JayGee

How exciting Willowlane, we are at the countdown point too, 10 days to go! One black and tan dobie to join our family. We havent been through puppy stage for many, many years. This will be the first time we havent had to juggle work around puppy life,so that will make life a lot easier.

Ah Canetoad, hit the nail on the head. I often wonder how my previous dogs got by, with my complete lack of knowedge. Just lucky, I guess. I had someone telling me that their dog was rank aggressive as I was standing there watching all the behaviours of a fear aggressive.

Jeddah was assessed on one of Steve's Qld trips, I then followed a training plan via email for approximately six weeks. We then followed up with a weekend clinic at Steve's property. It obviously depends on your dog's issues etc. But we looked at Steve as a "people" trainer, not just a dog trainer. Lots of learning for you! Huski will be able to answer your queries. You mentioned in your original post, the 2 hour assessment. Can I just say, that 2 hours goes in the blink of an eye. You will leave with a head full of information, which is followed up by email. I don't remember how much we spent with the original trainer, but every cent I spent with K9 Pro was worth it. Jeddah and I continued training in Brisbane with Jane Harper, who was recommended to us by Steve. Goodluck!

I drove from Queensland with a fear aggressive doberman to see Steve. Best thing I ever did! Unfortunately I had been seeing someone up here who came highly recommended. The experience was a complete disaster, Jeddah's behaviour actually deteriorated over the period of "training". I came home from training one morning googled aggressive behaviour in dogs, and found Steve. I rang him, may have been in tears....me that is, not Steve! Life changed from that point. We were very close to considering euthanasia. Jeddah has only just passed away from cancer at the age of nearly 14. I will be forever grateful to Steve for his help and guidance. She was my special girl, and I would have missed out on having her in my life.

Just a quick addition, I have lived in this area for 40 years, have used both of the other local vets also mentioned, but found I couldn't always see the same Vet regularly. Not a big deal possibly for some, but I was looking for someone that my old girl would be comfortable with as we're entering that age of needing continuity of care. She adores Ray, and you've got to love a bloke who happily chats to your dog! My last visit to Manly Road was on a Sunday, saw a Vet we'd never seen before, and frankly, the way he treated my old greyhound, we haven't been back. Just an uncaring, indifferent attitude to a gentle old soul.

Super Vets on Wondall Road, Manly West. I've just recently changed over to them, after hearing good reports. We see Ray, but my Aunt regularly sees both Vets with her elderly dog. They have their practice manned by a Vet 24 hours, home calls are no problems at same price as clinic visit. Our old dobe had ultrasound, x rays and three teeth removed this week. The care from all staff was exceptional, lovely to be able to phone late at night to have any concerns handled. Then they phoned me first thing the following morning to see how she fared through the night. We have been very pleased with our experience so far. I phoned them on Sunday after Boxing Day, not expecting to get an appointment that day, gave me a choice of three times, and was able to get my girl onto antibiotics and painkillers immediately.

Woof, my daughter-in-law runs a Facebook page called Toowoomba Families, her name is Shallon. Contact Shallon, and you'll get a bit more exposure hopefully. I've liked your page as well. Good luck. Julie.

I think it will take you about 12 hours at least. Can't you drive at least some of the way the day before, I'm sure there is some friendly dog accomodation somewhere. Otherwise you will be exhausted for the lesson. When I took Onsy and Tilly we went the afternoon and then the next morning. We stayed in a place that had accommodation in train carriages, it was cool, at Bilpin from memory! THAT IS WHERE WE'RE STAYING! Madison's! Should be great. I will have a think about staying somewhere maybe at Glen Innes or something, but I really don't mind long drives I think I will be too excited to be tired and I will have my friend with me. And Red Bull We're going the next morning as well, at 9am, then head back to ?Bris after that or stay somewhere along the way. The plan is to get into Brisbane early afternoon, have a drink with my bro as it will be his birthday and he lives there, then get an early night say 6pm or so that way I will be rested to leave at 2am. I have done a few drives to Townsville, Cairns, Longreach and HEAPS to Brisbane so I am fairly experienced at long drives and know my limits also. Fran, you'll love the trip and Madisons is a fantastic place to stay. Their breakfast baskets are huge, will do you for a couple of meals! We'd have the cereal and toast for breaky. Then use the bacon, eggs and tomatoes for a big fry up later in the day. The alpaccas are gorgeous, but watch the chooks, they follow you around like dogs. No matter how many trips you do from the barbie back to your accommodation, you'll have four little red chooks right behind you. I'll see if I can find some pics for you. Good idea to get away early, we didn't get to Madisons on our first trip down till quite late at night, and did have a bit of difficulty finding them in the dark. We had such a great time the first time, we actually planned our next visit to Sydney to include a couple of days back at Madisons. Don't forget your camera! We did the trip down to Steve about 3 years ago from Brisbane. It's something I've never regretted, and was the best money I've ever spent on Jeddah.

