Kelpie-i

Interesting but not surprising. I watched a DVD with Pamela Reid discussing the very same thing and it's not surprising that as far as both are concerned, the "Jury is still out".

Cosmolo I have no info to give you as I know nothing about LP but I do hope your little one is fine and it's nothing more than a silly sprain. I can just imaging how difficult it must be to keep a 13 week old JRT still. Good luck with the prognosis.

He's gorgeous Erny...seriously handsome!

I would rather take my dogs to someone who has had years and years of experience, great results and no qualification, than to a young whipper snapper vet chiro with minimal experience.

Schnauzer@Uni thanks for the info and link...my Goodness, poor dog in that link I am leaning towards having it removed sooner rather than later due to her age and the fact that it will definitely get bigger, making it more difficult to remove later on. I will getting in contact with my vet tomorrow. Thanks guys!

Well this issue is that it is growing, albeit slowly, and the vet did say that if it got too big and hindered her eating, then she would have to remove it but this could take time and by that stage she will be older and much more at risk under anaesthetic.

Lochie my corgi x who is almost 11 years old has been diagnosed with a Epulis tumour in her mouth. The vet seemed very non-fussed about it and did not see any urgency in having it removed. It's benign but because it is in her jaw, it is pushing some of her teeth out of alignment and causing her to drool. She is not having any problems eating and seems happy and healthy otherwise but I would still like to have it removed. Has anyone had experience with these types of tumours and was the outcome good.

I'm with you Cos, I see no benefit in removing rewards all together other than the dog now being made to work for nothing. I think it all goes back to the very old style of training and beliefs that the dog MUST obey because you are master and no other reason, stemming from human's inner need to control that which is less superior to us.

Oh Pepi, I am so extremely sorry to hear this but please take it from someone who lost her bestest friend ever only 2 months ago, it does get easier for you and you will find things that will help you heal. You will go through all the usual emotions involved in the grieving process until you finally find some sort of understanding and comfort in what happened. The pain will subside but you will never forget your little boy. Someone very dear to me told me that it's all the "firsts" that are the most difficult...the first day without him, the first walk without him, the first weekend etc etc, and she was so right. Once you get through each "first", the seconds are easier to cope with. Take your time with the grieving process Pepi and comfort yourself in knowing that you did ALL you could have for him and as everyone else has said...it was his time. God is short on Angels at the moment and is busily recruiting new ones. Hugs to you Pepi

I believe Lindsay's principle is based on learning, not maintenance. Having said that I highly doubt a low level reward would make behaviour stronger rather it now being based on the dog's increasing proficiency in the skill and your expectations....Successive Approximation can and perhaps would be seen as exceeding reward expectation, especially if the reward were jackpotted occasionally. To summise: It is not your treat (kibble) that the dog finds rewarding, rather the frequency and/or amount of delivery.

Stephen Lindsay, during his recent seminar in Sydney, put it nicely about reinforcement/rewards... in order for a reinforcer (reward) to work, it must exceed the dog's expectations. Therefore if the distraction is greater than the reward, in the case of stock chasing, then the above statement is not entirely correct and will not work. It is not the potential for reward that is going to work, but rather if the reward violates the dog's expectation....is higher than the dog ever anticipated. Thinking out loud here....Could be dog is working for the potential for a higher level of reward but if we kept increasing, then it becomes predictable and no longer exceeds expectations.

Here's a Friday funny for you all... Can you all guess what drive the dog is in?

If you are in Victoria you needn't worry too much about heartworm. From what I learned, our climate is not conducive to it as the female mosquito needs to survive for a number of days in order to be able to lay eggs. This requires a constant climate combination of both warmth and high humidity levels which we don't have here in Vic. Although it's always a good idea to undergo preventative measures. ;)

I too would have liked to have seen more topics covered but I also think that those he did cover were great. Stephen's mind is like an intricate network of information, facts and experience. It is difficult for him to answer things in the way you and I are used to...he needs to delve into that framework and sort through all the information nestled in each database and put it all together to answer a question. He pauses to think....he reminds me "Doc" in Back to the Future movies. Definitely a high function mind. I think that those who attended the seminar without reading any of his books and/or attending with the expectation of learning techniques would have been bitterly disappointed. This is not what Stephen Lindsay is about and therefore it would not have been that sort of seminar. I loved it and I agree Cosmolo....would have loved a whole week of it. Dogs pulling on the lead now have a whole new angle

Have you tried our very own Kellie (one of the trainers at school)?? She runs a mobile dog grooming and clipping service and will be able to help you out with Sally. Kellie was giving grooming tips and advice to the puppy class on Saturday so I am sure she would be able to give you advice as well. Let me know if you are interested and I will PM you her details.

The CASI course is not nationally accredited in Australia and will not provide you with any formal recognisable certification. I would definitely do the NDTF course first to get the national accreditation and then embark on further learning by doing any of the other courses available.

I must say that I admire Miss Squish's ability to hold herself from posting further. It takes one hell of a person to do that. Miss Squish if you are still reading the posts, I would suggest, as others already have, to move on and find another club. Not just because of your dissatisfaction with some of the methods, but more for the reason that you will now be the target of their attacks if you return. It is quite obvious to us why you were not comfortable reporting the incident...judging by their approach, they probably would have taunted you just for doing so.

Old age sucks....so does the fact that our pets rarely out live us. So sorry for your loss KHM... RIP Bonnie!

So sorry to hear about Occy. He sounded like a very special dog. I'm sure he is happy and free from pain and illness now at rainbow bridge. RIP Occy

How is the Kelpie at no. 2? They are not the sort of dog for everybody and don't usually do well in a 'back yard' situation! Very surprising.

Like you Ms Faye...I read most of the posts.....not all And for a newbie to this forum who is trying to defend the organisation you are affiliated with, you most certainly are very defensive, quite rude and extremely unprofessional in your approach. There are ways of doing this and belittling a person on a public forum is not the way...it comes accross as aggressive and again, unprofessional.

Ms Faye seems to me like you might be a committee member or trainer at the said club Your posts reek of it. People will tell it like they see it and if someone sees the action as 'abuse', then in that person's eyes it is. Whatever the instructor did to that dog for non-recall is totally unacceptable for 2 different reasons, firstly that correction for non-recall only makes the dog run away faster next time, and secondly it's not the instructor's business to be correcting someone else's dog....ETA unless that person has given the instructor permission to do so.

Any news today Pepi? You asked earlier if my boy had heart problems, no he didn't. He suffered the usual "old age" illnesses like arthritis and all the blood tests which were done late last year came back normal. It was very sudden and I wasn't prepared for it at all. Fingers crossed that your little boy pulls through. Hugs to you :hugs:

Hello Pepi I know exactly how you are feeling. I lost my 16 year old GSD boy to seizures in January. He managed to survive the first two but unfortunately the 3rd one took his life. I cannot offer any advice as to what you "should" do, but the only thing I can offer is support during this time. I agree with Kelly Louise, at 15 they are very old and the body starts to fail. Seizures are usually caused from problems stemming from the brain and seizures in old dogs can really knock them about. My thoughts are with your boy.

Mr R & NR, won't the kennel accept titre test results? The C5 is for bordatella so you would only need to give this as a nose spray I would think.