koolietas

Congratulations! It's really nice to see some shelties around competing in herding. My boy is the only one (that I know of) in Tas doing any...he'd probably be doing a lot better if his handler (me!) knew what she was doing He got his HT a few months ago - not sure how much further we'll go (just started to get into tracking with him) but it's all fun. Keep up the good work! Isn't it great to see them doing what they were bred for...

When I get the fruit/veg for Koolie's barf mix, I buy organic (usually about $30 and lasts 3-4 weeks). It's really hard to get organic meats/bones here in Tas - I would definitely get them if I could find any!

Offal is available for sale in Tas for human consumption only...it is illegal to feed dogs offal in Tas. Apparently back in the dark ages when my mum was a kid, Tas had a higher rate of hydatitis and since then it has been illegal to give dogs offal (thus the Billinghurst pre-made Barf patties can't be sold here). If you mention to a butcher that you want offal for your dogs that won't sell it to you...but of course if you don't mention that at the butcher or get some at the supermarket it can't be monitored.

My boy gets either roo mince or sardines with his veg mix a couple of times a week. The rest of his diet is RMB like turkey wings, chicken wings/frames/drumsticks, roo tails, lamp flamps, pork ribs, lamb neck pieces, rabbit etc. It is illegal to feed dogs offal in Tas - but most of the time the offal is left in the frames, so I can't do much about that

My sheltie has eaten several balloons - I used to let him play with them but when they popped he would then eat it! Thus - we don't play with balloons anymore. His all passed with no probs - you'll just have to keep an eye on her and her poops to make sure it passes. Have fun

Thanks Was this done in Sydney?? Did she suffer any complications? What was the recovery time? Nope - in Hobart. The specialist came down from Sydney (she comes down every 6-8 weeks for surgeries in Hobart). No complications - most important thing is to keep them calm & cool (she actually had a bad back about the same time, so we had her restricted in a cot) Recovery time...we kept a very close eye on her for the first 24-48 hours, and other than a cough which she had for 4-5 days after the surgery, she was fine within a fortnight.

I had a peke done last year - she had both laryngeal saccules removed and palate surgery and it cost around $1,000 but was well worth it.

I only follow what IB has in his books, so I don't know why he'd have it in there if dog's don't utilise it? But then again, he also says in the books that you can feed grapes/sultanas etc. I have never heard about brewers yeast being an allergen for some dogs...thanks for letting me know. The vet that saw Koolie a few weeks ago has no idea about barf diets, so there was no point asking him about supplements etc!

It might be the plastic, but have you considered the flaxseed meal? Ian Billinghurst points out that if you over-supplement the flaxseed meal and oil you can upset the balance of the omega 6's and actually cause skin problems. I know he's right, because I've done it If I were you I'd just take the flaxseed meal out for 6 weeks or so, and see if it helps. I remembered that the other week but didn't think I would be oversupplementing...anyway, it's worth a shot - so I'll cease the flaxseed meal and see what happens...thanks for the tip monsterpup

Thanks Arby...he gets the ACV every day in his veg mix (so I've never added any to his water as well). The plastic containers will be gone shortly!

The vet also said that it could possibly be plastic that is causing the dermatitis Yes, I have heard this. It can cause a pimply-type rash. My girl was getting this at one stage from a plastic water bowl. Apparently bacteria adheres to the plastic more so than a stainless steel dish/bowl. Once I changed her water bowl to stainless the problem dramatically reduced!!! Yes, that's what it looks like...most of it is along his gum line (and unusually, only on one side). Glad to hear that your gal is better. Definitely sounds like I'm going to have to ditch the plastic containers then. Thanks for replying

No, no experience with it here. Any chance it's contact dermatitis?? I'd have thought you'd get a more widespread reaction to a food allergy but I'm no skin expert. Yes, I'm doubtful also that it would be food related...but I'm not sure. I am hedging more towards it being something else...which is why I was wondering whether it could be the plastic food containers that I put his veg mix in. I think I should invest in some glass containers and see if that helps. Dermatitis in shelties is quite common, but not something I've come across in my others before (and my other shelties weren't fed BARF!) Thanks for your reply

