Monah

thanks Lyndsay, I almost PMd you, I knew you'd have the goods!! xxxx

this is a great course too, but when I looked into it (a while ago now) it was not available in QLD I have a friend who does it in melbourne for dogs and loves it. The CV for the bowen may just be to see what you have done before. It's not a prerequisite though, so dont worry. My GFs daughter started the course whilst in yr 12., so you do not need previous skills. there is a lot of work with horses for this, and also rehab for dogs with HD etc. Ooh! another one is the TTouch, I'm sure they do this in QLD. maybe google, I dont have specific info, but a woman has come to our club before to demonstrate and I think she was from Brisbane.

does anyone have the dates and info on days each group/breed is shown? I have accessed Dogs SA but can't seem to find the Royal. Sorry Thankyou. I am coming to adelaide and want to make sure it coincides with the royal and breeds I'd like to see. Thanks again xxx

There are several uni courses through UQ that have excellent animal courses. There is a great course in bowen therapy (CCmrt) that includes many scientific units and you usually work from a vets referral, it is for dogs, cats, horses. It is accredited. Equus College of learning research. Email, [email protected] I think?? it goes for 2 years, but may be wrong. (QLD course) I think there is a guide dog place in Bris and they emply animal carers. Check out customs, quarrantine, defence forces and police (may not be wanting such a commitment though) There are jobs checking out that no insects etc. are in packing boxes that go to mines, oil and gas etc. (sensitive areas) that lead to jobs in quarrantine with animals. Also, if you can do volunteer work OS, or even in Aust (more difficult to get though) it can set you up for employment with animals here later.

re smelly goldies :D as I said mine did not smell at all, but I know if they get damp and are not dried properly, they can get smelly. and of course EARS when damp can become nasty and smell awful. I babysat a cav for years, and his owners thought he smelt bad because he was a dog, but he had awful ears and I always took him to the vets when I had him. they could not work out why he smelt even with weekly baths. (owners) also had an aquaintance through obed whose goldie was out all day in a QLD downpour. It rained for a couple of days and he did not 'dry out' and ended up with shocking skin and an awful smell. Poor boy had to be completely shaved and on antibiotics etc for ages I know Dolers realise this, but it's also important to let new owners know too.

megan_xxxx

Your club sounds like mine! I'm 50 and have had tens of dogs, but the instructors at my club are all retired late 60s and 70s! and their ideas went out with the Ark They even use full sized agility equipment, straight off even for first timers, AND with puppies I got into trouble because I would not allow mine to do anything until 18 months naughty rebellious me! can someone give me the name, author and publisher of that book so I can order it please? xxxx(Control unleashed) We do play a LOOK! game, but I need all the help I can get! Greytmate, great posts about Woody to be honest, I've often thought about a muzzle as monah only reacts to very close things, VERY close, so maybe she'd realise they are not a threat if she could get close enough without the worry of snapping. Like others, I am too worried to allow her to get close, so how can she ever get used to it?

sorry, I forgot much of what was posted when I posted! Maybe you could very gently advise her that a young dog walked once a day with minimal human contact in the evenings may not end up being easy to train, laid back or sane, no matter what breed it is, esp if it is in a run all day too. I know this may be normal for many dogs and that's fine, but if she is expecting to keep a pet this way and also have a great pet, it may become disappointing. Young goldies are very active (and so are old ones given the chance ) They can also knock children and adults over if excited through lack of company.(and do major excavation work in the garden )xxxx

I was also thinking a more mature dog I've had 2 goldies, both male. I guess mine were sooks! as they would not have coped with too much rough and tumble (although very laid back, they would have taken too much of it and not complained), also very strong on lead so need good training, easy to train if consistant as most dogs are. Obviously if they dont have a lot of interaction with the family (just wondering about the time inside duriing the evening) any dog could become overexcited, esp with young kids running around, and the cycle of 'too excited to be allowed in, cant come in, so...gets too excited when he comes in......so, cant come in.." is very probable. THey do mouth and depending on the dog, can be complete twits for the first 2 or 3 years. Mine were angels I didn't find them smelly but i am used to having several animals indoors so maybe I'm immune!! Goldies are lovely.

