SkySoaringMagpie

Given your heading, I expected this to be about a dog under threat of death or significant illness. I don't know your trainer, but I suspect that they might be saying something a lot of us say - affection is fine, but on your terms. Right now I'm sitting at a table. Lying next to me on one side is our old Afghan and on the other side is our young Saluki pup. That's affection to me as it is, they want to be where I am. If one of them bumped my arm trying to monster me to pat them I'd ignore them. But if i happen to look down at them and think "gosh, you're beautiful and I love you" and then I give them a pat, well, that's fine. I initiated it. If I can go a bit woo woo here, affection with dogs is often most rewarding in the understated moments where you connect as a working team. You have the opportunity to reshape your relationship with your dog, and under the right guidance, that will be a good thing for both of you. There are some training methods that are dangerous, they are usually self-evident tho'. Ignoring a well fed, watered and sheltered dog for an hour is not a bad thing to do.

Trophy buying is a thankless task. I often think it's a bit of an unnecessary one too, I mean really, most of us just want the fringie if it's a special show and the points. Are any of us not going to show if there wasn't a $5 trophy? Rules are rules tho' I guess. When this subject comes up I don't want to be ungrateful with respect to the work of the (usually) poor old Secretary or Show Manager who has to go and find 49 of something really cheap that everyone will like and another 7 of something a bit more expensive but not too expensive and another 7 of something a little bit more expensive again then the BIS/RUBIS. I buy for dogs sized from mini dach to irish wolfhound. So I can't buy collars, beds, bowls, toys or anything too specific. You also have to make sure prizes are unisex. Things I have bought as class in group prizes bearing in mind I have a city group club budget: first aid kits, torches, cool bags, chairs (sorry PF), picnicware, nice sewing kits, etc. Usually there is a practical or camping theme but even I am running out of ideas. Speaking as an exhibitor, I always have a use for towels or vet bed providing the vet bed isn't cut into a stupidly small size in which case it's immediately passed on to our small dog friends. Beds are OK because we can use a couple of beds to make up a bed for our dogs. Cash and sash is really the go tho'. You can pay for petrol that way and you don't have to stuff extra crap in the car on the way home.

I took her to see Steve Courtney yesterday and he worked out what was going on in that little doggy brain very quickly and has given me some ideas to address it. Looking forward to the notes. (and thank you to Diva for driving and and the lollies)

Good ones! I agree.

Judges who tick as many of the following boxes as possible: - specialist and/or experienced - independent decision makers - not used frequently in the state - from another state. You'd think some NSW clubs were going for an environmental prize the way they recycle local judges. Judges, ring stewards and show committees who are professional, confident, well informed and pleasant. Decent sized well maintained rings - nothing worse than showing a long legged hound on a postage stamp. Fortunately my hounds have pretty tough feet and most prickles don't bother them at all but it must be a PITA if you have a more sensitive dog. Clean easy to find toilets with liquid soap and paper towels. Clear signage and/or clear instructions in the numbers about rings and parking. One show last year had a large legible ring map pinned to the gateway as you drove in. Nice fringies. I know budget is an issue and the regs don't allow what I'm about to suggest but I'd rather get a nice fringie from a good supplier and no trophy/cash than a crappy looking fringie.

As with any unwanted critter, there is a lot to be said for making the place inhospitable. I am bossy about never leaving dog bowls, kongs or bustercubes outside. Bins have tight fitting lids and no bones/dog biscuits stay outside. We don't have chooks even tho' I'd love them because I don't want vermin and the snakes that come with them. In the past we have set traps for the odd mouse. If I did have a chronic problem because of poor neighbours etc I would probably look into terrier with decent prey drive and combine that with ensuring that food and water was as difficult to find as possible. Edit: Afghans are no good. I caught one of ours playing paw tennis with a mouse once - just like a cat.

Sometimes. Cronyism is a problem in the sport. If a dog is good enough it will win over time providing it's not handled really poorly, but it may not win on any specific day or very often in a specific region due to the prevailing norms there. And if the newbie doesn't understand that and have people supporting them with training and advice, they will get disillusioned quickly. You get cronyism no matter what system is used tho', so I agree that blaming the system or dumbing it down is not the answer. And plenty of people blame their loss on just about everything but the real issues - their dog and their handling.

Rose :D Will decant some Drape into a bottle for you, it works really well on Lucy's tail which can go a bit like straw after her seasons. One thing we recently learned about dry difficult coats from someone a lot more expert than us, you can make it worse with too much of the wrong conditioner as well as too little. Will pass on some of our Sekrit Shampoo and Conditioner too

True, but they have a much bigger population base to work from, a much smaller geographic area to travel across and a much more pro-show culture. And even they are facing the problem of dropping numbers. It would be interesting to compare their registrations per head of population with ours.

I would only agree with this if it then became a requirement to beat a certain number of dogs to earn your title. That requirement would then put a title out of the reach of rare breeds in a country like Australia with a small population base. IMO the one thing that saves us as Australians from the accusations about not having to beat a dog to title is that we are all in together, the Gr Ch's with the young dogs. Overseas some countries may split them out, but they also require you to be competitive in other ways. Some places have limited numbers of CCs available dependent on entries. Nearly all require you to beat a certain number of dogs to title. I'm inclined to agree with Megz tho', and there are some pretty hard to beat Gr Ch's in my breed so it's not an armchair consideration.

I looked for you after Toys finished - two laps around the hound ring but I couldnt find you We looked for you too to try and offload some chocs so we didn't take them home! Hounds finished before Toys and you were deep in Toy Specials when we spotted you. Then we went home.

