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Tassie

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Everything posted by Tassie

  1. I-Rex, while it's true that some dogs do carry the gene that makes them sensitive to ivermectin type drugs, so far, no Border Collies in the American testing have been found to have the mutation. There have been Border Collie deaths and adverse reactions, but it seems that they have come from inaccurate dosing with oral ivermectin intended for large animals. The several vets I have spoken to about this have no problems with giving Heartgard tablets to Border Collies - provided you have the correct dosage. That said, I personally would be wary of using the injections - but that's just me being cautious. Here drug sensitivity gene link is a link on the work done in the US. And apparently the sensitivity is to all the avermectin type drugs, not just ivermectin. Barb
  2. Disclaimer: absolutely no expert here. You haven't said how old the dogs are. Anyway, I'm personally a great believer in glucosamine - having used it myself for 2 years - with noticeable benefite. I've also used it on older dogs. There was a thread in this forum a couple of weeks back about using glucosamine (and chondroitin and MSM) as preventative. I've actually just started using a combo of those as preventative in my 4 year old Border Collies - who are training fairly intensively in agility and flyball this year. I would say, have a look at that thread - and maybe call your vet to make sure there are no contra-indications. ISTM it's one of those things that if it does no good, it'll do no harm - and for me anyway, it does good. Barb
  3. Hi Karma - so sorry to hear about your poor Rotti girl. I don't have personal experience, but have a friend who has just gone through this with her 5 year old Mal. She did opt for amputation and chemo, and Chilly managed pretty well for a while. Average survival time with that treatment is about 6 months, I think. I also know someone who opted for amputation with a Rotti male - saw the dog after amputation, and he was managing OK, but I don't know how long his survival was. OTOH, a friend opted not to amputate with her Golden Retriever, and I think his survival from diagnosis was only about 6 weeks. I think there is a bone cancer dogs Yahoo group - try looking on a search engine. That is such bad luck for you and your family. Good luck with the decision - and you'll obviously, from your post, be making the right decision for your girl. At least we have a way of helping our dogs, one way or the other. Barb
  4. It will be a sad 24 hours for you, msj, but be comforted knowing you are doing the right thing. And remember, you know it's Jenna's last day - but she doesn't. It willl just be another day for her. Be thinking of you tomorrow.. Barb
  5. Hang in there. You will cope - and Joey will too. And it will be hard, and there will be lots of tears - don't try to hold them in. You have a right to grieve for your lovely girl - which is part of what you're doing now. Remember that letting her go peacefully is a wonderful thing that you can do for her (if only humans would be so lucky) - but that she does need for you to let her go - to tell her it's OK, so she doesn't feel that she needs to hang on for you. Does that make sense? And, as far as I'm concerned - and I'm sure lots of others here too - feel free to vent. It's important - and you know that lots of us know exactly where you're at - and know that you can make it. Don't feel bad if non-dog-owning friends/family don't understand - just pity them, because they've never known that wonderful dog/human bond. Barb
  6. Slightly OT, but just wanted to say it's worth going to Devon Meadows just for the swimming. My two tried it out when I was in Melbourne over Christmas. Dogs are swimming at people waist level, rather than below your feet - mor fun for them, I think, and the pool is designed with curves to ensure dogs work both sides more or less evenly, unlike the regular lap pool. (Mind you, they enjoyed their swim at Doveton, too.) Barb
  7. Don't know if this article was the one you were thinking about, Gamby, but it might be helpful for GSD_crazy anyway. It;s from Nancy Gyes at PoerPaws agility. http://www.powerpawsagility.com/articles/tugntreat.html (Sorry about the long url - I couldn't make the URL thingy work.) Barb
  8. Well done! That's one very happy pupper. You guys in Melbourne are so lucky. One of the treats my two have when we go to Melbourne to visit is to go have a swim at a doggy pool - wither Dogs in Motion or the greyhound pool at Devon Meadows, which they enjoyed as well. Hope the swimming helps Mallee - it'll certainly help with the 'stir-crazies' I would think. Barb
  9. Oh, poor Kovu - I do hope he feels better soon, and that the paw heals quickly. It was busy yesterday, wasn't it. And hot (don't laugh, mainland people - remember the temps given on TV etc are shade temps - and there's a big difference when our hot Tasmanian sun comes out - right guys?). I think the basically black dogs feel the heat more than others - mine were quite hot. Barb
