Kodiak

Leopuppy tell them it's for special training or grooming or you promised you would send them back because the breeder wanted some more time with them.... ;)

My Aussie (fairly similar in age to yours) is like this too - she doesn't recall to my hb but is with me in a flash if I call her. We went on holidays recently and she stayed with my parents... they are doggy people and were happy to listen to my advice about managing jumping, food, etc. She loves them now. In your situation (parents who posibly aren't doggy people) I would go with Kinta's breeder (with Leo) if that is possible... simply because they are doggy people and will most likely to understand her and she sounds like she will be comfortable with them.

I am guessing it may be like a lot of the cancer stats for humans.... what they may mean is that the risk is 26% higher if you have an entire bitch... given the risk is 0.05% with desexing prior to first season....it may mean that they have a 26% (or a bit more than 4 times) higher risk... which would still be MUCH MUCH less than 1% (an possibly fall into Morgan's experience). I know that the media like to misrepresent cancer stats - so a 4 times great risk of developing breast cancer in xyz conditions becomes 25% risk. Does that make sense?

I'd love to do one of the clinics.... but have just had my pup speyed today and want to keep her quiet for a little while. I'd love to hear of any future dates.... especially for a total herding novice like me!

I have definitely seen Eaglepack in more places than Nutro in Victoria...... not sure about wider than that.... I would prefer the Nutro to the Eaglepack but I think that is just that the fish based food STINKS! My husky likes it though!

I don't know about who owns them but..... I changed my husky from Eukanuba to Nutro and was pretty impressed with how shiny his coat got after a couple of weeks on Nutro. I have swapped him (again) to Eaglepack because he has a persistent ear problem and I am trying to work out if it's diet related.... the Eaglepack is a fish related diet that I thought might be less irritating and more in line with his "heritage" diet... Anyway I was pretty happy with the change and, given a choice between the two brands again, I would choose Nutro over Eukanuba. Hope that helps

Thanks for the replies.... I will attempt to get there. leopuppy04 Yep Glenn is our pups breeder - good to know he'll be helping us through it! Shame you won't be there - it seems that whatever you can get to with the club, I can't and vice versa! Our pup is going in to be spayed on Wednesday - am hoping that will be plenty of recovery time...

I would love to go to the next AS herding day... will get in touch with the club to see if I can but also thought it worth asking here.... is the sort of day that a novice (as in no experience at all) dog and owner could get something from...... or should I go and watch before I put my pup in? I would like to see if our AS has an aptitude since we will have sheep as soon as we get the fencing done.... as a bare minimum I'd like her to be able to be called off sheep if she decides to chase them and a big bonus would be if she has aptitude - then I'd love to take it further.

This is what I meant - both my huskies are trained to sit, drop, recall, not jump blah blah blah BUT they generally need some convincing to do it. Our remaining boy often has a bit of a moan and groan about what you are asking...gives you a few reasons why he probably won't be doing what you asked and then finally does it. The other thing my huskies have done is been very specific about what rules apply and when....eg we moved house - they KNEW they weren't allowed on the furniture inside and it was the same furniture - but apparently a different house meant the rule didn't apply anymore

Our puppy has a thing for the kids shoes.... which are always left lying around :D I am trying to train my HB not to lock her in a room with shoes on the floor.... She's destroyed about 3 pairs - the first ones on my watch and the second two after I warned HB about her shoe fettish, on his watch!

I had to laugh at this one Husky87 - I am shocked at how easy my Aussie Shepherd is to train after having 2 huskies... the huskies behaved themselves but sometimes it was such a trial trying to get something into their heads. They were never off lead after about 3 months.... whereas our 6 mo Aussie is allowed offlead (while we are around of course) and she just hangs around! It IS a shock!

Oh Kaffy I am so sorry that this happened to your beautiful young girl. Let yourself grieve - it takes a lot of time to come to terms with losing our beloved pets. Run free beautiful Kaya

Thanks for the information too Jesomil - I have read about chickens being used but have never really thought that one through! Makes sense that they wouldn't be a great one to use!

Hi CTD, I have zero experience at herding... but hope to change that! I have asked (on here and at my obedience club) about what I should be doing with my 5 month old Aussie... the advice so far is to get her onto sheep soon (for the experience/socialisation aspect and I guess to trigger her instincts - btw she is a pain in the butt when I am sweeping too!). In the meantime (we are planning a session in January) I have been told working on recall, sit and stop are worthwhile (though it's likely all control will go out the window when she sees sheep). Where abouts are you? If you give a general idea someone might be able to help you out with a place you can train your puppy. As far as the chickens are concerned - if your puppy is annoying them I would keep them seperated if you can. Though lots of dogs learn herding on chicken or ducks to begin with. Cute puppy!

Collie breeds can react very badly to ivermectin (coma and death can occur with some dogs) - that would be why there was a warning about the collies in particular. Sorry can't help with the mange - have no experience of it.

