Mason_Gibbs

I do use sunscreen but it wears off very quickly hence the sun coats ( The dogs skin is diff to human skin as in balance) I at least can see that mine are burnt I doubt many people would even notice burnt skin under a coat, if a sparse coated dog. Luckily only two more day time shows (I think) and the Bunbury one I will just take them home after the breed class. J Mason got burnt on his tummy/groin area the other day - first time it has happened.

If he's anything like Banjo you can only increase exercise so much, especially over the summer, or it's like flogging a dead horse :D , Banjo is a short bursts of energy type of guy . I dont really think he needs more exercise to be honest, he has such a low heart rate from being so fit that the derm and our regular vets have both double checked his heart as its unusual. Also like Tiggy said in summer he wont do any exercise besides swimming.

He's going to get a complex I do need to get him leaner for agility but he's such a good doer I pretty much have to starve him to get weight off. My other two are lean, even verging on skinny, I think they need fattening up :D . That is exactly my problem Tiggy, Mason eats next to nothing I actually worry about not feeding him enough. He gets a bone - roo or lamb- every 3rd day and then he gets about 200g of mince a day ( roo or goat at the moment) and maybe a slice of pumpkin. When we train in the mornings then I feed him even less...... It sounds wrong to even cut his mince to 100g a day because that is next to nothing ....

I can move sideways and she usually follows, I can step left or right in a circle and same thing, so stationary is pretty good (but with anything, could be perfected). I actually did heaps of this back when I had lots of waiting around in class (back when I trained in classes :D) I tried some last night, she keeps jumping up at my hand even though its low So yes I need to teach the extended nose touch first ;) I guess I am a bit blind in seeing at this point in time how getting her to do that will translate to having better position at my side. I know there is a way, otherwise it would never have been suggested at the seminar nor by you cos I know you're doing it with Strauss, but I am struggling to see it for myself Pick away, but my forewarning is I become even more clumsy with clickers and treats when someone is eyeballing us I very much struggle with timing of reward and placement of reward. Which are essential in training Rubystar I was actually thinking the same thing with the heeling to the side - Mason heeled like a arms width away from me a few months ago and it took me ages to get him to come in closer, now I am scared if i ask him to heel out he will start to get confused and not know what to do.

I am not saying Mason is fat :D Banjo isn't either except to die hard performance people In the photo you posted you can see the tuck behind Mason's ribs but it probably isn't a brilliant photo to look at for an idea on weight as he looks like his coat is wet and so it isn't sitting flat :D In fact my post was more to highlight the different way's people perceive the weight on the same dog Tiggy, your Banjo is a fatty too maybe it has something to do with the name No I know you were not saying that he is fat. Yeah he was wet in that pic. I have noticed that he has picked up a bit of weight since I have fed him lamb mixed with his roo, I have switched to goat and roo now so it should improve but I could only get lamb bones this week.

Watch Ptolomy and Strauss tonight who are supposedly giving me a demonstration of this I wish I had more motivation to drive down to K9 on a monday night, my heeling is not progressing at the moment and i know that I am the one to blame, its hard training on your own and at class on a sunday its just way too hot to expect to achieve anything.

Look I know he could lose a Kg or 2 but I would not call him overweight, especially considering some of those obese dogs walking around out there. I often get asked why my dog is so thin by people at parks etc. I think some dogs out there are too thin they remind me of the starving dogs I knew in africa but everyone knows their own dogs and who are we to judge other people? I dont do agility because IMO Mason is too big a dog to jump etc competitively.

No I dont have a video at the moment. I am seeing the instructor from the heeling seminar we went too a few weeks ago in about 4 weeks, I will ask her opinion or email her as she is very clued up and may have some ideas. I also think that with the heat now its playing a huge part, i train before 7 in the morning but even then it seems to hot for him, in winter I got way more effort from him.

Doesn't matter how much you feed or how much he weighs Mason - he's how he feels that matters. I hope mince isn't all you feed?? No he gets bones and veggies too - he is an allergy dog so his allergies dictate what he can and cant eat. He also gets eggs sardines etc about 1x a week. BTW this thread has gone way off topic, I was asking about training yet somehow it is now about how fat my dog is and what I feed him???

I am a bit peed off now, I ask a question in the training thread about something to do with training, get asked if my dog is fat ( dont know how thats relative) then when I post a pic and get told that yes he is a bit overweight. Seems that if a lab is not anorexic then people just call them fat - makes me wonder why I even bother to post sometimes!!

I cant really put a name to the method I am using, I take little bits from here or there when I go to a seminar, read online etc - all positive reinforcement. I dont train for longer than 10 mins at a time because I dont want him to be bored etc ( we do go to class though and that is an hour but its a lot of play etc. Here is a recent pic showing his weight. If you put the flat of your hands on his ribcage Mason, can you feel rib? He looks a tad beefy to me but I'm an agility weight fanatic. Labs should still have an obvious waist tuck. If food is what motivates him I'd be using food for everything. I only feed him very little a day - less than 300g mince and then training treats if we are training.

I cant really put a name to the method I am using, I take little bits from here or there when I go to a seminar, read online etc - all positive reinforcement. I dont train for longer than 10 mins at a time because I dont want him to be bored etc ( we do go to class though and that is an hour but its a lot of play etc.) Here is a recent pic showing his weight.

