The Spotted Devil

I have a local vet in Mt Dandenong but take Em to Chirnside Park for anything repro related. Very happy with them and they seem like a good general vet as well. Not sure if that's too far for you.

Thankyou for your responses. As I said I have found not using anything 99% of the time works for my dogs too. Rarely do they get irritated ears but it's interesting to see what others use.

There are "fox reds" in field lines here certainly but the dogs aren't being bred for colour and you may not want that level of drive and energy.

Souff

Well she's a Dalmatian and it involves food so she'll probably love it :laugh: I like the fact that it can dispense food 6 times TSD. At the moment she is getting a puppy Kong stuffed with some kibble, grated fruit and vegies and sealed with a touch of peanut butter and she is getting it all out in a couple of minutes and then bringing me the Kong and asking for more. Clever girl! Sounds like she has got your training well in hand :D Try squishing together some minced chicken frames/4 Legs with her dry food and the rest. You can pack the Kong really tight. That keeps Em going for a good half hour and she is a machine. And freeze stuff for her too...as long as you're prepared for the mess :laugh:

Well she's a Dalmatian and it involves food so she'll probably love it :laugh:

What do use instead of Epiotic? That would be helpful.

Talk about lucky!!! Iris is da bomb :D

I guess there could be a number of factors at play including dog size to surface area ratio and humid vs dry heat. Probably the other thing I like about the chillybuddy is that it is effective when it's dry and in direct sunlight. Nice for the mornings when it's not quite warm enough to wet the dog but you are standing ringside with no shade.

Thanks Airedaler - most kind of you but Austerra seems to have it sorted

Very interesting discussion. I don't have dogs with hairy inner ears thank goodness but I've always wondered whether regular use of Epiotic in my breeds would be more or less useful. I have heard some say to let the inner ear well alone provided there are no issues. Mine swim a lot but have very light ear leather so they dry quickly. I've used Epiotic once or twice on my dogs in their first 12 months but very little since. Em had a very slightly smelly ear recently but it turned out to be a huge grass seed. She was barely irritated by it and it was just fortunate that she had a GA for hip/elbow scores so I asked them to check.

Oooooh! Thankyou! I'll PM you :)

BC Crazy - funny you know but I've met a few owners of longer coated dogs (BCs and Aussies) who really like the Silver Eagle whereas I don't like them so much for my short coated breeds. Very interesting!

Just wondering if there is anyone who lives in the Eastern Suburbs that would be going to the Australia Day International Show at Bulla on Monday 26th and could pick up a couple of small plaques for me please. It would just save me a trip. Obviously I'd be more than happy to come and collect them from you. Many thanks!

Yes agree with Sheena. If I'm getting a nice behaviour that I haven't asked for but want to encourage I might also just give them some verbal praise.

Thanks TSD that I what I was looking for. I've bookmarked it now for future reference. Excellent! I know how to find that stuff in my sleep because they keep changing the department name and the website!

Try this link for a start Airdaler: http://www.depi.vic.gov.au/pets/community-and-education/domestic-animal-management-plans

I like the chillybuddy for between agility runs or at seminars. I don't use the coats when doing regular exercise - would rather swim the dogs or get them out and about much earlier or later in the day. I more consider the Cool Coats as giving my dogs that extra 10%.

Congratulations! That would have been a lot of work!

Yep - we were doing this the other day with Em. Adding speed as she flew out of the tunnel. First jump straight in front (nailed it), next take a right angle turn (big fail the first time - sailed over the jump in front of her :laugh:) then take a 180 turn as she came out. There were lots of cries of "Abort! Abort! Abort!" happening with all the handlers as they tried not to be taken out at speed

Arthritis and sprained toes are not all that uncommon - I've seen it in working Gundogs. IF it's arthritis (and I say IF) folks I know have put their dogs on an arthritis supplement and anti-inflams as necessary. Sprains can be managed with boots. Get onto it though as even a mild lameness from a sore toe can lead to back pain and hind limb issues because of the weight transfer.

Field bred ESS - not particularly common and there's not a lot of data. I have hip/elbow scored Em because the technology is available. She compares admirably with her relatives and is well below breed average (mostly show ESS). The current thoughts I'm getting from the veterinary community is that it is good at predicting whether an individual dog will get HD but pretty average at predicting whether that likelihood will be inherited.

We have a loooong striding whippet in class and he's doing great!

Oso I'm not sure exactly as I haven't done H360 online. But I genuinely do about 5 min a day per dog if I'm lucky. On top of that I do retrieving with Em, shaping, core stability and general fitness so not a lot of time for agility. I was SO NOT going to switch handling systems with Zig but soon realised how beneficial it was for the dogs. And yes it was bloody hard learning all the verbals but my handling is all about timeliness now rather than timing. So when the dog has committed to an obstacle I can call the verbal cue that not only indicates the next obstacle but the direction to take after that. And we are all enjoying ourselves so much more. I think DOLer Jess is doing it online - maybe shoot her a PM.

I think current registrations are closed: http://handling360.com But you can register to be notified when the next one opens. If I were remote and didn't have access to my awesome trainers I would do this in a heartbeat. But it's quite a commitment and not for everyone either. SG's online courses are great - I just finished Recallers 5.0.