MolassesLass

We don't conduct any clinics on the Gold Coast, closest would be the Kuraby ones. We have members who travel from the Gold Coast to all our events, we could maybe see if they'd be able to offer you a lift? We will be doing a demonstration at the Gold Coast Pet & Animal Expo on Saturday 6th & Sunday 7th October at the Varsity Lakes Sports & Arts Centre. Due to the KC forced cancellation of the Qld Canine Disc State Championships, we will be conducting the event at the expo on the Sunday. You can come and watch or you can enter and give it a go (just $10 entry). If all goes well this year, we may permanenty move the championships to the Gold Coast - at least that will be one event.

The only thing I can say about throwing, is practice, practice, practice!

They probably aren't jumping for it because they can feel how wrong they are jumping. Check out the overs exercise above to get the jumping a little more usable. Interest and then catching are more important first. Don't stress about lack of interest for now, I'm sure you know what you're doing with getting their interest levels up. Sounds like the dogs need to learn that the game isn't retrieve but catch. Once you have the dog reliably returning rollers you can try to throw the disc and see if the dog's keeness to get the disc means they catch it. If not, then you can work on the command "take" or similar. Can do this one in front of the TV! With the dog in front of you, offer the dog the disc and teach it to take the disc from your hand when given the command (and ONLY when the command is given ;) ). Once you have a dog that takes on command, teach the overs drill. Once the dog understands the overs drill and is taking the disc from your hand you can begin to hover it to progress. A hover is basically spinning the disc on the spot. The idea being that you tell the dog "take" and before the dog gets to you, you hover it so the dog is catching it rather than taking it. If you don't want to follow the overs route you can try (once the dog understands take) tossing little throws beside the dogs head while the dog is right in front of you. Go spastic at first even if the dog just turns their head to watch the disc land - that's still interest. Build it up so that the dog understands what you want is the catch. Then you slowly build up throws - 1m, 3m, 5m......40m+. Some people help their dogs remember catching is the focus by praising if the dog catches and again when the dog returns the disc so that they are able to mark not catching by not praising that part. All that has lots of implicit "praise, praise, praise" requirements in it. ;) Does any of that make sense? How can you not?! Take the disc as if you are going to throw it and then roll your wrist so that the disc is held in your hand at the bottom and the opposite edge is facing the sky. Then flick your wrist forward and the disc should roll on it's side (usually ends up going in a circle sooner or later). This helps the dog learn the skill of "tracking" the object (i.e. wacthing it) instead of just "run and assume".

She should be fine outside, just do a check to make sure every cm of fence is secure, that there are no poisonous plants around (lists can be found online) and that there's nothing in reach that you aren't willing to sacrifice!

I dunno, stop putting it on yourself? You're saying the dogs don't catch the disc in the air, they wait for it to hit the ground and then retrieve it to you?

Twas just humour (though I don't think everyone on DOL would know). Oh, where is Dougie these days, did he get a permanent ban?

If the pup is allowed to eliminate in the house at any time, the pup will believe they can eliminate in the house every time. Dogs can't grasp the concept of inconsistency like we can and your pup just doesn't understand that you have no problem with inside toileting some times and not others. Can you make (or buy) a small pen that the pup can be outdoors in while you are at work? It has to be larger than a crate you would use as the pup needs enough room to be able to eliminate without encroaching on it's natural cleanliness (that is, to not toilet where the dog sleeps or eats). If you can't do that then I think you will need to place paper all the time and teach the dog to toilet on the paper all the time. When you are ready to have your dog outside then you will need to retrain to toilet outside. This isn't the best solution IMO. While most dogs would have figured it out with appropriate training by 6 months of age, it's not a given so don't bank on it.

If you want credibility perhaps you could start with an actual breed name, no such thing as a "Heeler" standard.

Some quick safety tips:

Ok, first thing is you'll need to stop leaving the disc with the dog. The disc needs to be of value and it's needs to be YOUR toy. If the disc comes out only while playing with you then Bella should place far more value on it (they all want what someone else has). Also many discs can be chewed and little swalloed pieces aren't good. There are special canine discs that we use and they have a few important safety features that a lot of ones (even those sold for pets) don't. The weight of the disc you use is important; too heavy and you can injure your dog and too light and it just won't fly properly. Next the disc should be flexible (not floppy); any disc where you can't flex it is likely to shatter at some stage (due to the point pressure from a tooth) and can badly cut the dogs mouth. The edges of the disc should be rounded rather than sharp, this stop lips and gums being cut when catching. Lastly, "grippy strips"! These are ridges that run along the top edge of the disc so that even once slobbered on, you can still get adequate grip to throw well. Our club only sells Wham-O Fastbacks (Wham-O actually owns the trademark "frisbee") and Hyperflite Jawz discs (for the hard mouthed dogs) which you can PM me to buy. In Australia the sport allows for the use of: Wham-O premium weight standard Fastback and Flex Fastback models Hyperflite K10 Competition Standard, Jawz, Jawz Pup, Soflite and Soflite Pup Hero 120, 160 and 235 disc models AFAIK there is only us that sell canine discs in Australia but most of the overseas sites (American and Japanese) will ship to Oz. Even if you don't get one of the competition approved discs, make sure you check whatever disc you are using against the above. I was thinking that but was trying not to be too pushy!

