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With the towels being dried inside in Winter I've noticed my dog towels don't smell that clean and fresh. I'm washing them on the "muddy" setting on the washing machine with extra detergent. If they aren't washed straight away they are line dried and I wait until I have a load to do which is normally weekly to fortnightly. It could be my heap of sh*t washing machine but just wondering what others wash their dog towels, blankets and beds in etc?

A question for the obedience triallers - coats or no coats in cold weather? What about stays? Obviously you can't wear coats in agility but in cold weather I always make sure Darcy's rugged before and after a run, and she loves her coat. Her coat is stretchy but easy to move in - just wondering if there is any for and againsts for wearing one/not wearing one? It looks like it's going to be very cold

You will need to pack things as it a small hike to the rings. Last year we had to park on the side of the road as there is no true car park... They are working on this issue though. Also make sure that you rug up as it "windy hill" out there and alot of planes fly over too. What class have you entered Jess? And good luck too. I will be there all going well. Thanks Kallistar, and thanks for the tip about it being cold. ;) We're doing Novice. Good luck to you too.

http://www.artemispetfood.com.au/retailersvic.htm I use the Artemis grain free as training treats as well as having some on hand as a back up if I'm out of raw. Used to use the Innova Evo as a back up food but the last small bag I bought gave Darcy a belly ache, whereas neither dog has had issues with the Artemis. I got it from K9Katzkitchen on the list. Zee was reared on EP puppy and I was pretty happy with it, but I just prefer to feed raw. Darcy pretty much has to given she doesn't tolerate grain and the grain free products are way too calorie rich for potential fatties

I don't feed a lot of chicken JJ, Darcy ends up looking like the side of a house!! They get wings for brekky on the way to a trial but that's about it. I think what happened is the first few times I went in they had no bags ready so I asked for some, and the girls have picked me out some good bones from the boning bins. The past few times I've been in they've had heaps but of course you can't tell what they're like when they are double bagged. IGA here often has good bones but you have to be bloody quick. They have the best dino bones :cool:

Slight hijack - Is anyone familiar with the layout at this trial/club? How far is it from the carpark to the rings? Just wondering if I can go light or whether I have to pack everything? Thanks in advance :cool:

Thanks tlc - good to know!! I've been getting the bags from the Meat Barn which were good the first few times but the last few times I've ended up throwing over half of them out because they were way too small, too sharp/dangerous or just lumps of fat. I gave up on La Familiglia in the Main St because I got two bags that were off. I would rather pay more for a good bag of fresh, safe bones than $2 for a bag of crap that should've gone in the bin. :cool: I still go to Meat Barn though because their $7.99 bulk round steak makes great dog treats

I probably wouldn't. I trailled in agility at the Royal last year and didn't particularly enjoy the day. Enjoyed the demos we did but I think that was because we didn't have to deal with the pavillion for the day, or trying to get in and out of the pavillion with the crowds. Bitches are on the last day of the show this year, so you are likely to be judged on a ring that's not only been used for 10 days for show dogs but also as a toilet area at every available opportunity given the actual toilet area is tiny. The bait/food on the ground wouldn't bother Darcy, but being asked to work where umpteem other dogs have toileted certainly would.

I've got no doubt in the world it will be worth it, I found LOH brilliant and if Susan is as good then it will be awesome. The seminar itself is not bad, it's more the travel, accommodation and meals which are going to give the budget a kicking.

I possibly could if I wasn't in the office all day - given my office is located at a food manufacturing company I don't think it would look very good If I was out on the road it would be a different matter, but they'd spend nearly all day in the car and I'm sure they'd be much happier at home chewing on a bone and sleeping on the back deck until I get home.

We sell the 500g bags for $25.95 and it says on the pack you'd get 10 meals out of a 500g bag. Thank you!

Can anyone tell me what it's worth for the freeze dried stuff? I'm going away for about 10 days with the two dogs and taking their vegie mush and other stuff with me is not that easy an option given I'll only have an esky with me. What's the 500 g pack worth and how many feeds will it make for a 20 kg dog?

