alanglen

White and chalky hard faeces mean too much fat is being ingested and not being digested. This is a concern as too much fat in the system can cause pancreatitis. Try meatier bones and avoid access to the marrow content of the bone. Best advise would be to swap to raw chicken carcasses or forget the bones completely. Yes the white hard faeces can hurt lots! Its called constipation! and combined with the belly ache of dangerously high levels of fat in the system undigested (can lead to seizures, pancreittis, gastro etc) would not be a fun few days for your pup. Speak to your vet about more appropriate treats that are lower in fat.

Bobtail information provided is all very true. Be responsible and take these pups to a vet. It is not he time to learn to hand raise when they are clearly having digestive problems. fasting at that age is not a solution, it may kill them and by all mean they need to get the formula right. Too hot or cold are the most likely reason but so too is an infection. It's a shame if they are BYB but either way these pups are at significant risk. Get your vet to check them over and potentially find some-one more experienced to hand raise them for you.

He's 9 weeks old! They are not fully continent until they are 4-5 months old! Perhaps don't get him quite as excited, it's just like a child wetting the bed, the control isn't there yet. Let him settle and get used to people coming and going without getting so excited.

Enjoy puppyhood, there will be more spills and thrills yet ahead, its great fun!!

Enjoy your jackie pup, where's the photos!!

Pretty limited benefits! It's pork crackling in very large supply!! They love the taste but who doesn't love the taste of fat, crackling and salt? They may enjoy the taste and be good from a fun/behaviou aspect but there is absolutely no health benefits at all!!

Catch your local vet or vet nurse about more appropriate treats that are lower in fat!

ok so I do a lot of dog sports and I understand the need for drive but seriously she is 5 months old. My best suggestion is stop all the training and rubbish and let her develop. Once she develops further, around 9-18 months of age she will start to choose her favourite toy, game or treat and then you use that to develop drive further. No sport lets you compete or even train heavily with a pup that young so why does she need to be trained 7 times per day and crated if she is not buzzing with drive? be careful not to create a psycho pup with no understanding of quiet / settled time, too much drive discussion and she may just tip over the edge!

All pups naturally have some drive but she is growing and learning every day. Expose her to other dogs with high prey drive with the toy/tug that you want and just let it happen naturally. I have never known agility people pushing that hard that early!

Hi There,

I wanted to welcome everyone to a fantastic day out for dogs and their families! It's called Labrador Indulgence Day and run at Mt Macedon winery. Open to all breeds, shapes and sizes and is great fun! The day is a fund-raiser for the Cancer Foundation of Victoria and every cent raised goes there!

Labrador Indulgence at Mt Macedon Winery

7th OCTOBER 2007

Time - 10.am to 4 pm

Charge - $10 per person or $20 per family.

It’s on again! After another successful year we are further extending Labrador Indulgence Day to all Labrador owners and their friends – i.e. Dogs of all shapes and sizes are welcome to join in with us and enjoy the day.

Special guests this year will include Dr. Bruce Syme (Vets All Natural), John Vandeloo (Aust Customs Breeding Centre), Lyn Mawson (Muscle Therapist), Dr Megan Semple (Veterinary Acupuncture), Melbourne Canine Freestyle (Doggy dancing), Underdogs Dog Trainers (Behaviour and Tricks Training), Mostly Mutts (Puppyware & grooming), Robyn Brock (Photographer), and more guests yet to be confirmed.

Displays &Activities: *Slow auction *Workshops *Lap of honour around the vines at noon *Wine Tasting *Vet Checks and Microchipping *Games *Demonstrations etc *Even swim your dogs in the dam *Photo competition (including cutest puppy, best photo, owner dog look-alike so bring some photos along) *Colouring competition * and lots more.

All proceeds donated to Cancer Research. In 2004 & 2005 we raised over $4000 and won “The Highest Individual Fundraiser” trophy for Relay for Life – Albert Park Lake.

Food catered for by CFA or BYO Picnic & blanket,

chairs, crate or tie up provision for your dog.

No BYO alcohol but drinks can be purchased at the winery.

Platters are also available from the winery.

PLEASE NO PUPPIES BEFORE FINAL VACCINATION OR GIRLS IN SEASON.

Very important to RSVP for catering purposes (we don't want to run out of food!) & Contact for more information.

Belinda & Mark Howard – 0408172074 [email protected]

Megan Semple 0409 835 474 [email protected]

email or PM fo an official flier to be sent, a great day not to be missed!!

Gee this made me laugh!!! All true! Need to add onto the list of all the medical/physical "problems" and their excuses, "but he doesn't eat much how could he be overweight!!!"

There is only 1 cardialogist in Victoria at present, Dr Fiona Campbell, she attends every second wednesday at the Veterinary Referral Centre in Hallam. There are multiple other internal medicine specialists or imaging people who would do the echo but she is very good and very nice! If you want further details I can PM you!

regards

Hi there,

I am so sorry for your news but would urge you to see a cancer specialist asap. Lymphoma can be treated, my friends dog lasted 3 years and had great fun in that time. Chemo in dogs is quite different to people. yes they can get tummy upsets but that's usually managed with medication and acupuncture to control the nausea and they don't loose hair etc.

It's really worthwhile getting all options up front and as soon as possible to give you all of the options.

Best wishes.

Megan

There is assitance dogs here in victoria who help train seizure dogs. I have a seizure detector dog myself and have bred a few dogs with the natural instinct. chocolate labradors and they are lovely to have around!

