TigerJack

I have one similar to the one pictured. It was the 'heavy duty' one. It cost $16 and a friend got it for me at a show at Erskine Park from one of those caravans where they sell supplies and crates etc.

TD This is a problem, but not unsurmountable. It's also the reason alot of dogs go down fast and come back slow. You need something that is even better than a ball from the box as a motivator. I haven't solved this completely myself with Jack yet but at least he doesn't try for the ball in the wrong lane. Why don't you try a different ball and make it really special and he only get to play with it at flyball, never any other time, and then only after bringing a plain old tennis ball back to you. The K9 thread on drives has a good description on how to make an item into a favourite 'prey' item. Maybe one of those balls on a string. In theory he will soon learn that the only way to get the really good ball is to retrieve the plain old tennis ball and bring it back to you. If he goes to the wrong lane, then he doesn't get to play with the ball on a string. Jo Edited to add - I'm baffled why you'd never train with two lanes. You are always going to have problems with distraction and crossing over if the only time the dog sees two lanes running together is during a comp.

Didn't mean to scare you, he he. Don't worry, the violent nausea only lasts till the first heat is done, then the rest of the comp is fun. It wouldn't pay to lose breakfast in the ring, I'm sure the 'fouling in the ring' rule might apply. Distractions are a huge problem for all dogs, not just new ones. We recently did a comp where the ring was long and narrow so the crowd was quite close. It made a couple of quite experienced dogs stuff up and it's been hard to fix. You have to expect loose balls during races. There's no rule against leaving them around and picking them up at the end. We have taken to doing runs at training with loose balls lying in the run and with jumps deliberately knocked over so the dogs might better be able to deal with these if they occur in a comp race. (There is a rule about interference if your loose ball rolls into the other side's lane though.) With regard to the dog that knows he can get a ball from the other lane. We need an opinion from someone who know's about 'drive' and reward for this. I would say train with two lanes running, helps with distraction and if the dog gets used to getting his reward at the end of a run in his own lane even though another lane is there, he might be less tempted in a comp to go over the line. You need to have the other lane's boxloader (and I'm talking about at practice here) block Moses from getting the ball out of the wrong box. He needs to know he only gets a ball/reward if he gets it from the correct box. We used to only do a recall for each dog before a race but lately we do a complete run for each dog. There is time, even with a 2 minute changeover. That might help Moses, it would remind him there are balls on his side of the ring and he won't feel the need to cross over. Don't take it too seriously, the dogs don't know the rules and they don't care about carding. Jo

Oh gawd - so its going to take that long before I can eat breakfast before a comp?

Jack was carded three times and out of the comp by lunch break! He thought it was great fun, I was a nervous wreck. He kept getting carded for crossing over because in those days he thought it was his job to do a victory lap once he got the ball. Yes - he was distracted by all the other dogs and he wanted to run around with them. He spent the next 4 or 5 comps going round the first jump after the box but stopped crossing over. We worked out how to fix him missing that jump and he's pretty foolproof now. It took 13 comps and lots of demos in 10 months to get him to that point. I, on the other hand, still feel like throwing up before the first race. Once that is done, we all settle down and enjoy it. Good luck Jo and Jack

I haven't heard of Nutro, have you got a link to it.

I have nine dogs from Chihuahua to Great Dane and all are Frontlined every month all on the same day. There is not a single flea at my place. I've never had any infestation problems at all. Having said that, I don't have carpet so that might be a facator too. I have taken several of them into tick areas and had no problems. Frontline won't stop ticks from getting on the dog and the tick actually has to bite the dog in order to be killed by the frontline in the dog's system. Jo

OK - my ten cents worth - if its worth that much First - haven't been to Peakhurst but I know several instructors and have quite a few friends who go there and report they like it. 2nd - used to go to Sutherland quite alot. Did my dogs wonders because I was going three times a week, every week. I always found the weekend class a bit frustrating as there were so many people in it and you never knew which instructor you were going to get. Some of them were lovely but there were a few really awful ones who used very negative reinforcement. I fell for the 'give me that dog and I'll show you how to correct it' thing. Scared the crap out of my dog. I have heard that this fellow is no loner there - I hope this is true. The weeknight classes are much better. Almost like a private lesson and you always got the same instructors. The awful guy had a class these nights too and tried to force me to go into his class which got quite unpleasant. Sticking with the one instructor that I hade good rapport with was very helpful. Only reason I stopped going was that I was only there to get to a certain level of obedience so I could concentrate on flyball which I do now. Sunday morning classes are just too hard - the sleep in always wins. I have thoughts of taking my new Kelpie pup to obedience and I think I'd try Peakhurst this time (because my friends go there now).) Jo

I would like to seriously abuse work facilities too please.

