Tassie

That must be a relief to see the handsome boy's nose back to its handsome self. Scaary that it went so quickly into the leather. But it is a good reminder to protect Border Collie noses from sunburn if they are lacking any pigment on the nose. I have no problem with my girl, but each of the boys I've had have needed sun protection in summer. I usually use white zinc cream, since then I can tell when I need to re-apply it - and the dogs haven't been nose-lickers. My vet is happy with me using that on the dogs, but warned not to use it on cats, who needless to say will lick it off and ingest it.

My two got Wubba Friends from CR for Christmas (they had free shipping too ). They are good for tugging and for throwing - and both my Border Collies love them My agility girl even likes squeaking heres, she gets tso excited - and she doesn't 'do' squeaky toys usually.

From those photos - it seems like he's settliong in pretty well with you - good job!

For obedience and agility - I use small pieces of soft stuff - mostly human food. I want the dog to be able to eat the treat very quickly and keep their mind on the job ready for the next thing. So I usually have a mixture of low-fat tasty cheddar cheese, microwaved small pieces of skinless hot dogs, chicken loaf (I buy from the deli - get them to slice it about 1.2 inch thick), small cubes of a kind of sausage we call Devon - used in slices for sandwiches - maybe it's called Baloney there - like Strasbourg sausage only not so fatty. These are all not too greasy. ANd you can make a bulk supply and freeze Friends use liver - buy a lamb's liver from the butcher and then cook it (not sure how, but it's smelly), then cube it. For difficult things - roast chicken is usually a favourite - it's a pain though, becuase it crumbles too easily - bits drop everywhere.

An alternative topic heading could be - "Annie showed my son the consequences of a really poor behaviour choice". Sorry it had to happen, Bustopher, but as others have said, sounds like Annie was within her rights, and made a proportionate response, exercising great self-control - good dog, Annie. On a more serious note, I guess this means that maybe you all need to be a little more vigilant (not that you haven't been in the past) about not having Annie put into a situation she finds fearful or threatening, especially with really young or old people, for whom an inhibited nip migth in fact be more of a problem (delicate skin).

Again, without seeing exactly what's going on, I would tend to agree with those who are saying the whole thing needs to be more fun for you and the dog. I'd be wondering if it would be worth consciously doing lots of high energy foundation flat work with the dog for a while. Circle work - and you can do some of your handling stuff there. Rear cross drills - including racing for a toy. None of this will do any harm, and could help. It also takes pressure off both of you. I'm being very conservative - perhaps over-conservative - with my new boy. He's 16 months old, and has had little formal work. We've done some flat work (not enough), some targeting , had a play with tunnel and table and tyre (hoop), some 2o2o on a travel plank, some rear end awareness work, some balance and wobble board work - and we're just now starting working through Susan Salo type jumping program. None of it has been very formal - we're just having lots of fun. I'm hoping that as we progress, he'll just see it as an extension of the games we play with toys and for food rewards. Because when all's said and done, that's what it is for me and my dogs.

Sue - it varies from place to place - some parts of the country have had severe flooding, while much of the south east is still in drought. My trainer and friend has had to reduce her flock by 50% - trying desperately to maintain the great superfine merino genetics she'd been building up. One wheat farmer was quoted on the radio as saying he was a 'wheat planter' not a 'wheat grower' because of the number of crop failures he'd been experiencing. Thanks for the kind words too - I do miss those days spent on the farm, watching my little girl do her best imitation of what real Border Collies do.

Popping in out of the ether to express my appreciation of this topic. Knowing no better, I started in ANKC (AKC type) 'herding'. but was uncomfortable with what was happening. I was incredibly lucky and had the chance to learn to do basic farm chores with my little agility girl on a friend's superfine merino property. As others have said, the sheep came first and foremost and were always to be respected. At that stage she was able to maintain a small flock of training wethers, for her own dogs, and I was able to work with those, until my dog and I became competent enough to start doing chores with the main flocks. I am no longer in a position to be able to do any sheep work - drought has halved flocks and meant that all sheep must be productive - no chance of keeping luxuries like training wethers - but I am so grateful to have been able to experience something of the world of the shepherd, and to learn to have a respect for and appreciation of sheep.

And if you wanted something really specky in the way of color, surely an outcross to a chameleon would do the trick .

Over here in Oz, your Buffer would be a perfect candidate for earth dog competitions - they have to go down holes in the ground .

Another thing that might be worth trying is a home-made version of the TT anxiety wrap. I think it might have been Melanie who posted about that years ago - using a very small T shirt, so it is very snug fitting on the dog. A friend has tried it with some success with her Aussie. (Same principle as Temple Grandin's crush box.) Don't know how a Dog Appeasing Pheromone diffuser would be - could help, and couldn't do any harm.

Hey Julie - thanks for that. Yes, I'm finding that I don't get as much time to hang out as I did. Still working 4 days a week to fund the doggy luxuries - including the new car I've ordered. I've travelled 2,500 kilometres each way to go to a training (obedience and agiity) camp, and between agility and tracking with Miss Kirra, and bringing up my little big man Rory, who is now nearly 11 months old, time seems to fly by. It is nice to drop in every now and again and see how folks are doing. BTW, I've tried my new boy on sheep - once - in the round pen. Plenty of interest, very keen to go to the head, but no idea what to do when he got there . I probably will try him again, when I've got a more reliable stop and recall on him, and when I can find some nice sensible dog-broke sheep to start him on. This was 3 sheep, fairly light. Hope you all are surviving the summer without too many dramas.

Almost certainly, I'd say! Love it.