Staff'n'Toller

Depends what the battery life is, the previous ones we've had available here had less than one days worth of battery. Also what's the radiation risk to the animal?

Hehe he is soooo cute. I've always thought I could fit a couple of Frenchies in as hot water bottles. Have fun with him.

Just agility? We use Susan Garret's 2x2 method to train weaves at our agility club. I guess this is a subjective question but how long (how many weeks) does it take teaching it club style? I've always wondered...

I love this one. Sid: "Zoomies..??"

You can ask what time he'll be pre-meded and drop him off closer to that time if it's appropriate. For example we start surgery at about noon so we can cater for 11am drop-offs by worried parents. Most of the clients in our area work though and need an early drop off. A certain percentage would be stoked if we opened at 7am I think. The very best thing anyone can do is teach their dogs to love the crate. No matter if they were shelter dogs in the beginning you can change their perception later in life no problems.

I guess it depends on how important it is to you. Dogs that stuff around at my place get put on a long line so they can't victory lap or destroy the toy, and dogs who don't bring it back don't get another throw until they learn. However this is all OT...sorry about that.

That wasn't what I was suggesting. That is a black and white interpretation of what I said, which was profoundly grey, thank you. I don't know what the OP's specific situation is, so I'm just saying there's no need to be black and white about it. It's worthwhile taking a lot of different things into account, but nothing is likely to be a deciding factor on its own. The Vollhard test is about the best pet owners have got at the moment, but behaviour is difficult to predict and temperament is notoriously difficult. I've never found a study that has a reliable predictor in dogs under 8 months old, although who knows, hair whorls might turn out to be it. Over 8 months, tug and retrieve consistently come up, but that's not to say all successful dogs are good at tug and retrieve. There's usually a sociability aspect as well, but depends on what job the dog is being assessed for. Unless I was spoilt for choice or the dog was obviously exceptional, I'd want to see the dog more than once before I made a decision. The OP's specific situation is that it's very important that the dog naturally enjoys to retrieve or is totally crazy about it. The latter being better. If you're choosing pups @ 6 weeks you want the one that doesn't think twice about racing in for a bird wing and bringing it back or carrying it around. It makes your job a whole lot easier. Retrieving is much more (and different) work to obedience or agility, given that you need to win in your division to get titles, not just place or pass. As others have said it's like herding, if you want to do well the instinct has to be there. My boss has a wonderful little Lab bitch who I would have LOVED to take out competing as she's just crazy about retrieving and it matters not where you take her, or even if you gave her to a stranger to take out, she would be instantly comfortable to retrieve wherever she was.

Take a cap gun with you and have someone set it off from the carpark (further away). The best outcome would be that the dog orients to the sound but then goes back to playing, or doesn't notice it. If you have a noise phobic dog that doesn't recover well your job is more difficult for retrieving.

No that's goats ! :) Or piglets! :rolleyes:

You would have a nervous breakdown here, then :rolleyes: every time snake or cat or dog or something grabs a frog there are a few seconds of screaming... The other night I must hve missed a frog in my nightly 'muster' of ones who sneak indoors ..and around 1 am I awoke to the very loud squark of a frog alongside my bed ! Mr. Wilson had one , and was patting it around . I let it go outside ... and told it to stay there! There are hundreds of frogs around here at present... they are in/on everything! I would, I couldn;t stand it, I didn;t know frogs could even scream.. It's not like a high pitched human scream, more like persephone says, a loud "quarrrrrrrk".

The dog will look back if you're late delivering the reward. It has to be there as the dog arrives after a correct run. If you're late, they will turn back to you looking for it. It's almost better to occasionally reward early by accident for a slighty incorrect run than to be late with a correct run. If you "place" a reward before you send the dog on the run, it's hard to remove it if the run is not correct. Part of the DVD instruction involves getting the trainer to practice throwing the reward at a target until there is a reasonably reliable placement and timing. Sorry, that was really bad phrasing on my part. I have been throwing the reward with correct placement (well, I hope), not just placing it. Again, bad choice of words. I do believe I might be late with my reward timing. I'll have a look at the DVD again for that section on throwing the reward. Edit - Thank you! I wouldn't be too concerned with that, Geordie does it too b/c he's just too bloody fast for me! I have to ensure he does get the correct entry because a couple of times I accidentally rewarded - he learned he could miss the first 2 poles and now I have to go back to the beginning and build more value. I videod him and he does drive forward head down but also looks back at exit, he still learned the method and is single stepping 6 poles so as long as the accuracy is there I wouldn't be worried about it.

If you have an ABN perhaps it would be cheaper just to access leads wholesale. Kramar cotton webbing leads are really cheap and fairly good.

Do you have a copy of the dvd? You really need to have it if you want to teach 2x2 method.

http://www.dogsvictoria.org.au/MembersArea.aspx Do what it says there- download the form, fill it in, send your money with the relevant info....

Try searching for 'dog snap hooks'.

Lagotti might be easier to get, and the population bigger by the time you are looking.

We had that with a little dog a few weeks ago, was a bee sting (or possibly some other bitey thing). We considered Parvo it was that bad but it happened too quickly!

Tucker Time is what I use at puppy school. But it's nutritional value is probably the same as 4 legs.

+1 And these days, anaesthesia is very safe and in fact I would prefer anaesthesia over sedation in my boy, if that makes you feel better! Totally agree. Must be done under gas with an ET tube to stop water going any further down the throat.

I don't think so, it looks like duct tape but actually on closer inspection it looks like fabric. It's probably just for joint protection.

Poisons hotline aren't particularly helpful for dogs. Not their jurisdiction.

It's a real shame, I was very happy feeding the Anchovy or the Duck formula to my Stafford as I felt it was more natural than a prescription diet and she did very well on it. But when I can't get it, or there's one bag sitting on the shelf that's quite clearly spent 10mths in storage and transit I'm not particularly impressed paying the big bucks for it.

Which is about..............now.

It's not fathomable to me that demand outstrips supply for close to 10 years....and they still have NFI how to fix it. I'm not sure why they still export here, it seems like they can't be bothered. All you guys who are still feeding it have a large amount of patience! I switched to something else about 3yrs ago.

I thought there was plenty of social walking taught in basic 1 & 2 classes. I know my friend absolutely had to demonstrate loose lead walking to pass. I teach tricks in puppy school and from what I can gather they really enjoy it. It's good for people to have something fun they do with their dogs to help with bonding when they are dealing with other behaviours they don't like so much. It's up to them if they continue at home or not, they're not being held to ransom. I know that some people don't like doing it in the more adult classes but it teaches them to think. People who may be too harsh on their dogs on the obedience side of things are forced to think about how to shape something!