Your question to an outside kennel, it will need to be tough. A GSD can chew almost anything , I think Canberra weather is way too cold to have Manny as an outside dog. Buy a extra large crate and keep him inside. Crate train your pup, they will learn to toilet train quicker there is a lot of info out there to google. GSD's need to be part of the family or there can be behavioural issues. Are you renting? is this the reason for the kennel outside?

The trouble with that Tribble4152k7 Trek is that everyone reading who has not experienced it thinks its just a page of jokes. The trouble with many milennials is they want everything now and have 'tanties' thiking they are entitled to it then they compare themselves and their situation to others when they have no idea how those others got where they are. It doesn't drop out of the sky for anyone but it might gush up from the ground for some Oil rich people. Some have absolutely no idea of what "I can't afford that" means! A good starter home is one you can afford but unfortunately, when they have no idea what "afford" means its not going to work is it? From what I've seen some milennials can't even manage on two salaries...and good salaies at that, many times because they include in their budget too many things they consider are absolute necessities. Because some of them earn two salaries they believe they are entitled to certain luxuries...theres that word again...the two words that defeat the purpose of getting their own home...even with a mortgage.... "afford" and "entitled". Sometimes $5 is out of the range of affordability and sometimes a two salaried couple forget why they are working so hard and reward themselves for their efforts. Then there's the syndrome "keeping up with the Joneses"...must not lose face, must not appear underpriviledged, must be able to measure up and match the spending habits of friends....who, you never know, might be doing exactly the same thing. My maxim has always been...and I count it as the reason I survive on very little, is,,,"Old is not bad" - " Out of fashion does not mean its broken" - If it works and is safe don't discard it and if it costs little to fix...fix it.... recycle, repurpose and re-use. If you can pick it up at the Op Shop its somebody else's loss and your good fortune. Finally, ask yourself..."Do I want this or do I really really need it?'...that's a good one. I always maintain that if you have something that you had to work really hard and save scrupulously to get...then you are entitled to it...and that applies to small things and to getting a home of your own.

Hi Sarah, If you refer back to my initial 'Help' post, you will see the ideas were already there and our dilemma was actually more in relation to which paint colours might work with our bricks. Also, I'm not sure where the idea of us not wanting to add a garden has come from as my post clearly states that the improvements 'will also include a simple low maintenance garden'. I can only assume that the confusion has come about due to so many expressing that we should just do the garden and not worry about anything else, but that would simply put us back to where we were before the previous garden was removed. With all due respect, I can appreciate that many have posted in an effort to save us from what they consider to be unnecessary work and expense, and for that I am truly grateful, because it would be really lovely to simply not worry about doing anything, and as you said, go and enjoy a holiday instead! :) That said, people also need to acknowledge that we are not all of the same opinion when it comes to buying or selling a home. Aside from focusing on our revamp, we've also been actively searching for our 'retirement' home. Suffice to say, the first thing we notice while driving around is kerb appeal, or should I say, a lack of when it comes to some properties, including ours at the moment! :( While the photo's may look good, in reality, the exterior is tired and dated, with the gravel driveway being close to bare earth. Compared to the interior of our home, costs outside have been relatively minimal, therefore I can honestly say that we are quite excited about this project, but, it's goes without saying that we don't want spend a bomb either. Might just be the only little revamp this exterior's ever going to get! :D Anyway Sarah, full credit to you for giving me my first aha moment, which came through reading the final paragraph of your post. You've made me realise, that up until now, some of the decor and colour preferences I've presented are those both myself, and my husband would like if we were the prospective buyers, as opposed to what might work in favour of a broader market. Therefore, after some discussions tonight, we have concluded that... Columns, will definitely be plain square, as round will appear too similar to the existing ones. Front Door and handle will be simple classic Porch tiles - both against the idea of painting, so will definitely replace Paint - haven't ruled out neutral creams. Colour is simply something we're going to have to experiment with Existing gates will stay and get a repaint Our home is a spacious 3 bedroom/ 2 bathroom/ 2 car space with granny flat out the back, therefore we see it appealing more to couples with a young/growing family. I can't thank everyone enough for their time and effort in providing an endless stream of invaluable advice and photos... it's been nothing short of enlightening and I only wish I could print the visual that's in my mind now, compared to the muddle that was present when I first reached out for help. As with any revamp, the journey will be a mix of both highs and lows. That said, it's the end result we're working toward, and we expect to achieve nothing less than a positive outcome. Cheers again to all, Sandi :)

