Tali

So did I - really happy with it and I also got the articles from there too... just got to get a fully trained dog and owner set from somewhere and I'll soon have titles galore! Ok, seriously, I did get the dumbell and articles from there and was very happy with them!

Thanks MissB... I love the little pup in your siggy too - the spitz are SOOO beautiful! I used to describe my Keeshonds as 'dirty spitz/samoyeds' depending on which breed people had heard of!

In the Big brown cardboard box Barely bigger than rolled up socks Eight squirmy black and grey bundles Bounce and scramble and tumble We proctrastinate, Vacillate Then the little one stands on her back legs Paws out over the edge and says, "Ror ror ror" And our choice was made. Mischief personified Curiously dignified Dog beds are scruffed Couches unstuffed Bowls of water spilt A Duck hunt in our feather quilt Go to growl her but "Ror? Ror? Ror?" And you just couldn't Age and wisdom came Arthritis slowly sent her lame Enduring of the skin-kids Watching from under her eyelids Kept the pack together On walks, in the house, wherever With her loudly protested "Ror, Ror, Ror" We'd all smile and regroup to make her happy Horrid decision; Self derision But you can't be sentimental If you want the end to be gentle So we held her and nuzzled Let her know she was loved Right till the end; without violence Then we came home to the silence No more "Ror, Ror, Ror" Voorste Mijn, Talikhan, Foremost Mine indeed

Hi again all just letting you know the Fortekor has been spoken for by a Dog rescue group. That helps me cope with the grief a bit, so I appreciate the replies I've received.

Hi all We have just lost our old Keeshond at almost 14 to a combination of pancreatitis and renal failure. I'll work through that later on a different thread, but i am coping my being very officious at the moment. About a month ago we bought a box of Fortekor 20 tablets for her, which were quite expensive. The half tablet is suitable for dogs 21 - 40 kg, while a whole tablet is for dogs 41 - 80 kg. They were about $140 for the box, and we've only used about 1/4 of the pack. If anyone is currently using these for a dog and would like the remaining tablets, I'm happy to post them to you for free. I know how expensive it can be to cope with this kind of illness. Please send me a pm with your address and details if they would be of use to you. These are only for dogs with a particular problem. If your dog is already on these I'm happy to send them to you.

Thanks all for your congrats - greatly appreciated! I've now filled out all the forms etc, and am busy working out which Sweepstakes Novice trials to try for... I'm not sure we're ready yet, but we might as well give it a go - no harm and good practice! Thanks again!

Thanks Seita that's fantastic!! Knew I had to do something - couldn't work out what it was though! ;) Novice will be a whole new challenge, but should be fun!

HI All just to prove that my dog is smarter than me really, last night I got my third pass in CCD Obedience Trial here in QLD. I think that means we have our CCD title, but I'm not sure what to do next and can't find instructions on the CCCQ website. Am i supposed to send in her certificates or something? I'd appreciate any advice you might have. Cheers from Jess' very happy (and silly) mu1m

Thanks for the link Shoemonster - have emailed and going to order scent discrim stuff as well - not sure that we'll EVER get that far, but at least I'll have the stuff if I do (not sure where else to source any of this). We can play with it at home, even if we don't ever need it in the ring! Appreciate all your help people!

Thank you all - if the wooden ones are lighter I might try to find one of them, as I think the plastic one is a bit heavy, even though the sizing is Ok for her mouth etc. Dogdude - thanks for the advice about little steps - I've had no clue whatsoever about how to teach the dumbbell. We're a long way off yet - only one pass in CCD and another trial this weekend, but I don't know how to start with the next bits, so I figure get learning early (as in me learning - Jess seems to pick it up pretty easy once the dummy on the other end of the lead gets it sorted!). Terranik - Love the piccie of Jedi - I guess you are doing obedience with him? I used to do it years ago with my first Kees, but Tali snuck under my radar and now will only work for food (and at 13 1/2 I'm willing to let her get away with that). He (Jedi) is a lovely looking boy though!

