The Spotted Devil

I meant to say that one of only two male dogs on the planet that I have every trusted not to start something with my Dally was an Aussie. The well known and sadly passed Leo of LeoPuppy04 DOL fame.

:laugh: Thanks! Might make some of these! You could use wholemeal flour..

Sorry Roova I meant the tin of salmon :D

I have field bred ESS - I'm happy to answer any questions :)

Great idea! How big was the tin?

I see Aussies doing agility of all different energy levels and there are definitely similarities within lines! I can highly recommend Pawsitive Aussie Sheps - excellent breeder and trainer who will be 100% honest.

There's certainly regions that are worrisome in terms of parvo - I would always recommend asking a few of the local vets just to get a feel for it. I think either Ballarat or Bendigo has had a recent outbreak for example. I will pop my pups in the car and take them to lots of places - even sitting on my lap watching the world go by at a cafe or a shopping strip is a wonderful learning experience. I do mix them with known adult dogs and well matched pups and I also take them along to retrieving trials which are held on private farms. Lots of dogs, people, water, cover, bird life, gun fire and novelty. That and agility trials - it's a great advantage of competing as I know the people and dogs who will interact with them. Plus the dogs are under effective control 99% of the time. I hate free for all puppy schools with a vengeance.

Happy Birthday Stan You are the MAN

Recommend they find a new vet is all I can think of. I can't believe that advice is still being given.

So much to write. So little time! Firstly - agree that they have to earn trust. I don't quite agree with the teenage years - I suspect it's more about us getting a bit complacent with our super puppies :laugh: Regardless I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS reward an awesome recall - food, toys, play and then release to run again. However! I don't reward mediocre. They have to turn on a dime and sprint back. No stopping. No sniffing. No dawdling. No big wide circles as they check out the bird life (Em!!!!!!) They might get some verbal praise if it was good but not brilliant. If they don't come the first time I go and get them. No second chances. Leash on. Fun over. 5 mins and they will get another opportunity to prove how awesome they are. I play a LOT of recall and relationship building games as well.

I probably use egg and salmon as little jackpots in containers Lisa :)

Cheese, boiled egg, cooked chicken, raw chicken, 4-Legs and tinned salmon are amongst the favourites here.

Yes it certainly depends on body shape - I wouldn't call my Dally square by a long shot but he's no Grey either. I love the quick release buckle on the winter coat as I use it for dog sports too. I can keep him warm until the last minute. My Springer is impossible to fit. I have a WB for her but it looks ridiculous. Fortunately I only have to use it when she is wet and the wind is freezing enough to make her teeth chatter - she revels in the cold. Brand new out of the bag...

I'm a big fan of Hurrta coats - check out Clean Run but I think there is a stockist here as well. My Dally is long and the winter coat is designed to reach half way down his tail. He camps in that when its < 5C at night.

Steve do have criteria for your breeder members? Not that I don't think ANKC have their fair share of questionable breeders but several of the Cobber Dog breeder websites don't fill me full of confidence as people trying to develop a breed.

http://www.mdba.net.au/directory/mdba-breeder-members/australian-cobberdog-breed-in-development.html

Yes I've seen that one - it's very clever!

Oh of course Maddy - I know what you mean. But on average 35% attributable to genetics (using a large sample size) just shows how tough it is to breed "winners."

And the irony is that about 35% of a race horse's speed can be attributed to genetics. The rest is training, nutrition, health and nutrition of the pregnant bitch, etc etc. I imagine it's similar in dogs. A friend and I will be watching his recent litter of working Gundogs closely - they have all gone to top trainers so it will be interesting to debate nature vs nurture.

Zig is a lad of high comfort requirements :D Snooza D1000 plus a warm crate mat and a self-warming heat pad (both from Clean Run). With his Hurrta winter coat and sometimes a pet sleeping bag over the top he gets through some very, very cold nights. Em sleeps under my doona. Best hot water bottle ever :laugh:

Don't forget the rows of horse heads and legs.

If that really is the long term aim of the research there is a hell of a LONG distance between a study that shows ASSUMED stress levels in the dam during delivery and two weeks after delivery shows in some way in puppies behaviour at 7 weeks and being able to help breeders to make decisions on how to raise a litter to reduce stress to the mother! One dog will get stressed about things another wont even notice for a start. So many variables which may impact on the results including genetics and which will make breeders take it with a grain of salt. The only ones likely to give it any cred are those who want to use it to press a point about anti puppy farms. Part of the problem is that people who are not breeders determine what the research should be that will interest breeders without caring much for what breeders have to say about what they would like to see studied to help us. I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at Steve. The study talks about the relationship between maternal CARE and puppy STRESS. We know there is a relationship in other species but there is clearly a gap in knowledge of dogs. There are no assumptions but yes there is a hypothesis. As for vagaries of breed, background, genetics - yes of course - which is what the statistics will weed out...all the "noise" that goes with that. I looked at mixed breeds of unknown background in dog shelters and fear responses were fear responses regardless. It's not designed to fix every dog or to deal with the dog that doesn't need our help. It's to improve the average. I'm a scientist and a registered breeder. I think this is fascinating personally - if you can identify what promotes good maternal care maybe you can select for it or manipulate the conditions for a maiden bitch to make things easier for her.

I suspect I know the study you were referring to alpha bet. If it is the same one I am thinking of it was a citronella collar not an e-collar (it's impossible to get approval to study these in Vic). The study was a Masters project and a follow up on a previously conducted study so there was already data available to inform experimental design. It wasn't an expectation but a hypothesis - scientists have to have a question, a hypothesis - it doesn't mean that we don't consider data that doesn't support our hypothesis. That's what statistics are there for - but sometimes the stats tell us that there are statistical outliers that are skewing the data. Especially if there's small numbers. And yes the student had more trouble than expected getting approval of owners in a limited space of time. And in fact I think the final conclusion was that the collar was mildly aversive but not overly so. Often what you hear at these presentations is a tiny, tiny, tiny part of the entire PhD. Maybe even preliminary analysis. No PhD that I have ever heard of would be granted on a single dog study. My own PhD data collection was delayed by 12 months because I had trouble getting organisations to commit to non-invasive data collection (ie behavioural observations). I ended up having to go to the USA twice because I was so bloody determined and could get away with living on next to nothing because of my partner's support.

Yep - she's a smart kid. Very sensible :) But the next kid might not be so lucky. I had a client's young kid get in the face of their recently adopted terrier when it was growling at the novelty of me entering the space. It was a terrifying accident waiting to happen but kids are incredibly unpredictable.

I often find myself having to give people a sharp dose of reality. It's not pleasant at all but I need to ensure I have been 100% honest about what might happen next time. I have to know that I have done my best to protect someone (dog, child, adult) who can't protect themselves.