Tassie

Teehee - I feel your pain BMP. I gave my crazy boy Fergus a run in Novice Jumping on Saturday - I know he wasn't ready, but hey - last trial of the year ..... . Feral would be the best way to describe him - I didn't get a chance to get enough of the steam out of him before the run. He did the first two jumps, then got sucked straight into an off-course tunnel, and then did zoomies around four or five jumps a couple of times, including jumping the spread backwards (and cleanly!). I finally stopped him and got him to start listening - and then he was quite good, if a bit over-enthusiastic, and finished nicely - except that he turned back before the final jump - the broad - he did it though, and then waited for me to put his lead on before going out of the ring. I know what I have to work on over the summer now - but it was worth doing - apart from providing a comedy turn for the other triallers.

Noels - it's great, isn't it. I've had the same experience with an adolescent black shepherd. The girl was able to get and hold his attention really well. Hmmm - so you're changing breeds now :D - may not be such an easy dancing partner. How do you reckon leg weaving would go. :D ETA - Vickie - looooove the sig.

Hi Jules - BTW, before I forget - congrats on Tia's herding success - saw her title in VicDog. I'd say there was more time to work with your own dog this year. Videoing - only of your own dog. Quite a few repeat people - Deb was there, with lovely Gladys grown into a pretty little girl - and Kathy from Sydney - and Colleen and John with the labs - and Mrs D of course. I spent the day off around camp and going down to the beach with the dogs. Some went to the winery again. Having the 2 days of HTM/tricks was good - gave a bit more chance to work with your own dog on different things. Miss you too, Noels - but it was lovely to catch up at the Sydney trials. Can't wait for you and Janet to do the 'sisters' routine - sorry everyone else - in joke. Ed because I forgot to say - Hi Pax - lovely to meet you and your gorgeous kid. Yes, it's certainly good to be home - even though there's a stack of stuff to do. It's been very dry here but somehow the grass has grown like mad. Dogs are pleased to be home, and cats (although they had a good time at the cattery - the 18 year old looks really good!)

Hi guys - finally back from 5 weeks on the mainland - all agilitied out! After Camp Tailwaggers, I visited with friends in Brisbane and Central Coast, then did a couple of agility trials in Sydney, and finally what was meant to be a double-double last weekend in Warrnambool - but Sunday was cancelled - foul weather - wet, cold and windy enough to blow small dogs off dog-walks if they hadn't cancelled the Sunday. I really enjoyed camp again this year - as others have said - yes, it was similar to last year - but the 2 days of HTM/tricks was good, I think - and I had a chance to do more with my boy Fergus as well as with Kirra. Mary was a great help again - probably more able to do more individual stuff in those sessions, since it wasn't quite so crowded. Having obedience ring run-outs available on Saturday, as well as agility, seemed to be a good innovation. The Friday night cabaret was great - makes me wish there were some more people down here doing dancing - but hey - when would I find the time. Have to go to work to feed the dog habits I've got already! Haven't booked for next year, since I've been 3 times now - and Agility Nats in Melbourne at the end of August is a bit too close but not close enough. It was fun meeting you other DOLers and your lovely dogs. And I have to thank MrsD for letting me know where my little demon bitch Kirra had gone - Kirra decided that she didn't want to go back up to the cabin, and escaped back down to the training centre - so I guess she was having a good time.

Thanks for those places - checking them out on the net now. Any of them Border Collies inside? It's only a 1 nighter, so in a way it doesn't matter. Cheers.

Teehee! Well, I won't tell if you won't . Thanks for that - actually, I did know that - I stayed there on my way back last year - but they are size-ist - only small dogs. Apparently 2 BCs don't count! However, they were quite happy with the dogs sleeping in the car - and my guys are totally used to doing that, so it was good. And there is that lovely big fenced dog park just across the highway and half a block down. 2 more sleeps till I have to be on the road to catch the Spirit of Tasmania - eek - that means two more sleeps till I have to be ready. And I'm working tomorrow.

Aargh! Now that will really confuse me - I know I did that mix-up names thing before. On the tick thing - I'm just going by what the priceless pets helpline people told me when I was ordering meds online. They said Mt Warning - not too far away - is the ancestral home of the paralysis tick - and advised the combination protection. The dogs didn't seem to come to any harm from the double up - it was only for the week - the rest of the trip I just used the Advantix fortnightly. I"m pretty sure Ann and Tony use Proban all the season for their home dogs. Yes, I can imagine the Lagotto coat would be a nightmare to search - although the advice I got was you still need to search even if they're on chemical protection. A friend had her Springers on Proban, and her boy still got sick from a tick. Ugh - hate the things. We do have them down here in Tassie, but they're a small proportion of the tick population - even so, they seem to be increasing, and spreading, and each year dogs die or get sick - especially because we don't typically use tick protection. Noels (to avoid a MrsD/Mrsdog confusion ) - can you tell me where you stay in Coffs? I'll probably stay a night there on my way back south.

Oh, sorry Pax - didn't realise you'd been up there before. (Do now - read the other list!) Ugh - cane toad on the verandah - hope not this time. The only one I saw alive was up near the little dam in the camping area. Yes, my friend and I will be there for the week - Cabin 2. She'll get there middle of Sunday, I think - I'll be later on Sunday evening - making a quick dash up from just north of Sydney. My friend has Labs - a yellow and a black - agility, obedience and doggy dancing. I'm hoping she'll have her black boy in the cabaret on the Firday evening. Look forward to meeting you up there.

Way to go Ness! So I guess she's telling you she's not ready to reture any time soon. I have a couple of brags - from a few weeks ago. My two BCs got the Tracking Dog titles on the same day - that was a buzz. And a couple of weeks later, my girl Kirra got her Novice Strategic Pairs title - I love pairs - such fun,a lthough I'm sure it'll get harder now. LP - I didn't know you could travel on trains with dogs? Is that anywhere?

Hi guys Yep - I'm going again this year - enjoyed it so much last year. A friend from Bowral is coming with me this year - we're sharing a cabin. Pax, you will have a great time. The camping area is just above the cabins, and is quite sheltered - and campers have 3 big bathrooms down in the main conference centre. Yes - plenty of tick protection. Last year, on the advice of the vet surgery that runs priceless pets, I used Advantix and Proban tablets - and will do so again. They said a tick collar as well, but although I bought the collars I didn't use them. Daily checks are still an absolute necessity - much easier with smooth-coated dogs, you lucky things. I'm paranoid that I'm going to miss a tick on my dogs ... and then there are the cane toads - only saw a couple last year. There were some green ants around too. I'm leaving for Melbourne on Wednesday, then taking in a couple of trials in the southern highlands on the way up. Hi Helen - enjoy the Gina O'Keefe workshop. I would have liked to have gone to that, but I was already going north.

Couple of thoughts, Ness. I would get a complete blood work up done, I think. Even if it shows everything is normal, it will be handy to have as a baseline for the future. And it may show up a problem (I was thinking along the lines of anaemia.) Would she enjoy going biking with you? Doesn't have to be fast, and you could work up gradually, but great for conditioning, and may be a bit more interesting for her than walks. Your question brought back nice memories. I didn't have the "when to retire" problem with my prevous BC. Sam was still competing (happily, though not very successfully ) in UD a week before he died of auto-immune haemolytic anaemia at age 12 and a half. As a 12 year old, he would sometimes be zeroed for anticipation - including the day on a DJ when the judge said, "Are you ready" and before I could answer, Sam was halfway out to the box. Then looked back as much as to say "Hmmm, something maybe not quite right there." Other times, it was a line ball decision as to whether he anticipated my response to the judge's 'Send' command in an exercise. He couldn't compete in agility in his prime, as at 545 he was then a big dog, and couldn't manage that horrible triple spread hurdle - 760 at the back. But when the heights came down, I would put him in just for fun. He ran a Jumpers course at age 12.25 - had an absolute blast - would have Qd except I turned him too tightly onto one jump. Oh, and one more thought - friends here have got a new lease of life in their 10 year old Golden with Co-enzyme Q10. He's looking great, and bounding round like a puppy. Might be worth investigating.

I did retire from work when my current two BCs were rising 1. I've since had to go back to work 4 days a week to fund my/their addiction - to pay for trial entries, petrol, interstate travel, seminars ............. not forgetting title application fees - but that's the fun part. I should probably add too, that my perspective on this topic is coloured by the fact that I'm officially a senior citizen - time's on the wing, so I just gotta do stuff now while I can. Hi Ness.

Ooops - only just read that you'd put it in General as well - anyway, I've PMd you. Cheers

So very glad all went well. Must say it seems to me there have been huge strides in geriatric anaesthesia over the years I've been a pet owner - take a bow Rappie and all you wonderful vets outs there.

Mita, I'm so sorry for your loss - a horrible thing to happen. But as the others have said, do not beat yourself up. Even if it was some adverse effect from the a/b, you still didn't let your girl down. You were doing the best for your girl to help her be comfortable and well - can't ask more than that. And you're honouring her memory by putting this heads-up on DOL - gives the rest of us a chance to maybe avoid a similar outcome. I do know how you're feeling. I lost my previous BC boy to auto-immune haemolytic anaemia. It was acute and he went from apparently fit and well to being dead inside five days - but ... about a year before he'd had a blood test checking for infection. It had shown borderline anaemic - but not so much that the vet thought it needed following up. Who knows - maybe it had to do with what developed later - maybe not. Maybe we could have done something about it - maybe not. It's tough. But you make the best call you can at the time. Take care of youself - and thanks for sharing your tough experience.

I'm afraid I fall into the Jill of all trades/master of none category a bit - but then, that's me. I'm not highly competitive - just enjoying doing lots of 'stuff' with my BCs. At the moment, my girl is doing agility, my boy obedience and a little agility, and both are tracking. My girl has had the chance to do some sheepwork on a friend's farm - but other than the old HIT, we don't do ANKC herding - not for her or me. Both dogs did their ET last year, just for fun. Totally agree that time is the major limiting factor. As far as the disciplines I'm familiar with go, I agree withwhat's been said about formal obedience/sheepwork - I suspect you'd end up with a rather mechanical dog - which is not what I understand by sheepwork. (I'm with Jesomil.) The other combination I think is problematic is tracking and herding. Not saying it can't be done, just that it's a big ask. When you're doing sheepwork, you want the dog to go into the paddock thinking about looking for sheep (eyes up), and if necessary, tracking sheep. Quite the opposite of what you want in tracking especially if you're going to be working in sheep country. (That said, once the dog has learnt the "Not those ones" or "That'll do", and they really understand the tracking game, they can probably cope.)

Thanks for taking the time to post that, Rappie. Sounds like you do pretty much what my vet does. Even if the bloods aren't absolutely necessary, I would think it could be pretty handy to have a baseline of 'normal' for that animal, as a reference in case of need down the track.

Not a dog, but my 18 year old small cat has had two successful lump removal surgeries in the last 12 months. Each time she recovered very quickly from the anaesthetic - eating her tea happily that night. My vet routinely recommends pre-anaesthetic blood work (checking particularly kidney and liver function, I think), and IV fluid support for geriatric animals - that included my previous dog at about 13. It costs extra, but IMHO well worth it to trouble shoot, and minimise problems. Any GA carries risk, but you have to think your little one would be much happier if her teeth get fixed. Good luck with it.

Hmmm - let's see - 2 breed, 3 obedience clubs here - including one for agility and tracking, and 1 obedience/agiity club interstate for when I go visit a friend :rolleyes:

AFAIK they need to be anaesthetized for the x-rays. The slowness to sit would be a bit suggestive of problems in the knee/stifle or hip. A vet check wouldn't hurt, at least to start with.

Go, the Ollie dog. That's good news - but the paws and fingers are still firmly crossed for him and you.

Yep - I now use Sentinel Spectrum monthly for h/w and intestinal worms and fleas - and Advantix fornightly for tick protection when I go to the mainland (and the cats stay home). The Spectrum also does hydatid t/w, so the dogs comly with quarantine reuirements coming back into Tasmania. And yes, I get mine from priceless pets. I did get tick collars last year, but didn't end up using them - same deal about the smell - and they do play bitey-face with each other.

Oh, how true! And some people who've retired (and should know better) go back to work so that they can pay for trial entry fees, training workshops, travel interstate ....... So don't say you weren't warned Seriously - it's all about having fun with your dog, and you and your dog enjoying learning to work as a team.

Yep - that's right - so a big part of preparing the dog for the ring is to teach him that the fact that you're not speaking to him (other than the verbal cues allowed by the rules) doesn't mean that he's wrong. The only words you're allowed to use during exercises in a trial (once you've told the judge you're ready) are - dog's name at start of each exercise (if you want) and just before you call on recall (if you want), and the single word commands in English allowed by the rules - e.g. for stand, down, stay/wait, come, give, finish. And yes, you can praise, pet and talk between exercises - but no corrections at all in the ring at any time, unless you want to take the penalty for misbehaviour.

Thanks for the info, Sidoney and morgan. I might look into it next year before shot time, I think.