FHRP

Not sure if WA did use guns, but they aren't allowed in the RATG's now :) I look forward to hearing about WA's first RATG

I forgot to comment on this. Congrats lablover and well done with your girls!!!! Hope your health is improving :) I forgot to comment too, congrats Lablover! You could come to Canberra in March too :D

Mason_Gibbs, the rules are on the ANKC website http://www.ankc.org.au/Rules.aspx Novice has two single mark retrieves. All retrieves are launched from a thrower.

Great stuff TSD and Em! Glad you enjoyed the weekend :D

Good luck this weekend TSD and Em! You've put the training in, so I have no doubts you'll both do great :D And have fun!!!

I hear there are at least a couple of DOLers who have Rally-O titles to brag about!!???

Jetshroom, there's nothing better than seeing your dog do what it was bred for IMO. It's already been pointed out that Setters have two distinct lines - show & field. Pointer & Setter field trials are predominantly made up of the field lines, however I see no reason why someone couldn't put their 'show bred' Setter in a paddock on birds, I bet they will have a great time too. I am not a hunter, however over the past 10 years I have become increasinlgy interested and involved in gundog work starting with Gundog Working Tests (now called Retriever Ability Tests) then Retrieving trials and then this past season Field Trials. All of these sports are worth checking out for gundog owners. The Australian Working Retriever Central bullettin board is a good place to find out what trials are going on in Australia http://www.australianworkingretrievercentral.org.au/bb/ and as Aidan2 said, head over the Retrieving and Field thread. And just to show how lovely a working Setter looks when doing it's stuff, this is a local dog training in the field

Goodbye Gus and hugs to you gusmum. I am sure my own white faced red dog is welcoming Gus up there.

Nothing is 100% guaranteed GoldenGirl, sorry to hear it didn't work for you but with chiro's it's worked for me I'd much rather hear people's experiences and recommendations then just picking one out of the book, same with human chiro's.

My dogs regularly see a good canine chiro. I don't think it's needed for every dog and many dogs live long happy lives without them. As my dogs are competing in sports, I want to make sure they're as physically sound as possible and this is one of the things I do to ensure that. Apart from maintaining my dogs soundness I have been convinced of the good it's done several times. I brought a pup home that shortly after became very cow hocked. The hocks would nearly touch when I stacked him up!! After the first chiro visit the change was dramatic and after the second he was 'perfect' and has been since. I had an older dog that developed spondylosis and I am convinced that his several years of good quailty life after diagnosis was helped immensely by monthly chiro visits. The key is finding a good one, there are a few in my area that I wouldn't go near. Word of mouth is the best way to find the good ones IMO.

Here you go wuffles, some of our order(s) in use! I stuffed some cardboard in the clip on cups as a temp fix, I have the small ones comeing soon (thanks Yarrowfell!). Oops!

Only for the gundogs ;) My guys are the same!!! I'll vow to do a clean out and Polo will spend the week carrying around the saddest rag of a toy and I just don't have the heart to chuck it! Not with the state dead toys are in at my house! My boys aren't 'toy destroyers' but toys do become well seasoned with their regular outdoor trips and occasionally tug of war game

My second order arrived yesterday You'll just have to wait until May and see them on the prize table at the Gundog Club's agility trial Ava might win you another bag and slip lead!

Great pics TSD I did a little training last weekend at the Pointing Breeds Christmas gathering. Too many grass seeds and snakes around for land work but I gave the boy some work in the dam after lunch. Only hand throws and blinds but I was pleased with his memory work. I had almost fogotten how much Polo enjoys working :D Despite it being a Pointing Breeds club we were outnumbered by working Spingers!! Seems a lot of Pointer people are adding them now they can't shoot quail locally. A few from the day.

Good idea. I have not done a Redbubble Calendar for my friends this year due to their postage, I have gone to another site instead.

I have just emailed them to add a few things to my order let me know if you want anything and will email them again Will PM you the details

Has anyone had any trouble getting the real fur toys in?

Ah poop. Was going to see if you could add a couple of things for me, maybe I'll have to just do another order

Where are you? It's only the 15th, although I'd love it to be the 16th, that would mean Friday!!! :D There's probably still a day left as it owuld be 16th USA time wouldn't it?

The recognition of Associate Gundogs was a topic at the last Natonal RAFT meeting. I'm waiting to hear the result as I managed to avoid the meeting But, hopefully there will be a National standard way to recognise them and we'll find out details soon!!

I'd say the fact that he's recently sired a litter is a good sign, was it a decent size litter? I had my 9.5 year old collected and frozen a month or so back. Quality was very good and suprisingly post thaw quailty is better than my 4.5 year old dog. However, I had a stud enquiry on another dog when he was 10 and when tested he was basically infertile by then. Same breed, both very fit and healthy.

I would describe Gundogs in general as energetic, atheltic, biddable dogs. They were/are bred to work with and for people in the field, often with other dogs. As a result you get the characteristics described above. There are of course exceptions where breed purpose was slightly different. You can break it down further to find similar physical and temperament traits within the Gundog breeds. For example Spaniels are busy dogs, shorter on leg with longer coat. They are bred to flush game and work close to their human in the field (well within gun range), often going into dense cover. If you watch them work, it is a very 'busy' action, always on the go. Where as the Pointer (English) and Setters are bred for the specific purpose of locating and pointing game. They work a lot further from their human, holding location of the game until the gun is close. They are longer on leg and finer built and often a little more difficult to train than many of the other gundog breeds because what they do doesn't require the close control of some of the other breeds. Utility Gundog breeds are a jack of all trades, they hunt, point and retrieve. They are used in the paddock to hunt, point and retrieve feather and fur game, as well as on the duck pond to retrieve from water. They are highly trainable and also can be highly strung with lots of energy. They are generally longer on leg than the Spaniels and Retrievers and have a variation of coat type. Of course I've made generalisations and there will be exceptions in any breed

Vizsla pups can have 'stripes' :D Picture stolen from Luv Vern in the Vizsla thread :D

I must have broken dogs? I bought a couple of iSqueaks after the ravings about them on here, and my dogs aren't at all fond of them 2nd order shipped last night No iSqueaks in this one :D

Has anyone received the stick in the ground weave poles yet? My first order arrived yesterday and I've just put in the second order Of course when I saw that each pole was 55c cheaper if ordering 12 or more I got 12 instead of the 8 I initially intended to get, to use as jumps :D