sheena

I roughly pan fry the mince...trying not to break it up too much in the process, so that it ends up like rissoles, which I break up in front of her, when delivering the treat. The anticipation is as good as the treat, in her opinion. You can also mix something into the mince, like garlic or parmeson cheese.

I have often thought about trying the Shoo Tag for ticks, but would only try it as a back-up for the Proban, as it states that it actually repels the ticks. Unfortunately, they also say that useing it with a chemical treatment, deminishes its effectiveness, so in actual fact, I would have to take her off Proban, to see if the tag would work, & I am not prepared to do that. My daughter was given a bottle of something years ago which she gives to her two little dogs whenever she finds paralysis ticks on them & it works wonders, but not sure what it is. I have used rose geranium oil/lavender oil mixture sucessfully to repel ticks, but it has to be put on the collar fresh every day, but I don't like collars & she hates the smell. 30 years ago, when we first moved to the farm, an old timer told us to give condies crystals to animals suffering tick paralysis. We saved many calves, cats & dogs over the years using this method, but I wouldn't risk it now, just in case.

Second puppy....double the trouble. Getting a second pup is not going to stop your pup chewing things up...it just means that you will have two pups chewing things up. Chewing is not seperation anxiety or loneliness. To a pup, it is lots of fun to chew things up, especially things that make fun noises or a lot of mess, like beds & blankets & they love to chew, cause that's what pups do....they NEED to chew. My BC when she was a pup, chewed up everything....several lots of her bedding (great fun), furniture, the bottom out the mattress on my bed, the electrical wiring from under the trailer...even chewed the external walls on my timber house...never touched shoes. Loved pillows, newspapers & those puppy pad things. :D This went on for at least 12 months & it certainly wasn't seperation anxiety or loneliness as we were either home with her all the time or she would be out with us. I will certainly know better with my second pup...simple...don't let it get the opportunity to destroy. Strange...I never had a problem with my two previous BC's :D

These wern't exactly moving but I took them on the same fast shutter speed & am rather pleased with the result

The simple pleasure of sunset drinks & canapes watching the sun go down on Lord Howe Island over Rabbit Island.....Ohhhhhhh so hard to take

I have been pretty slack with my promised "moving" pictures since I have been away...the internet connection over here is a bit slow...but here are a couple, please feel free to offer advise :D the first is of a bird that kept dive bombing us, so it was moving at great speed...very hard to get a focus on him The second is of a local spider which was bouncing around in his web....& had the bright sunlight behind it I have taken some lovely sunset photos & landscapes, but that is Cheers,

I had a problem with my girl getting distracted with smells during agility. I found sliced liver pan fried & cut into cubes & also minced kangaroo or other mince with garlic, herbs & parmeson cheese mixed through & roughly fried. I used the clicker...when she would get distracted & start to sniff I would say "here" & at first I clicked & treated as soon as she started to respond (turn her head), then built this up to her turning to me as soon as I called. Start by doing it in an environment free of distractions to get him used to the clicker & treats. My girl just loves the clicker & as soon as she knows I have that in my hand, she starts to offer all sorts of behaviours. But start with little tiny steps & build it up...you have to be patient....Rome wasn't built in a day ETA...I just read Vickies post above & I agree...make a big thing out of the treat...take time to break it up in front of him talking all the time about how good he is.

What a great photo...thanks for sharing that Lots of tips to take on board from everyone...many thanks. As soon as I get to my holiday destination, I will be getting the camera out & practicing, practicing, practicing. By the time the fortnight is up I will be shooting like a pro. If I can get a fast enough internet speed I will post a few & you can make comment (hoping I can get internet)

Havn't had time to do much else...but going on holidays in a couple of days & I have bought a tripod so I am going to try my hand at landscapes, birds & flowers, kids on bikes etc....not many dogs where I am going (I am going to miss my girl Just wondering, where do you aim the focal point if you are taking a picture of two of more dogs??? If you want them all in focus.

OK...so I know it is a boring photo...but I have tried focusing in on the eye, so much sharper face & out of focus rear end...is this what I should be aming for. ISO was 800 & sp 1/500. Obviously with a moving subject it would be impossible to focus in on the eye. Where do I focus if I want the whole dog to be in focus & is moving ???

