JackieW

I went there for years until I moved. I really enjoyed the lower classes there, they're into reward training. The instructors go to seminars (Mary Ray, APDT etc) and the club seems well run and reasonably prosperous. They also run agility and flyball if you're interested in that.

I was a member of Pine Rivers for years until I moved, and can recommend them. Training in puppies and lower classes is with food, clickers are OK. The also have an active flyball group for when your puppy is a bit older. They also do a bit of agility but I think only for dogs in level 3 or above. I also used to go to PADS years ago. They've moved to a fenced field since then (important when you've got a dog that takes itself off for a run ). The only problem I did have there was that the classes seemed to be a bit close together. Suncoast Fundogs in Caboolture is better in that respect. They do a pre-agility course for young puppies, though if they're too young they can't actually go on to beginners agility. As to retrieving, the United Field Trial Association for Gundogs Inc occasionally runs training courses (I've been on 2 over the years). There's also the Field & Retrieving Association for Gundogs. There's a couple of keen trackers in the Labrador Club, and they can also give you info about retrieving. Phone numbers are in the CCCQ mag. There's a frisbee club (canine disc I think they they call it) in Caboolture. I think the website is bark.assn.au. I'm thinking field trials are possibly defunct in Qld now that quail shooting has been banned, but retrieving trials are still being held.

Periau, the closest one to Beachmere would be Pine Rivers www.pineriversdoc.org.au. Suncoast Fundogs www.suncoastfundogs.org.au had a team but I'm not sure whether they're still doing flyball. Actually having said that, there was talk of the Caboolture DOC having flyball as well. Not sure if they have a website.

One of my dogs scratched badly after I used the Fido's shampoo. He's fine with tea tree and oatmeal shampoos and Aloveen. >I'm not home at present (away on a buiness trip), however, OH tells me that the dogs are now scratching like crazy and thinks that this shampoo has irritated their skin. He can't see any fleas (on the dogs or in the house etc). >Has anyone had this type of reaction from this (or any other flea) shampoo and have any advice on what should be done now? >Should he bathe them again in an oatmeal shampoo to soothe their skin or just leave it and hope it settles down?

I had lots of trouble finding a diet for Jamie that didn't give him the trots and ended up on premium dry foods. He wasn't particularly enjoying it and had to be hand-fed in summer and I thought there ought to be something better. Someone put a link to api4animals on one of the dog lists I was on, I read the article on what's really in dog food and decided to switch to raw. Jamie's never looked back. And my younger dog was switched to raw at 9 weeks and is doing well too. As is the cat :D .

Fingers and toes crossed for you! As if you need any more traumas this year...

I've had 3 dogs in my life, 2 of which have had cruciate problems. The first (kelpie x) did hers in sliding on wet grass as a pup. She had the 'normal' op and was fine for the rest of her life, just limped occasionally. The dog I got after she died has recently damaged his leg, running and turning sharply playing chasey with the dog next door. He's 9-1/2, 32 kg. He's going in for the 'normal' op next week. Neither had intermittent limps, my current dog has been limping for weeks since he hurt himself. He was booked in for an op nearly 2 weeks ago but it got postponed.

There's also Mandy at Callicoma - www.callicoma.com.au. She'll make collars and leads to order.

I have 2 medium/large dogs (30 kg and 19 kg) and a cat and it's $25.50 for their food (mince plus chook bits plus brisket bones) per week. But I do buy extra bones for the dogs and Vets All Natural mix for the cat. Plus every now and then I do up a batch of vege pulp so that can work out a bit exy depending on the price of f&v. It lasts for weeks though (I freeze it). I just buy most of my stuff from the same pet food supplier I've been using for years, because I'm too lazy to shop around. It's possible to buy chicken cheaper than I'm paying for it.

I use a juicer, got one at a bargain price in a sale. Still seems to take ages and makes a huge mess but at least I don't have to chop all the f&v as small as I used to. Pity someone doesn't make dried f&v pulp that you can buy by mail and just add water to....

I recently read an article in a UK magazine that said that fleas in Florida have become resistant to spot-on flea treatments. That was one of the arguments in the UK against relaxing the regulations so that certain medications and treatments could be bought elsewhere than on prescription or from the vet. The other thing the article said was that long term use wasn't a good idea because of possible adverse effects on the dog. The trouble is that once you've got fleas, they're so hard to shift that treatment can tend to be long term. I've just moved into a house where the previous dogs had fleas and one of my poor dogs is scratching madly despite Advantage, flea bombs, spraying the carpets... Though I suppose there could also be an environmental allergy at work too....

My old dog got incontinent after a dose of steroids, so if you do want to withdraw them from your dog you have to do it very very slowly (on vet advice) as the steroids shut down something or other in her and it took a while to start working again (sorry, terribly hazy with the terminology, it was quite a while ago). She went on human incontinence medicine (blown up her nose) and came good after that. There are a couple of homoeopathic remedies for incontinence. Do you have an holistic vet near you who uses homoeopathy?

When I boarded mine I took their food with them, packed up in meal sized portions. I bag their wings/necks/frames and put their meat/vege whatever in Chinese containers. So I just told the kennel to divide it up with the bigger portion to the bigger dog which is all I do. I thought it was better to do that than maybe add to their stress with different food, though I expect they'd have eaten it OK. Saves possible tummy upsets though so the kennel ought to be happy with that . They're booked in for a few days next month and I've arranged to do the same thing again.

