Gayle.

Dusty does the most graceful down I have ever seen. On our floorboards she simply lets her front feet slide forward and down, then her rear end just folds and melts onto the floor. It looks fabulous, but I doubt we'd find an obedience ring with floorboards for her to wow the judges with! LOL!

Yes, I'm thinking March/April next year. I don't like the hot weather and Benson gets VERY hot with his thick black coat so I'd rather wait til it cools down a bit. We have one more dog show this month (in Morwell), and a couple of Xmas break-ups including the ASCV one at the big day out for dogs, which I'm looking forward to. They are having a members comp and I think I'll enter Benson and give him 15 seconds of fame running around the ring. He's such a ham, he'll probably love it!

Absolutely awesome stuff!!! Sorry I didn't show up. I was so-so about going all week, even though I'd entered ages ago and it was our home club, but with the way I was feeling at 6.30am this morning, we were better off staying home so I went back to bed and had a very long sleep in. And a much needed day off from all doggy-related stuff (although we did go frisbee chasing this afternoon). Hopefully I'll get some enthusiasm back for obedience soon and we can go trialling together again.

Hahaha, Benson has learned another command.....me growling "ALL THE WAY!!!!" when he pulls that stunt. I taught both of them to drop from a stand, just by luring down with food then treating once they are actually in the drop position.

I like the Sporn one the best. It's also the most comfortable one for the dog to wear as the nose band is padded and soft, and the lead clips to the back, not under the chin. Because of the way it's designed, it slips around less than the others and if the dog isn't creating any tension on the leash, it just sits loosely over the nose.

First pass in CCD and highest scoring Gippsland member at todays trial in Bairnsdale. Awesome stuff, HUGE congrats from us (me, Bry, Benson and Dusty).......two more passes and a title tomorrow????

My girl hated having the hair on her legs and head brushed, and I realised the brush I was using for her torso was too hard on her legs and it hurt her, so I bought a soft cat brush from K-Mart and now use that. She doesn't mind her legs or head being brushed at all now, so it might be an idea to buy a cheap, soft bristle brush and get her used to the idea of being brushed without it actually pentrating into the coat much. Start it when she's relaxed and sleepy and do it as part of a nice cuddle on the couch, or something.

You have got Hevnsent, but have put it as a Lagotto breeder. They own a Lagotto but actually breed Australian Shepherds. As far as I know, they've never had Lagotto puppies.

My dogs fart really bad when they get raw lamb bones for dinner, so now I just give them for breakfast and they can stink up the backyard while I'm at work.

Do you have any links to the source of this information? I'd be interested in doing a bit more research.

Awww, those little dogs just steal a little corner of your heart and live there forever. My darling Gemma was a similar little cross breed, I got her long before designer dogs were known, she was a sweetie and left me devestated last year when she died of a stroke at age 14. I'd had her longer than my daughter or my husband. I feel your pain, you will never forget your mate.

Our little brag, Benson and I had our obedience club graduation today. We've been trying for most of the year to go from class 2 to 3, with no success so far. This is CCD level and the grad is pretty much the same as a CCD trial. Our biggest stumbling block by far has been the stays. Today his ring work was pretty good....could have been better and neater but overall, he wasn't bad. Didn't miss a command, but didn't rocket in very fast on the recall and moved one foot in the stand for examination. I was happy though, and we were sitting on a rather nice pass. But still the stays were to come. He seemed very calm, and so were the other dogs (thank goodness, cos last time there was a fight). He sat, I left and about halfway through a very long minute, he dropped his nose to the ground.....I held my breath and he lifted his head back up and looked me in the eye as if to say "Hahah, fooled ya!" But he sat rock solid, then did his drop stay like a trooper and didn't move a muscle So we passed. But not only that....we WON!!!!! the ring! I am so pleased with my beautiful boy.

She will be better off (and safer) in a run if you walk her and spend lots of time with her when you can, than having 24 extra inches added to a fence she can already clear with ease. If she can't clear an 8 ft fence, she will be in danger of getting caught on it, because she almost certainly WILL try to clear it. If you exercise her before work, then leave her with some toys and Cooper for company, she'll be fine in a run, then let her out when you get home and can watch her. I have been home and kept an eye on my two in the backyard, and believe me, they don't do much all day....mainly sleep!

Do you have space to build a dog run with a roof? That would be safer and probably more sensible, cos if she can clear 6 ft without a worry, another 2 ft probably isn't going to be too much of a challenge for her. Aussies are pretty good at the high jumps.....Benson could easily do it but he's never actually tried.

