Yesterday evening I inspected the back of the property. It has been used for horses but right now there are no animals. Every now and then I have a look whether the fence is okay and no other problem has occured. Clare went with me and suddenly she started harvesting little black berries from a small bushy plant. I'm not familiar with native plants and whether there are toxic or not, so I forbade her to proceed. But this was not really necessary because the berries of the "Black nightshade" or "Solanum nigrum" can actually been used for culinary purposes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanum_nigrum .



By the way: I'm not sure at all whether Clare is a Rottweiler or a Doberman! or a Great Dane? She will not stop to grow.



But one praiseworthy feature she developed since a couple of weeks: she started barking. There is no reason (or better I'm not aware of the reason) but she has a nice deep voice. If I would be in Austria I would not be so happy - because of the neighbours. But here are rarely neighbours and I'm glad that she tells every two- and four-legged unwanted visitor that there is a big strong dog keeping an eye on the property.

This afternoon an unexpected 'guest' was visiting us. A stray dog (without collar) suddenly stood in front of the house. Clare was very excited - like always when she is confronted with new situations. I decided not to interfere, I only rushed outside to assure that the poultry was save. Luckily the dog was not interested in the birds. The intruder (a mix breed in size of a German shepherd) tolerated the playful greetings of Clare, but when she jumped on his back he growled. Clare stopped at once and showed submissive gestures. After a short while the dog went on and Clare followed him. I watched him crawling through the fence but my girl decided to stay! It would have been easy for her to escape but she showed no intention to do so. Good girl!

Sitting the IELTS (academic) Test the second time the score was not bad at all.
Overall score 7 out of 9: 7 in listening, 6,5 in reading, 7 in writing and 7,5 in speaking. But to be accepted at the veterinary board I have to achieve a score of 7 in e v e r y category - 6,5 in reading is clearly not enough. I called the Board in Melbourne and asked about any exceptions - no chance! But the lady on the phone gave me a hint: why not sit the OET (http://www.occupationalenglishtest.org/Display.aspx)? It's more expensive than the IELTS Test but more specific for my needs. Okay, 'third time is a charm'! I registered for sitting this test. It will take the whole day - what to do with Clare? Searching the internet I found a good possibility: http://dontfretpet.com.au/. I paid a deposit and in May my l i t t l e girl (now weighing 28,8 kg!) will be separated from me for the fist time. I will bring her to the dog minder in the morning and in the evening I will pick her up again. Exciting!

I bought a bike for $ 98,- at BigW.



In the evenings we make a ride around the farm - under the precondition it is not too hot, too windy or too wet. About 1 km west, then 1 km south, 1 km east and ... 1 km north, back home. The roads are normally in right angle - no navigation necessary! Clare loves to run.

On March 12th I desexed the little girl. No complications. The next morning she was still a little bit tired but in the afternoon she was fit again.




Having a good rest after surgery.

again. After a "cool" week (around 25 - 28*C) todays weather forecast predicts 34*C. So I decided this morning to go for a walk on Thompsons Beach (again. Its only around 30 km from my living place, easy to access and no people! Besides: today we met some on the way to the beach - Cleaning-up-Australia-Day. 364 days they make a mess and 1 day they are cleaning up!!). The road is terminated by a salt water channel which is surrounded by mangroves. There I throw Clare into the water for a swim - while I was eaten up by (felt) 1 million mozzies. For some reason I was very fast on the way back!

the temperature is down below 30*C. Yesterday - at 5 pm - it had 22,5*C so we went to visit our first obedience class.

It was horrible. Clare jumped around and forgot all good manners. I don't know whether I will do this again. I think it is not important for Clare to sit quiet all the time, "HEEL" and stay when the trainer wants it. On the other hand it's the only oppertunity for her to get in contact with other dogs as we live very isolated. The place of the Kennel Club is down and out - so if it's raining the next week I definitely will not go again!

it was raining heavily and Clare was pretty bored. So she decided to push the envelope: she knows exactly that the chooks are off-limits. But Heather - one of the former cage birds - is very tame and shows complete confidence in me and and the dog. When one of us is approaching her she stoops down. This was her fatality. Clare was "playing" with the hen as if it is one of her toys. Gripping the bird as a whole and tossing it around.



Fortunately Heather survived the ordeal (with special care inside the house and sitting in a cage). I was very upset and was nearly beating the daylight out of the dog. I didn't look at her for the next 24h but I'm not sure whether she will keep a distance from the chooks in the future. She is reaching puberty and testing the limit.
NEXT TIME SHE IS DEAD!

I'll expect a visitor from Austria!! The husband of my good friend is on business tour through Australia and is coming to Adelaide on Friday. We will meet on Saturday and on Sunday I will take him out for sightseeing. So I visited the Para Wirra Recreation Park

http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/parks/Find_a_park/Browse_by_region/Adelaide_Hills/Para_Wirra_Recreation_Park

to decide whether it's worth to present it to him. Clare and I went for four hours (between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.), now she is sleeping like a baby. It's a lovely region and a stranger might get an impression how Australia may have looked like before civilisation (even if we haven't seen a kangaroo or emu :-( )




PS: Dogs on lead are allowed!!



PSS: The visitor will bring me a new camera (special offer of 'Metro Catalogue': Canon EOS 500 D for EUR 480.-/ it would cost AUD 1,650.- at a local seller!!). I hope to produce better images!

32,7*C - again no obedience class :-(