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Double post sorry

I love my Bono Fido crate. Looked on site for cheapest a\d as buying 3 saved heaps. But in the car i have wire. With one tied to the floor so that in case of an accident the crates are secure. The smaller crates are positioned so they can't move. I know soft are lighter but in a crash? metal crates must be safer option. All my crates open on two sides even the cheaper little ones. I used a light bl@nket to cover the crate if i get barks @nd that pretty much stopped that. Happy shopping.

I read your post and thought " Welcome to my world!" Typical kelpie. Gets the ball, stick, whatever , and drops it about 10 metres away. Looks at you and basically says " Here's MY ball, throw it for me now SLAVE!" Having such a clever dog is a joy but a riot at times. You might not know what a 2on, 2off position is but basically I want two behaviours. I want one first then another. My kelpie was in a rush for her reward and rushing to the second behaviour, missing the first behaviour. When I waited so she could give me what I wanted she got frustrated and picked up the foot target on the ground and tossed it at me! It didn't go far as the foot target is floppy so she picked it up again and got it closer to me with a grunt to go with it. Frustrated much. Kelpies can be really soft but at the same time can manipulate you to get what they want. Mine can be quite determined if she has her mind on something. Kavik hit the nail on the head with her advice as does Vickie. I followed the method Kavik gave, using a small room (bathroom) and doing nose touches. Then using toy and getting nose touch with toy in mouth. This was also useful later to get her to bring lots of different things to me. Vickie's suggestion is new to me but at the time I was advised not to use moving away as another cue just to get a speedy return of a toy. Pity as this suggestion makes sense too if done as Vicki says. As RazorBlade says I didn't want any obsessive behaviour either. However my kelpie is not that obsessed about balls sticks etc. She is however mad on water from hoses but that's OK to me as I control that access. I use a thrown tug toy as its useful in agility to reward. Have you tried tugging?. I get the ball thing as kelpies just like movement the most. Running is the best reward and when the ball stops its less fun. And I found it different teaching the kelpie to heel compared to my other dogs who are more focused on me. I tried the stop moving if they pull method... I'd stop walking if she went ahead of me so she would return to heel but then she'd immediately dart ahead again. She would happily do this for ages. So I tried a halti. I used food to get my dog used to the actual halti and to reward the heeling behaviour. Now she has it but she is NOT a fan of staright obedience. Mostly we walk on a loose lead about town, important as I walk 3 at once. If she does give me crap heeling ( or any crap) at any time she is back on the lead (or halti) and she isn't impressed. You do need to take time to make sure the halti is introduced properly and this could take days. The Gentle Leader halti I use came with instructions for this. Did yours? Her biggest reward is to "go play" , so I get her to do anything I want, then I release her with "go play". This is different from her release cue. "GO Play" means she will do what I ask such as walk next to me, drop, wait , put feet on a pole , stand still......then as a reward I let her "go Play". THis release to play is the biggest tool I have. I can ask her to do lots as I control her freedom. Good on you for adopting. Your dog looks lovely. I'm biased as my girl is the same colour! Love to know how it goes. PS . They are not stubborn! Just too smart!

Thanks for that advice

I wouldn't expect extra leave but in my workplace I would probably call in sick. (got plenty of leave) I would say that I'd be in no fit state to work anyway. Telling our workplace why you are away will get you " it's only a dog". One young worker had 3 days off after her dog died thou she wasn't particularly into dogs normally. My boss was fine with this at the time but work pressure/workload has made this type of thing less likely. Hope I won't need to worry for a while yet!

I've been looking at getting one of these attachments. I was heading towards the Springer one but its useless to me if it releases automatically? I see it has a bolt to pull to release it but does it release elsewhere as well? I have been biking my kelpie for 2 years and normally she is great. But she is fearful of some dogs and could dart under a tyre if spooked suddenly. She did so recently at something unexpected and it wasn't pretty. BUt I need her to stay attached to the bike as in a panic she might run off. We are on miles of bike track round a lake so cars aren't much of an issue. I was even considering maybe a 3 wheeler bike with a basket in the rear for my old small dog? Or a bike trailer with the kelpie tied to the trailer? Any advice appreciated.

