TigerJack

It certainly would. We had a training session this morning and just for a change (trying to build up dog's fitness levels) we set up a row of 8 jumps (instead of the usual 4) and put the tunnel at the end. They loved it. Turned straight around and ran back through the tunnel again. I hope someone starts doing flygility in Sydney. Jo

so sorry for you. At least he had a lovely last few months with you. Poor Leila, she will miss him. I'm going home now to hug my Dane. I realise how lucky I am to have him, he turns 11 this year. (Also from cordy's, like Turbo.) thinking of you Jo

Pampa - I've only just found this thread. Hoping your girl is better soon. I have found this information to be very helpful and thank goodness I haven't ever been in a situation like so many of you seem to have. I guess it is pure luck as I have garbage gutses for dogs. I am interested to know how you make a dog vomit if you find them eating a bait. Not sure how i'd go about doing that if I needed to. good luck with your girl (what is her name?) Jo

wagsalot - if you can't make thursdays for flyball with St George then go to the Australian Flyball Association website www.flyball.org.au and check out clubs. I think you are located at the south end of Sydney?? The others that might suit you are Leaps and Bounds at Bankstown. They train on a weekend. Deerbush dog training club is getting back into flyball but haven't competed for ages that I know of. As you are at the bottom of the Sydney map, you might even find it quicker to get to the guys that train at Dapto. They also train on a weekend I believe. If anyone wants details for St George then please PM me, we have a few requirements for basic obedience before you can start. To answer staffylover - flyball is a team sport. Four dogs and four handlers. Each dog is released and has to race down a row of four jumps and then turn on a flyball box. The front of the box is a trigger that causes the box to throw out a tennis ball which the dog must catch and then bring back across the 4 jumps through the start gate. Then the next dog goes and so on. It is very fast and very noisy and a lot of fun. There is potential for developing bad habits that may cause injury if you attempt to teach yourself flyball. Please go to a club where you can be taught properly. It is easier to teach the correct way than try to change a behaviour later on. Jo edited to add that flyball is not something that can be taught in just a couple of lessons, it takes some time and lots of homework. Having said that, Mrs Dog only joined us in the last couple of months of 2005 and we have her entered in the upcoming competition at Castle Hill with her dog Kiss.

I have a little dog with incontinence problems. Nothing to do with desexing though, he's a boy. His problems stem from birth trauma, he has some spinal damage and is partially paralysed and has limited sensation and not much anal muscle tone. Consequently, my problems are pretty much all clean-up based. My small dogs live inside during the day and, as they do not have access to the yard, there is a 'wee mat' in the bathroom for them to use. It was all quite civilised before he came along and there was rarely a mess that wasn't on the mat. Living with an incontinent dog makes it confusing for the others. He is now 20 months old and is finally getting the idea that he has to head for the mat but it usually means a trail of dribble on the way to it. He really only completely empties when I go with him and point at the mat and hold him over it. It is lucky he thinks this is a favourite game but I usually have to help him to empty. He's got no idea when he needs to poo though. Thank god he's a little chi cross, I don't know how people with very large incontinent dogs cope. He is a little sweetheart and his problems are, as I said, just one of clean up and I can certainly live with that. (Thank god the whole house is floorboards and tile, no carpet.) The main thing that is a pain is that it is confusing for the other little dogs. There is the scent of his accidents in places that they aren't allowed to urinate so they start to think it is OK to go anywhere. Unfortunately it now means that my previously well housetrained small dogs occasionally go where they aren't supposed to because they now think they are allowed to, it is scent marked after all. I think I will try the citronella oil solution that an earlier poster mentioned. Anything is worth a try. Good luck with your little one Jo

Norskgra there is a woman who is a veterinary physiotherapist who is supposed to be very good. (Sorry, her name escapes me at the moment.) She does sessions at either the mortdale or Peakhurst vet, your area I think. Several of my flyball friends have seen her and recommend her. I'll try and get her name and contact details this weekend. Jo

Blackdog treat pouches come in three sizes and you can get a treat pouch sock for the two larger sizes. Put treats in the liner, keep in fridge if necessary and then just put the liner into the pouch when you need it. removeaable liner is easier to clean than the pouch itself and is stitched to fit around and over the hinge and velcro in place.

if you can deal with the tears, go read Crysti Lei's post in rainbow bridge about her girl Brodie who she lost last week. Tells about how she knew it was time. She also posted earlier when Brodie ws diagnosed. Many posts in rainbow bridge will tell how people knew when it was time but it is hard to read alot of them. Jo

another one typing through tears here. She's alucky girl to have had such a wonderful final few years. So sorry for your loss. She was ready and she knew it. thinking of you Jo

MSJ it is a pity it is non-operable. Be comforted that she has had a good life and is well loved. You can't ask for more than that. This is Sam (and Jasper is the little guy.) Jo

MSJ So sorry for you, I can relate. My Dane Sam has had cancer removed 12 months ago and its just a waiting game until it comes back. She will tell you when she's ready to go. When life is all pain and no fun, then that is when. If she is miserable all the time then it is time to let her go (and also the kindest thing to do.) If she is still happy and enjoying those walks then let her be. It doesn't matter that she sleeps alot. (I'd sleep alot too if I was old.) She may be losing weight and that might be a sign things are speeding up but improve her diet and try and slow down the weight loss. Enjoy her final months Jo

So sorry Crysti Lei she's beyond the pain now. thinking of you Jo

I just finished trying a bag of their premium food on my nine dogs after seeing it mentioned as donating to Cordy. The dogs certainly liked it, no-one wouldn't eat it. However - the poo increased alot from what I'm used to and when you've got nine dogs, poo isn't something to be disregarded. I'd estimate that the poo doubled from what was produced by feeding Eukanuba. The consistency of the poo was also kind of crumbly and looked exactly like the kibble before it got eaten only as if it had absorbed some liquid. (Sorry for gross images) Made me think it was going through without much being absorbed. If I was strapped for cash I'd certainly use it to get me through a rough patch but it had too many grains and meat byproducts listed on the ingredients for me to be happy to use it all the time. Definitely not a premium brand, more like your average supermarket style quality.

