Mrs Rusty Bucket

No once you join one of the ANKC state affiliates - you can enter in any state affiliate. So Victorian people entered the recent Mount Gambier dog competitions, and Adelaide people sometimes enter the Broken Hill competitions. The next trick is to figure out how to fill in the form correctly, and then how to pay for it (do you send a cheque or something else).

LIDA might know. (Uni NSW)

If you check youtube, it was loaded up just in time for April 1st... is fun ad tho. surprised they didn't change it to a barky card...

DiscoDobe You could post that video in thread of immense lols... I laughed until I cried. My dog doesn't get that far - she starts barking first off. But all the dogs I've ever lived with like to sit in the line of sight between me and the TV...

My dog was chronically car sick until she learned to lie flat on the back seat with her face on the seat and her eyes firmly shut. She's better now, she can sit up for short spells and look out the window and even get excited about where we are going (beach/park/friends places). So putting a small dog in a box or igloo thing in the front footwell which is lined with newspaper (for quick cleanup is good). Not feeding until after you get where you're going. I found her not being able to see out worked best for us. And not feeding on the day of travel until evening and sticking to stuff that was easy and quick to digest eg home made casserole or mince and veges, not kibble. Last night's kibble would come back to haunt us on any car trip up till the next evening. For a while she travelled on the front car seat, but if she sat up, I knew I had seconds to pull over or shove newspaper under her mouth. Not easy on some narrow windy roads. I'd line where she was with lots of newspaper and then just roll that up with the regurgitated kibble inside and put that in the nearest bin.

paddles I have this problem a bit, but I have only one dog. If she won't fetch the ball, I get her to do a drop, and "give" and I pack up the game. I try to reward a proper fetch - all the way back - with a quick throw to restart the game. I don't always throw the ball very far, just enough for the dog to chase and pounce. Cos my dog is much more likely to play keep away when she's a bit tired and needs a rest. If she doesn't give the ball up immediately or doesn't bring it as close as I'd like - I pretend to inspect the ball and check it for wear and tear. If it looks like she's losing interest - I play with it like it's the most exciting thing. Or I pack the game up. You - having a second dog to play with, can play with second dog when first one loses interest. If I had a second dog, and I was training the fetch cos it wasn't how I wanted. I'd try to park one dog in a stay on a mat or in a crate (if all else fails - in the house), and work the other dog. If the other dog did a crummy fetch - I'd swap dogs. Nothing like a dog seeing the other dog get what they had... to fire up some enthusiasm for the game. Note - if you're not trying to fire up the parked dog - you just want it to chill until it's their turn - you need to reward the parked dog as much if not more than the working dog. With food or attention in between doing work/games with the other dog. At least until the parked dog understands that it's chilling not missing out.

My dog comes up to me sitting at the computer, and she puts her paws on my shoulders and barks in my ear. It's kind of hard to ignore.

The Australian Veterinary Association says there is a board of registration for vets in each state, this page has a link and a general outline of what you need to do. http://www.ava.com.au/public-0 I think what I'd be looking for is some apologies and some sign that they have put in place procedures that do not allow for an animal under GA to be left unattended and unmonitored by someone whose only job is to monitor and draw attention to any problems during the operation so they can be fixed immediately. How come these things don't beep when the heart or breathing stops? And I'd probably ask for financial compensation equal to the price of the dog and the cost of having a litter (ie adding up all the vet services for that). A junior vet - could reasonably be expected to make some mistakes and it is important for them to have at least one other person to catch and sort the mistakes before the puppy dies.

I think you need to explain the difference between a dog trainer and someone who competes in Dances with Dogs. My dog does a fair few tricks but no way have we got them going to music. I do quite like the KMart TV add music tho - Boom Boom Boom. What I'd do - is cheat. I'd ring up some friends who do DWD and get them to do the demo - cos I so love having my photo in the news (not).

when the gas meter man came and just went through the back gate where the dog was - he got barked at all the way to the meter at the back fence, and all the way back but evil hound kept a safe distance from him. I had a chat with him on the way out the front (with the dog safely behind the gate), and he said he was pretty dog savvy. The next gas meter man - was clearly terrified of dogs - so he saw the dog - and came back and rang the bell. The dog goes off when the front gate squeaks if I'm not home. My brother, the other day, came home when I was up the street at an open inspection. I'd left the dog in the yard and the back door open, so he and his son came in, made themselves a coffee, then hooked evil hound up to a lead and came out the front - and that's where I saw them. I thought she'd escaped - oops. And he said - she'd barked her head off until she'd taken a breath and recognised him. She's nipped my brother and my lawnmower man - for trying to leave. So I guess it depends what a stranger did. I suspect if the stranger ran - the stranger would get ankle tapped. She's a cattle dog x farm dog bitsa. Mostly cattle dog. And she puts on the most fierce display for door to door sales people which I don't discourage. And for a while she was having a go while on lead at any odd male strangers that approached. Got to the point where I'd see them coming first and get her so she couldn't reach them. If I was attacked - I don't know what she would do. She thinks it's fine to let other people yell at me, if I don't yell back. She did have a go at a guy in a wheel chair - whose wheeling looked like he was about to punch me in the head. but between us, she didn't connect.