JJ that's really terrific, I saw the behaviourist too, she is really incredible! and helped me no end, still does. I'm very proud of you and Jet!! Unfortunately the club here is not very supportive. I've had to put her in the car between 'runs' at dog sports, have her way away at obed. etc. even though nothing's ever happened and she's been there since a pup. In darwin there was a fantastic training club who all worked and helped and were very progressive in their outlook (the one here is very outdated I'm afraid, still prefer chokers!) The darwin one did 'meet and greets' with your dog etc and other exercises. controlled. I know she would have improved 100% at a school like that. HEre it's a no no They also made me feel OK about it, ie. many out there, dont worry etc. , here we are almost left on the periphery of it all, which does no good at all as she needs the interaction. Oh well, hopefully moving this year, have to find a good club!

I'm really lucky, my girl is extremely responsive to me and has hardly any interest at all in other dogs etc. However, if they show interest in her and get in her face, she gets all nervy and will snap, so I get anxious if we have to pass anyone on a tight path, see anyone off lead etc. ;) or if anyone tries to approach to let their dog meet my dog :D She is very friendly with several dogs, but I dont trust her as in the past she has suddenly snapped (I guess she had her reasons). We keep things short and sweet. She has never lunged etc. and when bike riding or indeed any activity, she is only focussed on the job at hand, no matter what the distraction. It's a shame she has this problem and it's worse at training as she is on 'high alert' because of hyper dogs and the excitement of training. ;) so it puts me off. When she is excited she is much more reactive, so a dog can pass her and she'll get narky. If I keep her calm, she's great. she knows 'look' and will always look to me. Years ago we would have called her 'highly strung'. She's also great with cats etc. all other animals, horses. frightened of kids under about 12, hackles go up. She's been well socialised, done flyball, agility, obed. etc. I'm pretty sure this is as good as it will get. she was like this from the beginning, nothing bad has ever happened to her. She is also loving, wonderful, sweet, loves to please, wants to always do the right thing, very intelligent and I am absolutely crazy in love with her. Luckily my other dog is so laid back and an angel in temperament, so they get on. Two the same would have been a nightmare xxxx I've had what I'd call excitable reactive dogs before and found them quite easy, I'm not great with the aggressive reaction though, I feel like a really bad 'parent' with a horrible dog and on the couple of occassions when she's connected and drawn blood from another dog, I've felt like throwing up and so ashamed. Luckily it has never been more than a super quick warning snap that has connected, but it's an awful AWFUL feeling all the same. corvus, my girl is emotionally unstable, so we keep her to a routine, she is most stable with a routine, likes to know what is coming next etc.

R.I.P. poor possum ;) xxx Janba, hope you are feeling much better, sounds awful.! we had a weird possum happening a few weeks ago. a young female actually fell!!!! out of a tree I could not believe it at all. I'm wondering if something was wrong with her, but she'd always been OK before that. So, she fell out, right at the paws of my spinone, the viz took no notice at all, but the spin was very excited. I ripped (ugly sight!) my t shirt off to pick possum up, she bit me of course, and checked her out but the spin had not even mouthed her, no saliva etc.. the poor thing was paralysed!! no movement at all in legs or tail. I put her on my lap andd was about to take her to the vet in a cat crate, when she died :D I don't have a clue how or what could have caused it. nothing touched her etc. as I saw the whole scenario. poor little girl. ;)

We need to start a Reactive Dog (Owner) Support Group!

My girl is very unpredictable, but after several years I am able to predict most things. I handle it by avoiding triggers as much as possible. She will try to avoid triggers herself, but due to others, sometimes it is difficult. Having a reactive dog has made me quite anxious. I'm usually on high alert!!!

