JulesP

Sorry! Itchy doggies really aren't a laughing matter! Bad Jules!

Ta! I started taking oil tabs myself but didn't notice a improvement in the hayfever. Bugger! I get contact allergy from grass too so know how the doggies feel! Luckily i don't get the urge to roll around on the lawn naked much!!!!

My pup has a contact allergy problem not food allergy. I fed him the Proplan sensitve just in case and have been so impressed with his coat that I have left him on it. It has also helped my older border with some mobility issues and her coat has improved too. Pup's coat is so nice that lots of people comment on it. Going by that I would have to say that the oil in the product is working. I had previously fed things like Innova, Evo and Eagle Pack so it is not like I went from Pal to the Proplan to get a obvious improvement in coat. He gets sardines too btw and other BARF stuff.

I get really bad hayfever myself and try to avoid going outside early morning (6-7ish) as the pollen rises then. It comes back down in the early evening (6-7pm!). You could try keeping your doggie inside then? Early morning is when I imagine even inside doggies go out for a wee! With the hayfever tablets I did have to constantly change them as they do stop working after a while. You could also try wiping doggy down with a damp cloth after he has been outside, to get any pollen off him.

As a stayer/wait user I am now interested to see if the doggies will stay put if I don't use that command. They don't tend to move until I give them the free command. Well the old girl doesn't

I am having the same issue. Pup is on Proplan sensitive so getting lots of fish oil there. I pulled up the wandering jew but he is still itcy, mainly on his tummy. It is obviously something in the garden and is probably grass! He loves having his costisone cream rubbed on! I might try him on the polaramine as well.

I would like to have a go too as long as the sheepies are ok!

This came up when I was doing my instructors course and the trend now seems to be that you aren't supposed to use the wait/stay words. I can understand the thought process that the dog should stay in the sit until given a new command but I use the wait/stay words! I guess it depends on how you train them from the beginning. I don't think that either way is wrong. I use the stay/wait as much for me as the dog!

Yahoooo!!!!! I am so pleased for you. Good boy Leo! :D

Can I ask a silly question? Are the sheepies ok with it all? I wanted to go but was a bit worried about the sheepies! I know they are only sheep but I don't want to distress them just so my pet border can have a go at herding! Oh and Leopuppy I was watching that vid thinking who is that noisey dog and then I heard the word Kinta!

Hi Alana! I used to buy Evo from that pet supply place near Bunnings & Saddle-Up. You could often get it on special. The Evo is a complete food so you don't need to add anything else anyway. Think I met your pup once at Glenbrae? Hope you get it sorted out soon. My itchy pup drives me nuts, he doesn't seem too bothered and loves having his cream rubbed on his tummy.

Evo has no grain at all. When I had a look around it was the only one I could find with none in it. I use Proplan Sensitive (Salmon based) for my itchy dog, it seems to help a bit but my pup's problem is more a contact allergy thing. The price of the Proplan is better than the Evo, so maybe give that a go.

Are you too far to go look at the pups? Could someone from here go and look at them for you?? I know it is tricky to buy from a photos/vid if you want the animal for a particular purpose. Is the pup going to be working/working or doing herding trials? I purchased my pup from a photo! I loved the breeding and was desperate for a pup as I had a very sad pining older border here. I love my pup, he is so much fun, but I couldn't care less if he never makes it in obedience as he is a pet first.

LOL maybe my sooky border might be good at herding then! He drives the cats nuts, is constantly rounding up furry native critters (actually carries them into the middle of the garden, drops them and then 'herds' the poor critters until I rescue them) and he likes to glare at the ponies! I actually nearly failed part of my obedience exam at dog school because I couldn't get him to play with his toy! Why would any self respecting BC want to play with a toy when all the other doggies were running around! He wanted to herd them all up :rolleyes:

I know absolutely nothing about herding but am interested why you would want a BC to be grabbing hold of the tug. BC's don't traditionally herd by biting. The puppy is keeping her eyes on the tug, she is moving her body as well. At the end she is stalking the tug.

I don't tend to train above the standard i.e. If doing Novice I only do Novice stuff. I don't start the dog in the level though until I am fairly confident of a pass. I don't go to win, am not that competitive. But good solid work meant my last dog did win. She would have been even better if it hadn't been for Mum shaking all through the trials! I don't like failing so don't tend to do the 'see how I go' thing. Last doggy I wanted her CD because I wanted to breed her. My nervousness meant I didn't enjoy trialling much so I did aim to get the CD in 3 passes. Have done alot of horse stuff since then so the nerves are a little better, lol. Training this pup just for fun.

Will do, but it sounds like everyone at the club has a staffy!

Well Brock was getting OK at this until class this week. We did an exercise that he was not ready for (well none of the dogs was ready for it as they all moved!) I went and got one of the trial people to help afterwards and got him back a bit again. Grrr. I am annoyed with myself as I knew I should not have done the exercise. I am in a rather feral class at the moment. I actually had a dog nearly knock me over by jumping on me during the sit stay! Brock of course broke his stay, just a little bit, distractions are good but that was a bit much!

Thanks for the info. I'll have to cruise down for a look the weekend after the long weekend.

Thanks shoemonster. Do you have to pass a certain level of obedience before you can go into the agility or trial class? Would you say that the obedience classes are aimed at pet people or people that want to trial or do they cater for both?

What is the class set up at Berwick? Is there a trialing class for Obedience?

Maybe look at how you return to doggie? Do you do a nice crisp halt next to him? If you do, you may be giving him the signal to sit with your body language. Does that make sense? In the video stuff I watched you do walk along nice and smartly so that might be a problem! I sort of walk softly/gentley when I do a return as against a firm foot down when I want a sit. Another thing I do is heel straight off rather than stopping next to the dog. That way the dog never knows what is going to happen. I started Brock off doing a sit & drop for exam before venturing to a stand and he did actually let me walk around him so that is an improvement! Still not a happy pup about though.

Brock is actually funny about his back end being touched, rather than his head. I am slightly suspicious about his hips but the vet has said to give him some time. So I am giving him lots of bum scratches at the moment!

That is what I was thinking Haven. Pup was only expected to do a 3 sec stand in the last class and in this one it is a loooongggg stand for exam. Yep agree Dogdude, if you want to trial you really need to watch what you do in class. I am a total pain in the arse about it! Actually one lady in class is not helping Brock's nerves as for some reason she keeps stepping on him! I try and avoid standing next to her but she moved next to me! May be rather firm with her next week if she does it again. Leopuppy he is flopping on the ground if you just walk past him too! Stand has been the dodgiest thing with my last 2 dogs, both borders. I wonder if it is a border thing? A dislike of standing? Or I am doing somethng wrong each time I was just practising saying the word 'stand' (I'm at home, don't worry!) and it is quite a hard word to say in a happy type voice! I wonder if I need to work on the stand command not sounding grumpy?? Pup really looks unhappy about standing. Ears and tail down and worried look in eyes.

Teaching Brock stand for exam at the moment and he is having some issues with it. He is not coping with being examined. He is a very soft dog but also super friendly. He is just flopping on the ground during the exam. He hasn't been happy standing in general. Very unstable in the stands. As he is so soft any sort of correction makes it worse, even saying Arrrr to him. Any cunning ideas?? I was thinking about doing a sit for exam until he was confident about being approached and touched. And doing a stand free without being touched until he was confident with the two different parts of it. And then putting them together. On the plus side Brock did his first off lead heeling and was a little star! I hadn't even trained it at home so was very impressed when he stuck to me like glue whilst weaving between dogs!!!