My sheltie has/is suffering bouts of dermatitis along his muzzle and every now and then a pad or two on his feet...he has been fed a barf diets since he was 5-6 months old (now almost 3) and is supplemented with yoghurt, raw eggs, kelp powder, brewers yeast, flaxseed meal, garlic etc. The dermatitis isn't too bad - but as the vet said that it may be food related...not sure where to start? or whether to start an elimination diet... The vet also said that it could possibly be plastic that is causing the dermatitis - has anyone heard of this before? He has never had a plastic bowl (only ceramic) but I do freeze his juiced vegies in plastic containers so I'm wondering whether that might be the cause... Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I'm glad to hear that your cats worked in well with your BC :cool: I know what you mean about herding...Koolie is always herding our original 3 cats (nose up the rear bringing them back inside!) Koolie has been obedience trained and I have no problems getting his focus/doing work with him whilst the kitten is playing around him...which I suppose is a good sign. Maybe it's just going to take more time then I thought it would - we just have to hope in the mean time that the kitten doesn't accidentally get out.

Last night I took the kitten to the courtyard when I fed Koolie & also a couple of hours later I had Koolie on lead and clicked/treated him only when he was looking at me/doing tricks etc. whilst the kitten was playing around him. My gut feeling is that it isn't predatory behaviour rather territorial aggression...he doesn't chase strange cats in the street when we're walking & he has never chased people's cats at their homes when we've visited (wouldn't he do this if it was predatory behaviour?) What would you suggest as an alternate outlet for this behaviour? The kitten will either run away (as you would!) or growl at Koolie.

I'll try and make this as short as I can...! My 2 yo sheltie, Koolie is reacting to our new kitten (who is 5 months old). Koolie has been brought up with cats (both at the breeder's place and we had 3 cats at home when he was introduced at 8 weeks). In the past 12 months, we have been looking after a stray cat who has a bed outside & is also fed outside (away from Koolie). On a couple of occasions though, Koolie has chased this cat (who luckily was quick enough to get away). I thought this behaviour was likely due to him seeing the cat as an 'outsider' seeing he never comes inside. 3 weeks ago, our family purchased a Birman kitten. I was wary of Koolie's behaviour right from the beginning, so did not introduce Koolie & the kitten face to face for about 10 days (but Koolie could see the kitten playing throught the glass sliding door during this time). After 10 days, armed with my clicker & lots of treats, I took the kitten outdoors to our enclosed courtyard (where Koolie is most of the time), put Koolie on lead and clicked & treated him for calm behaviour whilst the kitten was walking/playing. Koolie's focus is great whilst I'm dishing out the treats - the kitten can be walking around him (with Koolie knowing that he's close by) but he remains almost 100% focused on me & the food! On a couple of occasions during these training sessions, Koolie has lunged at the kitten growling & snapping which concerns me greatly... The kitten will be an indoor cat (with Koolie remaining outside most of the time as he always has) but I am concerned that if the kitten accidentally got out to where Koolie is that the end result will not be a good one. As this is a new situation to me - is there anyone that can offer some advice? Is it a lost cause or is there something I can do? I thought that by offering rewards for calm behaviour (especially seeing that Koolie is so food motivated) that this would help - (and I do believe it has slightly) or am I expecting too much too soon? Thanks everyone - I appreciate any advice/thoughts you can offer. I live in Tas and there are no veterinary behaviourists here in the state, but I would definitely consider consultation with a v/b on the mainland, and if need be to fly Koolie & myself over for consult.

I thought some of the vets could test in-house? I'd prefer to see what his antibody levels are - as long as it's not overly expensive, otherwise I'll just go with the KC vacc. He had his first tetanus vaccination last year - apparently he needs a booster again this year, and then as you said in 10 years' time - although I doubt he will be herding sheep then

I've booked Koolie into the vet tonight to get his tetanus booster and he's due for his C5 too...I've been reading about titer testing, and am curious as to whether any vets in Tas offer this in-house and what the cost is?

My boy gets fed raw pork rib bones 2-3 times a week (they're quite meaty with little fat) he's never had a problem...

