westielover

Ooooooohhhhhhhhh - I might come for a sticky beak and cheer you guys on. I might bring Arrow with me but you're not allowed to 'sell' him to anyone Vickie

he he -I can not only clip my dogs nails while they are calmly standing still but I can also file them so that they have no sharp edges left to cut themselves with when they have a little scratch. It's something I worked on when they were puppies and thankfully it worked a treat

Does anyone have this book, I am wondering if it is a good one and worth buying - http://www.airdogs.com.au/agility/product....=248&page=2

Also is it a workbook that has exercised you can work through?

yes and yes

Sorry Westie Lover, I'm being bad. ;)

No worries PAX - happy to be hijacked when it comes to a dog in need

We need pics of Oscar!!

Another lovely looking red and tan boy - hope you find a nice agility home for him, would be great to see more Kelpies

I hope so to Kavik.

It's so not fair that I can't have another dog ;)

Hey Mrs D - can I tease you with another agility prospect ..... check out Arrow!! Loves the ball, loves to tug, very agile and approx 18 mths.

Couple more pics

Just in case anyone is looking for a new agility dog - let me introduce you to Ozzie.

Ozzie turned 2 on August 4, 2009 so he's ready to jump etc. He's a very drivey dog - extremently responsive to interactions with people, be it playing games, training or just running around the yards. He's motivated by treats & tug games - so no need to build any drive there as he has already got it!! He's very agile & athletic and GORGEOUS to boot!

Here is his petrescue profile in case anyone is interested or knows someone who is looking. It would be a waste to place him into a boring pet home.

Oh gosh Jane - I am so sorry for your loss.

RIP Herbie

I would seriously consider having the leg looked at if no improvement in the short term.

To my dismay, I have just found out that my nearly 9 year old west highland white terrier has hip dyslasia. He never showed signs until now but the sad part is that he was born with it.

So, although rare, small dogs can have HD.

Future pups will be x-rayed when they stop growing as I never want any dog of mine to feel any sort of discomfort for most of their life, no matter how stoic they are!!

There is a huge agility list on Yahoo groups - Agility Australia.

I think there are also a couple of big obedience lists as well.

Maybe even advertise her on a herding list?

I'm sure she'll find a good (hopefully sporting) home soon.

Sadly advertising rescue dogs on said agility list is not allowed

I'm on the list and have asked permission to advertise rescue kelpies but was denied

On top of that - not a lot of agility people want a rescue dog either

Hey Kavik - I have nothing useful to say except swap Diesel for Avery :

One more ....

I took a portable agility jump to the shelter one day and had Avery jumping over it in no time. He also likes to tug

These ones were taken back in December .....

More pics of the gorgeous Avery

Rubeedoo - where did you order your jumps and weave poles from?

Ahhh, vets are terrible.

My boy is developing a problem with the vet, it didn't help that the vet hit him over the head but I am working like crazy to fix it.

Good luck.

Did you clobber the vet over the head??? Schmuck of a vet!

Why don't you consider making some - jumps aren't too hard to make from PVC - check out some ideas here

How reactive are the pupils?

His eyes seem to react quite normally - it's just close up he seems to have trouble with.

He seems to be very normal otherwise. I would hate for it to be anything serious - that would be very sad.

Many thanks for your responses everyone. I will have him checked out regardless.

Angel is lovely Greytmate. I think the cross eyes makes them more endearing!!

Kayne's mum - I think Harrison will probably be laughed at too. Luckily dogs are not like humans so he won't become sensitive about his cross eyes!!

Has anyone ever had a 'cross eyed' dog? I have a dog in care at the moment who I think is 'cross eyed'. He seems to be able to see okay - except at close range.

I was just wondering if anyone has ever had a cross eyed dog and whether it's a hereditary thing or perhaps caused by some sort of trauma?

I have googled and found that Boston terriers seem prone to being cross eyed but otherwise I can't seem to find a lot of info about dogs being cross eyed.

