ausdogsx6

I have to agree that acusations and attacks are not necessary and nor should they be tollerated by anyone, however I think you should remember that you must have been one of the newbies once your self. We are entitled to an opinion too, and just because someone is new to DOL or you dont know them, doesnt necessarily mean that they dont know anything. Give newbies a go. We are not all critical of things unknown to us and infact most of us appreciate the advice more than you might expect.

I have not given any advice to her, good or bad because as I already said, I am not an expert. The only thing that I would do is help her to find some help from a positive trainer. And yes, I have only been here for five minutes, foolishly thinking that I would meet some good people. but obviously I was wrong. You are all too clicky for me. I quit!

you might think Im a smarty pants but while you all are busy giving heaps to Andoria, not one of you have given a thought for whats next for her and her dog. You are all more worried about your feelings being hurt by an angry outburst which was not aimed at you in the first place, unless of course you are the ones who went to far with the trainer, than putting that aside and trying to put her straight on what she should be doing. Positive trainers? dogs make mistakes and you ignore them, then treat when they get it right. Dont you? The same can work with people! Andoria got it wrong but the dog is the one who will suffer now because no one is willing to help her get it right. Ask your self, do you really care what happens to her dog? because I do and if she cares to ask I will try to help. The trouble is I am far from an expert and I am sure there is some better help out there if you would only give her another chance. Call me a smarty pants if you want but I honestly care about Andoria and her dog.

Im sorry you feel that way. I did read it and to me, the rude language coming from someone understandably upset was not addressed at all DOL's but instead at the fools who took it on themselves to abuse the trainer. If you feel that it was addressed to you perhaps there is a reason for that?

Its nice to see that everyone has calmed down now and its amazing...even a little humor?...smile. I do think that everyone has been a bit hard on Andoria though. Its not easy when you have a problematic dog. I went through it some time ago with my two beautiful ACD's who started biting people and other dogs when they were about 18 months old. It didnt matter what I tried, they just got worse and worse as they got older. I worked with my vet, I tried natural therapy, massage incase there was something hurting them. I tried diet and training at my obedience club and private training. Nothing helped. In the end, after they attacked a child on a bike I had no choice but to hold those babies still while my vet put them to sleep. Perhaps if I had tried a more heavy handed approach like that it just might have saved my dogs lives. I will never know. I do know that there is no way I would let anyone do anything like that to the dogs I have now. I have learned a lot since then and my present dogs are great natured thank God. But you really dont know what you might do if you are desperate to save your babies life. I still cry when I think about my beautiful boys and I will always wonder if I might have been able to find a way to stop them from attacking everyone who was not part of their family. I think Andoria might be guilty of being a bit naive and feels a little foolish now for mentioning this trainers personal info but deep down was just trying to do the right thing for the dog. Lighten up guys.

Im with you Tony, that kind of mentality is not on! Whether you agree on not agree is no longer the point. We should be able to voice our opinions in a sensible fashion on DOL without stepping over the line and invading peoples privacy or getting aggressive. I feel very strongly about all dogs well ,but this is not the way to change anyones views about how to treat them or train them. If you are the one or ones who were so brave last night I challenge you to be brave now and own up. I bet I am not the only one who would like to know who the big brave idiots are, and I for one would like to appologise on behalf of any DOL's who might have behaved so badly to this trainer who happens to have different views to most of us.

Hi ReXy, If am going to have a go at CCD with my border collie x Kelpie (Canda). We have been going to run throughs at KCC on Tuesday nights. Still have a few problems to iron out so I am not sure we should really be going to trials yet but its only CCD and a bit of fun if you dont take it too seriously. See ya there.

