Staff'n'Toller

Sounds like he needs stirrups - has he had any so far? Tape strips applied directly to the paws to hold the bandage up?

Bono Fido have some great beds. I use mojo bean bags- got the idea from Silvawilow- they do mini and maxi square beds so I buy the covers then get the exact size of foam cut to fit inside. Clarke Rubber used to sell the mojo bags but since many of their stores have closed I buy them from tinos.com.au.

Yep, you can't block your rear vision through a canopy. I've seen a lot of custom signs though on the rear windows of cars that you can see through- I wonder if that would work. You can always fit a tubliner to the new ute and attach brackets to the tub liner- not the tray.

Are there any Frenchie's out there doing agility?

That's the whole thing, head collars never have to be aversive. Nik is obviously going to have her children handle the dog whether others agree or not, in the old leadership debate then the children should be handling the dog if they are old enough. The fact that head collars are sold in supermarkets and pet shops and not fitted correctly does not mean they need to be thrown out with the bath water. If the dog is very unhappy with one then another piece of equipment can be chosen. When fitted properly those dogs are few and far between. Do you use correction chains when out walking your dogs or training them?

Does your dog play with many other dogs every day at the dog park or some such?? For small breeds who do not do this regularly, mixing with many dogs they don't know is the last thing they need.

It's not difficult at all to fit a head collar to a growing dog, they have plenty of adjustment and when you need to move up sizes you do so. There seems to be a common fallacy that trainers just whack on a head collar or no-pull harness and send the client on their way and that is definitely NOT the case. Fitting equipment such as the above involves at least 20mins of introduction to the dog, demonstrating how it should and should not be used, and watching the client demonstrate handling the dog correctly to get the behaviours you want. A caveat is always given that if the client does not change how they approach reinforcement with their dogs then the same results (pulling) will occur after the novelty period has worn off. Nik needs something that can enable her children to safely handle the dog under supervision and a head collar is an excellent choice in this situation. These things ARE tools, they change the situation enough, for long enough, that the client can reteach appropriate walking behaviour and GET the REINFORCEMENT in - thus creating an ideal training opportunity. If they are phased in and phased out correctly the good behaviour continues long after the equipment is faded.

wow.have not looked at the BlackDog website for a while and didn't reliase they do the new harness.Have they teamed up with Jenny Ireland or just a similar setup and name? I believe they have bought the rights and modified it slightly. 'Harmony Harness' tag is attached to the harness.

We have a group here connected to our canine association called Friends Of Obedience. They do trial run throughs for dogs that are pretty much ready to go, one evening a week for a couple of months over spring/summer. I believe you give a donation and ?aspiring judges? put you through. It's for practice, finishing with a real trial.

It really needs to be attended to as soon as possible so tomorrow would be best for her. Generally they open up one side and drain the blood out and remove the clot, then place lots and lots of sutures in the ear flap to try to join the two sides together and prevent a cavity for blood to re-form. Try to stop her shaking her head as much as possible and don't give her any breakfast as they may want to admit her tomorrow.

I would never hand my dog over for a demo to any trainer I didn't know thoroughly well. It's hard but you just have to be assertive. I can sympathise there is one like that at the club I was training at (purely just to get my dog out and practice some SFE) seriously if it were me and I walked down to class and saw him, I'd just skip it. You need to check if the trainers rotate, if they don't you need to decide whether you can stick it out with this guy until you move up or if your money would be better spent elsewhere. I agree with huski though, you may be much much happier at a private club where the quality control of the instructors is tighter.

The one that clips at the front is the Gentle Leader Easy-walk harness. Blackdog have a very similar version out now too.

I'm in Doncaster/Balwyn, I also have a colleague who runs them in Templestowe and Heathmont and we refer to each other quite often depending on our own class availability. I've got your info in the drawer at work Cosmolo from your last mail out. ;) Swapping handlers (pass the puppy) seems to out of fashion with the Vet Behaviourists these days, I believe it's because both large and small dog owners may mishandle when given a pup of vastly different size to what they are used to. I think for the majority of pups it's ok but I can imagine those with a sensitive disposition would freak out. I was thinking it was Kersti Seksel who termed the name Puppy Parties but it wasn't, she has a registration for Puppy Preschool. I will have to check with my boss about that he may know. From my searches it seems that is what they are called in the UK. I do remember seeing banners around certain Vet Clinics in the past with that term though. It's interesting about demographics, whilst I am in a well to do area, there are two very popular pet shops who have a revolving supply of DD's and other popular small purebreds so I have no idea of their backgrounds. I think one shop buys mostly from BYB's but for the other I can't tell. We do have restricted exercising areas but there are large open areas in the municipality where people can exercise their dogs away from other dogs. I feel the trend here is more towards small groups of owners who all know each other and have a regular bunch of dogs also known to each other. I know of two such groups I'm sure there must be others.

