ozjen

We did it about a month back at Yangabub and the tracks are fine in terms of the dogs coats, it was just abit wet and muddy but not much. Most of the track consisted of limestoney gravel and some bitumen track and a small amount of sandy track where the weather had washed sand across the track. The track was quite wide except we did have a couple of fallen trees because of a storm the night before but the GSA had done a good job of moving them. There were a couple of showdogs doing it including mine (Aussie) and a friends Springer without any issues with their coats. Both dogs are Champions and the Springer is an import that is currently taking out several BIG over east. While practicing with my sister and her dogs there recently we did have a bandicoot run across our path which did excite the dogs abit. All in all a fairly easy track though. Thanks i can practise on all those surfaces in my street. Coat wise i was more worried if it would stick & of course i would have to get off pick the crap out as it would annoy him although i can tie the coat up. I now the springer well although my lad has much more coat Yes. the English Setters in the ring have lovely coats, the Springer was the only dog I could think of to give an example of the lack of effect on the coat. There were some twigs and leaves on the tracks but I don't think they would cause much issue. If you don't live to far from Yangabub why not check it out before hand and access wether you need to wrap the coat. If not, I may be out that way on the weekend as my sister is planning on doing the ET so we might go have another practice, if we do I'll take the camera and get some shots of the tracks so that you can get an idea.

We did it about a month back at Yangabub and the tracks are fine in terms of the dogs coats, it was just abit wet and muddy but not much. Most of the track consisted of limestoney gravel and some bitumen track and a small amount of sandy track where the weather had washed sand across the track. The track was quite wide except we did have a couple of fallen trees because of a storm the night before but the GSA had done a good job of moving them. There were a couple of showdogs doing it including mine (Aussie) and a friends Springer without any issues with their coats. Both dogs are Champions and the Springer is an import that is currently taking out several BIG over east. While practicing with my sister and her dogs there recently we did have a bandicoot run across our path which did excite the dogs abit. All in all a fairly easy track though.

Hugs to you and your other furkids Ninoid12, your words about Molly's passing where beautiful and helped show us all a little of this special girl. I'm so pleased that you got the chance to say goodbye the way that you wanted too and the spot you picked out is lovely.

My favorite one would have to be 101 dog tricks by Captain Haggerty, think thats the name of the author. It was a cheap book that I picked up at a book sale but it gave me lots of ideas. While not a book I also love Youtube for tricks.

Check out Youtube for ideas, I find lots of ideas on it and also some lessons on how to teach some tricks. My dog has her own channel which shows some ideas for tricks you might like to check it out, it's ozpawfx. Also if you go into my profile page on youtube I have several good sites that I subscribe to that might be useful to you. Also there is a website called Dog tricks academy that has some good ideas and regular challenges for new tricks. If you have an idea for a trick and are not sure how to go about teaching it then just ask as there are many knowedgable people on here that can give assistance. I'm happy to help too, just not sure how good I am at explaining things, but happy to try if I can help.

Well done, quiet an acheivement, did you get any pictures, would love to see your clever pup. Best of luck for the WDG's in October, I hope you will post and let everyone know how Mr CK does.

No experience with this but was taking with someone with cancer and they were saying that it is better to cut out the cancers with laser rather than cutting as cutting there is more chance of it spreading. Also came across this site when I was doing some research, has anyone used this for pets or people with cancer with any success. http://www.essiac-canada.com/pets.htm

I'm so sorry Nimroid12, perhaps for Molly's sake you may have to forgo using her vet it does sound like perhaps its time and posponing it may not be right for her. Most vets understand your grieve and will try to make the parting as gentle as possiable, just be there for her and cuddle her close and try to not let her see your grief as you give her the most loving gift you can. Saw this poem and thought of you two: The Rainbow Bridge By the edge of the woods, at the foot of a hill, is a lush, green meadow where time stands still. Where the friends of man and woman do run, when their time on earth is over and done. For here, between this world and the next, is a place where each beloved creature finds rest. On this golden land, they wait and they play, till the Rainbow Bridge they cross over one day. No more do they suffer, in pain or in sadness, for here they are whole, their lives filled with gladness. Their limbs are restored, their health renewed, their bodies have healed, with strength imbued. They romp through the grass, without even a care, until one day they start, and sniff at the air. All ears pricked forward, eyes dart front and back, then all of a sudden, one breaks from the pack. For just at that instant,their eyes have met; together again, both person and pet. So they run to each other, these friends from long past, The time of their parting is over at last. The sadness they felt while they were apart, has turned into joy once more in each heart. They embrace with a love that will last forever, and then, side-by-side, they cross over together. Anon