I've been feeding raw for 6 or 7 years, the older dog was switched over from dry food as an adult and the younger dog was switched when I got her as a pup. They get chicken wings/necks and a brisket bone in the morning and meat/veg/whatever in the evening (the whatever is eggs, yoghurt, supplements or whatever else I'm adding that day). Once or twice a week they have chicken frames. They have nice teeth, don't have doggy breath, nice coats.... I think it's a great way of feeding. And the dogs (and cat) love it too.

The VAN might get a little 'hard' if it's not mixed well before you pour it from the bag, or if it's the stuff left at the bottom of the bag. I had a 5 kg bag of cat VAN that got like that towards the end, but the new bag is ok, much more moist. My dogs get VAN only occasionally now but I used it all the time when switching my older dog to raw from dry food and for a couple of years afterwards. My cat has been having it for years as her main diet with an occasional tin of Snappy Tom or something as a treat. She loves it and will even eat it dry from the packet .

After 4 years of obedience training, it's been difficult training Aja to work on the right at agility. It doesn't feel right to me either and I think I'm confusing her .

I have read that toads don't climb and bird wire (very small squares) 18"-24" high will keep them out. In summer my dogs don't go out at night unless on lead - but of course that doesn't stop them finding the odd toad during the day. They go nuts if they can smell one through the paling fence. If you do stick with eradicating them on your property, over the years you should find less of them. I've found that at my place (I catch and freeze them) and a friend of mine on acreage has said the same. She goes out hunting every night in summer and used to get 20 or more sometimes.

I feed them whole too. I have one large dog and one medium sized and neither has a problem. The smaller dog just takes a bit longer eating them.

I've just been looking around and this is an interesting website - http://www.caberfeidh.com/Revax.htm - Coronavirus This is the classic "vaccine in search of a disease." Except in very young puppies, coronavirus does not seem to cause clinical disease in dogs. They cannot induce disease with it in the laboratory. Many, perhaps most, dogs have coronavirus in their intestine all their lives. (Schultz, "Emerging Issues: Vaccination Strategies for Canine Viral Enteritis," 1995.) According to Texas A&M University's "Vaccine Protocols and Schedule," "(T)here are no studies that show that use of the vaccine reduces morbidity or mortality. (Mansfield 1996.) "The risk has to be said to outweigh the benefit on this one, as there doesn't appear to be any benefit. and 1. "The incidence of canine distemper, canine parvovirus, canine adenovirus, and feline panleukopenia among vaccinated adults (>1 year of age) is virtually zero. The correlation among vaccination, the development of a "positive" antibody response, and protection from exposure to virulent virus is excellent. Furthermore, protection from exposure derived from immunization is sustained for periods as long as 5 or 6 years or more." (Kirk's Current Veterinary Therapy XIII; 2000; "Vaccines and Vaccinations: Issue for the 21st Century", Richard B. Ford and Ronald D. Schultz.) 2. "A practice that was started many years ago and that lacks scientific validity or verification is annual revaccinations. Almost without exception there is no immunologic requirement for annual revaccination. Immunity to viruses persists for years or for the life of the animal." (Kirk's Current Veterinary Therapy XI, "Canine and Feline Vaccines," Phipps, Schultz.)

The C3 that's OK for 3 years should be available pretty soon. Apparently it's the same vaccination, just the packet insert now says it's OK for up to 39 months (so I suppose it's a matter of waiting for vets to get the new stocks). From what I've read the lepto vaccination is only good for 9 months. Where I live we don't have lepto or coronavirus so I'm not interested in a C7. Too much stuff in one injection anyway IMO. The kennel cough component of the C4 doesn't cover against all strains, in fact only a couple out of 14 or something. Newby0005, from what I have read there has NEVER been any scientific basis for annual vaccination, it was just decided on by the manufacturers.

How many people is it antipated will be going to each session? Maybe it could be held at a dog club in Brisbane?

Is it treated with some arsenic compound? Something called CCA anyway - copper chrome arsenate???? They're banning it in playgrounds so it wouldn't be safe around dogs.

http://herbal-treatments.com.au/cancer_support.asp Too late for some of you and your dogs unfortunately, but may be worth a go for others. It's so awful when a bit of a limp turns into something so horrible, when dogs have such short lives anyway. My condolences.

Yes, but it's not necessarily a rigid pack structure, or at least not in my house. My female dog is the boss over my male generally but she'll let him go through doors in front of her. The hierarchy probably depends on what is important to each dog? She doesn't care who goes through the door first but she does care if he objects when she tries to steal his food. And of course, he wouldn't dare to try to steal hers . Re dominance, here's a quote from the seminar. "Impulse control" aggression "This used to be called "dominance" aggression. It is an abnormal, inappropriate, out-of-context aggression that is manifested by dogs towards people when the "resource" is access to control. "This is a widely used term, but, like "hyperactivity" in children, it is often misused to describe any aggressive signals by a dog towards a person or another dog. A better term, when a confrontation about control does occur, is status related aggression or impulse control aggression. Often, however, the dog is merely acting to protect itself, rather than displaying offensive aggression. The underlying problem is anxiety not dominance!"

Ditto to what AATAINC said. It's by Dr Ian Billinghurst. You should be able to buy a copy from his website which may be drianbillinghurst.com. Or try www.callicoma.com as Mandy sells his books.