DeltaCharlie

I'd be getting a check over, preferably by a chiro/massage therapist/etc. The fact that it is a sudden change makes me think that perhaps it is a pain issue rather than an age thing. 12 really isn't that old for a lot of dogs, especially a long-lived breed like a staffy. Charlie is almost 12 and he is just as fit and active as he was when he was 2.

I'm a big fan of TOTW and have been feeding it for years now as a supplement to a predominantly raw diet. My 3yo Shock is epileptic and TOTW is one of the only premium foods that is safe for dogs with seizures. All the other dogs have done really well on it too.

I feed both frozen and defrosted, depending on what time I remember to get it out of the freezer :) I actually prefer frozen as it slows them down a lot and none of mine have an issue eating it like that. I always feed frozen to puppies as it teaches them to eat slower and also helps sooth gums during teething, so as adults it doesn't bother them as they have grown up with it.

When we travelled to Perth for the agility nationals in 2010 the quarantine station checked over some of the dogs to make sure they didn't have grass seeds etc but weren't overly thorough and avoided the dogs that weren't comfortable with someone approaching the car. I have heard it is much more thorough for horses and livestock as they are more likely to have plant matter attached to them. I had a friend who travelled over many years ago as a pony act in a circus and they had an interesting experience getting the lion trailer through

We took copies of vaccination paperwork, worming treatments etc but none of that was required.

Hoping to really get back into agility this year, we have been part time triallers the last few years due to injuries and also money.

We had our first trial back last Sat, pretty low key one with just games and opens. At the the moment I am only running 2 older girls, both at masters level and both with reduced runs so I didn't have to do very much. Tailwag has run Whip for me for the last year or so and my novice girl, Shock, has had to take a break from agility indefinitely. The medications she is on for her seizures are starting to affect her balance too much to safely run her.

I have a young up and coming dog, Boost, who I hope to debut in jumping next month. She has been really slow to mature so I haven't done a lot with her yet and have only started weaves and contacts this week. She is doing some nice stuff now though and is growing in confidence so I'm excited for her future :)

We use pvc and its not fixed to the box in any way, it's just a square with feet. The puppies can push their way out if need be.

The only reason I freeze anything is because I buy in bulk. With 13 dogs even the frozen stuff is lucky to stay in the freezer for a week, certainly no more than 2, we go through it quickly. The day I buy it they eat it fresh. Our dogs eat lamb brisket, roo tails, chicken frames, turkey wings, fish heads and roo mince. All fresh.

ETA: We only feed human quality meat with the exception of the roo. The roo tails are already frozen when we buy them and the roo mince is very high quality with no smell so we feel pretty safe feeding it.

I remember when I got Cody (a border collie x cattle dog) I looked into life expectancy of both breeds, hoped that he would take after the ACD side as they generally live longer, and worried myself silly about the chances of different diseases later in life.

A week after his 2nd birthday he got out of the yard and was killed by a car.

Life is unpredictable. If we spend our time worrying about the what ifs, we forget to enjoy the time we do have. This dog appears 4 times in the past 4 generations. There are 30 dogs in total across 4 generations so that means 26 other dogs influencing the genes of your pup. That could be 26 perfectly healthy, long lived dogs verse 1 who died of a disease with potentially environmental causes (it's not always genetic and you won't know for sure).

We had considered it, we have 3 MR dogs, but all our best dogs are SR so can't compete.

Not to mention it is way too close to the agility nationals. It was one or the other unfortunately, can take that much time off work.

4/52

A more candid portrait for this week. This is Ace, a friend's 10month old BC who came to visit us today and have a swim in our dam :)

I must say I am loving the photos in this thread so far! Those panning shots just look divine :) I also love seeing everyone's furbabies. I don't venture into many threads on here so this gives me a chance to meet everyone's non-border collies :laugh:

3/52

This week is Sweep :) He is nearly 12 now and has had a really bad heart murmur for about 12 months. We are off to the cardiologist in Sydney this week as it has suddenly become much worse

Typically speaking, a good yard dog will be hard headed, full on and not necessarily a "soft" dog. A fearful dog would not be much use in the yards, they need to get in there and get the stock moving any way that they can.

A good paddock dog will be more independent, may be softer (but not always), and probably not as full on. They have more opportunity to work at their own preferred distance and need to be able to make decisions on their own.

These traits are not exclusive of course, there are plenty of dogs who are very good at both styles of work.

As far as traits for a pet, it really depends on the family and also the individual dog. Either style could make a good pet. If it was a soft person a little lax on boundaries a yard bred dog could take advantage of them and be too much to handle. On the other hand, some paddock dogs may be too independent for a family who want a dog that wants to be with them.

Whip and the hose

I can't remember the source but when looking a a probiotic for dogs, not all brands of yoghurt are equal. Dogs share some of the same gut bacteria as people, but the balance is different - dogs need more of the bifido strains if I have that right. No yoghurt is harmful, but some cultures are better than others. I will try to find the source article which made me read all the fine print on yoghurt labels.

It is easier to use a good brand of purpose designed canine probiotic if you have a dog with chronic gut problems.

With our boy who had ongoing digestion issues it was recommended we use the Bornhoffen brand with him by a few different holistic vets and naturopaths. He did really well on it and any night that we missed he would get a gut ache so it was obviously effective. He no longer needs it (he had had giardia which stays in the system for 5 or so years) but we wouldn't hesitate to use it again if needed.

