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If you are friends with TOM COUCHMAN on Facebook you will be able to see the breed breakdown for all the Hillsbro shows this weekend. He is very good at posting numbers for shows he is secretary of.

Thanks for the info as to it being in a slightly different location from the May show there. I remember the May show had the most wonderful rings - best condition I have ever seen a country show ring - all smooth, no bindis, well-mown, was really really nice. Would it be likely that the rings area for the Oct shows will also be as lovely?

Thanks for the number cards - we got ours on Monday. A breakdown of even just the number in each group per day would be great if that is possible to post here? We are driving from Sydney and there are other groups on before us, so it would be great to know how many are in these groups that are on before us. Thanks very much.

Make sure the vet x rays it first - you have no idea what is going on under there til you do the x ray, and just pulling it out without knowing how the root look/where the root goes could cause a lot more probs. The x ray I saw of my dog's retained baby canine (I went to the fabulous Dr Christine Hawke in Sydney) showed the root went up first (like it should) and then it headed towards the back of the mouth, crossing over the roots of the two teeth behind it! Thank god she x rayed and so knew what she was dealing with before just pulling away at it.

This sounds like what I know as Trigger Point Therapy - like acupuncture but not with needles, instead it's a wand with a ball-bearing type thing on the end which is used to stimulate trigger points which are sore. So, assuming it is the same, my experience of it has been excellent. One of my dogs used to get random limps as a pup and she had a couple of trigger pt therapy appts and they are marvellous. Sorted it out til the next time. She recently had a limp again (age 3) and we went back and again - SUPER results, back to normal within two days. I would highly recommend it for unexplained limps.

We use John & Luci Ellem's kennels in Fifth Ave, Austral, SW Sydney. While not air-con (which you said you wanted), our dogs have been there in v hot summers and been absolutely fine. They dogs are all kept separately when inside, and are only excersised with their own house-mates in the yards each day. John and Luci have always been happy to give medications to our dogs, and are also happy to provide food or for you to bring your own.

That's exactly what we have - it's brilliant. The dogs travel in the car (one in back seat, in a harness, and the others in the boot area of the station wagon) and all the show stuff goes in (and fills up!) the box trailer. The Deuxe gazebo fits in the box trailer, whereas only the Compact one fits in the car. We take so much stuff in the box trailer that after a day at a show 30 mins away, we were unpacking it and the neighbour asked if we'd been away for the weekend!

It's definitley a case of trying and seeing what works for your particular dog. If the Advance works for them I'd not be changing it, but if you have anything you think could be better, why not try a small bag, or sample, of the Blackhawk? Personally, I tried the Blackhawk a few years back and it gave my white show dog tear stains, so I went back to Advance (EVERYTHING I have tried makes the tear stains worse than with Advance - even the exxy Hills Prescription ZD Ultra!). Then this year, after trying many foods (including Advance) on my young boy who was very fussy, we decided to try Blackhawk - and he loves it and it is great for him, so he is on that and the girls on Advance. So it's whatever works for each particular dog being the best option, as opposed to what works for other dogs. Gotta try it I guess!

I saw the Wellness range on a Petbarn email yesterday, and initially thought the Topper/Mixer cans looked great. They have 95% real meat - I liked the look of the lamb one as a back up for when we run out of lamb mince for my fussy youngest dog. But when I looked at the ingredients I found they had carrageenan in them, which is widely used but is increasingly being found to be linked to diseases like cancer and stomach ulcers. I am not sure how much of this you - or your pet - would need to eat, but it was enough for me to forget about trying the food.

As you say, reassessing at 5.5 months will be fine. My puppy was 7 months - and all the tug toys and pigs ears for the previous two months had not shifted his one remaining baby canine- when all adult teeth were through,so we had it removed by Dr Christine Hawke in Sydney. She was FABULOUS and I highly recommend her. His mouth is fine now.

Any Gundog reults from today please? All I know is that Sunfire Absolute Power got DCC in Am Cockers - but I would like to know much more about Gundog results!

Yes, absolutely spiky plants and bindis in the ring. The G.S. ring was not quite as bad as the rest of the rings by the end of the day but I suspect that was cos it'd been trampled on by so many dogs by then. There were bindis and cat's claw with its long spiky parts (and is what went up through my thong the night before). My husband - and I believe other exhibitors - was very vocal in reporting the poor state of the rings to the show secretary at the time. This was probably 3 years ago so maybe it has changed since then - and if the rings have been plouged up and re-seeded then it sounds very promising for the condition of them.

