The Spotted Devil

As someone who purchased a pup interstate and as a breeder who has sold puppies interstate my advice is the same: search for a breeder that you can build a trusting relationship with. Be prepared to wait for the right pup. Unless you are really hung up on breed be open to another (I did not plan on a Dalmatian!!!) Don't be too fussy about gender or colour. Combine a holiday with a visit to the breeder and meet their dogs, spend lots of time getting to know them. A good breeder will test you as much as you test them. All my pups were sold before Em was even in season. My last 2 interstate pups went sight unseen and I spent a long time matching their personalities to their new homes. I have a great relationship with my Dalmatian's breeder after 11 years (plus 2 years of waiting) and nearly all of my puppy buyers stay in touch and give updates. They know I am there for support. ETA: I did fly to Canberra to select Ziggy at 5 weeks. I had pick of litter but that was much more about the relationship I had built with his breeders.

Sadly that is a typical scenario for children under 5 who are attacked - where the dog belongs to the family, relative or friend.

Get two more. One each and a spare

So hard to tell with these things. I give pro-biotic, joint guard and EFAs daily. Mainly because there is research around the benefits.

When mine have had GAs they’ve had access to water. Just don’t exercise them hard so they aren’t guzzling.

I don’t breed Goldens but my puppies are sold before my girl is even in season. Given that I breed every few years - because it’s expensive, time consuming and I have a life - people who want one of my pups just have to wait.

I feed a spoon of chicken mince per nail with the Dally. He prefers to stand. The Spaniels lie down looking miserable but they are fine. They get a spoon per nail/paw depending how long they are. They wag through it all in anticipation. I bought really good nail trimmers but the dogs still were uncomfortable. Switching to the Dremel was the best idea.

My Dalmatian has always had long quicks. He has lovely tight cat-like feet and the nails sit high up - very typical of the breed. The best thing I did recently was switch to a Dremel. I actually brought a rather pricey attachment for it and it’s brilliant: http://www.whitmansharpening.com/Diamagroove.html And yes, do the angle across the white of the nail on the top side of the quick. Zig’s nails have never looked better.

My new Sir Walter lawn is looking fabulous! Only used for dog training and it is coping well.

Oh dear. Not surprised really. Those tests don’t have a great reputation.

It’s a small subset of animals that are immune compromised in the first place. Mine are getting frozen raw frames after training tonight!

What an awful situation. I’m really sorry. The problem is HD is multi-factorial (environment, diet, genetics, desexing) and even testing sire and dam guarantees nothing. I agree with Rebanne - I would not go down the surgery path. Too much risk, especially in a young animal that hasn’t finished growing. I’d rather manage and re-assess. There’s a lot to be said for physio, Bowen and muscle strengthening exercises. As a breeder I would be devastated.

DV are well aware.

Priceless Pets is another I use for flea/worm treatment.

Awesome stuff @Dame Danny's Darling! Lucky lad!!!

PK it really depends what it is. And many other sites add a whack of shipping costs. So it looks cheaper but it’s not.

Dogs Victoria have also suspended or booted a number of breeders for poor breeding practices. It’s not uncommon for these breeders to join another organisation in an attempt to gain legitimacy. No matter the member organisation you definitely need to do your homework.

100% agree. I expect my puppy buyers to meet me and my dogs before they go on the waiting list. Interstate people may not meet the litter but I have to know they are a good match for my breed and my ethics as a breeder. Given I support them for the life of the pup I have to be sure I can get along with them ok too!!!

In the past I used Troy fly repellent cream on the ears plus aerogard on the body. You MUST get it on before the first fly bite because they seem to come in damn swarms when there is blood.

I recently did a workshop with Bob for 3 days. Working spot. His use of punishment is not what it sounds like. He VERY rarely uses it. He named ONE client. And couldn’t think of another example. He NEVER uses it to train. Only to absolutely proof. And not until the behaviour is 100% fluent. And he punishes extremely hard. Not a tap on the nose but so aversive as to completely extinguish the behaviour. He maintains that although this situation was life or death for the human handlers he still didn’t think it was necessary to make the training effective.

