piper

Anyone in SA thinking of any of the Ausse Dog range, Joe has a stand at the Adelade Pet Expo this weekend. He usually has some good expo special prices when he is here. Turbo Chook is a favourite in our house as well. Mine is 4 years old and going well, Jazz (7 months old) goes mental over it daily and even though it was already old and worn it is holding up to her extremely vigorous play. My Home Alone is currently sitting unused as we have nowhere in the new house to attach it but they all liked playing with it when it used to be up before we moved. I got them interested by putting some food in and initiating a game of get the tug with them and they quickly worked it out. And they also know that a single hard tug and let go so the ball bounces around is far more effective at food releasing than lots of little tugs. Most of the time i didn't bother putting food in though and they, Piper in particular, would still play with it.

Thank you BC In this case I will definitely order some! Mine also LOVE them. Definitely class them as a raw meaty bone, well where I get them from they are as they are still really meaty. A friend finds they are too rich for her dogs and they get soft stools from them so you may just want to keep an eye on that. Not a problem I have ever had with mine though.

My very teeny tiny brag is Jazz had her first night of proper training tonight (she is 7 months but there has not really been any training around here for last 2 or 3 due to Xmas breaks and heat etc) and her very slack owner had no big expectations as she has done hardly anything with her. Lucky Jazz didn't know that and was so good - really focussed, some lovely short bursts of close, head up heeling, a nice recall and some little stays. Quite happy with her effort.

Well with it being 35 degrees here today, raw chicken livers in my bait bag didn't appeal. And as it is puppy training for first time at a club I wanted high value. It worked well - made it less squisky and gross, and it was definitely high value - even lost some skin when she grabbed some! And she doesn't normally snatch. Certainly kept her attention though - she couldn't have cared less about the dogs around us

I think it mentioned raw. Jazz has her first night of "proper" training (ie: actually going to a club to do a class) tonight and I have just packed a bait bag with: diced sweet potato, diced apple, some left over steak chopped up, some eagle pack holistic select (when you feed raw they think tht stuff is fantastic! lol) and some very lightly cooked (microwaved about 1 min so not sloppy) chicken liver. Hopefully that lot will hold her attention sufficiently. I actually found for showing I can't use the super interesting stuff or she is too busy watching me and ends up crabbing, so I hope we should get good attention for heelwork with high value rewards.

I bought the Blackdog mini treat bag to use when showing as well and had the same problem - the clip thingy falls off. I have used it just once and decded it was too much hassle so now make sure I have pockets. When doing obedience and agility though I used to like the Terry Ryan treat bag - have had mine for years now. I also had a Blackdog 1 that I got ages ago and the clasp broke after only a few uses. I was told he had a problem with them for awhile and the new 1s are fine, I got mine probably 4 years ago now so am sure it is sorted out now given the number of people that use and recomend them.

Also over here some have been known to put in the schedule that if temperature is considered too hot then start will be delayed an hour. This happened for the New Years Eve trial when it was a 40 + day. I know that when I was at a trial once and they decided to postpone the start due to it still being too hot there were no complaints. So as to keep this on topic - small brag, Jazz got Baby of Breed the other night. The only baby there mind you! lol. The real brag though is that she actually gaited properly on lead, as opposed to attempting to do kangaroo impersonations as she did last time. Only this time she forgot how to stand So my next aim is to get standing AND moving right on the same day!

I dont reside in your state so I cant help you with a physical puppy school, but I highly recommend the new Puppy D.V.D. Pet or Pest by Val Bonney. Brisbane. It is a great D.V.D. covering birth, 1st 7 weeks of a puppies life, and then what you can expect from a puppy class. I know she has her D.V.D.'s and the book "Who's the Boss"? on ebay. The book will tell you why the dog does the things it does and how to go about preventing problems before they even arise. This is equipment every dog owner should have. Bonmedia. Just curious - how much connection is there between "Bonmedia" and Val Bonney - seems to be a few posts you have made promoting her products and I thought that 1 of the rules of the forum was no self promotion? (pleasee note my comments have nothing to do with the products as I haven't seen or read the DVDs and books mentioned) Apologies if I am wrong - just seems a bit of a coincidence with the user name and nature of the post...

