Sheilaheel02

I was given this book as a gift and loved the story. S

Hi Blue7, Unfortunately, we've been overwhelmed lately so we are behind with responding to all of our subscription enquiries, so apologies if you haven't heard from us yet. If you'd like to PM or email me with what you are looking for specifically I can probably recommend a couple of suitable candidates. I can also probably recommend a registered breeder in your area too if you like. I know of a couple in Vic who I would consider a dog from..........though with all the dogs I see in rescue I have an endless stream of suitable dog sport candidates to choose from anyway. I have a nice little blue dog here ATM but he is still in quarantine, so he hasn't met the other dogs yet, only my horse, who is mildly amused by his play bow antics. He has classic markings but is slightly leaner and leggier than a std ACD so may be an ACD x ASTCD. Had very little training, but is keen to please and learns quickly. I also have a red boy here but he is a canine einstein and needs a job! We have quite a few others who would make nice pets but will wait till you tell me more about your criteria. Sharon

Growing up all of our dogs were basically FTGH. The first dog I seriously competed with was purchased from the markets and I picked her because she cheekily bit my finger - neither sound reasons for choosing a pup obviously, but she turned out to be the best dog I've ever owned or am likely to ever own (Sheila RIP). I'm a long way off getting another dog, but then I don't usually get to choose, they tend to choose me. While a couple of dogs being exhibited at Canberra Royal really did appeal, I do lean towards the dogs from working lines like my Mick. Still, it will probably end up being one of my foster dogs that just won't fit in anywhere else (I tend to be drawn to the high drive ones with heaps of attitude), like my adorable Trevor. He's the little dog no-one wanted that I was lucky enough to get a second chance to enjoy. There have been a couple of notable fosters that I may well forever regret rehoming, even though their new homes are fantastic, ones I will always wistfully wonder 'what if?'. I still pine for Frosty who I had for over a year, but her owner/handler keeps in touch and is smitten with her just as I was. Another 'bouncer' I have here at the moment, big Diesel, also has stolen my heart damn it..... Anyway, my main focus for a while will be a young rescue horse who is about to embark on his ridden career. I can't say that being a DOLer has influenced me heavily one way or another to be honest. My views were mainly formed from my own belief system, activities and experiences, along with some outside influences. I guess we get to see a lot of different persepectives being heavily involved in rescue too. Much of our time is devoted to saving dogs from death row, but we also assist with private rehomings. There is a lot of intelligence inadvertently gathered during this process about which registered breeders are professional and ethical and those who aren't. S

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss Leibhund S

Yes, Donna I don't doubt that is also a factor. We are having that impact on numerous species of wildlife all over the country. Around here though they find a way to justify rounding up the Kangaroos and culling them while simultaneously having legislation to protect poisonous snakes................. S

I was telling someone the other day that I used to ride two horses nearly every day, year round, when I was growing up and I had two encounters with snakes in all that time. Now I don't get to ride nearly that often unfortunately, but I see them regularly when I'm riding out. I won't even ride in the long grass. I had rarely heard of anyone losing a horse to snakebite either, but I lost one of mine a few weeks back and have heard of many other recent cases Snakes coming around the house and biting me or my dogs is also a major concern. I just think there are more of them and they are breeding up now that they are protected. S

Go the Cattle Dogs S

I have had issues with local dogs roaming where I live. I've spent a fortune upgrading fencing and electrifying fencing to keep other people's animals out as well as mine in. I have tried to talk to the owners in a civil manner, but it proved pointless. I reported the offending dogs and did a letter box drop putting everyone on notice. The dogs continued to come onto my property and harass my horses, in front of me and in front of the neighbour, yet he just stood back and heckled me while I tried to get the dogs away. I made several complaints to the local police and eventually had a visit from the Stock Squad. The officer who came out took a statement, offered me a neck rub (WTF?) and left again after reminding me that the offending neighbour could bait my dogs as he had threatened and there would be no proof so to think carefully about making a further complaint! I was livid. Eventually, we got a new local cop who did listen and went and gave the neighbour a formal warning and told him if it happened again he would fine him on the spot. One offending dog was rehomed and the other eventually shot (not by me). They now have two more pig dogs but one consolation is that when they are not at home the dogs are kept in a dog run. One of the other rednecks that lives out here has encouraged his dogs to chase me while I was on my horse riding up the road Same bloke who's pigdogs pulled down and ripped up their own horse. Stupid is as stupid does.....it's just not their dogs they are ignorant about, they have little consideration for anyone else and conduct themselves accordingly, so I can't for the life of me imagine them sitting down and watching a video on responsible dog ownership in the name of self-education. So, yes, it is the owners who are to blame and they should be punished. These people are repeat offenders who never seem to learn a thing. They also think it's a very manly thing to do to try to intimidate and bully a woman because she is single - picked the WRONG woman fellas Of course, if one of my neighbours dogs, for whatever reason gets out and just happens to wander on to my place, I either call them up to collect it or drop it home myself. However, after having very little success following the normal legal processes, if there is a dog on my property chasing/attacking one of my horses and I am here to see it I will shoot it on the spot. If it were my own foster dogs chasing/attacking the horses and they wouldn't stop I'd shoot them too, though every precaution is taken to ensure that never happens. It's not something that I would find easy to do, but I'd definitely do it. My horses are not 'just livestock' whose lives can be compensated for in monetary terms, they are my pets and part of my family. I feel strongly that part of being a responsible animal owner is not only to ensure that my animals don't unneccessarily inconvenience others, but to protect my own animals from harm wherever possible. RIP little ponies, you were also treasured pets and had every right to be safe on your own property. My sincere sympathies to the owners. I've lost a horse recently too and I am still devastated. S