Hi Corvus, I have a reactive dog, only one I've ever had and it's quite an experience and steep learning curve I know what sets off her reactivity (many things) In my experience you predict correctly, same behaviour, more intense closer to the trigger.xxx

Yes, nasty! and expensive. I don't mind anyone having dogs outside either and we often have friends to stay whose dogs do sleep outside and they are very well cared for dogs It is faster and easier to toilet train indoors though, but if that is not a priority and time doesn't matter, well, outside is fine, as long as the pup is warm and safe, 10 wk old labs will devour anything ;) it may seem unnatural to have dogs in the bed ;) but they were the main bedwarmers for humans for thousands of years, even for royalty, it was one of their job descriptions, they even shared all human meals :D I'd never heard of a dog sleeping outside until I moved to the country (farms) years ago. I can tell your lovely pup is well loved. Would love to see puppy pics sometime. Don't worry about us lot! we aren't as horrible as we may appear to be ;) xxxxxxx

maybe you could try a crate as has been mentioned. My girls both sleep in their crates and they LOVE them. (in the lounge) They have sheepskin beds in there and are covered at night, so very snug. They sleep with the doors of the crates closed and have a treat at bedtime when they go to bed, so they are always desperate to get in there This would keep the pup both warm and safe and being used to a crate is very handy for any plane travel and vet visits etc. or any times that the dog needs it's own safe place(operations or ill etc.) it's also good so the pup is not in the habit of 'going' all night. I've had older dogs (rehomed to me) who have been used to going any old time and had to go through the whole night thing with them as they are not in the habit of a toileting routine. Our spinone did not get up during the night from age 10 weeks, (super bladder!!) and the viz was 13 weeks. at first both were in my room and I would take them out and show them where to go. They soon learn that weeeeees means go now and go there! There were no problems with transferring them to the lounge later on.(they are a year apart in age, so one at a time) I don't have them in bed as we already have 4 cats in the bed, and after years of hardly any sleep with irish wolfhounds and many other breeds in the bed, I decided to try crates and it was a terrific decision!! especially as the spin can snore like a truck! Good luck, it sounds like you are getting things under control.

Lovely!! another canon devotee here, I know what you mean, I have a great camera, 40D, but no idea!! need a lot of practice, I get very cross with myself as in my 20s I won a lot of photo comps with my really old minolta slr. LONG before digital and photo shop etc. The technology really scares me to death!! Hopefully an 'old dog' can learn new tricks you are doing incredibly well!!!!

Yep, but(norman ie, viking) northern french (where a lot of english originated after 1066) has gaole (cage), changed to middle english as gayole . jaiole,and jeole are from french which was only the parisian area which was france. I guess some prefer jail and otrhers gaol, but gaol is not a slur on the english language, Melvynn Bragg wrote a fascinating and excellent book on the origins of english, I prefer to use a known reference rather than an internet article. as far as the debarking goes, ridiculous sentence. It's so stupid I can't even be bothered to comment on it properly.

I agree with all the other posters. It will be pretty impossible to train the pup if no one is there to train him. Please either write down or at least think of all the things a pup can get up to at 10 weeks, when outside alone digging out, tipping water over so no drink, freezing, getting collar caught, snakes, insect bites, someone leaving gate open, crying or barking that annoys neighbours etc., poisoning, so many many things depending on your garden and area. Stairs can also be very dangerous. It;s also very handy to see what they are passing as then you know straight away if they have an upset stomach, or are not going, or having any health problems. He would have had the warmth and comfort from his mother and littermates, so just because he has been outside, does not mean that he cannot sleep inside. Hot water bottles do become cold water bottles very quickly too. Many people have their pups indoors to sleep and they are fine when older outside. I too am a little confused as to why it's fine to have him indoors but he has to sleep outside? What is the difference? I'm actually really interested to know, not being nasty although on the net it can come across that way, sorry.xxxx

I know!! so straight. Don't forget I'll have Talin whenever you decide to rehome him xxx

Um no!! It's GAOL!!! this is ENGLISH! from the norman french word gaole,(invaders of england) that became the ENGLISH gayole, that the AMERICANS butchered (as they have most english words) to JAIL, which is a SLUR on the english language.

Looks very familiar! We have so many toys scattered around here that new visitors think I have grandchildren

Finally!! I HAS FIIIIIISH!!!! MISSED!!!!

What?? an empty mouth? Roisin has a 'wake' like the Titanic!