huski

Have you called and spoken to the trainers you are considering? Actually talking to them to see if you have a good rapport and if they answer your questions in a way that you are comfortable with, can help make the decision as to which one to choose.

It is tricky for sure. I can't comment from a personal experience perspective on All About the Dog training as I've never used them, but I do train with K9 Pro, and there's no one else I'd go to for a behaviourial consult if I lived in Sydney.

They sound like a boarding/training facility? Sooooooo not my cup of tea. I'm not really a Cesar fan myself. ETA: Their 'security alert' training sounds a bit suss.

Definitely a puppy for me, my next dog will be bought to do dog sports with and I want to put a lot of the right work into it during its critical development period. That's not to say that adult dogs or rescues can't be trained to do dog sports well, they totally can, but I think sometimes your job can be easier if you train what you want from very early on (in theory of course)

Thanks so much everyone for all your thoughts. Daisy is home now, the vet has taken out some of the stitches to take the pressure off but he said it may be a couple of days until the swelling goes down. We'll just have to watch her a lot more now because the wound is a bit more open. Mum went out and bought Daisy a new bed, and a sheepskin blanket, and she is now sitting on both in front of the fan (our house is so hot at the moment I can't bare to crate her). I got her some chewy dried treats to keep her occupied (that's a big treat - I don't ever feed dried chewy things as a rule). Back to the vet possibly tomorrow and definitely on Monday to change the bandage and check on the progress. The vet has been really great and helpful, so fingers crossed that she will make a fast recovery. She will be out of action for at least two weeks (best case scenario). She can't walk on the leg at all at the moment ;)

Doubt I will be coming now after the complications with Daisy's surgery I just want to stay home and look after her tomorrow.

Thanks everyone Mason, they did have a layer of cotton between her leg and the bandage, sorry I'm probably not making much sense at the moment. I don't think it's swollen anymore since it was when she was rushed to the vet yesterday, but it definitely hasn't decreased at all either. Though it would be hard to imagine it being any bigger than it is now. I can't even describe how awful it looks.

I have not been able to stop crying since I left her at the vets, she was so distressed about it once the bandage came off, I am so worried about her and I'm scared about what might happen to her paw, it's been swollen for more than 24 hrs now

Daisy went in to have a sebaceous cyst removed from just above her back paw on Thursday. Yesterday (day after the op) she had to be rushed to the vet because her paw had swollen ten times it's normal size in a short period of time. The vet took the bandage off as it had become quite tight which is what they thought had caused it to swell. They bandaged it back up loosely, gave her some pain killers and sent her home. She seemed fine last night and wasn't irritated by the paw at all, I just took her back to the vet to have the paw checked and bandage changed and as soon the bandage came off she went nuts, the paw was still completely swollen and hadn't gone down at all since yesterday. It was the most awful thing I've ever seen, it was hard to believe it was real her paw was so huge and red. I had to leave her there, they are taking out her stitches or something to check something with the vein that they think might have pressure on it from the surgery (I was so upset I am having trouble remembering exactly what he said). I'll know in a couple of hours if there's been any improvement please cross your fingers and paws for my little baby.

I often train at our local sport ovals, or our obedience club grounds. Daisy used to have a pretty bad barking problem, especially if I wasn't training her. Crating her helped that A LOT, now she goes in her crate in between training sessions and I don't hear a peep out of her. Her barking during training has decreased (not 100% gone because I slacked off but I'm being a lot stricter now) because I simply would not allow it. She used to bark during stays, but she soon learnt that barking would end the training session and would remove any opportunity for her to earn the reward. I found that in some instances where she was barking during training it was because I hadn't corrected it and she thought that was part of how she got the reward.

Totally agree with the above. Sending the dog away for someone else to train won't help you learn to handle him. ETA: Personally I'd never board and train my dogs unless it was with a trainer I trusted explicitly, and even then, I'd need a damn good reason to do it as I think the most important thing is that I learn how to train my dog not have someone else do it for me.

Thanks everyone! Well it's turned out to be a bit of a traumatizing experience, way worse than the first cyst we had removed a few months ago. The skin was really tight and hard to stitch up because of where the cyst was, we were very lucky to have removed it before it go any bigger. Because of this Daisy needed to have a bandage on her foot/paw. She was really irritated by it and kept trying to bite at it to take it off, somehow it tightened and became like a tourniquet and within 30 minutes her paw swelled up to six times its normal size. THANK GOD my mum was home and rushed her to the vet, the poor little bugger was in excruciating pain by the time they got there and was crying so much mum couldn't bear to be in the room with her while they took the bandage off. My poor little beagle is now doped up on pain killers, she's sleeping well for the first time since yesterday, I really hope this is the last cyst her have to deal with

Definitely no beagle, she'll be out of action for two weeks I'll try and get there but won't be coming if there is no one else at home to look after Daisy.

OooooOoooh, is it a baby Evil Beagle? LOL Rach! Not this time (I can't deal with the shedding anymore). I'm looking at a field ESS

I didn't find you shy BQ, I wish I'd had time to chat with you more though. You'll just have to come to more dog things MrsD I never would have guessed you could be shy!! Funny how talking dogs can bring out the shyest person I'm lucky to have had a few amazing people who have been an enormous help and assistance to me since I got into dogs. I'm thankful every day that I've had (and continue to have) their guidance and I'm sure my dogs are too

Hard to say really. I said I'd stop at three but I'm getting a fourth (hopefully) next year.

The best advice I've heard (just over the past weekend, actually) was to select a dog that doesn't just have good drive but good nerve. Take the puppies out on their own and play with them in an area they've never been before (neighbours yard, waiting room at the vets if you're paying a visit etc) and see which pups play the best in a new environment. If a puppy who was keen to play in the yard but shut down and couldn't cope being in a new environment, I'd rule it out as a potential performance dog.

The first one burst so we had it removed and this one is right along the bone and is growing quite quicky, the vet suggested it needed to be removed now because if it gets bigger removing it could be quite difficult.

Thanks guys. I guess it is worrying me a bit. I don't want to have to keep sending her for ops - and it's expensive too ($400 each time) though I will be getting pet insurance after today. No research I've found has indicated a reason why a perfectly healthy dog will keep getting cysts, although this is only the second one, I am hoping we won't have anymore.

A few months ago Daisy had a sebaceous cyst removed from her thigh area. A few days ago I noticed another one on her back leg, just above her paw. She's booked in to get it removed tomorrow (it's a different leg to the last one). Is this a coincidence or are some dogs prone to getting cysts? I hate to think she is going to have go under and have cysts removed from her for the rest of her life. ETA: She's four years old and has never had any cysts or lumps before the last one.

I'm still hoping to go but doubt Daisy will be coming, she's having a cyst removed from her leg tomorrow and will probably have stitches in :D

I agree with Nekhbet - best to get a professional experienced in dealing with aggression out as soon as possible.

I really think it depends on the owner in a lot of instances. For me, pulling on a leash, not coming when called, hassling me for attention among other things are all behaviours that would annoy the crap out of me and are things I could simply not live with (or if I did, I could not live with them for long). Some people don't care if their dog pulls on the leash (for example) so that's not a problem for them.

This article goes through the options nicely: http://www.k9pro.com.au/pages.php?pageid=146

A lot of the dogs in our beginners class stay on leash most of the time - but we only do basic foundation stuff, and jumps are set at the lowest height possible. BM he must really enjoy agility! I am looking forward to seeing how he progresses I agree with amy's suggestion of the metal weavers, that's what we have to train the 2x2 stuff and I've never needed to peg them.