sheena

In Open level at ADAA you need to complete the weaves or you get eliminated. If the dog gets the entry and then pops out you'll incur no more course faults regardless of how many times you try, you just have to get them done cleanly. (In starters you can do 6 weaves and keep going for one course fault or go back and correct them and as long as you end up getting them right you can still run clean.) In ANKC once you have correctly got the entry you cannot repeat a weave you have already completed or you are eliminated - so you have to run your dog on or put them back in where they made their mistake. Either way you can't run clean. Distance - I'm not sure. With my dogs it has come as our understanding of what we are doing together has improved. Others may have more/better advice. The way I & others, I have spoken to about the new ANKC weave pole rule, is that once you enter the weaves correctly & he pops out, you can't put him back in at all. You have to keep going & it only incurs one course fault. If you put him back in where he came out or take him back to the start you are eliminated on both occassions. To me it is sending the wrong message, to let your dog keep running without having to do the weaves correctly. So it looks like if my dog pops out then we will always be eliminated, because I will never let her run on. Also, if popping out of the weaves & continuing only incurrs the same fault as a dog that does the weaves correctly but knocks a jump, then the dog that popped the weaves will have a faster time.

What about some of the roo products. If your dogs cant have beef, would this also apply to buffalo products....not that I know of any, but it's only a matter of time before someone starts up producing them.

If they are having it at the trial you can also enter Gamblers Dog (GD) Strategic Pairs Dog (SPD) if you have a partner, Snooker Dog (SD) & RQH . Entering the Open events agility & Jumping gives you good experience even if you cross the line to assist your dog in the exclusion zones.

The rules that I am working towards when on lead are: - walking loosly & relaxed by my side, not crossing behind or in front of me, as this is a bad practice if ever you are to do agility, to stay on the side I start with unless I decide to change sides (probably same thing), not to run out to the side to sniff etc. If I am going to be in a situation where I know it will be just too hard for them to suceed, I will put them on a front attached harness of head halter, till they settle down & relax, then I will shift the lead to their collar. That is my eventual aim, anyway. With teaching the new puppy, it makes me realise just how much my older girl has been getting away with, so I'm starting at the beginning with her as well.

Greg and Laura Derrett are coming to Melbourne early February next year. They train with very similar methods to those outlined in the workshop - Laura's foundation workshops are brilliant if she offers them again, with a lot of emphasis on creating drive for playing with you and with toys and then using it effectively in training. So you will at least be able to take advantage of those if Vickie doesn't manage a trip to Melbourne. But interstate agility related trips are fun so you could always do both. Win-Win! Anyone know where I can get some more info on the Derrets visit....would love to go if they are goiong to be in NSW or Qld

Puppy is booked in for general aneth. in a couple of weeks time to have his tear duct unblocked. Hoping that is all it is...could be that the tube is missing & in which case they insert one so the eye can drain normally through his nose. Vet gave his eyes a thorough checking & everything else was good.

Ahhh ... - silly me, should'a thought about sheep hooves. Although are they small enough for a large dog to eat and potentially swallow without chewing properly? I don't like the idea of it, but what about horse hooves? (Shudder .... even suggesting it makes me feel like a bit of a traitor to my own horse ). That did enter my mind & I guess it is only a matter of time when you look at the bits & pieces for sale as dog chews. Too many horses in my life to come to that. I don't think I could even come at bulls pissles either. I guess sheep hooves are no smaller than pigs. You can get pigs snouts now, they look smaller enough for your dogs to inhale.

I found the same. My boy will have a little chew on them, but I think finds them too hard to make any headway with them and so gives up on them. What other hooves other than cow's hooves or pig trotters can you get and give to dogs, and where can you get them from? My boy might enjoy a chew on them because they are at least chewable, yet tough. He's intolerant to beef (proven by saliva test) so I avoid anything 'cow' and he's been ill on pig's trotters before (and I'll admit they make my stomach turn when I have to handle/see them to give them to him). Not sure about hooves...but you can now get all the different roo products, emu & even crocodile. I guess hooves/trotters only come from beef , pork or sheep. It's a wonder someone hasn't started doing dried chicken feet. I don't think I will try the deer antlers again. For my dogs, I like the beef tendons, but not good for your dogs, Erny.

