berocca

Oh and in response to the OP, which is why I came in in the first place LOL. There is a BC competing here that is incredibly tiny, she would be about the size of your fellow (I think, Im not too good with the conversions). She is purebred and KC bred, just the runt of the litter and has been tiny all her life. That breeder has bred many, many litters of the years and never had another one even close to her size, she was just an anomoly

Yeh she is pretty nicely built, only about 48kgs (not sure what that translates as). There was also a male GD competing at our nationals, he was from interstate so don't know much about him, but he was much bigger and didn't make the whole thing look effortless like Sash does.

Interesting you say that actually, I have a friend with a Great Dane that absolutely LOVES agility They are only new to the sport but she has done incredibly well with her and even made it into a national final in June with this run (also features her 2nd agility dog, a Viszla, in his first comp). Her first few trials Mind you, in Australia the heighest height for ANKC agility is 600mm (24 inches) so it is not a huge effort for her to step over, its more the tunnels, chutes and weaves that cause the problems. She is a notorious weave pole snapper! Her handler is very aware of her size and impact on her and realises she is going to have an incredibly short career in the sport (started after the age of 3 and will likely be elderly by 7). She figures she may as well enjoy it while she can though She downsized to a Viszla (not something you hear too often), then after a fair bit of success running other people's BCs she picks up her new BC puppy in a few weeks.

Not the best images, and from memory I had a polarising filter on LOL but this was my friend's choc tri Milo.

Well it could explain why Delta can be the most intelligent dog in the world sometimes, then fall down the steps a minute later (the roof of her mouth is a nice even mix of black and pink)

Ok, I attempted it with both dogs. Delta was pretty much too tired to care and when it came to Charlie's turn I got distracted halfway through by trying to photograph him catching a ball 1. Both dogs were left 2. Delta was left (except if I was holding the camera, then "shake" meant lie on the ground ) Charlie barely knows the command as it is so I didn't bother with him, he has only learnt left-handed shaking. 3. Delta was left, Charlie exits the fun at this point. 4. Delta was pleased that I finally made it dark enough for her to sleep. 5. I couldn't be bothered to go into the garage in search of post-its so used packing tape instead. Don't know why I bothered LOL. Packing tape- what packing tape??? Oh, she is making me do stupid things again

I would teach it to her as a completely different obstacle. Go right back to the start by getting her to touch it, bang it, jump on the end etc. Teach it the same way you taught the wooden one and make sure she is completely comfortable with it before getting her to do a full run over it.

Must be contagious. Delta is exactly the same at flyball. The most fun thing in the world for her is to chase a dog with a ball. It has taken me 12months to get her to pick up a tennis ball, once we got that part worked out she was doing full runs within a week. She is fine as a start dog so could be used in an emergency (not planning on competing with her yet, waiting until she is ready under all circumstances) but has issues with trying to steal the ball off the returning dog. She is getting much better and can actually do a pass now, but only if we are close to the gate so that she doesn't have as much opportunity to chase. Starting at 30ft would give her 30ft worth of chasing space and would be disastrous. I'm still praying that she never decides to chase the dog with a ball in the other lane, for now she seems focussed enough on her own one.

He is back Well, kinda. I am at an agility camp this weekend and going away for a flyball comp next weekend so he is staying with someone else for a week until I can actually get him. Such a shame he didn't work out but he just wasn't the dog for these people. Fingers crossed he finds something soon and so do they. ETA: They actually spoke to a respected behaviouralist about their options and how to make things work so at least they were commited to trying. Unlike the people who returned their new border collie to us this weekend for being "too obedient- she is like a Stepford dog". WTF?

Yeh that's what I was trying to get at, just didn't phrase it properly. My dogs also don't bother with the attention sulky stuff as they know it will get them nowhere. In this case, the lady has actually crawled under the bed with Molly and started patting her and talking softly to her. I can see that hamster running through her head at top speed- "if I'm not getting the pats I want, I just have to hide under the bed. He gets thrown outside and mum comes and joins me..."

If it is as bad as the owner is saying then yes it is a problem. However, having recently gone through it with a flyball team mate who got a second dog I realised how much she was worrying about small things. I spent the night at her house and observed, turns out smokie "hiding behind the shed to get away from milo" was actually smokie "hiding behind the shed so that when milo later walked past she could dart out and he would chase her and fun and games would ensue." Forcing Smokie to eat at the top of the stairs while Milo ate at the bottom so that "smokie could be boss" was causing all sorts of issues as Smokie had always eaten at the bottom and from what I could see had no desire to be top dog anyway, despite the feelings of failure it left with her owner. I haven't actually been in contact with this new family since we left the park the other day, they have been speaking to the rescue. I would be interested to actually see what was happening though, to see if things are indeed as bad as what they are saying. Molly is a very well adjusted dog, on the submissive side but not fearful, and Logan has never shown himself to be a bully. Molly is used to having other dogs coming and going without any issues so this is rather uncharacteristic for her. To begin with they were paying a lot of attention to Logan so that he would feel comfortable which may have contributed to jealousy on Molly's part. They had put Molly outside so they could have cuddles with Logan etc. From memory he got hardly any attention from me the first few days he was here, I picked him up late at night and he spent the next day in a crate at a flyball comp. I always try to treat new fosters exactly how I plan to for the duration of the stay. No point in giving them heaps of attention the first few days then suddenly cutting back, they seem to find their feet much easier if I am consistent. It is also easier for the existing dogs if the new one isn't receiving extra attention.

