SilverHaze

Does anyone have any good recommendations for an obedience school or a good trainer in the morwell/churchill area. Have a puppy person who needs a good school to take her adolescent sibe to Would prefer a school that have at least one Sibe savvy trainer if possible. She tried one club, but they insisted she hold the lead in a certain way to ensure quick release if the dog pulled her??? Umm...we all know you don't let go of a sibe no matter what! A school that is open to various methods of training would be the best - purely positive would probably not work on this little terror!

A line of dogs in our kennel (all the racing lines) have talons. It doesn't matter how often you cut them - they are as long if not long than the nails on the dog pictured. The grow so quickly it just amazes me. I'm forever pinning them down and cutting nails (and i'm not hesitant about taking a fair whack off each nail!)! Yet my boy from completely different lines barely needs his touched once a year! Nails can be very deceiving! Hope the visit the Gary brings some good news. I swear by a good chiro over a regular vet any day for all things musculature.

Here are the ingredients for the lamb and rice

LOL - probably - i didn't pay attention. I'll take a piccie of it tonight.

I was given a bag of the lamb adult food tonight by my SIL who works for masterfoods. Had no idea it was back (so to speak) until she gave me that bag! I'll see what other info she finds out through work.

We just use the command "Let's Go"

I don't think any of our older harnesses will fit a springer size dog, otherwise i would offer you one of them. How big are your dogs? The SHCV does have a few second hand harnesses for sale, that could be the right size. Otherwise try asking on the ozworkingdog yahoo group.

So I wonder what the dogs in the leading team are chasing? The level of "drive" between sleddogs differs - and thats the difference between a good leader, and a dog who works well in harness but is definitely a team dog (team dog being anything that is a position behind the lead dogs). You obviously don't comprehend the training that goes into a team to get them to level of say a long distance race. Can you explain to me the difference between a team that does 5 training runs per week of say between 40 - 80 miles and the "work" that say the esikmo's and the trappers who used to use the dogs in their daily lives is? My guess is the did the same work, probably pulled the same weights, did day runs, did over night expedition runs etc. People who work their dogs for sport don't just pull them out of a backyard and expect them to run a 1000 miles. These dogs are worked, conditioned, trained mentaly and physically to run in harness over long distances pulling a light load. The race itself is just a small portion of these dogs lives. You need to get them to that point. It is the training that would be equal to the true working environment. Yup - i sure did, many of them are also difficult to find the veins on when wanting to draw blood, and many also have larger hearts!

This is a great forum for reading more about all aspects of working dogs in harness, racing, breeding and anything else to do with sled dogs. http://www.sleddogcentral.com/forum/

I find it really difficult to see where and how prey drive fits with sled pulling. We all assume that just because a dog runs, then it must be prey drive. This isn't always the case. Some dogs love to run, just as some people love to exercise and run. Prey drive, or the predatory motor pattern is a survival instinct and is really only relevant in the "chase" of something, usually related to movement which stimulates the drive. Sled dogs pull and run, so apart from their love of running, there is no predatory key impulse going on....ie. they are not "chasing" anything. Hmm...a really good sled dog, runs for the love of it. There is just no denying that. However many dogs improve their performance with the added element of the chase. Personally i prefer a dog who runs for the sake of running. However there are many dogs out there that increase performance when they have the chase on. When they can see the team ahead, they pick up, they close the distance. The dog who is running purely for the chase, will slow the minute they pass the team in front. ALL dogs will chase, however it's just a case of how much that chase makes up their whole drive to run that will determine how successful the dog is when working. Many of your team dogs will work on an aspect of chase - they always have the dogs in front that they just can't quite catch lol This is essential!!! You need a team of matched dogs. The dogs need to complement each other in their gait and performance to gain the best performance from your team. I am intrigued....where in the world are they working Sibes? From what was told, Sibes are not favoured for sled pulling work (real work, not sport) at all, not even Malamutes. Any running in harness is work. Don't mistake racing for not working. The dogs don't know they are racing. To them they are working. It's not sport to the dogs, it's work. Here are a few kennels to look at with working siberians - both kennels listed have completed the iditarod, and one even has dogs which are titled in the ring. http://www.northwapiti.com/ http://www.jedeyesleddogs.com/ there are many more Siberian Kennels doing mid distance races, and a number of Sprint Kennels if you would like me to give you some links.

