Ice222

I have, but she might not have understood the question since her pose just seemed to say "no comment". Since it's a puppy and not a grown dog, no doubt the cat will probably enforce her role as boss of the house.

Yea I'm just waiting to hear back with my family (who are overseas atm) to make sure they're okay with me getting a pup, since they're coming back to live in feb. Fingers crossed that I can have him. Although I haven't really kept a dog before, only fostered a dalmation, which dad took care of anyway, I think I should be okay with training. I know tricks are easy to teach, even my cat knows, sit, (stand) up, hand, lie down, and roll over, but I'm more worried about making sure they don't develop any behavioral problems, and how to train them out of it if any arise. That could be much harder. I used to do psychology before I changed to study design though, so a handful of things from stage2 behavioral psych might actually come in handy .

Beard! But keep it fairly short, like in the pic. I think he looks better and younger with it. I never really liked gotees, it tends to make people look a little dodgy or seedy to me :dunno:, and imo a mo looks way more old fashioned compared to the beard. I think the beard works cause he has warm looking eyes. His lips are thin and bottom half of the face is still quite narrow, so a beard brings the focus to the eyes more. It's always good to play on your best features :thup:. Now I'm starting to wonder what my BF would look like with one :lol:. He better not grow one though, he's slightly younger than me, but since I look young and he looks a lot older, his friends already make fun of him for it. Apparently I still look like a schoolgirl, while about 4 years ago someone actually thought he was around 30 when he was 18. Here's an idea though, you could make your husband look older by shaving his beard, that way you can look younger next to him, perfect plan. Women always like to look younger right? :sml1:

Yea since this will be a mostly inside dog (of course it will get outside time with walks) and dachshunds are supposedly harder to train, I really need to try and get the crate training right from the start. Fingers crossed that it'll all workout well, it'll certainly help that I can use the downstairs bathroom as a confinement area to kick off the training. I'm actually a very soft person too, I'm not very good at motivating myself, but I do get very motivated by others or my pets, so I think that if I try very hard to be a good doggie 'parent' by being assertive and providing it with good training, routine and discipline, I could in turn be training myself to be better balanced and disciplined too :thup:.

Good advice. I will look into insuring a dog. Any other general advice for dog keeping? For example, I did not know dogs ears hard to be cleaned until a few years ago when we fostered someone's dog, so just thing like that where someone who hasn't kept a dog, might not know. Atm, I think I know which vet I'd choose, since they are close to my house and supports raw feeding, so I can get good advice on how to do it properly. Planning to get a carrier cage/crate for crate training as well (since the dog will be mostly an inside dog except for walks and outside play).

Dachshunds are already small dogs though, so unless if Papilions are more prone to it than dachshunds, won't a cross just be of equal, not greater risk? By the way, is it a papilion you have? And when you get the legs treated, is it a one off fix, or is it something that can happen again easily despite treatment?

I'm seriously considering getting a dog, been thinking of getting one for over a year, and the one I saw and think I want is 3/4 Dachshund, 1/4 Papilion. I don't actually know that much about breeds and genetic disposition to problems, but from what I found online, pure dachshunds can be prone to a lot of problems due to their body shape. Now if this wasn't NZ, DNA tested dogs would probably beat any mixed without a background, but here with our limited number of breeders willing to spend that kind of money, do you think a dog with 1/4 papilion background would have a higher chance of better health? Of course, there can be no guarantee, but apparently papilions are generally quite healthy for a purebreed, especially for a small dog since small dogs seem to be prone to a wide variety of genetic probs. Now I'm saying that the breeder's dachshund definitely has bad genes, but just that that particular breed is prone to problems and I can't know without them tested. I would still treat the dog more or less as a dachshund, ie, supporting the hind when I pick it up, try train it not to jump or climb, keep an eye on it's weight to ensure it doesn't go over weight, but just curious as to whether or not papilion genes could decrease the chance of problems compared to a purebreed dachshund. Edit: What is the estimated cost of neutering a small dog like this? I have 0 intention to breed from it so might as well be a responsible owner