Gal bucket filled and put inside a plastic milk crate. Milk crate clipped or wired to side of dog run (or similar solid object). Much more stable and difficult to tip over. Also easy to clean bucket and refill by lifting out. I use these for the rescue dogs in their runs because ACD's can be water babies too. S

Yep, exactly. These braniacs learn new stuff SO quickly, you really have to be sure you are teaching the right thing the first time, but don't insult them by asking them to repeat and exercise they already know over and over again! Or, maybe that's just my failing as a trainer that I can't make it interesting enough I could never train Sheila and Trevor as often as some of my friends trained their other breeds. Not for Obedience anyway. I could get the consistency in Agility with Sheila, but Obedience performances could be quite sporadic. I recall being in an Open class where I signalled, left the start peg and did quite a bit of the normal pace heel pattern before I realised I didn't have a dog at heel. The judge stopped me and I turned to see my lovely red dog just sitting a few metres past the start post with a smug look on her face. Sort of " Yeah, yeah, you are going to walk up there, turn, go up there and yeah, yeah, I know, I'll just sit here and wait until you come back". The judge was very polite and sympathetic and suggested I might like to start training her for UD or even try Agility :D Of course she had her UD title and had been successfully competing in Agility for years, but all I wanted to do at that moment was to find a rock and crawl under it. I had another judge tell me that Sheila didn't understand the UD exercises and apologise to me the next week when she passed and got her title. Trev used to make up his own games in UD. Judges would sometimes find them very amusing, sometimes not so much. At the Canberra Royal one year, Trev did a lovely seek back came in like a rocket and sort of flung his head back and spat the article so hard it hit me in the stomach and fell back to the ground. The judge waited for a while in case he might pick it up again, which he did and promptly fired it straight back at my hands clasped at my waist. Who knows, maybe he was going for extra points for technical difficulty and expected me to catch it! Another time we had two judges debating over how to mark a directed retrieve where the glove flapped in his face in the wind, so he threw it up high in the air and leapt up and caught it perfectly again and delivered it to hand. He's also despatched an errant magpie in the middle of a seek back when the maggie thought the Judge must have dropped a piece of cake they had at morning tea. Magpie went for the spot his article was, so Trev chased it off the track and out of the ring and barked until it flew away..........then went back and got his article. Trevor has also lifted me off the ground on more than one occasion when he's come in to front after the directed jumping. At one trial he came in like a rocket and poked me with his nose and I let out an audible gasp, the Judge and I got the giggles so bad we could hardly continue :D Wicked, wicked, wonderful dogs Not the breed for anyone who is easily embarrassed, that's for sure. Ahhh, I could recount trialling adventures with ACD's for ages, but I won't keep boring everyone else senseless. I must say though that typing this brought a smile to my face and reminded me just how much I do enjoy training them. Might just be the inspiration I need to get my act together for the 2010 trialling season. S