KM, that is just so beautifully written.....straight from the heart. I do feel for you. You will treasure your wonderful memories of Kaden. He was such a gorgeous boy.

Dog owners at the end of their tether will cover a few kilometres to pay a visit to Steve. We did the trip from Brisbane! Fortunately for us Jeddah loves a long car ride. She's was better than travelling with our kids when they were younger. JayGee, How long was the trip from Brisbane ? and how was the accommodation in the area ? RottyLover, we did the trip in one straight drive, stopping every few hours to give Jeddah a break and we'd have a cuppa, probably took us roughly around 12 hours, that included a slightly longer break at Singleton for dinner. We stayed Madison's Mountain Retreat at Kurrajong, which is about five minutes from Steve. Great self-contained cabins and dog friendly. They do an enormous breakfast basket, and yes, the fireplace was wonderful. We saw Steve in late July, so it was pretty cold with our arrival being quite late at night, they had the fire already stoked and the cabin quite toasty on arrival. Enjoyed our stay so much, that I'm about to rebook for another stay in February for my niece's wedding! We drove down on the Thursday, did a session with Steve on Friday and Saturday, relaxed on the Sunday and headed back to Brisbane on the Monday. Pretty easy trip, and defintely of great benefit to Jeddah. You won't regret it.

Dog owners at the end of their tether will cover a few kilometres to pay a visit to Steve. We did the trip from Brisbane! Fortunately for us Jeddah loves a long car ride. She's was better than travelling with our kids when they were younger.

If we had audio to go with your post, we could almost hear the "joy" in your voice!! Congratulations, but really your had work has paid off and I bet the dogs are so much happier in their new situation. Welcome to the K9 Force Success Cult. Surely this can become a registered religion and we can claim dog training as a tax deduction????

Stitch, you'll find the Lucas Pawpaw Ointment handy for a lot of things, the blurb on the container refers to "boils, burns, chaffings, cuts, cracked skin, gravel rash, splinters, open wounds, insect bites and nappy rash"!!! I find it handy for all sorts of ailments. My daughter-in-law swears by it for nappy rash, gone after one application. Shila's nose does get a cracked, dry appearance, so after a rough play with our doberman, she can get a little raw and weepy looking. I'm trying to make sure they don't go into wrestling, head first.....but I'm losing the battle there. I actually starting using the zinc more of a sun protection, but because it's such a nice thick substance, I think its also helping with moisturising the nose. I didn't start using the zinc until I had the nose looking good though. As I've had a good result, I've just kept using the two products. I've googled nose problems, was actually concerned that Shila may have lupus. I had to take her to an emergency vet one night (not our own) over another matter, mentioned the nose to him, and he said not to worry about it, it looked fine???? So, I've just been carrying on with my own doctoring, as it does seem to be working. She's due for her vaccs soon, so we'll see our vet to make sure I'm going about it in the right manner. After reading BC's post on the collie nose, I think I'll get Shila to the vet just to have it checked out, looks like the sun hypersensitivity matches our problem, but I'm a bit concerned about the chance of developing cancer. I must admit, I've had that in the back of my mind.......but fortunately, we're seeing the return of the black pigment to the area. Her nose tip was completely pink when she was adopted. Thanks for the post BC, very interesting. Hope all goes well at the vet Stitch, I'll be following your progress. If we get any further info on Shila, I'll let you know.

