Karelea Aussies

Our 13 month old Aussie was spayed on Wednesday morning. She has been tested for MDR1 and is classed as affected with mutant/normal results. When I picked her up after the op, she was showing what I would believe to be fairly normal behaviour associated with the pain killers and anasthetic ie: very sleepy and off balance when walking, obvious discomfort, lack of appetite. She was prescribed Rimadyl for pain relief at 1/2 tablet per day which were to be started Thursday morning. Thursday she pretty much slept unitl 1pm and I gave her the tablet about 2.pm. Later in the day she seemed to become very erratic....moving very little but darting around whe she did so, jumping up onto outdoor setting chairs, which she has never done even when she should be jumping, trying to climb into shopping bags (the green woolies bags), hiding in bushes. I thought the combination of anashthetic and Rimadyl may have been too much for her system and she seemed....high. Jumpy, odd behaviour and pupils were dilated. I did some googling of Rimadyl and while I could not find it listed as a drug to be wary of on (in relation to MDR1) any of the web sites I looked at, I did read that a DOL poster advised against it for dogs who are MDR1 affected. She continued to act strangely so for her safety we kept her crated. Yesterday morning was the same behaviour and by late afternoon she seemed to come round, walking normally and even tried it on for a game of tug. She had a quiet evening and a peaceful night and seemed to be back to normal, and while the darting around had stopped, she was moving a bit tentatively. This morning she seemed to be fine, although quiet and by 2pm was back to being jumpy and unsettled and tonight we are back to doing strange things. After running outside it has taken over an hour to get her out of the bushes and back inside. I am going to ring the Vets in the morning but am wondering if anyone has seen this behaviour in their dogs when desexed or does it seem odd. I am worried the drugs may not be wearing off like they should. I am also wary of giving her the pain killers due to what I have read in regard to Rimadyl and MDR1. My vets were not familiar with MDR1 prior to having Tilly as a patient, so am worried they might have missed some important info before prescribing the Rimadyl. Any thoughts ?

I use the Vet in North Nowra. Both Cathy and Quentin are the best I have come across in all my pet owning years. Tilly is their first MDR1 affected dog and they have taken everything on board that I have said, and done their own research to see what her needs are in the way of which meds to avoid. They treated my two oldies that I recently lost to cancer, and the hug I got from Cathy as we put Sheba in the car to bring her home said it all. They are also open half day Sunday which is handy. ETA: a friend of ours has always used Bomaderry Vet Hospital and travels all the way from Erowal Bay to do so. Must be fairly decent to go all that way.

Well SOMEbody could have told me that before we decided on an Aussie . If this is her most frustrating habit, I can live with it. Just makes doing the rounds in the long-overdue-for-a-mow-lawn rather difficult. Hmmm, better get to some gardening. Hehe just to be different, mine does nice little well placed piles...in one spot . The only time I ever saw Tilly spread it was on a day she was a little constipated.

Can't figure this one out actually. Either you don't groom for long or you feed your dog enormous amounts of peanut butter. Took me over an hour to groom Ms Portie dog after she'd been running in the paddocks.... Also, thie licking would drive me demented in about three seconds! Nope we dont need to groom for long. Generally Aussies have self cleaning, easy care coats and only need a quick brush to the body and a comb behind the ears and thats it. It probably takes 5 minutes once or twice a week. I am not sure how long the grooming takes for a shown Aussie but we are talking about a young pup here anyway. We did this on the advice of a local trainer but only for the first couple of times to get her mouth off the brush, and then started rewarding for good behaviour. Worked for us but might not be any good for dogs that need heavy grooming.

Smear some peanut butter on a wall or cupboard door and let him stand and lick it while brushing. They are so intent on getting it off they forget about the brush. Tilly was the same and now I can brush her without a problem. :D oops sorry Aidan already suggested that.

My goals for 2010 are pretty small fry stuff. I would like Tilly to SFE without ducking her head. I would also like her to follow signals a little quicker and not think about it so much. (comes back to crappy handler also) I want to get my hand signals down pat and 100% uniform every time. If all of these become a reality then I would like to try for her CCD. And I would like to find a way to to both obedience AND agility (foundation) in a club where its either us or them.

warek Come join the Aussie thread here http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=87106 piccies are a must.

