sheena

Garlic is not the same as onion, as far as dogs go. A dog would have to eat a whole bulb (clump) of garlic for it to do any harm. Garlic in small doses is actually beneficial to your dog & can help to repel parasites. Many of the more "natural" dog foods contain garlic. My dogs go nuts over those treats I have listed I roughly cut them up into 1cm cubes, but can then break them up smaller if I feel inclined to do so, & deliver the treat nice & slow or throw them down in rapid succession, depending on what I am training.

I'll put it on her a bit earlier next week. How snug/tight do you make yours. Mine seems to have a flap that hangs down under her as if the shirt is too big for her, Maybe I could add an extra row of velcro.

Snook....I tried out the thundershirt last night. I put it on her before we left home for training. For the hour trip into town, it did seem to curb her spinning a bit, but she still stood the whole way watching the cars, but I think it was an improvement. At training she seemed quite a bit more settled & responded really well to my LAT...she couldn't get enough of me. When I took her jacket off for her turn to run the course (we were playing Gamblers), she took off like a rocket & was very responsive to my commands, so I will definately try it again.

Have you had a look at this page for some yummy treat ideas...I have posted it a few times...but here it is again Yummy, simple homemade treats & they are healthy too :) I find a bit too much cheese can upset their tummies.

Just curious...is it normal for a dog to be placed into foster care before it is desexed

Just make sure you get a metal one, because young dogs can chew their way out of the fabric crates. Both my BC's are crate trained & they love them. It is their little "safe haven" a bit like a den. They sleep in them at night & are so handy for going camping & of course we need to have them for trialling. You can get canvas covers for them off Ebay. Pictures please........

Brilliant - I will try that slice (with sardines, my Sibe really isn't a fan of liver...strange dog). Do you use the sausage mince designed for using in sausage rolls? Yes...the very fine mince. It forms the basis of the slice & holds it all together. Lately I have been putting a can of mackeral in instead of the sardines. Add as much flour as you wish to make it not too runny. We have our own cattle so I use our sausage mince, but get it from the butcher as the supermarket ones are loaded with preservatives.

My Kelpie puppy has been doing something similar, she just sails off the top of the back steps onto the brick pavers below, not all the time, but it does worry me a little. Put some rubber matting at the bottom of the stairs, so that his jump is cushioned a bit.

I use these too - except after I buy them I bag them up into individual bags that last a training session, and pop them in the freezer. I normally get about 10 bags - so less than 50 cents per training session! If I have training that night, I pull out a bag in the morning and let it defrost during the day. I'm not keen on the preservatives either, so I don't use them too regularly and make sure I mix and match with other treats. I love that you can break them apart and they don't crumble! I found the coconut sort of stuff on the 4 paws ones crumbled too easily and then my dogs spent the whole time sniffing the ground. Will have to try frying them - great idea. Any other great treat ideas out there on DOL? I'm always looking for the 'ideal' treat for training....haven't found it yet. They are all too crunchy, or too big, or too crumbly, or my dog doesn't rate them (e.g. cheese). I like them too as you can break them up into tiny little pieces without them crumbling. I make up a variety Listed here & mix them up, but for reinforcing something new, I can't go past these garlic flavoured Chunkers. I have never had a problem with them going slimy....I fry them up as soon as I get them home & freeze them.

The breeder of my young guy did all of the above, & boy, am I grateful. He is so cool & calm but has lots of drive & just loves his agility. I guess you could say he has an off/on switch. There is a good chapter in "The Focused Puppy" on temp. testing pups for their suitability for agility.

Granted, the OP was just driving past. There could have been anything in the cup. It could have been a babychino :) We all know what they are.....just the milk froth in a tiny cup for kids, with a couple of marshmallows on the side.

