Mrs Rusty Bucket

Ok with my hound and the 2x2 - we're nearly all the way around the arc - though I'm still stuffed if I know how she knows which side is which, well I guess she has to work off the end I point at - except with two poles - there isn't an "end" as such. reward line is that way (north) so entry must be always from the east. I'll worry about which end is which later. Anyway... She goes through the poles the correct way, and gets her tug well to the North of both poles, with some of my throws - roughly where the second set of poles will end up for the next phase. And then she kills the tug, does a bit of self flagellation, and comes back - through the poles - the wrong way, well the right way for the direction she's going... like she loves those poles so much... even when I take them out, it's her new favourite bit of the lawn. So I'm trying to do less reward/tug for slow retrieves, and wandering retrieves (extra runs through the poles) and more for when she gets it absolutely right - ie fast find entry through and out to get tug in the distance and a direct return with tug toy. It's starting to happen more often. Might pair it with uber food treat too. I wasn't going to worry about her coming back with the toy through the poles until later. however - we did have an interesting run with the tunnel on tuesday morning class. The line of jumps with tunnel was vaguely curved so the most direct would have been run out with dog on left, and return with dog on right. But, specific exercise was supposed to be a rear cross as dog goes through tunnel. So I'm on the outside of the curve with dog on left still (she doesn't actually care about left or right side but other dogs in class do) Get to tunnel she goes flying in, I forget to do rear cross, remember, run back do rear cross, meantime she's out the other end of the tunnel and I'm not giving her any direction (laughing at myself doesn't count) so she comes back through the tunnel. Good for gamblers... not what we were supposed to be doing. Subsequent runs, she doesn't want to in the tunnel ahead of me at all, cos I stuffed up the first time around. Sigh. Would have been so much easier to go up on left, and back on the right... We are also practicing the measuring stick - because the first time we tried the real measuring stick - she would not stand still next to it. Trap for newbies. You have to make sure your dog is ok with measuring stick. Often. So instructor holds the dreaded stick with the cross piece up high and we practice, heel and stand next to it while she hunts for shoulder bones. And repeat, and repeat. Reward dog for standing still and not swinging her butt away from the pole... And then we lower the cross piece a bit, by bit. Until that rests on shoulders and instructor fiddles with getting it lined up. There must be an easier way than a sliding cross piece that somehow someone with only two hands needs to hold it up, slide the bar, find the shoulder bones, make sure the dog isn't hunching, stand up hound, and fix the bar so the measure can be read off. Sigh. Level ground? Right now - who cares. Wednesday (night) too cold and wet to train. Sigh.

July 15th article in Gold Coast news. http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2010/0...coast-news.html I'll cut and paste a little bit of it. One of the dogs got out, neighbours phoned the council, council seized both dogs. Must be fun neighbours. (snip) The council seized the dogs on May 19 and ordered them to be destroyed. The family appealed against the decision and last week lodged DNA tests conducted by a private company to support their case. The $299 tests by the Melbourne lab revealed that Whero was a golden retriever/Boston terrier cross and Mau was a Staffordshire bull terrier/boxer cross, which are both legal crossbreeds. (snip) A council spokesman confirmed the DNA tests had been received and the case would be processed within a fortnight. The council's animal management boss Bob La Castra backed DNA testing in principle. "I think there's a strong argument for us doing DNA tests because that's the only way to be 100 per cent sure," he said. "Unless there's a reason why we shouldn't, then that should be looked at very seriously." He said there could be a case for compensation. "If we find that the DNA testing shows that these dogs are not a banned breed, then I certainly think that council needs to look very, very closely at any cost that's been incurred by the owners," he said. "The other side of the coin is we've got a duty and we could be seen as being negligent if we don't act on what our officers are trained to identify (by seizing the dogs)."

Ghost bottle... (eek)

I have this problem with another dog from dog club. My dog and the other dog get along really well and we do play dates etc. They're allowed to greet before and after class but not during. And we owners both make an effort to keep them separated. But if my dog doesn't get to do a proper greeting before class (because someone is late), then she will run off in the middle of class and do her greeting. Oops. The other dog is currently going through a phase of not recalling - especially at class - running off and playing "chase me" is much more fun so it stays on lead 100%, which means the only dog of the pair which can be really naughty is mine. Last couple of classes, she was good. She seems to understand that during class - we do class stuff and we can greet before and after... Now if only I could get her to leave the possum poo alone...