Start line creeps? For my dog the biggest reward she can get on a start line stay (course or no course) is the release so we practice stay and release anywhere I can get off lead time with her. And I make every effort to fake her out. And if she breaks (moves any paw) I laugh at her, go back collar grab and walk her in a small circle, put her back where she was, and try again. Next challenge in faking out will be release when I run past her from behind - chances are she will go as soon as I start running or get level with her - so that's just a way to up the challenge and understanding. One thing that really doesn't help our start lines - is going back and rewarding with food. She seems a bit miffed by this cos I think she'd rather run and chase me.

That's how I play it. I just figure the dog/handler team are not good candidates for a calm respectful meet and greet.

Hi Daisy.Tea It may be as simple as "new cue" then "old cue" so you would say "break" and then use the hand signal, and then gradually the dog will anticipate the hand signal when you say break - and go on the verbal. Susan Garrett teaches a strong understanding of the release cue, using crate games. But it's really important to practice failure as well as getting it right or the dog will get stuck. Or generally not know the difference between what you want and what you don't want if she never gets to do what you don't want. (about 1 time in 5 attempts roughly). I think I have confused my dog - because we're trying to teach release to a static toy at the moment and she doesn't understand the difference between release from start line (and go over obstacle in front of her) and get the toy which is off to the side. Ie she releases just fine to the thing of highest value. And I'm thrilled she will go to the toy on the ground now (previously I would have to throw it) but not when she takes a short cut to get there. And she does have value for jumps and stuff cos she offers that up when I'm setting up. Or just jumps stuff around the yard because it's there. So I'm trying to teach the difference between release and "geddit". My release word is "go" cos that's what comes into my head but I need a new one - cos "when you're ready you may go" is what most of our judges say when they reckon you're done setting up your start line and it's time to get on with it. And hearing "ready" and "go" together like that does my head in. Fortunately dog doesn't listen to the judge. I guess "go" has become my release word too not just my dog's. I'm thinking something like "flash" might be better. "break" doesn't work for me cos SG uses it so much in conversation and evil hound does listen to her. "Ok" doesn't work because I use it too much in casual conversation. And since we've been testing getting the word right - eg trying "turkey" as a test word - evil hound has been picking out words like "pretty" in conversation - performing the "pretty" trick and getting rewarded for it (cos it's so darn cute).

I think it depends on the judge and other contestants. I was lead steward for two different judges recently and there was quite a bit of training in the ring. And at least one person asked permission before going on with it - mostly because the third obstacle or about there on all the courses, (2 agility, 2 jumping all ANKC masters level) were massive traps and heaps of dogs tunnel sucked, and a couple of dogs jumped the tunnel in one course. It was generally put down to lack of practice - ie not many trials or training because of bad weather before that trial. We were averaging 40 to 60 dogs per course, and only 4 passes if that. It was hard. A lot of handlers elected to do some random training or try to complete the course, with varying results. And a few just left the second something when wrong (and these were among those who got the passes on other runs). Nobody complained - and most who elected to train - endeavoured not to waste time doing it - ie stick to the original course time.

It would be fraud if the sellers represented the dogs and (potential) puppies as able to be registered with ANKC. So I think if you got an email stating you could register the puppies with ANKC - that would be fraud and you could sue for the refund of the purchase price. Not sure what else though - fraudsters often go to jail for misrepresenting their product or effectively stealing from their customers. Not sure if a couple of dogs would be enough - you'd have to discuss with RSPCA or a police fraud squad. I think the police might be more interested in large scale fraud. But RSPCA might be more interested since it involves animals.

I think I wouldn't allow meet and greets with dogs (including my own) if they can't manage to keep their lead loose. Ie as soon as my dog's lead goes tight, we turn and walk away until she's paying attention again, and then we retry the approach - a little more slowly so I can pay attention to when she starts to lose it. The excitable dog could use a bit more impulse control - like being able to hold a sit briefly on a loose lead before being given permission ("say hello" is my command) to greet. And if the greeting is a bit too over the top (on lead) then I walk away taking my dog with me. I might say "too much" to the other handler. Allowing repeated face swats from a full sized (no puppy licence) dog is not a good idea. If they're both off lead they can play properly but if they're not - then this behaviour is unacceptable to me (and my dog). Frosty trained me to let her off lead when she gave play signals at other dogs. Ie play bows and generally acting excited. I'd let her off and she didn't play - she'd go sniff and forage - more fool me. Variations on this, between us - she's been very scary around certain dogs on lead - ie both dogs are on lead. Especially other dogs that are pulling on lead. Not sure how we got to this place but I'm working on fixing it (mostly by walking away until she's paying attention to me again). It's good to "premack" all play with other dogs - ie get your dog to do something that shows self control - like a short sit stay, and then give him the command to "go play" or "say hello". So he knows when he's got permission and can get it "right". And when he hasn't got permission and needs to stay with you. If you can practice recalling off play (with his favourite favourite rewards), that helps too, call him, then tell him to sit, touch his collar, then go play again.