He knows give, he knows most things, he is very smart etc I just battle to get him into any sort of drive mode, he is very very laid back for a lab, not very boisterous etc until he is offlead running around with other dogs he loves that but the rest of the time he is sometimes 'too chilled' and its hard to train him when he is like that. He will do anything for food so maybe I must just stick to the 2 food game. I will also chat to the senior trainer at our club and see what she recommends doing. Edited to add - now in the hotter weather even though we train before 7 he is very hard to motivate etc You can always teach him to fetch a food pouch after you throw it. Clean Run make a whole range of dog food containers you can throw. Serious question - is he a "big" boy? What's his weight like? What sort of training methods are you using? His weight is good he weighs 34Kg and he is extremely fit, he has such a low heart rate that our vet and derm staff always double check his heart , they put it down to him being very fit.

?? That sounds a good plan Also- may I suggest that is not a case of 'bad aim' Bad aim,and suddenly realising that a human hand is in his mouth should , IMO,have been corrected by him very smartly .The fact he is still doing it suggests to me that he is enjoying whatever reaction he is getting when he does it ...and he may also be trying to remove the toy from your posession. He does realize as soon as the hand is in his mouth that he is doing something wrong and he lets go right away but then my hand is already scratched, he has huge teeth. If you knew the dog you would see that he is not doing it to be naughty or ugly, he is very submissive and gentle, I honestly believe that it is a mistake on his part.

He knows give, he knows most things, he is very smart etc I just battle to get him into any sort of drive mode, he is very very laid back for a lab, not very boisterous etc until he is offlead running around with other dogs he loves that but the rest of the time he is sometimes 'too chilled' and its hard to train him when he is like that. He will do anything for food so maybe I must just stick to the 2 food game. I will also chat to the senior trainer at our club and see what she recommends doing. Edited to add - now in the hotter weather even though we train before 7 he is very hard to motivate etc

Yes he works well with food and clicker but we were taught some different new methods at a seminar we went to a few weeks ago, the one thing they recommend is playing with your dog before you train. I guess I can throw a ball or frisbee for him instead but I liked the idea of the tug as its not throwing the ball away from me etc.

I have been trying to play tug with my dog before we do obedience training - the trouble is that he wont just grab the tug and start playing I have to really swing it around, run around with it etc otherwise he is just not interested. What is now happening is that he keeps grabbing my hands by mistake and I am getting injured as his teeth are sharp - he lets go as soon as he feels that he has my hand but its SORE!! Any suggestions? SHould I maybe try something else with him game wise? BTW it makes no difference how long the tug is - I have one thats nearly a meter long but he still wants the part i am holding.

Yes, I agree. Poor Leroy because he is itching like crazy or poor Leroy because he sleeps outside and we won't get him allergy tested? The vet didn't recommend having him tested and simply said it was a spring contact allergy. And poor Leroy is a fully trained flyball dog who travels around everywhere with us and chooses himself to sleep outside. I can bring him inside and he will toilet everywhere over night. Put him in a crate and he will cock his leg and pee out the side of the crate. Put him in the large enclosed cat crate and he will pee all over the bottom of it and then lay in it. When I go to bring the others in they run to the gate, he bails to the kennel and stays there. I'm not going to force him to sleep in if he doesn't like it. And we are doing everything for Poor Leroy taking into consideration that neither of us are even sure if keeping him is a good idea. We have taken full responsibility for him because it's not his fault that we decided to rescue him and nor is it his fault he doesnt really fit it. It's also not his fault that we have 6 other dogs and are expecting our first baby and simply can not afford to have him allergy tested. Regardless of what he is allergic to it won't change anything. I can't pull all of the grass out of the pen and make the others suffer for his sake and nor will I have him inside constantly toileting everywhere. Poor Leroy spent the first 6 months, yes a full 6 months, of his life in a pet store. No one wanted to buy him and the glass box he was in, seperated from his only sibling has left a lasting effect on his personality. When a friend bought him and it didn't work with their dog we took him on in the hopes of giving him a better life and quiet frankly we have done exactly that for the past year. I don't need to be berated for trying to do the right thing by him. Settle down. Poor Leroy....just like poor any dog who is allergic, it sucks for the dog. I agree, and without testing him and getting him the right treatment ( because it could just be about anything that he is allergic to) his life will not be a comfortable one, I have an allergy dog who is on antihistamines and immunotherapy ( desensitization injections) and I think if I had not taken him to a dermatologist he would have had loads more problems and a way less comfortable life. DO you have anyone in mind who could perhaps take him from you?

I think we need to organize another DOL meet up - what about that BBQ we have been talking about?

I am wanting to go back and retrain heeling from scratch again - our first step I get no eye contact and I am not 100% happy with the heeling. Mason is fine when we practice in the mornings but at club training as soon as it is hot he gives me nothing at all

My dog seems fine with carrots but I dont give them often. If you are looking for a healthy snack you can give pear or banana - the dermatologists recommend them for dogs with allergies. My dog just cant have beef, turkey, chicken or wheat.

Mirawee who did you have a lesson with? I am wanting a bit of help with my heeling, the step off is an issue for us and I am finding that since its been hot our heeling in class is shocking the last 2 weeks

Husky are there a lot of practise trials near where you are? Do you still get nervous for the practise trials? I would look into take Rescue Remedy or something natural to calm your nerves before hand, it really does work.

Should I get a lead longer that 750mm then?

I should have had my camera with me yesterday, there was loads of smoke from a fire where I was