Perry's Mum

Just had a cancellation because someone has to work so we still have one spot vacant if anyone wants to come.

K9 force is fantastic - he did a great job with Perry - we came up from Canberra too.

I am sure there are herding classes in Sydney where you could take him. I know there are classes at Erskine Park and I think also at Richmond. It would be a lot closer to home as well. Robert Cox also runs schools at Camden and he will teach any breed.

sorry, the teacher does not feel confident about teaching shepherds because they work differently and he wants to keep the school to traditional herding dogs he is familiar with.

I will ask Brad and get back to you. It will probably be tomorrow.

We have just two places left if anyone else wants to come PM me now.

The next Koolie Club Sheepdog School will be on 2/3 February at Binalong, near Yass. The school will be held on a very large working property with thousands of fresh sheep, lots of different size yards, large woolsheds to work in if it is very hot or raining (we should be so lucky). The teacher will be Brad Pellow who manages the property and is a successful trialler. While preference is given to Koolies, other working breeds such as kelpies, border collies, etc. are welcome. Beginners are welcome. Cost will be $130 for the weekend or $120 for Koolie Club Members (you an join the Koolie Club even if you don't have a Koolie). PM me for details and a booking form.

She gets a very long walk with a neighbour up and over a steep hill and back around the base (3 hours) a couple of times a week, she comes out with me when it is not too hot when I am going around town to see clients, herding is generally at least one full weekend a month, sometimes two. She plays with the children next door. I think she gets more mental and physical stimulation than most dogs I know. Her joints were checked by the vet at her recent check up and she seems fine. She was pretty happy today because we had a lot of visitors and they all played ball with her for a while and then one of her favourite people came for dinner. I live alone and don't have any family here so it is important that Perry will bond with others enough for them to come and look after her and exercise her if I need to go away for a few days. Perry is a very fit dog but she does have a double coat and is not too keen on hot weather and it was over 31 today.

Perry really knows how to turn on those big brown eyes and waggle her ears in a way I find very hard to resist. We are going outside to play ball now that it has cooled off a bit. It has been surprisingly hot here today - roll on winter.

Thank you all for your help and advice - I will keep on taking her to sheepdog school as often as I can but they are not available every weekend here. In another few weeks I will be taking 3 months off and hopefully that will give us time to do lots of things together and to see if we can arrange some private sheepdog classes. At the very least we can get up at the crack of dawn each morning before it gets too hot and go down to the club to play ball.

The only toy of interest to Perrry is a ball which can be thrown - everything else I have tried including kongs are just ignored. This morning I saw her doing the same thing with Erica the cleaning lady. A bit later when we went out to the garden for a cup of coffee and she was putting the ball down and snatching it back I just said I would not play with someone who cheated and then she changed her mind and left it to be thrown and we played for 30 minutes before I had to come back and do some work (which of course I am not doing because I am sitting here writing this). Perhaps she did just want to play a new game or perhaps now she is getting what she and I both regard as the normal amount of attention she is happier.

No I have always thought that she had been grabbed and beaten in the past so I have been careful not to make a grab for her - she will always come when called unless there is something more enticing in the shape of a small boy - her absolute favourite thing. I will see how we go tomorrow.

OK we are back from the dog club where, as usual there were no problems - she was ecstatically happy to be there and kept bringing the ball back to me to throw - we left before she had had enough. Tomorrow we will try the garden.

I was not offended - I have seen the way some people treat their dogs. I am sure she still has some fear issues even after living with me for over 3 years. Thank you for the ideas, I will give it a go. Generally she has not been frightened of loud noises and it is only in really bad thunderstorms she comes to me with a look of "don't be frightened, I am here to look after you" on her face. Cheese or possibly salmon are really the only high value food items that would tempt her and she is not as interested in cheese as she was in the past. Chicken and steak are just what she likes to have for dinner every day. She is my only dog and is a bit spoilt as far as food goes. I am going to take her out to the dog club to play for a couple of hours now and we will see how we go.

