Mornir

I agree with most of the above, but just wanted to add that 5-10 minutes is probably too long, especially for a pup. REALLY short, like ad break length short. Good luck, clicker training is awesome :rolleyes: and well done on making the switch from punishment to reward training

oh wow! we look great!!! Thanks PC! In the first pic I'm trying to block Annie's escape as she trys to dart out and around the second jump!

Thanks! It was FULL ON! Safe to say that we didn't quite know what we had gotten ourselves into! hehe But we are out the other side now and can't wait to go back Our casual training sessions on a Sunday for the past 5 years is a much more relaxing way to do flyball, but just not as fun! ha!

I think it is FABULOUS that these two are getting married at a flyball comp. It's absolutely adorable. I met these two, I'm sorry LilBailey I can't remeber your name!! Gorgeous couple and what a wonderful idea to celebrate your big day with the people, pooches and pastime that you love the most. Good luck to you both and I hope it is a wonderful day and best wishes for your marriage

wowee! thanks everyone! I wish I had thought to check out DOL before we went over! I could have finally put faces to names! oh well, I was a bit caught up in all the excitement of getting over there! We arrived home this morning and boy I have slept almost all day (as have the pooches)! We had an absolute blast and can't wait to do it all again! We are so thrilled that our doggies all got their FDs. It's very exciting for us because we have no comps here, so it's rare for a tassie dog to have an FD! All up I think each dog got 9 points on Sunday. So only 11 more until we get the next title It was great to meet you Possumcorner, you are lovely and thanks so much for getting some pics of us, every member of the team is thankful and commented on how wonderful you are Thanks to everyone that came and said hello and made us feel so special, everyone was just so lovely, welcoming and helpful. You have all given us so much to think about and we know we have some work to do to get our doggies up to scratch (especially my naughty Jamesy!) and now we have an idea of how to go about it! We'll be taking to training with great gusto now!! And if anyone knows what T'Keilor put in that fabulous punch I wanna know! haha I think there is talk of coming up in November for the 2 dayer, but it will all depend on our revenue raising capabilities as it cost in the vicinity of 2-3k to come over. And of course we are going to plan a comp in good ol Tassie next year. It's all up in the air at the moment but it will probably be around March. Thanks again and we'll see you all next time! Katinka

If it were me, I'd definitely be seeing my regular vet about this. I personally think some vets operate uneccessarily. It can be tricky with cruciate ligament/luxating patella because no action could make things far worse, but please see your regular vet about it. My dog Ricky did his knee late 2006. I took him to see a vet and was advied that surgery was his only option. Various other dog people told me the same thing. I took him back to my vet who I love and trust and he told me that Ricky's limp wasn't bad enough to operate on, that he'd probably be worse after surgery. He devised a plan for us which involved limited activity (no flyball, agility, fetch or anything involving running and sudden stopping or twisiting), lots of straight line walking (I taught him to walk on a treadmill and he did 10 minutes of very slow walking every day or when we could) and some weight bearing stuff - pulling on lead DOES have some benefits! At first it was hard to see an improvement but after a few months he was back to normal and after 8 months he was back doing flyball and agility and general running about like a moron. A dog at my dog school had surgery mid last year to repair a cruciate ligament after being attacked. She still can't walk properly. The ligament that they put in is very tight and has to be stretched and loosened. IMO this dog should not have been operated on she barely had a limp, she rarely uses the leg now and mostly carries it. I'm so glad we used physio to get Ricky fixed up rather than surgery. It took time and a lot of work as we basically had to build up the muscle that runs down beside the knee to hold the knee cap in place because the ligament was no longer going to be able to do it (ligaments don't retighten once they're stretched) but it was certainly worth it. I certainly suggest discussing it with your vet, not all dogs are as lucky as Ricky, but IMO a lot are operated on uneccessarily.

Try this one: http://www.agilitydogclubofsa.org.au/trialcalendar.htm or http://www.saca.caninenet.com/documents/Co...f_SHOWS2007.doc Looks like there is a championship show in Mt Gambier in Oct, but not an agility trial. Check out the links anyway, not being from SA means I could be missing one close by

I'm sorry, but I can't comment much on this one, other than to say that each instructor is different and I have no doubt that some would be good in this case, and others not so good. Best thing would be to contact them personally and discuss with them. My fave instructors are Dot and Greg. I reckon Greg would help you a LOT. I have heard of some clubs where your dog can wear a special coloured jacket to show it needs space or whatever, but I haven't seen this done at HCOC. I have never heard of alpha rolling being used at our club. They focus on positive training mainly. They are a separate training club to Eastern Shore but I have never been there so have no idea what they are like. Your best bet is to come along and watch and then speak to an instructor. If you know in advance, let me know and I'll keep an eye out for you so that I can point out the good ones

oh dear Fang. I too used their services around this time last year. After that one month I switched to HCOC and I have been there almost a year You may need to see a behaviourist (sp) Not sure we have any in Tas. Damn it, if I had have continued with my science degree I could be one! ETA: perhaps you could contact Dr Debbie Calnon at Delta. SHe is an animal behaviourist and while she may not be able to help you, she may know of someone here who can. http://www.deltasocietyaustralia.com.au/behaviorists.htm

Try to restrict his jumping, sudden stopping (ie full run to a stop) and twisting. This will help prevent joint injuries while your pup is growing. If he is anything like my Ricky YOU will need to enforce the rest rather than wait for him to be sore enough to stop himself. Ricky will play fetch until he can no longer walk if I let him. He also shows no pain etc but he has luxating patellas.

There is a shot at 16 weeks from memory. Just don't let your dog anywhere where unvaccinated dogs may have been It's ok to meet people, but if they have unvaccinated dogs or come into contact with them, ask them to wash their hands first :D

Sounds like they like the sound of their own voices :D Exercise will help. Perhaps walk them to a local park each morning, let them have an off lead run (if that is an option) and do a few minutes worth of obedience with them? Then leave things for them during the day. kongs, treat ball home alone toy etc. Sandpit with toys and treaties hidden in it? They won't know they've found everything, they'll keep looking Having said that. I have no idea what you currently do. Would you mind telling us what you do now?

I fed my guys on supercoat for the first year of their lives, I couldn't cope with all of the poo and the stinky farts so I swapped to a BARF diet in the end. Less poo that is firmer and smaller and vanishes in a few days. Still some farts though But NOTHING like they were on Supercoat. This is not the first post I have seen re supercoat and abundance of poo!

I'd trap the cat too. You could always say to your neighbours: "The ranger told me that the cat coming into my property is not yours afterall, but a stray, so we are going to rent a trap to trap the cat and then it can be found a decent home, so there shouldn't be any barking problems after that" If it is a stray then that's cool, but id it is theirs then they will hopefully do something about it. Doesn't make you look like a meanie either

Great news H20!!! Glad it is all going so well! Marica Yep that sounds right. this is called 'charging the clicker' it means that you click and the dog goes 'wow I did something good, now where's my reward' Good clicker site to learn more: http://www.clickersolutions.com/