poodlefan

Fair enough. Good luck with tracking! Gundog working tests are another thing you could look at.

I've seen it happen! Lil my Toy Poodle has won classes... she was never fast but she was consistent.

You can use kiddy cough syrup on a dog.. ask your vet about dosage.

Can you give an example of something you do consider to be a behaviour chain? In agility, training of contacts is often done by 'back chaining' You teach the end of the obstacle first to produce the desired stop in position at the end. Then you add length to the run to the contact and then teach the direction to the contact. A verbal cue and/or visual direction then cues the dog to complete the obstacle with a desired stop in position which is then rewarded (in training) I guess this would be "A series of related behaviours, each of which provides the cue for the next, and the last that produces a reinforcer."

You may not be able to beat the fast dogs for speed but if your boy can leave the bars up and do a reasonable clip you'll do just fine. In agility, the race isn't just about speed but about accuracy and consistency. :D There have been some great dogs who weren't working dogs over the years. At our club we had a Bernese Mountain Dog get his Masters Agility and Jumping titles. There's a lot to enjoy about the sport other than winning. Watching your dog have fun and improving your skills as a team is immensely rewarding.

Good point there, I think a reputable agility club would tell the owner if their pup wasnt ready Don't bank on it.

For a wool coat? Absolutely! Pin brushes are only used on show poodles for extremely long coat like ears, topknot and jacket. Slicker first then follow up with a fine/medium metal comb (often called a poodle comb) to make sure you've got all the knots out. Pay particular attention to "armpits" and around under and behind the ears. Forget the cheap petstore slickers - they're crap. Buy a quality brand one and it will probably outlive you! Are you using the slicker against the lie of the coat? Brush up the legs, not down. Test the slicker on your bare arm. If it's uncomfortable for you, it will be for the dog too.. as I said, get a good one.

Even when you're walking along? That would drive me nuts.

For a Lab, I'd be delaying any jumping until 18 months or when growth plates have closed.

Not true for the ACT Kirty.

If you are serious about doing some field work, PM Lablover or FHRP. They will be able to guide you towards the right breeders. Seeing a few trials will give you a good idea of what's involved too. Where are you?

Alfie I'll add a note of caution. There are people who will tell you that any breed can do agility and to an extent they are right. However what they don't tell you is that its a big ask for heavy breeds to continuously jump high obstacles. They also don't tell you that some dogs struggle to be competitive and to remain sound. When someone says "of course Labs can do agility".. ask them if they know of any that are. There are certainly gundog breeds I'd rate as having greater potential for the sport. However if its a Labrador you have your heart set on, then a careful search will produce more likely candidates than others. Don't forget that there is a sport that Labradors with the right drives are bred to excell at and that's retrieving. Working gundog folk are always keen to welcome newcomers to their ranks. And once again, some lines of Labs will do better at field trials than others.

JJ exactly what is the problem here.. is it the dog barking when she sees the lead come out and you are about to go on a walk or loose lead walking while on a walk. Have you joined a dog training club yet?

Fox Creek winery in Mclarenvale (SA) has a resident Border Collie. That's the only one I know of for sure. Edited to add Shadows webpage

Depends a lot on the Labrador. There are two types in Australia - the "field" or working type and the "bench" or show type. The field dogs tend to be leaner, leggier and more high drive. If I wanted to do agility, that's the type I'd be looking for but it would come with higher exercise and training requirements. I've seen stockier Labs do agility and do it well but you want them very lean and they are required to jump high for their build. Despite what many people think, agility places a lot more strain on the front end of a dog than the rear. It's landing that places the full dogs weight on one leg at a time - I'd be as much if not more concerned with elbows as hips. My advice is to look high and wide for a breeder that has some runs on the board breeding dogs for agility. Asking in the Labrador Retriever thread would be a good start.

You weren't the only dumb one. Over the counter antihistimine would help. I can't tell you the dose though.

Perhaps the best advice I can give anyone trying a new dog food is don't lash out on big bags. Get some samples either from the retailer or manufacturer or from someone you know that feeds it. I'm about to conduct experiments with the new Artemis Power on friends dogs that didn't tolerate the old recipe well. The dogs seem to be willing test subjects.

Supercoat contains a lot of cereal. From my limited observation, how well your dog does on it will depend on how well their gut tolerates cereal. Clearly many dogs do well on it. However from within my circle of dog friends who have or do feed it I know one person whose dog had persistent yeast infections and another whose dog produces what can only be described as copious amounts of mousse from its rear end. Whats your budget purebreed - are you up for super premium, standard stuff or supermarket/low end stuff? There seem to be better and worse in each of those ranges.

In order to shoot the pig you have to find it and keep it from bolting.. that's what pig dogs are for. Of course there's a raft of difference between dogs trained and used by professional hunters and a bunch of blokes with a slab in a ute using their crossbreds to have some fun. Even the Vegan Society endorses the use of dogs for feral pig hunting.. there's no better way I'm afraid.

Happy Birthday! Where's a baby photo?

Put him in with the K's in the trolley and add a cover

And not just on this issue

Why do people hate particular dog breeds: *A bad personal experience * Ignorance coupled with a generalised wariness of dogs and readiness to believe bad press. Take your pick.

As an Dogs ACT member, the majority of my shows are interstate (NSW). I'm an Associate Member to get the Canine Journal but have shown in NSW, VIC and SA without issue. As far as I know entry to any ANKC show is open to any CC member provided you are financial.

In an ideal world, I think small children wouldn't be in dog parks. However its not an ideal world and parents don't always have the luxury of having someone mind the kids while Fido gets an outing. That said, very very close supervision of children is required and of course that makes simultaneous supervision of the family dog challenging. I don't go to dog parks but the presence of kids would probably make me hesitate to enter. So many things can go wrong on both sides of the equation.