MaggieDog

I use Frontline, so rarely do i actually see a tick on the dogs, but I'm a different story, so I've pretty much sworn of hiking in the woods for the next few months because they are so bad this year - the last hike I picked 3 off before the first 150 yards! I have found a nifty product to remove those I don't catch before they latch on: the tick spoon!! It makes removing them so easy (I've just used it on dogs at the shelter so far) and I don't have to touch the gross little things. The ones I have are "Ticked Off" brand and were $6 for 3!

I'll just send good vibes so that perhaps next year's picnic can be on a Sunday! I'll be with you guys in spirit this year.

3 yo is NOT too old for training!! The oldest dog I've had in a training class (I teach) was 13 and he learned more slowly, but still caught on to a lot over the 7 week class. Your dog will love having new things to work on, I'm sure! Youtube can be a great source for inspiration when it comes to tricks, as is www.clickersolutions.com (the articles section especially has some good training ideas), and clickertraining.com (they have clicker videos online now). I also like the training program created in Sue Ailsby's "Training Levels" program - you should be able to google it, but I know a link can also be found at www.dragonflyllama.com as well.

Don't I wish it were harder to get a pup! We see 9000 dogs annually at the shelter I work at and about 1/3-1/2 of those are puppies under 7 months of age. We just started a transport program with a shelter in MI to transport puppies north several times/month since they are low on pups and we certainly don't have a shortage here. I do applaud your decision to not breed - it's a very wise one for the vast majority of people with dogs, but unfortunately there are many who do not come to that conclusion and contribute to the problem. Thanks for listening to the advice you got here!

Gosh I wish I could attend, but I have to work all day on Saturdays - you all need to schedule one on a Sunday every once in a while.

Vet, NOW. Panting can be a lot of things: stress, pain, heart issues, etc. That combined with the upset tummy and odd smell would have me at the vet pronto. If funds are an issue, check into Care Credit - I've heard they do a good job helping people pay for medical expenses when times are tough. Alternatively, see if a local humane society has a low cost clinic - our HS does specifically for people in your situation.

CONGRATS!!!!! I know just how much work goes into this job and it's so cool you guys are seeing it pay off.

You totally get what you pay for when it comes to flea and tick meds. The OTC stuff is often VERY dangerous - the Hartz spot ons specifically come to mind. I buy my pups the regular Frontline (Top Spot) instead of the Plus version and I buy online so I save money two ways. For 6 tubes of Frontline Top Spot I pay $60.99 plus S&H on dog.com - it's the cheapest I can find. I do know some people split their tubes of Frontline, but I've never been brave enough to try and I forgot to ask our vet about doing that at our appointment today lol.

Three of my 4 are chipped with 24PetWatch through our humane society. I like their chips because updating is as easy as call the shelter and the service is completely free. Maggie has a Home Again chip, but got it a long time ago (6 years?) so we don't have to pay anything, unlike the current set up for the HA chips. Our humane society offers microchipping for $20, no appointment needed. At shot clinics the price is dropped to $10. If we did it through our vet it'd run about $40-50.

YAY! If you're worried about collars snagging, look into the Premier safety collars (they used to be "Chinook" collars, but now are called "KeepSafe" collars) - they're designed to stay on unless snagged and I've used them in the past with great success. I've also heard good things about TazLab collars for the same purpose.

Gosh that sucks! ((hugs)) Lucky was obviously much loved and respected by all.

Maggie says she hates tooth abcesses and feels Jazz's pain - she had a broken carnassial that led to an abcess last summer.

Maggie is performing at the same level (she was never really into it tho) at 10yo as she did when she was 3-4yo in USDAA P1 agility. She just finished her P1 Jumpers and Gamblers titles this past winter with faster times than we normally see at trials, even!

I don't want to sound mean, but you really can't treat human-directed aggression on your own, you need a professional NOW. In the long run, seeking the help of a veterinary behaviorist is going to pay off in spades and the more you try to do on your own, the more likely you're going to make the problem worse, rather than better. PLEASE do not use "aggressive dominance" techniques with this dog, nor muzzle him so he can interact with kids - he's obviously not ready for direct interaction with children at this point! Aggression work is not designed to go quickly - there are no quick fixes!!! Baby steps are key, no matter what you see on TV. To locate a vet behaviorist, look at these two links; the initial consult will be pricey but it will be totally worth it in the long run. American College of Veterinary Behaviorists: http://dacvb.org/about-us/diplomates/ American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior: http://www.avsabonline.org/avsabonline/ind...&Itemid=357 Here's a thread that might drive this point home: More detailed update on Pan - pansmom came to the board originally very concerned about some major behavior and aggression issues Pan was exhibiting. She took Pan to a vet behaviorist on the recommendation of several on this board and she's seeing a ton of progress already.

