FHRP

So sorry RallyValley What a handsome boy he was.

Misteri, the ACT Gundog Society has a few people who meet regularly to train for retrieving trials, although there are no formal classes. Newcomers are welcome :) Over Summer there are no trials locally (Victoria seems to be the only state that doesn't break for a decent time over Summer) but training continues for the dedicated few, usually involving lots of water work.

This is a gorgeous fox red working lab imported from the UK. and another working line golden

You will find darker golden retrievers in working lines in Australia. This is a friends dark bitch, not a great pic but you can see her colour.

Good to hear there's no recurrence of the health issue :D My boy was done partly due to an enlarged prostate so I'm hoping that doesn't happen again. Very similar with my boy. At around the 6-7 mark his testicles did increase slightly in size, but they're still only about half normal size. With the warmer weather I'm seeing more dangle but not volume :laugh: I doubt I'll get him collected again. He's on ice for future use :)

Another reading your updates :D I had my 25kg then 9.5 year old boy given a 6 month implant 11 months ago. His testicles are still tiny. I'm wondering at his age if they'll ever come back. I did have him collected before having it done and he had good quality swimmers then. So are you going ahead with the mating OSo? I haven't read back through the thread but I htink your boy was given the implant for medical reasons? I assume there's no recurrence??

I'll book Flick's flight down now :D Please retrun her fully trained

OK, have ordered some for the trial and a couple for me :) I have the Canine Cruiser bowls and although they spill less in the car they still spill. It will be interesting to see how these compare.

Hmmm, do you think they would make good agility trial prizes?

I'm pretty sure CDC's still has a 'full height' see saw, or has it been changed in the last couple of months??

love the lift at the back we're going to do a fold out ramp :) This type of set up is popular with people who compete in Retrieving trials, although I'm yet to see one with a lift :laugh: Ramps, yes.

The rules for conduct of obedience trials can be found on the ANKC website here http://www.ankc.org.au/Rules.aspx

You have to attempt three reds. You can only do a colour if you succesfully complete a red. In Novice and Excellent you can still get sufficient points in the opening with just two colours (high scoring). In Masters if you knock a red or fault a colour, you're stuffed, can't get enough points from two colours no matter what you do :) I remember going to Victoria for a trial when the games were new and people were doing two reds which gave them sufficient points then going to the closing. The 2011 rules do say that the opening sequence end when the Team has performed or attempted 3 reds, so I read it as they must attempt 3.

I think this is a good aim for your first go at Snooker. Another consideration is trying to end your opening sequence near the start of the closing sequence so that you're not trying to get your dog past heaps of off course obstacles to get to the closing sequence. If you've read the rules and still have any questions before the start of a course ask the judge at briefing. I like all the games in agility, they all have their own different challenges :)

I expect the Club to keep it's members updated on what it's doing (results, schedules, seminars etc.) which is usually via a Newsletter and/or website. I do like to receive Newsletters and love reading about members achievements in them and seeing pictures of events and members dogs. I like merchandise and I think purchasing clothing, calendars etc. from the club is a good way to support the club, although I know that there usually isn't a large mark up on the products. I expect the club to try and offer what the members want, within reason. In return I also expect members to help make what they want to happen, to actually happen. Club's are usually unpaid volunteer based, so need input and assistance from it's members. If it is a breed club I expect to see the Club promoting the breed in it's original purpose (talking Gundogs here, not fighting breeds). Larger club's with more workers and members I expect more from in terms of Newsletter and Merchandise than I would the smaller clubs. I belong to breed, group (Gundog) and training clubs. Different clubs do different things well. I belong to several breed clubs and they range from being excellent in communication, conducting all sorts of shows, trials, seminars, producing an awesome newsletter, heaps of merchandise to a breed club that is pathetic in communication, offering limited events (reduced to conformation shows only in a very versatile breed), offering no merchandise and only the very occasional poorly produced Newsletter! One of the breed clubs does an excellent job in promoting the working side of my breed, others are supportive but not terribly active and another appears to no longer be even interested. I am quite involved in my local Gundog group club and I think we do an awesome job :) :laugh: We are small and conduct a larger variety of events, more than I think any other club in the area holds. It's not without issue of course. We do have a Newsletter and a Website but we do not currently offer merchandise. Training Club's often vary between committee's. A group of us were very close to peeling off our local training club to start a dog sport club after we got sick of the lack of support for agility and trialing in general. Since a change of committee, dog sports in the club seem to be better appreciated and supported. I still think they could listen more to what their long time members want offered. Yes. I expect my breed and group clubs to endeavour to offer breed/group specific events, training and seminars if possible. I don't expect a general training club to offer training or trials in events that will be restricted to a group (eg. Retrieving or Field trials). Some do, some don't. I think having people with different intests on the committee helps with the Club offering something to everyone. If the club is continually struggling to get people from all areas on their committee then sometimes I think they need to look at why. Also, ask for help. I recently got questioned why I have agreed to do something for a club, it's because they actually asked me :)

