speedy2

Hi Yes I have a Certificate IV in Companion Animal Services. There appear to be 3 main types of deliverers of this course: 1. Delta 2. various TAFE colleges 3. other providers, like Hanrob and Provet Generally TAFEs are cheaper. As it's a nationally-defined course they can't deliver less than the course requires. The Delta course is highly spoken of by Delta-afficionados, although I have met people who had been unable to complete the course or even get a list of what they had completed because they didn't submit 2 assignments. I'd be tempted to compare prices and requirements before making a decision. Speedy2

no dog is allowed off-lead in NSW except in designated council off-leash areas.

keep your eyes on the non-industry GAP website - gapnsw.org.au - they've even got links to the legislation. i think they scheduled the green collar days before this change arose, and are hoping that they'll be able to go ahead with them.

Hi All A friend's black female pug has gone astray in the Newcastle area. She has a grafted eye which is very noticeable and without daily treatment goes scabby. Sightings should be emailed to Colleeen on [email protected]. Thanks Speedy It's OK - she's been handed in at the local vets.

I've had a 16.5 year old German Shepherd X Greyhound, a 15 year old Dobe x Kelpie, and a 20 year old small white terrorist who bit me regularly!

Ah percyk. thought you might have dropped in on this one. Now, without excusing the idiots who had their Greys unmuzzled in a public place against the law ... and there is no excuse. However ... Greyhounds have been bred for centuries to chase, so you can't do much about it. Their heart pumps more blood than any other dog, so when they're running, between the wind in their ears, the pounding of their feet and the beating of their heart, they just don't hear. It's not that they ignore recalls, they just don't hear them. However, I trust my Greyhound completely, with smaller dogs at home or strange dogs outside, small or otherwise. So now you know one. Want me to introduce you to more of them? These guys don't have to chase to run - they love running for its own sake. Further, the overwhelming majority of Greyhounds are not chasing little dogs. Cats may be another matter <grin>. Because they are sighthounds that have been bred to chase hares, they shouldn't be let off-lead except in an enclosed area. They can see about a mile, and want to investigate. So, although all my life I have had dogs walk with me off-lead, my Greyhound will never be one of them, because of the sight issue and their explosive speed off the mark, and their physiology that makes it so hard for them to hear calls when running. And after having had my Greyhound monstered in dog parks by other dogs, there's no way I will take her there. They do not need to run, and as they are sprinters, a walk around the block tends to be sufficient. Yes, those people were stupid. However, the breed in the right hands is a wonderful dog. As are all dogs. What's the phrase - blame the deed, not the breed.

Hi Daisy It's an attempt to be able to track the greyhound for its life, and to start putting some accountability back to owners and trainers who can just shoot the dog now, or dump it and not tell anyone. Theoretically the local Greyhound Racing Authority can examine the data and ask questions of those who seem to dispose of a heck of a lot of greyhounds. I know Victoria are working on this avenue, and trying to improve the quality and reduce the quantity of greyhounds bred in that state. They are also asking a number of owners and trainers awkward questions. Yes, the owner or trainer may fudge the questions on the form - but at least questions are being asked. A GAP I know picked up a greyhound in a pound, and started tracing her by her ear tattoos. The original owner had decided that she was't fast enough, so had given her to a friend. The friend gave her to his niece, who then gave her to someone else and so on, and at some point in time she ended up on the streets and was impounded. There was no way to trace who had had her last, and whose responsibility she presently was, because none of these loving caring homes had bothered to microchip her (that GAP found her a loving home by the way, where she is cherished and looked after, and has a microchip which now says that she is registered to her current home). Greyhound Racing in Australia is also moving to microchips. Yes, not the total answer, but a step in the right direction.

by the way, i'm working with a greyhound in tracking. lovely long nose ... to hold lots of scent receptors ... now all i have to do is work on her attitude <smile> - don't think the judge will let the tracklayers sprint away wearing bunny suits.

we've had akitas with TDs and TDXs at my club - can't remember if the TDX akita did his tracking championship, or if it wasn't available then ... what state are you in?