More or less how I feel. Have 3 projects due in the next 10 days, but 2 of them can only be made in the workshop and the workshop's last opening day is TOMORROW so I only have from 9am-4pm for finish making the models required. Then over the weekend I have to complete a 3min video showing the use of the product I designed as well as all the documentation of my design progress to hand in on Monday. While still trying to find time to celebrate my bf's bday with him AND possibly go armageddon during the weekend (I really hope I can go, actors from The Guild will be there!). I basically have 7hours total for finish making a replica of a torch from scratch as well as make my fire alarm model from scratch :nilly:. The main reason why this has gone to crap is we didn't find out the workshop was closing early until 11 days before they were about to close - which works out to be 6 actual workshop days total, due to the long weekend, and 2 other days lost to presentations we had to make and present for another paper. If the workshop had stayed open as we thought it would, we would have had a whole other week in which to do the workshop tasks. plus since everyone's panicking to try and get things finished, the queue to use machines in the workshop are insane. Oh and I'm supposed to Job hunt, renew my passport, renew my car registration and probably do a few more things I can't recall off the top of my head. I hate that I'm supposed to be an adult now, I'm way too much of a child for all this. Anyway, complaints aside, just gotta do what I can and try not to panic I suppose, at least I haven't punched and dented a wall like one of my classmates did. I'm getting awfully close though

I have some java moss, and some xmas moss. I don't have a lot of java moss, and it doesn't grow quickly, but I find that both mosses are similar and so some points from my xmas moss experience may work for yours too. With both mosses, they seem to grow better/faster when attached to wood. Higher lighting helps, but only when you have enough nutrients and ferts for them, as well as CO2. With java moss, it's less light demanding than xmas moss, so it's probably better to try tweeking the ferts first rather than trying to focus on the lights off the bat. I think they also like waterchanges, I found mine grew a bit better, back when I was attempting to breed fish and doing a lot of water changes, now that I've toned them down, they seem to be growing slower, but then again, it could just be that they now use up nutrients quicker since I have a lot more of it in the tank now. Also i don't know how long you've had it in that tank for, but I find that plants sometimes have an adjustment period. They might not grow for weeks, then suddenly take off, so if you're already dosing ferts and co2, you might just need to wait.

Awesome . I'm sure you'll be a great mod.

Tank is at 27 as I look at it now, used to be a bit lower during winter I think, so it could be the tempreature. Turning that down a little in case if that will help. As for the missing badis, I found him! He came back out today, looking like nothing at all is wrong. I just hope that's the case since he did look miserable about 2 days ago. The only live food i've got at the moment is the daphina, I've had mozzies and bloodworms in a bucket in my yard before, but can't seem to get it going anymore. Do know if the badis will take microworms? If they do, I'll see if I can get my hands on a culture.

Hmm couldn't save the remainder of the fern, plus 1 more badis has now died, and a 2nd has been missing, so I think that's mostly likely dead too, as it's been looing unhappy for the 2 days leading up to it's disappearance. Now I have 1 badis left, I'm keeping my fingers crossed nothing will happen to the little guy. No idea why they're dying, water parameters are fine, ie. 0 Ammonia, 0 nitrite, nitrates are low, but that usually seems to be the case for most of my tanks. The only symptoms I could see was that the 1 that died got rather skinny, then started to sit in one of the upper corners of the tank, before sitting on the substrate, breathing but not moving, then on it's side looking bent and dead. When he was in the upper-corner phase, he'd be near the surface, staying there for basically a whole day. It didn't look like he was gasping for air, and the gills didn't look particularly red, basically there's nothing externally wrong with it that I can see. With the missing badis, it didn't get any skinnier, but it did the same thing: it sat in one of the upper corners for hours, and the next day I found it sitting at the bottom looking clamped, and went missing that night when I tried to check on it. I noticed that the one that died had it's tail nipped, but that was after it started looking a bit glum so I don't think that's what killed it, unless if it was indirectly killed that way (eg. stress from being chased a little). but that seems strange, since they seemed to dodge the gourami really effortlessly. Oh, and they're not starving from what i could tell. They don't really eat the pellet food like the other fish, but I have been chucking daphina in the tank, and I've seen them go after planaria/some other tiny critter I could see on the glass. 4/5 badis dead, and 1 and a half CPD deaths in this tank and I still don't know what they're dying from. It's so jinxed that I think this thread will eventually get booted to the diseases section :facepalm:

I found this site on google first, but signed up to fishkeepers first. Mostly due to the private email addresses only for signup thing.

