JulesP

It is funny to watch! They spit out the skin as well!

The dogs have been eating these plums for about 9 years. They are cherry plums so not very big. The dogs tend to spit the seeds out.

Mine seem to like all fruit & veggies, not keen on lettuce though. My puppy is eating plums off the tree at the moment, she jumps up to get them! She also sits and barks at the plums! :D

Fidos sells them. I have one and like it. I can do 3 border collies with no sore back. Not sure how sturdy they would be with a really big dog that didn't want to play!

Yes Lablover my boy was very soft as a puppy. Very obedient though and very clever.

I like the Proplan sensitive, the salmon one.

Thanks everyone. It is a bit hard to explain but I don't get the same feeling working with my 2yo male border that I do from the girls. He is good and would pass CD but any further will be an issue as he doesn't retrieve. He is quite good at agility but I don't think he will have the speed to be competitive or possibly to even pass! What he likes doing is being cuddled and just hanging out. He never looks like 'yeah we are training'. I loved working my older girl as her eyes just glow. Even now at 12yo and rather unsound she will rush out and do lovely work if I ask (including a lovely retrieve, lol). Then I got a puppy to show and did a bit of obedience and it was like OMG. There is this tiny dot of a puppy heeling along staring up at me! She loves it! As I am a bit time poor I am considering not continuing to train the boy but feel bad as he is good, just something is missing.

I was just showing someone how my puppy is going with her training. I don't have any of the usual treats so picked up a stick and had her doing beautiful offlead heeling, complete with right about turns. I was pretty impressed as she is only 18 weeks old. I love this puppy!

Have you ever decided to stop training your dog for obedience? What were the reasons that made you stop? I'm talking obedience for competitions, not just pet obedience, and the dog doesn't need training for manners

I would say mine both work to make me happy more than anything else. The food or toys are just a nice extra for them.

The dog I wanted to bring is the total opposite! Very well behaved but super soft. And rather lacking in prey drive, well he isn't with real prey but isn't into toys. Even the mildest vocal correction has him on the floor.

Cat kibble! Works especially well if you have cats and the dogs want to pinch their food!

Seville vets do washing too.

Petstock Lilydale has a self-use wash!

Some of the bags have had 'new & improved formula' on them. So yes I think it has changed.

Were I want to go walking is gravel paths. It is a very exciting place for puppies! Lots of different things to see. People, kids, bikes, prams, birdies, we had noisey toy boats last time too. She is fun to train, I am looking forward to dog school starting back up.

Yep she is a border collie. Is umm 16 weeks now. She is my 4th border collie. Borders 1 & 2 got walked from 8 weeks. Border 1 died at 15.5 years sound as a bell. Border 2 snapped a tendon chasing a horse so can't really relate that to walking. Border 2 didn't get walked but is super quiet. With training I am an instructor at my dog club so am following our normal program. She sits, drops & stands. Have just started to work on stays. Have taught touch and watch. Am working on heeling. Waiting for dinner, waiting to go through doors. And recalls. She loves her training!

She only had 1 30 min walk! She gets lots of off lead play as I live on acerage.

I trained Fern all off lead and she did go a bit weird when I first put the lead back on - was probably me being unco thu!

I did notice that people were playing cricket on the grounds, so quite a strong distraction. The other thing I forgot to say was - if you are going to do CCD then I would be training with a lead on. Funny how something like that can change a dog's work. If you are going to skip CCD ignore me!

The 10 min walk + training session is not doing it for this puppy! I've done that all week and she isn't as content as she was after the 30 min walk.

Nice prancey heeling I think the stand was your footwork. There seemed to be too many steps from you and your last footsteps were a sit-command.

Definately a good idea to find out from the breeder what they are feeding as you want to feed the same thing when you get the puppy. Changing the diet can cause upset tummies (at a time when tummies can be upset anyway). Then you need to decide if you want to go the raw or processed route. Lots of reading in the Health section about this. If you want to go the raw way then I suggest buying one of the books that explains how to do it. If you want to go the processed food way then I do recommend going for a premium dry food (so not Pal, super coat etc that you get from the supermarket). If you go to somewhere like Petstock you will find premium foods, they actually end up costing about the same as the supermarket ones anyway as you feed less. Good brands are Eagle Pack, Pro Plan, Advance, Royal Canin. If you go this way then it is a good idea to also feed puppy some bones. Chicken wings are great for puppies. You don't want the big hard marrow bones but rather softer meaty ones. These are fed raw btw. I feed my border puppy with a base of premium kibble and then add other things - eggs, bones, sardines, cottage cheese, mince, veggies. Baby puppies then to get fed 3 times a day.

Poppy definately has an off switch so that is good. I took to a show the other week and she spent most of the day laying watching quietly or asleep. I had to pick up and carry her back to the car and she didn't even open her eyes. Was pretty funny.

The dogs and horses get fed well...I eat Lean Cuisine! Too knackered after feeding all the pets to cook for me.