The Spotted Devil

A friend of mine just adopted a Grey from GAP Vic and they are thrilled to bits with him. Great with dogs and cats. His name is Dave lol. Just reminded me of the lovely Stan.

How can you only be "fairly sure" your puppy has been stolen from a park unless he was in the park unsupervised? I was wondering the same thing. Hope the dog is doing well now whatever the circumstances.

Hell no wonder Ive never had a clue what to do with them Surely you can find a Maremma to put a pretty pink bow on lol

I've always introduced puppies but the law of the land is simply: The Cats Rule. There has been a strict NO CHASING rule in place but I had to modify that in the last few years as one of my cats loves to play with the dogs and will tease them until they relent and chase and wrestle. However, the pups quickly learn who they are allowed to play with and who will smack them down unceremoniously if they look at her sideways. Dizzy will often snuggle with the dogs and Lilly will tolerate them as long as they don't annoy her. My darling Brontë would just squeak in protest if the dogs sniffed her bottom and she wasn't as confident with rambunctious puppies so I was more protective of her. I have had an ACD in the past and currently have a Dally and a field bred ESS. I suspect they just consider the cats as part of their "pack" - I have no doubt they would chase a cat silly enough to venture into our yard because it's out of context. My Dally has also been responsible for socialising quite a number of foster kittens....he just adores them and will lie outside their room until they are old enough to meet him. I will never, ever forget the sight of him, as an 8 week old puppy, gently picking up Lilly's tail and trying to carry it into his bed. The look on Lilly's face was absolutely priceless and she has never let him forget it. Lap time is a valuable commodity in this house....Lilly will put up with anything...

Hi Cassie I bought a pair of Shear Magic single sided thinning scissors. I just trawled my old emails and I bought them from Vet Products Direct as Em won a voucher at the Agility Nationals. They are perfect for what I need - I trim the feathering on her legs, tail and the hair between her paws. ETA: They were just under $50 from memory.

Sorry - that's all I can suggest.

Try giving their trial secretary a call perhaps? Details here: http://www.agilitytrials.info/adcvapr14top.htm

I only ever use Cottage Kennels.

I've been thinking about you all day HW. Healing hugs to poor Maddie and a big pat for Stan's starving tummy Definitely get yourself seen to and the dogs should be reported to council. The dog yard at my house has no front fence at the moment due to renovations and I manage to keep my dogs contained.

Yes I agree.

Asked the Group 5 folk here at the trial. They think no unless on Working Register. However it appears a few entries may have slipped through previously. Have also sent you a PM for a contact who may know.

I have a field bred ESS. Great fun!

Bugger. We probably know the same people in the Gundog Club then, which is not much help! Will ask around anyway.

We are the trial secretary's :laugh: I've always thought it was no, and everyone I have asked say's no, but exhibitor says they are and have been allowed in the past. Don't want to lose an entry, but wan't to make sure we are doing this right thing. lol - damn! Where are you weisenjac? I can ask some folk who might know...

Bloody hell. So sorry to hear this. Hugs to you and your beautiful Stan and Maddie xxx

I'm not sure actually. Have you rung the trial secretary? That would be my first port of call as I bet they've dealt with this previously.

Tassie that's AWESOME!!!!! Congratulations!!!!!!

My Dally feels the cold - his bed at night is an open soft crate (sides rolled down), with a pretty but heavy linen fitted cover, thick newspaper lining the bottom, a Snooza D1000 bed and a thick winter blanket from the op shop. He usually wears a light coat as well. You can put your hand in the crate and it's just toasty warm. I often find one of the cats in there. If we are camping or at an agility trial in Winter I put a Hurtta coat on him and have him sleep on a self warming mat in addition to his other bedding. Hurtta coat: https://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=2996 Crate warming pad: http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=3012

Yes I had to strike a number of boarding kennels off my list as they insisted that group exercise was the only way to go. Fortunately I found somewhere that only ever runs dogs from the same family together and insists on feeding them separately. Glad you found somewhere good Steph!

Just not something I would use. Entire male Dally is targeted by 98% males that we meet. Although he is adored by the girls and brilliant with puppies I would never trust that someone would follow my instructions not to put him with ANY boys. I suspect Em would be horrified. She has next to zero value for other dogs and would rather work flat out or curl up on the couch. She loves Zig and is quicker to play with other Spaniels (and Labs if they understand her playing style) but would prefer to play (ie train) with me.

Yes, agree completely pie. My tiny lawn can normally fit a max of 12 weave poles or 1 tunnel and 1 jump or equivalent. However, at the moment it has a pile of wood from the recently demolished balcony covering 3/4 of it so we are doing all our training at home on one (homemade) winged jump. I do need to take 3 jumps to the oval and train my homework....tomorrow I think! I'm lucky enough to have access to an agility club on Monday nights and a private class on Tuesday nights but there is an amazing amount of stuff you can do on your own. I've just retrained contacts from an e-book - mostly on the flat and with a contact board plus limited access to full size contacts and all I can say is WOW! Both dogs have improved out of sight and I have entered Zig in his first Open Agility class for ages this weekend. He only needs one more Q for ADO (he has his ADM) but that is about the furtherest thing from my mind....just want to practice fast, accurate contacts in trial conditions. Em won't be entered in any agility (despite her amazing contacts) until I see how she handles the new SG handling system in JDM. .

The worst is when you have visitors who don't understand all the fuss and think you're overdoing the whole separation thing. In that case I ensure Zig is ALWAYS with me... no matter where I am in the house. As you get to know the dogs in question and get a bit more savvy it gets so much easier. The first time I was very much pulling my hair out but now it's no problem.

I find that Zig is much calmer if he can see Em so generally they are rotated indoors between crates - lots of stuffed Kongs and BUCKETS of exercise and training. Em goes quite feral and trains really well. The chooks lose their large steep yard and Em runs and toilets in there only. She wears bitch pants indoors and I have throw sheets everywhere - prevents mess and it reduces the lovely smells for Zig when they swap over. I find they can run together (closely supervised) for the first few days but then I separate therm strictly until about 3 weeks as Zig is more chilled if he's not sniffing her all the time. Plus Em is very submissive and she doesn't tell him off sufficiently when he is being too pushy. When Em is about Day 10 I give her a marrowbone in the crate and she consequently tells Zig off if he comes near her - no substitute for supervision of course and I lock them in opposite ends of the house if I'm not home. I also send Zig out to toilet more often and he's never peed inside. He trains and trials really well although he has some cotton candy moments if there are pretty, flirty girl dogs to swoon over. I just wish I could compete with Em as she's amazing!

Love the resigned look on Wisdom's face! MUP, I have to do the same lol. I was using a remote reward trainer one night and finally worked out that the dogs were less than enthusiastic about training because the cats were psyching them out until they refused to get the treat. If we are training inside this is not an unusual sight...

That's lovely!