Erny

Thanks for this ..... but I wasn't able to burn the videos to disc so I could take them to the Nursing Home. Probably me - I'm not exactly smart when it comes to the 'finer' side of computer management. Mind you, I'm not exactly smart when it comes to ANYTHING computer, :laugh:

Thank you all. I'm planning on putting together/collecting a few of these - for variety sake. I know the lady at the Nursing home who mentioned how much she loved watching the herding dogs work, would not be the only one there who'd enjoy watching. A bit of a selection adds that extra interest and option :D. Cheers Judi

Thank you - that's a help. Very little time here to go searching, so your direction where I can get to these things quickly assists a lot :)

Tamara - sometimes it can help if you're able to freeze what you need to add into the food. Provided freezing doesn't break down the goodness that you want from the supplement, it can help in reducing the scent it gives off. The other option is to put the supplement (eg powder) into a horse syringe, mix in a bit of warm water, give it a shake up and syringe it to him. You do need to be careful to not syringe it in too quickly and to syringe it at the right angle so that he doesn't aspirate, but I've done this a lot with my boy. Over time he's actually become used to the supplements I include as part of his 'treatment' regime and I can now add it to his usual meal without any problems. If you set it up right, your boy might actually come to enjoy the syringe method. I just tell my boy "in your corner" and he willingly assumes the position in the spot in our kitchen where I do this. He might not (initially) like the taste of what I'm administering, but he knows good stuff follows.

As per the title, I'm after a DVD showing dogs herding sheep. This can be about or a collation of competition herding (where the sheep need to move through gates etc, being pushed by the dog). I don't need it for education/documentary purposes as such. It is actually for an elderly lady who lives at a Nursing Home - she mentioned to me she loves watching this activity so I told her I'd see whether I could drum up a DVD. Anyone know of a particularly good (ie interesting from a spectators enjoyment point of view) they could point me in the direction of? ETA: Could also be a collation of YouTubes. These can be copied to DVD, can't they (pardon me, I'm not crash hot on computer stuff, )

My Vet draws the blood and spins it down. It is the "serum" that you ship, not the red blood cells. I take the serum over to the nearest FedEx drop-off point and send it to Dr Jean Dodds from there. Takes about 3 days to arrive at its destination and I usually have test results just inside a week from the date of original dispatch. FedEx International Courier cost was about $70 - $80.00 (from Victoria) There's your Vet's standard consult fee for drawing the bloods and spinning down (mine was around $55, I think). Then there's Dr Jean Dodd's fee which is $85.00 USA

If I were you I'd have the thyroid blood tests done through Dr Jean Dodds (Hemopet) in USA. Aussie tests aren't as thorough and a "negative" result wouldn't necessarily rule it out, especially as your dog is so young (which indicates - if thyroid is an issue - that the thyroid tissue may not have had enough time to degenerate to a level that is detectable by our Aussie blood tests.

The pen-pushers in Govt who write the laws (and the ones who suggest and push for them) in Victoria don't have dictionaries that possess the words "common sense". And the Victorian Govt don't bother with evidence (they blink at it and turn away) when that would only complicate or thwart their attempts to essay-write a law or want to appease someone they're 'fond' of by that writing of law.

Agree with TSD regarding very brief period of fast pace and then slow back down. But the other thing you could work on first is YOUR movement - desensitise him to that first. Often it is the excitement of observing the owner running - triggers the dog into thinking "weee! we're off!!" (and not necessarily knowing why or what is being chased, and so looks for something that is a possible likely). Break down the exercise into increments by practicing the exercise with you moving your legs as though at a run, but in actuality you're only covering ground at as close to normal pace as you can. Keep (what I call, for want of better description) "knee jogs" very brief and reward your dog for not getting 'silly' (so to speak). Build up the length of time you can do this and when you're dog is ok with that, begin to actually increase the speed of the pace.

How would she go if you made it routine to wet/wipe her face after each such walk with a brew of Calendula Tea? I know this doesn't answer your question regarding your search for a barrier, but washing off the allergens quickly might be sufficient enough to avoid skin irritation? I would be concerned about cream near or around the eyes - apart from being messy and, as Perse has mentioned, potentially collecting and holding on to those allergens as they stick to it, there'd be the potential for the cream/ointment (along with the pollens/allergens) to be rubbed into her actual eyes.

