CAL

Brodie loves obedience classes, but I found this week that she was very distracted -partly because of the wind and partly because we were working right next to the agility ring and she wanted to see what was going on. We got promoted last week, so this week there were new moves to learn and she has taken straight to it. She really does love working, but that is temperament at work. She loves nothing more than getting praise when she gets a move right. Try to keep it upbeat and keep the interest levels high.

The only way I can get Brodie to eat the vegetable mush is mixed in with a tablespoon of mince. I don't feed human grade because it has too many preservatives. I get pet grade beef and roo mix, and freeze it in snaplock bags for easy freezing and thawing. She gets plenty of chicken carcasses - I like the ones at Lennards at Rhodes because they leave a lot of the innards in there and a little meat on the bone, a lean bone every day and a dinosaur bone sawn down the radial axis once a week (actually one half every week). Most of her meat comes in the form of lamb shanks, ox tails and lamb necks, and offal once a week. She went in for her 12 month booster on the weekend and the vet commented that she was the healthiest dog he had seen in a long time, in top condition.

I agree with Mel... Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo A golden has a double layered coat. A coarse other layer that sheds rain and such, and a finer under coat that protects them from the extremes of cold, particularly in freezing Scottish rivers doing what they love most. If you clip the coat it never grows back right, so I would recommend lightly stripping the coat weekly to remove loose fur, and treating with a tick control spot on treatment or tablet. Consult your vet which one would be best for your area.

Brodie honestly costs between $10-15 per week to feed. She is a Golden Retriever. She gets fed BARF, and the most expensive part of her diet is the egg she gets with her breakfast. She gets the healthier of our table scraps, which is pretty healthy anyway, but I don't give her a lot of rice or other carbs, just a little each week. She also gets pet grade mince, offal (which is dirt cheap), chicken necks and wings, chicken carcasses and fruit and veges that have been put through the juicer and bulk bones. The fruit / vege pulp makes up about 15% of her intake; meat about 10%; offal; about 10% and the rest is bones and chicken carcasses. She enjoys the carcasses the best and gets them twice or three times a week, especially since I swapped to getting them from Lennards at Rhodes. They leave on a lot of the skin, and a bit of meat. They also don't clean them out, so quite often there will be bits of guts and offal inside the carcass. The butcher I go to cuts the dinosaur bones along the axis so the marrow is easier to get to (she is a dainty little princess) and she really digs into them (she gets one half per week). The rest of the bones are briskett bones and chop bones. I bought her food for the fortnight on the weekend and it came to $7 for bones, $2 for chicken carcases (2 bags, 5 to a bag) and $7 for meat and offal. Add in a dozen eggs and that is about $20 for the fortnight. The veges don't cost us much, because it is mostly the stuff we bought fresh for the week and haven't eaten yet (no more than a week old). If it is ground fine enough she eats it all up.

Sounds familiar... I only get Brodie's bones from the butcher unless they have specials on the day. She is a Golden, so a whole lamb neck isn't much of a challenge. If she's eating like a princess she will finish it off in about 15 minutes. I have also given her the rosettes, sometimes labelled as Osso Bucco (sp?) in woolies, and cheap to buy. They are cut into 1.5 cm slices.

You really DO need to be on commission, or maybe employed as his booking secretary Roll along July, can't wait!

Thanks for the URL's ML. I discussed it with the vet when I went for 'chipping last night and decided against it until there is more empirical evidence available.

I just got off the phoen to the vet and he has recommended an annual heartworm preventative. Does anyone have any experience with this, and should I then avoid all-wormers such as sentinel that have heartworm prevention in them?

Lamb bones, brisket bones, chicken wings and necks and plenty of chew toys, including a Dental Kong. Brodie destroyed one chew toy in less than 24 hours, so I hope that doesn't keep up.

Brodie already has a lovely coat, so no...

What are you using to mark the reward? A clicker or just voice. Clickers are much more accurate, and your dogs may be confused about what they are being rewarded for. Get a book on clicker training or attend a class or seminar.

I was out today picking up a few odds and ends and was tried to sell Science Diet as the only thing I have to feed because it is so nutritionally perfect. Is this true? I have the breeders diet and will be sticking to that, but is science diet all it is claimed to be?

What makes it different to the killing of any other animal for sustinence. The only difference is that roo's and emu's have better press agents. Why accept the killing of cows, calves, deer, pigs, sheep and cute little lambs; but not roos and emu's. Farmed emu is much more humanely treated than culled roo.

can't get that image out of my head now poodlefan ;) :D :D Emu and roo meat is on the rich side, but is packed with protein and has very little fat. It can also contain worms, so make sure they are up to date on worming treatments. Have you tried it yourself? It has quite a gamey flavour, and roo tastes like steak and kidney pie to me!!!

Do what you feel comfortable with, and if you don't like it then find another trainer. I'm personally not in favour of them, but I have chosen a gentle, intelligent, easily trained breed.