The Spotted Devil

Thankyou so much everyone! It's a pretty big thing for us :) It's the last Awesome Paws class tonight for the year. I'm taking cake :D

I'm very proud to announce that my Ziggy put the woes of having a bitch in season at home behind him to obtain his Agility Champion 600 title on Saturday at Bulla. He needed 20 points in Masters Jumping and 60 points in Masters Agility. HIs first run was hilariously funny as his hormone addled brain sent him to more off course obstacles than he's done in his whole life! Or that could have just been my handling. To my complete astonishment he then gained 4 lovely quallies with a 1st place in his height in Masters Jumping (25 points) followed by a 3rd place (15 points) and two 1st places (2 x 25 points) to fulfil the requirements of 500 points in each discipline (over and above the 7 quallies required for his Masters titles). I had no idea until I collected the certificate at presentations and a huge cheer went up for the lad when it was announced. I think that makes him the first Dalmatian in Australia to gain an agility champion title but I'm happy to be corrected. Thank you to Neil and Jane Hurst for entrusting me with this special boy, to my instructors at Awesome Paws, to all the great people I have met through agility and to Mr TSD for holding the fort when I am away trialling and cooking the best post-trial dinners. So subject to Dogs Victoria approval I give you…. AG CH 600 YARROWFELL HIGH SOCIETY CD ADM JDM ADO JDO2 ET

That must have been scary for you to be told. Hope Em is continuing to recover. :) I was very very grateful indeed! As for Em, she was trying to stumble up the steep back block after her GA to go hunting lol and was hurtling around like a lunatic the next morning. But the less said about the ear drops the better! There is still a risk the ear drum could perforate (unpleasant and painful but not the end of the world) but at least the grass seed out.

I use Epiotic too on the rare occasion I need to. A timely reminder though.....I had my Springer at the vet for hip/elbow scoring last Friday. I asked them to have a look in her ears whilst she was sedated as she'd shown some signs of mild irritation. The occasional head shake and a very slight smell but no scratching and she wasn't worried about being examined. I guessed there was a mild infection. It turns out there was a rather large grass seed that was on the verge of causing a perforated ear drum! Nasty little thing - my vets couldn't believe the size/position of it vs the lack of symptoms.

Lovely club when I used to go there - I did the obedience ring run through and started agility there too. Used to drive from Brighton!!! Like any ANKC club that relies on volunteers it's all about the people so that is bound to vary. Nice grounds!

Glad you have some direction! For wire crates (cooler, tougher) definitely consider Vebo Pet :) Will be worth it even with delivery. Better quality and better price.

Hastings too far???

Great! I don't know much about Golden lines but the ones we have in Vic that are successful in retrieving trials are quite different from the ones I've seen in the show ring. I know some folk are combining show and working lines. Same happens in GSPs. But other breeds are too far gone in opposite directions.

That ain't nothin' compared with a Dally :laugh: And yes I have lived with a Beagle!!!

Interesting Pers!

I had a vet that said the exact same thing to me - that she would never own a Dalmatian as didn't want a dog that was smarter than her :laugh:

If a retriever is that mad for retrieving its uncontrollable that is a wrong temperament! my golden boy is on the go and loves retrieving and obedience but is easy to live with and his dad is a Sup CH and mum is a Gr CH these dogs where breed for a job and they should be able to do that job And do well in the show ring! not like our poor cocker spaniel half hour run in a park and I'm an hour grooming the knots out of the coat :-( the flushing instinct is still there but the coat is wrong :-( for what they where breed to do! I did say Guide Dog not show ring. I have handled Labs bred specifically for retrieving and worked with GDV. A dog can't be good at everything! Do you shoot over your Golden or trial? Every sport can promote extremes.

