DeltaCharlie

This is from Bea

I made them myself and Im the least crafty person in the world. I even bought a cheap tennis ball tug thing (so the ball already had a hole) and threaded one end through the ball to try to encourage Charlie to tug. Like someone said, just go to spotlight and buy 3 lengths of polar fleece and plait them. It will cost a few dollars. Much cheaper and quicker than waiting for one to be delivered.

Okiedokie here we go. This is the reply from Bea Miles (the main instigator of the sydney uni trial) This next bit is a little hard to read and incredibly long sorry. I haven't actually read it so I don't know whether it is applicable. I have one of those "cant understand anything you read" migraines today.

Ill ask around for you. Get back to you as soon as I know. eta: Do you mind if I quote you exactly when I post in our clubs yahoo group? We are the ones running the study with Sydney Uni so I will see what Bea has to say.

The only time I deliberately fast my dogs is the day before a sporting comp. Charlie isn't food or tug motivated and you cant play fetch in a flyball/agility ring like I would at training. I need him to want the treats. It still isn't true fasting though as I feed them the day before, I just feed them in the morning/lunch time instead of at night. My dogs never know when to expect their food. Sometimes they get fed in the morning, sometimes at night, sometimes their meal is split. If I get home late and they fall asleep I dont bother feeding them dinner, I just give them breakfast the next day. Sometimes I then feed them again that night Poor things must be so out of whack but at least it means they don't start hassling me when its "dinner time" like my mums dogs (fed at 6pm sharp).

Id stick with chicken bones and lamb flaps for now. Make sure they are frozen to stop them from gulping and to teach them to chew bones properly. At that age Delta mainly ate chicken bones (wings/frames/necks/drumsticks etc).

Yes, I am a teacher at the school. Every child attending the carnival has had a parental consent signed to say that photos will be taken of their child at numerous school sporting and other events throughout the year. Just thought Id better check, not everybody is aware of it. As for tips, Im not really going to be much help. Mine is a Nikon so not sure what functions are available on canon cameras.

I would be really careful if I were you. Have you got the permission from every parent to take photos? Cameras are not allowed at school swimming carnivals anymore. Im a teacher and have seen some parents actually removed from swimming carnivals for trying to take a photo of their own child (the pool people called security). It seems completely ridiculous but with some of the wierdos around these days you can never be too careful.

Haha Delta was the same. I taught her to tread on a door bell buzzer when she wanted to go out. After she worked out how to press it I didn't give her any treats, simply opened the door. I didn't want to be rewarding her for pressing it, just build up a connection between the sound and the door opening. It lasted about a week because she loved the sound so much (or making me get off the lounge ) that she pressed it non stop. I made sure I went to the door every single time and never acknowledged her as I walked into the laundry; I simply walked in, opened the door, walked out. I had hoped that would stop her ringing it for attention but it turns out she just liked pressing it. I ended up taking it away from her and almost immediately she started doing a little bark at the door whenever she wanted to go out. So now she just barks to go out. Charlie never asks to go out, that dog would hold on for 24 hours if he had too.

Dont mind me, Im in a crabby mood sorry. I didn't even realise that it was in a different forum I only ever click "view new posts" so I see everything that comes up, rather than looking through each forum. It means I don't pay attention to the forum the message is actually posted on. Continue... (and ignore the cranky lady)

What is the point of this post??? Wont people be just as likely to see this post as they will the other one? In which case if they want to vote they will. Maybe Im just tired, I dunno, just seems kinda pointless.

Like others I thought I kept telling myself it was a different Choppa, the title was wrong. Then I saw the photos and tears fell here too. He may have had a short life but look at all he has accomplished and worked for in that time. He achieved more in those 3 years than some do in a human lifetime. His work here is now done, lets hope another dog can continue what he has started. RIP Choppa, you will be missed. Find my Cody up there at the bridge, he had a love for all bully breeds (but was aggressive towards anything else), he will show you around.

Great video. What are the wobbly boards and spiral things?

My treat bags for Delta's training usually have a mixture of frankfurts, cheese, cabanossi, cat kibble, those natures gift treats, and water cracker biscuits. Sometimes I throw in some chicken if I have it. I find that if the dog knows what treat is coming it can choose whether or not to work for it. Keeping a variety means that you are as surprised as the dog at what you pull out each time. Charlie generally wont work for food but he will do anything you ask if you have a tennis ball in your hand. So, his reward is a toss of the ball when he finishes a course. I even have a little tennis ball that I use for obedience, whenever there is a slight break in training (even 10secs is fine) I chuck it into his mouth once or twice. You can't throw anything at flyball which had me stumped for a while. Then I discovered that he LOVES the dried chicken breast pieces (Kramar brand) that have just started appearing in the supermarkets. He prefers them to his tennis ball at the moment so I use them for flyball comps. I don't use them at training as I would rather keep them as the really special treat.

