Ben and Jerry

Not my part of town but I was out at the Yacht Club one night and happen to notice some kids swimming in the water around there. There are boating ramps along one part of the shore but if you go around it appears there is sandy banks with no boating ramps. I couldn't see anything on there site about swimming but maybe give them a call and see if dogs are allowed to swim near there. The boating ramp facility area is located off Alexandrina DR, but the sandy bank area I recall seeing was near Lennox Gardens off Flynn DR. Hope any of this helps you it's been awhile since I was out that way and having a quick look on google maps showed up something that may be of us to you if it's dog friendly swimming . http://www.canberrayachtclub.com.au/findus.htm

Over probably to past week or so my dog has had a bit of an itchy face. He has been scratching more then normal around his chin and around the eyes. Last night I noticed he had some sort of rash(maybe?) just under his bottom lip, I don't know if it could be or not because when he gets itchy there he rubs his face all over the carpet to relieve the itch. I have also noticed a little scab type thing appearing on his snout. I have tried to get pictures but the quality does not come out well and makes it barely visable. Does anyone know what may be the cause of his itchyness? Could it be a weather related thing as the weather has been a lot warmer the past few days or could it be something else. Is there anything I can do at the moment to try help with his itchy until I can possibly see a vet tomorrow? Thanks for any help .

alot if not all wire crates come with a divider you use to make the space smaller/hold two dogs

alot if not all wire crates come with a divider you use to make the space smaller/hold two dogs

my guy was always abit funny with stays too but now he is alot more stable. When you say stepping back do you mean a step or two or moving say a couple meters back? How i got taught to do my stays was give your command and take one step infront of the dog so feet to paws for a short period of time. Once she is comfortable with that you can increase the duration and distance but when you plan on doing a greater distance only do it for a short duration until you have her comfortable with being at range from you (this was where i use to have trouble with my boy he couldnt be to far away from me). Also look at varying each stay as some dogs can be to smart for there own good and work out when the stay should be over. Besure to also vary when you release her so once you return wait and then release her and if she does well remember lots of treats or play with her favourite toy :D. How is she when you return behind her, would she stay still or want to move around with you? If she moves around you can work on return behinds seperately and again when she is comfortable with them introduce them to your stays. Just remember she may have off days if she does look at doing the basics for it again so you don't get frustrated and still set her up for success . That's how i was taught my stays hopefully it's somewhat helpful to you

Hi DoL posters and readers, I am looking for some recommendations on a quality yet affortable dog behaviourist in the ACT. My dog has started becoming aggressive towards other male dogs(trying to display dominance?) and whenever I have him around me I am unable to touch another dog without him going off . I've had a little look around and can find a trainer or two but I think I'm after a behaviourist rather then trainer? or can trainers help with this sort of issue now aswell. Also never having to of used a behaviourist before nor knowing anybody who has, what sort of costs am I looking at paying? Money is a bit tight at the moment so I would like to atleast get a rough idea of what I'll be in for.

l'd think getting it to a vets or RSPCA might be the best option.

What a great video. The one of him playing with the steak in his mouth is just too cute .

Thanks for the suggestion . As I hadn't been using treats with my boy for the last few class rotations they just totally slipped my mind .

Just a quick question for anyone who may be able to help us with perfecting a recall. I'm having an issue with my dog when he does a recall of him running to me sitting in front as he should be but then he starts to squirm around on the spot until he is watching another direction. I've been told by trainers at training a few different things on how to fix it but some said do this and another would say don't do that. I was taught to take a few steps backwards when he goes into the sit until he sits straight but then when working on recalls this week I was told not to do that but to just work on having him run in being stable on the return behind and we will work on positioning eventually. So my question is do I stick with what I was taught or is there another way I could/should be doing it? I know he is capable of doing a perfect recall because he use to do it all the time and then I think I may have started introducing something then got him confused . Hoping to get some help as we have exams next week and would love to be there and show what sort of improvements he has made .

Or maybe he's just got good football taste . Once tennis is on tv I wonder if my boy will be phased by it as he is addicted with tennis balls.

My dog use to growl at other dogs on tv now he seems to of gotten over them. Maybe he worked out there not in his house . Now instead of tv he is intrested in my sisters siamese fighter whose tank is on a lower coffee table. He spends ages sitting perfectly still infront just watching the fish. When the fish swims to the back of the tank or behind the ornament he rushes foward to check out where it went then suddenly the fish comes out from where it was towards him and he runs away barking . Sometimes he feels brave and comes back for seconds or thirds with the fish, but I think the fish has worked out its smarter then my dog .

When I was younger my dad went overseas for a few months with work and when he returned our dog at the time remembered straight away who he was. I'm sure Harper will keep asking you each day where dad is .

For me the most important thing for a training belt would be the ease of getting treats out. There are some really good belts out there and there are some shockers (sadly we only stock shockers at work ) The ones that we stock are just too hard to get your treats out quick enough for your dog. They look great when your not wearing it but once you put it on it tightens up not allowing easy hand access. For me style would be no issue, I'd much rather pay for something that does what it is designed for and does it well, not something that looks fantastic. a pocket or two for my clicker and poo bags is always handy. Something I wouldn't mind on my current belt would be a ring to attach my lead clip to when doing off lead work, I know I could always attach it to the strapes but I find being a fairly lean person I spend a bit of time stuffing around getting my clip on and off getting it caught on my jump and things like that . As for price, I'd be happy to pay $30-$50 for a decent belt.

31/05/1995 - 27/06/2011 Rest in Peace Narla. You were more then just a pet you were a best friend to me. We grew up together and we travelled the country together. You were always there to bring smiles to our faces. I'm not that great with words so rest in peace narla you will be sorely missed .