Thanks everyone for all your replies. I thought I might give you all an update. I have changed Zacs diet to the hills dry for sensitive skin. Nothing else. He is totally a different dog. Back to his happy silly kelpie ways. Also made a big effort to give him more attention. (not an easy thing to do with 6 dogs, 4 of them puppies who need heeps of time.) I sometimes think I have bitten off more than I can chew with all of them but I am having so much fun with all of them its a real buz! Anyway back to Zac. I dont know if its the food change or the need for more one on one time. He really is a vain character who will do anything for attention...lol and really needs to be kept busy-almost impossible to keep that over active mind busy. Kelpies are so full on but a laugh a minute also. Today was his 2nd birthday and we had a party for him. You should have seen all 6 dogs sitting around with party hats and balloons. He loved the attention and bit every balloon just to hear the bang. The border collie puppies were not too sure about the bang but the little ACD was in there boots and all. What a riot!

I think I will see how he goes and if no better by the time we move to Snake Valley next month, I will try and find a vet in Ballarat that might be more interested in testing him for thyroid. Maybe he is allergic to something here and it might improve simply by moving to the new place. I can hope anyway..lol

Thanks for all your replies, I did ask the vet about thyroid but she says she doubts as he has no change in weight or lack of energy so she kind of dismissed thyroid. Perhaps I should be more insistant about testing anyway. I have made a big effort to spend more time with him. I must admit that since I got the puppies, (all 4 are around 8-10months) there has been less time for him. Before that, he and Candie went everywhere with me. Now I tend to take the puppies out more often because I want them to be well socialised. I think it has made a difference in him after a few days of individual attention. He might be feeling like he has done something wrong by being left at home in the yard more often than would have happened before. Also, because of the warm nights he has been left out whereas before he always stayed inside with us all night. I read that in the wild, the pack leader will force a dog from the pack for days if he has displeased the top dog. Maybe he is wondering what he has done wrong? This doesnt explain the fact that his coat is so dull or the rash but may explain his sooky behaviour. Also the fact that his claw would have been sore. What ever, he does seem happier and when I called them all in tonight he bolted in full of bounce just like he used to.

Too bad we cant see the video, but congrats anyway. We went to Warnambool last year. It was great fun and stayed at the new caravan park on the river. We would be going again this time but thats the weekend when we move to Snake Valley. I am thinking of going to the Hastings one though at KCC. Anyway good luck!

yesterday Zac was doing his sooky, dont touch me act. I managed to hold him sort of still just long enough to find that one of his claws was cracked. He wouldnt let me see how damaged it was so I took him to the vet today. It was not cracked right through and so was not really obvious without a really close look, which I have not been able to do on my own. I feel really bad that I didnt pick it up sooner as it looks as if it has been like it for a while. anyway, the vet had to cut 2/3 of it away. Poor dog, it must have hurt him. He now has it bandaged up to stop it bleeding and he actually seems a lot happier tonight. Could be that this has been the problem all along. He just didnt understand why it was hurting. It doesnt really explain why his coat is so dry looking though. While at the vets, I asked about his coat and pointed out the ginger coloured patches on his rump and tail. she reckons it might be just a bit sunburned. Also asked about reactions to frontline and vacinations. Of course, she does not agree to not vacinating and sugested to try sentinel spectrum instead of frontline. I havent heard of this stuff before but aparently it covers intestinal worms, heartworm, tapeworm and fleas. Has anyone used it and if so, any reactions?

Does anyone have any good ideas on natural flea treatments and I am also reading a lot of stuff about heartworm and vacination reactions. Zac has a yearly heartworm injection that is due at the same time as his vacinations. The problem is that dog clubs dont allow you to join without a current vaccination certificate. I would really like to be able to have my dogs on a completely natural plan but dont know how this can be done.

Do you have any idea how long that might take?

Zac is 2 yo. and yes he has been desexed. We have 5 other dogs, all female. He has Chelsea ( 10 month old desexed kelpie) in the yard with him at all times, but they all get out of their yards and play together through the day and they all come in at night. Zac, however, has decided that he doesnt want to come in at night lately. I have to go and bring him in. I dont know why he is reluctant to come in because normally he would bolt in as soon as invited. I still think it might be to do with the frontline, and I usually do them all when they are inside. I have bathed him in Aloveen oatmeal shampoo but that hasnt helped much.