canine fun sports

If the upper teeth protrude over the lower teeth (aka "parrot mouth") this is an accident of growth, and not considered to be an inherited trait. In most cases in a puppy, the lower jaw will catch up, unless it is so exaggerated that the lower canines are caught behand the upper canines. The important thing, if this is detected in young puppies you should have the upper canines extracted as soon as possible (prefer 6 weeks) otherwise the the lower canine get "caught behind" restricting the growth of the lower jaw and the lower jaw cannot grow enough to catch up.

I think it is a genetic trait, and it is fairly common in greyhounds. I wouldn't have a dog's canines extracted at 6 weeks, that sounds very drastic for what may end up a very minor fault. How many people do that and what breed do they do it to?

I don't see how the lower teeth are 'caught behind' either. They sit behind the upper teeth in this fault, but I can't see how that would retard the growth of the jaw.

Do you have any references?

My reference is personal communication with David Clarke - Veterinary Dental Specialist, during my own consultations with him with one of my own dogs.

Cheers, Le Hammer BVSc

The two jaws have growth spurts at different ages, so there is often a gap between the front teeth of the upper and lower jaw in a growing pup.

If the lower jaw protrudes beyond the the upper jaw it is an inherited trait. This is a concern for breeders in most breeds, unless you breed one of the brachycephalic breeds eg boxer, bulldog etc.

If the upper teeth protrude over the lower teeth (aka "parrot mouth") this is an accident of growth, and not considered to be an inherited trait. In most cases in a puppy, the lower jaw will catch up, unless it is so exaggerated that the lower canines are caught behand the upper canines. The important thing, if this is detected in young puppies you should have the upper canines extracted as soon as possible (prefer 6 weeks) otherwise the the lower canine get "caught behind" restricting the growth of the lower jaw and the lower jaw cannot grow enough to catch up. Then, when the mature teeth errupt, the lower canines are often forced to bite into the hard palate which is painful and can cause probems in the older dog. If this is detected in an older dog, it can be corrected using an orthodontic plate, if you want to preserve the teeth (which lend strenth to the bone in the jaw).

So, if you have the upper teeth well in front of the lower teeth, just check to be sure the lower canines are still in front of the upper canines, otherwise veterinary attention may be warranted.

Cheers,

It is your breeder's job and responsibility to answer these questions. In fact, they should have given you a lot of this information without you having to ask about it. Go ahead - disturb them.

We are currently competing in Open obedience. My girl jumps really early when going over the solid jump. She's making my instructors (and judges) cringe because she always looks like she's going to hit it. Sometimes she does, but it doesn't appear to bother her (but of course I am worried that she could hurt herself).

We also do agility and she jumps early then as well, but has been improving with some jump grids and knocks bars a lot less often than she used to. The consensus at agility is not that she has a mental problem working out the distance, it's that she seems to think that jumping earlier will get her over the jump faster ;) It appears this way with the dumbbell too.

Has anyone encountered this, or have any suggestions to help her jump at the right time for the retrieve? It makes no difference where I set her up in front of the jump.

There are several jumping exercises you can use. There are many types of jumping grids but a good idea would be to do both contracting and expanding grids to help her judge her take-off. A jumping chute with irregularly placed jumps will also help. Use a ground bar to help her judge her take-off. Try some straddle jumps to teach her to bring her himd legs up underneath her on take-off. Also using a barrel will help her learn to jump with a rounded trajectory.

All these will help, but probably not give you a total cure.

Cheers,

As title says. I buy the small amount of meat I eat from the Supermarket and have no idea where to buy the above. Would appreciate any suggestions please.

Thanks in advance!

One of the butchers in the Nepean Shopping Centre (just behind the Penrith Paceway and Panthers home ground) often has bones bagged up for sale - very economically priced when compared to supermarket prices.

Cheers,

Personally I would be pre-empting play before it gets to the point where it is too rough.

As things start to escalate there are a number of things to do, partly depending bon the size of the dog. Physically taking them by the collar and just holding them until they calm down would work. Then release them and if it escalates quickly, then a few minutes in a neutral area away from each other. They will soon figure out that when things get too rough then the fun totally stops.

Walking between them might be another way to calm them.

The important thing is that the dog perceives it an interuption, not a reprimand.

Cheers,

Hi guys,

I just noticed a good-sized lump on max's nose. I noticed it earlier on but thought it was a bit of dirt.

It's looks like what a mozzie bite would look like on a human. its not too red - pinkish and about third of it is black, i pressed it slightly and it doesn't seem to hurt him and he doesn't seem to be bothered by it at all.

I know it's only very recent as i kiss him on the nose every night before bed and he didn't have it yesterday.

I have a hens night I am going to tonight and I am wondering whether it will be ok to leave it till tomorrow so I can take him to the vet then?

Would anyone have any idea on what it might be? my OH thinks it may be just a bite from an ant or something but he hasn't seen it.

Any advice?

