Ptolomy

I initially went to the dermatologist to get RAS testing done - however she explained that RAS testing gave a lot of false positive results and the only way to get accurate information was through the elimination diet - which unfortunately is a long slow process. The dermatologist is great I have her email address and can email her at any time and I will receive a reply back within 24 hours. They will ask you a serious of questions to work out if it is in fact food allergies or environmental ones. I was lucky in that my girl was so young I could give very accurate information and I had been keeping a book of what I had tried and what the result was. I also forgot to mention that my dog is now taking 1 Zyrtex - a human anti-histamine tablet every day. Spring is the worst time for allergies so does your dogs problems increase as the weather gets warmer?

I have to say I don't necessarily believe in homeopaths. This witch doctor is actually a human homeopath (he is an engineer who gave up engineering and took up homeopathy) - who has helped my dog so much so that my friend who also has allergies went to see him. I then saw him and several of my work colleagues have seen him and numerous friends with dogs have also had a hair analysis done by him. I don't know how it works - but the proof is in the pudding. I would think there should be homeopaths in NSW you could contact - but if worst comes to worst I can send you his details. It cost me $70 to have the hair analysis done and you get two bottles of drops. As I said I tried to do the elimination diet myself and I wasn't severe enough and I wasted a couple of months. It took me probably 2 months before I found something other than goat and sweet potato that my dog could eat and goat and sweet potato is not something they can stay on long term. If you saw a dermatologist they could probably tell you whether it was atopy or diet related. I did not want to go down the steroid route and I made this clear from the start and the dermatologist is doing everything in her power to save this as a last resort. My dog is still a baby and I want to try everything else first. It would be worth seeing a dermatologist to get an opinion - and then you can make decisions from there. Apologies to normal vets - but I don't think a normal vet would have the skills to deal with what I have gone through with my dog. But then again if I had a lame dog I also wouldn't take it to a normal vet as I don't believe being prescribed anti-inflammatories is treating the problem - but now you've got me started........ I must also say all these hypo allergenic bickies and bickies for dogs with sensitive skins - my dog is allergic to them all!

I could write a book on this subject!!! My toller developed allergies at 12 weeks of age - the initial presentation was ear infections and then a very red fanny and bottom and we started on the merry-go-round of antibiotics every few weeks. At 6 months of age I decided that it might be food related - so attempted to eliminate all foods with preservatives - and then randomly other foods. Eventually I went to Murdoch Vet Hospital and we are now under the care of a dermatologist. The only way food trials work effectively is to start your dog on two foods that they have NEVER had before - this will ensure that the dog is not allergic to this food. Our base diet was goat and sweet potato. On this diet we were able to clear up my dogs ears and redness around her belly and bottom. Then every 10 days I was allowed to introduce one new basic raw food eg chicken, lamb or beef, pasta, rice etc. I then had to document any skin changes I noticed. Things like beef I saw a reaction within 24 hours hours where wheat took 6-7 days before we ran into problems. If after 10 days there was no reaction - then I could safely say she was not allergic to that food. It was a long slow process but I now know that she is allergic to beef, lamb, wheat, corn and milk. I know that she can eat mixed veges, chicken, rice, potatos and sweet potatoes, goat, pork, cheese and yoghurt and fish oil capsules (which are a natural anti-inflammaotry and will help allergies). I also enquired about RAS testing which is the blood testing you can do for food allergies - but this test does give a lot of false readings and because of her severe allergies I was advised against it. At 12 months of age - my little cherub then developed atopy - GREAT! She began chewing her feet, she lost all the hair around her bottom and her mouth - her eyes were red and she was a mess. So I went down the allergy testing line. It cost me $750 and yes they shaved her side and tested her for 71 different things which were graded on a scale of 1 minor reaction to 4 severe reaction. I now know she is allergic to cockraoches, black ants, flees, dust mites, different grasses and pollens.... the list goes on. We started on the interdermal injections which I do myself - which is a combination of everything she is allergic to made into a vaccine. The schedule for the vaccine is such that you start off on a very mild dose and gradually the strength and quantity increases as does the duration between injections. Here we ran into another problem in that every time we increased the dose we had a severe reaction - so we now have settled on a very small 0.1ml injection every 3rd day. We are due to have the allergy testing done again (I believe free of charge??) at the end of September - BUT we only need 12 more points for our CH title - so I will hold off until we have those and will then have her retested and she will then be steralised as there is no way I want to pass on her problems to anybody else. As a side line to this I sent some of the dogs hair to a human homeopath for hair analysis and he made some drops for the dog and since she has been on these - her coat has improved heaps, she is scratching less and she is actually bouncing out of her skin. The dermatologist calls him our witch doctor - but is happy that the dog has improved so much and doesn't mind us continuing to see him. The witch doctor picked up that the dog also had high levels of mercury (probably due to the fish oil capsules), high levels of benzene and also aluminium. I sent some hair to the US and had it analysed and it came back with the highest levels of mercury they have ever seen in a dog, also high levels of arsenic, aluminium, copper and boron. I am now using mercury and arsenic free fish oil which you can only get through a vet and we are on a detox program. The vet also suggested twice a week giving beetroot, carrot and parsley juice/pulp to help detox the liver. The dog will be 2 in October and she is worth every cent I have spent on her.

