Tassie

OK - we have a tiny Rory obedience brag My lil big man got 1st place (98/100) in his Grade 2 test at club today - about pre-CCD equivalent - all on lead. I channeled Ptolomy and must have done it reasonably well, as his heel work was super - and he managed his stand stay, and recall and the returns. And managed his stays (between 2 dogs for the first time, and with his arch enemy Dobe only one dog away - the Dobe was being good too) - we lost the two points for a minor movement I made to make sure he didn't move in the sit stay - don't know if he was really going to, but wasn't going to take any chances even if it failed us. Hmmm - maybe trialling him next year is going to be a possible. And thank you for those vids of you and Cider, Ptolomy. :D

You're all BAD ;) My first CR order arrived Tuesday - included Flipper Flopper soft frisbees - highly recommended by Kirr a and Rory. Ny Gripper leads (thanks ness -NOT) should be here next week

Yep that's one of the attachment things I was talking about as a 'thingy' Personally, like Dyzmey and Gayle K, I prefer to have a regular leash in my hand - just feel there's more control and safety all round, and more connection between you and the dog. And you can't use them for the Endurance Test - so that's also why some of us just use the leash. But yes - biking certainly is a fun thing to do with your dog/s ()h and BTW, can't use an extendable lead in the ET either )

from the other side of the country ValleyCBR - sometimes you just gotta do what you just gotta do.

Yep, it will be put in a section of the yard where it's already fenced and we are looking into covers for it. Should have known you'd have all your bases covered Awesome - now to just make sure my pupsters don't see that

Lucky dogs - but following on from what pf said, you need to check your local couincil and sstate pool fencing regs - I suspect that's big enough to need pool fencing. (Though that doesn't make it a bad idea - still say - lucky puplets.)

OK - if he's just 1, then I'd go very easy for the next several months - I'm a bit of a worry wart about not over-exercising growing dogs. I waited until my BC was nearly 2 before starting him with the bike. Teaching the stop - I do that as part of nice lead walking. I stop - as the dog stops, I reward him - gradually put the verbal cue on it. I practice and reward it heavily when I'm teaching it - then just occasionally use it - always reward it though - even if just with verbal praise. It's a handy cue to have for general purposes - you're not requiring the dog to do anything but stop where he is. And yes, I hold the leads in my hand - so they're just looped through my hand and then the hand goes over the handlebars. Yes, it does assume that the dogs are substantially loose lead gaiting - but if they weren't, I'd be teaching them to do that first before going out anywhere. Personally I don't really care for the idea of attaching the lead to the bike - can see the bike and me going over - not good at my age. The rules for the Endurance Test require that the lead be held in the hand - dog is not allowed to be attached directly to bike - so I figure - might as well start as we mean to go on. Oh - and do practise with your bike first, without the dog - make sure you're really confident yourself.

Try it out first in a nice flat area - and with someone there to pick you up, just in case LOL I use my Black Dog tracking harnesses for mine, and a lead that's not too heavy and is soft on your hands. You can use an attachment thingy, but because mine ride partly to train for ET, I just hold the leads in my left hand. It's handy if your dog has a STOP cue too - there will be times you need it. Start off not too quickly, to give the dog a chance to settle into a nice gait. I was surprised how quickly my latest BC picked it up - started just walking the bike and dog together, then walking him next to someone else riding - then riding with him free (on a friend's long flat driveway - then straight to lead and harness and he was perfect . I've now ridden with the two of mine together - both on my left - no dramas.

Not sure. If it weren't for the lack of dog trials and jobs, Tasmania is looking enticing. I could afford the large property I seek Do it - we need more triallers - and we can weird you oout even more by actually copying you, instead of just thinking of you the way JulesP did . And hot here is nowhere near as frequent or as hot as WA. Whereabouts in Tassie are you and are there dog trials held all over Tas? I'm just south of Hobart - trials (when they're held) are Hobart, Launceston and Ulverstone (NW coast) obedience - when they are held; agility - Hobart and Launceston basically. A couple of the clubs will be holding Rally O when that gets going. But it's only about 3 and a half hours from Hobart up to the NW coast. Only copy me if you want to bomb out quite regularly :p Don't need to copy you for that - can do that bit all by myslef - it's the neat handling I want to copy . Oh and I like the hot, Tas would probably be too cold for me!! Not a problem today - over 30 and humid down here - but yes - could be a bit cold - depending where you lived. Hobart rarely gets below freezing. Summer days can be nice and warm, but coll off in the evening usually - sea breeze.

Not sure. If it weren't for the lack of dog trials and jobs, Tasmania is looking enticing. I could afford the large property I seek Do it - we need more triallers - and we can weird you oout even more by actually copying you, instead of just thinking of you the way JulesP did :p . And hot here is nowhere near as frequent or as hot as WA.

