OSoSwift

I think the length of lead is suggested so that if the dog wishes to stay near the rear tyre it can and not be getting dragged along. The lead only neads to have a small loop so it is easy to see that you are not pulling your dog along. I had a bit folded up under my hand. We didn't have bitumen available to train on, most of ours was gravel and gravel & sand. None of our dogs had pad problems. I think if you only trained on a soft surface then you might have a problem. But if you are going over concrete, bitumen, dirt with stones you will be fine.

Hi MellG - I had a yukky coat problem with my Dobe after she had puppies and I got the following advice off an Amstaff breeder/showie. Meat (I used chicken- but whatever you normally give) Sardines VAM Paste (Horse/Produce stores) Nutrigel. I went from a dog with hardly any coat to a dog with a short coat, but very healthy and shiney within 2 weeks.

A friend that did it with us had a Dobe bitch who had weaned pups not all that long before the trial (can't remember exactly how long) and she did it with ease. I envy you guys, you will all love it. I used a normal entry form when I did mine, but it was a few years ago now. Oh and I think we were told our dog had to be on a 1.8metre lead (6 Foot)

Your dog needs to be in a flat collar. They cannot wear a collar that can tighten at all. I used a flat leather greyhound collar on my Dobe

When I was vet nursing, we did quite often recommend dry food for weight loss as you knew exactly have many kilocalories per kilo the food was. If you are feeding a home prepared diet it will change from batches of food made up and the ingredients that go into the food. At his age his weight is a very vaild concern and for the short term a diet of only dry food would not hurt him. However if you have cut his food back and he is losing weight, keep doing what you are doing. Sometimes dogs will lose weight, then plateu, cut his food by 25% if he does that and his weight should start shifting again. Once he can exercise that of course will help the process. Don't do too much exercise when he is carrying lots of extra weight as you are straining soft forming joints, gentle lead walking is best until his level of fitness increases and his weight drops. You do not want him to lose weight super quickly as if they drop weight very quickly it can release lots of fat into the blood stream and cause problems with the liver and pancreas. From memory the maximum you would want a dog to lose of his size would be 1 and a half to two kilo's a week. This is an ideal bodyweight chart of what to look for in an ideal bodyweight dog http://www.purina.com/dogs/health/AdultBodyCondChart.pdf I feed about half and half and have healthy dogs, they get good quality dry food and meat, vegies, fish, bones, chicken carcasses and some rice.

I had to travel 400kms to compete in mine, the only other thing that happened was one person nearly got pulled off their bike because their Dobe saw an Emu - made for a few exciting moments. Not only was the event great, I love the training and lead up, my dog and I had a great time together and she loved getting out and about, wasn't to bad for my bottom either. Do it you, will not regret a moment of it, well maybe a little at the end if you didin't use a gel seat!!!!!

I did it with my Dobe and LOVED it. We trained at about 11kms/hr and in the end did 4kms every second day. The other days were free running at the beach, agility/obedience training and I always had one day off a week. As I live on a farm myself and friends did a practice run a few weeks before and did the whole 20kms with the dogs, they breezed it in. The vet actually asked me if my dog got excited about anything as when he was checking heart/temp/feet she was drifting off and resting her head on his hand. Her HR and Temp was lower on each check than the start of the trial. During the rest times we made sure they were offered water of course but other than that ours were flat out on their sides resting/asleep. We had a Aussie that vetted out as he was soo wound up, he wouldn't settle between stages and his temp and HR vetted him out after the second stage. I think he barked the WHOLE first stage. I so wish I was doing it again, I am not sure how I would go getting a Whippy fit enough for 20kms though? Can't wait for updates

Must be a Whippet thing as well!!!!!!! 5 X 10 minute bursts achieve much more than an hour or even half an hours straight work. At home all our training is done off lead so it is not hard to tell when she is drifting off!!! Oh look a leaf, cool a butterfly or I am sure I saw something move 3 paddocks away, I'll just go check it out. Potentially after doing something well and getting a big praise and love up, big hoonie bog laps around the house a few times to celebrate! If you need to break it up to little and often, you will learn to get very good at picking when he is starting to zone out. Most of all have fun :rolleyes:

Silly isn't it when all it takes is for people to keep their dogs to themselves! Especially when they have been pulled up and told off for it.

