bk_blue

The cat now has a name: Lily. (Aroura you'd be proud :wink: ) :angel:

I have one dog: Blitzkrieg (aka BK) almost 8 years blue heeler/border collie/?? cross the other dog is my grandpa's 18 month old dachshund, Tomson. [img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0SQC0BO8WVmcdZdUls5fR9wzYnOI5L!rcntdWaDupyv95BtF*gTtNZ*FdEAU9DgCLB5*eOJOajCTwJebKI9!RCPM3iig93PKm8COsRLOBrU1qmTbL4yrXlg/bktomson.jpg?dc=4675409206470012016[/img]

I know K but I don't have a digital camera :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: I think I am turning into a nervous mummy, I seriously have no idea what to expect from a little kitten. From doing a quick search I think she is 8 weeks of age plus. Mum actually just said there were two kittens a few nights ago, but she rescued this one last night (the other one wasn't there, I hope it is ok :-? ), so I suppose mummy cat has either died or abandoned them.

I forgot to add she WILL be spayed, naturally. So we have to keep her inside away from all the other cats in the neighbourhood, the last thing we want is more kittens. :-?

OK this is about a kitten but so many of you have feline friends too, so I hope you can help. Last night mum found a kitten (no mum or siblings) under the house, starving, and mewing... so now she has a new kitty (she is going to keep it). We have no idea how old she is or what to do, as we've never had *our* own kitten before... So far she (she doesn't have a name yet!) has a collar, flea collar, bed, bowl, litter box etc. Hasn't been to the vet yet (but will be going asap), I know they have to be vaccinated too. Mulder (the resident visiting cat from next door) isn't too happy about not being the only cat around and is annoyed to say the least LOL. I took some pictures of her but they won't be developed until I get to the end of the film. She is GORGEOUS. A grey and black tabby with yellow and green eyes, and she is so sweet and sooky. We are also stuck for names. Any assistance would be GREAT... thanks guys :D

oh and for [b]German Shepherds[/b] [url]http://www.cluebus.com/holly/gsdfaq.html[/url] That's a fantastic link- everything you'd ever want to know about them is on that page... Our shepherd (Rinny) was such a loyal, affectionate sook. He would "cuddle" you by putting his front paws around your shoulders and lick your face. He'd get up to greet you whenever you came outside, no matter how much you insisted he stay put. He was very protective of property and people walking past the gate would get a big WOOF in their ears if they walked too close to the fence. He loved children and most other dogs (yes, he even came to love BK), but he was a very dominant dog and it took three years for BK to wrest away alpha from him. He was also very smart, but not as smart as BK, and he was obssessed with tennis balls; throw a ball and he'd get it and bring it back, this would keep him happy for hours.

[b]Blue heeler (aka Australian Cattle Dog, Queensland Heeler):[/b] Several breeds are thought to have gone into the making of the heeler including bull terrier, dalmatian, dingo and smithfield (which was an old English breed of herding dog). Basically the English who settled in Australia needed a tough dog who could withstand the extremes of temperature and have the courage and skill to handle almost wild cattle on vast outback properties. They are born white and develop their colour (blue or red) as they get older (approx 3 weeks). This is the blurb from the present standard: " The general appearance is that of a sturdy, compact, symmetrically built working dog. With the ability and willingness to carry out any task however arduous, its combination of substance, power, balance and hard muscular conditon to be such that must convey the impression of great agility, strength and endurance. Any tendency to grossness or weediness is a serious fault." [b]Border Collie [/b](which I think he is also crossed with): [url]http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/breeds/bordercollies.html[/url] and possibly a bit of [b]Kelpie[/b] in there too: [url]http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/australiankelpie.htm[/url] BK is a mixture of all of these but his personality is a lot friendlier than these breeds are generally towards strangers, and he's not growly or bitey at all, so he must have something more mellow in him as well, who knows what is anyone's guess... and this is just another excuse to put a photo of him in! [img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0SAC0BNkVdx6KgreBZoqdNrbHxY7HxCeppQNgIYwGCs9apoO1dt57OysQLTmGBX5AxmMglrXb9L3NiHCegKHZQq3Wx8cNxzr*rxbTJFMDoHU!AAAAYXIxBA/bkfeb02.jpg?dc=4675409206352022902[/img]

hmmm yes he probably has good ratings :evil: he's been around since I was a kid :evil: he is immortal :evil:

Akber the way I taught Blitz to roll over was I got him to lie down using "drop" or "lie down" as a command (he knows both), then use the command "roll over" while rolling him over myself; after a few goes he got it and will do it on command now. :) The only thing with rolling him over myself is that a pushier dog may not like being forced onto his back- BK is dominant with other dogs but I could hang him upside down and he wouldn't even growl at me. :wink:

I think it's [url]www.burkesbackyard.com.au[/url] The man is a complete f***wit. He has been embroiled in a fight with the New South Wales Kennel Club and goes to great lengths on his show to denigrate purebred dogs and promote mutts... though this could ALSO be because he PART OWNS A PUPPY FARM. :evilbat: :evilbat: :evilbat: :evilbat:

Excellent news!!!!! I'm sure you'll be fantastic! :angel:

She's gorgeous! I'm sure you won't have any problems adopting out such a sweetheart. :angel:

We have used human shampoo on our dogs with no adverse effects. BK get bathed maybe twice, three times a year, so it doesn't matter that much for him what we use (trust me if he reacted badly to people shampoo I would get him dog shampoo!) and he looks just as petulant whatever the shampoo. :P He's a really clean dog even though most of his time is spent outside, I swear Tomson the spoilt inside dachshund smells more than he does, and he gets regular baths. Blitz just doesn't smell at all... it's great... :D

:o oh my god it's a TWO legged baby!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: and a very cute one at that. :angel:

Exactly what I was going to say- lock her in a bathroom and starve her for six weeks and see how she likes it. :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

Love those photos!! I have some hilarious photos of BK but I can't post them because I don't have a scanner here. :cry: anyway here are some to tide you over... Viking Puppy: [img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0RgDiAoMVTQR*1*5lC356Zofeu5QgWk4s2khpv3MrZ!7wjxjdDU00NZI4he0oXWtUXUpctPmWGzBjPSPGRYBKwoYEawTSdL3M6UZwZ2tLimo/bkaxe.jpg?dc=4675409206202467368[/img] I think the hat suits him, personally: [img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0SAAAAGQWV0JqdJHs36y84ExZrjnbY!7E4TiVHFS42zKRH!RI4U3VzarKtluxJYX*92RVY9O09aJwWlvfzObtYwpQDwU*CTW3K6bc9pNrbUgA*LoMEwAAAA/bkwitch.jpg?dc=4675409206514600140[/img] They are on the cover of a music book I have- I want to get reprints one day so I can post them in all their glory. :lol:

Blitz knows the basics (sit etc). He also knows "jump", "on your bed", "give", "take", "get your tin" where he grabs his food tin and "get your toy" where he gets his dumbbell. He can sort of shake (but he gets a bit confused with the paw!), and he knows roll over, and "on your box" which is where he gets up on this stone block in the backyard and sits down like the Dog on the Tuckerbox (Aussie users will know that reference). :wink: He also knows "behave" would you believe but he only occasionally obeys that one. :lol:

BK is also afraid of thunderstorms I think- but he doesn't hide from them, noooo he stands out in the middle of the backyard and barks until the thunder goes away. He also does this with blimps, fireworks (though they're understandable) hot air balloons, and one unlucky possum he trapped up a tree for an entire night. He's not really fearful in his aggression, more cocky than anything else. :roll: [color=blue]Nothing[/color] can entice him to settle down. So when the threatening object/sound leaves he's happy because he's got rid of it, in his eyes.

[quote name='eggrolyn1223']but she knows I'm there and then wakes up..poor girl..can't even sleep without being disturbed..wouldn't it be awful if you heard everything that's going on? :roll:[/quote] I reckon this is more Duck's protector instinct at work rather than you being noisy- she loves you so much that she looks out for you whenever she can. It's very sweet. :angel: With our two they would seemingly be fast asleep but at the sound of any noise one or both would jolt up and try to look alert before going into snooze mode again. :roll: :angel:

aww aww aww at all the cute photos!!! What have I been missing out on, you are all making me want a bully puppy... :x :D A lot of heelers lie in the frog position including mine. I don't know why, but they do...

Interesting topic HF... :) I am by no means an expert in anything dog-related, but I would be fairly sure that a farmer with sheep or cattle would rather have a mismarked heeler or border collie who could work rather than a perfect looking dog who couldn't. Of course to actually DO the job required the dog needs to be sound physically and maybe that's where the conformation comes in. Coat colour and markings however would not interest them at all, I imagine. I have also heard that here in Aust. some farmers are breeding BCs with heelers to get a good herding dog, as so many of the purebred heelers and collies these days are hopeless at working, having been bred for the show ring for too long and not herding... this is what I've [i]heard[/i], I don't know how true it is. :-?

In Australia (Victoria) I don't think it's compulsory to have all dogs microchipped yet but there has been a lot of talk about legislation. The shelter where we got the horror puppy (bk :wink: ) from does that to all the dogs they put up for adoption, as well as vaccinations, desexing if needed, and personality tests to see if they're suitable to be adopted in the first place. (I don't know how he passed LOL.) All up we paid AUD$90 (about US$50) for him and 7 years later he's still raising hell and as fit as a fiddle. Ummm anyway microchipping- there is a national registry in Australia your dog goes on when s/he is chipped, and a set of tags is sent or given to you to put on the dog's collar, so if one method doesn't work the other will. The chips last 5 years then they need to be redone, I got a good deal through the obedience club which meant the rechipping cost $20 or $25 (about US$ 10-15.) Also BK has council registration tags and a name tag with our phone number on it too.

Aroura I think I read somewhere (where though I cannot remember!) that the RSPCA alone puts 50,000 dogs a year to sleep. That's not counting the Lost Dogs' Home and other shelters around the country. :cry:

LOL I love that picture!!! Very cute!!!

BK has several different types of barks and it seems we usually hear his attention seeking bark. :roll: :lol: When he uses his serious bark it's when he does his nightly patrol round the yard and hears something he doesn't like. (when Rinny the GSD was alive and top dog he would do the patrolling and he didn't let BK bark at all!) He would always use his serious bark when I was alone with him and the doorbell rang. Whoever was on the other side always looked a little nervous when they heard him because he has a really terrific deep scary bark. I wouldn't mess with him if I didn't know him. :wink: