Tassie

Assuming you're getting your pup at about 8 weeks, you should plan for maybe 4 weeks of getting up at least once a night to take the pup out for a wee. I used to take mine out for a late night toilet break before going into their bed, then usually had to take out again about 2.00 am, then they could usually hang on till about 5 or 6.00 am. Depends a bit on the pup. Echo the congratulations on forward planning, and on planning to use your crate for helping you to train the pup. I recommend that you get into the habit of taking the pup out on lead - especially for the middle of the night wee. It means you can start putting the toileting on cue, you know when the puppy has performed, and can reward that, and pup gets used to toileting while on lead - all useful things. I found it good to have the pup's crate next to my bed. Meant that I didn't miss the signals that pup needed to go out. If your bedroom isn't going to be the pup's long-term sleeping place, you can always move the crate out later.

Sorry to hear you're facing this very sad time, Pauline. It's a burden you can really only share with other dog lovers - non-dog people don't really get it. Others have given you wise words. A couple of extra thoughts from another forum I hang out on. There's a vet on there who in discussing this topic when she was facing such a decision for one of her own dogs, said something like she'd never seen owners who felt they had ended their dog's life too soon - but she had seen people who felt they had left it too long. If you need to make the decision for Cooper, you need to know that it will always be too soon for you, but it's important that it's not too long for him. And anothet nice thought: Don't cry because it's over - smile because it happened. Like all our beloved friends who have passed, Cooper will always be with you in your memory. There are many people here who know what you're going through and can at least offer a kind ear.

Panda - I see you haven't got an answer yet, so I'll jump in with what I think may be the current thinking, at least in US, and at least of the mainstream. It seems to be that the first adult booster is important. After that, it may be possible to go to titre testing, as Poodlefan is thinking of, and I am going to raise with my vet, or 3 yearly, or - another protocol that was suggested - splitting the vaccines so one is given each year, rather than the combo ones. My personal opinion - yes, there can be what are probably adverse reactions - but given the huge numbers of animals vaccinated yearly, they are probably a very small percentage, and you have to balance against that the risks of not vaccinationg and/or making sure your animals immunnity levels are high enough. As I understand it, non-protected animals may not only get sick themselves, but may be a vector for spreading disease in the community - witness periodic outbreaks of parvo, distemper and in the human community, whooping cough and measles.

Be careful what you wish for with the fridge trick. Someone I know taught that to her dog - and one morning when she was having a lie-in and the the dog wanted them to get up, the dog brought a custard pie in from the fridge and put it on the bed! :D So now they have an extra catch on the fridge!

Yep - sounds like they've got the idea. Don't they love it. It's one of the things I love about using the clicker - it can really empower the dogs, and make them enthusiastic participants in the learning. I know what you mean about the hassle of getting one alone. I've resorted to putting one of mine in their crate in the car while I work with the other, to save stuff getting knocked over and/or scratched in the house. And I guess I'm a bit lazy to do that often - so my guys don't get as much of that sort of stuff at home as they should - which could be one reason it's taking so long for Fergus to get it that he can actually walk forwards and carry a dumbbell at the same time! I would keep on with the targetting though - it's so much a lead in to other things, as once they understand the concept of 'touch' you can transfer it to objects and agility equipment. And you can use it with a target stick in teaching other moves.

Attention to name from the couch - that's good! (I'm assuming we're talking couch potatoes here. :wink: ) Now you might want to up the criteria by withholding the click until you get a bit more movement!! Seriously - capturing bow if they do that, would be great. And once a dog is awake, I'd be starting on the targetting - clicking for attention to the object first, then waiting till you get a nose touch ... etc. What you're going for is a rapid rate of reinforcement over a short period of time. If you have to wait too long, drop your criteria for C/T - i.e. be satisfied with less, so that the dog can get the reinforcement - at least until they 'get' the idea that their behaviours are causing the C/T. ETA: That's a seriously impressive cake.

A group of us have been playing round with Strategic Pairs in training, since some are going to the Nationals (not me). We've been running it on standard courses, so maybe we've made it a bit more difficult. Whatever, we've been having lots of fun - it certainly strains your brain, concentrating on where you're supposed to be going, but at the same time being ready to go back in and re-do an obstacle if necessary. Our dogs seem to be really enjoying it too. Poodlefan, I'm even more impressed - a Q in SP already. Well done.

Way to go Poodlefan and Lily ;) . Did you get to start new OB rules early as well - no fair - we've still got one more trial to go before we farewell the 2 lots of heeling! It's hard enough for my poor Fergus to keep his mind on the job for one lot of heeling, let alone 2!

