Janba

I hope all is well with Hero. I know what you are going through with the 2 weeks waiting. My dally had a mast cell tumour removed from her ear in April 2003 when she was only 12 months old. She had been clear until now but another small lump has appeared on her ear and is the same as the tumour was. She saw the vet yesterday(fasted and ready for surgery), but he wants to wait a couple of weeks to monitor it and also because she is recovering from kennel cough. The lump at this stage is too small to aspirate successfully.

I asked my vet about a graze on my dogs nose and he said to use QV? ointment (for nappy rash) and that he also recommends it for dry cracked noses.

I had a dally bitch that broker her tail at the fourth vertebrae. There was a lot of pain and reluctance to move it at the time, but it healed OK and she had full function. She did have a thickening of the tail at that point for the rest of her life. ETA Could it be frozen? Sometimes happens after cold water like a bath or swimming or a trauma. The tail paralyses temporarily but does recover fully.

Are you talking about casting your dog around the sheep? At what stage is she in her training? Has she got a good stop and sides (going clockwise and anticlockwise on command) and to balances to you? And as Tonymc said what age and breed ? ETA Looked at your previous posts and she is a almost 2 yr old border collie. The stage you are up to in your training makes at lot of difference to what you r are teaching ie do you want to increase the distance of a cast or do you need to teach from the beginning?

THey have one whistle and it seems to be a silent one. Dad doesn't want a silent one. Blackdog does do a variable pitch whistle suitable for sheep work Link You can also get the lip whistles which are the traditional ones. Link

Edited because of your post about desexed

Hawkebury trains on a Wed night near Windsor (on Northern Rd). There are no amstaffs I have seen there but there are several staffies. Agility Dog Club trains Thurs at Castle Hill. Is it all the instructors at Springwood or only one? If it is only one I would have a word to the chief istructor (unless she's the one) as an instructor should NEVER voice their breed dislikes.

A few uses for harnesses that spring to mind are sledding, weight pulling and tracking (where a dog can really lean onto the harness and pull if keen). I agree with Tonymc, nothing beats training and leadership to stop a dog pulling.

The ANKC has banned the use of prong colars so affiliated clubs shouldn't allow them to be used. Unaffiliated clubs don't have to abide by their rulings. You also can't use a prong collar in obedience trials.

A group of us are thinking of doing the same thing, just out of Sydney. You need more than just land and sheep. If you are only just starting (I saw you had posted you would like to try herding it a month ago) you will need a round yard or a small square yard until your dogs has a stop and sides and good control. You also need dogbroken sheep to learn on. I can PM you the name of someone who herds with GSD down your way and may be able to help with your training.

I have thought about what I want to achieve, but whether it happens or not is another matter. Mishka and Moss definitely their tracking titles as they are both ready to trial, I just didn't get time last season. Mishka maybe the last leg of her CD, but I've been saying that for 2 1/2 years and not trialling her Moss to start trialling agility and maybe a CCD. The pup to trial in 3 sheep and ANKC herding (will do his PT at the first trials next year).

I usually wait till they cry to go out. At 11 weeks he can hold on for longer than an 8 week old puppy so may go through the night without needing to go if you toilet him just before you go to bed. I have found with mine the cry for needing to go to the toilet was different to the cry for attention. With my older BC boy it was a musical sing song whine that wasn't that loud. The cry for attention was a scream. The younger pup I got at 11 weeks also and he slept through the night from the start. If your crate is large compared to you pups size you might want to partition it off to make it smaller. If the crate is too large they can get far enough away from where they are sleeping to still pee in it. ETA He's lovely

Poor Harrison, they obviously just don't agree with him. Have you tried him on tinned tuna instead? I sometimes feed it and it doesn't seem as strong.

I don't find it has any effect on their droppings but I only feed 2 cans between 3 dogs. ETA The dogs are medium size 1 is 18kg and the other two about 25kg

He needs to go to the vet before his breathing gets affected. When it does it could mean the throat is swelling shut.

Given that one of other 'prone' breeds is Bulldogs, nope, not much similarity there. I don't think people really know yet. Not all Dallies are prone to it either. Genetically no dalmatian can metabolise purines. Most dogs produce allantoin in their urine from the breakdown of proteins that they eat, dallies produce uric acid in their urine. This is unique to dallies. There is a project in America where one pointer was mated to a dally to introduve the genes back into the gene pool and then the low uric acid offsring bred back to dallies. It is now about 5 generations from the outcross and moves have beeen made try to get them recognised by the AKC similar to the introduction of the bob tail gene in boxers. At this stage they haven't been recognised http://www.dalmatianheritage.com/about/schaible_research.htm

Years ago when I did some puppy classes I had a very aggressive pup in a class. He was aggressive to people as well as other dogs and while he was not 'kicked out' as such, the owners were given the details of a good veterinary behaviouralist and suggested they consult her before bringing the pup back. They did consult her but unfortunatley the pups aggression was so bad he was euthenised.

I do the same as Miranda - less than half my dogs diet is from dry food and the rest fresh meat, bones, eggs, sardines, veggies etc and my left overs. The only real differece is because I have a dalmatian I feed a low purine diet with no offal or red meat for her and I am also careful which vegetables she gets. The BCs get red meat more often but it is usually chicken.

I did this with my old BC when a fireworks display started right overhead, complete with the 1417th overture playing over the loudspeakers, at a trial I was at and ended up with a dog that used to go out in the storm and leap in the air trying to catch the thunder or fire works My two older dogs couldn't care less about thunder or fireworks but the 10 month old pup is frightened. One of his favouriite games is to try to kill any broom mop etc if you are using it and he is certainly in very high drive when he does this and consequently is crated or locked outside while I sweep etc. When I was home when the storm starts I got out the broom and sweep and let him attack it and it is the only time he is allowed to do this. Now he is starting to anticipate a game when the thunder comes and if I am not in a posn to start a game his anxiety levels are far less than a few months ago.

I agree Tonymc. A very respected international trainer once said to me at a clinic, when I made a comment about something my dog was doing was the result of her past, that it isn't how your dog was treated before you got it that matters but how you are treating it now and addressing problems that arise. Dogs don't live in the past they live in the present. Yes they may come with bad habits and fears, but we rarely know what caused them so can only train and use behaviour modification for the behaviour we see. Most dogs don't thank you for being a weak leader and weak leadership can actually elevate a dogs stress levels and fears if the dog is not a natural leader.

I have one the vet sold me called cetrigen. Works well but it is bright pink and takes months to wear off.

That terrific ;) Its the best feeling isn't, I remember when it happened to Cole, though he was about 7 months - just like the light had been turned on.

I don't try to make my dogs heel when I am walking them but work on the principal that they are allowed to go to the end of the lead and I don't care what they do within reason BUT they are not allowed to pull. I adjust the length of the lead for the situation, so if it is 6ft they can go 6 ft from me, if it is 1 ft thats all they can go. I also don't let them mark every tree or stop to sniff fore too long, but a walk is for their enjoyment not a formal obedience lesson. They do compete if I have all 3 together, but I usually only have them together going to the car. Seems to work most of the time with the older 2, but the pup has relapses. My older BC is capable of arriving at training and bouncing in the air and walking on his hind legs in excitement without putting pressure on the lead. ;)

I have also read this in one of my books, but also can't remember which - it may have been Patricia McConnell or Suzanne Clothier. Goes of to look up books

Horus I am very sorry to hear this. Healing thoughts and hugs to you and Ellie RIP Cleo May there be many thongs and boots at the bridge.