Kind of a mixture of you both. I was watching tv one day and heard my answering machine going (phone hadn't rung). Rose (siamese cat) had managed to press the button that allows you to leave yourself a reminder message (kinda like a talking notepad i guess) and sat there miaowing at it for a minute or so. I was laughing too hard to shoo her away and couldn't bring myself to delete her message.

The above post is actually a cross post, it was written by the lady from the rescue. Logan was my foster dog. I had absolutely no issues with him whatsoever, he fit nicely into my pack (at the top of it, but that's where most fosters place themselves and my dogs are fine with that). My other foster is very similar to Molly, he is a sensitive soul who doesn't cope well with raised voices etc but Logan didn't bother him at all. In fact, I had absolutely no issues with Logan bullying any of my dogs, he was naturally dominant without actually asserting his dominance if you know what I mean. He was a little pushy when it came to pats but no more than the other dogs. I usually just shoved him out of the way if needed (not hard, just to make a clearway between 4 dogs ). Logan went along to flyball and agility each week where he got to run with all sorts of dogs without any problems. He got too close to a dog with known dog-dog issues (other dog got out during the free-for-all at the end of training) and Logan didn't back down when challenged, however, there was nothing really to it other than a "hey watch where you flash those pearly whites buddy". Neither dog managed to get any saliva on them let alone any more and I saw nothing particularly worrisome in it. The new family have not owned more than one dog before and I personally believe that they are struggling with the changing dynamics a little. Im wondering if the things they talk of actually happened here and I didn't even pay any attention to it as it was really minor, Im trying to think how I would have reacted to different things before becoming a multi-dog household. It would be great if everything could work out for him in this family. They are nice people and Logan was smitten with them right from the start. He and Molly got along well at the park and everything seemed perfect...

A great home came along for a rescue dog who's been in care for about 8 weeks. His name is Logan and he is a Border Collie cross perhaps Labrador and maybe a little bit of staffy too. He is about 8 months old - very smart - has learnt manners while in foster care and was in care with 2 other male dogs and 1 female - all working breeds ranginging from 1 year to 4 years old. There were no prolems with Logan and his canine foster buddies. Logan does have the type of persoanlity where he will react when challenged - he's not submissive. Logan has been rehomed with a 18 month old female border collie who is dog social and used to dogs coming to her home. She does seem to have a soft nature about her. The 2 dogs met on neutral territory and all was fine - then they went home together and all was fine for about 24 hours. Below is the new owners details of events from Monday thru to today: Logan certainly seems to be consistently asserting himself as Number 1. He is very pushy with Molly, Jumping on her constantly, taking toys from her, pushing her around the room etc. Sometimes this is fine, Molly seems to accept it and they play etc and Molly always seems to back down. On Monday afternoon there was a scuffle. I was outside for a while playing with the dogs and walked inside leaving the door open for them to come in. Logan pushed his way through and I turned around to see what the noise was and they were both jammed trying to get through the door (inside is obviously a VERY exciting place!!). Anyway, they both ran up to me and sat about 3 feet apart (after I told them to) and I put both hands out to give them a pat and Logan stood up and again tried to push Molly out of the way. She backed off quickly yet again. Then she turned full circle to try to come back (by this stage I was just standing upright watching them) and then they got funny. Hackles, staring, snarls etc. They both showed their teeth and I said "thats enough!" just as Logan lunged at Molly. She took off upstairs and hid under the bed. I put Logan outside immediately to separate them and went up to find Molly. I tried to call her but she wouldn't come out. She was up there for over 2 hours. Logan came back in after 20 or so minutes. This has been a regular occurrence ever since. As soon as I have just myself and the two of them together, Logan pushes inbetween myself and Molly (this behaviour goes unrewarded - I stop patting both of them/ignore them etc) and then they start with the snarling/barking/hackles before I separate them. I have also tried turning my back and walking away when they do it and telling them 'uh-uh' 'NO'. Every time it ends in Molly running away. As I said to you yesterday Molly was right in the back of her Kennel when I got home yesterday and she wouldn't come and greet me which broke my heart!! (I am a bit of a sook when it comes to things like that!). I let Logan go inside thinking his presence might be the issue and she stuck her head out to lick my hand but it took ages for her to come out (nearly and hour). And she was very sooky/timid all night. Today it was the same, she wouldn't even come out to play with the ball in the backyard. So they have just had their dinner outside and I went downstairs mid-way through this email to check on them as there was a lot of noise in the backyard and Molly was back in her kennel. I called them both inside as it is getting chilly out there and thought I could keep a good eye on them. Logan came flying in and Molly again stayed curled up in her kennel. After reading your email, not to 'molly coddle' Molly, I have decided to leave her outside and spend some more time with Logan on my own. He is a great little dog, but Molly's sudden sooky behaviour and almost fear that I am seeing in her is really bothering me. I don't want to condone Logan's pushy behaviour, and I won't allow their scuffles to get any worse. I will keep an eye on things, but if there is no change in the next few days,I might have to make the call to unfortunately send Logan back. I really wish I had every single day available to work with both of them and their relationship, but I do have to leave them alone at times in the day. I think Logan's pushiness is part of his boistrous, playful nature and with correct manners training it will calm down. But this is Molly's house too and I really don't want her hiding from both Logan and myself and I don't like seeing her get 'aggressive' either. So for the next few days I will keep going with: - not rewarding Molly's sooks with pats etc - Continuing with the 'uh-uh' when it starts in my presence - working on Logan's manners with more 'sit' and 'stays' (which he is VERY good at when in the right frame of mind!) - keeping a good eye on the situation I have loaned the new owner Patricia McConnells book 'Feeling Outnumbered' which she has already read and is trying to apply some of the techniques in the book. This scuffles only occur in the presence of the wife. It doesn't happen around the husband. They really want to try and work things out but I guess they don't really want to start spending a lot of money on behavourists (assumption on my part) while Logan is on trial. Molly is their first dog and she is their priority - Logan was supposed to be a friend for Molly. The last thing I want is for Molly to be adversly affected by having Logan in the house. Can anyone please offer some other advice which may assist with settling the situation down? Or is it a case of a relationship which is perhaps just not meant to be?

