Sayreovi

Well our first RATG and we failed shockingly....though none of it was her fault. Our first retrieve was stupidly hard dogs couldn't see where the bumper landed (I couldn't see where it landed!) they had too run down into a ditch full of water cross through fairly thick vegetation and then had to climb a massive rocky dirt hill. Then finally search through numerous ditches until hopefully they found it. Several dogs couldn't find it and some even had to be whistled for direction. I really shouldn't have even bothered, I knew Jovi would have no chance as we have never trained for anything like that and everything was against her, seeing as at the training day our examples of what would be required was slightly hilly and little to no vegetation. I had trained her for that level and she can do retrieves without seeing it landing but I was a bit disappointed in the difficulty of the run for Novice dogs. She ran out nicely and crossed the water but had no idea that she had to climb this massive (to her) wall :laugh: She kept searching in the vegetation and water but I had to call her back. So yeah, I will probably give it another go but not for a long time. I don't have time to train for something at the above level and if I did I might as well train for actual trials.

Two of my Tollers love to tug, they play tug alot of the time and I can reward with a tug as well in high drive sports like agility and flyball but they still have a soft mouth and although I don't trial in this sport yet (don't have enough time to train it to trial standard at the moment ) I have entered one in a RATG this weekend so it certainly hasn't made her have a hard mouth :)

Thanks Shouldn't be too bad, I am entered in a double obedience trial the same day so will be running back and forth :laugh: Hopefully my nerves will be well and truly gone by the end!

We have our first RATG on the weekend, starting too get nervous Never entered anything like this before.....my main concern is her not looking ahead and marking the fall as we haven't had much of a chance to practise with someone throwing. So should be interesting :)

Yup I got rid of mine quick smart when my guys stopped working the same when I didn't have a visible treat bag on me, I use pockets now :D

Exactly I would never enter any ring without having my dog well groomed and clean as it completes the package and shows respect too the judge IMO. There is nothing better than watching a beautiful, clean and groomed dog happily heeling (or running) around the ring, I would get distracted by how bad the dog looked if it hadn't seen a brush for a couple of weeks and miss all it's work

Definately try and meet some, I am unsure if there are any being shown at the Sydney Royal which would be your best bet otherwise give the breeders a ring and find out what shows they will be at or if they know anyone in the area who would show you their dog :) Good luck :D

They are extremely rare with only a couple of breeders. There are two listed in the breed section, one in Vic and the other in NSW (I think) The breed has small litters and a very long wait list so your chance of getting two puppies at the end of the year is basically non existant. I would allow at least a good year or two before it happens. Even in my breed where there are a few more breeders and dogs, you would be waiting at least a year for a puppy. Have you met any Finnish Spitz's? Importing is an expensive and lengthy process, too import one dog can take a long time as you need to wait for a puppy to be born, then have someone look after it till it's old enough to travel after having all it's health tests and budget at least $10k :) They are a beautiful breed and I've emailed them recently to be put on the wait list for a puppy in the future :D

I think their conversion might be a bit out Recommendation for a 15 kilo dog is 150 g or just over 1 cup max & for a 20 kilo dog 200g or just under two cups maximum & this would be if they were completely on BH with no other food. My 18 kilo BC gets just 1 cup & the 23 kilo BC gets 1 1/2 cups & they are very active & maintain their weight perfectly. They get some other stuff as well. I am glad just that websites conversion is out otherwise there would be some fat dogs running around! Either way I still don't feed the recommended amount even on the days they get just BH :)

Way to go Strauss!!! Congrats Sandi!

I am only going by the website I buy my food off and I was doing the top end of the weights so 15-20 for my 15kg girl - http://www.aussieagility.com.au/black_hawk/bh_adult.htm I don't have a bag handy either but the actual website says the same grams but nothing in cups, so maybe the conversion was a bit off or what?

Yeah sorry, they means Black Hawk :) I am happy with my choice too change over as the dogs appearance and general health has remained the same but my bank balance is healthier for it, so hopefully you are as happy with changing over as well!

We have trials galore over the next month or two. Agility the next two weekends, then obedience/rally, then the Obedience State Titles in May. After that, providing we manage to get our title at some point, we might give obedience a break for a little while. Ava is only 2 years old and I don't want to burn her out. On the other hand maybe she will enjoy UD. Decisions decisions. Haha Well good luck, fingers crossed you get a nice finishing pass :D Well done TSD! Go Ziggy! Haha have to laugh about him being distracted, I have a bitch in season here at the moment and what brains my entire boy possessed have gone walk abouts so I am glad I didn't end up entering him like I planned!

GR CH VARTIJA MIIKA Thank you :D

Big congrats Wuffles!! Have you entered any more trials?

Go the Finnish Spitz!! Can someone tell me which dog it was?

I swapped from Advance (and Advance Active) to BH and didn't have any ill effects from changing, I swapped for the same reasons Advance was getting expensive when I had to buy different varieties but with BH I can feed the same type just different amounts. I changed pretty much cold turkey too. I feed heaps less as well! They recommend 2-3 cups for my 15kg girl and 3-4 cups for the boys (20kg & 22kg), if I was feeding them that they would be obese and yet they are extremely active and the two youngest do flyball and agility. My youngest boy who I struggled with keeping weight on and was on Advance Active as it was the only food who would stop him looking like skin and bones only gets about 2 cups if that. I fed my oldest boy the same amount as Advance but he put weight on so had to cut that back and he is back too his usual weight.

Is this sort of set pretty idiot proof? I've never owned anything other than the usual point and shoot so this would be a pretty massive step! :laugh:

Definately not a Toller if you want a couch potato and something low in prey drive. Like with any breed you can get either end but it's safe to say majority of Tollers are very active (mentally and physically) and have an instinct to chase.

Great photos once again! :D *sigh* Raz is just stunning

Congrats RS! We've also entered our first RATG, should be exciting seeing how we go, it's only a couple of weeks away so have a bit of training to do but should be good :D I've only entered my girl as I know she will perform it best, I was contemplating entering Darcy as well but wanted to see how it's ran and what is required first. We have been to a training day and did a run through but it will be different in a trial.

So annoyed I didn't enter this I really wanted too Even more so now I see there are Finnish Spitz's entered!

I've noticed on quite a few American and Canadian breeders websites that they "foster" out some of their dogs and take them back for litters or matings. The breeders however still have a few of their own dogs. I guess it's so they can have more access to different dogs and lines this way.

Which vet is this?

Congrats AP! Excellent run, she was so quick!