I bought 3 small pieces of deer's antlers for my two BC's @ $6.00 each plus postage. They were as hard, sorry, harder than concrete. They did like playing with them & carting them around with the occasional suck/chew. Eventually one ended up under the lawnmower

I had one of those last night. I am trying to work on my LAT AND follow the lesson at the same time, & being aware that not everyone in the class agrees with LAT .( Fortunately my instructor understands what I am doing.) We were going really good with it....the barking black poodle no longer mattered & we did a bit of fancy distance work (she was the only one that got it). I was feeling really good with her & myself. Then we got onto some more complicated distance work & bugger me, if some lady appeared out of the dark with a SWF on a string..took it around the back of where we were training under the lights & lunged it like a horse. Being a very motion reactive border collie, I got no more sense out of my girl for the rest of the night. If it happens again, I think I would do better to just put her back in the car & ignore the synics in the class. It was so classic, I almost wonder if it was a set up by a certain person.

I had a small red belly in our swimming pool last season....he was in the skimmer box, so luckily I happened to look before I shoved my hand into it

I am thinking of putting in a few of those solar powered snake repellers & see if they help. I wonder if they come with a guarantee that they work Apart from the cost, they couldn't do any harm.

The only reason you would want it to drop at the end of a contact is if you were doing 4 on the floor

I have taught my new pup to move into the 2o2o position, & remain there until I release him. I throw a few treats all around, but he is only allowed those he can reach without moving. His feet must stay in the same position, until released. I taught this on the floor first. If he breaks his stay to get a treat,I quickly put my foot on it. If he stays put,I reward him sometimes with treats in my hand,sometimes picking up the ones on the floor & giving it to him & other times releasing him to the treats. He thinks it's a great game. You would teach it the same on a mat, throwing treats to him while ever he stays on the mat...if he moves the treats stop.

I wouldn't like to teach my dog to do 4 on the floor after the see saw. When the see saw lifts it could take her back end much safer with 2o2o. A bit of a bugger being made to teach one method then try to change to another. I taught my 2o2o by shaping. Have you shaped him to go to the mat, first. Break it down into tiny little movements & use really high value treats. Does he really understand what the clicker is all about, or do you need to go back to basics ie. putting value on the click.

Thanks Sue & Waldo, I think I will stick to using the 3 way tees as they are easy to get at places like Bunnings & come in all sizes. I have added the Homemade Treats page to the web site, along with DIY Foundation Equipment. Am still to get busy with the camera & do the page on the DIY Agility Equipment. Not enough hours in the day

It's quite OK to give your puppy Black Hawk Adult Formula...whatever the food guide tells you on the Adult as daily rations for a dog that weighs "x" kilos, you double the amount. Just add a bit more protein, which it looks like you are doing with the eggs, sardines, RMB's etc. ie. if your pup is 10 to 15 kilos you would give 220 to 300 gram of Adult a day. Sorry, I don't know what that is in cups, just measure it on the kitchen scales. As the pup grows, just keep following the guide & doubling it, until he is about 7 months old, then gradually start reducing the amount over the next 4 or 5 months till he is on Adult rates. As others have said, I would be getting rid of the chicken necks (too small) & replacing them with turkey necks cut in half, which take longer to chew. I have been giving my BC pup Adult Black Hawk since I got him at 11 weeks, on the advice of a lot of people on this forum as well as breeders. It saved me having to have both Adult & Puppy. I weigh him at the vets every month, & he is growing into a very lovely boy with a very, very, healthy coat & lots of energy & doesn't even look like getting fat. I can only see benefits giving your pup some natural yogurt every day so I would keep that up. Just a thought...if you are giving your pup all those other lovely things on a daily basis, then maybe cut the recommended BH back a bit. Best thing is to weigh him regularly at the vets because it also depends on how active he is.

Me too.....but I do have areas in the house where I can keep their dogs seperate from mine for sleeping arrangements & bad weather. Also the house yard is divided into two allowing access to seperate parts of the house, verandahs & sheds. I don't allow friends dogs free range of inside the house, nor do mine if unsupervised, so they understand this before they come, otherwise they make different arrangements.

