Salukifan

. I have seen enough young handlers in tears of frustration or that simply fade away to recommend any dog that is going to impede, rather than encourage, an interest in agility. I'm sure most agility folk have seen the same. It's not fun at all with a dog that's simply not "into" it. I've had to retire a dog due to soundness issues. Not a fate I'd wish on anyone, let alone an 11 year old.

Your opinion. Based on what I don't know since you didn't say. Do you have any agility experience with SBTs? What is it about their structure that, in your opinion, makes them ideal for the sport?

No it isn't just about the dedication of the owner. It's about the structural suitability of the dog for the job asked of it. The fact that they'll try till they break shouldn't mean you ignore that some breeds are not ideally suited for some dog sports. Staffords carry three times the weight of some dogs competing at the same height. Some will be jumping 400 - a big ask for such a breed. Constant landing on slightly turned out feet stresses ligaments and joints. Their stifle construction can make them prone to cruciate ligament rupture so tight turns and constant wear will challenge their structural integrity. Some of their fronts are narrower than the dog walk plank they have to negotiate. This is a job they are NOT built for. I'd no more recommend a SBT as a likely agility prospect than I'd recommend taking up weight pulling with a Whippet. Horses for courses. Braccy breeds like Pugs struggle in agility in all but the mildest weather. It's no insult to a breed to point out that some activities will be challenging for it. I've seen enough dogs and owners struggle in classes to steer folk away from some breeds and towards those better suited. And that's not an insult to the dogs - its an interest in their welfare. Uninformed? How many dogs have you titled in agility Jerry Lee? How many handlers and dogs have you trained? The ONLY purebred SBT I know of that commenced training couldn't get across the dog walk. Too narrow for it. Of course that was before you could just do jumping. I appreciate that people are passionate advocates for their breed of choice but no one should be blind to the limitations that certain structures have. The dogs can suffer as a result.

I've heard a few folk say that Optimum is the pick of the supermarket brands. Add a few meals of raw chicken wings, the odd bone and decent table scraps to that and the dog should do fine.

Most of the premium dog food companies do some kind of allergy food. Royal Canin have a hypersensitive but I think you have to get it from a vet. Hills Prescription foods also tend to be good.

Could not agree more. Not having a go at you Tobias. Just saying it's best not buy into this rubbish by spreading it.

I don't see how posting that rant here isnt the same as sharing it on Facebook. Ignore it!

Absolutely, unless supervised. But they'd mix it up given appropriate supervison. Frankly anything smaller than a Dobe is going to have trouble coping with thir rough housing unsupervised. FT - way too straight in front IMO for sustained jumping and not an easy job for a junior to train. Spitz - Ditto on the training. WSS - hard to come by, some are longer in back than leg - not a great agiity shape. I agree with the advice about going to an agility trial and seeing the dogs that are competing. Its fast and tight on courses these days and if the daughter wants a competitive dog, then breed choice (and breed type) needs to reflect what's doing well. I think most juniors would do better starting small but a taller child would have more options.

For a junior handler, I think it would be hard to go past a Papillon. Those dogs go like stink! Having had to assist two youngsters to get a strong, wayward SBT back home yesterday, I suggest that a dog your daughter can physically control is crucial.

I wouldn't recommend a stafford as a good agility prospect on a weight for height basis. Sure, some do it but you'd struggle to maintain soundness in a lot of dogs. Frankly, as others have said, you won't keep any pup sound if it free runs with your Dobermanns

Whippets are the fastest dogs in the world over a short distance. I find non-whippet folk who see the dogs at speed tend to have to pick their jaws up off the ground. They are blisteringly fast. They can run up to 50kph, but like a cheetah, cannot sustain their speed for long. If the catch hasn't been made within a few hundred metres, the dogs will give up before they overheat. If a rabbit does not go to ground and cannot out manoevre the dogs (they are traditionally coursed in pairs) it is toast. Hares on the other hand are larger, wilier, faster and can turn on a dime. In countries where hares can be legally coursed, the hare wins two times in three I believe. Whippets will usually make their kills within sight of the place they are released. However I don't think coursing live prey is legal anywhere in Australia. The larger sighthounds are quite specialised for both the terrain and the prey they were bred to course. They will travel much longer distances and I think many were traditionally followed on horseback. This is probably a discussion we should be having in the sighthound thread! I find the differences between the varying sighthound breeds quite fascinating.

