Tassie

As well as the visual 'waist' check .. which I like ..my other go to test is to place my hands on the dog's back, thumbs pointing towards the tail, either side of the spine, and fingers spread out over several ribs. In a dog of good weight, you should be able to feel the ribs with not much pressure. UnderwEight, dog will feel ribby and spine may feel extra knobbly. Overweight, you'll struggle to feel ribs or spinal processes without pressing in a lot. It's been described as .. running your fingers over the back of your hand ... normal, running fingers over the knuckles of your hand ... underweight, and running fingers over the palm of your hand just below the knuckles .. overwight.

I can understand your concerns about a cat, but to be honest, in your situation, I think a cat would be a better fit. You might need to spend a bit of money up front setting up an enclosure so the cat can have safe outside time, ideally with secure access from the house. And if you and your child enjoy going for walks, it's quite possible to train a cat to walk nicely on a harness ... but they'll survive perfectly well without being taken for walks ... so less pressure. And since many/most cats are happy to sleep most of the day away, there's much less pressure to train, entertain etc. Just something to consider. A dog really is a major commitment of time, energy and patience, and maybe now is not the right time in your life for a dog.

3 at 9.00 am this morning, but a stunningly beautiful day with the warm low sun streaming into the house, and a beautiful blue sky.

I teach a foundation agility class at my dog club .. and have competed for years, as well as being an online course junky. We do require people to have trained with the club in regular classes, appropriate to their level, for 8 weeks after 6 months of age. This ensures they are pretty much old enough to start learning agility skills on the flat, and they're about 9 or 10 months before we start any more physically demanding work. The time spent in classes gives them time to make sure their pups can cope with the busy club environment, on a large unfenced sports ground, They learn to maintain focus on their handler under arousal and distraction. It's not really about 'learning' particular behaviours, but putting what they know into a new environment.

Yes .. Rory is cool with the wide range of birds that come and use the bird bath .. from big .. green rosellas, bornzewings and even occasionally, yellow tailed black cockatoos down to tiny little wrens and fantails. But he's been really conflicted the few times he's seen currawongs getting a drink .. really only in very dry periods.

In the scheme of things .. that's a good update. How good it is that our dogs don't know or need to know what's wrong with them. And if it comes with toasted banana bread, it has to be OK.

@sheena

My boy has a permanent declaration of war against currawongs. There's even a no fly zone overhead. But other birds are fine .. even the lorikeets and cockatoos who are eating "his" apples. Go figure.

Oh and I forgot to say ... it sounds as though she would really enjoy tracking. Do you have a club anywhere near you that teaches tracking?

Hi there. I'd say one of the things that you might need to add to your training if agility is in her future, is to be working her on your right hand side as much as on your left. That;s for the dog, and for the humans. If we've had an obedience background, it can be quite hard for us (and the dog) to get used to working on the right. That would include her chasing you to come into position (similar to heel - shoulder level with your leg) on both the right and the left . Body awareness exercises are great ,, stepping (not jumping) through a ladder, focusiong forward, not looking up at you... again working both sides. Backing up (waling backwards away from you .. and maybe to a platform or mat which she will target with her back feet. We teach a lot of stuff on the flat before every going near equipment .. that way we're not risking having the pup learn behaviours on equipment that we don't want. Certainly teaching directional is good. You can do that sitting in a chair. The direction is the way the dog is turning when facing away from you. (I actually use my agility directional in the directed jumping exercise in the UD obedience ring. Targeting is a really useful skill, and toy play ... tugging and releasing the tug, and on cue, running out to get a toy (and not playing keep away. Have a lookon the net for puppy agility or foundation agility skills.

And while the dog is under, the vet can not only check and clean other teeth, but may (as happened with one of mine), discover something which you had not even noticed ll in my dog's case it was an epulis (usually benign tumour growing from the gum. Vet was able to remove that while she was under. It was still small, so avoided a possible major surgery later.

Fun times ahead . I like the Perfect Fit harness I got from Leopuppy (not sure if she's still on DOL.} NIce and soft and doesn't restrict shoulder movement. But that has becomePippa,s tracking harness, so now for out and about I use a Ruff Wear Webmaster. Not cheap, but not restrictive, and touch wood, Houdini pupy has not gor out of it. It has a built in handle too .. handy for lifting pup in and out of car etc. (or helicopter .. which I think is what it was designed for .

A few other thoughts. At 4.5 months she is still a baby, so lasting through the night may still take a bit longer. I am definitely not a dog park fan .. and while you're concentrating on getting her to recall reliably .. there are too many distractions there for her level of training. (Also be aware that when they're sniffing, dogs are able to recruit other parts of their brain to the sniffing task, so they literally can't pay attention as well as usual. .. Have you thought about having an x pen for her instead of a crate. It could have a bed and/or a crate inside but would give her more room to move while still being safe. And I would ditch ball play, unless it's a soccer ball. The most important part of play IMHO is the relationship building with the human ... so it needs to be interactive play, Ball throwing is primarily self-reinforcing for the dog, and is the dog training you to a large extent.