In Australia it is possible to title in frisbee, not sure about other places. It's not available in Sydney but its pretty popular in other states. Link to title info

Flyball and agility competitively, herding (rarely) and obedience for fun. Well, I can't stand obedience but Delta seems to love it for some reason so its fun for her. They want me to trial her but I find training boring enough let alone spending the day at an obedience trial. At least flyball and agility are exciting. Wednesdays are my only dog-free day (I used to have netball on wednesdays) at the moment but im considering joining another agility club on wednesday nights, just not sure if 3 nights of agility a week would be too much Weekends are either trials or flyball training at the moment. Parents want to know why I haven't settled down with a man but I don't see that happening unless they were prepared to commit to dog sports 7 days a week just so they can see me ETA: We also do lure coursing non-competitively when it fits into the schedule.

Ello Ello, thought I recognised the name (Although mine is different- my dogs are a giveaway though) Welcome

I made mine with a free program I found called Photoscape. I have a new pc and haven't been able to find all my software cds to put my other programs on, but for now this one seems to be doing what I want. Pretty much whatever program you use the key is to layer the photos, from there you can usually make certain layers transparent and more depending on how technical you want to get or how much time you have to play around.

Ive taken my 2 down for a fun day once. Charlie never ventured more than about 15m from me so I ended up having to run the course too Delta wasn't too bad so after their individual runs I ran them both together. They had an absolute ball though, and were the only dogs to find the huge (belly high for them) puddle of water off to the side and go swimming

People will likely admire your dog at trials and approach you.

Mine sleep as soon as we get home from training each night (anywhere from 9.30-11 depending on where training was). If she is in a covered crate Delta wakes about 9.30-10 but will stay quiet until about 12 if I'm still in bed (quite often the case ). If she is "loose" in the room she wakes about 7.30 and starts scratching at the door to go out. I usually throw her and the fosters outside and go back to bed with Charlie. One day last week Charlie and I slept until 3pm!!! ETD: Spelling

How horrible for you. In my experience people are stupid. I used to do the same thing with Cody, walk him late at night, carry an umbrella to open up in the face of offleash dogs etc but people would still abuse me if he snapped at their dog. I ended up having to walk him with a muzzle on and people still brought their dogs right up to his face He was fear aggressive and wouldn't go out of his way to get a dog, he only ever snapped if a dog got in his face while he was on-lead and couldn't get away. So, for anything to have happened the other dog would have had to get pretty close to him. It wasn't just the general public either, I had issues with people (including other trainers) bringing their dogs right up to his face while we were at training. Never mind that we were deliberately standing away from the group and he was wearing a muzzle

Hmm, I have eucalyptus in my current house but none in any of my other houses. My mum has quite a few eucalyptus trees in her yard and my aunts property was full of them. Living in Australia means we kinda have them everywhere This is a pretty common flea area though so I have no idea.

I am really hoping that I don't jinx myself with this and Im finding every bit of wood to knock on as I type I have never had a flea problem on any of my dogs despite them being exposed fairly regularly. I'm trying to work out why this may be so that I can hopefully advise my mother and help her with her flea problem. Info on my dogs: - I don't use any sort of flea prevention (frontline etc) on my dogs for most of the year, I use it for tick prevention during high-tick season as my dogs go through the bush to go swimming. - My dogs are fed an entirely raw meat/bones/organs diet and until recently it was from a supplier that used no preservatives at all (I had about an hour to portion it and freeze it or it started to go brown). Info on exposure: - Many of the dogs that I bring in straight from the pound have fleas. I treat them immediately but there is still about 24hours that my dogs would be around them while they are still fleaish. - I take them to visit my sister's dogs all the time as my mum lives about a minute away from me. Both dogs are covered in fleas, my mother has fleabombed the place, tried every medication and spray available but cannot get rid of them. Despite the amount of time my dogs spend there they have never picked up any fleas. - They train 5 days a week and have comps etc where they meet all sorts of strange dogs, as well as running around the offleash area. - When Delta was about 16wks old my housemates mini foxies moved in. Both dogs were covered in fleas most of the time and Delta was around them 24/7 but she never got them. - Cody went with me to property-sit my aunts house a few years ago. Her dogs had fleas and Cody ran through the bush with them all day but never actually got any in the 3 weeks that we were there. Someone suggested to me that it could be the raw diet. That perhaps the fleas are attracted to the preservatives in processed food. No idea if that has any merit to it but that is the only real difference I can find between my dogs and my sister's (and housemate's for that matter). Anyone have any ideas?

I decided I wanted a BC when I was about 10. A good friend of mine had one that I absolutely fell in love with. Not sure exactly where she came from but she had MAJOR aggression issues with anyone who wasn't family so I never even got the chance to pat her, I simply admired her from afar They didn't have her for very long (although my memory of the time isn't that great) so Im not sure exactly what happened to her. All I knew was that I wanted a border collie called Chloe too My parents wouldn't allow us to have a dog growing up so it wasn't until I moved out with my ex (I was 20) that I was able to get one. I still had my heart set on a female BC called Chloe but I really didn't know that much about the breed. At the time it was purely a looks thing and I cannot describe the feeling in me that it was the breed for me and I knew I would adapt my lifestyle to suit the needs of my dog. I had never heard of any dog sports although I had a vague idea that there were classes you could go to that taught them how to sit. I had no idea it was a competitive thing. Pretty much my preparation was everything that we hate to see with BCs. I liked the looks, researched them with a "well it doesnt sound like me at the moment but I can change that part of my life" attitude, and then just started calling people from the newspaper. I wanted a female and the only reason I didn't end up with one of those newspaper puppies was the fact that everyone had only males left. Then my aunt mentioned someone she knew with show dogs who had ended up with an "oops" litter of BC x ACDs. I went out there and they only had a male left but he melted my heart immediately. I couldn't exactly call a male dog Chloe so he became Cody If anyone had known me and also understood border collies they would have had alarm bells going off in their heads. I told myself I would change my life for my dog but that was something I said about a lot of things and never actually went through with it. I have also had no luck keeping pets (despite being a huge animal lover) as I have a tendency to get lazy with their care. Luckily for my dogs they seem to be the exception and I put their care above my own. Well as it turned out I had finally found the animal for me. I threw myself into caring for Cody as best I could, I finally tracked down an obedience class when he was 9mnths and that led to agility. Cody developed fear aggression issues and I started researching ways to help him, that then led to discovering raw diets which gave me a new passion. Dog sports very quickly became my life and I met many border collies who confirmed that they were the breed for me. I started thinking about my next dog and finally getting that female border collie I wanted (although I figured I couldn't call her Chloe as it would have been too confusing). Cody was almost 2 when I got Delta and I began training her straight away. A month later Cody died and I don't know how I would have got through that without my dog sport. I just kept looking towards the next training day when I could see doggy people again. When Delta was about 5months old I started thinking about a companion for her. I don't particularly like keeping a dog on its own while Im at work, I prefer to have at least 2. I knew I wasn't ready for another puppy so I started looking at rescue. None of the border collies jumped out at me and I ended up with Charlie (kelpie x cattle) figuring he would be similar. There is absolutely no comparison, I love him to bits but he just isn't a border collie. I can't imagine not having at least one border collie running around here. I just love everything about them and I have no doubt they are the breed for me. I have known since I was 10