If you want the metal name tag, boomerang pet tags do a good job http://www.boomerangtags.com/page.php?c=collartags&k=h Bully (Pele) has some - very nice. They're not brass tho - brass is not as durable or tough as stainless steel. I take that back - they do them in brass too http://www.boomerangtags.com/store/list.php?A=G&ID=3 And they do ones that rivet on - so Ruthless could add to one of her custom leather collars.

For some reason the weaves do not have the same value at training/trials as they do at home. I'd consider not entering weave courses at trials - but go, set some weaves up at the back or nearby - and practice increasing the value. I don't make my dog do weaves again from the beginning if she stuffs them. She's not that fantastic but she does have good value for them - will offer up running around poles, but doesn't quite get the whole picture yet. I know quite a few people - who will leave the course walking if their dog stuffs up something the handler knows the dog can do well. And at least one of these is our best dog hander combo. And I think Susan Garrett will leave the course if and only if she's confident that the dog knows how to do the task that was stuffed - properly - and doing the obstacle incorrectly will be encouraged by continuing on course. Mostly - she will just work on the holes at the next training opportunity. Personally as a novice handler - I need all the practice I can get - so I don't fuss too much one way or the other if my dog stuffs up. she does know tho - cos when she gets it right - I say "yes" and when she stuffs it, I don't say anything or I say "what was that?" or "silly dog" in a light tone. The rest of the course can go to hell at this point anyway cos she gets frustrated and starts barking and stops paying attention. I don't make her do it over from the beginning cos that just incorporates the crapness into the weaves or whatever. I think you need more proofing in more places and more joy so the dog gets the idea that weaves are weaves where ever they are.

I got one of these http://www.k9softdogcrates.com.au/index.php?p=products&sp=back-seat-hammock But am currently using one I got my local saddlery repair shop to make up, it's a little bit shorter than the k9 one so it fits better, and it is made of white rip stop canvas - so it doesn't get as hot, and it doesn't have the zip bit in the middle - which I prefer. I have vinyl car seats - so fur and sand are fairly easy to clean off. Getting one made up cost about the same as the cheapies on the net and I'm a lot more confident about the rip stop than some random plastic stuff. And I am supporting a local shop.

Tah for posting kja Reminds me how far behind I am on my project - sigh. Will have a look anyway.

Well done Alyosha I especially like the bit where the teenage girl (gf?) feels more able to stand up for herself and what she cares about now. That's wonderful. Seems like the kids have some nag power in that household so the more they know about how to look after each other and the dog, the better. Poor father - who knew his nuts were joined with the dog's?

GSL Are the bad neighbours renting? You can complain to the landlord, and they can evict. Myself and some friends did that when our neighbours in an upstairs apartments were lighting fires on their balcony and having all night pot parties in the shared yard. It gave the landlord extra grounds for eviction. She'd wanted to get rid of them but they were paying the rent...

You slipped up this time - sigh. So have I. Sometimes I agree with what you post and sometimes I find your posts a bit mean.

I'm interpreting this as Tralee couldn't be friends with someone who treats their dog and children in the way the person described in the opening post has. So Tralee thinks the way to be friends is to fix the problem with the dog and children neglect. Unfortunately - back in the real world - nobody likes having their faults pointed out, and generally the way to make friends is to do things that would please the person not make them angry. I couldn't be friends with someone who did that to their dog and children, but I wouldn't want to be either. I'd still report it. This bit is completely ambiguous and gives no clue about whether Tralee thought the action of reporting was a good thing or a bad thing. And then writing there are no words - is self contradicting cos the words are "no words"... Which isn't quite the same as writing "I don't know how to put what I'm feeling into words". But that's still ambiguous. And "Astounding" - is an expression of surprise - but not whether one likes the surprise or not, and it isn't clear about what the surprise is - ie that the problem got reported or that the council and other authorities actually took action to make things safer for the children. (theoretically - cos we don't know what an angry dad like that might do). So - in context - I find some of Tralee's posts surprising and ambiguous and confusing - and not in a good way. I do think it's a bit mean to call it "comedy". This doesn't seem appropriate in a thread about neglect of pets and animals. But then again, sometimes if we didn't laugh, we'd scream, and paramedics have the worst, most insensitive (to outsiders), and repulsive jokes of all.

these guys LIDA NSW might have something specific, you might have to email and ask for it.