My dogs still don't have a "set" diet......they have lots of different things depending on what's available when I'm shopping. They have one super premium quality dry food at a time though, at the moment it's Pro Plan Selects which they absolutely love. They get that maybe 3 times a week, I also use it as training treats. They also get raw chicken pieces (drums, necks, thighs, frames), raw meaty lamb bones (mostly brisket), mince mixed with raw veges, cheese, eggs, liver or kidney, garlic and parsley. Sardines and occasionally tinned tuna. They have a very small breakfast, usually a chicken drumstick or a smallish brisket bone, then dinner at night. Sometimes they get an apple as a treat....Benson especially loves raw whole apples. I work on the premise that a wide range of foods will give them everything they need and so far it's working. They are healthy, active and look absolutely fabulous. They went for their regular vet checkup recently and she was very impressed with their health and well-being.

Our regular club training is Saturday mornings.....no excuse cos we went in the ring at almost exactly the same time as our training! But I train him most nights after dinner, I take him to a local park or greenbelt and go through the heeling patterns, the recall, the stand, the various commands and also have a play. We try for various locations as I want him to get used to different sights and smells and passers-by and not be distracted by them. A big ask at the moment though!

Why is it that this evening, when training Benson for the first time since the trial, he did the BEST....and I mean AMAZING!!!! heeling, like he has never done before???? Why couldn't he do this on Sunday?

We don't have anything to brag about either but I was very pleased to get that first one out of the way. Morning was better than the afternoon though, because when the clock ticked past mid-day, Benson lost the ability to drop and sit. Oh yeah, and lets not forget about the scary patch of grass where he was supposed to do his stays! Benson's recall started off just fine.....til halfway down the straight when something smelt good enough to forget about mum waiting patiently at the other end.....and he just wandered off to have a sniff!

I'll see how she is in the morning....right now she's happy as a lark, flitting around the house being gorgeous. She's certainly not acting sick, flat or anything other than completely normal....aside from these disgusting vomits. If she takes a turn for the worse overnight, I'll whip her up to the vet before work. They are just a few doors up from where we live and someone's usually there early a.m. I've also emailed her breeder to see what she says. She kept Dusty's litter sister and we often compare notes.

My little girlie, Dusty, aged almost 10 months came into season yesterday. Last night, I gave her a chicken frame for dinner, which she wolfed down with her usual enthusiasm, then a half hour later she promptly brought it all back up again. Tonight she managed to get hold of some dry cat food which she loves, and a half hour later, she threw that all up. And it stunk, like the foulest diarrhea. At first I thought it had come from the rear end but a few minutes later she threw up some more, it stunk just as bad and was definitely from her mouth. Aside from a few minutes of obviously not feeling too good after the vomit, she's normal, happy and probably hungry! What's normal? This is the first entire bitch I've ever had and I really don't know what to expect.

I taught my dogs the stay command by having them sit, then I would stand in front of them for a short time (seconds rather than minutes), telling them to stay, stay, stay, then return to their side and praise for staying. Gradually increase time and distance, then remove the lead.

Now that daylight saving has started, is it possible to take him into town of an evening, do some quiet window shopping, cross the road a few times etc. to get him "acclimatised"? Then maybe bring him in once or twice a week first thing in the morning when it's quiet and just give him a 10-15 minute walk around the shops. I love walking around our business/shops area on summer evenings with the dogs. They get to see and smell a different place, often get approached by strangers for a pat and yet it's relatively quiet. I plan on doing more of it with Dusty because she's a bit like Luka......suspicious and wary of anything different (she tends to bark loudly while backing away to hide behind my legs!) She loves her crate at dog shows because she can see and smell without having to be amongst the bustle, but I'd like to build her confidence in strange places.

Mine eat raw chicken necks, drums, frames etc, very regularly without incident. I "supervise" them only because Benson eats like he's a gourmet taste tester for a fancy restaurant, and Dusty eats like every mouthful is gonna be her last.......and given her own way, every mouthful in Bensons bowl would also be her last. And he'd quite happily stand aside and let her take it. But no choking.

What brand is it? The Great Barko? Uncle Albers? If so there are people here who feed that to their dogs and are very happy with it. There are others who never would.

I just used it on a tiny patch (much diluted and dabbed on, not all over her) under her breeders instruction. I'd be so, so hesitant to actually wash a dog in it.....it's very powerful and stinks to high heaven.