Anna H

Emu is a very rich meat, so go easy or you'll have a lot of cleaning up to do! a lot of dogs eat roo which is also a rich meat... and that seems to be ok for most.

My lot are on Iams at the moment, I swap and change all the time with the dry food. Especially as the local City Farmers had 2 bags for price of 1 on premium foods not long ago... stocked up with all sorts! Both used to be on Supercoat, was great for a while, then something must have changed as I noticed stools went loose, Chelsea packed on weight (on same amount of food) and both got a bit hyper. Also feed lots of raw foods for nice shiney teeth and coats

Mine don't get too many treats in training anymore, but when given... VIP Chicken Chunkers (broken into tiny bits) sends em nuts But the ultimate... is Iams dry catfood... perfect size for training too.

With Cougar.. never. But Chelsea! Geeezzz... that dog certainly knows how to push my buttons sometimes! When I get too frustrated, I just walk away and try again later.

Yep, both mine get frozen bones on occasion... it's the only food that last more than two seconds! Both my two love frozen chicken frames on hot days

Both my two get questioned about being too skinny! Cougar has been the size he is all his life, always been able to feel his ribs and hips... and he has 24 hour access to food and free feeds! Chelsea is only just starting to mature, I've kept her intentionally lean up to this point... but still, you can see her ribs when she turns... but I think that is more to do with her coat being so short than being under weight. I left her with Mum for a week once and when I got her back, you couldn't see her ribs... she looked fat to me! Gemibabe, I reckon your dog is gorgeous.. looks a teensy bit on the solid side, but definately not overweight. I'll let ya know when I meet your girl when you next come up to Perth!

The Ballajura Vet rocks! Great service, reasonable prices, and free check-ups. Even when I move home in a couple of months, I'll be returning there despite there being two other clinics closer. I'd only change if they changed the way they did things.

I weigh less than 50kgs, Chelsea weighs half of that and, till I retrained her using a prong, could easily pull me over.

I was of the belief that it is ok to use them if you have a written letter from a veterinarian. My vet was more than happy to write one for me... then went off on a rant about how much better and safer they are etc in his opinion than many other collars on the market.

I've done this before as well.... tried it around my upper thigh and no bruising whatsoever and definately no puntures! Good Dog Collars I think these are the collars Angelsun in referring to???

KitKat... K9 sells prongs for smaller dogs too... just check out his website

And might I add, they are top quality too... never have I found such a useful item of training equipment, Chelsea come running over to me, tail wagging the moment I pick it up (so it can't be causing her pain!) Don't know if they are/are not legal in WA... no one has ever stopped me in the street about Chelseas' anyway

I give my GSP whole chicken frames... she really has to chew to get through them. She has got awesome pearly white teeth!

I have never had the slightest hint of a problem with raw fish bones with my two... again, I NEVER would feed them cooked bones which are likely to be very sharp and possibly dangerous as with any cooked bone.

If it's a warm day... backyard with the hose In winter, they get the luxury of being washed in the bath.

Mine often get the homebrand tinned sardines (about 50cents a tin) and totally love them. Occasionally get fish heads/offal if I'm cooking fish.... as well as prawn heads/shells if I've been peeling them (raw!) Never had any hint of side effects.... I so hope that this is OK to feed them!

sorry, couldn't help but giggle. I'm sure with the right training, he'd be fine... oonce he learnt to love fetch and getting his feet wet. Maybe he could just learn to 'point' at the game and let the other dogs fetch it?

Yep, she does ... and she's not the only one... quite a few of the trainers there consistantly acheieved very good results. Just a bummer for us, that the method of training isn't perfect for our situation, we have to use what works. Soniq- a lady by the name of Bernice is awesome, will do whatever she can to help (even private research on problems which she'll mail to you at home)... so is Kerry (the owner of the the 'perfect' poodles.) I'm sure Riceys collar will fit, but even if you do need to purchase a new one for Bayley, they are only about $6-8 each if you are a club member... and Kongs are dirt cheap.

They are advocates of Halti's and fabric limited slip collars... They didn't appreciate me rocking up with a prong (which is a limited slip and I had it on inside out - still had to remove it)... and prefer people don't have check collars, if you do bring your dog on one, they will make you swap it for a fabric/leather collar. If you can't find Baileys vaccination card, get the vet to print a copy out for you... once Bailey gets to level2 (wont take long I bet) you can then start agility training with him on Wednesday nights.

Soniq- Whilst I personally do not like the halti, I do realise they do make things easier for a lot of people. The only reason I did mention that Kathy is a fan of them, was incase you didn't like them yourself and give you a heads up. Kathy is a really nice lady too... but doesn't stuff around so I think you'll like her. But do call the others, and let me know how you go... I'm still looking for training help here in Perth too! (and I bet a lot of other Perth DOLers are as well) We'll be starting back up at Northern Suburbs next year as well... so we'll see you there (I still haven't met you - so I'll look for the boofer head Bailey). I mainly go there for socialisation for Chelsea and am in the late classes, but will come down early and say hi!

I've heard quite a few recommendations for Kathy, she trains up at the Northern Subrubs club from time to time... her Mals are amazing, but she is a fan of the old halti. I personally have not used her, but from what I hear, she is one of the best Perth has to offer... Unfortunately, Perth suffers from a major shortage of decent trainers... must be time for me to start studying again, instead of staring at boring hardware all day long.

Chelsea is pretty sensitive to people shampoos (until I got her, I always washed Cougar with them 'cos he was fine - and I didn't know any different) and gets itchy flaky skin if I wash her in people stuff, even if I rinse super well. But I'm pretty sure Johnson Baby Shampoo is Ph neutral... so I'm guessing probably wouldn't cause a problem on most dogs.

Whenever I wash either of my dogs, I prefer to sponge/wipe their faces clean with a wet wash cloth as opposed to pouring a bucket of water over their heads. I've never had any problems with either of them. Also, wiping their faces allows you to have better control of making sure their eyes and ears are cleaned properly... tho I usually do this with a barely damp washcloth.

R.I.P Max

I've never had a prob with mine choking on the shells, they break too easily into small bits and mine seem to find it fun to chomp them into tiny bits. Cougar wont eat the shells... usually Chelsea just scoffs them, but now I know how to 'hide' them so that Cougar can eat his too. Thanks Steve!