Tassie

Good to hear from you Luke - and sending good healing vibes from the chilly apple isle. :D

:D Yep - another one who says thank you (or sometimes thank you very much) to the dogs. I do it around the house, and for Rory when I want him to drop a frisbee ball or whatever (not for a formal obedience retrieve delivered to hand). I also say thank you to them for a really nice job in the ring - e.g nice agility run or tracking for Kirra, show win for Rory. :D

So sorry - what a tragic loss. I hate AIHA - lost my first obedience boy to it - it comes like a bolt out of the blue, and they go down so quickly.

Haven't stayed in these personally - but they've always looked nice Sapphire Coast/Bega/ Takeabreak

+1

Sounds good AD.

That's so true ness. Or at least Rory didn't. ;) He got the norty tail though.

And my lil big man is 32 months - 3 at the end of September . And yes AD - his interests are (too???) broad. (OT - his litter sister Phoebe has her show CH too now, and brother Luc is very close - great genes in there I reckon ;) )

Sentinel Spectrum here - we don't need the H/w here, but it's handy for when we go to the mainland, and it does the hydatid tawpeworm worming required fro bringing dogs back into Tasmania. Just a word of warning about products if you have a breed with the mdr1 gene sensitivity to ivermectin and related products - some good information hereivermectin sensitivity

Just doing our entry for the only ET down here - second weekend in July. So need to get the bike out a bit over school hols - but have to do some tracking training too - his first tracking trial is the weekend after next. Last weekend was showing with Rory and agility with Kirra - showing this comign weekend - busy, busy dogs.

great results RS - well done to you and the girls. Ptolomy - Rory's agility could be after the tracking season :D - and might depend on when Rally O becomes official, since he's doing beautifully in our mock Rally trials. Surprisingly, since club agility training is only on Sundays when we're usually otherwise occupied, I haven't been able to do much in the way of sequencing - and more importantly, proofing him against distraction to other dogs - seeing imporivements in stay training - but that's when he's not already excited. Immediate tasks with Rory apart from showing (for fun, and cos he loves showing off) are getting him ready for his first tracking test - Sunday week, and for ET - second week in July! (I'm definitely Jack of all trades, master of none - but we're having fun, and our variable schedulre of rewards keeps us in there . AD - I'm pretty sure Rory's little sis will get in the agility ring sooner than him - although he can weave (thanks to 2x2). ;)

More and and Fantastic news on all accounts well done Ptolomy and the red kids - clever and beautiful!

That's fantastic RS and Millie - congrats! Boy you WA folk know how to set the bar HIGH!

What's scary is that I didn't include myself in that category. I just thought I was normal You're not normal... just ask your work mates after you've told them that you're driving 8 hours (one way) for the second time in one month to compete with your dog, and you don't make any money out of it! They'll tell you you're crazy :D Or that having retired, you're now working 4 days a week in school terms to fund the doggy luxury addictions - like staying overnight in lovely dog-friendly/dogs inside cottage accommodation so that you don't have to get up at sparrow fart to drive a couple hours in fog and possibly ice to get to a trial.

Lots of congrats for this weekend. Well done DOLers. I've just come back from a couple of days in the north of the island showing and agility trialling. Had a fun time with 9.5 year old Miss Kirra, who was feral, but gave me some lovely runs - although only 1 Q - 2nd place in JDO on one of those funpark rides where you have no real idea what's happening, but just run like crazy. And we had a nice JDM run - but 3 time faults. We had some lovely flowing courses which were totally fun to run - even if I did fall into most of the subtle challenges - and I need someone to keep hitting me over the head and telling me to trust my dog!! And Mr Rory got another Dog Challenge/Runner up Best of Breed in the show - 10 points this time, so quite a nice reault.

Have a search on the forum too - there've been a couple of threads on this lately. I use a variety of things - low fat tasty cheese, nuked skinless hotdogs, skinned cabana, chicken loaf from the deli, boiled liver - basically it should be soft, small pieces, easy for the dog to eat quickly, and not likely to break up and drop all over the ground (not fair to other people and their pups.) Hence, while I might use BBQ chook at home, I don't use it at dog club training.

Yes - that is what I was trying to say Tassie slaps forehead - sorry TSD - missed your post. Senior's moment! So you think Vic is going that way too? (i.e. 2 height table can start July 1)

It's great if you can find a group even if just to get you started - and as you say RubyBlue to keep you motivated. Thanks for the congrats for Kirra BTW - very pleased with my little girl. She's back to being an agility dog now until the next TSD trial in October. I laid a track for my Rory man on the way home from work/school this afternoon - grass very long - and forgot that half the area had been ploughed up last year - so hard going laying it - though the long grass held the scent nicely. Ran it fairly hot (running out of light) and I'm happy to say he did a great job - he's so much more accurate and methodical than warp-speed Kirra (do tracking before competing in agility is maybe a good idea LOL). Another nice thing was that he was dropping at the socks - (maybe to have a little rest from ploughing through the long grass ) - so I'm happy to encourage that - makes for really clear article indication. He's entered in his first Test 1 in a couple of weeks.

And to add another little complication, our understanding is that the 2 height tables can be put in place from July 1 - since that doesn't involve a physical change in equipment, so no need for a grace period. Coiuld be wrong though

I'd say it depends on whether parvo is rife in your area at the time or not. If it were, I'd be extremely careful - footbaths/handwashing/clothes etc. But if not, then I'm more prepared to take risks. Rory came over to me on the plane at 10 weeks from Perth, and then 2 weeks later - so just after his second shot, we went to Melbourne for a coule of weeks. I did leave him in the crate in the car, rather than putting him in the ship's kennels, but I had to take some risks with walking him outside - I was careful to try to avoid areas where there were likely to be dog faeces etc. Touch wood, 5 dogs in, all has been well - but that said - none of them have been pups in a time when there was a parvo ouitbreak. You could also investigate using Nobivac, which is supposed to be able to be given earlier since it's supposed to override maternal antibodies. IMHO it's more important to get the pups out and about, unless there's a huge known risk.

In the first question I ticked other as well - because I do Rally O with Rory. And in the second question, I realised I had to tick the last option as well And the post reminded me to go and sock up cos I think I might do a training track with Rory on the way home from work. Obsessed? Addicted? Whyever would you think that

Agree about not doing any sort of sustained repetitive exercise or gaiting until after growth plates have closed. Better to wait a few extra months and then build up slowly, rather than break the dog and have ongoing trouble. There are some fire trails which aren't too rough and steep, and some bike paths allow dogs (no rail trails here sadly ) - the trains are still using the few tracks there are. My BCs enjoy bike rides - I use tracking harness and leads which I hold in my hand (cos we're training for ET with the younger boy, so no walky-dog for that.) Good preparation with your pup is walking him on those sorts of trails (not too far) and making sure you can stop him if enticing things go by - like rabbits, plovers etc. Then you'll know that you can stop him from pulling you off the bike.

from me too - was thinking of you this morning. Be strong for your little man. We're all with you in spirit.

Way to go Jess. and Darcy - that's really rewarding!

Nah - she's addicted - and he's got to go on and get his GRand LOL.