 12 month old lab and he exhausted me. I could never have one now but I must have had the energy when I was younger. And I've always loved dogs so I can put up with a bit I think.

YES it makes so much sense. And it's great to have some qualitative data on hand. Thanks. If they were stock animals it wouldn't really matter (outcome wise) but people are buying these pups to bring into their families; for their children to play with. Personally I can see the difference with pups of mine that I have socalised before being fully immunised and pups I have kept at home till around 16 weeks.