We have a greyhound here with a similar problem. She was adopted from a Vet Surgery, who put her nose problems down to an allergy....which I not so sure about now. They weren't treating it, and basically said it would clear up! I've tried a few different combinations, and we seem to be have a great success. I use the Lucas Papaw Ointment, which seems to aid in the healing. As the nose was quite pink and had lost a lot of pigmentation, I then started using zinc cream, just to give her sun protection as she loves lying around outside. With this system, the nose is healing nicely, and she's regaining her black pigment on the nose. I just do the zinc in the morning, and the papaw ointment in the afternoon, really slather both products on, and massage it right into the nose, so there's not a lot of excess to lick off!!! I think her long life of living in kennels may have attributed to some major sun damage. Good luck.

Christal, I've just PM'd you, sorry for the delay, I've been a bit busy today..... Julie

Go the pumpkin!!! Works every time. I just pop a few good size pieces of pumpkin on a plate, splash of water, cover in plastic wrap, and nuke until soft. I keep the skin on, and mix it through the next meal. Jeddah is on a barf diet anyway, but if she's had a few too many bones, pumpkin to the rescue! Good luck. ;)

Kirty, about to PM you. Julie

I know I've done a hatchet job of Steve's comments, but I feel this comment is rather important to highlight for anyone dealing with fear aggression. This statement has actually become a mantra in my life, but it is so easy to forget in one of "those" moments!!! I spend a lot of time making statments like "two years ago, I would never have put Jeddah in this situation", or "one year ago, we would never have expected Jeddah to do this". Remembering where you have come from and how far you have travelled is what keeps you going. We are currently looking after our son's greyhound. This probably doesn't sound too much of a stretch to most people, but for us to have another dog living under the same roof as Jeddah, well, we're stoked to say the least. One more achievement........ One more good experience for Jeddah. That's all I want, for her to add to her pile of good experiences, and for that pile to eventually outweigh those scarey experiences. (I'm pretty sure I've stolen this from one of K9 Force's lessons). Jeddah has been the most demanding and testing dog that I've ever owned, and the only dog that I've not had from puppy stage. But funny enough, my relationship with her is the closest I've ever experienced with any animal. I often wonder if the extra work that she and I have had to do to overcome her fears, has increased our bond? I'm certain that it has.

There's always someone in our family who makes this statement at least a couple of times per week.

Thanks Rachelle, I still get teary myself when I read that story. We keep reaching our little goals, and can't believe where we are today. My husband has never been able to handle the lead with Jeddah, as he has back problems. He's used to be wary if we "met" another dog on our walks, if he'd be able to physically handle her. Well, he's actually to a stage where he can now walk Jeddah on his own, and last week met two SWF who were both OFF LEAD. James just put Jeddah into a drop and stay, while SWF's lady owner was galloping across the park, calling her dogs who were determined to rip into the doberman. Fortunately she managed to get them back on lead, while Jeddah behaved perfectly. So that's our latest achievement, particularly as small dogs are her least favourite!!! :p I look forward to reading your future successes with Ellie, it's all upwards and onwards from here!

Oh that's just wonderful news Rachelle. Isn't Ellie a good girl. You will look back on each stage on Ellie's development with absolute amazement. As you reach each new goal, you just go "wow", couldn't have done that 6, 8, 10 months ago!!! Never lose sight of where you have come from, and enjoy those little emotional moments when you see your girl accept just one more dog. We've just celebrated two years of Jeddah being in our family. We drove to Sydney July last year to see Steve, after having met with him in Brisbane. She is an entirely different dog to the girl who we adopted. Thanks to Steve and our continuing work with Jane Harper here in Queensland, we now have a happy, more relaxed dobe. If you'd asked me if that was at all possible two years ago, I would never have believed it. Would that be a photo of superdog Kane with your Ellie? Poor Kane, Dad brings all these crazy, fearful, aggressive dogs home and expects him to be the perfect doggy host.......which he is!

Yep, I thought so too! mrsgrumblebum, I'd check with your vet re the possible health issues. Will at least put your mind at ease. On the other hand, you don't know if your neighbours may be using baits, and I can be pretty sure snails wouldn't be too familiar with fencelines.

Here we go, you need to "purge" your snail before consumption!! Snail Purging

Snails can cause major problems for humans, so I wonder if dogs would be subject to similar problems?? Just googled and came across this...Eating Snails

Rom, have pm'd you. Julie