As per Piper's post. My boy came back with similar result - higher level antibodies against Parvo, lower level antibodies against Distemper. Fortunately we don't have a lot of distemper around as much as we used to see (*touch wood*) and consequently exposure is a lot less. My wording/interpretation : The antibodies floating around in preparedness for a certain disease take a rest when the threat hasn't been around for a good while. They recess into "cell memory" - when the dog is exposed to that disease the body has a memory for the antibodies that are required and begin to produce and release them back into the body as active antibodies.

"Freedom of Information" isn't all that easy either. I worked on a matter that required information via Freedom of Information and I had to shell out something in the vicinity of $300.00 (if I remember correctly). It certainly wasn't "free". All well and good if I had a spare several $M dollars to dip into as the RSPCA has.

It's a charity with private interests and no accountability. It also has the power to prosecute people, this power should only ever be in public hands, the fact that it is in private hands is hugely concerning. The other areas of which you speak outsource certain responsibilities but when push comes to shove the department dedicated to the area (child welfare, employment etc) has the final say and the buck tops with them. This line is so blurred as to be non existent when it comes to animal welfare, RSPCA inspectors enforce the laws but are not bound by any of the accountabilities that public servants are, the organisation performs lobbying and activism as well as performing government responsibilities, and when there are conflicts of interest there is no control over it, you can report to the ombudsman but he has no one to go back to about it because there is no government agency enforcing compliance! The government doesn't even have a department of animal welfare it's just a sub branch of primary industries which is conflicting enough, and they have no governing power to prevent conflict of interest from the RSPCA or any questionable practices they may engage in. This ^ is the root of the problem. Non-existant accountability has things getting out of hand and off the rails. It needs to be reined in. And if the RSPCA has nothing to be ashamed or frightened of, it should applaud, welcome and encourage the thought of a formal channel of accountability being established by law.

Excellent post, Little Gifts.

That's ok, Sheridan. The question was there for anyone to read and anyone to respond with an answer. Not just you. But (to everyone who is reading) .... my bad. I should have read through the posts a bit more thoroughly (extremely time poor is my reason and excuse) as I would have seen that in fact, it was true. Question answered. Thank you.

This ^. And break it down into tiny increments by (e.g.) letting him take the food reward for stretching forward with his neck; then for straining forward and part way coming off his elbows; for any even hesitant moves to come up out of the drop or sit position he's in. If you've taught your dog a word that tells him he's on the right track (e.g.. gooooood) use that for any hint that he might be thinking about coming up and forward into the stand to take the treat. Sometimes, if the dog is really 'tight' in the sit or drop, using the lead under the belly to gently give an upward encouraging nudge/pressure, can be all it takes (along with the lure) to let the dog understand you DO want him to move from the sit/drop position into the stand. Use times when he's volunteered to sit or drop of his own accord - perhaps when he's just lounging around at home - and present the lure hand with food to encourage up to a stand.

You can't tell me who to respond to, I was replying to a post that mentioned Clifford. Yes, but you're one of the 'It's true! It's true' people, aren't you? Is the Clifford story not true? Oh here's Erny! Have you found any evidence that Charlie, you remember Charlie, don't you Erny? The topic of the thread? Have you found any evidence that Charlie was the face of a MPW? That's who I'm talking about, as was clear from the post above. Not yet - but I haven't had time to move through all the posts I've read to back track. But my question hasn't been answered. Is the Clifford story not true? And there's no need for the tone, Sheridan. That's uncalled for.

You can't tell me who to respond to, I was replying to a post that mentioned Clifford. Yes, but you're one of the 'It's true! It's true' people, aren't you? Is the Clifford story not true?

South Australia are calling for a law to have the RSPCA accountable (as, at the present time, it is accountable to no-one) and that there can be a safe platform for people to come forward with information without fear of backlash from the RSPCA. I wholeheartedly agree with this and if the RSPCA actually does nothing wrong, it should welcome and support the idea, and this should be a nationwide thing, not just to one State. As to the dog in the picture in the OP ..... I can only tell you what I have read from a few comments in FB and that is that the person holding the dog is not happy and is upset that the photo has become the face of this year's Million Paws Walk, he himself knowing that after the photo, the dog was killed. As to the "individual" RSPCA orgs .... Does each advertise as a separate entity? Not from what I have seen. If other RSPCA entities are making it hard for the rest because of what it is doing, why aren't they brought to question by the others? And how does "charity status" work? If each is a separate entity, isn't that along the lines of franchise? And is franchise legal for orgs of charity status? *Note : Not all this directed at you tierikx - just quoted you to get me going :D

I believe so, Jed. Read things on it.