  10. Hey Shekhina - sorry I missed you guys today. I was taking a class down at Southern, and didn't get up to Hobart till after 2.15. I did look across to where your class was, and things seemed to be going well. Then I had to get my guys out - bit of weaving practice with Kirra, and then Fergus out for Grade 4. I gathered things went fine in your class. Sounds like Kovu coped well. Agility Girl, I think Beginners agility at the Domain is 12.30 - 1.15 - starting from next week. Don't know that Eastern Shore quite knows what they're offering in the way of agility yet. Deb isn't taking classes this year - pressure of work. We had a bit of a trial class practice this morning there, but it was pretty DIY! Hope to catch up with you guys next week. Barb
  11. Aargh - this is such a horrible time for you - I'm so sorry. It's good that you're thinking ahead about cremation vs. burial thing. I truly think that helps. I had my 2 previous dogs cremated - although I've buried all my cats. I was burying a cat, and realised there was no way I could dig a hole big enough for even my Border Collies, and a friend had had her Golden Retriever cremated, so that was what I opted for. Different places do things in different ways - my friend got her 'kids' back in pretty urns, whereas mine are in plastic bags inside quite nice small cream cardboard boxes. One of the good things about cremation, I think, is that then you can either scatter the ashes in a dog's favourite place(s), or, like me - just keep them at home with you - and if you ever move, the dogs can go too. Can you give that special vet a call, and talk to her and see what she thinks? As far as when - .... well done for seeing what's really happening. I guess a sign for me would be the 'getting snappy with Joey'. I would think you don't want to wait till that escalates till it's a problem for Joey, or you have memories that are not so good. As it is, it's nice that she's seeming good - they are nice memories to have. Something else to think about - and this may seem sort of selfish, but it's not meant to be. At present, you're consumed about "when". If you feel the time is getting close, once you finally make the decision, then you regain that time to do other things. Sure, you will be grieving - for years, in the background - but you can get on with other things without that constant nagging worrying. Don't know if that makes any sense - or if it says what I want to say - but anyway, know that lots of folks are feeling for you. Barb
  12. Kovu's the GSD, right? I'd just take it nice and steady with him - he may remember being there before, and be OK - but if not, I'd explain to the instructor and ask if you can keep a bit of distance, and then gradually work him closer so he stays in his comfort zone. You'll be fine! I was thinking more about it being hectic in the clubhouse when everyone is signing up! Barb
  13. Great - I'll keep an eye out. It could be pretty hectic there tomorrow! At least hte weather looks as though it's gong to be good. Barb
  14. Hi girl05 - I'm very sorry to hear about your dog. It always sucks when you lose them, but even more so if you can't really find out why. Just wanted to add a couple things. I have heard of a couple of cases in the US where the 'quick and dirty' hw test can give a false negative, and the dog can actually be hw +ve. My experiences with Rimadyl and Metcam have been non-problematic. Had my old girl on both - Metacam seemed to work better for her than Rimadyl - but she had no problems with either. I know a few ohter dogs on long term Rimadyl use - no problems. And my vets use Metacam as routine immediate post-op pain relief after spay/neuter - I would trust these guys that if they had seen any significant adverse reactions, they would not be doing that. That said, as one of the other posters said, NSAIDs can throw up different problems with individual dogs, just as humans can have very different tolerances. Barb
  15. Hey Shekina Are you starting up on the Domain? If so, I may see you - although I won't be up there till about 2.00pm. I have B/W Border Collies. Fergus is in Grade 4, and Kirr does Agility. How long it takes depends largely on the dog and the handler - as you"ve probably guessed. If both dog and handler are really switched on, things can progress very quickly - although it's always important to be sure that the dog actually knows what it seems to know before pushing on too hard. Early fliers can burn out or shut down sometimes. With some - like my Fergus -it's two steps forward and one step back - or sometimes the other way round - but he's a somewhat soft and anxious dog, so I have to be careful with him. Starting from scratch, with a first dog you've trained - probably 9-12 months would be about average, I guess. But as Rusky says - by far the more important thing IMHO is that you just have fun with your dog. That way, your trialling career, even if it's delayed a little, is likely to be more successful and last longer. And yes - breathing is good - so is counting to 10. I need to remember these things. Hope to see you. (What are your dogs?) Barb
  16. Hey Eddie Here's a link to the new rules - ANKC Obedience Rules 2006 Barb ETA - just looking through them now - there are some errors - as in bits in the wrong place - don't know if ANKC has actually published the book yet, and if so, whether they've proofread it first!
