TigerJack

I'll be there too with a trio of kelpies and a couple of yorkies. I remember you from the Ian Dunbar thing in Bankstown. Numbers aren't often sent out in advance unless its an ag show like Sydney Royal or Hawkesbury Show and they are sending you show entry tickets as well. Pick them up when you check in after you get there. Good luck with the first trial. Jo

Lilly came home 2 days ago and I spoke to her breeder a few weeks ago. She signed her up for 6 weeks free insurance with Petplan so she was covered when she came home.

All signed up. Went for the option with the DVD because I know I will get distracted and take longer than its supposed to. I still haven't finished puppy peaks but am slowly getting there. Just got a new puppy yesterday so now i need to decide if I start with her or the teenage kelpie. Or both? Anyway, I am jed24 on there as that is what I had used for puppy peaks. Looking forward to it now. Jo

Well, tomorrow I add a baby Yorkie to my herd which will then number 11. I currently have three kelpies and an older whippet x staffy girl. They are the 'big' ones. I never intended to have more than 2 kelpies as they are a handful but one extra came home with me last year from herding one weekend as she was a failure on sheep and was going to go home to be shot as the farmers wouldn't keep her on. I understand it happens but I had met this one so I couldn't leave her there. She is coming along nicely with flyball and agility and loves the indoor life. There are currently 6 toy dogs, 7 after tomorrow. I trial one little Yorkie in agility but she turns ten next month, hence the new babies arrival as a future 200 height dog. The other five toy dogs are all between 8 and 11 and are lounge lizards most of the time. I installed a shelf on the wall behind my sofa and velcroed cushions along it so it is a padded bench. They all lay about along that behind me when I am on the couch. If I nod off, I wake to find myself covered in small dogs who cuddle up for warmth. All sleep indoors and its only the kelpies outside during the day. There is agility or flyball training most weeknights. Tomorrow, when I collect my little Yorkie pup, it will also be the anniversary of the death of one of my little tinies. He died a year ago and I still miss him terribly. Doesn't matter how many there are, they all hold a special place in your heart. It really is down to a strict routine to manage it. Feeding is regimented and all dogs are well aware that all food belongs to me. I don't need to crate to feed but I separate small dogs (and elderly whippet X) from Kelpies. Sleeping arrangements are that there is one Yorkie on the bed, 5 toy dogs in a double decker series of crates and one Kelpie boy in a crate (he is 2 and tends to wander and try and get everyone else to wake up and play if he's not crated.) The Kelpie girls and elderly whippet x all happily stay on their beds all night. I don't do much else other than dog sports and it can be difficult planning a trip away but it works for me. Got a van custom fitted to travel them all and I frequently camp with ten in the tent. Entry fees for agility are getting expensive though. It was fine with 2 competing but now its three and soon to be 4. It adds up on one income. I am, however, a 'gold client' at my vet. That gets me 20% off.

got mine from Eddy too. He will do them in whatever combination you want. I got some 2's and also have a couple of sets of 4

Sheena, any chance you can link to one? Not sure what they are but they sound like a good idea. I have a new pup coming home in 2 weeks and might come in handy. Jo

alot of sports suppliers have ones for people which work fine. Hart sports was where I got mine. Cheapest way would be to get your 12 lengths of pvc pipe and then go to the $2 shop and buy 12 screwdrivers that fit inside the pipes. Then just bash the screwdrivers into the ground and stand the pipes over the handles. Also upside down tent pegs work if they have a long point you can stick into the ground.

there is also barrier method. Little fences that go down either side from every 2nd pole to every 2nd pole so the dog can't do anything but take the correct route. Good for entries too and good for getting their rhythm right and building speed then you start to fade the barriers. replace the middle ones with little wings and slowly fade those out too.

some people had their videos on facebook this morning. So do you have to audition or is that a competition for a free entry or something? I don't even have a video camera let alone ever tried editing something together.