Ninoid12, I'm so, so sorry that it turned out to be cancer with Molly and while we have never met I am bawling as well as I know how you must be feeling, having to say goodbye to your beloved furkid of so many years. Molly was so blessed to find an owner to love her so much and give he so many wonderful years of love, fun and caring. Even after many years I still shed tears for furkids long gone but they do leave us with many beautiful memories and our lives are all the richer for having shared them with these wonderful four legged friends. Sounds like you two have made lots of wonderful memories together I hope they help you through this dificult time. Sending you and Molly hugs.

Thanks for that kja, might have to speak to the Sandisk rep about that next time they are in, don't get much ultra though so maybe that's why I've not seen them. $30 is cheaper than I thought it would be, certainly not alot when it comes to memories.

These are often in shoe boxes with new shoes when they arrive in stores, why not ask at your local shoe store if you can have some as they just throw them out or at least they do at my store .

Could you tell me more about the photo recovery program diskette with Sandisk, I use Sandisk memory cards but don't know about the recovery diskette. I work in a photlab and often have customers in the position of having wiped their holiday shots would love to be able to advise them of this diskette. I knew that there was a way to recover their photos but have heard that it is an expensive process, which is ofputting for most of them.

You might like to check out this site for ideas and methods http://www.dogtrickacademy.com/members/forum/ Also youtube is great for getting ideas and ways to teach different tricks. Have fun with the training, do you use clicker training? I find it a great help in teaching tricks, my dog can be found on youtube under ozpawfx doing some of her tricks.

As the owner of an Aussie , a Papillon and a cat, there always seems to be plenty of hair shedding going on, always makes me wonder if brushing would ever get rid of it all. The best advise I can give is have non carpeted floors and a great vacumn cleaner. I also use a cheap slicker brush on my rugs to help lift more of the dog hair before vacumning. Invest in a box of cheap rubber gloves they are great for removing the hair from clothing just before leaving the house. other options are wrap some broad gaffa or similar tape around your hand with the sticky side facing out and run it over your cloths or wipe them with a damp cloth. If the dogs is not being shown, I would get rid of as much of the loose hair as possiable by grooming heavily when they are moulting. Have to admit that when I buy cloths now I often consider wether or not they are hair magnets, unfortunately as I like wearing black and part of my work uniform is navy it sometimes comes down to the type of fabric or resorting to the rubber gloves.

In 2007 I had 5 pups done with Protech C5 vaccinations at 12wks each pup had a routine check ie temp, mouths, eyes, boys checked for testicles, etc and the total was $90.00 which was the cost of the vaccination. Admittadly I get breeders rate but it might still pay for you to shop around.

On breeders discount I pay only $30 per dog for a Protec C5 they also do my cat for the F5 for $22. At least thats what I paid last vaccination, last year. The animals still all get a good check over too. As long as your dog is still getting the same vaccination and you are happy with a basic check over then shop around for the best price. Be aware though that at the cheaper prices you won't necessarily get a vet checking your pets but perhaps a vet nurse. I don't have a problem with this as I can monitor my pets health myself and if I feel the need for a more detailed check I can request it from the vet. Also for a couple of dollars more there is a mobile vet that will come to your home for vaccinations etc, which is easier that transporting a bunch of pups and safer for them health wise as well. Even if you are not a breeder, if you have a mobile vet operating in your area perhaps you could arrange a doggie vaccination day in your street or amoungst friends and work a discounted price with the vet if you got enough dogs involved. Vet gets more business , your pockets aren't quiet as empty and more dogs around your own are vaccinated.

Most of the pathways in WA are now duel use path/cycleways perhaps your local council can advise you of cycleways in your area. They may even be able to advise of a nearby park with a suitable path/cycleway to use. I trained my girl for her ET using the local path/cycleways alongside the road the only pain was having to stop to cross roads and the amount of broken glass we came across on the paths. A few years back I got a booklet that showed cyclepaths in Perth but can't remember if I got it from the local council or a "Life be in It" promotion. Might catch you at the next ET Mim as I may be helping my sister ET title her dogs then. We are trying to drum up a few friends to do their dogs at the same time so that we can support each other. After titling my girl last month I can assure you it's a lot easier than it first sounds as I am normally a real couch potato( well as much as my very active girl will let me be). It was this thread that gave me the incentive to give it a go although I wasn't game to say beforehand in case I was too unfit to handle it.

