Joan of Arc

We kept two show girls from our last litter because between ourselves, the sire's breeder and another showie we couldnt make a decision at that stage. The idea was to keep them until they were a little older adn then choose. But you become attached etc... Both do well in the ring when shown, both do well at obedience and one is shot over. They are well behaved and obedient and were never any trouble - I was concerned about the dominance situation when we first decided to keep them both but that didn't become an issue. Of course we were lucky that thier mother and our boy were both such beautifully behaved and possessed of such wonderful temperaments that they were very quielty raised. Having said all that the biggest issue we have with it is that we have to have them in two different obedience classes because one of the girls gets a little separation anxiety from her sister. We also show in different classes - aside from the obvious reason of knocking each other out of the class - the same girl would rather look back and try to play with her sister. So when we are at training or a show they are not crated next to each other and dont socialise outside the ring. As great as they are they are fast and furious puppies (only two last Sat) when they play or try to get through the same spot at the same time etc.. so I doubt I would do it again.

Roo tails are excellent and depending on the jaw power of your dog it can take 15 minutes or hours to devour. We have Labs and they get roo tail as part of thier evening meal at least twice a week. Our boy chomps them up in about 10 minutes but he has extremely powerful jaws and chomps up huge bones to nothing. The girls take a little longer and one of our girls likes to savour her bones so she takes it to bed and lingers over it.

Couldnt agree more - it also depends on the individual dog and who is handling them. We ahve a big strong yellow boy (Lab) who I started obedience training with when he was 9 months. He was capable of pulling me off my feet and so instructors almost insisted on halti collar, which he hated but he did learn not to pull and worked beautifully. Eventually I was able to move to a martingale collar because the club we attended wouldnt allow check chains on the grounds. We have moved towns and now attend a totally different club, the boy hasnt been to training for about 2 years and would be very excited if we took him. What I did when we returned him to training recently was arrived at teh ground with the halti on, and a check chain also. His lead was attached to halti and he started working on that, when he had settled and was working well, I switched to the check chain. Now he works on a flat collar. Our girls have all started on check chains at obedience and are also shown on check chains, but they are now working off lead at training. When walking with OH at night he uses martingale collars. Again different handlers, I use check chains because a strong dog is stronger than me, but OH uses softer martingale collars. That's as clear as mud I'm sure.

Oh yeah well it was a group shoot but when he first suggested it he said "right next week we'll meet at the Pioneer Cemetary at 6:00pm" I went :D "what in the dark :p But we were there about an hour, it was light until after we returned to TAFE. I didnt take my thumb drive with me last night but will certainly post some next week. Thanks for the support I forget to comment on the price of Photoshop CS4 Think I'll have to take out a second mortgage on the house to buy that and LIghtroom

I just had to shar my small successes. I enrolled in TAFE two nights a week for this semester, one night is for Photoshop and the other is for Digital Photography and LIghtroom. Having an absolute ball and learning heaps about both. Never considered myself to good with a camera unless it was a point and go variety but took some good 'depth of field' shots tonight (at the local cemetary) and then back to TAFE to touch them up in Lightroom.

Like Lab Lady our Labs didnt do well on the total BARF thing. However we have always fed a relatively raw diet anyway. We have one boy who is atopic so he gets very little biscuit but like the others he gets meaty bones, mince, chicken frames, flaps, diced beef, kangaroo, venison, sardines, eggs, cod liver oil, all the good things. They get a combination of any of these or some of these on any given day but a typical meal would be a small amount of biscuit, a piece or two of diced kangaroo or beef or a chunk of mince and topped off with a meaty bone. Labradors are good 'doers' so you have to be careful how much you feed them. But the Pharaohs dont take too well to the kangaroo until they are bit older. We are fortunate that we have a Pet Deli here and he's pretty reasonabley priced, plus we buy in bulk so I think he looks after us.

winterpaws I have just enrolled in TAFE two nights a week. On Monday nights I do Adobe Photoshop using the new edition and on Wednesday nights I do Digital photography and lightroom. So I will follow this thread and we can learn / share etc. Now I'll I have to do is take out a second mortgage so I can afford to buy Photoshop

Over many years I have tried Supercoat on many different dogs and a couple of different breeds and for the most part the all had the runs at some stage. there are some great dry foods on the market but myself I prefer a more natural diet such as good meaty bones and raw veges and or fruit. The only extras mine get are an egg once a week and sardines once or twice a week - but would wait until stomach has settled completely before introducing sardines.

Give her a designated area (a purpose built sandpit) and encourage her to dig there. Bury her toys, and then make a game with her of finding them again. I've had a sandpit for my dogs for the last 10 years and since then I've never had problems with any of my dogs digging up the yard . At the moment I have a 7yr old GSD, a 3yr old Goldie and a 3mth old GSD pup and all three of them use the sandpit. An excellent idea, and might I also suggest a very light sprinkling of curry powder, pepper or chilli powder in the holes you dont wont revisisted. But make sure you dont use too much.

Yes that was one of the postives about moving from our old home to Albury, we are closer to the border and there are more trials in Vic than in NSW. We are members of field and game so we also love to shoot over our dogs. Personally, although we show our dogs it is not a priority for us, we are more interested in whether or not our dogs are well tempered and able to work as they are meant to.