In my limited experience I think that the show kelpies ears come up earlier. Seen pups come home at 8 weeks with ears already up. My working kelpies were around 6 months except for my boy who is now 2 years old and has very nice border collie ears. The tips never came up.

I see you have decided to wait if she comes into season so I guess its a moot point but I don't think the issue should be how easy it is or is not for the surgeon. No matter who does it, surgery in season is much harder on the dog for recovery and that should be the thing you consider, not how hard it is for the surgeon. I have a little yorkie who was desexed after her 2nd season had finished. It was almost a month after but apparently still not really long enough. Vet said inside it was like she was still in season. Very vascular anatomy and a bigger surgery with more risk. She was in a lot of pain afterwards and took considerably longer to get over it than did my other small dogs. I would wait a lot longer in future. Good luck with whatever you choose.

I am currently waiting for my new little agility dog. She is almost 7 weeks old now so about another month to go. I run kelpies but I also run a yorkie who is now 9 and a half and recently had hernia surgery. I don't know if she will continue competing or retire soon and that got me thinking about how much I enjoy running the tiny dog as well as the 500 heights. So, I decided to plan the next one and went looking for breeders. I wanted a pup in time that I could be starting her training while Bella (my 9 1/2 year old) was getting close to retirement. I know yorkies are not the fastest out there but they are single minded little terriers and a load of fun. I also though long about going for a slightly larger dog and competing in the 300 height group. In the end I decided to stick with the very little breed and stay in the 200's. Its a nice little group. Can't wait till she's home. She is one of these three.

any mention of getting your vet bills covered??

I've never had a dog on the Springer that has sat behind me - if they run level with the Springer they sit at your left leg and most pull into the lead so sit further forward anyway me too. My dog is in harness so the centre of his back is where it is attached and that is level with the seat pole so he is ahead of me. To answer Esky's concern, I always have a leash attached to the collar as well so he could not run free if the quick release gave way.

I use a springer and the harnesses I use are the Ruffwear Webmaster. Very strong and don't slide around too much

I agree with Goldrag, 3 days was probably a bit long (at least for me) but the final day was good fun. I had my young kelpie girl there the first two days and day one was fine for her with all the stability games. Day 2 was scary with the motivation games and too many people and dogs on the floor at once for her, she didn't want to come out of her crate for a while. She probably had a kicking when she was young so a crowd makes her nervous. She needs lots more of Friday's stability games before doing the kind of things we did on Saturday but Ian did say that was the case. I left her at home and brought my older bombproof kelpie on Sunday and she had a blast. The games were good fun and I picked up some good ideas for flyball club training. The various relays with lots of people would be good to get young dogs used to a busy competition ring. Some of the things we had never done before like the belly crawl race and the roll overs and figure eights but she loved it all. Glad to get a sleep in today though. PS Goldrag, sorry to hear there were holes in your dog, I didn't realise that had happened.

I use a springer with a very energetic teenage male kelpie and he has not managed to pull the bike over yet. I would not trust him to run straight if I had him on lead instead. I will put him on the springer and my other female kelpie on lead and run them together. SHe is sensible and will run in a straight line. THey don't fit all bikes so check that out before buying either the bike or the springer. I could see it took up a bit of space on a vertical post on the bike so I got the springer and took it with me when I went bike shopping. In the end the bike shop fixed the springer base onto the bike for me before I took it home. You do need a decent harness to clip it to, I think that is safer than a collar. I stick to bike path areas, much safer than streets.

The games were all quite good in theory but I had to spectate a bit more today than yesterday. My little kelpie girl is quite timid of crowds and lots of feet close to her. (I suspect she was given a kicking before I took her on) so those noisy games with lots of people around her today were a bit overwhelming. She actually got more out of the stability stuff yesterday. I think I need to do a lot more of that before doing the rowdy noisy stuff with other people close around her. Its why she ran to her crate, that is her safe zone. Wasn't 'off a cliff' runaway like Ian thought. Any time she feels too pressured she will go to her safe place in her crate. Lots to work on.

