Tassie

My first BC boy had peeling and eating bananas as his 'party trick' when he was doing therapy dog work in a palliative care centre. His record was 3 in one visit! I would always take one in, the stafaf would get one for him to show a new patient, and patients would also give him one . One family member was very relieved to see him peeling and eating his banana one day - when her mother (the patiet) had told her about it, she thought it was a morpphine hallucination .

WTG Roger - you have to watch those sneaky bananas you know!

Thanks for the original heads up on these SK. I ordered two last week and picked them up from the post office today - good service, and good value for the price. Nice and light for easy transport too.

and are you West Aussies planning on sharing the SFE secret with your admirers down under down under????? Although I think Rory might almost be starting to get it - with me anyway. Haven't tried it with someone else really. yet.

It might be easier to go to Adelaide, biker girl. Riddell's creek is not that close to Werribee - over the other side of the Calder Freeway. Just did a search on google maps for Sutherlands Road Riddell's Creek - then zoom out till you can see Werribee as well.

This reminds me of the year I did ET with Kirra and Fergus, (and two other members of the Tas Agility Team in Adelaide and Melbourne). Once my friend and I got used to being on a bike again aafter more years than we cared to remember, and got used to riding with the dogs, we had great fun training. The actual day was not quite so fun, since it rained and squalled and sleeted ALL the time - not fun riding into it. The dogs did fine, until with only about 2 or 3 km to go, Fergus shook really vigorously and made me tip my bike over (away from him so I didn't fall on him ;) ). No harm done, except to the bike - brakes jammed - so had to borrow a spare bike while mine got fixed. My friend's husband, who was riding with Kirra, reassured himself that all was OK, and then was gong to keep going with Kirra - but she had other ideas - NOT going to leave my mum :D - so then both of us had to work really hard to catch up to the bunch, heading into a sleet squall. Luckily, the judge had taken the first leg out a bit faster, to bank some time for just this sort of emergency, so the pack slowed down a bit so we were able to catch up, and ride through the waterlogged grass to the finish. Yay! The other problem I had was that Kirra has "white coat syndrome" - and her heart rate goes up to glory when she knows the vet is there . Luckily, it meant her recorded resting heart rate was high too. The last check, I had her in my arms, so at first she didn't realise her heart rate was being checked - then turned her head and suddenly noticed the vet, who roared laughing as Kirra's heart rate shot up. But, in spite of all the dramas - it was a real buzz training for ET and doing it. I'm planning to do it with lil big man Rory maybe next year or the year after. Oh and the gel seat - and absolute must have

Haven't seen a Borzoi competing, but I have seen a very successful Great Dane boy - who somehow managed to fit in the tunnels. As you say, though, the Borzoi are structured a bit differently. Try the dog getting through a hula hoop of the same diameter to check the movement, maybe.

Yep - with HDTC up on the Domain in Hobart - Sundays - there are people there from about 12 onwards - ob classes start at about 1.00 - 1.30. We're first up in Ring 3, so I should be finished in time to keep an eye out for you in the next ring - I'll be the short, stout senior citizen with a pony tail, trying to get my lil big man floofed nicely so his lovely Junior Handler can take him in. ET fix typos

You could be right about it being the neighbourhood - but anyway, that is such good news - and the good thing is, it should fill you with confidence that you can help him to be a cool dude . Well done!

Well said kathq! And huski - in a way the nerves don't get any better even after 20 years of trialling in various disciplines - :D - or not for me - but hey - you learn to live with it. :p One thing you might try too is having a song for your heeling routine - get used to singing it to yourself, and it will help you to keep a nice rhythm. I find that, and concentrating on nice straight lines and nice turns (me - the dog will hopefully follow ) helps too. Hang in there! You and Daisy are a great team.

Well done leopuppy - both with Leo (my experience with UD is that you do learn to be grateful for small mercies )and especially for Kinta. And ness - well done with the pocket rocket. It was lovely to see you trusting her so much, and handling her really confidently. C/T :D

Did you bring the cold weather with you Allerzeit? Anyway - welcome. I should be there too - with my goofy BC boy. Will keep an eye out for you. Aaaaaw - rajacadoo - wanna see the baby Basenjis

Congrats on the CCD title, CleoJ. And smisch :D - way to go with both boys - but especially with Denver. I've loved following your journey with that gorgeous lad - has it only been a year - wow! I know I've said it before, but the Universe knew what she was doing when she sent Denver to you - he was sooooo meant to be your dog. ET fix typo

raineth - it's often the simple things that get us. Sounds like you're doing the right things with this boy - he will gain confidence from your confidence. poodlefan will remember a trainer we both went to a camp with telling us if necessary to sing a nursery rhyme to your dog when you're walking along in a slightly worrying situation - lowers your own stress levels, (so the dog isn't picking them up down the lead.)

What the others have said - and in relation to this particular point - if you see this situation coming up, just swap your boy over to your right, so that you can be between him and the other dog. There's no rule (except in obedience competition) that the dog has to be walking on your left.

Have a look at this thread = and another one that is referred to in that one. I eventually got a refund for the products I had ordered and did not receive, thanks to the fantastic response from the Office of Fair Trading in NSW, who responded promptly and effectively when I lodged a complaint.

Cyberhugs and sloppy WA Rory kisses for you and Lilly from the other side of the country, valleyCBR. Times like this make us wonder why we have dogs - but then we look at the memories, and know!

to the WA troops - especially of course Millie and Brookie. You must be really pleaed with how your girls are coming on RS.

Imagine if we added Dizzy, my one-eyed foster failure kitten, into the mix They'd be an unstoppable force OMG TSD - that is just gorgeous. Long term foster is it

That's lovely, Vickie. ;) My two wouldn't do that - Rory doesn't trust Kirra not to steal his - with good reason, I might say :D . (This morning she stole and ate 5 nice fresh date scones, which were sitting in their plastic bag oiut of her reach (I thought ) on top of the microwave - but clearly I'd left a corner of the plastic bag hanging down - good news is, she's an expert at extracting food from pastic bags without eating the plastic. )

Sounds good, Seita!

+1 Has worked fine for me - with 2 different 8 week olds after a 2 hours trip, and a 10 week old after a 10 hour trip

Don't you love it when you can see/hear thee wheels turning inside their little heads.

Well done Grumpette - on the ring work, and on building her confidence so well. (Was that Eddie judging? )

Depends which way you're coming - coast/inland or inland all the way, on the Newell. I drive on my own, and I'd probably prefer to do it over 3 days, especially with dog/s on board. There's quite a lot of dog-friendly accommodation in NSW - although a little harder to find one night stay. I tend to use stayz or takeabreak and select pet-friendly, then the type of accommodation - e.g. self-contained... Stayz Take a Break - pet friendly is in the 'holiday experiences' menu.