Needless to say - I will be taking him to the vet for a check up but I was just wondering if anyone had come across a cross eyed dog before and if there were any long term ramifications.

wooo hooo - I am going to the 2 day seminar this weekend in Sydney - having seen all of your comments - I am really looking forward to the seminar

Totally inappropriate .... a rescue dog of mine (BC) was alpha rolled by a complete stranger and the dog has now become fear aggressive to the point of biting people. The alpha roll was the trigger and the behaviour escalated form there. Alpha rolls have dire consequences for fearful dogs!

Why would you need to alpha roll a dog? In the dog world, the only reason one dog will forcefully flip another dog on its back is to kill it. In the alpha roll over, physical force is used. Many dogs flip over on their backs of their own accord to show submission, but this action is not the same as the alpha roll. It is completely voluntary.

In my opinion alpha rolling is dangerous and unnecessary as a training technique. By performing what seems like an attack to a dog, humans leave themselves vulnerable to a bite to the face, and they lower the trust and respect their dogs have for them.

Oh dear - seems I was worried for no reason - he just jumped off the couch and went over to the toy box, pulled out a toy and started chewing it!!!

So all is good

I was an over worried foster mum!!! :rolleyes:

I did forget to ask that question actually! They were aware of his slow recovery and told me to call them in the morning if he hasn't improved.

Oliver my foster BC pup was castrated today. He's approx 6-7 mths old and is on the lean side. I collected him fomr the vet at 6.30pm and I had to carry him to the car as he was still quite 'out of it'.

He can walk but it's as if he's drunk.

He ate his dinner and went to the loo - so all good there.

He's currently sleeping on the lounge next to me.

I am a little concerned because since I picked him up - his heart rate seems faster than normal and he's breathing more rapidly than normal. I did do a search in this forum and read that lean dogs can take longer to recover due to how their bodies metabolise the anaesthetic ......

Should I be concerned about his rapid breathing and elevated heart rate at the moment??

I've never had a male dog recover so slowly from a castration ......

I posted this in the westie thread also ...

With regard to preparing your girl for a grooming session - I would start by handling her feet, tail, ears and mouth outside of a grooming session and rewarding her with treats everytime she lets you handle those parts without biting or pulling away. Start off with her feet and playing a game of 'catch her foot' - make sure she is aware of the treat as you are doing this and when you have her foot in your hand reward immediately. That way she starts to associate 'good things happen when my feet are touched'. By the time she lets you handle her feet she should understand the concept and allow you to gradually handle her tail & ears and then you should be able to look at her teeth by pulling apart her lips. Don't forget - reward, reward, reward for good behaviour. Just do it as a play session every day for a few minutes.

Once you can handle the different body parts - start placing her on the 'nominated' grooming table. Drop a small handful of treats on the grooming table, then place her on the table, let her devour the treats and then take her off the table. Once again do, this 2-3 times a day over a couple of weeks until she gets used being placed on the grooming table. Grooming should then become a breeze.

I did all of the above with my boys and to this day I still drop a handful of treats onto the grooming table prior to starting a grooming session - they are now 8 & 7 years old - they are so easy to groom that when i cut their toe nails, I can also file away the sharp edges with a nail file (so they don't bleed when they scratch themselves). Most of the time I groom them but twice a year they get groomed by a groomer and he always comments on how easy they are to groom.

Remember that she is a puppy and she has lots and lots to learn - so you want to make EVERYTHING a positive experience. Puppies don't forget - once they experience something bad or scary they never forget and then you have to deal it for their whole life (or do a hell of a lot of desensitisation training)!

Key to success is boundaries, consistancy & keep it all as positive as posible. Milley is a living creature who deserves respect & kindness - she's young and learning the ways of the world and your job is to do it nicely as possible.

It sounds like perhaps something in your new method has scared her and she is starting to retreat. You don;t want her to retreat and become scared of you. A puppy/dog is a joy to have in your life and it's really not that hard to train them as long as you are kind & consistent so that she doesn't get confused.

What type of things are you doing to 'discipline' Milley? Learn how to be a benevolent leader and not a leader who rules by force of any kind.

Be careful of what your vet tells you when it becomes to behaviour - they are not experts on behaviour but they are experts on veterinary medicine.

Get yourself some dog training books such as:

The power of positive dog training by Pat Miller

Don't Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor

There are heaps more but they are 2 good ones.