I have 1 from the BARF shop and love it! No hassles with it at all. I decided on that model as a friend has had 1 for awhile now and also had no problems and highly recommended them

Looking good ;) My main comment would be pace - I think someone else said it - go abit quicker. It looks like Kinta wants to. I used to do the same with Piper and she looked so much smoother when I upped my speed a fraction. Where you did your fast pace - that could nearly be your normal pace as appeared to me to be a lot smoother there and it wasn't a huge increase in speed from what you were doing anyway. Overall though, very impressive. You should be proud.

This book is written by an Australian autor and deals with how to approach dogs: "Can I Pat That Dog?" A non-fiction picture book that aims to teach children how to behave safely around dogs and thereby hopefully reduce the risk of being bitten. 'Learning how and under what circumstances to approach a dog are vital lessons for your child. It can mean the difference between a lifelong love of animals or a lifelong fear. This book provides children with an excellent introduction to understanding dog behaviour' - Dr Hugh J Wirth, AM, KSJ, BVSc (Melb), FAVA - Veterinarian and President, RSPCA Australia The text takes children through a series of situations in which it would be inadvisable to pat a dog, and then teaches them how to pat a dog correctly and how to deal with situations in which dogs can get out of control. Ages 4-8 http://www.harpercollins.com.au/global_scr...isbn=0207200149 I have seen it for sale in Big W here in SA as well as Angus and Robertson.

If you are heading north along South Rd, you go past Brickworks then Radio Rentals and it is on your left before the next set of lights. It is a yellow (I think) building, set back from the road a bit.

Where abouts in Adelaide? There is a butcher on South Rd, near the Brickworks Markets that is a Halal Certified butcher. I think it is called Rainbow Meats. Anyway due to the fact that they cater for a diverse clintele they usually have an excellet range of RMBs and offal available. A friend and I were driving along 1 time and saw a sign saying "Free dog bones" so went around the block and came back - to raw feeders that is an offer too good to pass up. We were both impressed with the wide range of meats and the good prices that they had. Unfortunately they are too far away to go to regularly for me but whenever I am down that way I tend to stop in. It has probably been 6 months since I stopped in there but we used to be able to get lamb and beef necks, chicken carcasses, hearts, livers, turkey pieces, occasionally goat. Basically anyting except pork. Often stuff wasn't on display and we would ask "what other bonees with lots of meat have you got?". And we have both also found when we have gone there that an older guy that is there is usually better to talk to as he disappears into the cool room and reappears with all sorts of good stuff. Down south there is Rural Pet Meats at O'Hallorhan Hill - they have roo, lamb, pork, beef and chicken bones at good prices. I am in the northern suburbs and have not found anyting locally as good as either of these 2 places. If I had a deep freezer I would make a regular trip to the guy on South Rd. eta: The place on South Rd would also cut bones to size for us - so if the lamb or beef necks were too big we could get them cut into 1/2 or 1/4 which is good when trying to manage weight on a dog.

Try "weaning" them off of it, if it concerns you. Maybe keep back 1/4 of their food to use at that time and ask for some behaviours before giving it, or alternatively stuf it into a kong so that they get a different type of mental workout emptying it. And as they get used to being fed through the day reduce the amount at night. Or you can just change over cold turkey and put up with the looks you get after dinner. lol

Ian Dunbar recommends getting rid of the food bowl and feeding by hand or through Kongs etc. So I see nothing wrong with the days calorie intake being fed through training. As long as the dog is still getting a quality, balanced diet which you indicate your pup is getting.

Same. I love it. Not sure the dogs do - they get more baths now cos it is so easy to use

Well we are hoping she takes after her Dad more so than her Mum. She certainly shows signs of wanting to work things - does lovely little flanks around the ose when I am watering so I have now started popping a directional cue on when she changes direction. Then if I sop in 1 place with the hose she drops to watch. lol Glad you enjoyed the clinc. I have a herding committee meeting tonight and am going to try and push for some clinics, even if it means I do the work setting them up. I want to get more experience with different people and hear and see some of the many different ways there are. I would love to see Colin in action, having heard so much about the wonderful things he has managed with different dogs.