I am just after some feedback on what the dog rings at the show grounds at Sofala are like please, for the end Feb show? I love country shows but have sometimes got there to discover absolutely shocking ring conditions - full of bindis and the like, which dogs hate to walk on. Had some spiky things puncture my thongs when I walked in the ring the night before the show at Wagga the other October. I would never go back there again due to the appalling ring conditions, but just interested to hear if people who did the Sofala show in Feb 2010 have any recollection of whether the ring was in good nick or not? The best rings last year at country shows were Wellington in May - absolutely beautiful. Thanks

Dermatologist Linda Vogelnest who used to work at Sydney Uni has recently moved to SASH in N Ryde. She is meant to be excellent. You will prob need a referral letter from your vet, and then you contact Linda, who consults at SASH on Mondays only I think. It's about $180 for the initial consultation.

Thanks so much. Love your puppy pic!

I can't find the info now, but before Xmas I read about show training that happens at Castle Hill showground on (I think) a Weds night at 7.30pm. Can someone confirm I have the right day and time pls? I can't find anything on the web. Assuming the day and time is right, does anyone know what date the show training starts again for 2012? Many thanks

My 7 month old pup retained a baby canine but the adult teeth were all in the right position. We went to animal dental specialist Dr Christine Hawke at the Animal Referral Hosp in Homebush, Sydney. What a wonderful lady she is! She corresponded with me on email a number of times before the day, and had a lovely manner with me and with the puppy. He stayed there for about half a day and I got him later, quite full of beans and perfectly normal. The hole healed well and quickly. Christine x rays the teeth first so she can see what she is dealing with re the root of the tooth. I understand the usual vet does not do this. It cost about $700 all up - includes the consultation and op and all anestetic and pain relief. They are very very careful with everything and are so well set up they can deal with any issue that may arise. I would highly recommend Dr Christine Hawke if you need any dental work done on your show dog.

Not what you want to hear, but over the past 4 years I have tried all these coat growth things - and they are all expensive (except the Biolac Coat Improver) and NONE work! What I have tried - for a bitch who loses so much coat, and the texture totally changes too - after every phantom pregnancy - and nothing works except time (til she loses it next time): - royal jelly shampoo - royal jelly supplements - flaxseed oil - omega 3/6/9 oil - Biolac Coat Improver powder (seemed to help the coat the first time but not since then, a few years ago) Might try the Nutrigel - always looking for help in this coat-loss/re-growth area! Interested to hear what others have had any success with...

Where do you get deer antlers from please? My 26kg pup is destructive; while he loves his toys (especially the nylahbones, we have about 10 inside and outside for dogs to grab when they want to), he equally loves the leather sofa arm and the flashing around the screen door! Thanks

[but my bitch is on it now - 1 year dose - and she's a porker! Well, a porker from her skinny days.... ;) -------------------------------------- Are you using this for your bitch for the same thing - ie not to be fertile for 6 or 12 months? Or is it for incontinence? Would be very interested in hearing info/details of how the bitch went on it, and the effects of it, if it was for stopping her coming into season please.

Totally fine - my 30kg dog gets 1/4 teaspoon of this at each meal (so twice a day) as she used to scoot alot and have anal gland stinkiness, and it's hardly ever present since she has been on the psyllium husk.

Anyone know the order for group judging at tomorrow's Sydney Royal? Been there two days and I think it was on display - but I forgot to look! Thanks

I agree with the others - go to the vet, but don't panic. My older girl has a movable and soft, squashy lump which I first felt 18 months ago and the vet said it was fine. It got bigger - twice the size, like a small water balloon , and they did the needle thing about 6 months ago, and said it was just a fatty lump. She is 8.5 now and it has never bothered her. Good luck - chances are it's nothing to worry about.

Yep - my girls use ProHeart monthly tablets which are only for heartworm. They are not to be confused with the annual heartworm injection which is think is also called Proheart. The active ingredient is Moxidectin unlike some other heartworm pills such as heartgard and Valuheart where the active ingredient is Ivermectin; some breeds (majorly Collies but also others) have a sensitivity to ivermectin.

Yes, my friend got one for her Keeshond that went all drooly and would dig through the carpet in thunderstorms - she says the coat is fantastic. The dog has gone from all het up and anxious to now lying at her feet during the storms. The dog still follows her around if she goes to another room during the storm, but there is none of the overt anxiousness at all anymore.