canine fun sports

I have now tried to download a patch, but that did not seem to work. I think I may have to download photo elements 12 and hope it is not too different to 10. I seem to be having learn so much new software lately, and it is frying my brain a little bit.

Sorry, posted it twice!

Hi guys, I have been using photoshop elements to edit my photos taken with my Canon EOS 50D. Splurged and got myself a 5DmarkIII. I had to update the canon software to download the photos from the new camera and really hate the new zoom browser - very awkward compared to the old version with which I could quickly sort through and delete all the photos I did not want and rename the ones I wanted. Also this new canon software does not recognise a lot of my old photos. Then I went to edit a couple of photos using my Adobe Photshop Elements 10 Editor version 10.0. I have never had problems with it before but I simply cannot open up the photos taken with the new camera. Does anyone have any suggestions? Where might I find updates, if that is the answer. Or does anyone know any other software that works well. I would prefer something that works for my 5D, my 50D and my very old 350D.

Hi guys, I have been using photoshop elements to edit my photos taken with my Canon EOS 50D. Splurged and got myself a 5DmarkIII. I had to update the canon software to download the photos from the new camera and really hate the new zoom browser - very awkward compared to the old version with which I could quickly sort through and delete all the photos I did not want and rename the ones I wanted. Also this new canon software does not recognise a lot of my old photos. Then I went to edit a couple of photos using my Adobe Photshop Elements 10 Editor version 10.0. I have never had problems with it before but I simply cannot open up the photos taken with the new camera. Does anyone have any suggestions? Where might I find updates, if that is the answer. Or does anyone know any other software that works well. I would prefer something that works for my 5D, my 50D and my very old 350D.

2nd and 3rd April

You don't need to love all your dogs (or children) the same!!! I have my favourites, too! When I am training, with two dogs, the dog that is not working goes in a crate. When I used to go to clubs, I would work the same exercise by quickly rotating the dogs for each turn. When I took gear out to the local park, I would work one for ten minutes, then swap. Now that I have everything in my "back yard", I have a small pen up at the agility field. Cheers,

Just keep in mind, it was not the flyable that caused the partial tear in the cruciate ligament. This injury is associated with degenerative changes in the ligament itself. If anything the jumping has probably delayed the injury, because the healthy, well exercised muscle will have absorbed a lot of the concussive forced on the joint. Sure, you need a period of healing, and in a cruciate injury it is not the ligament itself that repairs but the strengthening of the fibrous tissue around the knee that develops. but continued exercise (not excessive) is important to minimise the development of degenerative joint disease. I have seem many dogs return to agility competition after cruciate injuries. But it has to be managed well with appropriate physiotherapy.

You can pick up good cardboard boxes by going down to a white goods shop and ask for an old refrigerator box or washing machine box. They often have lots of spare packing stuff and are glad to get rid of it. I was going to say I am not a big fan of circle work, either, but I had already said I was not such an advocate of tugging, so I did not want to go too far! :) Does anyone else have ideas about improvisations for equipment? Cheers

Don't get too caught up in teaching at dog to tug - just develop a game that you and your dog love to do to interact together. I use retrieving, body-rubbing and food. My dogs do well enough without having learnt to tug (2 x ag ch's, and more than 60 masters titles.) You need a method to reward the dog away from you - tossing out a retrieve toy, or visible food works well. You need to reward your dog close to you while keeping the dog in drive - this is where a tug toy works, but equally so does chasing a piece of food in your moving hand, or grabbing the retrieve toy and getting a rub-down while holding it. You also need to be able to reward a dog being stationary - food is usually best for this. None of my dogs are enthusiastic tuggers, being natural retrievers.

Boys are not very good at purposely acting like an excited moron. The only time they seem to do it is when it is totally inappropriate!!! But I am sure he will catch on. Sounds like a good first night. Cheers,

Decisions on retirement are going to be different for every dog. Rabbit, retired at 13 still wanting to do agility. Like me, she is an addict. I continue to do agility with quite severe pain in my knees. I would not give it up for anything. I may be deluding myself, but I am confident that I can see the same enthusiasm for the sport with Rabbit. Equally, Jynx was not as keen. She loves agility, but I had to be careful to keep her out of stressful situations. She was quite happy to retire and be a home body and just enjoy occasional training sessions at home. She is keeping fit hooning around the back paddock. Sparkle was retired soon after we became aware that she no longer enjoyed travelling - she was fine until we did our trip to WA. Murphy will probably continue to agility into her old age. Pace will probably spend more of her time hunting rabbits in the back yard, or perhaps I should branch out into some gundog work. I know I will have to keep that active brain of hers busy, but she is more dedicated to hunting than agility. The point I am making is that each dog and person is different. If your dog loves agility there is no age at which they should be retired. Any activity and training will help keep your dog younger - increased activity will reduce a lot of joint problems, and keeping the brain active will also delay canine dementia. Just keep one thing in mind when you kick yourself for not retiring Elvis earlier than you did. If you had retired Elvis earlier his knees would probably be more painful for him now. The fitness and muscle strength from the exercise has probably kept his knees healthier for longer. Cheers,

Rabbit was just over 13years when she retired. I retired her because she was starting to misjudge her take-offs and at an evening trial, she misjudged to top of the scramble. An eye site issue, I have assumed. She is now 16 and gets around pretty well. I have kept her active, with lots of exercise and a few days ago she still managed to dog a couple of scrambles (slightly lower height than competition height) and she was just so pleased with herself. Keeping our dogs as acive as possible definitely keeps them younger - physically and mentally. Same though happens for humans. Cheers,

Camden Valley, especially for their puppy classes. Cheers,

Or just get a little cleverer about the course you choose - lower points may give you a shorter course - perhpas a little less likely to win, but more certain of a quallie.