//// oceanaussi Nice to see you are still around. I havent seen a post from you for ages and that was when you were starting to show your dog. How has the show ring been going? There are lots of Lab people in your area that do obedience and trialling so look some of them up on DOL and contact a couple of them.

Are they a dry treat? I liked this liver cake becasue it was dry to keep in your pocket and didn't leave greasy stains etc on the clothes.

We are in Albury and would love to buy a tunnel for our Labs. If anyone is near us - we will travel to collect could they please PM me.

ok so tonight I made liver cakes. I started to use the recipe that was posted here but decided that I wanted to avoid mammoth amounts of garlic. Escpecially if we have to travel with them to and from a show on the weekend I used half a lambs fry, two eggs, 1/2 cup milk and about 1/2 cup s/r flour. I chopped the liver up and put it in the blender wit hthe two eggs. Wizzed them up but they didnt go very fluffy, then put them into a mixing bowl where I added the milk, a beat with a mixer. Then I added the flour and beat it in. I cooked half the mixture in muffin tin on 180 for 15 mins. They rose beautifully but once they came out and started to cool the dropped a bit. i cooked the balance of mixture in round tin smae temp for 15 min. Again it dropped as it cooled. It tastes ok - well that's what the dogs indicated, but it is a little heavier than what I was trying to achieve. The one Natasha had was lighter - heavier than carrot cake but lighter than butter cake - does that make sense? But it was certainly easy to cut into small pieces, I left the muffins whole - they would fit into a coat pocket at a show. If someone else tries a recipe for same could they share thier results please.

Sway, on your web page you have CLANKELTON listed as breed none or unknown. I can tell you that they have border collies.

I really cant add a great deal to what has already been stated however it certainly depends on which dog I am training. We have two litter sisters - one is highly food driven and goes balistic if she sees food at obedience or in the ring. So she works for the love of a pat and praise - but that gets her almost as excited. Her sister on the other hand is a little more strong willed and I use food as a reward when she complies. When I was trianing our older boy the training I went too was all Delta and that's food, food, food. But he was very quick to learn and eventually you withdraw the food and he works for a verbal praise. He is very obedient, rarely trains these days but if you gave him the 'drop' signal from a distance, he would comply and be happy with a 'bingo' verbal praise. I guess I am trying to say I use it as a starter and slowly withdraw it, if they fall behind or get slack, you can re-introduce it a little to prompt them. Does that make sense/

What a fantastic site Sway - I see you have added us without our requesting it. thank you very much.

I second that recommendation. Over the years I have bought heaps of stuff from them and they are fantastic.

Hi huski We have Labraodrs so it goes without saying that they are also highly food driven . However what I really liked about this liver cake was that it was dry in your pocket. It wasnt greasy/oily nor did it crumble - one could say just perfect. Once I have had a couple of goes at the recipe posted by 4 paws I will post my results and let you know how successful it was.

Post a comment on your results and we'll compare. When I made it I put milk in it but I notice there is no milk in this recipe.

Found this receipe LIVER CAKE RECIPE. Those of you who show dogs may well have used Liver cake to bait your dogs in the ring but for those of you who may not have heard of it below we have printed the recipe for this cake as it seems to have the effect of holding your dogs attention whilst in the ring and has the added advantage of not making one's hands sticky. 8ozs Liver [preferably Lambs] 4ozs S/R Flour 2 Eggs 2 Cloves Garlic/ or 2 tsps garlic puree. Put all the ingredients into a blender until the mixture is smooth, pink and runny [not too rigid a requirement if you prefer to make it a bit chunky' Pour into greased swiss roll type baking tin and place in the oven [Gas Mark 4] for around 30-40 minutes. Leave to cool and cut into bite size pieces. It can be frozen into individual bags [enough for a show] and makes enough for 4/5 shows. Thank you very much - will be baking cakes tomorrow night

A very clever and talented young junior handler showed one of our girls for us one day and she used what she called liver cake, which the dogs loved. I asked her about the ingredients and she wasnt totally sure but gave me some idea. So me being me I came home and had an attempt at making it. It wasnt quite the same but hte dogs loved it and so that's what we use at both obedience and showing events. Its dry and not greasy or oily, can be cut like cheese into small cubes and has no fat etc in it. I simply used liver, egg, parmesean cheese, milk and self raising flour. It was ok. But if anyone has a better recipe for it I would love it if they shared

Best bet is to go to some retrieving trials, see the dogs, talk to the owners/trainers and get a clear mental picture of what it is you are trying to achieve with your dog. Unlike field trials, there are heaps of retrieving trials, so finding one to attend is easy. Just contact the VCA, or any of the retriever breed clubs, for a schedule. There are group of retrieving training folk around albury that I train with from time to time, mostly when it's too hot (too many snakes) for me to do field work with my dogs. One guy competes successfully at the highest level (All Age), the others are very knowledgeable trainers who complete at lower levels basically because of the breeds they choose to compete with. I'm PM you their details. Thanks for that WS, look forward to receiving details.

Are these the "Obedience Without Conflict" series Obedience without conflict - Clear Communication Obedience without conflict - The Game ?? Could you tell me if there is an Australian supplier for these please?

Have just watched first video - what great recalls. Can you tell me if it is really acceptable for the dog to be so far across the handlers left leg when he is heeling. If that was me I think I would trip over the dog