Damian is organising clinics in NSW and Vic. He would love to know where exactly to hold clinics and if anyone is interested in helping set up the clinic, that would be great. Liz Hi Liz I am in NSW and although its a fair hike for me (much closer than VIC though) I guess Sydney would be the best bet. Dogs NSW have their grounds at Erskine Park and I am pretty sure that the grounds can be hired.

I have been looking into this off forum and once again im in the wrong darn state. I would be interested though so depending on when and which day of the week, ROAD TRIP.

This one? http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...78&hl=maloo

http://www.petrescue.com.au/view/33380 I would have this little guy in a heartbeat, but its not the right time for another one for me yet. Ps Jock is a real little stunner ;)

thanks I will give it a go and see what happens.

Sorry AD, I am afraid I am a bit lost. I hope you didnt think I was saying that people are ignorant to think their dog should be ready to work all the time, I was referring to my ignorance (or lack of knowlege) that led me to think I didnt need a cue word. I did expext Till to be ready to work all the time but was not sure if I was wrong in thinking this. In fact I didnt even know that people used cue words to 'switch' on their dogs until it was talked about at training and we were told we should be doing it. Tilly can not start agility training for another 3 months at least, so I am working towards a goal I know absolutely nothing about and have no prior exp to go on. I am trying to get her basic training correct so that as we progress we are not making mistakes. I do understand your last couple of paragraphs, makes a lot of sense. thanks

See now this is what I was getting on Wed night (at training) which prompted me to think about the whole question of whether I should be cuing her into work mode....she was totally off with the fairys, and after giving a command, I was getting a look and a .......WHAT....you want me to do that NOW....oh ok then if i must??????? It was all very ho hum and the only training session that I have gone home wondering what the hell I did wrong ......I blamed it on the full moon

Thinking on what you have both said here, she will tremble when I bring out the tug....she is alert and raring to go. I dont use the tug in obedience as yet, only in play.

Bringing out the clicker means the same for Tilly, absolutely no confusion there lol.

Yeah I used to use ask Tux if he was "Ready" to work and he always answered me... and it has also backfired on me as one particular judge that Tux (and I both) liked when he asked are your Ready, lol we have been having a discussion in the Aussie thread about the 'talking'. 'ready' seems to be very popular. I guess it is quite a natuaral thing to say at the time. Think I will try that and 'done' to finish. Pretty sure I dont use those words for anything else atm.

I agree with LP - my dogs are always working - if I ask for something I expect to (and usually do) get it. We don't distinguish between working and not. I've never really understood why people ask for their dogs to start listening to them. for me it should be a given. Well for me training is happening 24/7 so if I say 'sit' or something like that I would expect them to 'cue' in. This is what I thought, but out of pure ignorance if nothing else. I am going on what I am being told I 'should' be doing as this is the first time I have done any formal training and I am relying on our trainers to put me on the right track. The trainers are all great but I guess different trainers have different ideas. I think it depends on what training you do and what you want out of your dog. Obedence at the moment, Herding training soon and Agility when she is a bit older. Tilly loves to work but can sometimes be a bit unfocussed at the start, she is still a pup (9 months) so I wonder if that could just be a bit of immaturity that will improve with age. Beagleboys2 We only use a flat collar whether working or not so cant use that as the cue, but I have read of quite a number of people that do that. Thanks to all that replied, and on reading the responses, I feel better that I am NOT going to completely ruin my girl if I dont have a cue to start or finish, but I might try it anyway to see if it makes a difference. thanks everyone.

I am interested to hear what/how people say/do to let their dogs know its time to work/train and also when its time to stop. This is something I have not done with Tilly and really should have from the start. Once I start asking her to 'look', she gets it, but I have learnt from my training school that I really should be giving her a defined cue. Would love to hear examples and/or suggestions on how to start. Thanks in advance.

Yep gotta hope for good weather, I really want to see what I am working towards. Thanks for that and I guess that makes 2 of us that have little stunners. Diesel is one handsome boy.

Yep but only going to help out. Rainy, do you realise we are in the same class I am the one with the silly Aussie pup.

ahem...mismarks are much more interesting

keep running

Bailey, Ill give it a month before that tail becomes...not so fluffy. Awwww LP, that is sad........