  17. What a good girl, bless her. Sending good vibes your way, Erny and Kal. Barb
  18. Don't you hate it when they're not 'right' - and it's so vague. Just out of interest, and following up on what your chiro said - my old Kelpie/BC desexed bitch had a UTI one time. They ran bloods to rule out kidney disease. I went in with Jess to get the results, and the vet said "She hasn't been vomiting or had diarrhoea?" I said "No, why?" His answer was - "well, I can see from looking at her that she's fine, but her pancreatic enzymes are so [out of whack](I can't remember now whether they were high or low) that if I hadn't seen her, I would be certain she had pancreatitis. But obviously she hasn't." In other words, that kind of confirms that individual dogs may have normal functioning values that are either at an extreme, or even out of the normal range. This girl of mine was hypothyroid - maintained on quite a high dose of oroxine for many years. Her only symptom was bilateral hair loss and skin irritation, but we discovered by trial and error that to be completely 'normal', she needed to be at the very high end of the normal range of thyroid function values. Hope you can get closer to the answers soon. Barb
  19. Jezebel, you might want to consider the difference between the sort of training that you are doing, often without knowing it, all the time you are interacting with a dog - and 'training' - where you spend time working on specific behaviours. You're right - I would not be thinking of doing any more than a few tiny bursts of anything formal until the pup has had a chance to get used to you. By far the most important stuff you will be doing with your pup in the first few days is starting to build the relationship between the pup and you which will lay the foundation for all sorts of training in the future. Your pup will be in new surroundings, and will be looking to find out what are the 'rules' of this new environment. Pup will be asking questions like - where do I eat, where do I sleep, where do I pee and poop, what can I chew? You will be busy supplying consistent answers to those questions, and others that you spot. You will be observing the puppy and assessing how pup copes with new situations, stresses etc. By all means, you can do some stuff like asking for a sit with a little wait, before the food dish goes down; requiring pup to have 'four on the floor' when meeting people; sitting on the floor with pup when pup is getting tired, and gently handle paws, tickle tummy, touch ears, mouth etc. and praise the pup for being nice when you do that. In other words, the sort of basic manners training that all dogs should have. All of this will get the pup used to being respectful with you, and used to learning and being praised. If you do get a clicker before you get the pup, you can practise your won timing without the pup by trying to click when a tennis ball you've dropped gets half way to the floor ... Once the pup ahs settled in, you can get some really tasty stuff that won't upset pup's tummy - chicken is good - and 'charge' the clicker - get pup used to the idea that click means treat. And with or without the clicker, you can work on attention training - rewarding the pup for paying attention to you when you use his/her name. And baby recalls - reward for pup coming right to you when called. And getting pup used to collar and leash .... In other words, you'll be doing plenty of training. There's lots of good puppy starter stuff on the net - at the k9events site, and also have a look at puppy raising Barb
  20. Oh, thank you for adding that link, henrynchlo - I totally forgot it - and it's one I go to often for all sorts of things. Barb