And how many idiots get the timing wrong! That is probably the most idiotic advice I have ever heard! Recipe for disaster for sure.

When I went to collect my 10 week old first siberian husky her breeder warned me she was an escape artist. She lived to almost 15 and could get out the tiniest hole, jump fences, take advantage of any idiot who wandered in (actually I think she had some form of mind control happening where she could get unsuspecting people to hold the door open while she ambled out and then shot off down the street ). She was very obedient inside our house but was excited by the big wide world and had an incredible hunting instinct. Our second Sibe has escaped (mostly following the first one) but does not actively seek to escape. He doesn't jump fences as a general rule and is no better trained than our first sibe but has a lesser hunting instinct. I really think that the big wide world is just in some dogs blood stream like a hunger. I guess it may be unnatural for dogs to be so confined to a small area like a suburban backyard from an instinctual perspective.

He isn't happy with me though - I am doing the natural remedies that Leenie suggested and they are working a treat (Thanks Leenie!!). I am warming up the solution but it isn't making much difference - he hates it anyway. He is such a strong dog that it is a total pain wiping his ears out... but at least they are looking healthy again. The swab turned up nothing yet again ... but his ears are looking healthy again - perhaps it was just the change in weather/humidity as someone mentioned. The vet said to keep on doing what we are doing since they have improved so much (she hadn't heard about the natural remedies and was a bit taken aback by the garlic smell ) Fingers crossed for no further flare ups!

We have had the ear swabbed - a number of times but it turns up nothing... possibly because we have usually been treating it with wiping it out with the hibiclens... It rarely bothers him but does seem worse in humid weather (so yeast/fungal or bacteria makes sense). The ear always smells okay - there has never been pus. I am just sick of the battle with him to clean them... he is usually pretty good but I think he (like many dogs) hates liquid in his ears. They look much better again now... just wish I could cure it rather than keep treating it if that makes sense. I don't mind cleaning the ears if he needs it but it'd be nice if it were a once a week thing instead of daily and also that he didn't mind. The Aussie puppy doesn't have a problem with the inside of her ear... just the posture she holds it in is kind of strange - one ear sits in a floppy pose, the other is held back always. The held back ears shows no sign of injury, isn't painful, doesn't look like it has anything inside it. I am just wondering a little if I should be worrying about it, is it just something that happens to some dogs. This is just curiosity on my part. Thanks for the warning Inspector Rex - her breeder also cautioned me so I am very aware that I need to avoid it. Her dam has been tested and I am waiting on the results (sire has been cleared). Another good reason to buy from a responsible breeder! I am going to try the natural remedies on the chance that they won't dry his skin out as much as the hibiclens does.

IMO = In my opinion (Miranda - I got that it was a clarification wanted - perhaps the OP is new to internet accronyms?)

He's on Eukanubra with some raw bones and table scraps (no onion, etc). We can keep on top of it with the hibiclens but I don't like what it might be doing to his skin (it's not exactly gentle)... I am going to take him to the vet for what feels like appointment 100 this week. I look in his ears everyday and we get on a regime of washes (which he absolutely loathes - he's big and very strong so it takes a big effort which is why I am keen to STOP it happening if I can... so far I don't think the vet has an understanding of what it is). Do you think there is something diet related we can try (I am up to try anything - within reason of course )?

Just thought I might post this to see if anyone has any good ideas.. Our Sibe has had many problems with his ears (and I thought upright ears were meant to be easier to care for ). He has really gunky ears - we have been to the vet and tried many things to settle them down but nothing seems to work for long. It helps to clear it up and the problem is back as soon as treatment stops. Would welcome ideas if anyone has had a similar problem. He scratches them a lot and I know when they are getting really bad because he yelps when he is scratching them. The gunk is kind of moist but also a bit scaly ( that probably doesn't make sense). Antibiotic/antifungal/antibacterial ointment doesn't seem to work.... hibiclens will get the gunk dry so the ear can be cleaned out. Needless to say he hates me coming anywhere near him with anything that is used to clean his ears. Our aussie (puppy) hold one of her lovely floppy ears back all the time. This ear also folds over easily - if she goes frapping around the yard she will have that ear folded back so that we can see inside her ear. The other ear seems fine. Am wondering if this is something that will stay with her, is part of growing and may go, or is something that we need to check the vet about. We will have a vax appointment this weeks so I can check about it then. Thanks for reading and for any advice...

Big Hugs Rusky, I know the pain of losing a very cherished dog. RIP Cindy, you obviously gave a lot of love in your life.

*gulp* We have a 10 week old puppy at the moment, who is chewing everything and anything.... it's been a few years since we've had a puppy (6 to be exact) so it's a bit of the "oh that's right... they chew everything". Was hoping she'd grow out of it sooner rather than later but maybe I am fooling myself! One thing that helps (in terms of how much is destroyed) is crate training... so if I can't supervise her directly (I have young kids too) I can pop her in her crate with a chicken wing... she's happy in there and it has the added bonus of getting the kids out of her face.