TigerJack

The two year agreement signed between the AFA and the ANKC allows members of either group to compete in the other groups events without also becoming a member of that group. ie: AFA team could enter an ANKC flyball comp without its members joining the ANKC and vice versa. The agreement allows for inusrance of members. Points accrued at AFA events are supposed to be recognised by the ANKC as long as that member was also a financial member of the ANKC at the time they gained those points. ANKC do not possess any competition start lights at this time and they have not yet gotten any accredited judges. Don't think any events are yet planned. Those rules you posted seem a little out of date. There have been updates to the AFA rules that are not listed here. eg: waiting time to change teams is 90 days, not 4 months and the jump heights are now 7-14 inches, not 8-16. There are other things too.

try emu oil I have used it on a tiny rescue who had lost all the hair on her ears from sunburn and also on a cut where the hair took a while to regrwo. started using emu oil and it is all covered now.

I did get both glands removed from my chihuahua. It is a big op and there is the risk of faecal incontinence but he is fine and has no after effects. I weighed it up against the misery he was in. He had spent 6 months with chronic abscessed glands. Antibiotics for a month at a time and a week after finishing each course, back would come the abscesses. He got very depressed and lost weight alarmingly (not good in a 3kg chi.) It got so he was very distrustful of strangers as whenever he met a new person, it was the vet, treating his painful abscesses. No regrets, wish I'd had him done sooner. I don't think I'd get it done just so glands didn't need to be expressed but for abscesses, definitely Jo

enlighten the rest of us. what's it used for?

one of my small dogs used to get badly sick every car trip. One time I was out shopping and I found a nifty gadget called a puppy booster seat. It is like a car seat for little dogs. It folds down into a small suitcase and that is the base for the seat. It has a padded seat with a netting front to it, a loop to clip to a harness or collar and it puts the dog up at window height. She never got sick again. I've never had to use drugs on her (or the others) just got them up to window height. The booster seat has loops on it that allow it to be held in place with the seat belt so it is very safe.

Do you care what sort of dog? On a box? Over Jumps?

Hello Mak go to www.flyball.org.au and go to the menu on the left side. Search for 'whats going on' then 'clubs' then 'nsw.' This will show you where they are all located. Petersham is probably closest to either the Leaps and Bounds club at Bankstown or the St George Club. Every club has thier own training methods and different beginner intakes. Dogs can take anywhere up to a year or so to 'get' flyball. It is a whole lot of skills that work together. You join a club to learn the skills and if you and the dog learn it all then you might be part of a team that runs in competition. It takes alot of work and alot of homework but it is fun. Your dog is still quite young but some skills can be started. Jumping is usually left till the dog is one year old and most of their growing is done to avoid causing injuries. Flyball is for all sized dogs, as long as they are healthy. A racing team will jump the height of the shortest dog on the team so you will often see very big dogs racing with little ones. Cost - each club has its own charges for membership and often ground fees each week. You can join the AFA (Australian Flyball Association) too and that is $20 for starters for one dog. You have to be a member of the AFA to compete. Other costs, depends on how much you participate. Entry fees, harnesses, crates, uniforms etc. give it a go, you'll enjoy it Jo

pet network and vetshed both sell it. The small 200ml bottle is a little over $20 at my local pet supply store but the one litre bottle was around $40(ish) on line. I a Jo

Where can I get the 'turning board'? do a search on those links. You might find instructions to make one. Otherwise, K9 sports (I think it was called) in QLD used to make them

go to the Australian flyball website www.flyball.org.au go to the links page and there are links to NAFA which has alot of training links. Also search for how to make a 'turning board' which is what you will want rather than a flyball box. If you are handy, make it yourself, otherwise they are available for about $200. Be careful training a turn without instruction from someone who knows what they are doing as it is easy to develop bad habits. You want to get a nice swimmers turn, rather than a slam, which will lead to injury. Do a search for 'Spring Loaded.' they are a USA record holding team who have done some excellent training DVD's. Join the Flyball-Oz yahoo group. Sometimes people have second hand equipment for sale on there. good luck and maybe think about getting others involved and then you can start your own team. Jo

I have a small male chihuahua who has had his anal glands removed. He was getting chronic abscesses and was very ill with infections constantly. He would be on antibiotics for a month at a time, clear up the abscesses (which broke through the surface skin all the time) clear up the abscess and finish the antibiotics, but a week later I'd come home to disccover they'd broken out again. For a 3.5 kilo dog to be so ill that he got down to about 2.8 kilos was getting worrisome. he lost appetite, was miserable and it was a constant cycle. After he had been on constant antibiotics for about 8 months and getting abscesses for over a year it became apparent that this wasn't going to change and his quality of life was crap. I opted for the surgery and was told of the risk of faecal incontinence. He came through the surgery well, and has recovered fully with no after effects at all. I do think the recovery was painful but not long, a couple of weeks. He was less bothered by the pain of recovering from surgery than he had been by the constant abscesses. He is just fine now and I have no regrets about doing this surgery. Very expensive though. Surgery on that little bottom cost me about $600.

