superminty

Currently liking these guys http://www.barruworkingkelpies.com/Barru_Working_Kelpies/Barru_Working_Kelpies.html The breeder was easy to talk to and keen to talk about his dogs and helpful when I said I was after a dog for agility. Haven't seen any of his dogs in person yet though - hoping to get a chance to see them next year some time. Those dogs sound nice Kavik - I would be very interested to hear what you think of them in person (so to speak). eta - another WKC registered dog that really struggles with life in the suburbs If a working dog didn't have an off switch, it would not last long on the farm! So I actually find working bred dogs fit well into suburban homes, provided they get the same mental stimuation that ANY dog should get in suburbia.

I have no idea what type of plum tree? It is two trees and the dogs have never touched them before. We have lived here over 10 years. You have probably been very lucky with your dog. It is a great cause for concern for some dog owners though according to our vet and for us now with Bella. I would have never expected this, ever. Bella's poo was terrible for an active healthy girl. At one stage we thought she had two issues going on at the same time. Stroke and a tummy upset. None of it made sense though really as she was hydrated and had no temp, no sign of infection etc. So the two were not connected with stroke or tetanus. She had the signs and symptoms of both stroke and tetanus or being poisoned in some regard though I know that is not possible as they only spend time in the yard supervised. Was not expecting plums though. Drooling, listless, the strangest eyes I have ever seen, muscle spasm and tightness including her jaw. Not eating at all and just 100% off altogether. She just could not move or function at all and it has been scary for us. Sounds terrible Minty does have an iron constitution, and my other dog won't touch them, so we may have just been lucky. I was just wondering whether the different types of plum have different levels or something. Blood plums are dark red inside. There are also those red skinned, yellow fleshed plums, and I am sure many other varieties.

What kind of plums were they? We have a blood plum tree - Minty eats kilograms of them each year, including the pips (although she doesn't chew the pips, they come out the other end whole ), and we've never had a problem, other than the disgusting poo!

Minty stole a chicken satay out of someone's hand at the dog park Christmas party a few years back. Worst part of it was that she was the only dog with obedience titles

Absolutely devastating

Being a kelpie (water sprite), Cash loves water. Some of my favs

Well, I survived the trial Blew our first duck run, I was so nervous I couldn't think straight so we bombed at the Z. But got it together for our next run and scored 90. No major faults, just minor point deductions here and there. Need to do a lot more work with ducks, it's been a long time since we've trained seriously on them. But I think we're almost ready for intermediate. Sheep runs - he bolted in the first run as we approached the peg - you'll see me chasing him down in the video but he settled well after that (except for one little slice before the C post - also on the vid). Second run started much nicer. I even attempted a little driving in spots with mixed success. All in all, I was happy with how he worked, considering I made a bit of a hash of giving commands (gotta sort out these trial nerves!). No scores as cards are being held over til tomorrow, but the run in the video apparently scored 93.5, including a 5 mark penalty for misbehaviour, so would've scored 98.5 had he started properly!

My agility dog did a cruciate while trialling - probably small tears til it went completely, so she had scar tissue built up around the joint that supported it to some extent. I didn't notice anything much was wrong, just that she was limping slightly on and off. She was 8 years old when the limping first started. Treated it with stem cell therapy and Pentosan (ongoing) and she trialled for about another 6 months with no problems, but then started limping again, so I retired her rather than risk her doing more damage to the current injury or doing the other one. I decided that I would rather have her injury and pain free in the future than continue with agility, given the risks involved. Agility is after all just a sport. She's now doing everything she used to do as a young dog, although I am more careful with the type of toy play she does. I miss agility but would rather a healthy, happy dog well into old age.

Just did my entries for the amenities trial Feel sick already I'm doing started A sheep and ducks to assess where we're at with regards to entering intermediate next year. Had a ripper day training yesterday. Apart from working some lovely dogs - including 4 Bouviers (wow, what great dogs!) - Cash managed his first real drive of 5 sheep. I flanked him a quarter of the way around and asked him to turn in and walk the stock past me, then told him to "take em" and let him drive til they hit the fence - probably only about 5 metres or so, but he did it a number of times and only once blew through and fetched them back to me. So proud of my crazy fetching monster! Especially as there was a girl in season somewhere nearby and he lost his brain for a while there (despite having no nuts, he still acts like a total boy ). Then did a quick run on ducks coz it's been a while and he did some lovely inside flanking to drive them up and down the fence line. Weasels - I find the same thing happened to Cash on ducks - he lost some of his previous listening ability when he was starting out - wouldn't take direction, stop or recall away, but he seems to be able to multi task well enough now to listen to what I am asking him to do

Well done GayleK and Shae! Being able to keep a cool head really makes a difference. I am going to test my trialling brain out at the VHA amenities trial been a while since I trialled last...

I know! I am so hoping she will stay like that but obviously it's very early days. It's one of the things I am most excited about Go on...join the dark side Don't tempt me I know very little about BCs, but in kelpies, we tend to have "line" (or yard) dogs - dogs that can walk into pressure and hold a line, but have to be taught distance, and "flanking" (or paddock) dogs - dogs that have lovely distance and read their flight zone well, but struggle sometimes to walk in on pressure. Do you know if this happens with BCs too? I have worked with some lovely wide flanking kelpies recently but trying to get them to walk in on pressure is hard! Your girl looks quite happy to do both at this stage! Very exciting.