Regards

Alanglen

All very true and overweight dogs shouldn't be competing at full heights!

That being said be a little sensitive towards these people and their dogs, I was teased yesterday that one of my girls was too heavy to compete. She is as slim as she has been since having pups, can feel all ribs and on a blood profile shows signs of underfeeding if she is dropped even one kilo lighter. She is perfectly where I need to have her and is doing great. She also got 3 passes from 5 runs yesterday! and then came home to play games and go for a run with the others!

I am extremely keen to curb the obesity problem in pets but watch that you pets are well enough fed to perform the high workload being asked of them! Don't want to start the opposite trend!

ps love the dog sports forum too!

Regards

Alanglen

I have labradors and certainly wouldn't breed from any dogs with elbow scores that high. I would suggest that you chat with your vet about prevention tips to try and avoid elbow dysplasia as it is a very real possibility for your boy. As a matter of advice, I usually suggest xrays can be helpful for any dog to help plan for the future and the needs/abilities of the dog. This can be done at desexing (depending on age) and can be really helpful if considering dog sports etc.

Best of luck with your boy, he is adorable! I would also question the liability thou, not sure of the answer myself but if the purchaser is informed of the scores and with a multi-factorial disease (genetics, diet, weight, exercise etc), who ends up being "responsible"? Instinct says the person who chose to breed but not sure of exact legality!

Regards

Alanglen

It is still running at this stage and the weather has cleared up here - thank goodness! They were out marking the courses last night and lining up for the rings etc. The usual running area is out on the front lawn, that however is flooded and 4 inches deep in water. The trial will now be run out the back and on the agility / GSd training areas. Will mean a bit more running around and quite wet underfoot but not flooded at least!!! well not flooded yet anyway! At this stage the grounds are marked and for all intentions the trial is going ahead. Last call tomorrow morning if raining again.

Good luck to all triallers!

see you there

regards Alanglen

Saw the article in dogs life and was fascinated, I'd be pretty keen to help try and set it up here, even if just for fun! One of my girls just loves doing belly wackers in the pool and will do it repeatedly for hours! Anyone else in Melbourne interested?

My speedo rarely hit 10km or less! We went 7 minutes under time and were regularly sneaking up to 13-14 km/hr. We clocked in at the finish at 20!!

You need to prepare yourself and the dog for the stops and starts / slows and speeds ups, that was the hardest part because we did not stay at a very stedy speed for very slow, maybe 500m at a time and then the environment would change and we needed to adapt. The course has two bridges, it was relaly good fun and a lovely course.

Have to say it was much easier on us than I thought it was going to be! The dogs really enjoyed the company and challenge!

My girls passed their endurance trial yesterday! yeah! In hind sight I will train my next dog to 22 or 24 km. Maddie (labrador) had done a few 20km runs but found the last 2 km difficult with the gravel underfoot and the slight hill. She very much enjoyed the sprint home and overall had a great time. Our shephard also passed and she had had a lot less work and she really did it with style. Great day and had lots of fun, would be great to have them more often!

Also the team came in several minutes under time with lots of variation in speed, don't get too set on the 10km/hr!

Have fun! We did! and will be back next year with the younger two dogs!

Hi there,

Was wondering how everybody was going?!

Have my girl entered for GSD endurance on the 23rd of june, providing she doesn't come into season! She is very ready for the distance but I'm not so sure I'm ready for the ride in the early morning over the dirt and grass!! ha ha! I have looked after her very well, probably too well, and yet my knees are not liking the training!

For those that pull, the best trick is to use a different collar or lead to that which encourages pulling (ie harness for pulling). The dogs work it out very quickly. Dogs need to compete on a flat collar only with a 2metre lead.

Just wanted to see how everyone was going!

Regards

Alanglen

Great advice leo! I hear people frequently tell me, oh he can run further than that.... It's their health ( body temp, heart rate and split pads) that suffers, do it slowly and your dog will continue to love the bike for a long time ahead, well beyond just the trial day!

happy running!

Hi there,

There are meant to be another 2 trials this year at other clubs (hoping to have mine there as well!). Apparently Rottie club and GSD club. One is to be held at Altona. Am still working on finding out dates but would be more towards end of winter, maybe these are more suitable timeframes. For the dogs health, it's best not too start too heavy training until after 2 years of age but learning to accep the bike can start at any age (find the earlier the better, those wheels can be scary!)

Hope to see you around the traps.

Good luck with the tollers, wish I could have one of the girls at Sale, it sounded lovely. Should have another dog of mine at Sale next year.

Regards

Alanglen

Hi there,

You can train the dog to whatever you like but for most breeds 20km is their limit, so most trainers suggest to train to 17km and just do one 20km before the comp. The idea is just to reduce any long term stress on your dog. Most of us don't run 20km every week!!

A trial was held in Victoria over this weekend just gone.

8km leg, 15 minutes rest, 6km leg, 20 minutes rest and another 6km leg. All run/biked at 10km/hr. vet checks (check feet, heart rates and temperatures) before and after trial and during each rest break.

The trial was great and owners and dogs had heaps of fun - I'm certainly hooked. Every website or trainer I have found suggested a minimum 10 week program for fit dogs and 14 weeks or longer for unfit dogs. My girl (lazy breed but actively competing in other dog sports) took 11 weeks to comfortably make the distance and keep under heart and temp checks.

There is a rules and regulations section in the australian kennel club's website for exact details.

hope this all helps.... happy running....

regards

Alanglen.