Podengo

I feed quite a bit of goat as a friend hunts it and gifts it free to me. I agree it is stinky, but Elsie really likes it. I regularly feed beef, goat, lamb, chicken and hare/rabbit. I feed fish as often as I can find it cheap.

Gorgeous photos! :)

I'm so sorry PFL - hugs to you

I guess the science behind it would be similar to the science behind human athletes or race horses, except as there is very little money in sport dogs there has probably been no money to fund studies! As for what I do... Nothing out of the ordinary, Elsie is fed a raw diet, we do a lot of tricks every day that hopefully build up muscle strength like sitting pretty/begging and getting her to hold it for longer, balancing on things, stretching and holding the position in a whole bunch of ways (her stretching as a trick, not me stretching her), she runs off lead every day and tears around being a bit nuts, we've started hydrotherapy recently and I do massages a few times a week. I warm her and myself up before agility just doing circle work off lead, and will put her over some lowered jumps going straight, then doing turns... Will get her practicing turns around a tree or something. Oh and throughout the winter we do bikejouring, twice or three times a week. After heavy work I always give her a good rest, then that evening will get a hot water bottle on her and do some massage. She loves it! Elsie sees an osteo now and then too.

I'm sure I've watched videos of breed judging at crufts before. Hopefully they'll put it up somewhere. Last year did they have multiple streams? Cos I remember watching a huge amount of agility, like all the semi finals etc that I'm sure they wouldn't have in the main ring?

Lucky for you guys its on a bit earlier! It's 10pm here! Though I guess I do get additional morning hours of it.....

Good on you for checking it out early. We lost a bitch to mammary cancer that spread very quickly.

So excited :D

The latest Dog attack shakes up community A dog attack which left a seven-year-old Japanese girl fighting for her life has rocked the Bay of Plenty community where the youngster and her family had planned to set down roots. Murupara's Sakurako Uehara was attacked by four Staffordshire bull terrier-cross dogs while visiting a family friend at a property on Monday afternoon. She is a pupil at Te Kura Kaupapa Motuhake o Tawhiuau. She was in Middlemore Hospital and last night her condition was listed as "critical but stable". It was not expected to change for several days. It was understood the owner of the dogs was a good friend of the Sakurako's father, Yasuyuki and her mother, Kumiko. He had given the newcomers vegetables grown from his maara kai (garden). Rua Te Pairi, who worked with the dog owner, said: "People think these were big vicious dogs but they weren't, they were small dogs - family pets. "They were good owners, they were helping them [the Ueharas] out, giving them kai, and the families became fast friends." It was believed the dog owner left Murupara for Auckland yesterday. Police said the owner had been co-operating with an investigation into the attack. The Ueharas enrolled their daughter at Te Kura Kaupapa Motuhake o Tawhiuau at the beginning of February for a month and the family was to return to Japan to sort residency requirements. They had planned to return in November. "They came with the intention of just looking around but they came in and within a half an hour of them being here, they loved it," Pem Bird, the principal of the kura said. The Waikato Times understands Sakurako's mother had a stint teaching Japanese language at the kura. Staff and pupils at the school held prayers for the family but were still coming to terms with the attack. "Kids are resilient but they can feel it," Bird said. Sakurako, described by Bird as an angel, had a week long noho (stay) at Rangitahi marae. The young pupil was far from homesick, she fitted right in, proving language to be no barrier, Bird said. "Her parents were thrilled with the way she adjusted here. When we heard this happened, we were just absolutely shocked by that," said Bird. Murupara people were aware of the negative publicity the attack might generate for their town. Some residents had used social media to speak about the attack. People said they were upset that some animal owners let dogs roam freely around the community while others said dogs needed to be tied up if children were visiting properties where they were kept. Bird speaks of the Uehara family as if they were his own whanau. He wants to show the community is behind them, so he has organised an appeal. "Our primary concern is that she pulls through. She's in a stable but critical condition still," Bird said. "These dogs belong to a family and I know the family, they are good responsible people. They would be so, so devastated." Bird said he had no doubt the Uehara family would be supported by the community with offers for donations already coming through. The Murupara Fire Brigade was organising a local appeal with Tawhiuau School, to raise funds to be used to support the Uehara family. The first concern for the principal was the health of Sakurako and secondly how the community and others may be affected by the attack. "Exactly what happened, I don't know, but the repercussions are beyond Murupara," Bird said. Tom Oldridge had been the town's dog control officer since the 1980s but he retired this week and the position was still vacant. Murupara early childhood teacher Marie Foster said most dog owners were responsible. "There are a few that don't care but that's the same in every town."

This afternoon's update on the story... "The girl, 7 remained in a critical condition this morning, a hospital spokeswoman said." "Police today confirmed the dogs were Staffordshire bull terrier crosses." "The dogs were registered and micro-chipped family pets, police said. They were secure on the owners' semi-rural property and there were adults on the property at the time of the attack. While there was no legal requirement for the dogs to be seized after the attack, police said the owner immediately took steps to have them put down by a vet."