I think that it would have been too see through in a single layer. I used weedmat folded in half with the chicken wire mesh in between and it is completely opaque, nothing to see through. Weedmat has a tighter weave than shadecloth as well.

Block the view definitely, it eliminated the stimulus. I have a dodgy paling fence at the back and as the gaps got bigger, the dogs could see more of the neighbours and barked at them a bit more often (and it's an embassy back there.) I wanted to strengthen the fence and block their view so I got a long roll of fencing mesh wire and a whole lot of weed mat. I wrapped the weed mat over the wire so it hung neatly on the wire and then nailed all the wire mesh to the wooden fence. Weed mat is about 60c a metre and it is about 180cm wide. I hung it over 90cm fencing wire so the wire was sandwiched in between. The barking has decreased alot and the fence looks neater, even if it is black weedmat. Hanging it on something and then nailing that up makes it stronger too. I think that just nailing the weedmat (or shade cloth) alone might mean it rips eventually where it attaches. You've got cyclone fencing so how about just stringing a single wire along the fence and hanging the weedmat over the wire. Use some plastic cable ties to secure it all to the fence. Good luck Jo

Without seeing it, no-one on DOL could really diagnose this for you. If she woke you up, it must be bothering her. Maybe its infected anal glands, maybe its something else. Get her to a vet for a check. That is the only real way to be sure.

So sorry. I have a 10 year old Dane with Cancer. At least most of his was removed. I just wait for the recurrence that will happen. Any news yet? Jo

It might look gross but it's good he has drains to keep the wound open. If it seals off too early they can get a big build up of fluid (or even pus) under the skin. This happened to my boy Jack who got a bite to the neck. Despite flushing the wound twice daily the entrance healed too quickly and he developed a big sausage shaped fluid collection around his neck which had to be opened up and drained again (not pus luckily, just serous fluid.) HEaled nicely once it drained properly. Jo

He will bounce back quickly and amaze you. My little one, Irial had an eye removed just before she came to me from Cordelia's canine rescue. She had been found with a badly injured eye that was beyond help and so it was removed. The loss of the eye was not a problem for her. If another little dog approached on her blind side she might be startled but she never bumped into anything and managed to race around and leap on and off furniture with great agility. There was a neat little dent where the eyelids were sewn closed over the empty socket and it healed very well with no ongoing infection problems. She had very poppy out eyes and the white line down her face was crooked after the surgery as the bulk of both eyes kept it stretched neatly down the middle. With one missing, her white line skewed to one side. She is sadly missed. Jo picture is Irial who was forever rolling over and asking for her tummy to be rubbed.

Ballarat is a bit too far for me for now. If you like to travel to comps come to the Orange one next March "The Running of the Balls." My club is hosting it. Jo

I should have been clearer, Fluppies don't make them, they sell them retail. They are the same product (and the same vendor for that matter) whether you buy direct from Fluppies or via ebay. I can't speak for the origin of yours but they look esactly the same. Buy them from wherever is convenient!

I am no huge fan of obedience either but I couldn't be doing flyball if I didn't spend the time (doing 3 classes a week for a long while there) at regular obedience first. I don't get what is exciting about trialling but obviously alot of people like it. I don't agree with everything that's been said about flyball but I do agree with knowing when your dog is physically mature enough to cope. I have a 6 month old Kelpie who is not going to go near jumps for a very long time yet. The most she's doing is a turning board and lots of heeling around (obedience again) amidst distraction to work on her focus. As for being an injury prone sport - it can be if you don't know what you are doing. I think if you are seeing lots of cruciate injuries then these might be dogs who never learn't a proper swimmers turn. Rosie looks large and this would be important for her. I race with a very large Ridgeback cross and he has a fabulous swimmers turn because I was lucky enough to get a trainer who knew he needed one. Big dogs can race safely but you have to progress slowly and race for accuracy, not speed. (The only injuries currently at our club did not occur at flyball, they happened at home.) Poodlefan said its all about speed and for some it certainly is. You'll find these are teams that might have errors and reruns. There are alot of small dogs and very slow dogs racing. Accuracy is key. (Check out the photo thread on the Dandenong comp - there's some pics of some very little dogs and some who would no doubt be slow.) Yes you do 'rev' the dogs up for a race but it is pointless if there is not control and training behind the rowdy noise. Don't make the mistake of thinking that alot of noise means completely out of control. No 'out of control' dog lasts long, they will be carded for interference and knocked out of competition very quickly. Come and see for yourself - you know where we are. Jo

Flyball jumps are not all the same height, it depends on the height of the shortest dog on the team. They vary from 8 inches to 16 inches innheight.

Riley I know lots of people who do both. They are complementary. I think this is just a dog moving ahead too quickly. With either flyball or agility you have to get control first or its all just mayhem and learning bad habits. Jo

You can buy the boots on ebay for much less (sorry Kimjm I know you sell them.) I just bought two sets less than a month ago (it was buy one set and get another colour for free) for $13 + p+p. They are not imitations as they came from the same place I bought my original set from. (Fluppies.) My silky terrier has been wearing them to flyball as she's a sook about bindi's and the boots are really good for stopping the prickles. (Funny thing is that she's also better at hitting the flyball box while wearing them.) If you don't want to buy through ebay, Kimjm's are cheaper than the regular price at Fluppies.