I can come to your training sessions I yell VERY loudly, - Do Not touch the dog it is working Or - BACK OFF we are working. Or - Leave the BLOODY dog alone. I know I should be in Human Relations! I think I might make a vest (for the dog)that says I am working GO AWAY.

If he is drifting off, then say he needs a break drink etc and take him away fro a little while, Most people if they have any idea about training a young dog won't have a problem with that. I excused my dog early from the class and took her home before the end of the class as she had been working really well and was starting to lose focus and stop trying. I took her to one side, got her attention did one line up and sit, which she did beautifully, then called it quits. The instructor was quite happy with that. It was her first time working around lots of dogs and she found it quite tiring, she is 13 months old.

Those vids made me cry!!!!! Oh my god, I am sure if it was me I would have the dog out of the ring and belting to the vets, horrendous to see, however I am glad I did. That happening had never entered my mind!!!!!! Jules, I am also from a horse background and I spend lots of time on the 'quality of the jump'. I have been told that no you don't want a collected round jump, you want them to jump flat they go faster. My way of thinking is when they speed up, they will naturally flatten out so I certainly don't want to teach that from the beginning it will mean rails down. Also I want my dogs weight over it's hocks for a good springy take off, a nice high, round shape - less likely to hit things. I also do lots of grids moving the distance between very low jumps to try and teach the dog to look for it's take off point, not leap and hope like hell it makes it. I ALWAYS think horse when training my dog, I am sure some think me strange!!!!

Our desexings include an injection of long acting antibiotic and pain relief included in the cost. That is the price you are quoted. When they are dropped off they have a quick check over and then IF there are immature teeth that need removing or umbilical hernia's, floppy dew claws, etc it is discussed as is the additional price. If you want pre -aneasthetic screens or fluids(or if it is recommended) then all that is discussed as well. Some strange things go on by the sounds. Although have heard of a vet hosp that advertises vaccinations at half the price of the other place, but literally that is all it is. If you ask a question a consult is slapped on and it costs the same as the other place.

Nope not at all, it is Genetic. She was 8 and a half.

Dilated Cardio myopathy. Went from normal to very ill in a couple of hours.

Years ago had a Dobe bitch on Stilboesterol, worked really well no side effects from drug at all. Few years ago, had a Dobe bitch on incurin, no side effects worked really well and would use it again. Tried Sudafed but having to dose two or three times a day was a pain, incuring was much better with less potential side effects tha Stilb... My Dobe on Stil was on it for years as well. My Bitch on incurin was only on it for about 6 months, then didn't need it, then sucummed to DCM.

Corvus unfortunately I think you are pushing the preverbial up a hill, people either get it or they don't. My Oh doesn't get it, and I have given up and teach a different command as my emergency recall

Glad Holly is feeling a bit better on her tablets. You can get, not a 100% sure where from, aspray that you can put on dogs pads to help then to not slip. I have seen people use it at indoor shows, maybe something like that might help when she can roam the house more. The set up you have detailed sounds like it will fit the bill perfectly, a little space, but everything close and she doesn't need to move around much. My Dads PD is getting worse and as they live 1500kms away when I see him I notice a big difference quite often. He shakes quite badly in one arm, not so much in the other, his head shakes a bit all the time so he has llots of headaches. He drags on leg when he walks. But I think sometimes the most painful thing for him is the muscle spasms he gets, at times he is in agony. There are also gastro intestinal complications which he suffers from but not severly at this point. I guess mum and dad cope best they can, I am quite often the sounding board for frustrations which is the least I can offer being so far away, but that can get a bit depressing some times. My Dad was a farmer, very active and very capable. He could build anything, invented farming things still used today. That is the hardest thing for me to see someone who was so strong and capable to not be able to write, or sign his name. He built my dog runs years ago, now it would be just about impossible, but him being so stubborn would probably and try and get it done eventually anyway. To go somewhere that requires walking, he now walks and drags one leg, he used to be able to beat me convincingly in a foot race. But I guess that is life and sometimes it sucks We collected cord blood when we had our second baby in the hope that before it is too late we can maybe use that to help with his treatment, we will see. Hope all goes well for you guys and Holly, just be very careful of that credit card thing, I worry so much about hose things, they charge people so much and usually it when people really need it, but are sqeezed financially. Hope it all comes together and it is good that Holly is feeling better on her tablets.

