NancyO

Liz, I thought everyone got in this year, unless your entry was late?

Hmm, didn't see it either. Actually saw very very few dogs under the tent due to the weather, who wants wet muddy puppies jumping on people. I've used my foot to sweep puppies and move them back to the side (kinda of picking them up slightly with the foot and moving them over), when teaching them to not walk in front of me and continually trip me. Kicking them no, but who knows what people are thinking about it. What is "appeasement behavior"? Robin, leash around the belly seems to be an approved method anymore, since so many agility people use it now, tho I've heard warnings about abdominal and groin injuries from the method. But then so are bungee cord type leashes. Yikes! Once you've had a dog run and hit the end of the bungee leash, and then fly back thro the air and hit you in the chest, YOU WILL NEVER EVER USE ONE AGAIN!

Mark, my second post says "Yes Mark, it does," which was an agreement with you that it was not specific. I think we both agree on that point.

Mark, I'm applying a rule, that because of the context of the rule (1 dog, 2 dogs and 3 dogs per handler) and since 3 dogs per handler does not apply to the Finals, would make me believe that it is how running orders are to be drawn. I've already agreed that the rules are confusing, as some obviously only apply to the finals but at times a distinction is not made.

The only time I've come across it is in Virginia.

Yes Mark, it does, but the fact that in that rule is also suggests how to do a draw when a trial allows 3 dogs per handler, it makes me think that it is for all trials, not just the finals

Sue, I would always go with the one with more experience. What happens if your local vet goes in to do the TTA and finds that really a TPLO needs to be done instead? My choice of ortho vet will always be Canapp in MD. Recently had a dog have a luxating patella repaired. There were up to three different things that might need to be done, what would happen if another vet was only experienced in 2 of the 3? They weren't exactly sure what repairs were going to be needed until they actually opened up the knee.

Xrays on both dogs did NOT show anything. Laura, with Ben the problem had been going on for about 18 months before I took him to the last ortho vet, and he had just been back to one of the previous vets right before this appt. He had lost over 50% of the muscle mass in that shoulder, gait was off because he wasn't putting alot of weight on that leg. They said I could spend the money for an MRI (about 1/2 the cost of the surgery), they said about 1/2 the time the MRI will show if something is fixable, the other 1/2 of the time it won't show it but if they do surgery anyway they find a fixable problem. Not wanting to spend more money with not really having a firm answer, I opted for the surgery. With Jack, the history of me observing the actual injury, picture the proverbial person slipping up in the air on a banana skin, well Jack did it sideways and landed on his shoulder not once, but twice with the second one being on concrete blocks and not getting up right away, they were almost 100% sure that he had a traumatic OCD. Again, we had been resting him and going to other ortho vet who said nothing was wrong with him. Time kept passing and nothing was getting better. So I decided to have the surgery. Jack's surgery would have occured earlier, but right after Ben had his surgery, my husband fell when using crutches on steps (while waiting for his knee replacement) and fractured his femur and ankle. It was a wonderful winter :-)

Laura, I've had 2 dogs with shoulder injuries that did not show on xray, at 2 different ortho vets. The first dog was working in the muck, came up lame in the shoulder. xrays never showed anything. long story short, when he had surgery (he had lost over 50% of his muscle mass by that time and was not dx at the first ortho vet) they found large amt of rotator cuff injury and that a tendon had slipped over the shoulder joint and had worn away the joint. They repaired the rotator cuff and tendon, but nothing could be done for the worn shoulder joint. This dog would be intermittently lame and wouldn't shed anymore, and to complicate things he also had lymes during this time, which didn't help trying to sort out a diagnosis. Second dog, slipped and fell on wet steps ( I saw it happen), came up lame. Xrays never showed anything at either ortho vet. Had surgery and they found he had a huge traumatic OCD from the fall, and since he didn't have surgery right away, also had alot of irritation in the shoulder caused by the OCD, which extended his recovery by several months. The first dog I do give adequan to at times. Let us know what happens with Jag.