We actually race Sprint - and short sprint at that, due to conditions. A mid distance race would normally be classified as anything from about 100/200 miles onwards. Sprint races in Eurpoe and the US are usually anywhere from 6 miles to 30 miles. Long Distance is your 500 - 1000 mile races... In australia due weather and MORE IMPORTANTLY due to our governments restrictions not allowing us to access tracks in parks and forests the longest races you will normally see here will be about 8kms.

Love these discussions, though you can go round and round in circles. It's definitly running for the sake of "feeling good" encouraged along by a good dose of prey drive. Having dogs who have the right mentality to be able to switch their prey drive fully to running, and obeying commands is what makes good leaders. Without good leaders a team could take you into god knows where going after god knows what! Whats interesting is the different mentalities between breeds. With dogs such as the Siberian Husky, they are running for the majority with the "feel good" factor. When they aren't feeling good they will change their pace, conserve their energy etc These dogs aren't out there to kill themselves. When running Alaskan Huskies a greater skill in reading dogs and "knowing" dogs is required. Many Alaskans have been bred with a "never give up" mentality - they have no off switch. These dogs will literally run themselves to death if allowed to. It is up to the skilled musher to know how to manage these dogs, to make sure they are rested, to know when they are injured. Through months of solid training a musher will know what their dogs are capable of, and will base their race strategies upon their dogs abilities. As for what defines an Alaskan Husky - well it's a sled dog bred to run and to pull. There is no set blue print for an Alaskan, anything go in it, an I've read fascinating discusions on overseas forums about successful and not so succesful mixes. You will find the mixes tend to vary depending on what the musher is breeding for - are they running sprint, are they running long distance? Sprint will find more predominatly hound mixes, when you look at the long distance dogs, you will find more husky mixes -more designed to cope on the longer, colder runs. There are a number of purebred teams running races such as the iditarod, they can do it, and they can do it well. However at times the may need a bit more training/conditioning to get them to the same level as the Alaskans, and they don't meet the competitive needs of many musher. In Alaska, Alaskan Huskies are a dime a dozen for someone wanting to set up a kennel. GOOD hard working Siberian Huskies are worth their weight in gold and many years in the breeding!

Great place in just off of greens rd, in dandenong, sells very fresh chicken mince and dirt cheap prices - pm for name and number. We usually buy in bulk loads of 200kgs...

Lol - my desexed girl is like that Midol. Some coats just repel the dirt better than others. My boy on the other hand tends you be able to suck it in and hold it deep inside hehehe... Took about 3 washes to get him truly clean after race season - and that was with alot of hard scrubbing!

A strong leaf blower - or see if you vaccum does a reverse blow! But many people with pet siberians invest in a dryer anyways. Tell your mum that it's about maintainence. Less hair hanging around the place if you regularly blow them out!!!

I love my liberty force dryer - save up - it's worth the $350... And if you want your sibe to have a good coat for the show ring, your better off blowing out their coat every couple of days as opposed to washing them weekly.

I wash before a show. IF i'm showing a few weeks in a row - and my dog stays fairly clean, i may just wash the whites (legs & chest) to clean the dog up before the next show. There is no need for a Siberian who isn't attending a show in the next day/week/month to be washed regularly. My dogs get washed maybe once or twice over winter when we are racing instead of showing - usually when the smell of them gets too much And personally i couldn't find the time or effort to wash my dog every week unless i needed to go to a show.

I know of numerous Siberians who have died while under anaesthesia. The latest one was a young pup (probably only 4 or 5 months old). Siberians are very sensitive to anaesthetic and we caution all owners to only take their dogs to vets who are aware of this. It's a tragic when it happens, mostly because it SHOULDN'T happen if the vet is aware of the breed of dog he has in for surgery.

You can add mine - Snofall

I know of two Siberians who have died due to reactions to the anaesthetic. Siberians are well known to be sensitive to anaesthetic and all vets should take this into consideration.

As this is why i politely and correctly asked - "what did the dog fail the eye test for?"

What exactly did the dog fail it's eye test for?

And yet i know of one with severe staining in just one - and passed all eye tests when he went to see the opthamologist about it (turned out to be allergies - not much that can be done). This would then indicate the two aren't related, but can occur together.

Do you have contact details Rysup? Does Peter just do manipulations? I have a feeling this dog may need a bit more than just manipulation, but willing to give his owners as many GOOD options as possible.

Hi, Can anyone recommend a good chiro in sydney, preferably one who is a vet, though other recommendations are welcome as well. I have friends in Sydney who need their dog seen to urgently, and being from melbourne i am at a loss who to recommend they go see. Thanks, Soph