If dinner is 3am, what time is brekky? Not every dog is fed twice a day. None of mine are once they are adults. I once got home, walked the dogs and got tied up in a busy night. Went to bed at 1100 and wondered why a couple of dogs tummies were rumbling. Then it hit me - I'd forgotten to feed them. No way would Ted let me get away with that now. He barks if he thinks its dinner time.

The obvious first piece of advice is to get the weight off the dog. I'd recommend a visit to a veterinary neurologist or at least have one see the x-rays and advise.

Black Jaq: In terms of how they express prey drive, they are quite different. It would be extremely challenging to get any sighthound to stalk prey and not give chase when it break and runs. A working gun dog must NOT do this. Coursing is a huge no no. Those who hunt with sighthounds release the dog and follow the dog to the kill. They wouldn't generally expect the dog to return with it, and certainly not unharmed. A gun dog, on the other hand, works under direction either finding, flushing and retrieving prey (or all three). A hound, once released, works without direction to make the catch. Both my Whippets will scent and find birds, but they don't freeze (or not for long). They leap high and pounce on them. :laugh:

Until such time as Pet Rescue allows you to search by breed, I'd say it's a very frustrating place to start. I simply don't get that policy at all. Because most rescues are crosses presumably... so searching for a particular "breed" isn't necessarily going to find you what you are looking for. T. And searching for a size will? There are breed specific rescues and enough purebreds to warrant that AND enough breeds used in descriptions too

Until such time as Pet Rescue allows you to search by breed, I'd say it's a very frustrating place to start. I simply don't get that policy at all.

Night only here. They are generally fed after their walks. The dogs get a treat as I head out the door in the mornings but I like to supervise feeding time and in the mornings I'm flat out getting out the door!

So no vet?

A vet once told me that 80% of ticks he found on dogs were forward of the shoulders.

Option B of course is that the tick became fully engorged and detached???

I would be dousing him in a Permoxin rinse (kills ticks on contact) and frankly I'm surprised the vet let him go if she suspected a tick.

Well the horse may have already bolted on this one but..... Are you saying he's got himself an ANKC breeder prefix? That's what I call "registered". If it is, then he's going to be subject to a whole raft of requirements including age of breeding bitches and how often he can breed them. It worries me a little that every time someone wants to breed someone else considers it their mission in life to stop it. If he's ANKC registered, then he'll find out soon enough he won't make a fortune. And if it isn't. Save your breath. It won't make an ounce of difference.

I'd be thinking to leave it alone until Monday. if it's a grass seed abscess, and it bursts internally, you'll be dealing with a potentially major infection. Keep her cool and quiet and hope that Monday is soon enough. She doesn't sound at all well.

Some dogs don't just "try". Some dogs cut right to the chase and "do". You really don't want a rock solid dog to get wounded trying to help another dog. And it happens unless people know exactly what they are doing.

One other thing to bear in mind is that using a dog to assist a dog with behavioural issues under the guidance of an experienced professional is one thing. Putting your dog's safety on the line to assist an owner who may not have much idea about dog behaviour is another thing entirely. I'd certainly not allow dogs to greet unless there were clear ideas about how and what was going to happen and what would happen in the event of aggression. And perhaps not even then. The only thing I will offer is that a "friendly" dog is often the last dog an uncertain dog needs to meet. When a dog is wary of other dogs, a non-reactive or disinterested dog is often a much safer bet.