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I think it is possibly doable, provided you put the work into it. When I adopted my 8 year old black cocker from the pound, he was completely shaved off as he came in very matted. His coat grew back very thick, wavy and wooly and very probe to matting. Of course the groomers I took him to only offered "pet clips" and seemed to have very little knowledge of the breed. I then decided to do it myself, researched grooming from breeders and equipped myself - besides my slicker brush, pin brush and comb -with thinning scissors, straight ones, some clippers and a Mars Coat King. I must say the latter tool was a like saver and allowed me to get rid of the undercoat better than anything else. Used weekly (with almost daily brushing and combing through of the feathering), Olaf was back in full coat within a year. A couple of breeders who met him commented that he had a very good coat!

Happy to help! PM me if you'd like

I've been following these thread from the beginning and would just like to say I really admire your commitment and dedication Jelly! SA has got to be one of the toughest issues to deal with... To those suggesting getting another dog, I'm just wondering if Roo (being very social) is happy to hang around other dogs as long as humans are around, as is the case in day care. She could possibly freak out if the attendants were to leave them unsupervised (not that they should do that anyway)

Not sure I'd put anything if the pups are still suckling. What does your girl's breeder recommend?

Hey Erny, probably a silly question but is it ok to keep the calendula tea in the fridge to use as needed, or does it lose its properties over time?

Hey Erny, probably a silly question but is it ok to keep the calendula tea in the fridge to use as needed, or does it lose its properties over time?

Hello guys! sorry for highjacking this thread..... I am trying to find out more about field training and retrieving (I own a cocker spaniel) and have no idea which clubs in the Sydney area run that sort of training. We train in obedience at the Eastern suburbs club, but they were not able to point us anywhere but to DogsNSW, whose website isn't very useful... Thanks in advance

I would go straight for the adult size; some come with a partition to make them smaller or you could make your own if need be... If you go to the commercial market place thread, k9 pro is having a sale on their wire crates ;-)

Fee there are some really nasty pieces of work around here... Sorry about your Loxy, Kirty... They are amazing creatures.

Malaseb is good to clean bacterial infections but might be drying out the skin in the long run; I apply Alpha Keri lotion on the affected areas, as recommended by my dermatologist vet. We tried Calendula tea but it didn't seem to soothe my pooch.

Hi! We go to the Eastern Suburbs Dog training; it's a community club and classes are held at Centenial Park every Sunday morning. Feel free to PM me if you need more info... We need more cockers!!!!

Good to hear that Ness! But then I guess all dogs are different, and being a newbie at this I will probably take longer - and stuff things up along the way. I wish I had a backyard so we could practice a bit everyday...

Thanks got the tip! You are very resourceful and I wouldn't have thought of that myself... I must say the 2x2 video is very impressive! I know it involves daily practice for months, but the results are great. I just sat watching others at training this morning. So many dogs have been training for years yet seem very hesitant about the weaves... Lots of food for thoughts ;-)

Thanks again! I agree Kavik, I get easily frustrated - and so does Penny - so we'd better stick to something simpler... My set of poles looks a bit like the one in your video for the channel method - except it's only 6. Where can I find cheap poles I could stick in the ground? Thinking of something light I could take to the park under the cover of darkness to practice ;-) ?

Hey Poochmad, I'm s spaniel owner too. My previous two were very soft mouthed and never showed any interest on the deer antlers. I might as well have given them a brick to chew on Little miss Penny can be convinced at times to chew on one, but she'd rather chew on a nylabone or something softer. They are very hard, and I've heard of a few incidents of teeth fracture with powerful chewers (Labrador and SBT).

Thank you for that! Great video indeed. I think the channel is the way to go for me; I can't make my poles slanted to start with (it's a plastic set and we are practicing inside - i envy you all who have a backyard!!!). As you would have guessed, I am new to training (and suck at shaping ). I had heard of Susan Garrett's 2x2 but it seems all too hard for me.

So... We've made it to level 3 in obedience class and can now partake in "activity" class, which is a bit of an introduction to agility. Besides the fact that we are expected to have a 2 hours session every Sunday morning (!) I'd like to get Penny a better start at weaving than the current "method" used by our not so forward thinking trainers (hold dog by collar - drag it in & out of the poles). I got myself a set of six poles to practice at home but have no idea what I'm doing. I thought of using targeting but she seems confused once I remove the target stick.. I'm sure there are plenty of better methods out there, would be grateful if someone coukd point me to some fool proof videos maybe? Cheers!

Exactly Haredown! Thank you for putting it so eloquently... Just as an aside, I'm not sure why the fact that Optimum is endorsed by a "celebrity" (I.e. he gets paid to feature in their ads) makes it more legit in your eyes Crowley?