@Teebs PMd you

Welcome Gwp_owner and Willow. So the sleeping through thing varies from pup to pup. My BC pup has been sleeping through pretty much from 10 weeks. Do you take her out or let her out if she has to toilet in the night. Taking out on lead, all very low key, wait for toilet, quiet praise then straight back in crate with a treat. I usually limit water in the time before bedtime, but I always give a treat when the dogs go in their crates for bedtime .. even the 9,5 year old. As far as the morning routine goes, I'd be feeding her in her crate and then seizing a moment while she's quiet, giving some of her meal in a puzzle toy or frozen Kong, that she scan work on while you're showering etc.. Or a bone or something like that. I'd also cover the crate. (If it helps, this is what I do with my youngster, who's also fond of the sound of her own voice. My guess is she is probably arcing up in the morning predicting you leaving. You know what ... I see a lot of exercise for this lucky pup, but nowhere near enough training. She would benefit from some of that walking time being swapped out for interactive games with you. They can be quiet games like It's Yer Choice .. a Susan Garrett game which I think you'll find in a Google search... Any games (indoors and out) which build value for paying attention to you, chasing you, being close to you ... with high rates of reward for the dog .. either treats or toy play or both. You're putting deposits in the back of value for you. Have a look for Recallers Games .. there might be some free ones out there. Good luck and have fun.

Other than the fact that he's too young (and it would probably be too dangerous) to cycle with him, mackiemad and persephone have nailed it. Great prescription for you. He needs to learn boundaries and manners, and that you actually set the boundaries. Teaching all sorts of stuff will wear him out, and bond him more closely to you. A couple of general training principles to keep in mind are to set the dog up for success and try not to allow repetitions of behaviour you don't want to see again. You might consider too that when he's interacting so inappropriately with other dogs, he is having a very negative impact on the emotional and social development of those dogs. Part of socialisation (teaching dogs to live peaceably in our society) is making sure we keep not only our own dogs but other dogs safe.

I am one of the lucky ones. But I had a fair knowledge of the breed, and of lines and breeders and I am a member of my breed club , so that even when I bought a pup from a breeder I did not know personally, I had good connections, and good knowledge of the puppy's lines .. and more recently, had been watching the litter growing up, and seeing the parents at least on FB. In the case of one of the puppies, the breeder rang me after the pups had their 6 week eye check (no DNA test available in those days (to say 'my' pup was CEA affected, and she would quite understand if I didn't want to go ahead, but also that they eye specialist was happy to talk with me on the phone. I knew enough, and had it confirmed by the eye specialist, that the pup would be perfectly suitable for what I wanted (as she would be desexed anyway) so I went ahead with the purchase (the breeder discounting the price as she couldn't sell me the perfect puppy she was hoping to.) That puppy went to have a lovely life and a wonderful performance career .. I farewelled her at a bit over 15, just last year. Using the sort of principles that TSD spelt out, I have had 4 other very happy experiences purchasing from interstate breeders. But research, personal recommendation, asking around breed clubs and so on will all help to make the experience a good one.

That sounds encouraging. Fingers crossed for good report on the path. And jow lovely to get that feedback on how he was coping at the vet. They sound really caring.

Sorry that you're getting to this stage, but it's so good that you're thinking and preparing ahead. My dear old agility girl was PTS last year .. about 12 months ago, now I think about it. She had lymphoma, so I had the luxury of being able to make the appointment with "our" vet, who'd cared for since she was 8 weeks old. I personally didn't feel comfortable about having the procedure at home, but my vet is willing to come out to the car, which saves carrying a sick dog into the surgery, and having to be where other people are. I should add, my dogs love the car. Kirra had a bed in the back of the SUV, and I just sat there with her (my other dog watching). The vet didn't use sedation in her case, as she was pretty far gone .. so a gentle clip to get the vein .. and then she actually did lift her head when the needle went in, but quickly settled again, and passed very quickly. When my lovely vet had checked that she had gone, we talked about her for a little while, then he carried her inside ... tears all round. I had already arranged for her to be cremated.

Thanks for that info Aru. Useful to know what's actually working and what's not.

I'd definitely be heading for a specialist clinic .. probably seeing an orthopaedic specialist or a neurologist. (And I imagine they would cross consult within a big referral centre.) Someon more familiar with Sydney than I am should be able to help, but I think the 2 that I've seen mentioned are SASH, and something like Animal Referral Centre. Google might be able to help. I would also be asking about complementary therapies .. I've had dogs respond well to acupuncture for instance. The specialist centres will be able to refer to certified rehab practitioners if necessary. Which reminds me, you could try a PM to Jumabaar ... will check spelling in a minute. She is a rehab specialist (but is a bit inconvenienced by injury at the moment.)

No personal knowledge, but someone I know has had a great experience with orthopaedic work done at Murdoch ... not sure which particular surgeon (orif there is more than one orthopod there.

I haven't lived in a heavy tick area (though we do have some down here, but not yet in the proportions that we need to use continuous protection.) But when I've travelled with my Border Collies, I have in the past used Advantix spot on (but only after leaving home ... can't use that if you have cats who might get it), and the last trip, I did use Nexgard instead, on the recommendation of my trusted vets - I only needed a few weeks. Some people are using collars - but my two wrestle and tend to chew collars. I'm sure more locals/experienced people will be along ... but whatever you use, do remember that you really need to do daily searches as well, especially if the dog has been in likely tick areas of long grass, bush etc.

Happy 21st Gilly. What an awesome human you have.

Such a crappy hand to be dealt, Teebs. My sincere condolences/ An extra cuddle for min tonight in honour of Kaos.