I get that herding is different. But working Gundogs on live game raises similar issues. You can absolutely split stuff up. Arousal is the main thing I work on. I love how Bob Bailey sums it up....a behavioural scientist, one of the greatest trainers in the world who made his living training everything from chickens to crows to cats to military dogs to dolphins and everything in between. In essence he says that there are 100s of ways to train a dog. And the vast majority will get the result in the end. But how efficient is the method? How long will it take? How many errors? How precise is the behaviour? For him time = money. So he didn’t use positive reinforcement based training because he’s a nice guy. He used it - in the most precise and perfect way that he could - to get fluent behaviours as quickly as possible. But I’ve never seen anyone so adept at splitting behaviours into their smallest parts. Extraordinary. Knocking bars is not a failure I agree. But it happens for a reason - high arousal, not thinking, early take off, late cue, not focussed forward, worried, not clear on required behaviour. Review your videos. And a bar dropping protocol gives the dog every opportunity to figure it out for itself.

They are great DDD - I do shop around for price on worm/flea products but happily buy many things there. Yes! Free shipping today only. And they give you $ off when you earn enough points.

I’m an animal behaviour scientist and I hate getting caught up in the quadrants. It’s a slippery slope to arguments that go round and round in circles. My point is that I selectively reinforce the behaviours I like, split complex behaviours into tiny parts, set my dogs up for success, record keep (notes and video) my training in order to find out what I am doing right/wrong (am I really reinforcing what I think I am?) etc. Something like a NRM is a very rare thing for me to use and is used purposefully in a specific training focus. They are generally over used. I might not even say anything if my dog knocks a bar. I might just take ages to re-set the bar, tie my shoe lace etc. That is sufficient to take the dog out of that high arousal into a thinking space. As for your example about you delivering a late cue and having to call the dog off and the dog becoming “pissed off” I will teach it differently. I have a cue that indicates to the dog that they must pull off the obstacle (again thank you SG). And they get reinforced heavily for demonstrating impulse control. I train it, I build confidence, I test it. Just a different way of approaching the same problem. I agree about treats vs live pheasant or rabbits or quail or whatever. Note I am talking about things I do not how I think they should be done. I have the SAME problems. However, as I said earlier I have learnt how to transfer the value and to use PERMISSIONS. I teach them to run PAST the duck to retrieve the dummy. Then they get to retrieve the duck. I’m always asking how well they understand the behaviour? What if I now add this distraction? I want to get them so high high high with excitement around game or an agility tunnel and then sit when cued quietly. That’s why I can whistle sit my older bitch on a rabbit at 100m. A little lateral thinking is all that’s required.

Where Susan Garrett excels is her understanding of how to transfer value. I have working Gundogs - I hunt them on game and compete in retrieving/agility. Game makes their head explode and yes, I went through a stage where they would spit out a cheese reward because they were so set on either running or hunting. But I learned to transfer the value AWAY from the hunting scenario. If we have a blip I can fix it incredibly quickly because I am super consistent. I fence my chickens, however, because at home its very difficult to be consistent. And my OH is hopeless I don’t do herding so I will not comment on that. However. People told me I couldn’t train a working Gundog with food only and no punishment. I use a NRM or interrupt the behaviour only if continuing the behaviour will be reinforcing in itself. Am I a hard @r$e? Do I expect my dogs to work for their reinforcement? Yes, absolutely I am FAR from the perfect trainer and get lots of stuff wrong. However I don’t blame the science of learning theory. I blame the application.

So hard with all the choice out there! I’m using Blackmores Paw Digesticare (???) at the moment. I think I will find a couple I like and rotate them. Again from Vet n Pet. On the advice of a top US performance vet I am now adding a probiotic plus EFAs plus 4-cyte (joint care) to every meal.