Hi Caroline, I recently purchased this dvd and have watched about 3/4 of it. I think it's well suited for someone who is just starting out. He does alot of explanation for preparing to train your dog, the setup needed, the commands etc. He shows 3 different styles of dogs starting, one that just wants to hold sheep to the fence, one not very enthusiastic, and one that's a bit wild starting. He shows the problems he has in trying to get them going around the sheep and some ways to work thro them. I have to admit I laughed at a few spots, recognizing the same problems I may have had when starting a young dog. He is not always successful in the beginning of what he wants to accomplish, which I think is helpful to know that things don't always go smoothly, but then he shows how you might work thro the issues. He occ does a bit more shouting than I would like, but certainly nothing abusive to the dogs. The sheep occ jump out of the corral, but he is trying to control the dog and corrects them if they go in for a nip. From what I've watched so far, I think it's probably the most realistic video of starting a young dog, that I've seen. Not every dog just goes around it's sheep and brings them to you, as depicted in some training videos. I would certainly recommend finding a trainer, if at all possible. Good luck with your young pup.

Megan, I think for over there the pen is supposed to be 8' x 9' with a 6 ft rope. I don't think there is any regulation of how tall it can be.

I "rescued" a 3 year old working dog, he's not worked for about a year. I know his history. He was allowed to run loose alot when younger and is a deer runner, they live in a state park where there are tons of deer. The previous owner really got on him for running away and now jumps fences to get away when someone is hollering, even if it's not at him. He probably would just jump fences anyway. Prior to taking him permanently, I was helping out his previous owner and had him at my house, which has about 1/2 acre fenced yard with 4ft wire fence. I was putting him into a covered outdoor dog kennel when my pup went into the kennel (I had just taken off the dog's leash). I said in a disgusted voice to the pup "Tuck get out of there" This was enough to put terror into this dog, he ran out the kennel and climbed the fence in absolute terror, falling back once in his terror. The only way I caught him was when he was working the llamas across the road, and then he listened and would come to me. Now that I have him permanetly I've been considering activating my inground invisible fence (which I had used many years ago when I had 2 dogs), so that he doesn't even approach the wire fence. Of course I would train him to the invisible fence, and I know that he would be able to run thro the invisible fence if he is that afraid. But I am thinking more on day to day letting him out in the yard, rather than having to take him out on a line all the time. Since he will jump fences, I'm not sure I'll be able to trust that he won't continue to do so. I've been working on desensitizing him to someone yelling, so when I have him out on a line I'll holler at the other dogs, he response so far has been to come and stand next to me, rather than run away. So I've been working on this issue with him too. I've also been working him on sheep, where there has been no indication of him leaving the sheep when I am correcting him. He was trained to the p/n level but hasn't really worked in a year. Thoughts are appreciated.

Be sure to check your local ordinances. Around here, to have 1, count it 1 sheep, you have to have a minimum of 10 acres. If you want a horse you have to have 2 acres. My 12 acres is split into about a 7 acre field and a 5 acre field.

I've been tempted to buy this Kencove staple driver

Congratulations, I've been wondering how the farm situation was coming.

JW, There will be a Kathy Knox clinic in Quakertown in July at kerales Farm. Don't know if there are still any openings, but would be well worth auditing the clinic. http://keralesbordercollies.homestead.com/index.html Cheryl is at the Blue Grass dog trial in KY, so it will be a few days till you hear from her. If you want PM me for other information.

Hi Bob, He did improve alot when he was worked 2 days at the clinic for short periods of time. I'm going to see how it goes. "It's pretty hard to ride the dog and teach him his lead" Bob, immediately what came to mind was putting a monkey on his back and letting the monkey ride him (and for the rest of you, YES it's a joke!)

Hi Amelia, He'd be very happy to run straight into the sheep and chase them and then hold them against the fence, but to go around them, no. I've had some well known clinicians look at him for thier thoughts on him. All agreed that it would take some pressure to get him around his sheep, hence the reason I keep putting him up as he is still young. He's been allowed to play and run with the other dogs and runs in the fields every day, he's just not been allowed to work them, I don't allow any of my dogs to do that. When he runs in the fields or out with the other dogs, he runs fast with no gait problems or rear problems.

As Norm worked him at the clinic, he improved with his movements, so I'm thinking I may try him and see if I like what I see, if not, I'll put him up again. It seemed as he was worked, and I'm talking about 5-7 minutes, you could see him learning to use his body in the correct way, his movements became smoother, he changed direction smoothly and his comebye direction became easier. I agree time cures many things, that's why he's been put up and not worked. I did see his sister worked, and she did not have the same issue, she worked like a normal young pup going around sheep.

