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My six year old border collie has OCD of the elbow. Cartrophen was not successful. His OCD is quite severe apparently but was not diagnosed until he was x-rayed late last year. Up until then he competed in master level agility and jumping. He is given 4 fish oil capsules a day as well as glucosamine and MSM. He is also kept well excercised but never jumped now. On this regime he appears pain-free and only rarely has a slight limp.

I retired one of my dogs at the age of 8 as she was having trouble clearing jumps at her competition height. She was a very successful obedience and agility dog gaining OC as well as ADM and JDX. I don't think it bothered her being retired. I retired another dog from UD at the age of 9 as his teeth became worn and the articles distressed him. He was still an extremely competitive Open obedience and agilty and jumping dog up to the age of 10. I still run him at our clubs IAL and Auslink courses and he usually gets the fastest clear round for our club. It has bothered him being retired but I feel that he is more likely to get injured at his age, he is now 11 and the vet says that he has arthritis. I continue to give him a run at agility, but usually at a lower height because he loves it so much.

I have a whippet who is allergic to the preservatives found in most dry dog food. She is fine with Hills Science Diet as apparently the preservative used is a vegetable based one. She does very well on it, glossy coat and has actually put on some weight. I would like to feed her a BARF diet but she won't have a bar of it.

It is interesting that the handlers that are saying their dogs rarely knock bars have dogs that run with a higher head carriage. My Belgian Shepherd rarely knocked bars and she also had a higher head carriage. These dogs also seem to have less trouble with contacts. Border collies run with a lower head carriage and have a longish back in relation to their height. I believe this is why they often are the bar knockers. Borders also seem to take a longer stride in relation to their height. My 520mm border has a longer stride than my 575mm Belgian. I think this contributes to the fact that they often have trouble with contacts. Someone mentioned that dogs placed too close to the first jump often knock it but I also think if they are too far away or not set up square on to the jump they will knock it. In regards to bringing the bar knocking to the dogs attention, I currently have a young border collie just out of Novice. He is very messy with his jumping at home (we have a rather uneven area to train on) and knocks bars left, right and centre! I do stop him from continuing the set and start over. At training at my club and at trials he rarely knock a bar.

I have always been interested in this issue of "bar knocking". My border collie, who will turn 9 on Thursday, as a young dog would often knock bars in a trial. He was (and still is a very fast dog) and tended to jump flat when moving at speed. Typical of many border collies he has a long stride, his stride is actually longer than my large dog. Border collies are not natural jumpers, they tend to 'scramble" over obstacles instead of leaping. Interestingly, as he has got older, he rarely knocks a jump. He is still fast and more often than not places or wins, against dogs half his age or less. I have noticed that many kelpies and koolies tend to fling themselvs over jumps and usually hang a leg or two. When handlers lead out at the start the dogs usually concentrate on the handler and so misjudge the first jump. It is very difficult to recreate in training the excitement of a trial and you don't really run with the speed and adrenoline rush which not only causes the dog to have errors but causes handler errors as well.

never train when in bad humour never show disappointment in your dog

Sighthounds are affected by some general anaesthetics, also Belgian Shepherds. Don't know about other breeds. My vet gives dogs a sedative prior to surgery and I have found that this affects my border collie, he is semi-comatose for at least a day post surgery.

what on earth do you think making a pup sit or drop for such long periods of time is supposed to teach it? Try sitting still yourself for 30 minutes and see what you get out of it!

Thanks for the info, I own 2 border collies. I have also been made aware that whippets can have a problem with vaccinations as well.

I can't answer that poll as I have a super fast agility dog, sometimes has trouble with colours but only because he has a big stride, and sometimes has selective deafness, but a really good agility dog overall. But when waiting for his run he will lie at my feet, he doesn't bark at other dogs, is not aggressive to other dogs and is a pleasure around the home.

Hi Niska, I have never heard of Nutro, do you mean Nutrience?