I'll second the video. I was horrified when i first watched myself as having 2 small dogs I was bending over a bit. Did that change FAST!!! So maybe that will work. Find out where she is getting her training from besides you? And tell the helpful advice person who emailed you to kindly ........ well something And the comment about getting your hand in front of the dog made me laugh. I'm busting a gut just staying somewhere near my young kelpie. Isn't teaching fun! Good on you for caring.

I use crates for a safe place while out at shows and training. I use them when we go away to keep dogs safe at night. Used them when my new dog was younger as a training tool as crate games and a time out place. Recently used the crate as young dog would not stop romping on a visitors dog that was well behaved enough to lie in a down without the crate. She also ended up sin binned in bathroom as she barked in the crate! I am familiar with Ruff Love and know some people who use this training method well. And it isn't much different from professional dog trainers. However I am hearing that in America it is much more widespread. When a dog is young people want to control all rewards so crate heavily. But in some cases dogs are crated nearly 24/7 except for training. But some people lack the time or don't have the situation to let their dog out and interact with it as many times as is necessary. Reading a book a while back the author ( might have been the Control Unleashed for puppies) spoke against the trend of crating in her country. She even wrote about a lady who boarded up all the windows in a room so that the pup couldn't see out the windows as it liked to do this. I know the question was about crates generally but this scenario of crating for long hours with nearly no free time doesn't sit well with me. My choice as it is not what I want my dogs for. I understand the principle behind this but if this method is done by somebody with no time or no experience, not good. But in terms of the average person like me, crating is a great tool and my dogs love their crates. Like at dog training we are not allowed to tie dogs up (not that I would these days) and as I have 3 crates are vital if they all want to go.

Thanks for the advice. Kavik... I did LAT earlier on when she was younger. I also found that getting her to target or show me something gave her something to do if she was worried about a dog. She still keeps showing me paws on a pole if she finds a pole ,or something like a pole when she is excited. I walk Jade by herself in places she might meet dogs like the beach. Makes me calmer and confident as just one dog is OK. I am lucky in that our streets do not have loose dogs at all really. And she can pass most dogs happily now which is handy if she is running off my bike. I'm just stressing as someone has begun walking some seriously scary dogs off lead in the local park and it scares the shit outa me! (I walk there a lot) I will investigate if a behaviourist might help me. Off to herding tomorrow and an agility trial on Saturday! Enough doggy weekends and I'll get over it.

Some good advice given WildatHeart. Now I would not have thought of debarking but in this case it might be worth considering. Specially as you say the dog is getting hours of exercise. I used to stress my dogs annoyed the neighbours but apparently the kelpie to fine. How is it going? Any advice sound useful?

I'm not surprised girls are more trouble than boys. I am so happy mine get on specially as the young dog is so much higher energy than the two small oldies. Tdierikx... good on you for changing your set up for peace. Some would find it too hard.

Thank you for your reply Nic.B I know I have a problem worrying about loose dogs attacking mine because of experiences in the past. You can only go by my post which isn't the whole pic really. I am not talking about socialising mine as they all train and compete happily enough except the new addition who is more particular about who she runs/plays with. I am more concerned about other dogs you meet when you are out walking in on lead areas. Can a good behaviourist help all fearful dogs so that they change completely? I have access to one of the best trainers about but she is not a behaviourist as such. I would consider a behaviourist if it could help. My fearful dog has had every opportunity really but maybe its me I have to look at now. My trainer has spoken to me in the past about how I feel about dogs attacking us but we haven't spoken that much about it as they see my dogs mainly in class or trial situations. Or playing with other instructors dogs where all the dogs are very well socialised. Something I will consider.

What can someone suggest in this situation? I walk two small dogs and a really fearful medium dog. If another dog approaches off lead the med dog will go off if she is scared and she can panic at some dogs. If the approaching dog is aggressive I cannot protect all three. The one time this did happen I let the reactive dog go as I knew she would go home and we were not near traffic. I was trying to guard all three and the dog was getting more aggressive as my reactive dog was barking at it. And I do work with my reactive dog but she can't cope with loose dogs she is scared of coming at her.