You will need to introduce playing away from the start post to begin with. I occassionally paired it with food prior to going into the ring - but really he was enjoying the playing so much that the food was an added bonus :rolleyes: A word of warning - when you think you have played enough - play some more - but the warning is that you will be puffing and panting by the end of it - it sure does make you tired. A different guru runs beginners seminars over here too. She says that it is important that the dog is on its toes as it leaves the start post - so she encourages using food as a lure and using a clicker so that when you say heel the dog is moving forward to try to get the food - the click comes immediately the dog basically lifts its bum off the ground. A few of these where the dog only has to be on its toes and immediately gets the reward usually helps. But do make the treat something the dog really wants - not boring dry bickies. Next time you go to a trial have a look at people when they line their dogs up at the start post. Often the dogs line up crooked and the handler will stand there and tell them to line up again and again - the handler sometimes stepping backwards sometimes using their left arm to try and take the dog backwards and then bring it forwards again. This is really demotivating for the dog - in fact dogs hate it. If this happens to you you are better off heeling forward and doing a small circle or a right about turn x 2 and getting a straight sit this way. Enough from me.......

My dog had developed a stress related problem where he would drop the seekback or scent articles at my feet and would just stand there waiting for a second command to pick them up I initially gave him the second command and then worked out that he was relying on this to perform the exercise - so stopped giving the second command and he became a sad sack and i guess I became more annoyed and then we were then on the merrygoround of me anticipating him dropping the article and of course him obliging. Interestingly he never drops the article at training. So this was raised at the seminar I went to and the guru discussed what I was to do if he presented with the seekback - I was to ruff him up - now this is a very very soft dog who doesn't play and who doesn't like me raising my voice, looking sad or him even thinking I am not happy. So we set the exercise up - the dog presented the seekback beautifully :rolleyes: and I began to ruffle his neck and to tell him how brilliant he was. The guru was standing next to me and said keep going push him away grab his backside and the more I did it the more the dog came bouncing back. Normally you would have a 10 second play and then stop - but no the guru told me to keep going so I did - and the more I did it - the more the dog enjoyed it - he was jumping and turning and wanting his backside rubbed and he was so excited and up and everytime I wanted to stop playing, I was told to keep going. I must have played with him for 3-4 minutes by which time I was stuffed! I then had to go back and repeat the seekback exercise and he did it with sooooo much enthusiasm and he never looked like spitting the article out at my feet so once again I took the article and we played and we played and we played. The following day we trialled - we had a play at the start post before and after we removed the lead - while it was less than the 3-4 minutes we had done the day before - he remembered the game and was a happy chappy. He presented his seekback beautifully and never looked like spitting it out. We also had a play while the judge was putting the scent articles out and once again he was very happy doing this exercise and we didn't have the dropping the article issues we have had in the past. :p In open we had been having problems with the retrieve on the flat as he tends to go out to the dumbbell and then stand over it once again waiting for that second fetch command. While doing the DOR exercise somebody in the next ring, as I was about to give my down signal, roared at their dog, my dog's ears dropped and he missed his down signal. I called him in and initiated the play again. After this his retrieve on the flat was beautiful, his pickup was perfect and since we had already failed as he presented to me I said to him jackpot and we had a play. The dog enjoyed the round and I think we got a lot out of it and while not all judges will let you play with your dog - my judge gave me great feedback and said it didn't interfer with her judging. I would have scoffed if I had read an email about playing with your dog and what sort of affect it had - but it worked for mine and I will use it again and again and again.........