Daryl, I for one, have been following this thread with great interest since your comment and am very sorry to hear the problems you have had. I had never heard of any of this, but with the dramatically increasing incidences of asthma, mental illness and depression, attention deficit and behavioural problems with children especially, autism - the list goes on - I often stop to wonder why, I know when I was young half of these issues didn't seemed to exist, yet did they and and no one knew about them, or is this because there are more people in the world now or is it all a part of modern living and why? Pollution has been blamed for many things but it seems as fast as we clean up one form of pollution we start another such as this. Technology is advancing at a crazy pace and the younger generation are eager for more and more but is anyone really stopping to investigate health issues or are we just becoming obsessed not just with the profits to be had from it, but also to free ourselves from everyday drudgery and live a Jetsons life style. We all want more free time, but what are we doing with it? In many cases working longer hours to pay for it !! It seems we are too obsessed with "improving" our lives to stop and question any consequences. For we seniors, this is not doing us any favours, we were not raised with this, it is a whole new way of life for us and the faster technology advances, the faster we are being left behind floundering in the mess. No one stops to think that women especially in my age group were forced to resign from work when we married or had children, there was no place for us in the workforce, our place was at home, cleaning and maintaining it, ensuring our menfolk were well fed and dressed and our children were properly raised. For many women, they lost workplace skills, but the male ego was also dinted if wives went back to work, men were expected to be the providers. Unless you have lived through this period you really would have no comprehension of just how much attitudes and opportunities have changed particularly in the second half of last century, I think we have lived through some of the greatest changes ever but sadly not everyone is given the opportunity to embrace them. There are many, many people in society today, in their 60s, 70s and 80s who just don't have a clue about technology, they never had the opportunity to use it or learn about it in their younger years, but now it is just an assumption that "everyone" knows, so many seniors are really falling through the cracks, they are missing out on many benefits and are totally vulnerable to scammers. The point I make here now is that trying to follow this discussion, I realise even more what a whole new language technology seems to have introduced and how much further seniors are being left behind. I had to look up what a "dect" phone was - never heard that word used before, so many other words and terms have me floundering too, half of Ian's learned comments might as well have been written in Swahili, just where do you go to learn all this? As a senior though, (and I have many friends agree) I have a lifetime of learning stored in my grey matter, it is full and it is tired, how much more does it have to learn, how much do I really want to learn - quite frankly as little as possible, I'm over it all now. I very much agree with Pottsy's comment of putting a tin foil cap on my head, if that makes everything go away I'm more than happy. However these health issues now are definitely a great cause for concern, not just for me but I think of my grandchildren, how reliant they are on technology now, they were raised and are being raised with nothing else, what is in the future for them? I had to have my modem changed to a Smart modem recently because the original one kept failing and unfortunately I have to rely in the internet now to stay in touch with family. I also rely on regular Nanna Naps to get through the day, is this just an age thing or is it the wifi?? How will we ever know these things - obviously Daryl, your symptoms were severe enough to identify this but for someone only mildly affected ??? It is like back in the early days of mobile phones and people developing brain cancer, there were thoughts this could happen, but it wasn't like suddenly millions of people developed brain cancer and it could never be proven that people who did would not have developed it anyway. We still don't know why people get many forms of cancer, but I can understand the skepticism and cynicism - how much slower would technology advance if we really took time out to more thoroughly investigage health risks. It is great that you have identified this issue for us Daryl, but realistically where do we go from here? It is a bit like closing the gate after the horse has bolted and trying to fight telco's .............yeah!! .