Hi all I'm just starting to trial in CCD with my Sheltie, Jess, but am also trying to begin getting her interested in a dumbbell, as I think this is going to take a long time with her. She plays fetch with a soccer ball sized, fluff filled kids ball (much to the kids dismay) but I have bought her a medium sized plastic dumbbell, threw it for her and she ran up and mouthed it, found it was a "hard" toy and now she just watches me throw it and ignores it. Would it be worth trying a wooden one, and if so, where do you get them? Maybe it would feel different in her mouth? I have read an old thread about dumbbell training, which has given me some ideas of different things to try, but would welcome any suggestions for dogs that just don't seem interested in any "hard" toys. She has only ever wanted to play fetch with soft toys (the larger the better, even though she's a small dog), and anything a bit harder she just doesn't want to play with. thanks for any help offered!

My problem is mainly focussed around the dog being given access to the garage and a cool hallway while we are out - the simple solution is to shut her outside altogether... which would definitely cause her MUCH more stress. I was advised to take her to the scene of the crime so to speak, ask her in a disappointed voice (which is what i mean by telling her off) "who did this? what a bad dog" and then clean it up while she is there by a very experienced dog trainer. I dont' think she is stressed at all - and the minute I look at a puddle and look at her, without saying anything, her tail goes down. She knows what the problem is. I do not rub her nose in it - never would. I think if i was the cause of her stress the problem would have worsened when we were all home, not disappeared. But thanks for your feedback. I think patience is my main solution - I was mainly posting to note my appreciation that there are others out there in similar situations.

So good to see others having probs too - Jess (10 month old sheltie) still has lots of accidents inside the house, despite being growled at quite firmly everytime we catch her or find a "present" (we take her to the present and she definitely knows what the issue is!). When we were home a lot over Christmas it never happened, but now we are at school and work 3 days a week it has started again - just in the shed and the hall when we are out, with the odd accident elsewhere when we are home... I'm not sure how she got it right for 3 or 4 weeks and now has it all muddled and wrong again!! We've tried citronella oils and various sprays, biozet cleaning powder, etc all to no avail. She even has a reliable old Tali to model the doggy door for her, but Jess seems not to learn by example! ARGH! Hubby keeps threatening to flush her down the toilet (thankfully sheltie's don't fit!). AT least I know we arent the only "teenagers" still having toilet troubles!

HI Cowanbree Just a thought - he sounds similar to my old Kees that we lost last year (but his appetite was still up - just lost weight despite eating huge amounts). The vet that finally PTS said that he felt it was definitely thyroid related - felt either Cushings or Parathyroidism, which is known in Keeshonds. Jarrah was about 10 or so when it started; again we were told probably allergies, paid hundreds over the following years for tests all showing nothing. We switched vets but the new vet felt he was too far gone to be able to treat by that time. Could be worth a look at least if you haven't looked into the last one - don't know of it in Shelties (Mac is a sheltie right? or a collie?) but at the time I was just paying attention to Kees cases. Try Googling for PHPT in Keeshonds and see if the symptoms match what Mac has. Hope you can find out what it is - very hard to watch an old dog wasting away like that. Tali

Wow! I've never heard of using dogs for termite detection - but it sounds fantastic!! Will follow the K9 link - has anyone used this service? We used to get a check done each year, but I worry about lots of chemicals, and don't want to kill other native critters too - a doggy detection service would be great!

Hi all Jess is just coming up to 6 months old, and I'm going to get her desexed in the next week or so. Just wondering, how long does a girl take to get over the op? I have a crate I can confine her in, but am trying to schedule the op so we'll be home to look after her for the next couple of days. Is this long enough for her to start getting back to normal, or would she take much longer? Can't remember how long Tali took - so long ago now!

HI Erny I've belatedly read your reply and agree with not being too annoying in doing this. My girl (Tali) is 12 now, and we almost never touch her bowl, but it's nice to know both the children and I can do so without fear. We mainly only do so when (for example) we have forgotten to hide tablets and so on in the food. Jess had started growling at Tali when Tali tried to take her food - which I let slide as they need to sort it out themselves - but I wanted to be sure that she understood she couldn't do the same to the family, which happily she does seem to have realised. It's not something we do every meal, and usually I only do it by sliding her bowl sideways on the floor - which doesn't interrupt her too much at all. I take your point about this only being appropriate with certain dogs - happily my experience with the three dogs I've had as an adult have made this easy to train them with... would have been interesting with the dog I had as a child. He was quite unpredictable and had bitten me on at least 3 to 4 occasions - twice for walking past his bowl (within his magic 2 metre radius)... can't help but wonder what sort of pet he would have been had he been trained properly!

