OSoSwift

Surely if there is a 3 year vaccination marketed as such, then the research has been done and proven?? Therefore the only person able to be sued who be the company producing and labeling the vaccine as a 3 year vaccination not the vet going by the manufactorers labelling??

Post your clinic's number and we can all phone up for you :D I just find it amazing that the vet schools in the USA are teaching the three year protocol as standard now but the Australian Vet Association isn't picking it up. I've met some great vet nurses over the years, it just so happens that not many of them are the first point of contact in the larger clinics - which is a shame IMO, but understandable - you trained to be a vet nurse not a receptionist It saddens me as well. I worked as a receptionst/nurse for over 14 years. I prided myself on being up to date on current events/products. My bosses regularly handed over their medical journals for me to read. One a couple of occasions my need for knowledge meant that I actually was able to give the vets the info on CL in a Border Collie as they had never seen it before and I had been reading about the signs symptoms and ages it occured and I had seen it once at a different vet hosp. I went to the relevant area on the net, printed off the info and the people to contact for testing and that is what it was. Also happened with a Tetanus case once as well. When I left to have my kids my boss did tell me I was irreplacable - that made me feel really good. He tried for 12 months to convince me to go back to work. I would hate to think that people would have thought of me as unknowledgable or closed minded. I really hope that these places get some better staff! When I rang mine, they said they can get the vacc, but didn't have it instock, so could I give them a weeks notice and they said they could titre test but hadn't been asked to do it as yet. Ours go straight to Vetpath.

I am sure she is feeling much much better. Good on you. Out of interest what is the average weight range for a female Adult Chi?

You can use Advantage safely on a puppy of that age and younger. I think Frontline is from 12 weeks, but it will be on your packaging.

Am I correct in reading that the current WSAVA recommends 3 yearly vaccinations? I would then wonder how long it will take for the vets to pick this up and recommend it?. I would be happy with 3 yearly vaccinations and yearly health checks.

I don't weigh the food, but I have a general amount I fedd i.e a cup or so. I then adjust it by activity level or if my dog is putting on weight. Rain slack day, half normal food. Busy day at the beach, full amount. Looking a bit too well covered cut by around a quarter for up to a week until back to idea weight. I weight her from time to time, but she is always around my ideal for her.

Definately agree with that one! When I started clicker with my girl, I went back to the start and tried again. If I hadn't got so nervous she would have done much better than she did. We would start heeling, be going okay, then start looking at me like I had three heads! I am sure she was saying, what the hell have I got next to me and where did my normal owner go. Drinking a bottle(okay not quite!) of rescue remedey sometimes helped. I will never forget being at the Darwin Royal and going for the final leg of my CD - talk about pressure! I had the breeder there, friends as well, there are fighter jets taking off here and there. The breeder made me a Vodka "to help settle my nerves" Don't know about my nerves, but it blew my socks off! I was worried I wouldn't be able to walk a straight line! When it got to the stays I was so nervous going into the down stay as we were on a good pass. That was the 3 longest minutes of my life. The dogs were lined up not far from a chain mesh fence. it was night time. Some observers decided to walk up to the fence then hang off it!!!!!! My dog looked at me long and hard, I tried to give calm reassuring eye contact when honestly my kness were knocking. I could hardly breathe. I believe if we had onother minute in that stay I would have passed out! She was always solid on her stays, but I was just stressing out. When return to your dog came, I had to MAKE my legs move. I returned, didn't dare breathe until exercise finished. We had 3 fighter jets take off during our time in the ring! Thank doG she didn't care We ended up getting our last pass and went on to get Highest in Trial. Her first two passes she got while check chained trained, we took time off, retrained with Clicker training and went from there. Oh also she hated the dumbell, due to the way I been shown previously to train her. I finally managed to get her to retrieve a dumbell when she was 4 I think. I had been training all the elements of the exercise, but never put it all together. I was at training one day and thought, she is having a great day, I will see what happens, I threw the dumbell, sent her, she picked it up, returned, sat infront and waited until I asked her to Give it. All perfect. My friend was in tears as was I because she had seen us struggle and my dog shut down completely with the dumbell. I guess what I am saying is -never give uup Good Luck

I would seperate their classes if you can, but if Bella is shuting down you need to remove her far enough from the stress so that she doesn't. Also you may need a more valuable treat. With my Whippet Red Rooster chicken means you just about lose your fingers! If Bella is turning into a quivering mess, she is getting too much pressure applied. I would consider removing her from classes all together. Take her down to the grounds and have her close enough to the action so that she knows what is going on, but is still able to function. Highly reinforce her for being there. Over time mover her closer-but still what she can handle- so in time she sees the closer she gets to other dogs the more treats she gets. She will then start to see getting close to other dogs as vaulable. If you force her to be in class when she is visably upset and shut down you are just re-inforcing to her that being that close to other dogs is scarey. She needs to be able to learn that being around dogs gets her more attention and treats, so is therefore a good thing. Good luck with the training