It's okay I forget about it too. Yet somehow it's the most problem free tank (i better not have jinxed it now *touches wood*)

Yea but it can't just be my tap water since it was doing well in my AR380, and I have chucked some of the tiny random bits that were too small to plant, into my fighter tank (unanchored) and it hasn't died either :dunno:? Bah plants! They're so pretty when you have them, but when you want to keep them, they expect you to read their mind, expect you to treat them nice, and even then, get they all moody for unidentifiable reasons :gigl:

http://www.grabone.co.nz/auckland/sports-depot-limited-2?utm_source=GrabOne+Auckland&utm_campaign=ET_7055_nz-main_auckland_20111018&utm_medium=email I didn't even know they had them in NZ!

Thanks Jennifer, it's good to know that I can dose a bit more comprehensive without harming the fish. Most of them are pretty far gone, even the rhizome's gone brown, but I'll see if any of the green bits remaining will turn around with more ferts and a shorter photoperiod.

Still having issues with windelov (detailed post in plant section), but aside from that things seem to be going better. Recently got new lights for my other tanks, so this tank got the old 60cm Hagen Glo as an upgrade, all the plance except windelov now seem to be doing better . There's new growth in my lilaeopsis, the ambulia's growing really fluffy and compact and the fish seem to enjoy having plants too. The only downside is that I'm not getting diatoms, but I'm guessing that will rid itself soon enough. Picked up a Aqua clear HOB for the tank, as I found the sponge created too little flow for my liking, especially since I intend to get it planted densely once things grow in. What I like most is that despite the original filter still being in the tank, the upside down catfish seem to be slightly less attached to it, add in the new light (ie. I can crank up the shutter speed to catch these quick buggers) and I've finally manged to get some pics, sorry about the grubby glass, it's those diatoms I've mentioned: Also I sometimes see flashes of red in the gourami, like in this particular photo. Reckon he's a boy? I might name him Truffles :sml1:. He likes to chase the other fish when I'm not looking, but seems he's never quick enough to catch them.

I've purchased some windelov fern in the last few months. The first time I placed it in the tank, all of it started turning almost a translucent clear brown, all of it was brown within a few days to a week. It was tied to the driftwood at that time, and was under a single tube 30cm aqua one light for 5 hours a day. The second time, I placed it in a different tank for 2 weeks before transferring it over. The first tank it was in was an AR380 with standard lighting for 5 hours a day, it was perfectly healthy (growing even) in that tank. Once I transferred it to the tank I bought it for, it started to do the same thing (although not quite as quickly as last time). The only thing that has changed between the 1st and 2nd time was that it had a 60cm Hagen glo unit instead of the aqua one light (ie. much stronger lighting). Basically I'm trying to diagnose what the cause of this 'melting' is. Now here is some tank info: Ammonia: 0/trace amounts Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 5ppm Temp: 27C PH and hardness: Around 7, I say 'around' because I was lazy to do a proper test and just used a test strip. All the same the results were similar to the PH and hardness of my other tanks, perhaps just slightly softer and more acidic since it has more driftwood. Stocking is: 3 small Upside down cats, 1 Sparkling Gourami, 1 choc gourami, 3 scarlet badis. At first I though it was melting due to Excel, as areas with higher flow tended to turn first, and I had done a wc both times after I added the plants and redosed everything: comprehensive, trace, and excel. I did the WCs since I could vaccum under the wood while I took it out to tie plants on. But it seems strange to me that it would still melt so fast, especially since I only did half the recommended dose of excel. Plus all the other plants are healthy. Now I'm thinking it may just be nutrient deficiency (though I'm not sure which) and excel sped up the intake of nutrients and accelerate the problem rather than causing it. All the other plants are rooted in the substrate, which is a flourite mix, so that may be why they're fine? So do you think it's a case of nutrient deficiency? If that's the case, what should I be dose, or should I just does more of everything except perhaps excel? I was thinking it may be the low nitrates, but I'm not sure where to buy just nitrate ferts alone without buying in bulk. Anyway, would love to hear from the experts, pics should come soon. Just waiting for the sun to set so it kills the glass reflections. by the way it became algaed after it went brown, and the tank is basically algae free except for diatoms as it's a fairly new tank (about 2-3 months I'd estimate)?