I've seen a couple of dogs that will not work for anything ... and the suggestion has been made to starve them until they will work for food. The type of suggestions I see here. Does anyone have a problem with this? To me the basics of survival - food, water, shelter, affection - should be a given, and should not be contingent upon a straighter sit, or all the weavers done, or whatever. Sure, if it's a case of the dog's survival to learn this, then starve it. However, if it's just an exercise ... then find the most wonderful toy and limit acess to it, or reward the dog with walks. Or give up and enjoy the dog for itself. I'm now expecting lots of flak <smile>.

Hi Jules When I was a Chief Instructor I rostered people on 3 times per month. If someone was away they notified me and I took them off the roster. Even people who didn't want a break got one - avoid burnout. To do this you need a lot of instructors. I had over 40, and ran 2 instructor training sessions per year. Some people don't want to instruct - but there are many jobs in a club. If you don't enjoy instructing, find another task (helping with trials / equipment / new members / etc). If you don't enjoy instructing you won't do it well <smile>. How long is a piece of string? I've been putting in for nearly 30 years. If you get something out of a club, put something into it. If you don't get something out of a club, leave and find another.

talk to your local tracking club. GSDs do well in tracking, and they can probavbly give you good advice based on experience rather than marketing.

There is no obedience requirement, as it is all done on lead. You need a harness, 10 - 15 metre long lead, old dark colour socks (articles) which get scent up and this is what you use to scent the dog to the person they are following and they must find them on the track as well. Also flags to mark the tracks for training only. you probably don't need a harness and a 30' lead to start with. email the club and see what they recommend. sometimes clubs sell these items - i know the tracking club in sydney sells harnesses and leads.

Thanks Livertreats, I was hoping for something closer to home but maybe Maroubra it is then. DogsNSW gave me a phone number for the Northumberland Tracking Dog Club Inc but the phone number is disconnected and I can't find any information on the net about them to even know where they are situated. does anyone know anything about this club? Thanks Tony Hi Northumberland is long gone. The Tracking & Rescue Dog Club of NSW (www.trackingclubnsw.org,au) does train in Western Sydney - their secretary lives in Maroubra tho. and noone in NSW tracks in summer - too many snakes. feel free to email the secretary or the webmaster tho, and get some ideas.

Hi Years ago I read a wonderful article in an American magazine from a top obedience handler in the US. She noted that she always had 2 goals in any training session, a long term goal and a short term goal. The short term goal might be tightening a finish, or a turn, or a general brush up. The long term goal never varied - it was that the dog enjoyed itself. Her rationale was that she did a lot of trialling ... and if the dog didn't enjoy it then it wouldn't enjoy a lot of the time with her. So, if in a training session working on the short term goal, she looked likely to lose the long term goal ... she stopped, did something really easy that the dog did well and enjoyed to finish on a good note, and ended the session to try again another time. I liked that so much it's now my motto too. Remember that dogs have off-days, dumb days, windy days - just like you. Do something positive and walk away to try again another day. Don't sour or frighten your dog by persisting in your demands when the dog just can't do it today.

Hi Tiggy The pivot left turn works wonderfully well if your dog is either in the correct heeling position or a little forward of that. and looks fantastic. If your dog is a lagger, then all you are doing is making the dog a metre further back - now he has to get into position, and then go around you, whereas if you do the U-turn you catch him up. They are both legal and neither should be penalised. However, if you look at it closely, the dog is not doing a left about turn in the pivot. You are - and the dog is doing a right-about turn around you. Speedy2

Hi PercyK Of course there are differences within a breed. I've known a border collie who was a couch potato and a labrador puppy who was less than a ball of energy and a placid weimaraner puppy ... most dogs of a particular breed are their own individual variation on the breed traits. Perhaps go and get a mutt who has no breed traits to answer to (spoken as someone who has had crossbred dogs all her life and gained her first purebred dog in her fifties - a grey - and yes, she has on occasion bounced and leapt about, but has then gone straight back to sleep, unlike my mutts who kept bouncing for some time). The vast majority of dogs presented to a GAP are easy and suitable for rehoming. GAPs rehome them. They also handle adoptee-rejections of dogs if they happen. GAPs also try to set up an ongoing relationship with the new adopter - doesn't sound like an ignorant fly-by-night operation to me. If your observations as someone not involved with the breed differ so much from those who have 20 or 30 years experience with living with and rehoming the breed (and handling any after-effects), then perhaps your observations are erroneous or skewed. Give us some more practical details - none of us want greys mishomed (for the owner or the dog). Similarly, I think your observations are misposted here. How about the breed forum, where we can introduce you to as many lovely placid rehomeable greys as you like, and perhaps change your opinion.