I've had my boy on Hills TD for his teeth for about 4 years now - it saved us getting his teeth cleaned under aneasthetic (at his age I'm wary of that) and he eats about 1/3 cup morning and night. Mind you, he doesn't eat it all - a lot gets left as crumbs but he obviously gets enough to keep him happy and "active".... for a cat....

I had the kibble only recommendation for my dogs too from my vet, and they are fine on it. Occasionally they get some suitable scraps, a marrow bone now and then, and about a teaspoon of meat each day (hand fed to train them - yukky but it works!), but otherwise all on dry food. I've used Euk and now am on Nutro - they love it and their stools are certainly smaller than my early dog owning days of Pal! I also give them Omega 3 fish oil tablets daily - Tali for her arthritis, and Jess because I can't see that it will hurt her.

HI again C&Z I've sent you a PM that might help - I imagine training might have been a bit quiet with school hols - we'll be back this week though; haven't done much work with Jess this week - so we'll have to catch up a bit! see you there Tali!

HI Falling dawn You have my sympathy. I'm trying to teach my kids the "right" way to act around the puppy - don't get down lower than her, don't irritate her, don't do the jerky hand waving stuff, but my 4 year old is, apparently, a slow learner. At first, I put up with the pup nipping as a way of defending herself and trying to teach my daughter, but now she is 5 months old I've started growling at the puppy when she shows any aggression toward the child, (and then usually growling at the child and sending her away from the dog). This seems to be helping with stopping the dog "biting"/nipping. My older dog does what I call "mouthing" where she will, very very gently, direct your hand in her mouth.... ususally to get her tummy scratched! The pup also sometimes "mouths" me (plays and puts her mouth around my hand etc), but without any pressure. I don't let her do this to the kids, as she is still sorting her place in the pack with them. I've also been removing/moving her food bowl while she eats. Started this myself so she would know I was boss, then have got the kids etc to do it too. All good - no attempts at biting/growling at all. I'm very fussy on this as I grew up with a dog you had to walk 2 metres around when it was eating or it would bite anyone... no - that dog had no training at all! Gradually things are improving with my child (older boy is great with pup) - but I must say dogs are easier to train than kids!! Good luck!

Hi C&Z we had friends who used Bark Busters with a Terrier who was just naughty (not biting, but not trained) and they were happy. I've also heard much praise for Val Bonney but haven't used any of them myself. Haven't heard of the Paw Man before, so can't help there. cheers and good luck Tali

Hi All My kees gets fish oil every one or two days, but for arthritis rather than epilepsy. Started by accident when the kids spat one out and the dog scoffed it. As you say, just stick in the food bowl and they eat it. Breath smells a bit fishy for a bit after they've eaten - but dog food breath isn't pretty anyway! Don't know about dosage - mine are Eye Q brand (cos that's what I bought for the kids - contain marine fish oil and evening primrose oil. Don't think it's doing any harm as the old girl managed to climb up onto our bed this morning unassisted for the the first time in about a year.... She was starting to get a sort of shake now and then, which i thought may have been related to epilepsy as I know Keeshonds are subject to this, but they've stopped now too so something must be helping! Good luck all!

I'm mailing as the veteran of 2 nights with a puppy and a crate (and a 12 year old that was never crate trained). I have the crate in my bedroom, so when she wakes I can hear her and take her to toilet, then back into crate afterwards. During the day the crate is in the family area (we feed her in it) and when we are out it blocks the doorway of our bathroom (her current space until she is a bit older and Tali gets used to her). This seems to be working well - she goes in and out as it suits her (hides in there with the fetch ball!). Hoping that we'll be able to move the crate around wherever once she is used to it, so that she can come on holidays with us and still have "her" space. Fingers crossed; if you find you are more relaxed with her in the garage, then try her there, but if it is too disturbing (for us the garage would cause complaints from our neighbors) then try her somewhere else but make sure the crate is fun for her wherever it is.

My Jarrah never cocked his leg - and he lived to 13+!! I actually quite liked it (although he looked silly when he sometimes lifted one leg - just the paw off the ground - not actually cocked!) - it meant accidents in the house were just on the floor and not over the furniture too!