Yes it was a long time ago. If Angel was still alive she would be 9 and a half! I remember seeing Blaize once when her heeling could not be faulted, then the next day she was using "artistic license" but she was always good to watch, she looked like she was having fun. I agree Lara should have got extra marks that day, because how she pulled it off at speed without breaking her neck I will never know! You can tell that you both have such a wonderfull bond. I only wish I lived closer to Perth so I could take advantage of all the wonderfull trainers up there

I have had the pleasure of watching Lara work and she was definately a credit to you. The bit I loved the best was in Albany I think when you did a down on recall and instead of going straight down Lara hit the ground flat out, rolled over and ended up in a perfect down, the judge turned around and said "How the hell do I mark that!" I have also seen Blaize work and she always looked great, although I didn't get to many Trials I will never forget watching her work as a 14 or so months - I think in Albany again - I had only been training using the clicker for about 6 or so months and watching her work so well and focused help to inspire me

I am competitive, but more so with myself. I want to better what we did last time, not necessarily beat everyone else, although it is nice! I like to compete to give myself an idea of where we are in our training and to have a goal to aim for. I like doing something I love with like minded people

My first trialing dog was my Dobermann Angel. She started out as a check chain trained dog, then became my cross over dog and at around the age of 18 months became my clicker dog. Our closest trials were 400kms away, then 480 and then 750kms. we got away to as many trials as we could, but not as many as we would have liked! She was also entire and had phantoms that went for ages, so was only really able to be trained/trialled for about 6 months of the year. We used to bring down a trainer down around every 12 months and when we went to Perth got some training in if time allowed. Even with all the obsticals we did better than I ever imagined. My only saddness is we didn't manage an AD title, we were self trained,didn't even start until she was 2 and she had to retire at around 5 to a spinal problem. Which was also the reason she never trialled in the UD ring. We had been training towards it, but never got to the ring. We only ever got to 4 agility trials. It also took me over 2 years to get her to even think about picking up a dumbell and that was only possible after I changed the way I trained. She became Ch Tornadobe D Heaven sent CDX WAC ROM ET I owe her so much, she made me change the way I thought about training, and taught me the ability to read her so well, not in the beginning, but we had an amazing bond. Sometimes I wonder how she put up with me, sometimes I think she knew what I was trying to say better than I did! When she died at 8 and a half it tore my heart out

I used to use cooked human sausage cut up into small pieces then pour the 'juice' out of a tin of sardines over the sausage and allow to soak overnight. Still a bit stinky and slimey, but not all mooshy and gross.

RIP Elliot, such a gentleman, run fast and free now, forever

So so sorry to hear of this awful tragic accident. Do not blame yourself, accidents are just that - not forseeable. I would be letting the plumbing company know exactly what had happen though. Thinking of you all, such an exquisite little girl.

Fingers crossed for you both froma ll of us. Hope you can knock it on the head once and for all!

That is good news, we have all fingers and paws crossed for you both! Good to see you also have a great vet! Goodluck

Sorry to hear about your boy. Take strength from the fact that he loves you and you will always put his needs ahead of your own. Hugs to all

Good luck, that particular bug can be very very hard to deal with!

Good luck, having a dog with multpile allergies, food and environmetal - it can be really really hard on them and you. Got my fingers crossed for you both!

Hi I have seen one dog that had had it. He was an adult male rotti, he looked great, they actually believed he responded better because he didn't have a constant earache! Not sure how true that was though. He seemed very happy and well adjusted.

Acepromazine - a sedative. Very occasionally a dog can fight it, but usually they get quite sleepy. I am not sure it would stop or decrease the level of anxiety though??? But I have never used it on any of my animals so could be wrong.

Have never trimmed Rommi's as she hasn't been shown yet, but my Dobe had hers done all the time, she never seemed to suffer. She showed, did obedience, agility - managed a few titiles along the way- and was a fantastic pet dog - all without the aid of whiskers!

Not everything in life for dog human or otherwise can be purely positive. Doesn't mean that we all go around slamming our dogs. My Whippet is quite soft and her corrections are also soft (especially compared to my Dobe) by she still gets them. If me yelling a menacing, loud "NO" stopped her getting stomped on by a horse or bitten by a snake, then I am going to do it. Yes she won't like it, and yes she will look sad for a time, but as long as I reward her for all things well done, and make sure the positives outweigh any of the negatives, then it will all be good and I have potentially saved her life I use positive train for my obedience training, but if she was off lead and about to jump on someone after absconding she would get growled at, but highly positivly reinforced for returning to me. I think we need balance and I think that dogs and people alike learn to be resilient when things don't always go their way. They need to learn to bounce back from the negatives of life.

Thanks for the tip Bull Arab, might just do that!