Hi Amanda The problem is that they're bred to be sight hounds and to chase. So to some extent the race training only adds cream to the cake. Unlike other farm dogs, they probably have more chance of catching a rabbit than most. And when chasing, they are totally focused to the exclusion of EVERYTHING else. They would go straight through a barbed wire fence (and skin themselves plus other damage in the process), or straight under a car without noticing either. They wouldn't even hear your call. When they stopped running, if undamaged, they would be lost. Obviously the chase instinct will vary with individual dogs ... but I don't let my girl off unless I'm in a secure area. And, as couch potatoes, they don't HAVE to run the way other more active dogs do. And can live the rest of their lives with you happily without ever being off-lead outside their property. Pups are hard to get hold of from racing stock, as each pup is sure to be the one that will win a million dollars. Generally only unraceable ones are available - and they are that way either through an injury, or because they don't know who the parents are and can't register them. Show puppies - Rebanne, what do they go for? Noone is jumping down anyone's throat here - we all have the wellbeing of the greys in mind. And we all want to tell people how wonderful the dogs are. The more homes for these dogs the better, as long as people are aware of the characteristics of the breed.

yes, you can use any English word. however, a friend of mine who is an obedience judge particularly notes any word other than heel - he says he immediately thinks "hello, they've stuffed up their heeling and had to retrain! watch closely." I stuffed the scent discrimination so badly I had to change the sequence of the articles, the word and the signal.

hi firstly it can be done. i did agility, obedience and tracking all together. was successful in all of them. however, if you regard obedience as a chore, why do it? if you insist on doing it, treat the agility as a reward for obedience. speedy2

Yes there are a lot of dogs with titles in both disciplines. The old Obedience Championship required a UD and a TDX, and many dogs achieved this working in both UD and tracking at the same time. the Tracking & Rescue Club of NSW offers a trophy for dogs that obtain both their UD and their Tracking Championship - since its inception there have been multiple winners each year. speedy2

yes yes yes yes yes

please don't don't don't teach your dog to retrieve tracking articles. when your dog picks up a scented article on a track and brings it back to you a number of things happen that can disadvantage you in a tracking trial 1. the dog has left the track to return the article to you 2. the dog has filled its mouth and nose with the scent of the article 3. when you have taken the article and praised the dog, the next thing you ask to dog to do is find the track 4. the dog now can smell nothing except what was in his mouth for some time (amount of time depends upon size of snout, size of article and weather conditions at the time), so will probably just head out blindly in any direction indicated by you - and he can't smell where the track is because he has left it and all he can smell is just his article. he can be quite some distance off the track before his ability to scent the track returns the tracking articles are quite different to seek back or scent-discrimination articles, they don't smell of you as those articles do, and the command, harness and circumstances are different. if your dog can pick your scent out of that area or those articles, as long as you train with awareness, your dog has enough sense to know the difference. don't build problems into your tracking - the sport is hard enough as it is. speedy2

Please do not teach the retrieve! When a dog picks up an article the scent of the article drenches its nose and mouth, making it unable to scent anything else for a while (the amount of while varies with conditions, size of snout etc). It can thus cause the dog problems establishing the track direction again, handling decoys, corners etc. Additionally the dog has left the track and its direction to come back to you in the retrieve, and may easily mistake the track direction when starting again, because all it can smell is the article it has just given to you. A nice simple drop / stand / sit is wonderful. In trials, generally socks are used. On occasion I have seen a bra left at a starting peg when the tracklayer realised that she was short an article. Ditto tshirts. Neither on the track because the scent pool would be too large, only at the start. Once you get to competition tracks for dogs with their tracking championships, articles can vary widely. You're a way away from that yet though. Socks are the most usual. dark socks, preferably of a natural fibre like cotton or wool. DIRTY socks - that means they smell of you. Recently of you! Must get around to washing my last season's socks before this season ... Speedy2

forget the entire bit - 2 bitches can be a problem! i had 2 neutered bitches with about 2 years age between them ... when the younger one decided to challenge for leadership in the older girl's old age, we had lots of hassles, blood etc. speedy2