Mooper

Oh, little one! So playful. She can play to her heart's content and stay forever young at the Bridge now.

Jack, too, is "ping" trained. He will also run from outside to the back door when the phone rings (which is handy, 'cos I would miss lots of calls otherwise!). He seems to know that Tuesday night is obedience night. He's like a doggy on a pogo stick the moment we get home from work. Putting sneakers on means a walk. Pure and simple (according to Jack). And the chest freezer My goodness. If you open that to get something boring like bread or frozen spinach out, heaven help you. Everyone knows that's where BONES come from!!!

That's the way, Trace and Enya! It sounds like you had a fantastic time. Who could blame Enya for wanting to know what the tissue thing was all about?! Good luck with the continued training. Jack and I will join in the list of proud failures in a week or two ... we've already been told that nobody passes Advanced the first time, and I know Jack will get too distracted to do the wonderful stays Enya managed. But, hey, it's all a learning curve for the handler and canine :rolleyes:

Good luck tomorrow night, Trace and Enya! You'll be just fine. You're right; the assessor is not out to get you. They're out to *encourage* you, and if they're any good they'll calm you right down. Like Ashley said, go out there and have fun! I always try to arrive early enough for Jack to have a good wander and a sniff, go to the toilet etc ... apparently lots of dogs wee on the starting post! I guess they're nervous, too!

Slight deviation from topic ... We've been doing this "101 things to do with a box" thing, too, as I've only been clicker training Jack for a few weeks now. Don't do what I did and completely confuse the dog! I thought Jack was getting the hang of the box games, and since all his toys are kept in a box, decided to put his newest toy in the box we'd been using for clicking. The eventual aim is that since he knows to get his toys out of the box, I want him to learn to put them back in there as well. His newest toy has a jellybean-scented stomach (why, I don't know!) so we call it Jelly Belly. So there I was, clicking and treating Jack for looking at the box, taking a step towards the box etc until I added the command "Get Jelly Belly". I could have sworn he was getting the hang of this ... But no. My husband, who was watching and giggling the whole time, suggested I take Jelly Belly out of the box, and then reissue the command. So what did Jack do? He went straight to the box, ignoring his toy altogether! All along, I thought he was focusing on this toy, while he thought he was getting clicked and treated for focusing on the cardboard box :D My husband laughed so hard he fell off the couch!! :D Seeing that Jack was frustrated, we ended the session with some quick "look at me" exercises and a jackpot of treats after the final click. What did Jack do after I said "free!"? He ran straight across the room to pick up Jelly Belly and play with the toy. ;) (husband fell off the couch again at this point!) Oh well. The exercise taught me a lot, didn't do Jack any harm, and convinced me that clicker training really works. Jack can find that box no matter where it is in the house!! And I've been retraining him with his Jelly Belly toy, minus the box, so he now knows the name of that

Poor wee Blocker Keep cuddling those pups, and look forward to meeting your champion little man at the

Yep, I've had this with different trainers, too. One trainer will say to verbally correct Jack when he barks. The following week, a different trainer will tell me to ignore the barking and praise like mad when he's sitting nicely. Now if we get a trainer other than the regular one, I have a chat with them at the start to let them know the method I'm most comfortable with (edited to add: my preference being for positive reinforcement). I do like K9 Force's healthy perspective. And, as with ninaandted, I recognise that the problem is on my end of the lead as much as it's on Jack's end. I'm learning, he's learning ... and we're both making mistakes but that's all part of the process. Maybe Jack and I should start wearing "L plates" to training ...

You watch, next week Jack will be an angel

I lost it at training tonight

Awwww ... goodbye, sweet Zoe Rest in peace.

First Dante's tootsies, and now Dali's throat! It sounds like all will be well if the inflammation is kept in check. I hesitate to bring this up ... could this have anything to do with eating *ahem* someone's underwear??? I seriously doubt it. Unless he eats bras as well! Those clasps and underwires would surely scratch on the way down ...

Slightly off-topic ... I'm on a linux machine now. It can be great, and there are some awesome programs out there, but it's tricky to make sure that any new components you buy (DVD burner, scanner, printer...) are compatible. Usually some clever person has written a driver to help you, but it's best to stick with the bigger brands rather that cheap manufacturers ... good luck installing Linux! And back on-topic, thanks for this thread. Mum gets terrible eczema ... I'll let her know about this stuff! She uses some expensive cream that she buys here in Canberra, olive-oil-based I think, that works well but at about $40 a tub she's keen to try something else. Like so many sufferers, she's tried almost everything under the sun, but still swears by garlic!