It was a really interesting session and I'd be interested in going for a training session with my dog now. It was good to meet a few Dolers in person too. Thanks Myszka for playing host and I did like all the Dobe's too. So when's the next one?? Jo

I think my dog is trying to train me! If I have a sleep in on the weekend, I will wake up to find myself surrounded by headless teddy bears, slobbered on rope toys, tennis balls and bits of stuffing. He keeps going back to the toy bucket and getting something he thinks will entice me to get up and play with him. Very persistent. When I do wake up though, he doesn't want to play with the toys, he want's to play with me, so I guess thats good.

I don't have the directions yet. Can someone PM me with them please??

David a few people have talked of homeopathic remedies lately. (I just can't remember who, sorry.) Do a search on homeopathic treatments and herbal treatments anad you should find something. Meanwhile, if anyone remembers the threads can you link to them. Jo

David I have only recently gotten my own Kelpie bitch and she quickly became a part of the family. I can only imagine your distress at the moment. Get the biopsy and result and make sure you get a second (or third) opinion from a specialist. Best wishes Jo

Erin_01 Sorry - but this is incorrect. (I am a radiographer, x-rays, CT, MRI etc is my job.) A plain xray will show bony anatomy. The disk itself will not show so it may still be protruding. In order to show disks a specialised form of examination is required, none of which is simple on a dog as an anaesthetic may be required. One way to do it is a myelogram. This is when a needle is passed into the spinal canal and a radio-opaque dye is injected. Xrays are then taken of the spine + dye. A disk that protrudes will show as a dent in the column of dye. If the disk is lumbar (lower back) the myelogram should wrk well. A disk that is higher up the spine is harder to show as the dye has to travel further up the spine. The best examination (in my human patients anyway) is an MRI. Fabulous detail, no spinal injection but you would need an anaesthetic. A friend of mine is currently going through similar issues to your dog and has already had the myelogram. The MRI may be needed and apparently in Sydney they are done at RPA. I don't know where you are located though. All these exams are expensive but if it were my dog and knowing everything I do about all the imaging options - I'd pay the money for the MRI. Of course I'd be a real pest and sit in on the procedure and pester them to do it the way I like to do MRI's myself. Having said all that, I know nothing about this Wobbler's syndrome and I can't advise if any sort of imaging would help. Good luck and let us know how your Dane is going. Jo

I think Toiletduck is right and quote "A lot of clubs don't want to take the time to teach properly." I think you can teach any new flyball dog a swimmers turn (large dog or small) but only if you take your time and do it slowly. You can't move on to the next step without getting the previous one absolutely correct. Not just correct most of the time but correct 100% of the time. Moing on early is how you cause bad habits. A dog that has learned how to slam the box is extremely hard to convert to a swimmer's turn. I have seen a few that will manage a swimmer's turn in training but as soon as the excitement of a competition race is involved, they go back to slamming. You have to start going round a peg and then move onto a turning board laid flat and build up the angle and distance very gradually. Don't be tempted to go anywhere near a box until the turning board is 100% good at full angle. The trick with a really big dog is to use a very big turning board (about 3ft square.) Get them right on that and then go to the regular sized turning board and they will adjust as they already have the action right. Only after this go on to the box. Good luck Jo

Hi again wanted to add something I though of later. Vickie's point is good about how people don't rest their dogs for long enough (and yes you see flyball obsessed people pushing their dogs too hard, too soon.) The thing I wanted to add applies to any dog sport, not just flyball. Please remember that our dogs won't always stop when they hurt, we have to stop them. Alot of dogs will run till they drop because they want to please their master so we have to be sensible enough to make them stop when they need to. Otherwise that small strain will turn into a major chronic injury. Jo

2 tollers quote "nearly every flyball dog who competes ends up with injuries and I'd be mad to allow my dog to risk himself" sorry but that is bollocks. You must teach it correctly and a swimmers turn is a must, especially for a larger dog. The only ones that can get away without a swimmers turn are the real tinies, the silkies and shitzu sized ones. If you have just started and you are about to enter a comp then I'd question whether the club has shown you enough to be doing it safely. quote "I'll talk to some of the people at the club about learning the swimming turn" this worries me. They aren't a flyball club with safe training techniques if they aren't teaching you the swimmers turn from day one. If this is the case then you might well be headed for injury. I agree with poodlefan that no dog sport is without risk but you can certainly train them to avoid the risky actions. I race a 39kg ridgeback x GSD and he has a great swimmers turn. Our boxloader says he puts less stress on her (she's braced against the back of the box) than the dogs half his size who dont have a good turn. You are not permitted to do flyball until the dog is at least 12 months old (and for really big breeds I'd wait even longer.) If you are going to enter a comp then make sure you are a member of the AFA. Go to www.flyball.org.au and check that out. Jo Edited to add (some others have also said this) like any sport for any athlete - the warm up and the cool down are imperative. It is a sprint race. You wouldn't do it yourself cold and not expect to get injured so make sure you warm up your dog and learn how to do some good stretches with him.