I think all of us did It might have been a good thing that we did wag since I hear 2 cars were broken into and things stolen - so just a reminder - lock your cars when at K9. Also 2 agility dogs back from the Susan Garrett seminar in NSW are at Murdoch with tick bites Fingers crossed they are both OK. Poor pups - hope they get well soon, what symptoms do the tick bites give? Being from africa I have no idea about all the diseases here in oz. Dogs and horses in RSA get billary from tick bites there. The region we came from was rampant with it as there were loads of ticks, lucky for me none of my horses or dog picked it up. Horses and dogs who test positive for the disease being in their blood are not allowed to be exported. Ack - that's awful - do hope they pull through. Tick poisoning is just horrible. These would most likely have been paralysis ticks - really nasty critters found pretty much all along the east coast - but worse the further north you go. Whenever I go up to Camp Tailwaggers or somewhere like that, I have the dogs on multiple tick prevention meds - spot on and tablets, and still try to check them every day - not easy with coated dogs (BCs). Here are a few links with some more info - will probably persuade you not to move over east ;) - at least not to the coast. Tasmania is not too bad - there are some paralysis ticks, but very few in comparison with the total tick population, so we don't use preventatives - just vigilance in summer months. on humans and animals General info sheet Healing vibes for the sick dogs. :p

I must be special Still don't get how Ptolomy = tollerme :D Ever heard of a silent P? but why :D :D 'cos it's all Greek! Here ya go, Tiggy - Wikipedia article. And @ JulesP thinking RubyStar. I try to channel Ptolomy working Cider - works for me in training at least .

And :D

Tiggy - me too - on both counts. Rory has a grade test next Sunday - sort of CCD level almost -so there'll be a fair bit of training this week . He did manage a stand stay in class yesterday - first time he's got the whole exercise right in that situation - good boy!

It will probably change with time - but I would say, at the moment, do what you have to do to teach her that outside is the appropriate place to toilet. I always advise taking a puppy out to toilet anyway, as opposed to letting them out - that way you can be there to supervise, praise, and do a quality check . For a little pup, this will mean several trips outside a day and probably a few at night - but hey - goes with the territory. For me, the key thing is doing whatever you ahve to do to make sure the pup gets it that outside is the place to toilet, and inside is not. And if she does start to wee in the house, pick her up and take her outside to finish off. I also like to use the trips outside as a little bit of lead training, with a very light lead, of course - that way, pup will also learn that it's OK to toilet while you're on lead. She sounds very cute - are there photos?????

Way to go smisch and the gorgeous Denver.

What RubyStar said. Two years down the track, I put them together for the odd things - like brace HTM - but that's only occasionally, and just for fun. Obviously some 'round the house' behaviours - like waiting for the release to their meals, I can do together once they each know how to do it.

I use Chris Chrisensen shampoos atm on my Border Collies - but also like and have used EzyGroom Protein Lanolin - the puppy tearless one for puppies. Really happy with the effect of the CC Black on Black for my boy's black - still not 100% convinced about the white one.

Some NSW folks will be along soon, but in the meantime, have a look here.

Moselle, I was so very sorry to read how you lost your beloved Sophie. It brought back tears for my lovely Sam (IMHA 2001 - from fit and trialling in obedience to dead in less than a week), and my Fergus - whom I lost to an accidental poisoning in 2008 - and my darling old Jessie - who I said goodbye to in 2002 - as well as my friend's lovely Golden Retriever heart dog, lost in the same way as your Sophie in January 2009. You will always have your dear girl in your heart, and the pain will become a little less raw as time goes on - and like me, you will be lucky enough to have other tails wagging for you, and other chins resting on your knee (as I have right now). As Erny and another poster said a few pages back, one of the very special things about DOL is that, whatever differing view we have on other issues, we all come together in our love for our dogs, and our shared grief when another loved dog crosses the bridge.

Hey huski - you're too hard on yourself. While you might not have achieved what you wanted in terms of 'letters'. ISTM from watching your vids that you andDiasy have come a Llooong way, and have set yourselves up for success in the coming year.

after the little practice runs we had in the breaks in the trial on Saturday - think that might be a little later in the year - he was OTT :D - and then was a naughty boy and ran off to see another dog - not competing, just running around. On the good side, he did the A frame for the first time, and hit his 2o2o on the DW - he wasn't sure about being able to do it on the A frame though he did try to offer it from the bottom . Looking at the way he came right down though, I might not insist on 2o2o for A frame - it's a pretty steep angle for the lil big man.

@ Seita Hmm - will probably jinx myself doing this - but here goes Kirra - hope to be able to keep playing agility and having fun - hope to get a couple of Track and Search passes - maybe get a Heelwork to Music routine organised Rory - hope to start on the letters after now he's got his Ch :D - maybe obedience first - get him ready to enter tracking trials (once snakes are out of the way ) - will probably start training him for ET - was going to wait till he's 4, but he's doing really well gaiting with the bike the couple of times we've tried it, and Kirra enjoys biking too.

:D super well done RS and the Millie girl - great result.

Personally I use Dogade more as a flavour 'cordial' to encourage my BC bitch to drink when we're doing agility. She's one of those dogs who tends to only drink a few sips at a time, and that's not enough IMHO to rehydrate her when she's running. Suppose I could use chicken stock or something to get the sam effect.