Good one Helen - I think you explained it really well on what Glorybea needs to do to rebuild the exercise

Ness did a super job in such a high pressure and distraction environment. I watch the video clips and over the last few months they have improved a lot but there is still room for more improvement and I promise not to mention right or left turns at least for the next 5 minutes. We had our last trial before our Royal yesterday - have come away with a list of things to work on - but I was very happy with the kids and what they did. I went to a seminar on Saturday run by a guru and I have always used food to reward my obedience kids - but we introduced "play" to them and they went up another gear This is playing with me in the ring between exercises - so no toys just me and the dog. I used it yesterday and it worked really really well. In fact my judge in open yesterday was also at the seminar and she emailed me last night to say how well it worked between exercises and how it didn't interfer with her judging at all, and the best part is that its something I can take into the ring with me and use

Just interested Glorybea - when does she break her stays and is it the sit and the down????? Have stays always been a problem - or have they been getting worse recently???? How old is your dog?

I think you will find that Kennel Cough is now called "Canine Cough" - which is a much better name for it and doesn't infer that you only catch it from kennelling your dog. :rolleyes: Treatment - well people in WA went through a run of giving antibiotics - surprisingly with vets prescribing them. Others let the virus run its course - with both resulting in it taking the same amount of time for the dog to recover. Dogs who have had the CC vaccination or nasal spray can still catch it. We have a current outbreak in the metro area at the moment. Dogs are contagious prior to showing symptoms and I know according to our canine regulations are suppose to be kept at home for a while after the symptoms have cleared.

I saw this warning too on another list that feeding frozen ice cubes had caused bloat. I have fed my kids frozen veges for years and never had any issues - but this doesn't mean that it isn't going to cause a problem :rolleyes:

The footy oval idea is a great suggestion :rolleyes: . I did it a few years ago - but haven't done it recently - so I will be on the hunt for some footy players this weekend (LOL). Stays could be funny since I could have dogs running in all directions chasing the players. I could lie and say that I trained them to do it on my behalf It's tough when you line up at the start peg and you already have lost the dogs attention. What have you done to try and improve this from happening again and again and does it only happen because you are soooooooo nervous I guess I am lucky in that heeling is really rewarding for my kids - we play so many start post games that me saying line up flicks their "on" button" and then its a matter of controlling it!

Was the pee stress related :rolleyes: - or just the fact that she was busting and didn't go before her turn in the ring? I guess the next question could be - what signs does your dog give when it is stressed in the ring?

The agility/jumping day at Melbourne will be much better this year as there won't have been bitches in season and bait all over the ground. How come - have they moved the agility area this year??? It sure does make it tough with food all over the ground - the bitches in season don't worry us though. Is the obedience held in the same area?

The Perth Royal starts 29th September - so still 3 weeks away - so plenty of training time left. Ness - it always helps when you take a dog into a State runoff who knows more than you know and has the ability to think for you! Its just a bummer that she is nearly 11 and like me occassionally suffers from Alzheimers! :rolleyes: This will probably be her last year at the Royal - although I am sure if I asked her she would say that she is OK to go another year or two. Do you do agility indoors at the Adelaide Royal too?