Kelpie-i, No lambs around. The 'attack' really took me by surprise...I've found in the past that if a sheep is going to be trouble, then I would notice this usually within 60 seconds. Koolie had been working these sheep for about 10 minutes without a hint of a problem. In fact, it was probably the best I'd seen him work and definitely think that the larger sized yard is better suited to his 'type'. We had paused for a short break when one of the sheep literally came away from the herd and butted Koolie (who was sitting quite close to me and about 7 or 8 metres away from where the sheep were... Thanks again, Koolietas

Thanks everyone for your replies/advice...much appreciated! I'll try and answer all of your questions in this post... Tracey & Jesomil - I've tried him on ducks twice in recent times...I can't let him off lead as he wants them for lunch :D so not sure if this is something to persue with him... Tonymc - I don't believe (in recent times anyway) that any of his lines have worked...I did pose this question to a trainer recently, and she said that as long as the dog has the instinct, this wouldn't really matter? Kelpie-i - the sheep we were using have been the same ones that we have used for the past 18 months (there's only about 30 sheep to choose from...with a couple that we don't use often as they're too hard on the dogs...even the Aussies) We've been training on & off for about 18 months now...this is the only negative experience that we have had in all that time, so I'm hoping that the last 18 months of positive experiences will outweigh this negative one. I think it's a good sign that he did work the sheep in the HT yard after these incidents - I'm just concerned that as he was butted in the PT yard, that he will see this yard as a negative place to be. We recently spent time with a trainer from QLD who said that with Koolie being a softer type dog, would work better in the PT yard rather than the smaller HT yard. This definitely seems to be the case, as he was working beautifully on Sunday (up until he was butted). I'm really in two minds as to whether to give him a break for a while or whether to get him back in the yard but with another 'stronger' dog and see how that goes. Koolie, although a sheltie - is much much bigger than the norm! He's about the size of a small rough collie (in fact I've seen rough collies smaller than Koolie!) so there's not such a big difference between him and the sheep. Thanks again - it's good to get some feedback as this is the first dog I've worked with sheep and rely on advice from experience people in this area.

Yesterday whilst training in the PT yard, my sheltie was butted by a sheep (which caused him to fall to the ground) and then chased by this sheep for about 30 seconds. It definitely frightened him so I changed the sheep over (he had been working 9 at that point) and took 3 new sheep out in the same yard for him - but he wasn't interested. I decided to take the sheep up into the smaller HT yard and during this process, one of the sheep jumped and landed straight on Koolie's back! Luckily, he doesn't seem to have suffered any injury, and I did after much encouragement get him working again in the HT yard. As Koolie is a 'softer' dog...how do I get his confidence back up again? He got his HT last weekend but he's not an overly confident dog (ie. he's not confident enough to get sheep off a fenceline for eg) Any advice/thoughts would be greatly appreciated...

We have 2 pekes & a sheltie and live in Tas...so we don't have too many days where we could use the ol towel dry & shake that a lot of others can use :p We use a hairdryer for the pekes (after being towel dried) on a low heat setting...we've never had any probs with this - and you'll find most dogs don't like dryers around their heads. I take my sheltie to a hydrobath and do him myself (had a couple of bad experiences over the years with groomers - and he's much happier that I do it anyway!) and they have dryers their too... I think what you're doing ie. by making it fun is great - especially whilst your baby is so young...you don't want them to hate the grooming experience as with a long haired dog you'll be doing plenty! My sheltie hated being brushed/bathed when I got him (which I thought was a little odd as he came from a breeder who is also a groomer!) so from early on, I used a treat/kong in one hand and brushed him in the other...and when he grew too big for the one-handed trick, I have a brush in the back of the car, and give him a quick brush before he goes off to play/walk each day. He's improved dramatically since I started doing this...based on the theory that after this quick brush, you will be rewarded by going to play etc. Good luck!

All raw? You betcha...

Koolie gets veggies most days, organic mostly. All go through the juicer and he gets both the pulp & the juice. I freeze into daily portions and I have enough from each batch to last about 2-3 weeks. I give him a variety but generally includes: spinach, lettuce, carrot, apple, pear, capsicum, parsley, zucchini, broccoli, cabbage, silverbeet, bok choy, wombok, cauliflower etc.