Hound results: BIG Linda Steven's Mini Long RUBIG Garby's Elkhound Can't recall any of the classes except Junior which was Dianne's IW Claude. Go the Wolfies. Not much to write home about in our camp except my Saluki pup Floyd got a handy BOB over grownups for his first show in minor. Clever little kid.

Still in fashion for Gundogs! :D

The Hound Club of the ACT is running neuter classes on the October Long Weekend (1 & 2 October) and at our Twilight Championship Show on 3 December. Schedules up on the DogsACT website. Edit: Thank you to DOLer Diva for offering to sponsor the classes.

In that case - yes. I'm coming Might not have a dog, they are both shedding, but who cares if I have chocolate! I might not have my girl either, after shooting off my big mouth about fat dogs, she could stand to lose a kilo at least. The diet started yesterday, I'm a mean mum.

I will be there, and seeing this post have just decided to set up at the hound ring :D It's where all the cool people are.

I just want to make the point that if you have had to make a decision to PTS in difficult circumstances and then follow through humanely, then you know it's far from an easy decision and far from an easy thing to do properly so the exit is peaceful and loving. There seems to be an assumption in some of these posts that PTS is the "easy option" for the humans. Perhaps for some it is, but for the people posting in this thread who I know personally, it would not be an "easy" option. The right option is often the hard one, where you have to front up to the universe and wear the responsibility of ending a life. Edited to add that I agree also with what Diva has posted. There is no direct comparison between humans and dogs, but that doesn't mean both aren't entitled to humane treatment.

If the test is to be done before the dogs enter the country then my welfare objections disappear. All this amounts to is another expense and/or barrier and/or box to tick with no outcome in terms of policy goals. $$$ talks and temperament testing is a much fuzzier science than "does this dog have titres". If the price is right, dogs will pass no matter what their temperament. They don't say who would certify, but I assume they mean a vet would do it, rather than a trainer. Perhaps they are practice building for their overseas cousins. It would be interesting to know if other countries' veterinary associations are proposing something similar. The fact remains that the the vast majority of dogs who attack are born in the country and most people who spend $$$ on importing a beloved family pet or sought after show dog are not going to let it roam and attack.

When humans enter the country the Customs Officer might make an assessment of their apparent temperament to establish a suspicion of smuggling or illegal importation, but being nervous or tired after a long flight is not a crime and not something you can legally be turned around for. So your analogy doesn't work. Yes, you can be turned around if you have a prior criminal conviction, but the case isn't tried at the border by a temperament tester. I think this is a terrible policy, because there is no way to enact it in a way that doesn't cause welfare issues. Say the dog arrives from Europe. A long, long journey and frightening for most dogs. It is held in kennels, it is tested, it fails and then has to go through it all again to go back home providing the breeder wants it back. What if the breeder doesn't want it back? Who pays? Does the dog then get put down in kennels? What breeder would be prepared to send a dog into that risk? Do you know how much $$$ is tied up in each importation? More if it is a show dog. There are plenty of European and US breeders who right now won't send dogs to Australia because of the distance, this would narrow things even more. FWIW, I have imported a dog, and the AQIS people said she was lovely in kennels. So, I'm not coming from a defensive position here, I just think it's stupid policy. Our aggressive dog problem in Australia is not coming from imported dogs, it's coming from BYBs and the idiots who buy from them.

I will have chocolate

Huh, that's interesting. Our dog is an IW, and I just assumed that any breed with this problem would test for it before homing pups. Can any of the small breed people shed any light on why you wouldn't test?

You have two issues here. One is whether you come to a conclusion that the breeder is liable. The other is whether you pursue it if you think they are. The latter doesn't necessarily follow from the former, and the collective opinion of DOL carries no weight at all. We have a breed that has this issue, and our dog was tested for it before he came to us. The breeder tests all her dogs before homing them. If liver shunt is a problem in yorkies then your breeder should have tested for it. Ideally a buyer would not purchase an untested dog either. Ultimately tho', how much are you prepared to spend of your time and mental energy to go after the breeder? As with any other purchase gone wrong, sometimes a threatening letter is all it takes, sometimes you have to go to small claims or court, and you may or may not be successful. If the breeder has limited funds an order to pay may not be honored, if they are wealthy their lawyer might nail you and your legal representative to the nearest wall. DOL can't help you make that decision. If this was me, I would slap myself for purchasing an untested dog, chalk it up to experience and put my energy into caring for my dog.

I don't think A is an option anyway. The pup needs to stay for rabies vaccs and titires before shipment. It's one reason shipping from Europe to Australia is a pain in the arse and a "risk" for the exporter. Edit: Just saw Lolapalooza has made the same point upthread.

I'm late coming into this thread but I have a Mab. Of course, being hopelessly Australian it's rarely just Mab - Mabby, Mabsie, Mabbins, Mabbits who chases Rabbits - you get the idea.

Agree with this, and Nek, Jaxx, Souff, Steve and Fifi. There is a lot of stuff around that masquerades as sympathy that is actually just voyeurism - not just in this area but in animal cruelty matters as well. We also have a companion dog with a leg deformity who is a much loved member of the family. So we are certainly not of the "bucket them if they are inconvenient" school. However, raising a puppy that cannot fend for itself with other dogs and/or in ordinary life situations is incredibly irresponsible. Apart from anything else, resources ARE finite. A rescue spending $$$ raising dogs that require massive amounts of ongoing intervention when there are healthy dogs being PTS is madness.