They are the two new classes introduced with the new Obedience rules starting July 1. CCD is Community Companion Dog - a lower standard than the current Novice ( - which remains, but with altered exercises - only one lot of heeling, and all off lead - yay). UDX is at the other end of the scale - Utility Dog Excellent. You can see the new rules (more or less) New obedience rules Hope the link works.

Wow, Erny. If Kal knew the huge effort you're making and the lengths you're going to to keep her as healthy as possible for as long as possible - she'd love you even more than she does - except that's probably not possible. You guys who make such efforts for your poorly pupsters are an inspiration to the rest of us. Thank you.

Teaching 'touch the hand with the nose' is a nice one to start with once you've charged the clicker. You have food and clicker in one hand, then hold out the other hand. You can 'shape' it by first clicking and treating any look by the dog toward the target hand, then once the dog gets that, up the criteria gradually so that you only c/t a nose touch. Once you get that reliably, you can hold the hand out further from the dog and/or higher/lower. Once the dog has it, you can put the cue "touch" on to the behaviour. Then you can start transferring that to other things - like target plates, target sticks, post-it notes etc. One of the things I love about using a clicker is that it's precise - really makes you think what you're trying to get the dog to do, and break it down into small steps heading towards the final behaviour. Another of the nice things is that it sharpens up your timing - but it's also forgiving - if you goofed, the dog doesn't get hurt, and you can undo pretty easily. And of course, the dogs love to work for their click.

AFAIK it's the rear dew claws that are often absent anyway, and that probably need to be removed. As far as front dew claws go, dogs do use them when moving and cornering fast - such as in agility - and stock-working dogs certainly use them in the high speed turns they may have to make. Apparently when the foot is flattened in those situations, the dew claws help to keep the foot stable. That said, the dew claws can certainly be damaged even in those breeds that need them. A KelpiexBC bitch I had tore 2 - each time the claw was sticking out at right angles, and very painful - but each time she fixed them herself overnight, before I could get her to the vet (good girl!!). It's usually not a major drama for a vet to snip them off depending where the tear is. I don't know about hunting breeds - but I think some people do put a bit of vet-wrap bandage around the leg to protect the dew claws if the dog is going into rough country.

That sounds like good progress, pb. Well done! If I were you, I would see if you can wait with her while she actually 'performs', then praise the heck out of her. You can also associate a cue word with that - or two different words for pee and poop. This has 2 benefits - one - makes the association of toileting outside much stronger, and two- heads toward toilet on command, which can be really useful if you take your dog out and about a lot, or travel with dogs.

Another here who says 'yay for crates'. Actually, apart from the one in the car, I don't use them at home now the dogs are grown, but they were a godsend when they were pups. I had each pup in a crate (covered with a blanket) right beside my bed. That way it was easy to get up when necessary, put the lead on the pup, take it out to pee or whatever, then straight back in and back into the crate. I still take my dogs out on lead if they need to go out in the night - makes sure they are just doing the necessary, and not going crittering over an acre of ground. My two just love crates - their own (which I use at trials, going visiting etc.) - or anyone else's . And they generalised from wire crates to tents to plastic crates - no problems. A side benefit is less stress if they have to be crated for any reason.

It is a hard time for you Erny. At least you now have found a vet who will listen to your concerns and consider your questions and investigate when necessary. That must be some comfort. Remember that while you know all about Kal's problems, she doesn't. What she knows is that she loves the time and care you give her. Still thinking good thoughts for you and Kal and the other poorly dogs on DOL.

I've always had great success with giving tablets hidden in small balls of raw mince (I use beef, but i don't think it matters.) You make a number of small balls of raw mince, and throw one to the dog, then another one in quick succession. At some point in the sequence, you throw the tablet one, and immediately follow it with an untableted one. You can start off by just throwing a few balls of mince with no tablet, to get the dog used to catching them. A couple of problems I've found with this method. If you've got two dogs, you need to make sure the right dog gets the tablet one! On the other hand, the competition is good. The other problem, is that if your dog is like mine, you end up with dogs that come running whenever they hear a tablet bottle rattle! One of my previous dogs workked as a therapy dog in a palliative care ward, and he just loved to hear the meds trolley coming - couldn't understand why the patients didn't have mince with their tablets, though. Works for me - one of my previous dogs was on thyroid replacement therapy - 3 tablets morning and night for about 13 years.

