OSoSwift

Out of interest do you rinse him with fresh water after he has been for a swim???

I am also of the opinion that you just cut their food and ingore the pleeding. Big brown puppy eyes have no effect on me! Cut his food by at least 25% then if he is not losing weight cut him down more. I have had one dog that needed to be fed a huge amount of food to keep her condition but on the whole most dogs don't. Most dry dog food bags grossly over estimate how much a dog should be fed on their guidelines. If my dogs have had a slack day they get fed half, if they have had a full on day they get more.

Might have to take you up on that. My lovely girl Arizona (RIP) is sorely missed. Her favourite thing was to sit on your lap! Much easier having a Whippet in your lap!

Not sure haven't used it as yet?? and as I say at this rate it will be a while before I do. I rarely show mine - read once in the last few years - but I like to make sure they look their best. I didn't have any whitening shampoo until I got Lewis and I have the PP one at the moment.

excellent glad to hear it. Onward and upwards for the babies! I am so having a Rotti again one day :D

Thanks for the tips. I am going to try those products next . :D I must admit I love PP products, although I am going to buy some White on White next, but considering how long it has taken me to use around a quarter of a bottle I think I will be getting some in around 6 or 8 years!

I have used Plush Puppy Reviva coat on a very bleached red Kelpie and it really helped. I also use PP Sunscrean that you can use over the coat and on any pink skin areas to stop sunburn

canned food is a really expensive way of buying water. It is 80% water and 20% stuff! I agree good quality dry and raw bones, sardines etc

Emery hope your babies and mum are all going okay now - poor little lost babies Pea is rather cute. Love the photos towards the end where he is looking oh so sleepy. I am going to wait for the Stafford destructo pictures in a few weeks!

Doesn't sound good at all, thank goodness you are okay even if shaken up. It is a good idea to also carry a pena nd notepad when out and about just incase you need to jot somehting down. I am sorry you no longer feel safe, that is an awful thing to do to a person you have the right to go for a walk and feel safe.

Tiles and a few large carpet mats ie the lounge area is covered with a large mat. My dogs are not allowed to run around in the house so slipping isn't an issue. Very easy to clean. BUt mine don't drop much hair anyway and we have a towel near the door for muddy feet.

Thank you Aidan, I will track that down for her as well. I am thinking her corrections are too late and the dog is too into her fase of arousal for it to work, that is why I was thinking ignoring it taking her away until she can think and working on her focus then working her up to go back is possibly the best way to go for this person. She doesn't normally use a clicker but is open to the idea which I have suggested.

How I move, the equipment used etc are all cues to the dog that we are doing showing or obedience. I don't remember ever having my dog sit in the ring, but if you have taught both you jsut step them forward and ask for a stand. I expect that my dog is smart enough to do both and well and to know the difference. I think people that never teach their show dog not to sit incase they sit in the ring are not giving their dogs enough credit. Out of interest their is one very well known and very successful exhibitor over here who when waiting on a hot/sunny day sits her dog then moves so she is shade for the dog, when it is required the dog is set up.

Handy if you can find something but I always just pull them right out of the situation if that happens. Using a click to calm (or Control Unleashed) sort of protocol you should be able to get more and more attention in ever increasingly difficult situations. It would be good to get someone to observe this dog, you might find that you can work with the arousal, channel it into a prey reward but the handler would need to be skilled in training this way and the dog must be under good control. It's something to work towards (play tug games under control, for a start), but not something I would just throw in there without guidance. One thing is for sure, you need to give GSDs guidance on what to do in this sort of situation. Their instinctive response to things they are unsure of is usually to bark at it, or lunge at it (if on leash). Yes that is what she seems to do although she isn't particularly a lunger as such but her leaping around is towards the source of entertainment. I am going to pass on the clicker for calm info.

Have a look at Steve Courtney's K9Pro website and Leerburg website. Both have excellent info. Thank you I will pass those on

She is very well under control and can work very very well. It just seems that when she gets very aroused she stops thinking apart from the arousal and anything that has/is causing it. She has tried corrections and will make her drop and hold her leash short so she cannot leap around ( to the best of her ability!). She has been known to sit on her in the past when she was trying to do back flips! Usually getting her to drop and holding her leash short helps as does growling at her if and when she tries to get up. But not always. I do think it is highly likely that if there was someone around who was knowledgable with working in drive was around, then it is quite likely that her arousal could be channeled. I have no experience with working in drive at all. Nek the issue is trying to get her to settle and the best way of making it happen. She finds she feeds her high arousal by trying to leap around and therefore it is very hard to calm her down. I was wondering if taking her away from the source of the arousal until she could respond to her owner was the way to go, then work at getting her closer again. She is a very smart girl and when switched on to her owner can do some lovely work. She is good around the house etc, but energetic as you would imagine. She gets two walks a day and obedience training and now is getting agility training as well. She is well catered for in exercise requirements, socialisation and using her brain. She will guard and will react if dogs are aggressive towards her, but is by no means a problem. Her owner has been very careful with her socialisation and training from day one.

I would get xrays and see if you can get them read by a specilaist. UQ should have specialists there.

How exciting Tiggy - lots of photos please! I have a Commodore S pack sedan and it is soo to small for dogs and kids. I am saving for a Commodore wagon, but not gettint the post 2007 silly ones, getting a real one Fenugreek is very successful a friend of mine was on it for breast feeding her child and it worked very well. Many people have had success with their dogs on it as well.

Oh those are VERY nice! Lewis needs the counter surfer one and Rommi the mouse patrol. Maybe for Christmas!

Yes SSM The last 3 snakes that have been here I knew they were due to the Magpies and Mickey Minor birds swooping and sounding the alarm. I always go look if the birds are upset. Thankfully our trees are finally big enough that we have loads of birds. I also think that having cats purely as snake hunters is not a good idea. Personally I do not see cats as disposable pets and would have to treat any that got bitten by a snake so it could end up expensive, not to mention I don't want any of mine bitten. My British would probably fall over trying to catch a snake anyway. WE mow, don't have any flower beds, low shrubs, no woodpile and no junk lying around. We still get them but less than my SIL who has lots of garden beds etc.

Maybe bloods to give him general health check and bloods for thyroid wouldn't go astray?

Tiger snakes favourite food is frogs! We have had a wet winter and lots of frogs, so a bad summer coming up. I have already had 7 near the house and normally we wouldn't see that many near the house over all of summer. I am very worried about my animals and kids this year. I am hyper vigilant, but I cannot stop every potential senario. My dogs are insured for this reason, my kids are drilled on snakes and what to do/not do and closely supervised. It is a very stressful time of year for me. Over summertime NZ always looks so appealing!

I just spilt my noodles on the keyboard! I was laughing until this, then I was cacking myself!!!!!!!!

LAppies will be hidden under her hair!

In our Bath with a small container to scoop over the water. As for how often, when we just had Rommi it was around every 3 months, now we have Lewis he has more white so sometimes monthly or every second month. If I did them under a cold hose I think they would hate it and me forever and I would have buckley's of getting near them again!