NSW Springwood District Dog Training Club Lomatia Park, Springwood Monday 7pm, new beginners intake first Monday each month. Website

I was always told that so long as their bum didn't actually come off the ground it is fine for them to do that. I have seen a lot of trialling dogs roll to the side for drop stays. One lady actually panics if her dog doesn't as there is a good chance he will break stay, if he shifts his weight she knows he isn't going anywhere :D Mind you I don't actually trial so perhaps there are deductions, but I was under the impression there wasn't. Puppy sits (lazy sits) are a no-no though. Edit: Thought I would add that if it worries you then I would try to fix it now. Don't reward her for anything less than perfect, reset her if you need to so she realises that it isn't how you want her to drop. Easier to fix it before the habit becomes ingrained in her mind.

Flyball goes back again on tuesday so I will speak to Bea and Maria about it and find out more info for you. Bea has been really pushing for this for a long time, many a drink was had once we found out they had approved the grant What would you like me to ask?

Sounds like the vet is having a random guess if you ask me. Dogs don't need carbs, they are not human. I seriously doubt that this has anything to do with diet at all. Vets are taught that dry food and rice are the ultimate diet (the food companies sponsor their education so its to be expected) and they have trouble accepting that there are better diets out there. I gave up trying to explain what I feed my dogs a long time ago, I just tell them I feed dry food and it saves the arguments. Whenever something is wrong in a dog fed something other than dry, they use it as an opportunity to convince owners that they should feed commercial food. Has the dog shown any signs of pain? Could be developing arthritis which would make walking uncomfortable. Did the vet do any tests? Could be an indication that something more is going on in there. I would tell your friend to try another vet, one that might be a little more open minded. I would hate for something major to be missed because a vet blamed the diet.

I give all my food frozen (bones and meat) and my dogs love it. It stops them from gulping, teaching them to chew properly. I know that I can now feed them a thawed bone and they will chew it properly if I need to. With puppies I always feed them frozen bones. When they have puppy teeth it takes them forever to chew through things so they cheat and swallow them whole. Frozen bones are too cold to swallow whole, plus it is great for numbing their gums while teething.

Gotta be quick around here Not once did the dog look up at the handler, it kept facing where it should be going. Its great once you build up that partnership so that they just check on you out of the corner of their eye, unlike Delta who still looks at me after every obstacle and crashes into things Gotta love the victory roll at the end lol

This was just posted on the BC boards. Hope it hasn't been posted here before, apologies if it has. Looks like a roller coaster cam Agility- Dogs eye view

I fed Delta a prey model (RAW) diet right from the first day (8 weeks). I fed her everything frozen so she couldn't gulp it down and she had no issues with chicken frames etc. However, I wouldn't necessarily recommend doing that for someone who has no idea about raw feeding. Adults can handle the experimentation stage (when you are working out how to feed raw) much better than puppies can. So, if you want to feed RAW make sure you speak to others who feed it and check out some of the good books around. I would speak to the breeder about what they have been feeding them. Delta's breeder had been giving a mixture (kibble in the morning, raw for lunch and dinner) so it was easy enough to change her to raw. One thing I will advise though is to steer clear of "puppy" food. Cody had so many joint and growing problems as a puppy, he was always in pain and having trouble with his muscles growing at a different rate to his bones. I took him to a different vet at about 8mnths who told me to stop feeding puppy food immediately. He said it causes them to grow at an unnatural rate and he sees so many puppies with the same problems as Cody had. After getting him onto adult food his body eventually settled down and his joint pain disappeared. Dogs will still grow to the same size, they just take longer to reach their full height on regular food. I was told by one nutritionist that puppy food was basically invented by someone who saw an opportunity to make more money out of uneducated dog owners wanting to do the best for their dog. "Here feed this special puppy food, its specially formulated to make your dog grow"- dogs will still grow, they dont have access to "high protein prey" in the wild, they eat the same as the adults.

Haha Poodlefan you're as bad as me. I was sitting there with the voice inside my head screaming "wrong hand! Use the other hand!" Gotta love what you can do with a clicker

I always feed my dogs their dinner frozen, it gives the body a chance to prepare for the intake of meat (my supplier minces the meat) as they have to chew and gnaw at it. Plus it means they have to chew their bones properly as it is too cold to gulp them down. In summer I also fill a chinese takeaway container with water then throw a few chicken necks in and sprinkle some treats over the top. I freeze it and give it to them the next day. My dogs love them.

Hey, I met Willow and didn't even realise For a dog that could easily step over the jumps, she wasn't particularly keen on it