We have made most of the equipment in our agility course & I was thinking of sharing the DIY ideas on my web site along with home made treats etc. It is a while since we made the jumps & we used 3 way PVC fittings from Bunnings. At the time the 4 way T's were impossible to get in Oz. Just wondering if things might have changed & someone knows where they might now be readily available in Oz. Also the snap on jump cups. We used cut down 3 ways, but they don't slide very easy. Ours are nice solid jumps with easy off bars but maybe there is a better & cheaper way. Thanks

The main ingredients are 100% Australian. The only ingredients which may from time to time (depending on availability) come from overseas are some of the micro ingredients such as minerals. I just rang Sherel & checked & I got it from the horse's mouth. Hope this helps. Its ingredients are sourced from the human food chain

Anthium dioxide, also known as Stabilized chlorine dioxide, is a supposidly powerful bactericide, fungicide & antimicrobial agent & is often the ingredient in some whitening toothpastes & drinking water, as it is effective in dissolving food films on teeth which cause plaque & discolouring. The Yucca Schidigera & mint oil is contained in one of the more popular premium dog kibbles. Sodium Benzoate, also known as Preservative 211, is commonly used in soft drinks & sauces & has been in the news lately, as it has been shown to have major adverse health effects in humans. My question is...if the main ingredient of Anthium Dioxide has been deleted from the product, then why not just feed a premium food which contains the other two ingredients & without the 211...like Black Hawk, which also contains dried kelp, or other holistic foods which contain it (I am sure there are others) ETA...the link to info on Sodium Benzoate (211) http://news.ninemsn.com.au/health/269520/soft-drink-additive-damages-dna-report A bit of trivia...& not sure if it is all that relevant but my OH uses a daily mouth wash called Curasept, which is recommended by his dentist. Interesting to note that Sodium Benzoate is no longer listed in the ingredients. Obviously it must be still OK to put in pet products ETA I just did a bit of Googling & it seems there are TWO products called Plaque Off....one made by Proden & the other by Triple-Pet, which is the one that contains the ingredients quoted by cavNrott above.

I would have to go for this too & personally wouldn't feed anything else. This is the base of my dogs food, they also get RMB's, sardines, eggs, beef & roo (not all at once). The young BC also gets to clean the porridge pot every morning..It is very reasonably priced, especially in Victoria where it comes from.

Anthium dioxide, also known as Stabilized chlorine dioxide, is a supposidly powerful bactericide, fungicide & antimicrobial agent & is often the ingredient in some whitening toothpastes & drinking water, as it is effective in dissolving food films on teeth which cause plaque & discolouring. The Yucca Schidigera & mint oil is contained in one of the more popular premium dog kibbles. Sodium Benzoate, also known as Preservative 211, is commonly used in soft drinks & sauces & has been in the news lately, as it has been shown to have major adverse health effects in humans. My question is...if the main ingredient of Anthium Dioxide has been deleted from the product, then why not just feed a premium food which contains the other two ingredients & without the 211...like Black Hawk, which also contains dried kelp, or other holistic foods which contain it (I am sure there are others) ETA...the link to info on Sodium Benzoate (211) http://news.ninemsn.com.au/health/269520/soft-drink-additive-damages-dna-report

Sounds like the right stuff..just strange that the shop is not listed as a supplier. It is strange how your dog liked the sample, but is picking at the bigger bag. You could always compare the ingredients list with that on your sample if you still have the packet. I know my pup used to hoover it down, & now he eats it as if he is savouring every mouthful. I also use it for treats.

$1 cheaper....wow The one I contacted through this forum quoted $90 for the food because it would be freighted to me. handy if you live close by.... *shrugs* most people would spend that on fuel just getting there Julana seems to do a Northside delivery every month or so... Saves the courier anyway I live Southside so it's fine for me When the sale ends though I'll have to go through Julana because it will be cheaper through her (including freight).Have to say, Hugo hoovered the sample pack but he's sort of ... bored with it now, he's not eating with gusto now that we've switched over properly. He doesn't have to "eat with gusto", he just has to eat and if he's taking ages it could be that you've given him too much in one go. I think humans get more bored with the dog food than the dogs do. Mine get BH almost every day for dinner but they get a raw morning meal (usually a chicken drumstick each) and occasionally they get a raw evening meal instead of kibble. Only one of mine is a fast eater, one is positively slow but when I ran out of BH and gave him something else, he was even slower and ended up leaving most of it. Whe I got more BH, he was back to his slow and steady pace. I also use BH pieces as treats and they are just as happy with that as they are anything more "exciting". Oh, no, I meant like he's picking up one piece, a moving to the other side of the room to eat it and then not returning for 5 minutes to pick up another piece. This may sound like a very silly question....but are you sure you got the "right" Black Hawk, as someone mentioned a long way back in this thread about another product of the same name, & I noticed that Naturalistic (if that's who you got it from) spell it a different way & that they are not mentioned on Sherel's contact list. Just wondering...can you post a picture of the bag & label. It may not be the right thing.