A judge, when making up thier course, would expect competitors to be able to negotiate any of the required obstacles. 12 weave poles are an expected obstacle in novice agility, so why not novice snooker? The beauty of snooker is that, to a large degree you can choose your own course, so if your weaving is weak, you can choose not to do it at all in the opening sequence, and you only need to do it once in the closing sequence. I have entered snooker, before a dog was a competent weaver - you just hope that on this occasion the judge does not use the weaves. But equally, there are others that hope that there is no dog walk or scramble, becasue the dog has a weak contact performance, or no spread, becasue their dog tends to know spreads. So it all averages out in the end. Cheers,

I do not have any particular favourites to use - it is a good idea to have at least 1 contact obstacle, and also you make the larger points more difficult to score on, or slower to negotiate so that it becomes more diffic ult to go for 3 x sevens. That way you force the competitors to think a bit about their tactics. Cheers,

It is not that difficult to devise your own. Just make up a short course (2-3-4-5-6-7) that is reasonably flowing then add in the 3 or 4 red jumps. Cheers,

We also do a fair bit of travelling with our dogs. Stopping to site see can be an issue unless you have some way to set the dogs up in the car, locking part of the car and leaving the dogs well ventilated. The dog trailer makes that easy. Prior to that we had our Ford Explorer set up so we could leave the dogs in crates in the cargo section with the back window open, but the rest of the car locked up. That is also possible with our Holden Commodore, but we would have to leave the whole back door open so the dogs, in their crates, could have been removed. So, in that sense, it was not as secure. We also set up a fan in the back cargo area - powered off the cigarette lighter. That could be left on when the car was parked under a tree. Or when travelling in the heat, it pushed the cooler air conditioned air into the back of the car so the cargo area (with all the glass) was also cool. As Tassie knows, we will be touring Tassie next March. We are just taking the Motor home - leaving the dog tralier at home. Dogs will travel on the bed, and sleep on the seats when we stop. We can lock up the motorhome securely with the dogs having free access - the motor home stays cool quite cool with the louvred windows open. We will travel with the dogs for some of the time, and put them in kennels for a few days while we visit National Park areas. Cheers,

Dogs, and even moreso, cats do extremely well on 3 healthy legs, to the point that sometimes visitors do not even realise the pet is missing a leg. We have had a couple of dogs doing agility on three legs. I have had feline patients that have been tree climbers on three legs. It is, however, important to realise that the three remaining legs must be healthy. And, perhaps, in their older age, you may choose euthanasia a little earlier if arthritis develops in any of the remaining limbs. Cheers,

There are some good trainers up in the Cessnock Dog Club. Are you looking for contact details. A google search for Cessnock Dog Club will probably find them. Cheers,

That looks like a pretty acurate desription to me, although "damage" may not be quite the accurate word. Perhaps, "wear and tear" might be more appropriate. Also, desexing before the bitch's first season will greatly reduce the chance of mammary cancer, so there is reason to advocate early desexing of bitches. I am happy to concede that there are arguments on both sides. There are also health risks for the entire male - the possibility of testicular cancer, increased risk of prostate issues, increased of perianal tumours and perineal herniation. I certainly see no reason to advocate early desexing of males, but my older boys that are not still being used as stud dogs are desexed. The issue at hand was, however, the ability to agility trial an undesexed border collie that does not have ANKC registration. I believe this dog was to compete in NSW. I believe the summary of the answers were: Yes, in ADAA or ADAC agility and there are a reasonable number of trials by these association around Sydney. Or to trial in ANKC (in NSW) such a dog could be registered on one of the appropriate working dog association registers, and then it could be registered on the DogsNSW sporting register as an entire male. The Associate registers do vary from State to state. (I do not think it has been standardised by ANKC, but is up to the individual state bodies.) In NSW, to be registered on the Associate register the dog must be desexed.

I might not be correct here, but if this is a non-ANKC-registered border collie, it can probably be registered with the Working Dog Association (or whoever holds the working border collie register.) It can then be registered on the ANKC Sporting Dog register and trial in ANKC trials. Is there anyone who knows more about getting dogs on the working dogs register? Of course, I would recommend desexing a mature dog, but that is your sister's choice. Cheers,

I had many clients that used Proalin or stilbestrol intermittently. When put on either of these drug the muscle tone of the bladder sphincters increases so that the urine leakage stops. The "proper" use of the sphincter muscles probably actually strengthens the muscle, so after the drug has been used for a while, the muscles are strong enough to act normally should the drug be stopped, but gradually deteriorate again and the incontinence recurs. Propalin is considered the preferred drug because of the potential side effects of the stilboestrol. The side effect is rare, but nasty. So I would advise going back to use the propalin again. Regards,

What area of Sydney - Sydney is a pretty big place! Eastern suburbs? There is a barkbusters in the area, but reviews are mixed about them. I do know a few trainers in the Eastern Subs, but I do not think they take on many "students". I am not a big fan of the Bark Busters - not much experience with them, just a few anecdotes of techniques I would not choose, myself. What sort of dog (big or small) and is there anything in particular you want to teach your dog. I know of a few good trainers that go to Eastern Suburbs Dog Training Club, but I do not know the overall training techniques taught by the club. Or are you hoping for some-one to train your dog for you. Even if you do that, you will still need to put in some hard yards yourself! Cheers,

What area of Sydney - Sydney is a pretty big place!