When Sheila was competing, the rules were you had to have a tracking titles to get an OC. My friend and I started training for tracking twice. I think the first training session we went to in Sydney, she lost the keys to the car and would you believe it, none of the tracking dogs attending that day could find those damned keys! We ended up having to get the car towed out of the property with the dogs riding in the back (which had a separate key) and vowing we would stick to Agility and Obedience instead. Sheila was an amazing dog. She could turn in a 190+ in obedience one week and tell me to get stuffed the next. It was in Agility she excelled. Miss Reliable had over 100 Agility passes which was a lot back in the day, she was NSW ADOY one year and the first dog of any breed to achieve an Agility Dog Master in Australia. She even did flyball for a while in the early days of the sport. I miss her by my side every day. Trev pretty much loved any kind of work. I swear he would get extra points for entertainment value :D He has personality in spades. Agility was our thing too. 'Trev the Rev' or 'Feral Errol' loved it. He was trained to do flyball, but never competed officially. We were considering a return to obedience after a lengthy break, but he ruptured his cruciate chasing Mick, who was chasing a bird across the house paddock - sigh! He's doing really well on the leg, but he is pretty much retired now. Due to a lifestyle change, my rescue efforts and the addition of horses to the family, poor Mick isn't trained and trialled as much as he should be :D He shows a a lot more promise in Agility than Obedience though - he's a bit of an adrenaline junkie and has a need for speed. In fact, if we could do the entire heel pattern in fast pace, we might have more luck! ;) Yep, Cattle Dogs are quite addictive really S

Hi luvsablue, Saw on another thread that your blue girl has her OC and her UDX. Congratulations, she is indeed a true ambassador for the breed and I'm very impressed. S

Hey luvsablue, I LOVE my ACD's and Stumpies and I love to train them, yes they can be challenging but I agree that the rewards are worth it. I wouldn't be without my guys, lovable lunatics that they are. Don't mind me, I've just been involved in rescue for waaaay too long I know Mr and Mrs Wrong get our breed all the time..........and then they dump them - sigh. That said, a performance or working home for a Cattle Dog is our dream adoption enquiry. Cheers Shaz

I run Cattle Dogs in Dog Sports luvsablue, but I know they are not the dog for everyone. Cheers Sharon

RL01, By bad weather I mean extreme heat or cold. The canopy has tinted windows which can be opened but it can get quite hot in there in the middle of summer even when the truck is moving. Whether the dogs are in the crate in the back of the canopy, or in the canopy with a harnass, or in the canopy loose, there is definitely a chance of injury if I'm involved in a major accident. Even if they are in the canopy in a secured crate there is still risk of injury. Most of the cheaper crates, unless it is a C-crate or similar would probably bend or bust open under the force of a big dog being thown around. Still, I'd rather have them confined inside the car or canopy than riding on the back of an open tray. A friends dog who's behaves like an idiot on the back of their ute pulled so hard on his restraint it snapped and he toppled over the edge and on to the Monaro highway. He was badly injured but it was just sheer luck that a semi didn't mow him down as they fly along that road and don't stop for anything - not for Roos or Lifestock, so they wouldn't (or more likely couldn't) brake or swerve in time to miss a dog. Pfft, whatever, consider me a Grey Nomad if you want, positive reinforcement for my 'image' isn't high on my priority list any more. My dogs think I rock and that's what counts S

I have a Gunmetal Grey Hilux 4WD Diesel with a canopy on the back and my dogs travel in a big crate inside that (unless weather is really bad and then they get on the back seat in the cabin with me). Underneath the crate, which fits perfectly sideways, there is rubber matting on top of the ute liner so the crate doesn't slide anywhere. Easy to clean when rescues have been transported in it and easy to remove if I'm doing a horse activity and need to put other stuff in there. Maybe not sexy or cool, but definitely practical and safe. Now, I'm just wondering if anyone knows how I can remove the GPS to mount a dash fan easily and where I might get some suitable curtains and orthopedic seat cover? Preferably, at a place that gives pensioner discounts. Then I'm going to take off the big silver bull bar and cover the driving lights in matching crocheted covers. If I sell all my 80's hair band hard rock CD's I might just be able to raise enough money to complete the Nanna image conversion. Good luck RL01, I hope you are able to find a resolution to your dogs behaviour or at least a happy compromise. S

Holy Cr*pfest!!!! I've only just found this thread. This woman rang me within literally 10 minutes of Ted E Bear's listing going on PetRescue. Painted a very nice picture of how wonderful they all were and that they had been approved for another rescue dog. I thought Ted as an older dog might suit their family. I had tested him extensively with my cat and he had passed with flying colours, but hadn't yet found any chooks or GP's etc to test him with. I sent her a txt with a report about his cat test but said I hadn't been able to test him further with the other critters. Didn't hear anything back. I don't recall her ever telling me about her disability, so who knows if that is true or not. What a pathetic parasite of a woman. I'd like to give her an uppercut free to a good home....delivered with a smile. S