Thanks for your reply Rebanne. Will check that out.

Hi all I have a 2 year old kelpie that might like to do her ET test one day. But I'd like to know if anyone uses a dog attachment thing to bike their dog. Maybe not in a trial but for everyday exercise. My dog runs well but she is timid and at times if she sees a dog she gets a bit worried and recently we had such a fright she went under the front tyre and we crashed. All ok as not speeding but not wanting to repeat this. Mind you its our first stack ever and she been biking all over the place. I've loved being able to bike her in the morning before work as its fast and I live on a bike track that goes around the lake and parks. I was wondering if anyone can advise me about the springer attachment? Or does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks

Wanted to just bump this up so maybe somebody can help with advice? What type of training have you given the dog while it was growing up. I tried to teach my kelpie that there was a quite time and a work time. Lucky mine developed a good off switch. BY type I was thinking more along the lines of learning self control. They do need to be able to learn to control themselves. But to get a tired kelpie meant so much time spent exercising and training. When she was younger she took A LOT of exercise. At 2 years its better now but working dogs do need a job, training and exercise. Is she really getting enough? Would hate a collar myself, would not go there so early on (probably never) but that is my personal opinion. I would have tried a trainer/behaviourists first so did you try anything like that? What happened with what you did try? If my pup had been barking etc a quiet time in the crate stopped this. Wouldn't be letting the dog practice the excited barking at any time either like in the ute. Any behaviour such as barking at mowers, brooms and wheelie bins was trained out as well. What other behaviours does your dog have? I'm guessing maybe not just barking? Hope someone with more knowledge than me can advise you. Some working dogs can be a real handful but anything is possible if you work at it.

I think I get where you are coming from. But don't give up from this one instance. Choose another school if you can however most people only have one choice. Classes are fun and so good for your dogs socialisation. However you are in charge of what happens in class. I pay a fair bit of attention to dogs around me and also usually only do one 1/2 hr lesson. One hour is just too long to train. Shake this incident off and go on to enjoy the social side of things for you and your dog Happy training

My dogs had fleas recently for the first time in 10 years! Must have found them on hols. I tried Capstar divided between 3 but didn't seem to work very well. It was cheaper but had to go back and buy a better treatment , maybe Sentinel which I divided. Worked fine.

Thank You every one for your advice. Sorry It's taken me a while to check back in. I've been back to the vets and Yes, definitely treating the symptoms for now with some antibiotics as while fungi in feet gone, bacteria are now having a party. And vet suggested trying some antihistamines too. Interesting idea that as I have 2 dogs it's something effecting them both..... I have no garden things happening (pretty slack on that front) such as fertilizer etc. No carpet in house just floorboards easily swept. Diet is now Royal Canin - medium + small dog kibble. REd meat bones, chicken necks, some odd meats as treats. However lately I have been feeding dog food like 4 legs and the other dog food rissoles in a bag ( just forgetting the name right now) for treats too and my dogs get a fair bit of it as training a lot. Hmmmm... that could be the thing. The vet did say that often grass is not always the cause however in jade's case it might be a contact allergy. She has the upper foot but not the soles and on her chest where the long grass hits, the dry reddish rash. I back onto grassy paddocks so the dogs do run in long wet grass. I will definitely get some tea as suggested. And look into diet. Dr Syme - Vets all Natural has been a great help sponsoring our local dog agility club so I will definitely visit your site and see what is about. I have tried some of your products before after wins at our agility trials. I know our local dog store stocks your products. Thanks again.