Because Perry was very abused by her previous owner she has always cringed away from raised hands although she has never been hit by me and in fact gets lots of praise. She is not a dog who seeks cuddles from me although she will look for them from other people. I only ever get a cuddle at sheepdog school or if she comes to look after me during a thunderstorm. She sleeps in her own bed in another room. She is not strongly food motivated but previously if I called her she would come for a bit of cheese, but not any more. Perhaps she has decided that Brie is no longer her favourite. I am not aware of having stepped on her and she would let me know if I had. She has been kicked so often in the past that she keeps out of the way of feet. I will experiment with different ways of offering treats and see how we go.

I have been working longer hours which will come to a stop soon. The neighbours over the road (whom she adored) moved and she has decided she is not too keen on the new people. I am hoping that if I am home more we can get back to where we were and go back to the dog club more frequently.

Entirely possible but I am not sure what to do about it.

She does not get on furniture or my bed, I always go through doorways first, she always sits before she gets food, etc., but I will go through the NILIF stuff again and see if there is anything I am missing. I have been available to play today but when she does not want to or introduces the here is the ball, no you cannot have it because I am snatching it back, I have just been saying "OK if you don't want to play I am going inside" and then trying again an hour later. I have another ball the same so i will try the two ball twist tomorrow and report back. Thanks for your advice.

If she is starting to see her status as higher than mine, what would be an effective way to get back on top again? If she wants to play keep off chasey, how do I find out the rules and work out whether I am fit enough to play? No Perry has not been scolded and certainly not smacked. She works well at sheepdog school and has not had any problems with the sheep except for getting a bit frustrated with some when we worked in a bigger paddock than she is used to. She gets lots of praise for her sheep work because she came from a working background where she was abused and about to be shot. I really want us to get past this because I may have to go into hospital for a couple of weeks and we have never been parted that long. I will try and get someone to move in to look after her at home but if that is not possible I may need to send her on holiday to some friends with a sheep property.

I don't think there is anything physically wrong with her because she is happy enough to play at the dog club and it is not that long since she had her annual check up. The ball is her ball not mine - I own the dog club ball she owns the garden ball - I have wondered whether she is challenging to be the leader and if her behaviour was consistent I would interpret it that way but she seems to pick and choose her time and it is only in the garden that she seems to want to bark at me. Before this she was very happy if I went to the garden with her and threw the ball for her and she would come back and put it on the chair next to me. Now she puts it on the chair and if I make a move for it she snatches it first and puts it on the ground out of my reach or holds it in her mouth and barks.

I really need advice - I think my dog has the shits with me but I don't know what I have done. Perry is a 4 1/2 years old dexed female Koolie and is an only dog and an inside dog. She is healthy and there does not appear to be anything physically wrong with her. She has two great passions in her life - sheep dog school and playing with the ball. We go to sheepdog school as often as we can and she loves it. We play with the ball on a daily basis either in the garden or at the dog club. In the last few weeks she has been reluctant to play ball in the garden - she stands with it in her mouth and barks at me or deliberately moves it out of my reach. When we go to the dog club she is perfectly happy. It may be as simple as her wanting to go to the dog club more often and our visits have been a bit few and far between recently because of work, weather and other things happening at the dog club. Inside the house she always used to be close enough to keep an eye on me but right at the moment she is down the other end of the house hiding under the table with her backside towards me. I am not allowed many pats or cuddles and she won't take treats from me although she will happily eat them if I leave them in her bowl. There are only the two of us here and she is making even more of a fuss over visitors than she used to. All suggestions gratefully received - I could not cope with a moody partner and I don't want to have to live with a moody dog.

I pay $35 for Perry to be hydrobathed, blown dry and coat brushed, ears cleaned, nails trimmed if necessary, etc. Considering how much she hates it and how much fuss she makes, it is a bargain at that price.

My first dog - a beautiful old BCX Amber was diagnosed with advanced lymphoma. The vet said that they could probably cure it once but the treatment would not be pleasant for her and after 12 months it would return and could not be treated again. Amber was a rescue and I had not had her long but she had had a lot of health problems and her immune system was not good. I took her to an holistic vet who was fantastic and until her last week about 2 months after the initial diagnosis she was fine and, I think, painfree. She went down hill very suddenly and I had to make that horrible decision - I do miss her. I think if it had been caught earlier and she had been in better overall health she might have got through it or at least survived for longer with the holistic treatment. good luck.

Perry gets an annual check up when she gets her vaccinations - generally takes about 30 minutes. I would be looking for another vet.

Thanks Leigh, I will pass it on.