I tend to agree with the others. My 2 Border Collies (now 4) are only 7 weeks apart (just happened that the breeders I wanted pups from when my previous Border Collie died were having litters close together.) It's been fine for me - BUT - I was aready a pretty experienced and I hope savvy dog owner, and had owned and trained a KelpiexBorder Collie and a Border Collie, so I had experience with the needs of the breed, and with having and training 2 dogs. I would certainly be looking more into the situation of the potential owners, and their ability to cater for the high needs of not one but two Border Collies. One of the key things, apart from dog experience, would be the time the potential owners would have available to put into meeting the puppies' needs, now and in the future. I think some people think that by having 2 together, they don't have to spend as much time with the pups, as the pups will exercise and amuse each other. My experience, at least with Border Collies, is that this isn't how it works. These dogs need to be with their human - even if it's just hanging out - as much as possible. JMO

Wherever you decide to have the surgery done, I'd probably be opting for the pre-anaesthetic blood test. If nothing else, this gives you a nice baseline on your dog's blood levels while healthy - could be useful in assisting diagnosis if the dog in later life has an episode of being unwell (which hopefully will never happen.) Bit like insurance, really. Good luck to you and the boy!

Ollie, Ollie, Ollie, Oy, Oy, Oy. Here's hoping Ollie continues to do well with this lot of chemo.

Hi Erny - just popping in to say "Hang in there" - and sounds like these vets are really taking things seriously, and are on the ball. Still thinking good thoughts for Kal (and the other poorly pups on DOL.)

Oh boy, another addict in the making. The secret to the tunnel, we've found, is for the trainer to hold the dog at the entrance, and the owner (complete with yummy sausage treats) crawls in the other end as far as is necessary to lure the dog in. Don't worry - you only have to do this once, or at the most twice. Then maybe a couple more restrained recalls with you just bending down at the tunnel mouth - and by then the dog gets it, and you have a tunnel maniac. Then of course, you have the problem of persuading your dog not to go into the tunnel when she's not supposed to! But that's all part of the fun. So next week, you'll have yummy treats yourself, won't you. Something really special (and small and soft).

FWIW, out of interest I had a good look at the ingredients and analysis on the bag of the adult kibble in the supermarket last night. Didn't like what I saw. Can't remember exactly, but the protein % was very low. and the protein/fat ratio was much lower than I like - I like about 26/12 for my guys.

Hopefully your club will tell you - but if not, you can check with the appropriate body. If you're thinking of ANKC agility (the only game in town here in Tasmania), then you need to contact the Victorian Canine Association http://www.vca.org.au. There's also NADAC Australia http://www.nadacaustralia.com/. I don't know if ADAA has trials in Victoria, but anyway, you can check it out http://www.adaa.com.au - although I couldn't get that link to work just now. Each organisation has slightly different rules, and offers different course, games etc. But the foundation training is basically the same. Oh, and BTW, you did realize this is an addictive sport, didn't you. Just so you know. Here's another useful link http://www.agilityclick.com/index.html Hope the links work - and keep having fun. Hey Sidoney - no fair - you type faster than me.

Yep, Sidoney, I'm sure you'd enjoy it. Lots of good training info and wisdom, but also very entertaining - several laugh out loud stories about her dog Buzz.

Yes - ideally dogs shouldn't be doing any serious jumping or weaving until ther growth plates have closed - varies according to breed of dog, and some say, may be affected by age of spay/neuter. For safety's sake, most venues don't allow competition before 18 months. Bridgie_cat, the triangle of temptation sounds quite good - I haven't used it myself. Remember that everything you do with your dog contributes to relationship and trust building. Susan Garrett has this lovely concept of training sessions (where you set out to train something, with a plan in mind) and training moments - those many times during the day when you can capture and reinforce a behaviour you want - like eye contact (if you catch the dog giving good eye contact, you reinforce that - verbally or whatever.) One thing I would be concentrating on with Lana is working out what really motivates her - what are her favourite treats, what toys does she really like. Then you have that variety of things to use as reinforcers. Tuggy toys are great for many dogs, as you can quickly rev the dog up - remember that you start and end the game. You may also be working out whether she's a dog that revs up too much - in which case, you will be looking for ways to cam her a little. Another thing to be aware of is that while obedience works dogs on the left, for agility, the dog needs to be equally comfortable working on your right. So that's something you can be working on as you work with her. You can do some circles running with her on your left, then switch and have her on your right - probably on lead initially. And most important, have fun!