I have just seen this thread, and my first thought was Tetanus, I have nursed three dogs with it. Two survived, the third the owner chose to let the little one go due to cost restraints. The interesting thing with the third puppy was he had lived in town, Esperance, all his life, the other dogs we had seen had been off stations where they from time to time had sheep and horses affected by Tetanus. He had no wounds any of us could find, and about the only thing the little fella could move was his tail. It just so didn't fit the senario a tetanus affected dog should. I am so glad your boy is recovering, it will take time but he will get there in the end, bummer about the injections, no human tablets you could possibly use? Hugs to a brave boy.

Shadowmum, It's is great you have gotten a second opinion and it sounds like you are happy with the new person you saw which is great. HIndsight can be a wonderful thing, but occasionally things are thrown up that don't help us out too much. The vet has said to do the surgery in the next 3 months so you are aiming to do that. If you keep her quiet as instructed and on her medication then you are doing the best you can. Not everyone has thousands of dollars tucked away just in case. It sounds hard enough just trying to keep up with the other medication in your house, they can be so expensive, my dad had Parkinsons Disease and his medication is very expensive, and at the moment the company has taken one size off the market but not had the forethought to make more of the other size, so mum has tracked some down in Sydney which is being airfreighted over! So I have a small understanding of how frustrating expensive medication can be. Your little Holly will be okay, when you get her surgery done I am sure she will be happier. I am amazed at your and your husbands strength, I have only known one person with Rheumatoid Arthritis and it very debilatating so he must be very brave and strong. It's times like these I wish I could grant wishes, I really do, but all I can do is wish you the best, you are doing a great job and I hope all works out well for you, your family and Holly.

I wasn't quite sure which one to put it in, so tried here first with the sporting dogs, I might shuffle over to the the health forum as well Thanks

Oh don't worry we have only just started and her jumps as such are only a few inches high, enough so she has to recognise they are there, but not to make her have to jump, and stretch. I am trying to train what over means-as in go between two wings, She probably won't jump full height during training very often at all, even when older. We don't have a Chiro down here although I wish we did. Any agility work is done on grass so hopefully that will help reduce joint stress, it is more at this stage to introduce tunnels, contacts etc. The question is more for the future as I like to get organised early.

I have a 12 mo Whippet, we have started basic Agility training and she seems to have a great time so far. What I am wondering is do any of you give your Agility/sports dogs any sort of joint supplement? More to help protect the joints from the impact of jumping, weaving etc. I did a bit of agility and jumping with my Dobe and she had to retire at 5 from spinal spondalosis. As I have a Whippet they are not heavy or prone to any particular joint problems but have been weighing up if it would be good preventative practice for her older years. I would hate to do all this training and agility/jumping then have a dog who is quite arthritic when older because of wear and tear that I might have been able to minimise. Thanks in advance.

Wow you sound like you have a bit on your plate!! I would never recommend 'getting rid' of a pet, I can understand breeders not keeping stock they cannot breed with, it makes sense, however ours are our babies and I would not send my 14mo puppy back to the breeder I would deal with the issue. It won't do your dog harm if you watch her for a bit longer to see how often she is affected, but I guess if she is severe and you leave it the likelyhood is that the dmamge will worsen. If her knees only go out occasionally and you can figure out the trigger then reduce it, she may not need surgery. Please do not beat yourself up about it, the truth is that it was nnothing you did or didn't do and it might well have happened regardless. A sound young dog should be able to paddle on an uneven bottom and not have ill effects. I don't think that if surgery was unsuccessful you would need to do anything drastic like amputate, I would think it would be pain and exercise managment to keep symptoms to a minimum and keep your dog happy and comfortable. Hope you are all not stressing quite as much about it, while it is not ideal, it is certainly not a death sentence or an amputation senario. Hugs to your little girl and yourselves

I would think if it was trauma induced you would have seen her, do something, -twist the wrong way or get a leg caught up in something and yelp. I would think that she had a weakness before the exercise induced the problem. Maybe your vet isn't confident doing surgery on a dog so small? There is a DOLer on here Charles Muntz he is a Veterinarian, maybe pm him and see what he thinks, I'm pretty sure he does orthapedics, but I might be wrong. It sounds like you dearly dearly love your girl and you will do the right thing, I Havent had a dog with this problem so cannot comment, although I would imagine that the ones where the surgery didn't work they would continue to have luxating patella's so would have discomfort. Good luck