Sorry, just put DOLer to person. Sounds like a great idea, I'll put it to the committee - thanks!

Bella may be a little slower to grasp the concepts at 3, but it should still be fairly easy. Firstly, I will reprint a few Tips from our DISCussiono ezine that I think apply: And secondly, the second page of this (PDF) document continues and expands on the above process. The fact that she does retrieve and shows interest in toys means she most definitely has hope! Does the above outline for you a clear approach to creating interest in the disc, if not, just ask. I'd also suggest that you reduce or even remove play with other toys to really heighten the value of the disc. Oh, what type of disc are you using? Hopefully Carrathool can use the above for tennis balls too?

MsJames, I started another thread if you want some help with training - here

Can you please give me some Bella details (age, breed) and can she retrieve any item?

I'll be the mad woman with the chocolate BCs. I'd love to show you video of my Bullmastiff boy playing but not only does it have vision of me in it, it has audio of my "praise voice" and that's SO not being put on the internet! ;) He won't play in front of an audience at this stage - only at home - so I haven't really tested him over large distances. Competitions aren't all that strenuous. A Toss & Fetch round is 90 seconds long, with the best 5 throws counting towards your total. Points are scored: - 1 for a catch made over 10m and under 20m - 2 for over 20m and under 30m - 3 for over 30m and under 40m - 4 for over 40m An extra 0.5 point is given if the catch is made "with all 4 feet off the ground in an obvious jumping motion". At the bottom of the page here you can watch some videos of Toss & Fetch rounds. Freestyle for the advanced players is a maximum 2 minutes routine set to music (mostly to pump you up and help you remember segments) where various skills are shown with multiple discs. This is where moves like flips, over the body jumps and vaults (off the handlers body) are done. Example videos: from Guide Dogs Open Day demo Karen and Amber Damian & TigerEye

You never know! We're already booked for the RSPCA expo and are hoping to make our final decision on a Gympie meeting after that. Thanks! ;)

If you got enough interest to make it worthwhile, I'm sure we would send someone down for a one off. If you know of any locations that would be suitable can you please PM me. How west are you talking, Fig Tree Pocket kind of west or Ipswich?

...a canine disc training clinic in Gympie? Or are there other locations that we don't yet cover that you would attend? Currently we can be found at: - Kuraby - Cleveland - Clontarf - Redcliffe - Bellmere Canine Disc info

Patch, exactly the situation that has prompted me to ask. Have been biting my tongue all day waiting for it to be "officially" disseminated.

That's what I was worried about.

Is there any infection risk if your dogs attend an event where some of the people attending have dogs (at home) who could have been exposed to KC? How careful are you about not exposing your dog(s) to KC?

If you're after an intestinal wormer from Priceless Pets they offer two options. Paratak Plus Allwormer - one tablet per 10kg - roundworms (Toxocara spp, Toxascaris leonina), hookworms (Uncinaria stenocephala, Anclostoma spp), whipworms (Trichuris vulpis) and all tapeworms (Taenia spp, Dipylidium caninum, Spirometra erinacei and Echinococcus granulosus) Drontal Allwormer Chewables - one chewable per 10kg - Roundworms, Hookworms, Whipworms and Tapeworms (Echinococcus granulosus - Hydatid tapeworms), (Dipylidium caninum – common flea tapeworm) (Taenia spp., Taenia ovis, T. pisiformis, T. hydatigena). Also aids in the control of shedding oocysts of the protozoan Giardia spp in dogs.

Just in case... There are 4 Multivet Spray Commander Dog Training System (remote spray collars) on Ebay ending in about 3 hours that seemed fairly cheap. $142 posted. Linky

Yup, also can be longer if the pup is flying to their new home. No ANKC registered breeder is allowed* to let any puppy leave their care prior to 8 weeks of age and any such breeder should be reported to their state body. * Each ANKC registered breeder (the only people who can sell puppies with valid ANKC pedigree papers) agress to a Code of Ethics which they must abide by and which includes the regulation about age to go home.

I bought a large size that is currently $67.95 at ClipperWorld (though was more like $89.95 when I was looking) and on Ebay they are starting at $9.99 - $27.99US. Depends what you can win, that's the fun of Ebay. Specifically, I purchased from this seller.