That was great, WoofnHoof - the dog had an absolute ball and whilst it went against what we work for in the name of "training" I doubt there'd be anyone - trainer; handler; spectator; or judge, who'd not be able to hide the smile and share in the delight this dog was obviously having. Thanks for the smile, Shiva. You had fun being a dog around humans :D

There's potential for mis-use in anything. Heck ..... even just owning a dog opens it up to potential for mis-use. And the law being "there for a reason"??? We have so many stupid and ill-founded laws. The reason some of them are there is because it makes some organisation or other .... and the Government, look good in the eyes of people who don't have a proper understanding of what the law is doing, the impact it has, and/or what the affect is (more often, "effect" is assumed). The Government feel pressured to doing something; it's too difficult and complex to draft a law and get it right; so the Government (Victorian, at least) go for "ban-it" because that's easiest (for them) and appears to the unknowing as though they're doing something. Did you know that on one of the more recent laws that the Labor Government proposed here in Victoria, the Liberal Opposition boohooed it and agreed with those who saw how badly it would impact on innocent dogs and dog-owners that the Labor Government were making a silly move. Then we had an election and the Liberals gained Government before the proposal was put through. The Bill came up in Parliament. The Labor Opposition put up its proposal for this law. The Liberal Government said "the laws are flawed ....... but there will be no objection from the floor". You're right. There's a reason. The reason for this one? "Because there is likely to be some other Bill that the Liberal Government want to kill" [so they let Labor have this one]. So just because there's a law, don't presume or assume it's a good and right one. Learn about the law and learn with an open and enquiring mind about the object or animal the law is restricting or banning before you draw a conclusion. Just my 2 cents worth. Stepping off soap-box now. As to the OP's question - I have seen some dogs who find more aversion to the vibration of the collar than off a working level stim. But that's not to say it is a large sample of dogs by which to rely on this information. I think Steve (K9 Pro) has found the same, though. Edited : Oops - just saw that Steve has posted.

Not a silly question, fbaudry. Answer is, I'm not really sure. However I prefer to use the tea whilst it still has that 'clear' look to it and I tend to find that after 24 hours, it can go a bit cloudy. The other part of my reasoning is that because I'm not sure and because it's to help heal/soothe my dog's irritations, I'd rather err on the side of "fresh is best". Note : If I need to use it as an eye bathe, I will ONLY use fresh, once it is cooled. I won't keep it and use it later - if I need to do it again, I brew another batch. When I need to use it, I use a single serve coffee plunger. In the morning when I fix myself a cuppa, I put some Calendula in the coffee plunger and pour the hot water from the kettle into that. Voila!! Done :D.

Use the Calendula Tea wash when you do this and you might find the skin settles quicker and for longer, possibly reducing the necessity to keep up with wetting the skin as often. You may find you only need to spot-rinse the effected area/s once the skin begins to settle down, saving the dog from having wet skin so often which in itself might encourage tinea type ailments. The Calendula Tea has antibacterial and anti-fungal qualities to it, doesn't stuff up the skin's natural pH balance like shampoos and other more stringent treatments can and rinse is soothing to the skin too.

Agree with Nekhbet. You've got a new dog who is learning the "who's who" and the rules of the household. Simultaneously, whilst he's learning this, he's learning/practicing undesirable behaviour. And whilst you're trying to teach him the "who's who" and the rules of the household, you're also trying to : (a) unlearn (so to speak) him the undesirable behaviour he's exhibiting; and (b) show him why that behaviour is undesirable; and © what behaviour 'works' to his advantage. That's a lot for a dog to take in and absorb when, from his point of view, he's only working off instinct and/or previous learnt behaviour. So simplify it - for the dog's sake, for your other dog's sake and for your sake. Complications of muzzling and threatening can have a habit of failing further down the track. "Separate, crate, and supervise interaction until they're sick of each other ... " as Nekhbet has suggested.