Wow.... Talk about attitude. Why do you even bother asking on here if you are going to get narky at very sensible comments????

Great! Thank you so much

Erny, I'd be quite interested in your naturopath; I'm in Stdney though, not sure it makes a difference. I agree, the specialist seems very good. I used to like my regular vet but I've become disillusioned. He really pushes hard (re vaccinations, wanting me to desex Penny as soon as she turned 6 months, selling Hills etc etc)... I'm yet to find the ideal vet close to home...

Thank you! Definitely something worth looking into... I tried suggesting natural therapies to the specialist but he didn't really want to engage on the topic... Trying to attach pics of my little mite post surgery And in happier times, with his little big sister

Thank you all for your kind words; Will is probably around 3, though it is hard to tell as he was picked up as a stray. Dog club is not so much an issue for him (though I thought of enrolling him at some stage to help with his confidence), it is more for Penny because I'm really having 2nd thoughts about keeping on vaccinating her. Our local club still lives in the dark ages and last time I asked they had no idea what titre testing was Incidentally Penny became very itchy after her 3rd puppy booster. Of course the vet dismissed my concerns but the dermatologist we are now seeing seems to think there could be a link As for boarding, the specialist said they would board him at the clinic if need be. It's just that they would be split up, and I don't think he'd cope very well in a that sort of environment. I might start talking with a few kennels to see what their position is. According to the specialist, he would have immunity for distemper and the rest possibly for life, and at least for 7 years or so... As for KC, I boarded him in September and he came back with it despite bring vaccinated. There are so many strains of it that it's all a bit pointless really...

Here is what's happening to us. My apologies for the long winded story, it's a vent as well as a quest for information.. I started fostering Will, a possibly abused Tenterfield terrier, in June 2011. He had been at the AWL for 4 months when I took him on, and was vaccinated in March 2011. I ended up adopting him in September 2011 (and added Penny to the household in October). Fast forward to June 2012. I took him to the vet to get a 3 yearly booster. The vet decided to give him a yearly one, on the basis we didn't know his past immunization protocols. I now kick myself for taking him at all... In July, he started acting strangely. He would be reluctant to go for walks, act very submissive and sometimes scream when I put my hand towards him or when I took a step towards him. After these instances he would avoid me, as if I was the cause of his pain. This progressed to him yelping in pain when he was in his bed or in a particular room in the house. He would then avoid this spot for a while. The vet originally dismissed this as behavioural issues. Will is hard to examine because he is so tense and shakes like a leaf. Very soon, this progressed to him not being able to eat. He would come to his food bowl, scream and turn around. Sometimes he'd be able to grab a morsel but would yelp, drop it and go away. After examining his mouth etc under GA and not finding anything, the vet took a blood sample and sent it out to a lab in California to test for masticatory muscle myositis. Will was put on antibiotics for 2 weeks to clear a possible infection. No change at all under the medication, and the test came back all clear. And then he started getting better, and got back to his normal self! The issue came back in November; this tine we were referred to the North Shore vet hospital. The vet originally suspected a brain tumour, and performed a CT scan which came back perfect. The week after, Will went back and was cut open in 5 different spots (2 on his head, 1 on his right side and 2 on his back leg) for a muscle biopsy. The samples were sent to the same lab in California. The results show he suffers from an auto immune myopathy (which is present in all his muscles, not just the face). The way I understand it is that his system is over reacting and attacking his own muscles. We were at the specialist today, and we agreed to try and wean him off the prednisol over the coming month (he's been on it for 2 months now). It is likely the issue will come back, and we might try another medication due to the side effects of cortisone. One of the interesting (or sad, depending on how you look at it) things is that the specialist said "make sure you don't vaccinate ever again. You might do parvovirus every 3 years, but he's got immunity for all the rest. Don't do KC, don't do distemper". I was aware of the risks of over vaccinating and I really hate myself for thinking I might have been the cause of his issues. Really not sure what to do with Penny as well. Our training club demands current vaccination certificates, as well as boarding kennels. Has anyone else got experience with similar situations? I'm hoping it is manageable in the long term (provided there's no muscle necrotisation). How did you go about with places demanding vacc certificates? Thank you all for bothering to read this...

Interesting to see it isn't really cheaper! My main point though was the chemical overload every 30 or 45 days... I'll move on to value heart and only use an all wormer or flea treatment when required. WreckitWhippet, would you a faeces analysis on a regular basis or only when you suspect there might be an issue? I reckon worming every 3 months might still be overdoing it for my 2 who live fairly a sterile city life. It's not as if wildlife was teeming and they had access to dead animals, raw offals, faeces and the like...