  21. Hey Jez - great to see you planning ahead. Here's my 2c worth. When you start reseaching, you'll find there are a couple of different things - 'clicker training', which strictly means doing everything iwth the clicker, and free shaping behaviors, rather than luring or prompting. The version that I and many others use, is probably better described as 'using a clicker in training'. What we're doing is using the clicker sound to mark for the dog the exact moment the behavior is what we're after at that time. The reward - whatever it is - food, game etc. can come after that marker - in the early stages of learning anything, it should come very quickly. I love using my clicker in training,a nd my two Border COllies also seem to love it. It makes training pretty positive, since you're setting up for success, and watching for 'good' behaviour from your pup so that you can mark it. It makes you be much clearer about exactly what behaviour/part of the behaviour it is that you're looking for. And you can work in baby steps - the dog will get clicked initially for a good try, but then you can gradually up the criteria so he has to get closer to what you finally want. There's lots of stuff in books and on the Net -probably if you do a search on DOL you'll find some relevant threads. And here are a couple of links to good clicker sites to get you started. www.clickertraining.com - Karen Pryor's site www.clickersolutions.com - has some very useful articles Have fun! Barb P.S. Forgot to say - yes - clicker training is great for puppies too.
  22. What a lovely old lady she is. This is the hardest thing about having dogs, I think. One wise piece of advice was to tally up when the bad days (i.e. when the dog's not enjoying life) outweigh the good days, then it's time. I was looking at a book in the library today - I think it was called Kindred Spirits, Kindred Care - can't remember the author. It had a couple of chapters about exactly this issue, and the author made the point that it can be different for different dogs. Assuming you can keep pain under control, some dogs are happy to keep going, while others would rather give up. It was an interesting idea. I tend to use interest in food as a bit of a guide. When a dog who is normally a good eater, can't summon any interest in food, then you have to start thinking seriously that it might be time. If your vet knows the dog well, that can be a help. They won't make the decision for you, but they'll give you some indications. Good luck with the decision - we know it's got to come some day, but it doesn't make it any less hard. Barb
  23. A couple of thoughts. Once, is that you can teach him to go to his mat/crate/place - whatever - just a particular place, and be calm - for short times at first, and then for longer. I'm thinking you don't want to be revving him up too much inside - so I would always include a bit of this. You can do any of your normal obedience type training - in short bursts - he's still a youngster. Hide and seek with treats; naming toys; retrieves -backcjaining - so you're teaching hold give first. Do you use a clicker? You can have fun with your clicker and a big bag of treats (take it out of his meal allowance), and do some free shaping, or 101 things to do with a box - a net search will find it. I think you need to consider two types of time while he's inside - training time when you'll be giving him your FULL attnetion - and expecting the same for you, and then down time, when you and he can relax - you still have him in mind, but you're only giving him part of your attnetion, and he is learning to accept that he can just chill. Barb
  24. All of the above (great list, BTW, Greytmate) - and I'd just add/emphasize lots of energy and enthusiasm, to encourage people to up their energy and excitement levels, and hopefully improve their timing and motivation for their dog. And it helps if you can act a bit - so you can model voice tone changes etc. for people. Barb
  25. mjk05 -- Excellent post. Couldn't agree more - especially since I'm lucky enough to be able to train on a working sheep farm, with a trainer with working bred dogs. As I've said before, I don't at the moment do ANKC stuff, because our concentration has been on farm work. Maybe one day - but then again, maybe not. For me I think there's more satisfaction in having my (not talented, show/performance bred) dog able to do a job of work - not as well as 'proper' talented working dogs, but without hassling the stock too much. (I was really pleased to find out that the year group of ewes Kirra and I have had the most to do with, had the highest lambing percentage on the place. That was quite a relief, to know that we hadn't done any harm.) Glad you're back, Vickie. Hope your day is better today. Barb
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