I emailed the Royal Show contact and asked if we could train at the show grounds and they came back with a definite NO I tried.......

Something else we have to content with is that our Royal is during the day. We have the agility and jumping teams event on the Saturday, obedience on the Sunday with UD held first, then this year we have novice at lunch time followed by open at 3pm. It makes for one long day, and then on the Monday public holiday we have the individual agility and jumping events. The ollowing Friday is UDX and CCD and Saturday is agility games. Shade is always limited and this year they have stopped competitiors bringing shade and umbrellas, so all the competitors are going to be packed in like sardines under the one shade tent provided. I had entered my 16 month old baby at the Royal and it was to be her first CCD trial - but I have decided to put her back in the cupboard to mature until next year as it is a tough environment to make her debut.

No Ness is not aiming for quite that high yet - anything over 190 and I am sure we will hear the scream. I know they have done a lot of work and things out of the ordinary - so we all wish them luck and have our fingers crossed. and for gods sake remember to breathe I think the kids close to the ring with the food is the toughest one to deal with. I have also found the crowd claps when the dog finds the correct scent article and this can be off putting as well. Our obedience area at the Perth Royal is used by the Alpaca people as a toilet area at night time - which makes it tough.

I took the opportunity to use some kids to put out scent articles for me at training the other night and I also left the dogs in a stand next to the kids while doing the signal part of signals I have cows in a paddock down the end of the road - so I have also done scent on the other side of the fence close to the cows. And I also have had open food containers around the place. Any others suggestions.......

Mel - you should be back chaining the exercise - so the dog should be able to sit in front of you and you hand him the dumbbell and then c/t - then gradually you lower the dumbbell, then place it on the floor at your feet and ask the dog to fetch - and the dog bends forward picks the dumbbell up and your c/t - so the most reinforcing position is always the sit in front of you. You then would place the dumbbell on the floor and you move back 2 steps and tell the dog to fetch and he should pick it up and come and sit in front. Notice you still haven't thrown the dumbbell. I too have dud retrievers - so hang in there.......

Its Royal Show time in various states. How has everybody prepared for the obedience and agility competitions at the show? Have you changed your training or included more distraction work - I know I have.......

So a week down the track - how is Nova and Darcy's training going? Any more progress or stumbling blocks with the DOR or the retrieve?????

I have had two litters and on both occassions we were still competing in obedience and agility up until the bitch was 6 weeks pregnant and nobody would have known she was carrying puppies (both litters were born in October). At 6 weeks she ballooned and so training was replaced with walks to the local oval where she could do as much/little as she wanted.

What snags are you going to run into in teaching signals and moving back more than 3m. The biggest snags you are going to encounter doing this with a toller is.......hmm where do I begin..... Repetition - tollers - well all of mine don't do well with repetition they tend to think they have got it wrong and will start to throw different behaviours at me when all I wanted was a drop. Then comes anticipation - before you know it they will start anticipating the drop or the sit or the come, so you go back to square 1 and reward each position inidivdually and start to put a longer interval in between each signal and to mix it up. Then you get the blonde moments where they act like they have never seen the signal before in their entire life - this usually happens when you are trying to impress somebody! Next is the moving sidways when they drop, or forwards when they sit up - ARGH - by this time you have taken up drinking red wine on a nightly basis to cope with the training sessions I would be adding distractions at each stage - and I also wouldn't be getting stuck at a certain distance, but in fact mixing it up as much as possible. I think I just about have a PhD on this subject (LOL)

DOR - try throwing some food or a toy - the dog will race out and get it as they turn around to come back to you - give a drop signal and a verbal and see what happens. Reward if they drop - this becomes a game and the dogs love it. Does the dog know a drop signal from a distance. Have somebody hold the lead and you walk away about turn and give a drop signal and see what the dog does. If it goes down, run in and reward!!!