trishalouise

I went to a talk by Ian Bilinghurst last year and he said that he wasn't convinced that fish bones were safe so didn't feed them to his dogs. Something about being so fine and needle-like? Hence, I feed tinned sardines but haven't gone to other fish yet. Trish

Correcting a dog so forcefully in an exercise that it is not yet fully proofed on to the point where it so obviously shuts down is unacceptable - no excuses. The owner SHOULD have stepped in - their behaviour was also unacceptable. I would be leaving the club - but not before I had made it known formally why. Trish

Hi Ness! Macro Meats. They do tails and spines - I got spines last time. They are huge but break in half fairly easily and I would imagine you could separate them more with a sharp knife. They have a lot of meat on them, although quite expensive....................$1.50 / kg You do need to order them - I called in the morning and they had them ready for me by 1pm. Trish

I got Control Unleashed - the book, and Foundation Training for Agility (set of 3 DVD's). I tried out agility at an Adelaide club last Friday night and decided to do some foundation stuff myself before trying somewhere else - read "I was horrified!!!! and would never go back there again!!!!!". Trish

I ordered a book and a DVD from Agility Click on Sunday night and they arrived (in Adelaide) on Tuesday morning And the $10 postage was sooo much better than the $50 that I was going to have to pay Clean Run!! Will definately order through them again. Trish

You so did the right thing. I have a cousin who bought a Mal about 12 months ago. He had "apparently" researched the breed and bought from a reg breeder. I don't know what questions the breeder asked but obviously not the right ones!! This dog is now 14 months old and out of control - unsocialised, untrained, a bully and dog aggressive. This was always going to happen but unfortunately he couldn't be talked out of it. Good work. Trish

Sorry to hear about your loss I think that once made up into a liquid it has a fairly short shelf life (30 days from memory) and it needs to be refridgerated. Very thoughtful of you to try to help others out Trish

Oh that is VERY cute!!!!!!!!

I paid a whopping $25 for a kids set of the tunnel, tee pee and the tent. I got them from the Reject shop in Fountain gate, but I would imagine all the stores would have them. Also came in PINK camo. All but the tunnel have survived but they had a ball. Thanks - will investigate!!!!

Andisa - where did you get that tunnel from?? It is exactly what I am after for puppy school! Trish

No worries!! Paediatric intensive care nurse here!! Children are so different to adults - give me an adult and I would run a mile!!! Interested to find out what heart condition the OP's dog has.

It is used in humans (quite commonly children) with pulmonary hypertension. Trish

Sidenafil is a vasodilator - essentially dilates blood vessels. Depending on what the heart condition is it can be used as a pulmonary vasodilator - dilates the blood vessels in the lungs. Hope that helps a little. Oh - it is otherwise known as Viagra!! Trish

That makes me cry to watch such a beautiful relationship. That dog did not take her eyes off her owner. Obvious why the performance was called dressage!! To me that is much more beautiful than watching a police dog work. There has quite obviously been no force or punishment used in training that - purely trust and reward. My 3 year old was watching with me and I asked her if she thought Noodle (our Mini Poodle) could do that. She said "Nah - but that dog can't do "paw" like Noodle"!!! Trish

We had a similar incident with our Mini Poodle this week. We were at the beach and she was chasing a seagull - went straight into the water but after a metre or so the sand dropped away to about 1.5 metres deep. Noodle went under, part of her came up - but not her head as she struggled to work out which way to go. She did eventually work out how to get out but it was pretty scary for a few seconds. So, I don't really know the answer as perhaps she would be able to swim if she didn't fall in and panic!! Pretty scary though. Trish

She is 13 months - so it could be the age! Perhaps they are both tricking us and will revert to their yo-yo ways - so let's make the most of it!!! Jesskah - how old is your pup? Makes me think about the thread recently asking when do you consider a dog is no longer a pup. I put 18 months. When we started training with Noodle she did brilliantly - passed her basic course with a perfect score. Then, all of a sudden she got the wobbles (fear period I think) and couldn't do anything but bark!! I pulled her out because it was doing her more harm than good being there and have just continued doing my training with her. My excuse for her was (still is) that she is just a baby and will be ready for more formal training when she is ready - perhaps that time is here. It is a good thing because I can't keep calling her a pup forever!! The plan is to start agility with her this year so that will be interesting!!

All of a sudden my Mini Poodle has started to walk beautifully next to me. She has never been a real puller as I have been conscious of not letting her but she was a bit of a yo-yo - pull, come back, pull, come back! Last night we went out and I almost forgot she was next to me - in fact the Greyhound pulled more than her!! ;) Tonight - same thing!! She has also been a bit of a nervous barker and would bark when she saw people, other dogs etc. Well, tonight she was calm, didn't bark at anyone, and even when 2 yappers were yelling at her through a fence she just trotted along next to me, tail up and looking at me!! We sat at the park and watched people for a while and not one little woof!! Perhaps she is growing up and all the training and effort I have put into making her a "nice" Poodle is paying off . We often post about trouble training and bad things - thought I would share my little win!! Trish

We have a canine cooler mat. Originally bought for the Grey - he won't go near it!!! But the Poodle loves it so it wasn't a complete waste!! I do like the fact that it doesn't feel wet - just cool. And it is heavy.

Me too. If I want more duration on a behaviour I delay the click. The click signals the end of the behaviour to the dog and if the clicker has been conditioned properly the dog will look for the reward after the click. Every click MUST be followed by a reward but not every command needs to be clicked - does that make sense?! Depending on what behaviour I am rewarding depends where the dog gets rewarded. Sometimes they come back to me, sometimes it is thrown away from me. Trish

We were given Rimadyl for our girl post surgery as well - but I only gave her 1 dose! She was up and about immediately showing no sign of discomfort and, as with Persephone, I believe that if they can feel it slightly it may make them rest more. I would have given it if she was in obvious pain. Trish

That would be brilliant - thanks!

This has been a really helpful thread! Does anyone know where I could get duck carcasses? I tried at the Central Market today - and think I asked at every butcher but no-one had any Might be going for a drive to Stirling - good excuse! Trish

Thanks - that makes sense. My Grey gets 150gm a day and the Poodle 50gm so doing lots more than you were. Trish

Midol - how did you do your vegies? Putting them through the juicer takes me at least 30 minutes - and that is about 3 weeks worth. I weigh mine out for 2 dogs and the whole process takes me easy 1 1/2 hours. If there is a quicker way I want to know about it!!!

Yep - if I could but them cheaply then I would definately feed them! I make my own - I am feeding a Greyhound and a Mini Poodle. If I fed BARF patties it would cost me about $6 /day - I do my own for about $8 / week!! Adding in the raw meaty bones will make it a great diet. Trish