Hi Gayle K, It's not the teaching the dog to speak on command that's hard, it's teaching the enthusiastic ones to stay rock solid while they do it in the three positions and from a distance Also, UD can a very stressful class and keeping the dogs focus and convidence up can be a challenge. If worried, some dogs will not speak at all and others will move their mouth but hardly any audible sound will come out. The trial ring and handlers nerves can do funny things to a dogs performance. A lot of people will choose the Directed Retrieve over the SOC as they feel there is less opportunity to lose points. Sharon

The other exercise that I think is a bit pointless is the speak on command option in UD. I have never seen some one do it and when food refusal or directed retrieve are soo much easier to train for I don't see the point of offering it. Sure it's fun to train but I would never use it in competition as it's too easy for the dog to move forward or bark twice. I don't mind that they offer it but I think it's a bit pointless seeing as very few triallers use it! I've used the speak on command in UD with one dog and the directed retrieve with the other. I felt they were much more positive exercises than the food refusal. Sheila did such a loud 'speak' people used to turn and look. Both dogs had a speak on Command before I competed at this level anyway which was taught as a fun trick. Food refusal is a tough exercise for an ACD My youngest dog can also speak on command but I can't see us ever getting to UD at the rate we are going. I was thinking about whether or not to train for OC or UDX with Trev, but him blowing his cruciate means he is now retired. I give full credit to those who have done years of UD and can then go on to be successful in UDX. It's a LOT of work and IMHO not necessarily a logical progression with the exercises the way they are. I would probably introduce decoys and alternative scent work earlier in the dogs training if I was going to aim for that level again. The only other thing I can think of is I'd like to see a 'wait' or 'stay' command as optional for the return to the dog after the recall in CCD. Sharon

Hi Kavik, Sorry to hear that Diesel has health issues. I hope you are able to identify the cause and sort it out. My Dad had a lovely Staffy bitch who had skin allergies and when she was affected it certainly made her miserable the poor girl. I don't know about dogs but any antihistamine drugs make me so vague and sleepy. There are some lovely Kelpies in rescue at the moment, if you did decide to go that way, but totally understand if you wanted to stick to a registered breeder. I did catch myself drooling over a chocolate one somewhere and the blue one in Blacktown pound though. In the interim, I would be happy to 'loan' you a couple of my rescues to train (that is if you could see yourself with a cattle dog). I have the opposite problem and could use some help. All of my foster dogs want to do stuff with me and there isn't enough 'me' to go around. I can think of a couple of stand-out training prospects off the top of my head. Frosty would probably be top of the list. I have resisted doing too much training with her as I am already way too attached to her and it will be hard to rehome her as it is. She is toy, food and people focussed and incredibly athletic. You could train her for flyball in a heartbeat, obedience or agility. A couple of others are in Sydney too. So, if you want to borrow a dog to train, just let me know Shaz

Oh Stefie, Poor May I hope she recovers. Will PM you. Shaz

Congrats Barb and Kirra, Still battling on up here with feral MickBeast - sigh! Shaz

Sounds like we might have had a lucky break for a change settrlvr. I had been told it would be likely Charlie would need repeat treatments, but so far, he is snot free. Apparently, it is more prevalent in the humid areas like Sydney or the coast, but it's pretty dry and cold in Michelago Fingers crossed he doesn't have a relapse. Fingers double crossed that it works for your Bully Raffikki. cavNrott, sorry to hear your dog has cancer Obviously, the Tramal is working well for her. If it worked for Sheila I would have continued it, but it really affected her, so we looked at other alternatives for pain relief to deal with her arthritis. Shaz

Hi Raffikki, It sounds like your dog may have Aspergillus (sp?). I have a older foster dog who came from Sydney at home that came with suspected Aspergillus. Basically, he snuffled all the time and had thick green snot flying out of his nose. As the tests, which I am sure were blood tests as opposed to CT, were quite expensive and they had to knock him out to have a look anyway, the vet treated him by flushing his nose with clotrimizole (sp?). It seems to have worked as we have not had a recurrence and it's been nearly four weeks. Charlie didn't have any holes drilled or anything like that, they just blocked off his airways and did the flush. Not sure if that is what your dog has, but thought I would describe my experience anyway. Charlie didn't require Tramal or any other pain med. Personally, I'm not a fan of Tramal. I used it for a while for my elderly cattle bitch who had kidney issues. Basically, she was like she was stoned all the time, her appetite (which was normally very good) waned and she was constipated after being on the drug only a short while. If I can offer any other annecdotes then pls PM me. Sharon

Unfortunately, with all my other commitments, I'm still a long way off with my title goals on my current dogs. Poor Mick is a long way behind his predecessors. Sharon