Denise, I'll have to look at this closer and get back to you, I may have to have a horse friend look at him to be able to figure it out for me.

He hasn't been allowed to herd other dogs as he's been growing up, so I've not really noticed a problem. When he is out running in the fields with other dogs, under supervision, he seems to run normally. But this would be mainly straight line running.

Hi Carol, You've seen this pup, Pete, in March, he is now just about 10 months old. I had him at Norm's clinic this weekend, dog was about the same in that he was slow when going around his sheep, but Leslie immediately pointed out that the dog was running on the wrong lead around the sheep. Hope I am explaining this correctly. When circling to the right (the away side) the dog is leading with his outside leg, instead of his inside leg, making it slow and awkward to get around the sheep. The same happens on the opposite side. There are times he moves faster, and if you watch him, he is leading with the correct leg, but then he hitches up and leads with the wrong leg and becomes slow. The dog has never been lame either in the front or rear. Runs in the fields without any problems. I've not worked him on a regular basis, as I thought the slowness was a keeness issue, but I'm going to start working him on a regular basis and see if it improves. I've only been taking him out once every couple of weeks, trying him and then putting him up. Any ideas about what to do to help with him running on the wrong lead? I talked to a few horse people that have dogs, but they didn't know what to do for a dog running on the wrong lead. Maybe he's just young and gangly and will learn to use his body correctly, I don't know.

I have a 10 month old pup, that we thought might not be real keen yet, as he would go slow around his sheep. I was working him at a clinic this weekend and someone noted that when the dog is going around it's sheep, it's running on the wrong lead, thus making it awkward for the dog to circle it's sheep. The dog does this in both directions. Hope I am explaining this correctly, horse people can correct me if I'm wrong. When circling to the right (the away side) the dog is leading with his outside leg, instead of his inside leg, making it slow and awkward to get around the sheep. The same happens on the opposite side. There are times he moves faster, and if you watch him, he is leading with the correct leg, but then he hitches up and leads with the wrong leg and becomes slow. The dog has never been lame either in the front or rear. Runs in the fields without any problems. I'm going to start working him on a regular basis and see if it improves. Haven't been working him as the slowness appeared to be a keeness issue and he was still young. This dog has been taken out once every few weeks, tried on sheep and put up again. Has anyone seen this? Any suggestions?

Dave, a few friends and I built a 60ft round pen in 2 1/2 hours the other weekend. We used the corner of a perimeter fence for part of the round pen (I did not need to do anything with the corner as it was not a 90 degree angle, if needed you could add a piece of cattle panel to round out the corner. I measured the circle on the ground with a string and sheep marker. We attached the first panel to a wood post of the existing fence and while someone held the panel on the arc. Someone else held a t-post ( i used 7 ft posts so they would be in the ground a fair amt), while I used the bucket of the tractor to push the post into the ground. I used 16ft cattle panels and overlapped one square where the panels joined, placing a t-post half into the overlapped square. We put all the panels and post in this way, so the posts were exactly where they needed to be. Be careful of the ends of the cattle panels, that there are no sharp edges to catch dog or sheep on, as they will rip open sheep or dogs. Our edges were pretty smooth, but we attached pieces of plastic edging for plastic lattice (found at home depot). The opening in the edging will fit over the ends of the cattle panels and we attached them with zip ties. Where the cattle panels overlap, it may be difficult to attach both panels to the t-post, we used wire, but I am thinking of getting some hose clamps and using them, as the wire does not seem to be very tight. the gate was a cattle panel, one side attached to the wood post of the existing fence. For the other end of the "gate" we used 2 t-posts, one on each side of the end cattle panel, for strength, where sheep, dog and people passed thro. Here's how to calculate how many panels of what size you'll need to purchase: Multiply the diameter you desire by 3.14 to determine the pen's circumference. Divide the circumference by the length of the panels you wish to use If you are using zip ties for anything, like attaching the lattice edging, don't cut the ends of the zip ties, it makes them very sharp and stiff. The round pen works very well, seems to be holding up, and I am very pleased with it.

Our farm is Windy Hollow Farm, for very obvious reasons. Any time some came to the farm, they always commented on "my, how windy it is here!" The land slopes gently downwards, so Windy Hollow suited it well. The guy came to deliver hay last weekend. He says "wow, it's windy here, wasn't windy back at my place" I said "yup, that's why it's called Windy Hollow Farm!"