;) Bugger!! Poor Minty - so bloody hard when they're so active! Hope it all works out for her and you. Sending some healing vibes her way Glad to hear your both enjoying UD work though - I'll have to hunt you down elsewhere if you're not doing agility ;)

Lovely pics - so jealous of the weather!! Where were you walking and how long is that walking track? I'm always looking for different places to take the girls out on the bike and that looks perfect as long as it's long enough to make it worthwhile bringing the bike. Hope all goes well with the surgery Pandii

My hard core tracking mate Deb says to say hello ;) You'd be a lot further along with UD than me I didn't even think we'd ever get a Novice pass given how much damage I did in Darcy's early days of boring the beejezus out of her with endless paddock bashing at clubs. I did a full Open round with her last weekend and she did the lot, not scraping through but did it well, so now I'm thinking we might actually go further But I've just remembered someone who is trialling at UD now so I'm going to pick her brain next time I see her Hey isn't it always the handler!! And not one of those damn kelpies - man I only have two half bred kelpies and they are bad enough :D Wouldn't think so - come on Vegas get your butt into gear girl and get yourself up the duff!!!! Your Mum wants to come out and play!!! Looks like it was a beautiful day in W'bool today - I went to Ballarat and ended up cold and very damp.

Hi Superminty!! I'd forgotten you were doing UD, I will have to come and pick your brain next time I see you at a trial.

A Sunday arvo is fine by me. Tomorrow and the 27th I'm out but the 4th of July is free.

Is that for the dogs or their owners??

Thanks Retrieving is something that I'm pretty fussy about even though it doesn't sound like it above. Even in play, Darcy is expected to give me the toy into my hands, not drop it at my feet or spit it into my hands. She will hold a dumbbell for as long as I'll take to collect it from her. There is no sign of anticipation or mouthing the dumbbell at all and she hasn't dropped it in ages. You could argue it if you like, but you'd be wrong. Darcy absolutely loves to retrieve, she sees it as a huge reward. She learnt to retrieve well before I ever intended to trial her in obedience. Throwing an item (toy or whatever) out in front when she was seated or standing beside me was just one of the proofing exercises I did to work on her waits for agility when she was young. It took very little to add the formal retrieve to that. So therefore the release is actually to something she sees as a reward. I don't see it as being different to using a release command off an agility start line or an agility contact. EFS

Hell yes!!! Wish I could say I don't need it but I'll probably be it's biggest user Sounds good, will definitely do it when I can fit it around my trial schedule! :p As for biting, well I've survived the training thread so far so I should be right with you lot The dogs would love it but they play awfully hard, especially Zee, but they can always go back in the car if they get too over the top. Bloody agility dogs ;)

Wouldn't it be fantastic? A friend and I drove to Sydney for a seminar back in November, we had the entire facility designed and redesigned to the finest detail. We even had a cinema screen in the indoor for being able to watch training DVDs so we could replicate what was being done!! :D I'd hate to think how much money we blew but it was fun and definitely passed the time.

More questions from me on the finer points.. With the formal retrieve, I've never asked Darcy to wait before throwing the dumbell and I don't have a fetch command, I only use her release word (ok) with no hand signal. I also don't use a give command to take the dumbell as she will give it up fine. She doesn't break any of the above. I know all these things are listed as voluntary commands, but is there a chance I will get pinged by a judge who believes they should be used? Also UD work - is there any books/DVDs/other resources on learning UD stuff that people would recommend? I've got the scent work website that's been mentioned before

I probably would ;) But my next "out there" goal is learning UD stuff Scary given I don't know anyone remotely local who's trialled a dog at that level so it's a big one but I'm still going to give it a go. I have an agility mate who's a hard core tracker, she's always off doing tracking trials during the winter but she had gone as far as she could with both dogs, I think she was having a go at the new tracking title but I can't remember whether she got it or not. As for plenty of land around the indoor doggy centre - that's a given! I'm really not a fan of living in town. A few acres on the outskirts I could handle but Zee has an order in for her own flock of sheep as part of the deal and I think they'll need more than a few acres

Now Jess, I don't believe for one minute that you don't have time for tracking.... Theresa I think the guys who trial do their own training, and one trains with BDOC. I think they are all pretty experienced so a general training day might not be their thing, or they may not know about it. Not sure who the Inverleigh person is, all I know is she lives near the Cop Shop. Can't be that many people in Inverleigh who track, surely I wouldn't mind learning to track at some point, one day when I'm rich I'm going to follow the warm weather and the better daylight hours. Or just invest a few hundred thousand into a fully equipped heated indoor facility under lights, complete with a heated doggy pool.

I've had the same thing, people won't travel 15mins to the next available puppy school class I recommend. A lot of people from my clinic in Doncaster (almost Nth Balwyn) wouldn't travel to the club I was working at in Kew- too far! I think the difference is people probably have choice in the city. There's a puppy school available at so many places and your average pet owner possibly thinks they are doing a pretty good job in even taking their puppy to puppy school, let alone bothering to find and "travel" to a good one. Out here you don't have much choice at all, you might be lucky to even find one running at the ideal time for your puppy to go. You start getting picky about which training place you're going to and you better get used to the idea of travelling... :D