I would agree with Poodlefan, the op did appear to be quite painful and my boy Montezuma was not a happy chappy for the first few days. Some dogs will just need the op regardless of what you do. His glands were emptied regularly and he still managed to get them infected every second month and a few times they abscessed and this broke through the skin surface. Quite disgusting and a very sick little dog and far more painful for him than recovering from the surgery was. He was far more distressed at these times than he was post op. He also lost alot of condition when he was getting abscesses all the time and when you only weight 3kg to start with, that can get dangerous fairly quickly. Jo

I took Daisy (chihuahua) for her vaccination last night and the vet said she smelt a bit like her anal glands were yucky. They were and she emptied them. Really bad stink. I guess I'm either going to have to learn how to do it or go back to the vet. She said to use metamucil too (but make sure you use the plain one that is not effervescent or the dog will get the farts.) Other thing she suggested was bran fibre and for my chi she suggested a quarter teaspoon a day in her food. I went through the bad anal gland thing with Daisy's dad, Montezuma. He kept getting very bad abscesses and was constantly on antibiotics. He had them removed earlier this year and whilst he isn't fond of the vet anymore (had his bum poked enough for a while) he is great since the op. Vet did warn me that there is a slight possibility of anal sphincter failure after such surgery but said it was uncommon. I don't have any statistics on this but my boy recovered with no problems at all. It is not a cheap operation (I spent almost $600 even after my 'gold customer' discount) but when I consider I was spending a fortune on constant antibiotics and abscess drainages with sedation, the op was the cheaper deal. Lovely subject for luchtime by the way!! Jo

BL Red back's might not affect dogs too much compared to people but she is a small dog so it could still make her quite sick. Best check with a vet just to be safe. Ring one of the 24 hour ones, you might not even need to go in. You'd hate to end up with some long term damage from the toxin as she metabolises it. Jo

not sure why you think dachsund's are one person dogs. We had several while I was growing up and they were lovely loyal little dogs. They had 4 kids and 2 adults in our family to live with and were not at all a one person dog. Great with us as kids. We were quite young when we got the first one. They come in miniature too. Jo

I like the blackdog ones. Kelpie-i, have you tried their large sized one, you could fit a lot in that. Blackdog will modify stuff for you too. I wanted the hands free belt and I got them to attach a dumb-bell clip to the back (for a flyball motivator to hang on) and a treat pouch (middle sized one) to the front. Works great and didn't cost much extra. Get the 'treat pouch socks' instead of using plastic bags in them. They attach to the top so they open and close with the pouch and they can be removed to put in the fridge or get washed. Jo

Just wanted to put in my 10 cents worth about Sutherland. I think it is only one instructor who is a problem, the rest of the club is OK. They do seem to be a bit fixated on check chain methods which doesn't appeal to everyone though. I have to say I haven't been along for over a year. For about half a year I went along three times a week as they have good 'help' classes on monday and wednesday nights. Did wonders for my boy. We were having trouble at flyball training with recalls. He just wanted to do laps of the oval. Went for three sessions a week and now he is great. I have to say I stuck with the one instructor on the weeknight sessions though. She was lovely. The other fellow (who I think might be the one everyone is talking about) is a twit in my opinion. He gave her a hard time about daring to go off and take a class on her own. Actually came across to us and ordered me to join his class or get off the grounds! Told him no thanks. I was told by the female instructore the next week that they had had a meeting and he had been told in no uncertain terms to leave her class alone. (This was the fellow who thought it OK to take my 2nd dog out of my hands and proceed to yank her around by the check chain yelling at her to heel. Bruised the skin on her neck) It was only this one fellow who was awful to deal with, everyone else seemed quite nice. The whole club did seem a bit attached to check chain methods though. Jo PS: Wagsalot - where are you located. If you were going to Sutherland you must be in my area. I do flyball with St George. Contact me if you want to know more.

Wally 2020 yes I aim to take Kobe along for a look at sheep herding in September. I'm going with some friends. Should be fun Jo