Nice distance off the stock! Maybe I should get a BC next....

Yay, go Bronte and the Renster. Did Bronte find it easier at KCC without having that draw to the pen? Re: recall - I have the opposite problem with Cash, I have no recall except for off stock...

She means the dog is getting to balance but rather than turning in and applying pressure at balance, she is continuing to flank around the sheep - so she ends up in the wrong position to take the sheep where her handler wants them.

Go Bronte 94.5 is a very nice score!

But it's not unfair at all Inconvenient for you, yes. Annoying, yes. Unfair, no. I too find it inconvenient when I go to the park and find a cricket/soccer/footy game in progress. But it's a public park, they have the right to use it just as I do so I just move on.

I am baffled that you are baffled If they set up a BBQ at a park with 100 dogs running around in a small space, then that's baffle-worthy. But a large park, a dog here and there - wouldn't put me off setting up my BBQ. My mum is scared of dogs. She takes one of mine out walking and to parks. She has no problem with dogs being in those parks, provided they leave her alone, or at least don't jump on her/harrass her for attention. She trusts other people to respect her space and keep their dogs away and if they don't, they get told off! And she gives a good telling off Is it baffling that she takes my dog to parks then? Why shouldn't she? It's good that you respect other people's space and decisions - more of that and the world would be a better place. But you seem to have a sense of entitlement about park access. Remember - it's not a "dog park". You are allowed to have your dogs off leash there by the good graces of the council, but it's a public space.

Not saying there was a rule. Just pointing out that a group of people who don't own dogs, majority of them are scared of dogs will have a bbq at a off leash park (with signs around saying it's an off leash dog area). There are rules that dogs are on leash around those kind of BBQ area, around play ground etc. But, this is a park that doesn't have that. These people bought their own gear, and set up seeing dogs running around off leash. They didn't own a dog and are scared of them. Would you seriously have a BBQ in a place like that? And, to think that ALL dogs will leave you alone. With all the meat, food and yummy stuff all out on tables? And there is no BBQ facility or even a picnic bench around, will you have a bbq there? Off leash parks are limited as it is and there are so many other parks that has all the BBQ facilities, why not go to there? I get what you're saying, just don't see the problem is. They weren't doing anything wrong, they are just as entitled to use that public space as you are. I wouldn't set up a BBQ in a place like that, but maybe they simply didn't realise the consequences? Not everyone is savvy about how people use off leash dog parks i.e. little control - not saying this is you, but in my experience, the majority of people at a "dog park" have no control (in Vic at least it is a requirement to have effective off leash control if you want to have your dog off leash - I can count how many people I have come across that have that on one hand). If I did decide I wanted to have a BBQ at the off leash park, I would expect dogs to leave me alone. Or for their owners to recognise their dog's limitations and do something about it. I don't let my dogs run up to people having picnics in my local park and I expect the same level of courtesy.

Never heard of a public "dog park". Last I heard, there are public parks that you are allowed to have your dog off lead, that's all. No rule saying people have to like/own/respect dogs to use a public park where dogs are allowed off lead. It's your responsibility to have your dog under control at such parks. If your dog checked out my BBQ at a public park, I'd be having a go at you. After I chased the dog off, that is.

Wow, go Jess and Darcy!

I have visions of me failing runs because I said "No, stop" too many times coz he wouldn't get his eyes out when casting! Going to have a go casting in the B course paddock shortly before deciding whether to enter B course sheep at the VHA trial in September. I figure I don't need solid sides for that coz it's all fetching so I won't be stuffing up my training. Only issue is whether he can find the sheep in the big paddock! Might decide the cows next door look like more fun

I used to be the only one trialling with a kelpie before the kelpie people got wind of ANKC herding Rotties are traditionally a herding breed but it is pretty unusual to see Rotts trialling as they haven't been in the herding game that long, in Vic at least. Weren't they only recently accepted onto the list of acceptable breeds? I've been trialling for around 5 years and this year is the first to have Rotties trialling that I know of. I think people's perception is that Rotties are predominantly being a guarding breed, so they will do a double take when you mention them doing herding. Most dog people I talk to who aren't into herding (and even some who are) are pretty surprised they are such good workers and so gentle (usually) on their stock. Much more than a lot of BCs and kelpies going around!. Edited coz I can't spell

Not trialling here either, but I went along on Sat to watch. Yes, one of our rotties did exceptionally well, pretty much scooped the pool! He and his handler have come a long way and have only been in the sport for about a year. He is a lovely worker! The rotties are really taking off down here in herding, some lovely working dogs going around. Entries were a bit down this year, perhaps due to recent clinics with our overseas clinicians means people are holding back on entering trials until their dogs are really ready - well, that's my excuse anyway Maybe next year...although I said that last year too...

They are beautiful cows - well, calves really, they were still quite small when we started on them. It's more the work that is ugly

My first post has my boy on ducks a while back. Don't have any trial runs on video. I do have some footage on cattle but no way am I posting it He and I still have a lot to learn about working cattle.