There are many things it could be - anything from a mossie bite, to an injury, to a fungal infection (ringworm) to a couple of different types of tumours that can come up suddenly like this.

Have it checked out properly, reasonably soon if it does not look better. Some of these things can be potentially nasty if not treated early.

Cheers

I would not suggest playing tug with the pup in front of the older dog, given the behaviour you are describing. It could trigger a less-than-desirable response from your older dog.

I would stick with calm interaction under supervision, and separate the rest of the time when you can't be supervising closely.

I would expect any such play to be supervised. I was in fact suggesting that the two dogs would play tug between them. This would depend, of course, on how the older dog played tug. My older dogs "lead the youngsters around" with a tug toy, and I would prefer this type of interaction between my dogs, rather than an older dog that kept on bowling over and rumbling a youngster. Whatever form of play is encoursage does not matter, I am suggesting that any more appropriate form of "play" be encouraged between them.

Perhaps I misunderstand the tone of "chook chook"'s inquiry, but I did not read any unpleasant intentions in the older dog's play, or any deliberate intentions to hurt the youngster, or put the youngster in his place, or being possessive about anything - just a dog that was trying to play in a friendly manner but does not understand how to be gentle. I agree that if the older dog cannot learn to be gentle with a tug, I would not use one. I apologise for not using the perfect example.

Any news on canine or human health?

Cheers,

I've paid my $20, hoping that i actually get time to pick up the camera!!!

Cheers,

Hi guys,

Sorry to keep you in suspense - on top of everything else we have had computer spam problems.

Murphy is home and doing well, showing no signs of muscle soreness, in fact she is mightily annoyed that she is being kept quiet! She will not be trialling this weekend, but will be back in training by next week.

Our lawns are now immaculate. Keith has don our entire 1 acre house paddock with the push mower! But the grass is growing in front of our eyes.

Cheers,

Hi all,

News of Murphy this morning was that there were still signs of red blood cell damage, but looking better this afternoon. She may come home tomorrow. Still not totally out of the woods, still concerned about possible kidney problems, but at this time she is looking on the mend.

Now a little more cheerful, Le

The first report this afternoon is that her red blood cell count has dropped, due to the haemolytic effects of the snake poison. Haemolytic means it damages the red blood cells so they break apart. This is to be expected and at this point in time, it is not too dramatic, but it is early days yet.

The best way to keep snakes away it to remove all cover for them (long grass and piles of garbage) and to take away possible water sources. Well, I do not think water is the issue - that is everywhere. But it is difficult to keep things mown at the moment. We usually have very well mown lawns, but with the amount of rain we have had, we cannot use the tractor because it just chews up the ground, the ride-on would get bogged and chew up the lawn, and we simply cannot keep up with the rate the grass is growing with the normal mower.

The dogs have all been shut in this afternoon, and I guess it will take a few days to get over the paranoia. The dogs will get a bit stir crazy if they do not get exercise!

Of course, all of our dogs are fanatical hunters. They are always after the lizards, Sparkle brought me a tortoise yesterday, and they often catch rabbits. All eight of them were in on the fun with the snake, and it was actually Rabbit (the 15 year old!) that had a good hold on it when we reached them. I have always said it will happen to one of our dogs eventually. I am just disappointed that this is one of the times I was proven correct!

Still not cheerful but hopeful,

Hi guys,

This is probably not necessary for everyone to read, but a lot of us are experiencing warm wet weather at the moment, and of course the snakes love it.

My beautiful Murphy is presently in the vets being treated for a (now dead) red belly snake bite. It is too early to tell how things are going to go, but we got her there quickly, with pressure bandage applied to the effected limb, so we are hopeful.

It was just in our home yard where the grass is fairly short, but it is very difficult to keep the grass mown at the moment - too wet for the tractor, and too much grass for a normal mower when it grows so quickily in this weather. Just be careful out there!

(not so cheerful)

You need to separate them, supervised play only. It can be dangerous to leave a baby puppy alone with an adult dog, there is too much potential for injury, especially if there is a big difference in size and weight. From what you say the older dog is bullying the puppy and at 10 weeks it is far too young to stand up for itself, it is your job to step in and protect the pup when necessary.

It may just be that your older dog does not know her strength. Sort of like me as a kid when I used to play with my big brothers. I often came off second best! I am sure they did not mean to inflict pain but it sometimes ended in tears.

I am not sure if you need to totally spearate them, but use the basic principal when you get behaviours that you do not want (in this case playing too rough) then interupt (gently, it does not need to be a reprimand) substitute behaviour you do want (in this case being calmer, or perhaps sharing a tug toy with the pup) and then rewarding the behviour you do want. So it might just be a case of when the behaviour esculates too far you walk between them, take the older dog by the collar and stroke her until he/she calm down. You should always be there to intervene if there is the possibility of the play becoming too rough.