I too would have thought the Club L'Epagneul Breton would have been your best bet! Maybe try over at the Australian Working Retriever Central site where there are a few members with French Britts who may be able to help? http://www.australianworkingretrievercentral.org.au/bb/index.php I'd recommend you keep your timing of a pup a bit more open thean end of January though.

I had to have one lower baby canine removed with my current pup, because it had broken off at gum level. It wasn't going to budge with any amount of tugging etc. and the adult tooth was starting to head to the roof of the mouth rather than correct alignment due to the retained baby tooth. The other side had fallen out naturally well before. At the time both the top adult canines were also coming through with the baby teeth still there solidly. I asked the vet about removing them at the same time and she said she did not like to remove baby teeth unless the adult teeth were at least as erupted to the length of the retained teeth because it could cause jaw issues in iteself. We left the upper ones and they eventually came out by themselves. The bottom canine corrected and at 6 months the bite is looking spot on :) I have often had pups with both their baby and adult teeth for a short time, it's their shark mouth phase :)

I had pretty poor reports on the Kangoo from someone who had a fleet of them at their work. I'd look closer at the VW Caddy if I was buying now, they weren't around when I got my little van. eta. The little vans are courier vehicles, so made for driving around town. My van is my only car and very easy to park etc. I'm hesitant to go to something bigger for my everyday car too.

I could see you in a Caddy Maxi Anne! False floor/drawer for the gear and the greys on top. FHRP made a good point about vans to me a while back - avoid side windows - they add a lot of heat to the vehicle in Summer. I love the lack of windows in the back. When I bought the car I had a window put in on the passenger side, just behind the seat so that I had better vision for changing lanes etc. I thought I would get more later, but not having the windows is great to protect from heat and make the dogs less noticed. I have recently been toying with getting a new car as I really want 4WD but I see all the windows on 'normal' cars now and don't like it!!!

As adults they jump in the back, as pups or old dogs they go up the ramp I now have. My van doesn't have the side sliding door, it's the model before that unfortunately. Main thig I would do differently with the compartments under the dogs is have bigger ones and less of them. They were made to fit the crates and pen I had at the time, but are less versatile for other things. I would also get those back gates!!!

I've had a Citroen Berlingo for the past 10 years and it is a fantastic dog car. I thought I'd miss having the seats in the back, but I never have. I have mine fitted out to fit folded wire crates, securapen, umbrella etc. under the dogs. Below is an old pic, I have put in a divider so the dogs are in two sections now and the plan was to put gates on the back so the van doors could be open with the dogs still secure when parked somewhere. It just never happened, but I have seen similar vehicles (the VW Caddy has become popular in recent years) with the back gates and they work very well. You could have the area under the dogs custom made to suit your own requirements, there are professionals that make some very nice ones, my Dad did mine :) I have a few ideas of what I'd do different next time.

Well done on affiliation. Does the Club intend to hold any events for gundogs besides shows?

So sorry Sway As already said, you can do all the supposed right things and bloat can still unfortunately happen. I lost a dog at 9 to bloat and there were none of the listed triggers, it was in the early hours of the morning so no where near meal time, she hadn't been exercising, she wasn't stressed, she wasn't nervy etc. etc. Unfortunately her son was also lost to bloat at just 2 years old. I have also had my GSP to the emergency vet with suspected bloat after I found him laying down outside moaning and groaning with a tight, bloated stomach. Turns out that he had a belly full of kibble he'd stolen and was just feeling sorry for himself. The Emergency Vet fee was worth the piece of mind anyday though, especialy as both his grandsire and now his sire have bloated

At first I voted that I hadn't sold off prizes, but then I remembered I have sold a couple of plates/bowls in a garage sale :) Mostly I donate them to a raffle table if I don't want them. Obviously I have no problem with selling off prizes, but I must admit I have hung on to a few ghastly prizes because the wins were special.

GSP = German Shorthaired Pointer :)