We use to have our barf supplied by Big Dog and I can't recall ever having a complaint. I believe it was around the time of the package change that we then started getting Barf from our own company brand meat supplier.

My boy growls in his sleep every now and then, i've always just thought he was dreaming .

Just wanted to ask a question to anyone who feeds there dogs Dr B's raw Barf. Since they made the change to packaging has anyone noticed anything different about the quality of the food? I have had a few customers at work over the past few weeks complaining that the flavour they have fed for years there dogs are suddenly refusing to eat. Saying it also seems to have an unpleasant smell to it aswell, one saying it was almost a gassy kind of smell. These people asked was there any change to the food itself or just the packaging change. From what we were told it was just a package change and the quality of the food should of remaind the same. I have checked our freezers and they seem to be operating as normal, only thing I could think of is either the food did infact change or maybe it has to do with our supplier as we no longer get it from where we use to. So i guess, has anyone else experienced any issues with the food itself (mainly the chicken flavour from memory)? I shall have to wait til Monday to contact our supplier and see if they've had any issues aswell because I don't really want to be selling people something that is no longer as good as it has been with a possibility of making there pets sick .

Thanks for the advice, I haven't tried any calming products for him at this stage but will be something to consider . Maybe it's just being in the back seat of my car because from what i've been told he is fine in both my sister/dads car (hatchback and 4x4). Time to add more regular training to his already busy training schedule .

Today at work I had a customer looking for a food to feed her pregnant dog. I recommened a premium quality food in either a puppy or active formula for better quality ingrediants and higher protein/fat levels. When I mentioned the puppy formula I was told "no my vet says puppy formulas are too high in calcium and cause the unborn puppies to die", as I have never had anything to do with dog breeding nor know any dog breeders to ask I couldn't really help this customer out. I wanted to go on about what i've been taught about feeding pregnant dogs but then I didn't want to go saying the complete opposite to what the vet has recommened without any personal experience myself. So I guess my question is too any who may have better knowledge on this. Is it ok to continue recommending puppy formulas or is it true too much calcium is bad for the unborn pups? This question just got me a little bit confused about being taught one thing then hearing the opposite from a vet and I don't want to end up giving future customer the wrong advice .

I have a crate for him but unfortunately it is too big to fit in my backseat. As for beds he has one but he just stands in it still. He has never made a sound in the car. He use to drool so much but these days he is quite good in that regard. I have noticed lately he has been panting every so often but I just thought I may not of had enough air coming in the car for him. I guess I just have to stick with what was posted which is what I had done many months ago to get him use to it, only problem I see with it though is I feel we take one step foward two steps back as we have to go out twice a week in the car .

I'm not too sure if there's a post about this already but I haven't quite got the search function worked out so I dont get lots of pages with the word training in it . I dog is getting close to 2years now and I'm having trouble with him in the car. When I first got him around 3months he was terrified of everything to do with cars. He use to flip out like mad when we tried to go past parked cars and often I had to carry him past as he just refused to take a step. Since then I got him comfortable around them and can now go past them with no issues. The thing I am now trying to work on is him inside a car. In the past I got him happy enough to get in and out of my car after by just sitting in the driveway then eventually doing really small trips around the street with him inside. Which that all eventually work out and he became more comfortable with being inside. Now the issue I am having is keeping him comfortable. He refuses to sit or lay down in the back seat and just stands. I would much rather him to sit down or lay down so he isn't rolling around as much when going around roundabouts, corners and stopping. He is in a car harness so not rolling everywhere but he still rolls around a little which I think is ruining his confidence in the car . So my question is how can I get him to sit or lay down in the backseat when he refuses to do anything once he gets inside? I've tried treats and toys to get him to do things but he just won't. I want to be able to take him more places around town for walks and such but I at the moment I don't take him in the car anymore then he needs to because I don't want to make him worse. Any suggestions would be greetly appreciated on how to get him more comfortable within the car .

Yeah I believe I went abit off topic and started going Aussie made forgetting the Aussie owned part .

Yeah from what I've been told by this rep is, any product still in the paper bag is still produced in the US and the rest is all in Aus. I will try find out more tomorrow. The three main Aus made foods we sell at work are Advance, Nutro and ProPlan. Nutro is probably the best choice if you are after close to 100% Aussie made. The only issue with Nutro at the moment is they appear to be discontinuing afew of there bigger bags. 15kg Puppy chicken/rice, not even the Nutro rep and her boss knew why this had been deleted, Senior has been gone since it came out, which after speaking to the rep they are currently working on a lite/Mature formula and from memory I believe a few of the 8kg bags are gone aswell. Advance is also Australian made and has quite alot of variety in formulas. Both Advance and Nutro are from Mars and the main advantage for nutro is its all natural ingrediants. After feeding these two to both my dogs I would have to say I am quite happy with the both of them. My younger dog is currently on Nutro as I like having the option for variety in adult formulas and my older girl is on Advance senior. Before hand my older girl was on super market "on sale" senior foods. Since the change her coat has been softer and shiney, her stools being alot more firmer and she has less gas issues. She is also abit more comfortable getting up and down as she use to groan all the time after having a sleep or even laying for short periods of time. Those are my opinions and experiences with some of the Australian made foods, but anyone wishing to go Australian and unsure about how there dogs will react to it should just go for it and buy a bag. The companies offer 100% money back garentees on purchased products so you have nothing to lose .

According to a ProPlan rep I spoke to at work, the whole range is Aus made except the Sensitive at this stage.