Have you actually played crate games with him or just shut him in there? Crate games will increase the value for the crate so they actually enjoy time in there. Susan Garrett's DVD is good at explaining it. My Kelpie boy will not settle in the house, prolws around seeking attention or seeking interaction with all the other dogs who are doing the right thing and staying settled on their beds. I never mat trained him so he wanders off if he is just sent to a bed. Ask him to get in his crate though and he dives in and promptly lies down and is asleep inside 2 minutes. Its his little cave. I spent a long time on crate games so he does know its his space to relax in. I was doing crate work with him when we first got him and he would bound in as soon as I told him 'in your box' but he still wouldn't relax in there during the day, if I didn't let him out he would tear at the covers or bark or pull on the gate with his paws...yet he would sleep in the crate every night (and still does) Get a look at the crate games dvd. Its more than just in your box and reward. You also have different stages of games where they get rewarded for in and out and choosing the right behaviour. Makes them think about it and makes the crate much more valuable, not just for night time sleeping. The games aren't complicated and don't take long to do. (Side effect is it helps with a nice reliable sit stay for an agility start line behaviour or just a good long sit stay.)

Have you actually played crate games with him or just shut him in there? Crate games will increase the value for the crate so they actually enjoy time in there. Susan Garrett's DVD is good at explaining it. My Kelpie boy will not settle in the house, prolws around seeking attention or seeking interaction with all the other dogs who are doing the right thing and staying settled on their beds. I never mat trained him so he wanders off if he is just sent to a bed. Ask him to get in his crate though and he dives in and promptly lies down and is asleep inside 2 minutes. Its his little cave. I spent a long time on crate games so he does know its his space to relax in.

I am going now, just got confirmation. I will be there with my little kelpie girl.

I used guides with my last dog. 2x2 wasn't working for us as he is not really into tugs and the thrown food gets lost too easily. I used a few sets of puppy pen panels (and a couple of green garden arches from Bunnings to complete the set.) Lured the firs time then just ran it at speed for a few days. It gave him no chance to get it wrong so his footwork developed nicely with speed. I then worked the clock for entries from everywhere and with me running in all directions or standing still. I made a point of rarely running along with him. As there was gates on it all, he couldn't get it wrong so his entries are really good. I then phased out the middle gates by putting a small garden arch next to the centre poles and slowly moved the gates back out of the way. Then removed the gates all together, leaving just the little arches. The full gates were left on the start and finish poles at this stage. After he was confident with this, pacing properly and maintaining speed and entries from everywhere, then started removing the centre arches. Move them out a little bit, then remove one. Then put it back again so he thinks that was easy. They remove 2 or 3 in the centre. etc etc. Eventually got it to where there were no arches in the centre at all, just gates on either end. Then replaced those gates with just one arch at eithe end, repeat again for speed and entries then removed those last 2 arches. One thing I did without realising. I was restraining him by collar to build drive to the weaves and always said 'are you ready' then released him. His word for weaves is now 'ready' not weave. I just have to remember that when running a course. I got one good bit of advice from a trainer I go to, she said don't start it at all till you know you have time to finish it within about 2 weeks. Otherwise you'll end up with issues. I did it fairly quickly and he seems pretty solid so far. Competing in novice this year so we will see. I plan on teaching my youngest kelpie in the 2 weeks I have taken off when my new baby yorkie comes home in march. Problem with my boy was that I got around to teaching him in the middle of winter when it was dark after work. I had to go out and find a ground with lights all the time so it did take longer than 2 weeks plus puppy fencing is a bitch to carry around as its heavy. My friend who used this barrier method at the same time as me, used lengths of plastic garden lattice attached with shower curtain rings. Worked fine and is light to carry. My boy didn't see any difference between my metal puppy fences and her plastic lattice barriers. People do look at you strangely when you turn up at the park with a whole lot of garden lattice and little green garden arches though!