I'm so sorry your dogs aren't well and hope that they recover soon without infecting the others. When my dogs got kennel cough a few years back the only one that didn't get it was the one that was not vaccinaited. I was thankful that he didn't though as he is old and has heart problems. When the other dogs got it I treated them with Apple Cidar Vinegar and also dosed the one not displaying any symptoms. The second dog to get it showed alot less symptoms than the first dog and the other didn't get it at all so perhaps the ACV did help. The reason I tried the ACV is that it has stopped me from getting a fully fledged cold for many years as it breaks down the phlem (sp*) and I figured as the first dog was coughing up abit of phlem that it might help them too. I do think it helped, but that is only my opintion as I have never had cause to test it again.

ROFL! If she has the letters CCD after her name, then you're doing a LOT better than Benson and I are. I have pretty much retired him from obedience trialling as the competitive dog world isn't quite ready for Bensons brand of obedience. It was something along the lines of....how many shades of red can the handler go and how far would she like to sink into the ground. But in true Benson style, he did it all with a big happy smile and a waggy tail! Must be an Aussie thing Gayle, Jenna turns blonde as soon as she enters a ring, and on occassion you would swear that she had never had a days training in her life. Doesn't help that I get really uptight and she starts to stress too leading to all sorts of negative responses.

Now Rubystar, I've watched your beautiful Ruby work in the ring with you and you are a great team, I could well see you guys competing in UDX in the future.

Thought this might be of interest to everyone: Cross posted from another list .... ------------ --------- This was posted on another board with permission to cross post in the hopes of saving another dog from having to go through this awful experience. ============ ========= ========= ========= Hello Everyone, I am writing this in hopes that some may learn from what I just went through. Well anyway it did not work out that way. After showing we went back to our site/set up and got the dogs in their crates to cool off. After being back about 30min. I noticed **** was low on water. I took a hand full of ice from my cooler and put it in his bucket with more water. (Note: I use a small Playmate cooler at ringside with ice water in it also. Have for over 15 years now) I use small 2qt. buckets in my crates. He had maybe ½ a bucket when I placed him in his crate after coming back from the ring. We all then started to get all the dogs Ex'ed and food ready for them. I have an 18 foot trailer with AC and set up, as a rolling kennel it fits 7- 42" crates, and MY express Van holds 1- 48", 1- 42", and 3- 36", crates. All the crates in the van have 24 " box fans over them. I had **** in his 48' crate in the van because that is the place he loves to be. He loves to be able to see everyone and everything. After checking the dogs and thinking they were cooled off enough we fed everyone. As we were walking around removing the feed dishes from the crates, one of my friends stated that **** seamed like he was choking. I went over and checked on him and he was dry heaving and was drooling. I got him out of the crate to check him over and noticed he had not eaten. He was in some distress. I checked him over from head to toe and did not notice anything. I walked him around for about a min. when I noticed that he was starting to Bloat. I did everything I was taught to do in this case. I was not able to get him to burp, and we gave him Phasezime. We jumped on the golf cart to take him down to the Show vet to find out that he did not have a bloat kit, He referred us to the clinic that was to be on call, but we found out that the clinic was closed. After finding another clinic that was open we rushed **** to that one. We called ahead and let them know that we were on our way. They were set up and waiting for us and they got **** stabilized very quickly. After **** was stable and out of distress we transported **** to AVREC where he went into surgery to make sure no damage was done to any of his vital organs. I am very happy to say that **** is doing great, there was no damage to any vital organs, and he still loves his food. In surgery the doctor found that ***** stomach was in its normal anatomic position. The Doctor and I went over the events of what happened up to the point of **** Bloating. When I told him about the ice water he asked why I gave him ice water, and have I always done this. I told him my history behind this practice and his reply was "I have been very lucky for the past 15 years." The ice water I gave **** caused violent Muscle spasm in his stomach which caused the bloating. Even though I figured his temp was down enough to feed, and give him this ice water his internal temp was still high. Dr. Vogf stated that giving dog's ice to chew or ice water is a big NO, NO; there should be no reason for them to have ice/ice water. Normal water (room Temp.), or cooling with cold towels on the inter thigh, is the best way to help cool a dog. How Dr. Vogf explained it to me was like this: If you, as a person fall into a frozen lake what happens to our muscles? Think about that, then compare that to your dog's stomach. I felt the need to share this with everyone, in the hopes that some may learn from what I went through, I do not wish this on anyone. **** is home now doing fine. He does not like the fact that he has to be walked on lead in the yard to keep him from running. He hates not being able to go out and rough house with the others, but is doing great. So please if you do use ice and ice water, beware as what could happen.