Here is Ruby's Novice Jumping round from last weekend: Well done Ruby....that was pretty fast. Yeah, that was what I thought you meant about the treats..it is all in the placement, I have only just learnt that too

I was putting the focus spot in the middle of her side...should I be putting it on her eyes?? I am shooting in JPEG

I took this photo of her on the same settings, but she was more in the light. I have cropped it & cloned out the "whatever" she had been rolling in, but I am rather pleased with it. I don't think I will ever get a sharp picture of her because she is such a "soft" dog. Maybe I should borrow a kelpie of cattle dog from someone....might take the camera to training tomorrow afternoon.

I'm taking this all in guys ;) This morning I took the same A Frame shots with 1/1250, but had to put the ISO on 1600, which is the next one past 800 & central Focal point. Dog was a lot sharper, but a bit dark, probably noisy. Maybe I might have better luck when the light is brighter...too hot at the moment. I have put my name down for a 2 x 2 hours of tutoring...might help

Looks great!! Yep it was great getting help and her giving some tips! She showed me that I am rewarding too high for contacts. It's nice when people take time out to help with stuff they can see you are either having trouble with or are clearly doing wrong What do you mean by this....the rewards are too good, too many, or should be lower down the contact I have heard that you should place the reward closest to where you want the desired behavour....is this what you mean ??

I could have sworn I put my 5/52 photo in.....must be going crazey Still on the pool...sorry guys

Relaxing by the pool

Thanks guys,...that's a lot of information. I have always been frightened by high ISO ever since I fiddled with my then, compact camera & it came out horrible & grainy. This camera's ISO goes from 100 to 3200, so I will do some experimenting...see how I go about 800. The shutter speed goes up to 1/4000, so I imagine you would have to have a very high ISO to match that ?? I have changed the focal point to just the one in the centre...I had it on auto before. The viewfinder shows a flashing number when the shutter speed doesn't match the ISO, so I guess that takes a bit of guess work out of it...just have to be more bold

Have only had my Canon SLR a few days & am mainly trying to get it right with taking sharp pictures of my moving border collie. I am using the manual setting "TV" & understand to get a really sharp image of a moving dog I need to have a fast shutter speed. However in normal morning daylight it wont allow me to have any more than about 1/200 before I have to increase my ISO to more than 100. I have it set on Al servo & the focal point on automatic. The white balance is also set on Auto. Would it make any difference if I changed the white balance?? To get really good sharp images of moving dogs do you need really strong sunlight & a tripod I will go back & watch the instruction video in case I have missed something, but thought someone might have some tips. This is the best I could get this morning...the park is in dappled shade but is still quite light.... f5.6, 1/160sec & ISO 200

My Lovely OH has finally finished the A Frame. I am very pleased with it but I might paint it brighter colours..he just used what paint we had in the shed. Now we can start practicing our contacts & discriminations, but still not sure whether to train 2o2o, 4 on the floor, or running contacts for the AF :D She does 2o2o with the dog walk & the see saw, but I am thinking it might be too much of a strain on her body to do this on the AF :D If I teach her a different methodt on the AF will this effect her understanding of the others or do they really know the difference ie: is it best to have the same contact for all three :D

Frodo is so, so cute

OK...So I got up here...how much longer do you want me to stand looking like an idiot Isn't it dinner time ?????? I love this site...it lets us use photos which would other wise go in the bin (like where this one is going)

There is a very easy to grow herb you can get called Dogsbane & that is supposed to repel dogs off gardens etc. But you would have to have it positioned near the pot plants for it to be efffective, or break pieces off & scatter them around the pots.

Did I get that one right...Mum!!!

Well I have got my very first SLR...a Canon EOS 500D & after working out how to put it together etc...managed to get a few shots before dark. These were taken on Automatic Sports mode...question is ..how do you focus on a moving object?? When using manual shutter speed for moving objects, I realise that the available light has to match the shutter speed, but how do you determine the best shutter speed for the available light....trial & error