I don't think either kind of wee is necessarily a bad thing. Frosty did the happy wee when really really excited and pleased to see people. I had to manage visitors / new people and the dog. Ie nobody gets to do greetings until we're somewhere wee friendly like the lawn and if you're not going to co-operate you don't get to say hello to the puppy dog at all. She also does submission ? pee or "I'm the ultimate no threat dog" when greeting other dogs. I can tell it's a "no threat" pee because she's usually upside down already when she does it. She doesn't do it very often now, but when greeting a really big dog - and she initiates the greeting (submission doesn't seem to cut it here), she rolls over and if the big dog goes for the rear end sniff very fast, she pees. If they approach more slowly, she doesn't. If the dog is clearly trying to eat her she clears off before it can get close enough to sniff. She's not entirely stupid. She wants to be everybody's friend so she will quite happily do the roll over and grovel for the smallest puppy. But I don't think she's the least bit submissive. I guess we could argue about definitions but she doesn't allow herself to be completely dominated or told what to do by other dogs, people or me some of the time.

kynan I've used (wunterlichs garlic) metwurst - chopped into little bits - even worked on Steve too. Fritz/devon; roast chicken, pot roast bolar blade (beef) chopped into little cubes, and then frozen into single serves or week's worth, roast lamb in tiny cubes. The pot roast is good because it can be pulled apart, it's easy to chop up but doesn't fall apart. And I use cubed bits of whole meal bread - usually kept in the same bag as the other stuff. And my dog has started going mental for kleenex - clean or dirty - she doesn't care. And she likes beef chips (rawhide) but it's not so convenient as a TID reward. However a rigger's glove seems to work well - but that's more like a tug. Anything soft that can be swallowed easily, chopped into tiny cubes that the dog loves. Stuff that is highly aromatic is good too - hence the metwurst (a bit like german salami for you eastern state people). I haven't really decided between using food rewards or tug rewards - she likes both depending. And I draw the line at loading the treat bag with possum poo or sheep poo or dead things from the beach though I know she'd work for any of these - yuk.

pomchi Take a note of how long you've been walking when she clags out, and aim to be home before that time is up on the next walk. Sometimes it's good to finish just before the dog has had enough. They still feel good about the experience and look forward to the next one. For me it was especially important at the beach - to catch my dog at the 45 minute mark and not stay for a whole hour, or I would not be able to catch her. Sometimes we end up doing a bit of "remote" sit / stay / drop, and now she's a bit older - eventually this calms her enough I can catch her again, but it's embarrasing. Quite a few trainers say I shouldn't let her off lead till she's perfect, but she is perfect on lead. So how do you know. She's currently perfect up to the 45 minute mark - and then she clags out. Fair enough. I also find that she's very happy to sleep after a session of footpath bashing, even if it's quite short compared to an hour of oval circuits.

There is another killer bowel problem Intussusception - the bowel doesn't twist, it overlaps itself and cuts its own blood supply. http://www.acvs.org/AnimalOwners/HealthCon...ntussusception/ An internet friend on another forum lost a newfie puppy to this. The link lists some causes but her dog had none of the specific problems, just some ongoing problems with runny poo / constipation. If the dog had been sleeping inside with her maybe she could have got it to a vet in time but it was an outside puppy. I think bloat is a lot more common. And can be just as deadly. All I can think is if your dog has an obvious guts ache that persists (doesn't go away when she vomits a bit of bone) - off to the vet asap.

Frosty and I send get well vibes for Hudson big furball. Eeek. So if they bloat once - are they more prone or likely to get more bloats? Sometimes they just bloat? How can you prevent that? Yikes.