Gosh that sounds like A LOT of seizure meds - how big is Nikita and what are the dosages per pill or mL on the potassium bromide? At her worst, my parents' dog Oreo was on 3 grains pheno and 3mL KBr daily and would still have breakthrough seizures every 6-8 weeks (she was about 60lbs and had idiopathic epilepsy). We were able to actually wean her off the pheno completely after some odd health issues (healing crisis in holistic terminology), but any more than 1.5 grains twice daily had her pretty wobbly.

Has it been especially warn where you are? Any new stressful events? Both can cause a dog to go off their feed some. That being said, since this is so abnormal for your pup, it really sounds like a vet visit is in order. If any of my dogs suddenly lost interest in food you'd bet they'd be at the vet for a check up ASAP!

Not a full BC, but I suspect Kes is another ACD/BC cross like my Maggie, just in the red variant vs. her blue-ness. He's borderline orange.

One thing that has really helped Ziva and I is training at a level far above what we compete at - I handled her on a USDAA Grand Prix qualifier course (Masters level) and had NO issues to speak of because we train at that level, even if we're still in Starters for our titling work. I think with Kes we're def going to wait until we're training at an Advanced level before trialing at all.

I'm a huge fan of USDAA myself and am waaay happier to give them my money than AKC. Because he's within 1" of a jump height cut off he'll need to be measured 3 times and at least once must be after he's 3yo. Z's in the same boat, she measures between 15.5 and 15.75 at just over 2yo, so she'll need to wait until at least one measuring after 3yo before I can send in her temp card for a permanent one. I'm not sure about the Performance thing, but I'm not sure they'd allow a dog to title in both Performance and Championship - perhaps it would be worth a call or email to their office; I've had great success emailing them: prompt replies, helpful, etc. Z and I run in Championship despite how close she is to the cut off and have never had an issue. I've not competed in AKC, but everyone I've talked to who has does say that USDAA tends to be more difficult in terms of technical aspects and of course the faster SCTs, but they do also say the courses in general are more spread out. I'm surprised you had traps and layering in a Starters run. It's not impossible to have, but if there are traps usually they've been pretty benign ime (i.e. look bad on paper but in reality aren't as stark, lots of extra maneuvering room, etc. I've never seen layering on a Starters Standard course myself. And yes, BCs far outnumber any other breed in the applicable height class. My primary competition dog is a mix, as is my up and coming boy - there used to be a lot more mixes (and other breeds too) when I started 8 years ago, but the BCs, Shelties, and Jacks have taken over.

IIIICCCCKKKKK!!!!! Are they aware that it is illegal to ship pups under 8 weeks of age?? Sounds like they are encouraging the auction of pups at 6 weeks, so I wonder when they are shipped. Even though the USDA is swamped with inspections and such and thus not able to do the job we might wish, I wonder if there's any check of the producer's USDA licensing since it should be required to ship to a store....

The pus like stuff you're seeing could be normal secretions - I've seen it on a number of healthy dogs myself. I'd check sources of water intake first - my dogs are all peeing more now that the temps are in the high 80s, low 90s and water intake has gone up - they aren't outside during the heat of the day even!

I like the first and third foods best because the second has a lot of grain fractions in the first few ingredients. That being said, I'd feed all of them as there's nothing "bad" about any of them. I feed a food similar to number 2 periodically because it is way less expensive and my dogs do well on it.

Kris - can you locate the studies showing 7.5 yr immunity for parvo and distemper? I'd be incredibly interested to read them myself and would like to talk to my vet about them.

You'll get this question at some point, so I might as well ask it now: why not consider rescue? Especially given what you'd like to do with the dog, rescue might be more likely to find a dog that will fit your specific needs. This thread might be quite useful to you: Finding a performance dog, rescue or pup?

I'm not scientific about it at all - I feed a reasonable amount and routinely check my dogs' body condition (can I easily feel ribs upon palpation). If they're getting skinny, we up the food, if they are getting pudgy, we drop it. The amounts on bags of food are usually overestimated, so we start with something lower than that. Here's a good link to a BCS guide; it's by Purina and I wouldn't feed many of their foods, but I like the way they detail each score.