Vehs

I was just going to say I highly recommend CDC and once we finished obedience and agility training we still paid the annual fees to just use the grounds for socializing. Have moved too far south now, but as the tuggernong dog park has opened it worked out well good luck with their recall

its tough, but he needs to get it in his ear so you have to persist D (45kg) doesn't like his ears being cleaned, but gets it done every so often, and I used to clean my cats ears monthly - very slippery animals prob best way to do it is to hook him under your left arm (if right handed), both of you facing forward, and hold his side tight against your side, grab his muzzle with your left hand, coming up from his chest, and flip and hold open his ear with the side of your right and and then put the drops him i hope there is a video on youtube to explain it. Maybe try it after he's had a walk and is a little tired. if your trying to come at him from the front, at least try something less confrontational

hrm, it might grow back thicker and curlier, I would suggest getting on top of growth with a coatking (or other type) maybe put cocker in the title to get some of the cocker breeders in for advice

your wrong it's hard enough on your back without leaning over/sitting on the floor

yes, agree with most of the above and want to stress to be consistent (EVERYONE in the household) and know your rules/boundaries before the dog arrives i.e. furniture they are allowed on, rooms they can go into

have you seen K9- the shep ALWAYS gets with the st poodle..... I was going to get a st poodle for the D sorry about your wee dogs PF

sometimes a stern look does wonders! "If I look at this toy long enough he will go and pick it up..."

D responds to hands, head, leg and feet signals not sure what else there is! He's a clever cookie... sometimes

^ when I was in malaysia that's what our shepherd was for (and trained to attack certain types of people)

you get two types of ppl with GSDs, those whose rellies/grandparents/parents owned them when they were kids and they absolutely love them, and can't get enough cuddles or those that were bitten by one (or heard stories about being bitten by one) I don't go too far off the footpath when I move - unless there are kiddies because THEY are so unpredictable!

I wonder why he wanted to eat cat poo.. was he missing something in his diet? Didn't he realise the cat was also fed inappropriately and his droppings wouldn't offer anything....

looks great - when are you going to put the photo up for comparison I'd like to see the real Shep's chest - looks very colourful!

Ruth only bathes (or did so when I used her years ago), so if you were looking for clipping she wouldn't be able to assist there. She still washes my 'uncles' Shepherd and they love her - she was also very understanding with the D. Will ask round here for some independent mobile groomers (who also don't have to be qualified)

before I started grooming I used Ruth at Aussie Pooch Mobile, I think she is still doing it You'd have to call the office for her number though unless someone else here uses her

for formal stuff I think Dieter mostly responses to hand signals anyway but I do have lax commands for around the house or on casual walks

aww she's all tuckered out! what a great family of dogs you have

ooh looks great - your lucky he has such clear markings

Yes I give them, and I was taught to give lots of little bits one at a time he gets them when he makes a break through or does something perfectly - and depending how things are going/how long we've been practising I will either do a few more 'perfect' tricks or end after that jackpot

yup

when one dog was handed to me on a lead and the other remained in the owners arms, I put my arms out to get the dog and as I was carrying it away it shrieked and p!ssed everywhere.. I said, 'I'll just do the one on the lead today" owner treated the dog like a baby and I just thought if I cannot even get the dog into the grooming room it's just not going to happen I'm quite happy to muzzle, if I see a dog starting to tense up on another table I'll tell the other groomers to wack a muzzle on it and then everyone gets calm again and you can get on with the job. And if I can't groom the face properly around the muzzle and using special holds I'd just apologise to the owner and tell them to start handling the dogs face more so it gets used to it, otherwise it will continue to look like this!

Thanks for the ideas guys, will pass them on atm she is fed once in the evenings, they could probably manage two feedings, not sure if they already do

I am looking after a staffy atm who is on medication for a thyroid problem and is skinny, I'm a little embarrassed when taking her on short walks because her waist is soo skinny her ribs look ridiculous. When I met the owners I said I'd heard of satin balls for putting weight on a dog... and I've just had a google and am not impressed with the ingredients. What else can I suggest to the owners for putting weight on their dog? She is around 8 and is current fed a dry food (owners were considering putting her on a puppy formula) dog roll and a meaty bone.

If my dog isn't 'getting' a trick and I'm getting frustrated I end with the last trick he learnt that he's solid on and we celebrate that trick and then training is over but I want him to comply with what I am asking, not just end because he's bored/distracted - sort of like he has to earn the right to stop training and then I sit back and think how else I could approach the trick if he is getting a trick I'll end training after he does that trick really well

When we did agility our instructors showed us a method of 'pushing the path' - I'm sure it's on google somewhere, means I barely have to move hmm this thread has inspired me....

Awesome!