Hi everyone I'm confused and thought I'd ask advice from those knowledgeable DOLers! MY first kelpie x who is now 10 years has had red, itchy feet now and again during his life. If they flared up I'd use the cortisol cream given to me by my vet. "Ileum" ? I think. His belly is also effected and his skin there has that splotchy chronic look. But as he is older now they have seemed to settle. I have heard of Cortivance? and would try and buy that in the future. However the new kelpie as she has reached two years, her feet are also reactive. I assumed it was grass as every day she is run off lead in grass and its often dewy. She is also run at night in the paddocks as well. She also had some mild flaking on her chest between her legs. She has been at the vet who did a fungal scrapping which was positive. He said it would be from dirt but we don't really have much dirt in the yard. I'm not sure that the fungal isn't just secondary to her pink hairless feet? Anyway the vet gave me a cortisol cream which was useless so we then tried a cortisol with a anti- fungal element. Better and she was off on hols for a while. But with long grass out the back paddocks again the feet are crap now despite the cream. Off to the vet with both this week anyway. My question is .......Is it possible that the feet are reacting to grain. I looked at a friends dogs feet recently who is supposedly allergic to grain. And its feet look just like my dogs feet! I feed Royal Canine to my 3 dogs. My friend has a kelpie somewhat related to mine and she is feeding a special diet as her dog has crappy feet too. I hadn't considered this before. Should I try grain free? I wash her feet after each run but any other suggestions? Would boots work or help? Any advice appreciated.

Thanks for all your replies. For some reason I don't get fleas at my place. Once I went on hols and the place I visited had fleas so we brought them home. And last week some dogs visited and afterwards we had ... honestly you would be lucky to find more then one flea on each dog. So the treatment is mainly for ticks but as it is supposed to be fortnightly, not sure about administrating that much drug. I wasn't aware that Advantix hasn't the best results for smaller dogs as it is widely sold/recommended.Will follow up with producers as its costly to treat the effects after the reaction as well as making my little one so miserable. Not surprised your kelpie gets narky kelpiecuddles. My dogs skin seemed very pink all over and she swelled up all over her body eventually. Learnt form this experience... research more(ask DOL), wash dog ASAP and check my active ingredients from now on. A medicated shampoo I used once but dogs didn't like,had the same drug as Advantix. Ta and Merry Christmas

Hi kelpiecuddles Yes, I did just change my post. I wasn't sure about naming the drug but it was Advantix. What sort of symptoms did your kelpie have? I have used Frontline Plus a few times so will see what active ingredients this has. The little dogs are 10 and 9 and makes me wonder about doing them at all. Thanks

Thanks for your replies. The dogs were dosed correctly but I did edit my reply quickly once I posted as it read as Persephone noted "all dogs dosed the same" originally. When I read up on the ingredients I checked my method of dosage and it was correct. I was concerned about that. Basically the drug is 0.1ml per kg. Licking probably wasn't happening. Looking back as the vet said I could have washed the dog ASAP as this may have helped a little. And thanks for the tip Mystiqview. I will record those active ingredients. In the past I've used another brand so will see if that has different active ingredients. I did notify the company and received a fast reply. They want to know dogs vet history etc but really the dog is a cross breed and has had a visit for a sore neck and thats it besides the obvious desexing job. So glad it turned out OK. The other dog with similar but less reaction is twice the size but again a chi x (chi x kelpie). Weird both were effected. The 17kg kelpie was fine, the 9 kg chi/kelpie a bit reactive and the 4.5 chi x most effected. Thanks for your help all.

Hi I recently gave all my three a flea and tick treatment. I don't give the treatments routinely but ticks are about and i felt a bit nervous about them. I changed the brand I used and two smaller dogs started itching non stop.I did see a flea when I bathed them pre treatment so wasn't concerned at first. When the itching got worse I called a vet who said the treatment should do fleas but it probably wasn't the treatment. One dog wasn't so bad but the small dog at 4.5kg was really itchy. Ended up getting very red in the skin but no rash. The poor dog ended up with really itchy skin but probably wasn't fleas as she also started to swell up in her body. Lymph node areas were swollen and after her temp dropped the fluid also dropped and she had hanging skin on her belly. Of course she went to the vet and had a shot of antihistamine? She improved after this. She was actually eating and walking even before the shot but not feeling good. BTW the larger dog was fine. So mixed results even thou all dosed according to size. This experience isn't helping my decision to use tick drugs. I don't give them fortnightly as it seems too much and isn't 100%. But sometimes I feel slack because so many tick proof their dogs. If they did get a tick I'd feel terrible and one dog particularly has a heart murmur and wouldn't survive a tick. Long story sorry. So is adverse reaction common. Is one drug better than others? Do people divide the solution among dogs after purchase?

Yes