I get flu vax for myself every year. I get the other vax as required/recommended by my doctor, so I've had quite a few tetnus, typhoid, mumps, polio etc. And the chicken pox vax - I really really don't want to get that at my age. I had the TB vax twice, and the post vax test shot at uni showed up negative/not immune - so I gave up. I got told you could have that shot 8 times and still not pass the "mantou test". Whether or not you'd be immune or not I don't know. I do know that the TB site the first time around festered like a pussy pimple for two whole years before it healed over. Not going to go through that again. Dog seems fine with C5 vax annually. No problem with her coat or movement. I do know that viruses that mutate frequently - require frequent updates with vaccination. Not sure what that means for dog vax - apart from kennel cough changes often. My dog club does require annual proof of...

so anatolian shepherd more like marema than a bc or kelpie. Can't imagine a marema being the least bit good as a jogging companion. I don't need a dog to mooch around the back yard all the time, but sometimes I have to go out to the dentist or whatever and mooching would be good then.

I'd love to know what it recommends for people who are allergic. As far as I know, there are only two maybe three eg poodle bedlington terrier and perhaps (thanks to Mr President) portuguese water dog.

I got a goal playing hockey today. Don't normally play on the forward line. Um...oh yeah, dog stuff... Frosty got a 2x2 weave finding the right entry from the wrong side about three times, and didn't eat the poles. So we've nearly completed the arc. Fetch has room for improvement.

I want a wallet that functions like the timtam packet off the tv, except with money not tim tams. Not that fond of timtams and really don't need what they do to my waistline, but while we're wishing, a packet of haighs dark choc pastilles that is always full like the magic pudding. I want my dog to come when I call, no matter what. We get it and then we fall off the perch again. I want to be better at training her too. Fairly sure she's got what it takes if I could figure out how to use what she loves most. Actually I suspect I'm too much of a wuss to use what she loves most as incentive, never mind. I want a dog that is happy to snooze all day when I'm out, and not eat my CC4* hat. Or one of each pair of sox I have. Maybe the crate will have to be set up again. And I have a shopping list of household items and help that I want, that I suspect won't fit on the internet. Sigh. The always full wallet will help, I'm sure.

Yes, I'm not sure how it can rate "anatolian shepherd" as a medium sized dog. And I'm not sure how they'd go at agility but I guess they'd be alright at herding? But it had ACD in the list of recommended too - and a bunch of other dogs I like. It also had a bunch of hounds - not sure how easy they'd be to teach to come when called but I guess persistance will win out in the end (I sure hope so). PS I do like the look of the anatolian shepherd but don't know very much about them. Appearance is a bit of a shallow way to choose a dog. But if they can come up in the same list as ACD - they must be good, right? PPS a whole bunch of breeds got knocked out because I like the idea of jogging with my dog - if only she'd stop poking me in the bum to hurry up. With some I wasn't sure if it was because "sometimes jogging" is not enough or too much.

a vague rule of thumb for walk time five minutes per month of age. So six months - 30 minutes. For a big boned breed like a Rottweiler, it might actually be shorter walks (maybe more often), check with breeder. I find if I walk my dog slightly too long her brain goes to mush and she stops paying attention to anything I want and becomes extremely, um, disobedient. I can always get her to chase me so I have some control, but if a ranger walked up to me and said put your dog back on the lead - sometimes I'd be in trouble. It's getting better, but I always know when I've pushed it slightly too far. Just like an over tired child. And just like an over tired child - I think what works is to make the environment extremely boring (or slighty traumatic - I hide). Don't cave in to yelling and crying ever or the dog will just learn if I carry on just that little bit longer - I will get what I want. Or if you really can't stand it, cave in straight away not 20 minutes later. A crate with a cover so the dog can't see out might be a good move. If it cries - cover the crate, if it's quiet, leave a bit open. And I usually feed and toilet my dog after a good walk - and that helps settle her.

I like this one. It asks a lot of lifestyle questions, and then lists a bunch of breeds that might suit, and also says why other breeds would not suit - is fascinating. Is american so you can't use the dogs for sale or adoption stuff. http://dogtime.com/matchup/start Click on the picture that says "start here" (middle top right) PS at the end where it asks for an email - "[email protected]" works if you don't want to give a real one, you still get your results displayed.

