Staff'n'Toller

SB you have taken this thread way off track, seemingly for your own personal agenda. If you are constantly bitten by other clubs - stop whinging and start your own!!! FWIW, I don't think titles equal a good trainer, especially as far as behavioural problem solving goes. You could have raised one dream puppy and titled it, does that make you a good trainer?? Nuhuh. I also think all instructors should be paid something for their time, even if it's only ten bucks a class. Money talks and everyone wants something for nothing these days...most of them don't appreciate it. It also provides the motivation to those instructors to further their education. Dog Training shouldn't be (virtually) free!! Nothing else is these days!! Mel.

Your Bro lickin his stitches again TB? :rolleyes: (I saw those impressive ones on his head.) Nah seriously you need to keep her away from them, she can cause infection if she is always at them. Could try some ti-tree oil, or put a tshirt on her. :rolleyes: Mel.

From the pic it just looks like a bit of inflammation or just darkened hair in that area. Settle down peoples!!!! It looks a bit swollen, does she wee in her bed or anything?? In some little girl dogs the vulva is a bit inverted, and this causes wee to get trapped, or bacteria in the skin folds, so you get recurrent little infections there. Some Vets will recommend that you let the dog have one season so that the area does swell up a bit and hopefully fixes the skin fold infections. You sound like a very attentive dog owner to me. Do ask your Vet about it though at her Vaccination. ETA: If you think she is weeing alot, do take her to the Vet and have her urine tested, she may have the beginnings of an infection. Tessabella - in five years of Vet nursing I've never seen a 'blocked' female dog, so I hope you are a Vet since you have diagnosed from a picture!!!! I also hope you are feeding your male cat prescription food for his 'blockages' since male cats can very easily die from kidney failure from having blocked urethra's!!!!!

Geordie swims like that too..... :D He has only had one visit to the beach because we are so far away, he usually swims at the dam here, but not where he can't touch the bottom. I plan to take him on holidays to the beach for a week or so - so that I can go in with him and build his confidence a bit. Mel.

Why don't you just have her desexed now? You can avoid her seasons altogether!! Do a google seach on dog oestrus - because it's a little different to a period. Mel.

If she is barking it's probably due to frustration - she doesn't understand what you mean. See what they recommend at puppy school, if you want some other techniques feel free to PM me. Mel.

That's a whole other subject, I'm sure you realise that. Protocols have changed, ONE brand of Vaccine has gone triennial, and I don't know one Vet who is using them considering the high numbers of vaccine related tumours with American manufactured Vaccines. I follow the Dodd's protocol as well, but it's on my back should my dog pick up parvo/distemper/hepatitis. I have no recourse with my Vet or the Vaccine companies, that is what I'm relaying to the OP. The OP needs to check with their Vet about what BRAND they use that is my point, protocols may be a hot topic of discussion but the manufacturers we use certainly have not revised the number of puppy Vaccinations recommended YET. Mel.

KCC is at least 45mins from Box Hill - if not more. Mel.

What do you feed him? Mel.

Cue the licking, then tell him when to stop licking... Could try bitter bite, stop chew etc from pet supplies. We use wound guard at the clinic because it has a disinfectant in it as well, it's just as yuck and the smell turns most dogs off. Mel.

Croydon has a few trainers doing delta this year. From what I understand they are definitely using food and target sticks etc. in some of their classes. Doveton is also good, they are just running their first foundations course...similar to Altona I would assume. Mel.

Wow it's a shame that you happened to walk into a school that is still very traditional. Boroondara Dog Training and the Kintala Club are certainly near to you, whilst they don't do agility...you can always move onto that once you have a good standard of obedience, because you really do need to have a great recall, and have a dog that likes to work near you. Altona is definitely worth the travel they are agility only, so you don't have to do obedience there first. Mel.

The third one is not for the Vet's benefit, it's what some BRANDS of Vaccine companies recommend. Whether you do a third or not is up to you, but don't try to sue your Vaccine company if your dog picks up something when you didn't follow manufacturer's advice. Mel.

Take a look under trainers on the K9events site mentioned in the clicker training thread. It depends where you live but there is Sherbrooke Obedience Dog Club at Belgrave and, on the other side of the city Keilor Obedience Dog Club. There's also Hastings Obedience Club on the Mornington Peninsula. Lots of clubs these days are going away from J&P methods though you just have to look around I think the OP means that she/he is looking for agility as well as obedience and Sherbrooke don't outwardly offer that.... Mel.

Which club was that if you don't mind me asking..?? Specify your area and we can make some recommendations. Mel.

Hmmmm....I know where I'm going tomorrow! Mel.

Do lots of repetitions of swapping for a treat instead, it will be much safer and teach her to drop what she's got. I use 'here' as a cue word. Have you got a good training school nearby or would you like some recommendations? You have a large breed there- Rotti's are lovely dogs when they are obedience trained. Mel. ETA: Ooh sorry, snap Kavik

I would probably worm again in a week, then fortnightly until she sees no worms. Mel.

He's probably not tugging at the lead so you will let it go, just playing tug of war rather, probably something he has been doing for a while and you need to reinforce not tugging on the lead. Also be careful about getting into that game with him. Obedience training is the go. Mel.

Yep ACP is Ace, but it would be a good idea to get a dose rate from your Vet (mg/kg), it's easy to overdose. Mel.

Mine just stare at me from a distance....

Totally agree, I'm sure they have no idea what we are doing. Mel.

Definitely flea bomb the house, floorboards and skirting boards can harbour eggs. You got cats? Mel.

Can she start the older puppy one at 12 weeks? Or do you have to wait again? It's important for her to get started as soon as possible and probably helpful for you to be getting advice from a trainer for the things you listed in your first post. PM me if you like with your State and area and I may be able to help you out. Mel.

Also think about booking into a puppy pre-school, or a training club that runs puppy classes within the next few weeks. Mel.