I have, to a degree, the opposite problem with two of my dogs. One of the mothers tolerated too much from her puppy, who is now larger than her. I think she now wishes she laid down the law when the pup was smaller! Or perhpas I should have intervened! Mum is still sometimes on the receiving end of play that is a little too rough.

Cheers,

:laugh: Thanks Vickie. I hope you take your camera too and have some time to use it ;)

I agree, Lara - you have taken some great action shots of my dogs, too, including Murphy flying over the scramble (perhpas a little too enthusiastically!) EDIT: She did hit the contact!

Yes, that is going to be an issue, finding time to use the camera. I have been looking at some lenses that might cope better with the indoor arena lighting. The one I really like was about $7,000 so I think I might just be taking shots when I am outdoors. I got some OK shots of the white a pale coloured dogs at the fundraiser trial held at SIEC, but I was really pushing the camera to the max, and all the darker coloured dogs just looked like blobs. I hope we get some chance to use the camera, though.

Cheers,

A couple of points to add:

Firstly, dogs are not intuitive. They are just more sensitive to the changes that occur when some-one is unwell. These changes are are dectected by dogs' acute sense of smell. Dogs are actually trained to recognise the odour of certain cancers and can be taught to react to samples eg urine collected from people with bladder tumours, or filters exhaled on by lung cancer sufferers. There are many documented example of this. And of course, I also know of a real life example when the owner of one of our dogs was diagnosed with leucaemia. The dog had been very clingy to the owner well before he became unwell and a diagnosis was reached. The dogs behaviour returned to normal after treatment and he was considered in remission. When the dog became clingy again, they were straight back to the doctor, and unfortunately, the owner had come out of remission.

No-one should scoff at this ability in dogs. I would, indeed, have the health of the human checked out.

The second thing to consider:

Did the dog's behaviour change when he came off the macrolone? Macrolone is a potent anti-inflammatory and hence, a potent pain killer. Perhaps the dog has some arthritis or low grade pain and was feeling better while on the cortisone. Now we are a little less enthusiastic for life since the low grade pain has returned when the macrolone was stopped. So I would suggest a check-up is also a good idea for the dog.

AP - like going to see a scary movie - traumatic/fun. It is scary, especially the first time, but soooo much fun, and so good to meet people you 'know' from the internet. I'm going to miss that this year - well - missing it already :laugh: .

Oh no, Tassie, aren't we going to see you this year? I will miss catching up.

Oh shit what have I done How terrifying!

Taken the first step of a great adventure???? Should be fun.

Is the caninefunsports @ westnet the best email address to use to contact Keith?

yep

amypie, I did the opposite and not sure what to do now! I opted for paying by PayPal but then decided to do cheque so hit the back arrow and the entries were 'gone'. However I received two emails, one with the full entries and one with empty entries. My entries still appear online for changing etc. so I think I'll send a cheque plus paper entries plus the print out with explanation to cover all possibilities!??

Hi guys,

If you make any errors, I think the best is to drop Keith an email. Then he can sort it out with Brett (the guy who looks after the e-performance side of things.) I think Keith will forgive most things, so long as you get your membership number, your dog's registration number, your dog's titles correct!

Cheers, Le

I decided to finally commit to the Nationals (I was waiting to see how my older boy coped with a large trial after being unwell) and I think I've managed to stuff up my online entries Not a good way to start :laugh:

Rest assured, you are not the only one. Our emails are running hot with corrections, at the moment. I am being VERY careful not to disturb Keith.

Cheers,

Just wanted to share Dyzney's first Agility run in around 6 years, Excellent Jumping.

Unfortunately, as you will see in the video she knocked the last bar, but it was clearly entirely my fault, mucked that section of handling up good and proper, not pretty :laugh: But we had fun, she pulled up fine and I didn't get lost.

She is such a sweetheart, and at almost 9 years old did a brilliant job I think :D And though she is not fast, we were inside time by a good 5 seconds, so there is hope.

Welcome back to the sport of agility. What a great run (we will ignore the last two jumps!) Just rmember, from one large dog handler to another, that we have to give our long striding dogs more warning that they have to change their leading legs, or they will not make the turns smoothly, especially when the judges don't give us a lot of room to turn! I really enjoyed seeing your big dog run.

Cheers,

The thing to remember about ALL bones, is that their cavity is full of fat. ALL bones are very fattening. So perhpas this why the vet advised dentastix, rather than bones.

Cheers,

Hi Guys

Now that its getting closer to the Nationals I was wondering what to do about the ticks. Should I put my dogs onto something or not. I know last time I didnt give them anything cuase we got told that where we were going we didnt need too. So should I and what to use

thanks guys

Ticks are generally not regarded to be a problem associated with western Sydney (they are more coastal, or are seen when you start to go up the mountains again, but not the area in between), nor is June a time of year when you would expect to find ticks active.

Mind you, the weather has been bit crazy this year so . . . ? It would not hurt to use some frontline or Advantix and most dogs enjoy the attention of being tick checked daily.

Cheers