When I took my Papillon to be sterilized I mentioned to the vet that I had been told by another vet that he was Braticardic (sorry about spelling), that his heart was beating slow but the vet that had told me didn't appear too worried by it . This vet did an ECG before putting him under anastetic and when I picked him up I was told he had a hole in his heart, that it was actually beating much faster to compesate and that he would need medication for life or would be dead within a year. In shock I took the medication and kept him on it for some time, during that time I also changed my dogs diets to raw feeding. Over time I decided that my lad's health was so much better that I was going to try to go it without medication as he use to get quiet distressed giving him the tablets. He has been off medication for more than 4 years and been kept on a raw diet and has never looked back. He is full of beans, no longer has episoides of depression or off days gives my other larger dog a run for her money and would chase a ball all day given the chance. During this time he has only been to the vet for a couple of vaccinations and once to be stitched up(under anastetic) after a dog attack . He is 13 next month and shows no signs that he is slowing down other than some stiffness on occassion where he was attacked. It is hard sometimes to decide what is right especially when you get different information from different vets and you want to do what is best for your dog. Sometimes it comes down to using your own judgement in the end, I took a gamble with my lad when I took him of medication but that was weighed up against the fact that he was becoming afraid of me because of having to force the medication (couldn't hid it from him in food) and I figured I would give him a heart attack with the stress it caused him. I decided quality of life was more important than quantity and with his health improving so much on the raw feeding I decided it was worth a try without medication. Good luck with Mac whichever way you decide to go, I'm not suggesting that medication is not the way to go just that its not always the only answer depending on the individual dog. If medication had not been such an issue for my boy I would probabaly have never considered trying to go without it.

You'll ace it Gayle, Benson sounds like he could do it backwards. After reading this thread I decided that I would give it a go with my Aussie, Jenna. we had our ET on Saturday and despite the weather everyone passed. Jenna and I trained for about 6 weeks before hand gradually increasing the distance but the most distance we did was only about 8km at a time. Jenna was and is well toned at the moment so might have to keep up some of the biking. We actually trained at a higher speed than we needed to, Jenna never needed to get out of a trot but when we did the ET we were apparently going abit fast so had to slow down. Jenna started to get bored the last couple of Km's so I used the lure of her doggie mates telling her that they were at the finish line. She finished looking really alert and wondering where her doggie mates were. (nice and dry/warm at home) The only suggestion I would have for others is pad your bike seat well, I bought a gel cover for mine but that was no where near any help. I told my sister that if I survived this one then I would do it again with one of her Aussies so next time I might wrap my seat well with plenty of padding, perhaps a smaller bike might help too as the one I use is really too big for me. Anyone who is reluctant to give it a go because they don't think they are fit enough, I thought the same as they don't come much unfitter than me. We only trained three days a week on average and although the legs were slightly jelly whenever I hopped of the bike at the ET I actually felt quite energised for the rest of the weekend.

I'm in the same boat as you Oakway, have tried it on both the dog and myself to try to calm us before going into the ring but still got just as nervous and of course when I'm uptight the dog reacts. Even gave the pastles a try as I could continue to suck on one in the ring discreetly, nope still was a bundle of nerves. My dog has reached the point that as soon as we hit the ring she starts with calming signals rather than what we are mean't to be doing. I am still trying to overcome the nerves enough to do the obedience but now have a friend take my dog for Agility with much better results. This weekend we are going to try DWD but I'm thinking a stiff drink may be required before we go in. Have tried the vitamin B too without success.

Whoops, sorry Rubystar, another senior moment for me for some reason I always think of your Chocolate as being Ruby. There's nothing wrong with MILLIE's (got it right this time) obedience she is a joy to watch and very focused on you. We all just need to convice people that Labs don't have to look like barrells and if they do then it's not so much a breed issue as an owner issue.