This was similar to an incident I had. Not kicked out as such but I recommended further assistance before returning - vet behaviourist recommended euthanasia. This puppy would even attack the owners to the point they were afraid to go out in their own yard and he was all of 11 weeks old. Other than that I have always done my best to work with everyone there - I have also asked parents to in future bring a second adult or leave the children at home if they were unable to suitabley supervise child(ren) and puppy but I always did this after the class in a discret way and explaind it was for their benefit as well as everyone elses. And given my work background whch is in the education department I have been known many a time to tell the child to sit down and be still way more effectively than the parent could. lol

And it is worth being excited about ;) Clinic is going well then? I am hanging out to get Jazz back on sheep, she is likely to be 5 months before I can try her again. I was hoping to give her a bit more exposure while she was young but life hasn't allowed that to happen. Ah well.

My guys are fed a raw diet but 1 of mine used to at times get bad breath and it was usually when he was having tonsil problems. Sometimes I think he had just found something gross to chomp on When Reagan had problems with his tonsils we would get the bad breath, and he wouldn't go off his food as such but if you watched him he seemed to have a bit of trouble swallowing at times. Also the bad breath idn't go away after a few hours or a day as it did when he had consumed something vile.

Ticks are not an issue in SA. As for what products they recommend - it seems to depend on what the clinic mostly stocks. Or is some cases (I used to run the training componenet at some puppy preschools with a vet nurse doing the health stuff) who is "sponsoring" the puppy classes. At 1 clinic we would have revolution to be included in the puppy packs and at another Advantage. So even if they prefer 1 over the other if they have been provided with free product samples for clients they are more likely to encourage that 1 over another brand. As for what to use - use what works for you and your dog. After several years of lisening to different talks at different clinics it is what I decided is the best course of action. From what I know though if you have a current flea infestation then sentinel would not be the best choice, once under control though it works well to break the breeding cycle.

My old boy Reagan went through a phase of this when he was 3 or 4 years old (at a guess, he is 13 now so hard to remember for sure! :D ) I remember it was really hard to work out what to do as sometimes it would be a couple of months or more without it happening and then there might be 2 or 3 incidents in a week, and as far as we ever worked out only at night time. When we spoke to the vet he was a bit unsure as well, as it is normally a female thing. He had not recently been desexed or had any infections or anything so no apparent cause for it. We couldn't work out any pattern as to when it happened. The vet ended up deciding to give him a low dose of hormones. Apparently this is what they do with some bitches that have the issue. He had to have something like a half a tablet twice a week for about 4 weeks. He said if that didn't work then he would seek further information. But of course as it was so infrequent it was about 6 months before we knew for sure. Whether it was the hormone tablets or he just grew out of it/got over whatever was causing it, it has not happened again since. Now we are just staring to get some old dog incontinence - gets a bit like having a pup around. If he knocks on the door to go out, you better get there quick cos he needs out NOW. lol Good luck with working it out. Hopefully it is as easily resolved for you as it was for us, and yes it is very annoying when it happens.

Kristen your State rep should have got a copy of the new rules we were all sent them a while ago and I remember her email asking if someone could send her one. I got mine sent to me as I represented Queensland in the rules review. The new rules should be available soon I will check to see when they will be going on line Tracey Hmm interesting. She definitely said last night that she had not received them but it should be soon. And glutton for punishment me went back on committee!

Hmm we had a herding meeting in SA tonight. Not a rules meeting - just the AGM but I asked about the new rules and was told they would be out soon. ANKC approved them in October so they should be out sometime soon. Having said that thought our state rep said she still has not received her copy and apparently they get them first? She also said they asked for them to go on the ANKC webpage when they are available but are not sure if they will. SO maybe keep an eye out there. I was told that as a judge I would be sent a copy but Im not holding my breath on that!

My other half went to the RAAF air show and took my SLR a few weeks ago. He rattled off over 800 shots while he was there on 1 battery. I do carry a spare with me but I only go that because i was going overseas on holidays so wanted to know I had 1 with me if I needed it. I got the spare off of Ebay for a fraction of the price from the shops and have had no problems at all with it. I am trying to think back to when we were awa - I don't think they ever ent flat, I would take the battery out at night and put it onto charge but I don't recall ever having to swap batteries during the day due to it going flat. Might have, just don't remember it. edit to add: of course using flash will reduce amount of shots you get too. I hardly use my flash at all so not sure by how much it reduces the shots they last.