Name: Chloe Location: Epsom Auckland Age: 23 Occupation: Product Design Student Sex: Female Book: Haven't read much in the last few years. I do like reading, but too many other hobbies. Hobbys: Drawing, computer games, watching certain TV shows (eng), Asian dramas, as well as anime, fishkeeping - heck pet keeping in generally actually, I just love animals. I also like fencing but haven't touched it in years . Family: Dad and sister. Just had the addition of a stepmum and stepbro 2 years ago, they are awesome, but we haven't lived together much so it still feels really recent. I'll be on my own for a few more months before they all come back (looking forward to it!). Pets: Cat, and Fish only. Although I'm hoping to add some quail and a dachshund when I have time to work in the holidays . I've kept all kinds of pets throughout the years, including rats too. Favourite food: Sushi, steak, okra (it's a vege), avacado, century egg, cheese and yogurt. I'm actually lactose intolerant though, so I have to take supplemental enzymes to each the full cream yogurt that I love so much . Car: Meh, Toyota Yaris or Echo depending on which I feel like. Not actually my own, but to me cars are just a necessity anyway

Stopped by the st lukes Animates today, they're not as bad as I expected. Sure their fish section's rather small and I didn't speak to any of the staff so I don't know how knowledgeable they are, but I've noticed a few things that they've done better than other animates I've seen. First, they use recycled paper bedding for their rats, mice and other small critters. This is much better for them than pine and not as messy as aspen, secondly, their cages are also a nice change, raised, and at eye level and looks much easier to clean, and is nicer for the animals as picking them up from above is extremely intimidating and stressful to them, the only downside is that the cages are smaller, and there are no hanging hammocks for them, but then I only saw 1-2 animlas per cage rather than the larger numbers I usually see in other animates. Additionally, they seems to stock some of the better dog/cat foods, like orijen (made with meat that's actually fit for human consumption), Castor and Pollux (equally good brand), as well some pre packaged K9 raw diet. Back to the fish, I actually liked some of the stock they had there like some little black and white loaches (can't remember what they were but they weren't Dwarf Chain Loaches), purple gold headed harlequins and I hadn't noticed any sick fish except for 1 single oto which was really pale, and unnaturally fat looking. Now I still wouldn't say they're good, especially since their prices are still over the top and such, but better than expected at least.

Exactly that. I thought this would be something like the unsafe/nsfw posts on 9gag .

Been awhile since I've last been on the forums. In the last month, pretty much all the plants in my tank had melted due to me treating the tank with Furan . I had an outbreak diseases in the tanks (In the end I'm not even sure what it actually was since all fish that died seemed to have different or no symptoms. Also had a second tank that was being treated, and now I have no more red tiger lotus, val's all melted and both tanks are basically bare :tears:. Also had 2 badis and an oto die, one of the badis was a really scrawny male the other is the only female, so now I only have 3 of these remaining. Finally replanted the tank today with water sprite I bought off TM and ambulia cuttings from my aquaone tank. Hopefully I can get some twisted val soon (I really like that plant), and try find another red tiger lotus that doesn't cost a small fortune like the ones on tm atm. Getting a 3ft Hagen T5 unit for my double tanks this friday too, the 2ft one I've currently got will probably be moved to this tank for a nice lighting upgrade. Surprisingly the lilaeopsis didn't died during the ordeal, but hadn't grown at all either, hopefully the upgrade will do them good. I like planted tanks, can't wait I have proper looking plants again. Fingers crossed nothing bad will happen this time.

I have a close friend who has a border collie. I'm not sure what kind of breeder it came from but it's a bit of an odd dog, quite docile, very active and playful, but is scared of sheep and other animals that aren't tinier than her . They really take well to learning tricks and such though. Her dogs knows all her toys by name, and a really good number of tricks. Considering how well and quickly they seem to learn, while I'm not sure what kind of physical exercise they need, they definitely need plenty of mental stimulation.

Well I don't play on Steam. Mostly just single player RPGS like Fallout, Dragon Age or strategy games. I also play sims, but not often. I tried Starcraft and Dota/Warcraft3 but got my ass handed to me and couldn't be bothered learning to play the multiplayer modes. Also used to play WoW a LOT - raided in a top 10 guild in the the server, but gave up cause my internet was never awesome and I got too busy to handle a full time job and game 5 hours a night. ATM I'm hoping to get my hands on a PC copy of L.A. Noire just for the amazing animation, plus I like the idea of a crime/detective game. Maybe one day when I have better net I might get back into WoW. Or for a different MMO, I've had my eyes on http://www.thesecretworld.com/ for a while, so I might try that when it gets released.