Beeeeeeaaaaaaauuuuuutiful!!!!!!!! Blessed are the kittens for they have found heaven :) x

Happy Birthday beautiful girl Great work JulesP! We may need to celebrate over cake :D

I've said this before but there are variations in working lines too - needs change and so the dog changes. The US field bred ESS are different from those in the UK/NZ/Oz because they need a taller dog to cope with the heavy cover. As mentioned you don't want a Lab mad for retrieving as a Guide Dog either

Holy moly weisenjac! What a lucky pup! We squuuuueeeeeed when we saw his pic on the calendar - gorgeous!!!!

Squeeee. There is going to be a thread on this, no? For me, it will be a toss up between: - rough coated JRT, from a specific breeder - w/l ESS - I've admired w/l mals, but doubt I'll have the time, energy or skill for one I promise :) x Bit soon just yet but all the planning coming together now!

Hopefully an ESS pup from Em :)

This is the part I don't get. That someone is happy to take a pup of one of any three breeds. I fall in love with a breed and no other breed could possibly be substituted for the breed I want. I loved Rottweilers and owned and rescued them. When I felt I was too old to be running around the obedience oval with large dogs (I am small of slight build) I then went with Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. A breed I had fallen in love with many years ago. I have two elderly dogs of this beautiful breed. I guess each to their own Training is a big part of the relationship I have with my dogs and I really enjoying working with "unconventional breeds" and getting the most out of them. I also worry about comparing my dogs - my first was an ACD and she was just incredible. I will never have another for that reason. I never went looking for a Dalmatian and was considering several other breeds for agility/obedience but was recommended by someone I worked with to talk with the (interstate) breeder of her dogs. I had an instant rapport with the breeder so went away and researched the breed further. To be honest it was the breeder that I went with in the first instance and my faith in them has been repaid a thousand fold. With my ESS it was again a matter of circumstance. I handled a dog in a few retrieving trials for a DOLer (who was previously unknown to me) - I was completely hooked on the sport but didn't want a Lab. I'd always loved English Springer Spaniels and mentioned this...the DOLer then gave me a contact and I learnt about the differences between show vs working. It was a big thing to get a second dog and the decision to go with an ESS rather than a Dally was again driven by finding the right breeder (Zig's breeder had retired) as well as the desire to get into retrieving. My next pup will be another ESS bitch but I love having a larger male in the house for balance - maybe one day I will get a Working Irish Setter which is the breed I originally had my heart set on but couldn't find a breeder. That is a long way away but I visited the breeder because I just happened to be in NZ for a conference. I've seen her dogs and I've seen them work. On the other hand I've cared for a GSP pup for a month and realised they are not really for me. Would I have another Dally? Tough one. He'd have bloody big paw prints to fill.

I've had personal recommendations for two breeds and have had another for a third breed I'm interested in (and visited when I happened to be in NZ). I find that's one of the best ways to find a good breeder. I couldn't ask for more open and honest people nor more support.

TSD ooohhhhh :) How excitement . Very! :D

I'm hopefully breeding my first litter soon. I own one bitch. I will be taking my pick first and the owner of the stud may want a pup too. That is my prerogative. It's also something I've accepted from breeders of my own dogs. I haven't been convinced on the merits of joint ownership so I just looked for another breeder. No drama :) Good luck in your search.

My Springer had this recently. Grass seeds have a nasty habit of migrating further up the leg which can be quite dangerous. I used a drawing salve on her paw (you can buy it from the chemist), pulled a toddler sock over it and put a doggy boot on it. What this does is soften the skin around the area of the grass allowing the body to use it's natural defences to expel the grass seed. In Em's case a nice little abscess formed and it burst when she was running around leaving the grass seed sticking out such that I could remove it easily. Chat to your vet about trying this if you're worried. ETA - sorry just re-read your post. Not sure your dog would tolerate the above on his paw if he gets that aggressive.

Wow! Go you! You will love it Tassie!!!! Well you know who enabled that, don't you TSD . The stars aligned - retirement the week after it starts - means I should actually be able to spend time working on it - and heaven knows I need it now we're in Excellent in both Agility and Jumping :laugh:. And a proud enabler I am! Congratulations on your retirement I can't think how you're going to fill in all that spare time