The Spotted Devil

I would suggest that this be moved to General Discussion. Please @Troy Firstly, love that you’re asking the question! Secondly, as someone who does Retrieving with working Gundogs please, please, please no chasing balls unless it’s a controlled retrieve ie sit, throw the ball, ball stops, release to retrieve. It does terrible things to cruciates when dogs skid into moving retrieves repeatedly. That is a TREAT for my dogs but 90% are on controlled retrieves on dummies. Thirdly, moderation is the key! An on leash walk where nice, relaxed walking is reinforced, an off leash free run to sniff, a social outing where pup learns to interact calmly or ignore or lie quietly (eg cafe) and BUCKET loads of short (2-3 min) training sessions at home - recalls, sits, drops, shaping, core strengthening, body awareness, impulse control...the list goes on!

That’s so lovely to hear! Are you making a video for this year’s comp?

One thing that makes a WORLD of difference for my cats in terms of UTI is adding water to their food. They pee much more but it means that the urine is more dilute (less irritation) and if there are tiny stones they get flushed out more quickly. I use the same approach with my dogs.

It depends on the type of urinary stones and whether you want to change the urine to be more acidic or more alkaline. Then of course there’s purines if it’s about uric acid.

Yeah I’m jealous of me too My Recallers videos...

Yes. Yes. Yes. I can’t remember how many years I’ve been doing Recallers and I’m always finding more value. I’m actually a community instructor inside Recallers (ie not paid) and I’m going over to Canada to audit her agility summer camp. That’s how much value I get out of her online courses. I’ve trained with SG in QLD and also do H360, Agility Nation and Puppy Peaks. I’m also a scientist - animal behaviour and welfare - so I love her evidence based approach.

I have a sh!t of a cat (who is also quite wonderful in his own way ) who is so oblivious to Em’s warnings around her food (and her babies!!!) that he risks getting himself killed on a daily basis. He literally puts his head in her bowl. No brain, no pain!!! I prefer to remove the cats when the dogs are eating because it’s safer, especially in a busy household. However, when I have the time I will leave him in the room PROVIDED he stays on the cat tower. I don’t do this if I’m likely to be distracted. I also specifically pick times where I can work on counter conditioning BUT I would never expect the dogs to just tolerate food stealing by the cats. I wouldn’t allow a puppy or a child to harass the dogs and a cat is no different.

@Selkie I would have to disagree re and SBT vs FB. I think they are worlds apart in terms of temperament and structure. Especially if they are poor examples. Another good example is the Dalmatian outcross to a Pointer in the USA to bring in the LUA gene. Then those dogs were bred back to Dalmatians. I think this was a superb idea and would prefer an LUA Dally now. BUT in the USA blue eyes are permitted in the ring (= more prone to deafness) so there is a great risk that the only way to get LUA lines into your dogs is to use American line Dalmatians and possibly increase the propensity for deafness. I have heard of a few stories around this recently. So it’s never simple.

The genetic variability in dogs is ridiculous and I wonder if that’s where the issues arise? The differences between horses is generally not as extreme, even a heavy horse x TB. Chickens are another classic - high producing egg and meat chickens are typical of high scale farming. But they don’t last long.

I don’t allow pups free run of the house but I have a large pen in the living room to keep them safe. I can reinforce calm and quiet by tossing treats/dry food onto their bed. I can give them safe toys to shred, food puzzles and the like. I don’t like isolating dogs in a room either. It certainly encourages barking and scratching.

I’m not a fan of no pull harnesses that cut across the shoulders and/or have a front attachment. They can really restrict movement. I have used them for big strong dogs to just give their owners a chance to teach loose leash walking but I’m vary wary of them with puppies. Look for a harness that doesn’t cut across the shoulders. No matter the style please don’t leave it on pup when they are free running! For a car harness (yes I would recommend a separate one) look for one that has been crash tested.

This will give you an idea of who’s running trials: http://www.retrieving.org.au/bb/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=4491&sid=088cd1cebd8f50f535d809d8dfdbb119

Waaaaay to hard to describe over the internet. There are not enough hours in my day 1. Ask your breeder for some contacts in Tassie. If they are breeding working dogs that should not be too hard. 2. Join whatever is your local Gundog club in Tassie. It is a very small community but that will be the way to get help. Go to Retrieving or field trials, offer to help out. So many times I give help to new people but they give nothing back to the sport. Even if you have no interest in competing remember that you are asking for help and it’s nice to repay people’s kindness.

Waaaaay to hard to describe over the internet. There are not enough hours in my day 1. Ask your breeder for some contacts in Tassie. If they are breeding working dogs that should not be too hard. 2. Join whatever is your local Gundog club in Tassie. It is a very small community but that will be the way to get help. Go to Retrieving or field trials, offer to help out. So many times I give help to new people but they give nothing back to the sport.

If you look at Section 1)a) and b) “other than vermin” covers it.

Ah. Section 2) covers it.

Puppy zoomies are awesome. My Dalmatian still does them at 11.5 years old Definitely work on creating a balance. As much as there is nothing worse than a Gundog who gives up in the field, one that is not able to rest, take a drink and conserve energy when you stop for a break is equally bad.

I would guess not Gundogs... seeing as they are bred to retrieve shot game gently to hand that makes sense. “There are 24 dog breeds across both categories, including American pit bull terrier, pit bull terrier, Japanese tosa, dogo Argentino or fila Brasileiro, Perro de Presa Canario or Presa Canario.”

So....from another perspective there’s no way I’d leave my high drive working Springers outside all day. Mainly because when these girls are on they are ON. They are bred to work all day every day and when left to their own devices they don’t rest but hunt. They can get a little OCD and it can turn into chasing lights and shadows very quickly if you don’t have an actual job for them to do. But leave them inside and they just chill and switch off. It’s so important for these hard going dogs to learn the OFF switch. The ON switch needs no encouragement

One of my pups from my last litter is a climber too. Which is why I use the tallest most heavy duty pen from Vebopet. I’ve lent it to them as well as giving them more recommendations and he can’t scale it.

I don’t let my pups run amok either but a large pen with plenty of interactive toys is better than a crate during the day which is simply too restrictive for 8 hours even with a break. Check out Vebopet if you are in Australia - I use their pens for my litters and older pups. Just lent my big pen to one of my puppy people actually! I love crate training and I do crate my pups at night until they are mature enough to sleep on the bed with the rest of us...including adult dogs and cats. Recalls? Well! I’m a scientist with dog behaviour as one of my specialties. I have a Dalmatian and working Gundogs and I will tell you that recall training never ends. I am a good trainer and I didn’t have a reliable recall on my youngster until she was 2 years old. All using positive reinforcement based training. Check out Susan Garrett Recallers for the ultimate skills! Dog parks I hate. But appropriate socialisation I love!

Some of my cats adore the CDs. It’s like putting on The Wiggles for a toddler for Lilly. My beloved Brontë (Lilly’s daughter) thought it was ridiculous when you could get cuddles with your human mum. My dogs would bark at the screen I suspect. Last thing they need is more stimulation

There are cat ones on Amazon so surely there are dog ones!

Hi Jake Can I suggest you contact Dogs Victoria and talk to the PR team as well. They are the governing body for pedigree dogs and their members and affiliated clubs run all the shows. They should be able to give you some great info and leads. Good luck!

The problem is that there are only two (I think?) underwriters. So plenty of companies but all comes back to the same two.