When we got our first dog, Bindi, I hadn't even heard of agility, so when we got our second dog, we went with a breeder who's dogs we liked & was breeding performance lines & couldn't be happier with our decision to take the pup we chose out of the litter, purely because we liked the look of him. Not all the pups in a litter are going to be identical in personality etc, but you work with the dog you get...that's what makes training so much fun, even with our first dog, Bindi, who has been a real challenge :laugh: So if it were me trying to decide, I would go with a breeder who breeds dogs I like & then work with the pup I get

Snook & BC Crazy. I still get my arm pulled out of it's socket occasionally when I am not paying attention...usually when I am listening to the instructor at class & some dog runs past out of control. I don't think she will ever become a non-reactive dog, that's just the personality that she is & I will always need to be ready to play LAT wherever we are...but I can live with that, I am so pleased with the results. If I have my clicker in my hand, she is like putty in my fingers not like the mad Tasmanian Devil she used to be :laugh:

If ever I cross over to the dark side & get a kelpie, I will be going straight to Mandy at Callicoma Kelpies at Grafton. Her dogs are so versatile....they do well in the showring, agility, herding, tracking, obedience & even dancing. Some of her pups have even ended up in Europe & are doing well in their careers. But you would need to go on a waiting list. She is also very reasonably priced.

Thanks Le...I was hoping you might reply on this. I will have to watch next time you run Pace...is that your young dog? It would be fun to give it a try. My dog will happily do a lead out, but if I run with her she gets a faster start, so I try to do this as much as possible.

.Advantix is a flea and tick preventative. I find the Frontline Plus Spot On really good for ticks...as good as the Advantix & it goes further.

You can't use Advantix if you have a cat, as it is deadly to cats, but you can use Frontline Plus which is fortnightly for ticks. Not sure how big your dog is, but you can buy the biggest size available & use a small syringe (from the chemist) to measure out the exact amount he needs. Daily searching is also a must. ETA...sorry I didn't see that your dog is 30kg. I use it on my two dogs & they swim every day. They just have to stay dry for 48 hours after you apply it, & I don't put it just in one spot, I put it in several spots on the skin down along their backbone from the neck to the base of the tail.

Do you find the thundershirt much of a help??

Yep...I can't speak more highly of LAT. It was definately worth all the jeering & critisism I got when I first started using it, from my fellow club members etc. Now I just compare the good manners & successes of my dog to theirs & inwardly smile to myself :) I am so proud of my girl...she just loves to play the game. It sounds like Justice thinks it's pretty cool too

Clean Run have a new product HERE. At first I thought they must have been something for dogs, but they are obviously for the handler. Three varieties, one is a bit like Rescue Remedy. Do you think they would get through customs.

I have just bought my two, lifejackets. Clean run have them on Free shipping at the moment. They are both great swimmers & swim every day in the family pool or at the beach, but we are going to be soon taking them out boating & I am worried they might jump into the water & get hit by the outboard I have never had a dog that couldn't swim or that didn't love the water.

That's what they called it in Clean Run....a "slingshot start". I have never seen it done but it is an interesting concept.

I have started reading the special Clean Run edition on Motivation & Self Control. They suggest for dogs that are a bit slow off the start line, to run with them if possible ie. no lead out. Yep...agree with that. But they then go on to suggest that you & your dog start off facing away from the start line, then do a little run away from it, then turn & take the first jump. The idea is that the dog forgets it's start line jitters & already has momentum when it crosses the start line. Is this legal in Australian Agility or would you be disqualified. I have never seen anyone do it, but it would be fun to give it a try.

I had similar with one pack I bought ages ago, smelt vile like off so they went right in the bin, I occasionally give my lot 4 legs but don't cook em up like you've done Sheena. Bet they would love homemade ones, great idea for training treats! You have to really take note of the use by date when you buy them. I bought some a while ago as part of my online grocery shop & the UBD was a month over. I gave those ones to the chooks, who gratefully received them. I fry them up (not the chooks) & put them in the freezer & take them out as I need them.

The packet does not give very much info at all as to what ALL the ingredients are. Maybe when this lot are gone I will just make my own little meat balls out of preservative free sausage mince & fry them up in garlic oil. Though for the small amount of these they get each training session I don't think a little bit of preservative would do my dogs that much harm. It's not as if they are sensitive to anything. Maybe their web site will give me more info.