Jack has a cup of Supercoat Light (and Mature?) for breakfast, because he's a porker. He did have Bonnie Complete and would reluctantly eat that. Despite the reputation of "light" foods tasting worse, even to dogs, he wolfs it down like it's his last meal. I use it as a treat in obedience class, too. He gets liver treats or dehydrated liver when he's learning something new, and I wean him onto his Supercoat after that, cutting his breakfast or dinner portion accordingly. Slightly off-topic: a lady from Purina was spruiking in Petbarn this afternoon, offering $12 off a 17kg bag plus a "free" bin. I think the smaller bags were also $12 off without the no storage bin. She said Purina use only good-quality cuts of meat, and they use real, moist meat and then dehydrate the mix to get the kibble ... apparently other companies use dehydrated meat then add binding ingredients. FWIW

From ARF's October newsletter (written with the Canberra region in mind but more widely applicable) ... It's tick season. What should you do? The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) says drought conditions mean that ticks are hitching a ride on our native wildlife into urban areas, looking for food and water. ARF members have already found ticks on their pets this season. Here is some information from the AVA and NSW Agriculture to help protect your dog, cat or human family. But remember, there is no substitute for professional veterinary or medical advice. 1. Where ticks are found Ticks are primarily found in bushland along the east coast of Australia from Far North Queensland to Lakes Entrance in Victoria, and in Tasmania. In NSW and QLD, ticks may be found some distance inland. 2. Common ticks in our region There are three common ticks in our region. The most common is the introduced species Haemaphysalis longicornis, the bush tick, which make up about 90 per cent of ticks in NSW. Adult bush ticks can cause loss of blood and, in severe cases, may kill the host animal. About 10 per cent of ticks in NSW are the paralysis tick, Ixodes holocyclus, also known as the dog tick, scrub tick or shell-back tick. Their paralysing toxin can be fatal, particularly to small and young animals, unless veterinary attention is obtained. The cattle tick, Boophilus microplus, is very rare in our region due to a 70-year eradication program. However this species remains a major concern to stockowners, in particular, as it can transmit tick fever to cattle. 3. Symptoms of tick poisoning Symptoms include weakness in the legs, especially the hind legs; a strange or muted bark or meow; rapid, noisy breathing; retching or vomiting. More than 80,000 cases of tick toxicosis, mainly in domestic pets, are treated each year in eastern Australia. 4. Checking for ticks Check your pet daily from the start of the nose to the tail, in the ears and between the pads of their paws. Pay particular attention to warm, moist areas – behind the ears, in the groin and armpits, and behind the knees. 5. Help! I found a tick! Don’t panic and don’t delay. Take the pet to your local vet immediately. Tick poisoning is very serious and can lead to the death of the animal if treatment is not received in time. Do not try and remove the tick yourself; you could end up injecting more poison into your pet’s body. (image from Protect New Zealand website)

Well, All-Out-War-On-Fleas Day went well for us. I gave Jack a bath in Fido's Fre-Itch Shampoo two days prior, and lots of the critters floated to a watery grave. I couldn't believe how many there were hidden under all that fur! Then on the Saturday I vacuumed the whole house (crevice tool and all, as per instructions!) and released flea bombs in every room while Jack and I went down to the Murrumbidgee for several hours. Then I opened up the house over 2 hours later and left Jack outside with a juicy bone while I did some gardening. After 45 minutes or so, I went back inside and vacuumed everything AGAIN, and washed the floors. All pet bedding, pet towels etc went through the washing machine with some tea-tree oil for good measure and hung out in the sun all day. Oh, and I chatted to my neighbour who said he has trouble with fleas every year. He happily accepted a vial of Frontline for his dogs and promised to flea-bomb his house. He also wrote down the Fido's details and said he would wash his dogs. Since it had been two days since Jack's bath, I applied Frontline in three spots down his spine and he's hardly scratched since. He's nice and soft, too! Now that we have the lawnmower working, we've attacked the growing tufts of grass. That was probably also part of the problem. Next up: Malawash in the yard ... Hope everyone else is winning the war on fleas :D

Okay, I'm ready. Saturday is All-Out-War-On-Fleas Day. I've got a flea bomb for every room of the house, plus one for the car and kennel. I've got Malaban Wash (which I assume is Malawash?) for the fenceline and yard. I've got Fido's Fre-Itch Shampoo for Jack to have a bath tonight, to be followed up with Frontline 48 hours later. Jack gets garlic in his food already, so we're covered there. I put some tea-tree oil on a wet washer last night and rubbed that on his feet. Several fleas started to appear then. I felt like I was playing a game of "Hungry, Hungry Hippo" as I pounced on the things. And Jack's already on a "flea-free" steel-frame bed with the shadecloth-like material. He has a cushion in the lounge room, and I washed the cover in NapiSan last night. Will continue to do so weekly for the next 3 or 4 weeks ... however long it takes to take those fleas down! Dali-love, the Frontline is working. Lots of dead fleas in a jar last night. So it must be the environment. I'm working on it. Thanks again, everyone, for your helpful suggestions.