In my experience - direct debits only stop when you drop a written request off at your local bank. And it pays to note date, time, branch and the name of the employee you handed the form to.

hmm, I have a pound puppy acdx, neighbour has a pet shop cocker x poodle (I think), he didn't ask me about where to get a puppy. Neighbour across road has an old and naughty beagle, and a younger and naughiter beagle x cav, who really thinks she is a beagle too but more likely to come back when called. Next neighbour has a dalmation from the pound - looks 100% to me but you can't be sure unless you see the papers. Up the road is an ancient wire haired JRT type thing, and across from that a long legged short coat border collie cross - also from pound. Not sure he gets walked enough. And then the golden retriever, the bull terrier (gorgeous all white squeaky voiced sook), and a rotty cross. And over the back about three labradors, and a boxer. So we have a fair mix. Locally at the oval I walk to - there are all sorts, pound puppies, pet shop puppies (sigh) and pure breds. And the people are a bit like that too.

Ok imagine your garage caught fire... that's what happened to your stuff. Or any alternate way of looking at it. I get very attached to my stuff too, chronic hoarder. But sometimes I wish I could let it all go. Uni notes I'm looking at you. The cat food would still smell like cat food even if the bag was sealed tight, they pack it in a factory full of cat food - the smell would be on the outside of the bag as well as the inside and probably permate through the bag as well. Not sure that's why he wanted to get in there though. Somehow you have to make the garage an unpleasant place for him to be in, so he doesn't want to go in there. Find out what smell he dislikes and lace the place with that. And tastes. Crib stop? He definitely reads like a candidate for a heavy duty cage/run, sedatives, and maybe the attention of a skilled behaviourist for retraining.

What Ness said. If you admit to using an ecollar for any reason - you get banned from your dog club and the competition hosting organisation (SACA in South Australia). Personally, I think e collars could be more humane than choke collars. But plenty of us get results without choke collars too. I'd like to use clickers more at our dog club but they're not too keen on that either. Or front attach harnesses. And they wonder why they have such a hard time recruiting younger people to help them run the club. Not sure how an ecollar can help with an anxious dog stay. But I think that's more my limitation - lack of knowledge in technique. I also think if I can't work a clicker reliably (unco with timing etc), it's a bit pointless to try with an ecollar where timing is even more important. I have watched an extremely anxious dog grow in confidence to the point where he's more comfortable with things like the agility measuring stick, than my dog, and he's now quite keen to nick off and tour the park without his owner where as before he was terrifed to be apart from his owner, or to be approached by anyone except his owner. We're hoping he matures out of it and the owner gets him to have much more value in recall. (yummy treat here). We really think a major adversive like an ecollar will just send him back into his shell.

Huski I use a hand signal and voice for stay/wait. And I depend a fair bit on context - are we lined up in front of the start of an agility course? And tone of voice is pretty important. Nice slow deep "stay" not a high exciting squeaky "heel". My dog has managed to confuse signals for stand, stay and drop - obviously I'm not making them different enough or consistent enough. So I try to be careful which hand I use, where I put it and whether the signal has an arc to it (ie from the elbow). And given I practice with her on either side, I try to remember to lead off from a stay with the leg furtherest away from her, but she's pretty forgiving about that. PS some of the videos I watch - I can't tell how the dog knows that this hand flick means stay and that one means drop.

There is no way my council would tolerate feral dogs in the local reserves. They'd kill the koalas and echidnas that live there. You need to let your council know there is a problem with feral dogs in that area and let them deal with it.

1. recall. Still working on it but it's better than everybody else at the dog park. Not as good as everybody else at dog club or sheep herding. Can save your dog's life. 2. no jumping on people. Unfortunately loads of people keep corrupting her and giving her treats when she jumps on them. Sigh.

I'm going to indulge in number 1, if anyone else starts talking on and on about their kids. Right down to matching them on bowl movement descriptions. Um. Do let people know your adorable dog came from a pound. And was a puppy. And about the sad origins of petshop puppies and how and why to avoid those. Do let people know how much fun training a dog can be. And how easy. Demonstrate if there is a dog in front of you, ideally theirs. Inspire them. Do ask questions about why and how come - rather than issue edicts if you see somebody doing something stupid like bringing a bitch on heat to the dog park. I recently met one - bitch had been on heat for 10 weeks. I suggested dog must be getting anaemic, perhaps a trip to the vet might be good, and that there is a pill for dogs. The bloke meant to get it desexed but waited too long. Do be ok with variations to what you consider to be "the right way". Every dog is different. Don't tell people that their dog is "yukky" even if they say so. It's ok for the owner to say that but not you.