Hi Scamp, Don't Worry, They Have Dogs In Australia Too. I Have Visited Friends And Family In Oz With Dogs And They Are Very Happy And Healthy. I Am Taking My Boxer Dog To Oz When I Go And Feel Just Like You Do About Him, No Way Is He Being Left Behind. He Will Be Going To Melbourne Too And From What I Have Been Able To Research, The Facilities Are First Class And You Can Visit Him Twice A Week If You Want. Hope This Helps To Reassure You That Other Pet Lovers Are In The Same Boat!

It took 9 months for our Partner visa to be approved and we were told we were very straight forward! My advise is pester, pester, pester..... to keep your application at the top of the pile. Once we started to ring and keep following it up, our visa was approved in 4 weeks.

This should really be posted as a new thread on the forum. Anyway, the London High Commission has on their website that partner visas normally take 3-10 weeks to process (reference link).

i would get all your information and evidence required before you lodge an application. the DIMIA can refuse an application if things are missing. time scales can be given by them to get info but there is sooo much involved.
we are using grist international (as rec'd on here) - jo is fab. however it has taken 2 weeks just to get one statement for our skills assessment, which needs to be passed by australian trades recognition dept before we can even lodge our application.
What visa are you thinking of applying for?