Thanks, Elise. It looks like I've got a busy weekend ahead! I spotted the neighbour's old blue heeler scratching itself incessantly this morning ... I believe he may be the culprit (the bluey, not the neighbour, although he's indirectly responsible!) So I think I'll approach my neighbour with a vial of Frontline in hand and let him know that I've found some fleas on Jack and that he might like to use the Frontline to treat his dog. Is that subtle enough to not make him feel bad?! He's a good bloke, but as his dog is always outdoors, I suspect the fleas have gone largely unnoticed. I just have to make sure the dog's weight is within the 20-40kg range of my Frontline vials. One more question: any advice on which flea bomb to use? Just a supermarket job or something more professional. Thanks again! :p Edited to add: Sorry, guys. I always try to search past DOL threads before starting a new one. For some reason I didn't do that this time I see now that many of you have replied to others on this very topic as recently as Feb '04. Those who have been reading DOL for some time probably get sick of these seasonal queries, so thanks for putting up with the same old questions!

Thank you all for your replies. I've just received an internet order for another 6-pack of Frontline so I guess I'll keep using it for now. Mita, I have been applying Frontline in the single spot between the shoulder blades, on my vet's recommendation, but had decided future vials will be applied in two or three spots down the spine. Then I think I will switch to Advantage. Your description of shaving Tibbies has me picturing the head of an old man with a comb-over on a Tibbie's body! Noisymina, Jack came from the Canberra Pound; we brought him home in May after he'd been there for four days. He was handed in for re-homing as a result of a broken marriage and subsequent change of circumstances. There's no doubt he was a much-loved dog, so I think he just picked up the fleas while he was at the Pound. He didn't have any more fleas then than he has now! And he's been on a diet of raw food (I won't call it BARF as I haven't read the requisite books to know for sure) since I discovered DOL. I was thinking of taking Jack on a Saturday outing so it sounds like the perfect time to flea-bomb the house. I hadn't heard of Malawash so thanks very much to everyone who mentioned it ... I'll be getting some of that quick smart! As many of you mentioned, I need to break the breeding cycle *now*. And thanks for the tip about popping the fleas in a jar, Dali-love. I love a good experiment. :rolleyes: Mel

The topic of fleas has cropped up a fair bit lately, and will no doubt continue to do so as the weather warms. We've had Jack on Frontline Plus for large dogs since we brought him home from the Pound in May. He had some fleas on him at that time, so the vet bathed him in flea treatment and we applied Frontline 48 hours later as per instructions. Jack has had Frontline at least once a month since then, sometimes every two weeks as I have a knack of applying the stuff just before rain! :rolleyes: Even with regular Frontline use, we're still finding fleas on Jack. Last night, I found *nine* live fleas on him and one dead one, as well as having my feet bitten by two fleas. I also discovered, incidentally, that while fleas are very good at swimming, they don't like oil. I accidentally splashed some olive oil into one glass of water and all the fleas died straight away ... I guess the oil suffocates them? Anyway, we're not sure what else to do. It's hardly a flea epidemic, but we're wondering where all these fleas are coming from. Because we've been finding dead ones on the rug and on Jack, we're assuming the Frontline is doing its thing, but perhaps not having an effect on the environment. We recently took Jack away with us for a weekend and found not one flea on him during that time. Now that we're home, he's got 'em again. A few thoughts: * the neighbours have two outside-only dogs that could be harbouring fleas * there are *lots* of birds that like to bathe in Jack's water bowl and pick at his marrowbones -- do birds carry fleas? * the ex-tenant of our house had several cats and didn't treat them for fleas, so there may be a nest somewhere? We want to nip this in the bud before flea season really hits us. I'm reluctant to get someone in to spray some kind of "flea bomb" around the house and yard, but do you think that's the only way to go? Interested to hear from anyone who has been in a similar situation. Thanks.

Poor wee Kierra. Glad to hear the vet seems to know what's going on, and it's great of them to offer to buy back the Sentinel. Keep us posted, and try not to worry too much!