Lots of people here used to have Dobers :)

Heard a little more on the news this morning, apparently the dogs were PTS straight away. They were all registered and microchipped, still listed as "mastiff type" dogs. The mayor of the town did mention pig dogs being prevalent in the area but didn't mention whether these particular dogs were pig dogs, and said the owner is a responsible dog owner who is very distraught about what happened.

Child seriously mauled by four dogs A Japanese girl is in a critical condition after being mauled by four dogs had just moved to New Zealand with her parents at the start of the year. The girl, aged 7, was playing in the yard of a property in Murupara owned by friends of the family when she was attacked by four "mastiff-type" dogs belonging to the owner of the property this afternoon, police said. She sustained life-threatening facial injuries in the attack, and was taken to Murupara Medical Centre, St John Ambulance communications team manager Norm Ngatai said. She was airlifted to Rotorua Hospital about 1.30pm, and was then flown by helicopter to Auckland's Middlemore Hospital in a critical condition. The family was new to New Zealand, and the girl did not appear to speak English, BayTrust Rescue Helicopter pilot Art Kowalski said. "My understanding is that they have just gained residency and moved here at the beginning of the year. "Her father came with us and was translating back and forward between her and our paramedic." The girl's injuries were "extensive", and affected about 90 per cent of her face, he said. She also suffered puncture wounds to both arms, legs and hips. Bay of Plenty police communications spokeswoman Kim Perks said police were informed of the attack shortly after 2pm. All four dogs have been euthanased by a vet. A police investigation is under way. Senior Sergeant Brendon Keenan said it was a "very distressing'' time for the family. "We do know that the young girl was at a friend's house..a friend of the family, and then she has engaged with this dog... It looks as though we could have up to four dogs involved here,'' he told Radio New Zealand. "The owner of the dog has been very supportive of this very distressful situation... the dogs have already been put down with the help of a vet. No-one else had been in danger, he said. Murupara community board chairman Jacob Te Kurapa said he met the family three weeks ago, giving them a box of throw-outs from the community. "I've only met them once - a nice, quiet family." The community board was supporting the family and had them in their thoughts and prayers, Te Kurapa said. It was not the first serious dog attack in Murupara. In April 2007, Virginia Ohlson, a 56 year old mother of one was fatally injured when two dogs, a pitbull and staffordshire-cross, attacked her as she walked along Pine Drive in Murupara. She was just 200m from her home when the dogs attacked. She suffered multiple bites to her legs and died from trauma and shock on her way to hospital. Since that incident, walkers in Murupara had developed serious concerns about out-of-control dogs in the area, Te Kurapa said. "Constituents of mine, who are walkers in the morning and at night, are telling me that they are now having to carry sticks to protect themselves from dogs. "People have been reporting it to the council, but unfortunately the downside here is we only have an animal control officer that works three hours a day." Some walkers were now thinking about attaching knives to the end of sticks to protect themselves, Te Kurapa said. "I don't encourage people to carry knives strapped to sticks as some were suggesting they would do as a result of this incident. "I do encourage that the council may step up patrols at the right times and I also go back to the call of asking all dog owners to be more responsible with their pet dogs." - © Fairfax NZ News

I love Bella too *swoon* My pack of one, Elsie! - hopefully there will be a second later this year!

I don't think I could compete in all the sports I do with lots of dogs, 2 would be ok but more than that and I would struggle to give them all the training they need.

I'm sure I will find a dead body one day. It seems that every time a body is found it's found by a dog walker around 6am!!

Geez that is crazy! :/

We always had dogs around when I was a kid, but the one I considered mine was Poppy. She was a bit of a Christmas gift for the whole family, but really my girl! I think I was 10 when we got her. I used to spend hours and hours training and walking her, and she introduced me to agility and taught me to think outside the square when it comes to training (she was a very nervous dog that wouldn't play or take treats in public, but ran well for me on course and never ran off when I let her off lead!). Poppy loved dress ups, and my sister and I would pick her all sorts of pretty outfits for her, then we would all rush outside to show mum and dad... Poppy would be all bum wiggles and bouncy joy while everyone fussed over her! She was a loopy girl too, once jumping through a closed window to get outside to play ball with us, luckily didn't have a scratch on her! She died at 8 years old, far too young, like most Dobes As I said earlier, Elsie is my first dog that I have had as an adult. She is amazing!

Oh Leah he is gorgeous! What a handsome face! :)

I have one, I would prefer three!

Lovely! Elsie is my first :)

Google calendar synced to my smartphone :)

Cancer, liver failure, dilated cardiomyopathy and wobblers are the ones I have experienced myself, or close friends have dealt with. Lots of other stuff too like skin problems, thyroid problems, sensitive tummies...

I love the doberman breed, and have owned a few.... But the health issues mean I probably will not own another one...

We got walking in a spot that is very popular with cyclists and runners, and there is no toilet there so people just tend to use the bushes... Yup you can imagine what sort of poop Elsie has chowed down on out there. We don't walk there much anymore!