Wonderful news Muttly . That dog looks familar, St Georges Flyball i think(is his name Oscar?). you might be thinking of my Jack at St George who looks similar, (we don't have any Oscars.) It is not though, that is PJevs and Twiggy will be with the Norwest crew. Met her on the weekend and she is in a great home and has really found some good people. I go herding with them too so I expect to see her there soon too. Jo

AFA website is www.flyball.org.au

For flyball go to www.flyball.org.au and look in the club contacts section. If you'd like to see a Flyball competition then the Southerly Muster is on this saturday at the Sutherland Dog Club's grounds. All the Sydney clubs will be there so you could speak to them all. For South west Sydney - your best bet is Sutherland, St George, Leaps and Bounds at bankstown or else Southern Cross. Mrs Dog and I will both be there. There are training things you can commence now while your pup is only 6 months old but its best to wait till 12 months for more intensive jumping training, let him grow some more. Jo

try here

The Callicoma Kelpie website here sells them. They are fold up like the tent poles with an elastic bungee cord through the centre. Very light and very purple. Jo

go to AFA website for a list of clubs. Go to the menu on the left, choose 'whats going on' then 'clubs' then choose the state you are in.

I'm not so sure about putting the artificial turf through the washing machine though. I'd feel like I was 'dirtying' my washing machine if I chuck it in to wash, and even though it won't be washed with my clothes, my clothes do go through the same machine. It doesn't feel right somehow. Just flushing it with water won't help?

The chap who took the photos at the nationals has offered them up to be sold via the afa site but it will be worked out at the next afa committee meeting and then a link posted on the site sometime after that.

I see you've found what I posted in the other thread. A few things, yes the fake grass does get smelly if you just leave it on the petloo. you must put it through the wash every few days or it will stink of stale urine. The tray I use is just the upside down lid from an underbed sized storage box or I also use the plastic tray out of a mid sized crate. I wouldn't use the whoe underbed storage box on wheels with holes drilled in the lid. One, why would you want to keep that much wee? empty it (or just change the towels underneath) every day. Two, a tray on wheels will scare the dog when the step on it and it skids under their weight. Then you'll never get them to use it. So, mine cost me nothing as I already had the crate tray, the grass offcuts and the old towels. I reckon, even buying all the bits new, you'd do it for less than $50 and it will be as good as one of those petloos.

from the AFA rules Section 3.2 – Balls Each team shall have its own supply of unpunctured, regulation tennis balls (any colour). Subject to the size and comfort of the dog, squash balls, racket balls, or approved balls may be used. Approved balls must function similar to a tennis ball (i.e. they must bounce and roll). Jo

yes, I can vouch for this working. My Kelpie could do a full run but wasn't interested in the ball or she would pick it up but drop it on the way back. Didn't care at all about the ball. She was more interested in chasing another dog with a ball, not so much in chasing a thrown ball, which I avoid doing now anyway as you don't want your dog to be motivated to chase a moving ball when you'd rather they went and got a static ball. I clicker trained the retrieve by back chaining it and she won't stop bringing me balls now. Interestingly, she still doesn't want to chase a moving ball, just keep giving them to me for a reward. It took 3 weeks and she never drops it now. Her dinner stoppped being served in a bowl and she earned kibble while the behaviour was shaped with a clicker. Surprised me how effective it was as I'm fairly uncoordinated with the whole clicker thing. Once it was shown to me properly you can see the importance of clicking at exactly the right moment to mark the behaviour. Your eally need someone to show you so you don't click the wrong action. Jo

Petloos are very expensive and I have made my own using the offcuts from when I had the back yard done in fake grass. There have been posts on this a few times in the last couple of months and I described how I made it there. Do a search and see if you can find it, otherwise ask again and I'll tell you what I did again. Jo

Can anyone tell me who the professional photographers were and where the pics will be likely to go up? I'm assuming Pinnicle was one? Nothing listed anywhere yet, and I know they took some pics of Bryce in full flight.

Can someone tell me the dates for the nationals in Canberra? Starting to plan for it already.