laeral

I currently use an orbee on a string with my girl. She loves her orbee and goes nuts for it when we play. The problem I have though is that she grabs onto the string more than the ball. Im a bit worried that she will rip a tooth out doing this. Would I be better off looking into the tugs like Erny posted about? Should you stick to the one type of tug or can you change between say two different ones?

Well done

Hi Shel72, Yay Brontes home You must be so happy. Mica used to get the hiccups a bit when she was little. I wouldnt be to concerned about it at this stage, maybe bring it up with your vet when she goes in for a checkup. But like Cashew said it could be the way she is drinking. I dont have any scientific evidence for this mind you, but my brothers puppy used to get the hiccups heaps after he had a drink. We had to limit the amount he drank each time as he would hoover it down and would sometimes make himself sick. I would keep an eye on Brontes leg, maybe call the vet and ask their advice. Is it possible to put some non slip matting over your tiles for a while? Unfortunately tiling isnt ideal for a young dog. Good luck with her... Where are the piccies?

Midol is right Erny I am basically following Steves program. He was a great source of info and helped a lot at the start of our training. Thanks for the link Sandgrubber. I have looked at Lou Castles website a few months ago, but didn't think to go back and have another look Will do that now.

I have been using an e collar to train my GSD girl (with guidance from a trainer). We were having issues with recall and stock chasing. Progress has been fantastic. She has excellent recall under mild distraction. Basicaly doesnt need the collar anymore. I am able to call her off some stock such as ducks, kangaroos etc. This is a big step for us! Chickens we will work on a little later But it is time I got myself into gear and put some more effort into the training. I have become a little complacent over the last few months. My aim for my dog is to be able to remove the collar altogether, for various reasons. So I would like some advice and discussion on where to go from here if I could. My first two questions are: 1. Proofing. She has excellent recall with no to mild distractions. She really no longer needs the collar in these situations. I am not fully clear on what I should be doing regarding proofing. I have a good idea HOW to proof her thanks to the trainer I mentioned but Im unsure when to proof. Do I proof her as we progress in the training? for example proof her under no distraction then each time you build up the distractions. Or is this something you do at the end of the training when you are at a level that you are happy with? (clearly I dont fully understand the whole proofing concept!) 2. Distractions. I am having a hard time deciding on which distractions to start working through. Everything seems to have a high value for her. People arent a problem. Dogs, Kangaroos, chickens and Im guessing sheep (havent let her near one!) seem to have an equal value. Is it ok to just start working through them one by one? If I had to chose an order I think it would be horses, dogs, kangaroos and then chickens. Horses we are pretty much on top of and she will listen to me even when the horses are running like loons so thats good. Now onto dogs. She is very distracted around strange dogs. I have started her at the park some distance from other dogs with some success. Getting closer is becoming problematic. Someone suggested going back to the long line, so that she has no choice but to obey. Is this what others would reccomend? I believe I am now rambling, but if anyone has any suggestion regarding adding distractions, or ideas on what you have done I would really appreciated it Thanks

Did this to me also. I had to go into options at the top right of the thread and select 'standard' Oh just saw that you had done this. Im not sure why it wont retain the right layout for you sorry.

That made me laugh. I have seen my dog grazing like a sheep to. Guess shes not alone

Thanks for your replies. I guess I just needed other opinions as she was starting to ingest quite a lot of grass. I will stop worrying unless she seems unwell.

My GSD is 2 years old. She has been on a Barf diet for almost a year now. She seems really healthy and happy, her coat is fantastic and she has heaps of energy My only concern is the amount of grass she eats. I know it is normal for dogs to eat a certain amount of grass, but she seems to eat a lot. Her favourite place is up at my mums place, she will happily graze there for ages. I have even seen her in the horse paddock grazing with the horses her poos lately have had a fair amount of undigested grass in them. They kind of look stringy (sorry for the description). I am starting to worry that there is something I am missing with her diet. Currently she gets: AM - Lamb necks, chicken frames, chicken wings or various beef bones. PM - (per week) vegie slops 5 x, sardines 1x, kidney/liver 2 x, kanagroo meat 5 x Additives - fish oil, Evening Primrose oil (to help with the itchies), yoghurt or cottage cheese and ACV. her vegies slops usually consist of silver beet, zucchini, tomato, alfalfa sprouts, carrots, capsicum (minus the seeds) plus some apple/banana and the occasional broccoli and pumpkin. Does this seem balanced enough or could there be some reason for her grass eating? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Oh and she doesnt thow up after eating the grass either.

On my 127 level collar, the lowest we can get down to is 14. Normaly we have it on 15/16 This is during medium level distraction.

My GSD Mica 10 weeks 12 weeks 1.5 years

Oh my you are not concerned that there may be substances contaminating the meat? :rofl:

Oh my you are not concerned that there may be substances contaminating the meat? :rofl:

Thanks Midol DVD compatable please. PM me when your ready and Ill give you my address and sort out postage.

http://leerburg.com/qaaggres.htm I don't give a shit what your dog is doing. Hitting it over the head with a shovel is cruelty. WTF?? Midol about the DVD's I know you offered them to Kavik but if I sent you some blank ones would you be able to make me a copy as well? I'd love to see his stuff for myself.