As I said above there is still a certain element of play in my classes because of the small area and people sitting across from each other, so I am able to talk about intervening in play and we use the nose to nose meetings to practice recalls regularly throughout the class. We talk about dog communication and calming signals and I follow it up with a full A4 page in their booklets. Puppy Zen is a HUGE part of my classes. I have clients bring their own mats and I find that it's easier for them to have a defined area in which to keep their puppy on so more of the focus is on the owner. Perhaps the reasons for the lack of play are not expressed clearly enough in the beginning - I'm not implying this is the case with your classes I am just brainstorming here. I think it has something to do with Puppy Schools being introduced here in the beginning as Puppy Parties I still cringe when I hear people use that term. I think clients need to understand that a class full of play makes their job oh so harder later on once the dog gets to young dog class and basic class and there is absolutely no play. I guess that a proportion of my clients would say the same but my retention rate is very good so they can't be too peeved about it. If I get further questioning on it my general response is how I would like to see play and why my environment is not conducive to it. I'm not sure there is any tbh. If I had a dog that was a perpetual puppy and LOVED playing with puppies then maybe.....but that's few and far between. I would be interested to know your opinion on: Should my dog be placed in a position week after week where he/she has to be disciplining young pups? Will this be to my dogs detriment in the future? Would he/she much rather be doing something else? I talked in a group session with other trainers once about occasionally taking one of my dogs into class who has infinite patience and a real mothering temperament and the Behaviourist running the discussion said "you know what, your dog may put up, and put up and put up with it but one day she may not want to put up with it any more". I guess it's an individual trainers decision on a case by case basis but I find parallel walking and walking group more beneficial. I was not insinuating it was uncontrolled or unsupervised play by any stretch- sorry I should have clarified. I was at a seminar once where there was supervised play at an SPCA where there was a slight scuffle between 2 pups - one was given a short time out but when we zoomed in and freeze framed we could see that the wrong dog was given the time out as the other had given plenty of signals- this happened in less than 3 seconds. As I said, and you also commented the same, if I do off-lead it's 2 pups at a time- I can't watch 4 or 6 or 8 pups constantly, my peripheral vision isn't that great.

I will add that one of the worst classes I can remember was doing some off lead play with clients who requested it and it went pear shaped, nothing terrible happened but it was not how I would like to see a play session, the pups just weren't compatible. I will regret it forever more. Particularly since I had a girl there who worked with dogs in some capacity it was quite embarrassing. My classes are very focused on having a calm learning environment, pups are always given a stuffed kong at the beginning of class. You have to think about the frustration level of novice dog owners trying to get their pup to pay attention straight after a heavy play session of 5-10mins- it's really hard- and they won't tell you- they just start to resent their pup for it.

Ok I'll jump in since I'm around. Do you let your puppies play or not in the class? As in off lead play? Generally not, the exception is when I get a group of puppies who are very equal in age, temperament and manners. Then I tend to only do it in multiples of 2. Also only in sessions 3 and 4 so I have had enough time to evaluate their temperaments. What are the reasons for your decision? If you don't allow play - why?! And do you ever get clients who are a little disappointed with why play is not allowed?! My area is too small to allow pups enough room to properly play i.e. play bows and zoomies. There is an element of play in that the pups do interact at the ends of their leads and sometimes very briefly the leads get mixed up but I am always on top of it and owners are told at the beginning and reminded throughout - if the leads get tangled drop the leads so we can untangle. In the first session which is 'puppy parents' only it is explained that play in large numbers creates an unsafe environment for dogs who are a bit fearful and prone to having a negative play session- which can happen in the blink of an eye literally. I also talk about dogs who may be a little over the top and bossy in play and this teaches them that this behaviour is acceptable and gives them opportunity to practice undesirable behaviours. Generally the owners are very happy after I give my explanation, I tend to say "back 10 years ago we thought free-for-alls were fine - but now we know better". I also explain that: 1. A negative experience for their dog could mean months of hard work for a dog owner to fix a fear related problem. 2. Puppies get socialisation benefits from watching other pups and dogs, they do not need to rough and tumble for socialisation benefits. 3. Puppies playing with other pups is fine but they are all at a very immature level in body language, communication and calming signals, more benefit is gained by taking walks and careful interaction with adult dogs who have great manners and teach great manners. How are your classes set up? How do you manage? How many dogs per class? I run a course of 5 weeks and the puppy parents class is compulsory, if they miss it they need to catch up with me to fill in the paperwork and talk about what they missed BEFORE the next weeks' class. I only have a small space, I have maximum of 5 dogs although 4 is perfect and I prefer it. If I have 7 or 8 book in, I run two classes. My space is not desirable and neither is the fact that I can't move the chairs, but I can move the pups to give them more space and will if I have to.

Omg I just melted. I really really want a Frenchie.

Have seen hair slow to grow back and grow at funny rates in diabetics with no other complications. Not saying you shouldn't have extra tests done, just that I have seen the hair growth problems.

If you dig up the Jean Dodds Australian talk on pet talk radio she recommends fresh frozen plasma be given rather than Vaccinating as early as possible. Give the plasma then Vacc as per normal at 6-8 weeks (she prefers 8).

Thanks

Kelpie-i what medication will they be using and about how much was it to send blood off and test?

Would be interesting to see if her appetite changes once she is done.

Are you going to breed with her? I wonder if she has abnormal ovaries or something. You can get flavoured dog vitamin tablets, they are pretty easy to come by.

Hey Riley James do you mind posting pics of your vivariums? They look really cool, I have no imagination when it comes to that stuff and I love checking out other peoples displays.

He looks like a typical Stafford piglet pup to me! Moderation isn't in their vocab.