and this is Jasper meeting Sam for the first time. Last pic is taken tonight just dozing on the lounge. He is now 8 and a half. Sorry for the crap photo quality. My pics were too big and I am useless with resizing so I took a picture of the screen with my phone. Jo

Here are several. Jasper two weeks old with his sister Daisy feeding. This was the day I noticed the difference in their back leg positions. A few months old - he can stand and was wobbling around. The step they are standing over is the one he can manage without help. Jasper is the black pup and Daisy is grey

I have a little dog who is partially paralysed. Back in the dark ages I had undesexed little dogs who managed to get pregnant (no surprise in retrospect) and I had a litter of two born from them. Mum is tiny and rather than leave her to struggle with her labour I rushed her off to the emergency vet in the middle of the night for a Caesar. Vet decided to try and wiggle the first pup out rather than go for the caesar and sadly twisted a bit too hard in the process. My little pup was left with spinal damage. I took home mum and the two pups and about a week later I noticed that the first one was not moving back legs and they just dragged out behind, different to his sister. I was devastated at the time and I am a big softie. i could not bring myself to euthanase such a tiny baby. (He was 120grams at the time.) I spent the next few months at home babysitting them and researching all the different wheelchairs for dogs and mobility aids etc. I decided I would keep both pups and I would get him a wheelchair and I would have this happy little dog that whizzed round in his wheels. In retrospect it was a naive way to think. You cannot leave a dog in its wheelchair when you can't supervise them and I work full time. My house has single steps between levels indoors. While I was away from home I would have had to leave him without the chair and if he ended up immobile then he would be sitting in his own mess all day. I was lucky, I never ended up having to deal with wheelchairs. Jasper's legs developed a spasticity that holds them rigid. His ligaments and tendons have sort of frozen into holding his legs straight. He only weighs 3 kilos too so he is quite light. He ended up being able to wobble onto his feet and run with his front end and the back end sort of bounces around behind him. A bigger, longer bodied dog would not manage this. Jasper is now all muscle at the front end and he can actually get up the single steps by throwing himself up from his shoulders. One step maximum, two would be impossible as he needs a runup. Jasper has never really been able to be toilet trained. He often does not know he is going. He is now 8 and he is getting bladder control. (Had that for a few years now) but he never knows when he needs to poo, his back end just starts to bounce around while he keeps doing whatever he was doing. He often lies down with his head on his front paws and is completely unaware that his back end is still standing up till it finally overbalances and tips over. At the age of six he finally scratched his own head with his back leg for the first time. Positives - I have a very happy, well adjusted little dog who does not know he is disabled. He just thinks he is a normal dog. I never had to get a wheelchair. Negatives - At 8, he occasionally has a back foot knuckle over now when he moves around so I have to start watching him for sores caused by dragging. He is messy. He is tiny so its only small messes and he does now go to the pee mat and the smell sort of triggers him to go himself. Going on command is never going to happen. This means lots of accidents in the house and that makes toilet training any other dog very hard due to the scent. I love Jasper dearly and he is a complete joy to have around. In retrospect though, the sensible thing would have been to euthanase. The chance that he would end up with the particular leg spasticity and rigidity that Jasper has is not guaranteed for any dog in his situation. A larger dog or a longer bodied dog would not get the same mobility as Jasper, even with leg rigidity. Jasper's tiny weight and small body mass / low centre of gravity all work in his favour. Jasper could have ended up bigger (mum is a cross and I don't know what with) and heavier and needing a wheelchair. In that situation I think he would not have had good quality of life due to the amount of time he would have been sitting around, not in the chair. Its a big gamble to take to keep them alive. I was just taken by this cute little tiny baby and put my own wishes first and thought of course I will save him. Not realistic but in Jasper's case turned out OK. I don't hink he will have a normal lifespan. He occasionally has days where he can't manage the single step and that will get worse I expect. I don't breed and all my dogs are desexed but if I were ever in the same situation I suspect I would euthanase. Jo