Yep I was there on the Sat, in the cold May was a long time ago, I believe another one is due. One where I can come for the whole weekend :rolleyes:

Will have to be Melbourne then :wink:

Thanks Huski. Mica also gets celery and alfalfa, but only occasionally broccoli.

Yep - oxalic acid. I wont feed it to my lot. I have a serious question. I give my girl silverbeet as part of her vegie slops. Is this not recommended? If not whats a good green leafy alternative? Crap just kept reading, I also give her tomato in her slops. I think I'm trying to poison her!

This is the third thread I have read from you tonight regarding diet info and in each one you have become angry and said you wont post anymore after only a couple of comments. Im not sure what kind of responses you are expecting to get?

Um doesn't seem like he is getting much bone in his diet. Most of it seem sot be muscle meat. I would be upping the bone by giving chicken necks at least 3 times a week as part of his main meal. Plus other bones. If you are feeding sardines nearly every day then there really wouldn't be any need to add extra fish oil to his diet. Why the different things of veggies/fruit? Most people just blend everything up together focusing mostly on green leafy veggies. ITS QUIET BLOODY OBVIOUS MEMBERS AT THIS FORUM ARE TOTALY AGAINST BARF DIETS, IVE YET TO SEE A WILD DOG OR WOLF USE A CAN OPENER OR USE SCISSORS OR A KNIFE TO OPEN RACKETED DOG FOODS. Floyd is get'n plentry of bone in hes diet, if you read it again, i do give Floyd lamb shank or neck bones as well as chicken necks.. Read again about why i give extra fish oils.. As for not blending all fruits & veggies together, maybe cause it tastes like bloody shit & Floyd wont eat it.... Ummmm I feed my dog a BARF diet Can I ask a question regarding the 10% spinach. Do you give this to your dog whole or blended?

Thanks for your replys everyone. I have had a bit to think about. After some consideration I think maybe there are a few factors at play. But to be honest I am now having a little difficulty diagnosing seperation anxiety Mica while not being overly clingy, does like to be near me at all times and keep me in her sight. If I go somewhere else, another room or somewhere else on the property she will get distressed if she cannot follow. NOT distressed in that she seems anxious when I get back, she just gets excited to see me. She does not ike to have barrier between us and used to jump fences if i was on the other side of one. Now she just crys. If I tie her up somwhere familiar, like out the front or at my mums place that she knows very well, she will carry on and scream per usual, but again I dont think this her being anxious and distressed. More like she is carying on because she is objecting to being tied up and is restrained But when she is in an unfamiliar enviroment and I have had to tie her up, that is when she has become very distressed and anxious. However in that same enviroment she will be perfectly happy and confident if not tied up. She still likes me to be within sight of her, but is perfectly happy to wander about and do her own thing. For example we can be at an unfamiliar park, Mica is off lead, she will wonder and sniff a good 50 meters away if I let her and have no issue. If I then tied her up and wandered 10 meters away she would be in a state of distress when I returned to her. This is what I thought was speration anxiety. I have also seen this level of distress if someone has had occassion to take her leash and walk her away from me. She will not scream and carry on, but upon return to me she will be quite anxious. Again this in an unfamiliar environment. I hope I am being clear, I am just writing my thoughts as it is easier for me that way So Im wondering if there are 2 things going on here. 1 being that she just hates being tied up full stop, or i havent taught her to properly, and so she carrys on suitably (attention seeking). 2. An unfamiliar envorinment, coupled with being tied up is causing seperation anxiety. Does this make any sense? Maybe there is a third option being that she is just attention seeking as Midol suggestedl and i am to dim to recognise it Either way, i will work again on TOT in differing environments, and will slowly introduce the tie out in incremental stages and see if this improves thing. Tonymc, we have been working on loose leash walking, though she still will pull if not reminded. So I shall increase my efforts in this area. Thanks

Thanks for your replys everyone. I shall worry a little less now I was pretty sure it was Ok to feed her frames but just wanted to check what others thoughts were. My friends JRT is not a very healthy dog, and probably would have become ill at some point anyway, but it brought the issue of feeding frames to mind. Yes I have tried to talk to her about diet and so has the vet. She changed vets when they suggested he was overweight Mica is a very active GSD, lives on a property and gets lots of exercise. On top of her normal walks she comes out on long rides with the horses several times a week so im not really concerned about feeding frames. I will just be extra careful about trimming the fat off. Thanks again

Gaylek its horribe to see her like that I think tying her up and being near her would work if I started in places she felt comfortable and then slowly bulit up to strange places. If I try it say in the street or at kepala ;) she starts to carry on as soon as I go to tie her up. Makes me sad to think i have created this dependence in my poor girl. She is such a happy, energetic dog normaly.

Thanks for your replys. Mica is pretty fit and active, so I thought that she would be fine. But it did get me to thinking again ;) My SIL had a Border Collie who suffered from pancreatitis as well and was on a strict diet of lean foods as fatty foods could bring on another attack. I guess Im wondering if a diet with a high fat content can lead to pancreantitis? The poor JRT is very overweight, doesnt do much exercise and eats way to much so I im sure he has other health issues contributing to his condition.