ness

What about seeking out a dental vet specialist if your concerned? Dr Christine Hawke was really helpful when I spoke with her to discuss a dental issue. While she is located in Sydney she may be able to recommend somebody in Victoria for you. http://www.sydneypet...out-us-2/staff/ Not sure about this but you could try here: http://www.hallamvet.com.au/Staff.aspx

Tassie you can technically remove the sides of the control box and just have the flat board :laugh:.

Have just seen LOL - think mine might be in need of some modifications .

Lira thinks REA is pretty cool - especially with her new box .

westiemum I have a real terror you still haven't met her :).

I have a now 5 month old BC baby who I came home at 8 weeks. She had 2 days of me at home over a weekend and then as of the Monday I was back to work. I had somebody call in on that first full day to walk her but aside from that she is home in her pen. I work an 8 hour day (usually gone from about 7:30 till 4:30 including travel) and she spends her days in a pen while I am not home. She gets a run/training session before I leave in the morning and is then left with a stuffed kong and some sort of chew in her pen plus a small selection of toys. When I am home she isn't in her pen however she is also crated overnight. She gets another walk and some training in the evening. Some nights its club training other nights its a trip to the local shops where we do a little bit of training outside. So long as they seem happy and well adjusted I wouldn't have any problem with it. My girl seems to cope with it super well and she certainly isn't a low drive BC. She races into her pen in the morning when I ask her to go in and while keen to see me when I get home isn't all over me either. Where I can I occasionally arrange for somebody to stop by and walk her or have a play with her around lunch time but if that doesn't happen she doesn't seem to worried. I have another BC so I am not prepared to leave the youngster to free run when I am not around to supervise the interactions. Mostly a worry for joints and them playing all day. I should add we normally we only go out for half an hour in the morning but she is loose/free for about an hour and a half max depending what time we all wake up. Again in the evening the amount of walking etc we do is half an hour to 45 min max of free running with about 5 min of leash walking. The rest of the time she is free at home to play outside/inside or whatever.

A good article on Steve's website if you haven't already seen it - http://www.k9protraining.com.au/house-training-your-dog/

I did the same with my now nearly 5 month old BC baby. She was vaccinated before she came, then at 10.5 weeks and then again at 16 weeks. However she was out and about from the day she arrived. Initially more safe locations - friends houses with fully vaccinated dogs, she went sheep herding on a private property at just over 10 weeks, we started out with some very secluded beaches where there were no other dogs but she was out and about and on the ground from the day she arrived at 8 weeks. I was obviously more careful until she was 10 weeks (then the 2 weeks after that) but from that time she was allowed to walk whenever we were out. I avoided areas which might be considered higher risk parvo areas and did check with the vets about reported cases around the area.

No I was hunting for the new coats and couldn't find them locally . I do need one for Kenz to walk in the rain. Lira has to wait until she grows into one first :laugh:.

LOL yes I want a Torrent coat for mine .

There was a good youtube video put together about how to teach that trick. Can't remember where I saw it though.

Willowlane - from a new puppy perspective the information you are likely to receive is very comprehensive and pretty easy to follow as well. I am sure the information he provides to assist with Maple will be equally as comprehensive. I wouldn't worry to much about value for money over attending weekly lessons somewhere. Normal weekly puppy classes would definitely not provide the same level of detail.

I also used Steve and did quite a bit of training with my nervy girl Kenz and have recently been in touch for some advice with my new girl Lira. Highly recommend him. I thought I knew how to train a dog and then I got Kenz and with his help we took her so much further then I could have imagined. She was bought to be my next obedience dog and she was so shy she would spook over strangers on a daily basis. With his help I was able to get her through that fear and she can even manage a half decent high scoring obedience round, working at a trial with lots of strangers and with a stranger putting us through the ring. I am in SA and after reading all the stories on here about how good he was and having had a bit of correspondence with him I organised a seminar in Adelaide many years ago now and we never looked back.

Could try contacting Primal Paws - http://www.primalpaws.com/ She might be able to help put together a conditioning program so that you strengthen the injured part and make sure the dog doesn't reinjure it.

Hugs westiemum. I don't envy having to make the decision I am very grateful that Ness opted to go of her own accord when she thought it was right. I had this very discussion with my friend the night before she passed away. Thoughts are with you. I am sure you will do what is best for Mac. He is a very lucky dog to have found his way to you.

Nice work Superminty and Ptolomy. My brag isn't really much in comparison to those but my newest baby BC Lira who is 18 weeks tomorrow did her first demonstration at the Adelaide Pet Expo today. Its a tough gig for an adult dog to remain focused and to work but my little baby was a complete superstar. She isn't obviously doing a whole lot yet so it was just a few baby tricks but her focus and attention were awesome. Nothing really worried her at all and she did some super work. Hopefully in a few years time she will have lots of proper brags but for the meantime she is making the most of puppyhood.

The Spotted Devil - not a litter but I am just using a square of fake lawn with a couple of cheap dish draining cloths (hmmm they are super absorbent cloths) and then had a puppy pad underneath but last few days I have stopped with the puppy pad and cloths under the fake turf keeps the floor dry anyway. Not my preferred method for my girl but she is in a pen while I am work and with no real undercover area outside it wasn't fair to leave her exposed. Her pen is always clean when I get home and she only uses her turf.

Kenz did underwater treadmill twice a week for nearly 3 months or thereabouts. The problem we then faced was the clinic were not of the mind to push her harder so it kind of defeated the purpose. I was corresponding with a rehab guru in the US and he said at that stage we had got the benefit we would from the way they were running it. Ideally if she could have continued to be challenged and pushed harder she would have continued to improve still further. If you can get in touch with a good conditioning/rehab facility then its definitely worth doing if the finances allow it. I didn't have insurance for Kenz so it was a little pricey.

I meant to come back and add a little more to this. My BC had a grade 2 MPL diagnosed in her LH and we went ahead with surgery. She was later post surgery diagnosed with a grade 1 MPL in her RH and this subsequently deteriorated to a grade 2 MPL. I haven't gone ahead with surgery for her. We do lots of strength building exercises including sit to stands using various props to challenge her. She improved significantly while doing the underwater treadmill and regained a lot of muscle strength. After a very hellish time with her first surgery and subsequently not recovering especially well I wouldn't be in a rush to do surgery on a grade 1/2 MPL. All surgeries carry risks. I opted for a specialist to carryout the procedure and we still had issues.

Just a tip swimming isn't great exercise for luxating patella issues. Underwater treadmill is much better. Swimming doesn't replicate how they would use the joint on land and doesn't really build muscle in the appropriate areas.

I was looking at the Hurrta Torrent Coats instead. I am sure Lira will get her own Back on Track coat when she has finished growing to.

Found this thread - http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/257845-belgian-shepherds/page__st__30

Completed .

glad you clarified that DC. Been intrigued all day about this post .

LOL thankfully the 55 is probably a little to big for miss Kenz .