Instead of putting hessian bags over the tramp beds, we cable tie shade cloth to it. Just buy it by the roll and put it on, double thickness. Can be easily hosed off etc too. It seems to be much more resilient to digging. For chewing, you can cut pvc lengthways and put it over the edges so that they can't get hold of the bed. I'll try to find a picture for you.

Also, protexin is very good too.

We used pet pep up for years on our dogs and they did very well on it. It helped to keep weight on our boy with gut and digestion issues.

What breed is Pepper? That makes a huge difference :) A small breed could probably be done at 9 months, a great dane not until 3years.

This is a good article explaining the importance of holding off until growth plates have closed. The time for that will vary between breeds and even individuals within breeds, but typically the smaller the dog the sooner they stop growing (for obvious reasons :laugh: )

Spay Neuter and Joint Disease

My 9yr old border collie was speyed at 6months. Her whole structure was altered and she ended up much straighter in the back end than her puppy structure suggested she would, the extra length in her back legs caused her to become bum-high, and as a result placed additional stress on her pelvis. She was diagnosed with spondylosis in her spine and pelvic region at the age of 3. Had she been a pet or if I hadn't had the benefit of a very knowledgeable chiropractor working on my dogs regularly, I probably would never have known. With a lot of hard work and rehab she is still competing in agility and most people have no idea of the issues she has. I wouldn't expect the average pet owner to notice anything different about her. It doesnt change the fact that the issue exists and affects her life.

16 is a great age Deltacharlie

Sure is :) She is going pretty well considering. Still has the border collies under control haha. Although I nearly lost her to a bone that got caught in her throat yesterday... That was scary and no more bones for her!

I can imagine that you would be, Scottsmum! I'd love to travel around NZ and photograph the gorgeous landscape one day.

DeltaCharlie, in my mind there are essentially two types of editing that people can do. There's a clean edit, which is getting the white balance correct (so that whites look white although this can alter slightly if you shot in very warm light like the golden hour or very blue light like the blue hour) and adjusting contrast, saturation, sharpness etc. Although the end result can vary in terms of whether people like softer tones or bold, rich colours they still provide a reasonably accurate representation of the true colours and just look like a great photo rather than a great Photoshop job, if that makes sense? Once you know how to do a clean edit it's not really trial and error because it's essentially the same process every time. This is primarily how I edit.

Then there are artistic edits, which is really anything and everything else. This is where you might see things like a matte finish, vintage look, tones and colours that are quite different to what would have been there in real life, different photos composited together and so, so much more. If you do the same kind of artistic edit on all of your photos then it wouldn't really be trial and error either because you'd know what you're creating and how to create it. Trying new things or not knowing exactly what you're going for could involve a lot of trial and error though.

Personal preference has a huge amount to do with how you edit though although I think understanding white balance is one of the biggest things that help people get consistency with their photos. I still get it a bit wonky sometimes and actually started using a grey card when shooting Justice to make life easier for myself (if you take a photo of a card that is 18% grey in the same setting and light as the other photos you're taking, you can use the white balance eye dropper in editing software to click on the photo with the grey card in it and set your white balance and then apply that to the other photos in the set).

I'm not sure if that's the sort of help you were looking for or whether you're wanting step by step instructions (which is hard without knowing what you want your edits to look like)?

That makes sense :) One of the biggest issues I have is getting the colours right as my ability to pick white is pretty crap and seems to change depending on how the light is shining off my laptop screen at the time. So a scientific method like a grey card would definitely benefit me :)

For the most part I prefer natural looking photos. That only really changes when I'm not happy with the photo itself :) As an example, the photo I just posted of Brooks wasn't a particularly good shot. The background was beige, she is a grey dog, and the cushion was black and red. It was a bit of a mess, hence the switch to black and white. Then it looked too grey and boring as she is grey herself so just blended into the cushion and background. So I changed the cushion back to its original colours :laugh: Then it looked off balance so I tried to match the border to the cushion... Things tend to happen by accident with me when I am trying to salvage a shot I don't like :) At her age though, I don't want to stop taking photos of her and regret it later, so I take any chance I can get! She is long past the point where she will pose for me :laugh:

I enjoy taking the photos and trying to capture a look or a feel. I just don't know what to do with the photos once I take them! I think lots more processing practise is in order for me. I have folders full of photos that I never got around to actually looking at as I couldn't be bothered. At least when I take agility photos it is straight forward. Crop appropriately, and make sure the photo is clear :)

I'd love to know how to process my photos better if anyone would like to offer hints :) I am pretty limited to auto contrast, auto colour correct, cropping, sharpening, putting a border on it and adding colour to B/W. Oh, and one of the programs I use has a soft focus function (amongst a large number of functions I don't understand!)

I'm guessing a lot of it is trial and error and personal preference. I look back at photos I took years ago that I loved at the time and they just don't appeal to me anymore. I'm not sure whether my tastes have changed over time or if they were always crap and people were too polite to tell me!

2/52. At the age of 16, Brooks does a lot of sleeping these days. She was too cute lying on the lounge this morning and I had to snap a picture. Dirty, scruffy face and all :)

1/52. This week's poster child is Link

Border Collies: Collie/colley means Useful Dog and they were traced back to the English/Scottish Border. Useful dogs from the Border.

Pyrenean Shepherds: Shepherds from the Pyrenees mountains in France.