Rudi

looking

Lovely pictures of happy puppies playing - they are SO cute!!!

Wow! Looks like you've done an amazing job with her, fantastic!

Really good video

No, not always the case, but sometimes the case. The people you mention don't generally use e-collars either. I'd want to see what was going on if someone was using one of those on my dog.

I'm NOT in favour of e-collars and do not use them, nd agree 100% about using them for aggression but there has been a couple of research studies to show that they can be used successfully to stop dogs chasing sheep. I can post them on Monday if anyone were interested but need to be at work. I don't see why people can't just keep their dogs on leads around sheep but perhaps if it's a choice between an e-collar and a farmer's gun, not to mention the distress of a chased and bitten sheep, I wouldn't outrightly condemn the use of e-collars in these circumstances but the use of it should be a "last resort". Using them to correct a dog for not sitting straight or not downing quickly enough is another matter and unnecessary IMO. Does your friend live anywhere near Leicester - there's a chap here who runs sheep aversion courses. He competes at national level in sheep dog competitions and has his own flock I believe. Maybe worth a chat with him even if she can't visit him?? I'm happy to PM details. I think there's a whole separate issue of people 'sending' their dogs away to trainers, as generally it's the owner than needs more training than the dog

present

Good website about introducing wolves and stuff... http://www.toothandclaw.org.uk/

Hi, Thanks for the suggestions. I took her back to the vet yesterday as she also has a nasty wart/moley thing that has been weeping lately The vet looked at her skin and says it's an infection, so Amber's going to go in on Monday and have some cells drawn off the wart and if she has to have it removed, they will do a skin biopsy while she is anaesthetised. Otherwise, she will have some shampoo but he thought it better to wait to see if the biopsies would take place before shampooing if that makes sense!! She quite comfy, no scratching or anything.

Hi I am happy to sponsor you too, I am very unrich though, so is 50p per mile/per human or dog okay? Is the beer on the table part of the training regime Snatch and Ruby are SO gorgeous

That's so depressing. That poor dog. Nothing will happen to them if they are caught

Roy can shove a big one where the sun don't shine if he's saying I don't love my purebred dogs like he loves his mongrels. I love my rotties and will always have them. Mongrels are lovely too, but I would hate to see all the different breeds disappear. I don't see why Roy can't enjoy his dogs without disparaging others. Last time I looked, dogs of all sorts got abused and disregarded, mongrels and purebreeds alike. It's not just the show world. And, no, I don't show but I know with absolute certainty that lots of show dogs are beloved pets that lead great lives. What do you call people who breed mongrels if they aren't breeders too? It's a shame Mr Hattersley didn't do much to protect dogs during his time as deputy leader of the Labour party.

For God's sake, that's disgusting. Round the yobs up and put them all to sleep, they're not exactly an asset to society.

polish

What I find interesting (and worrying) is that if you look on the list of people "who we are consulting" dog owners as a demographic group aren't there!! It's hardly a fair piece of research if the opinions of the user-group being targeted aren't being sought out by the Council. Undoubtedly dog owners will fall into some of the categories they mention but they should be identified and approached as a group in their own right - I've pointed that out to Camden Council

sleep

Have you got any friends you could go walking with? Might help if there was someone else with you

The City Council in Leicester tried to segregate dogs off on a park local to me but it was deeded as a park for dogs - so they didn't get away with it! I've just sent my two-penth worth to Camden Council - their website says the following:- Please note: These proposals do not apply to Primrose Hill or Regents Park The Dogs on Lead Order does not apply to Hampstead Heath

Thanks for the advice

You can get funny squishy gel bags that you can either microwave or freeze, I expect a chemist would have them as they're the same for humans. I took my old rottie to a physio and he taught me how to massage him using big long strokes with my palm towards his heart firstly along either side of his spine then little tiny circular movements with two fingers up each side of the spine (not on it) pressing hard-ish so you can feel the texture of the muscle and then repeating the long strokes and circular movements on his back and front legs - five mins for each a couple of times a day. Also to use the bags after the massage. Different ailments respond better to heat or cold but I can't remember which way around it was. He is also a great believer in slow walking to improve muscle tone and gait - he recommends lead walking very slowly so that a dog can think about placing each paw on the floor, building it up over time and using inclines. It all seemed to help, I did use a magnet collar as well and that reduced the amount of pain killers he was on too. You can get a couple of muscle rubs from Hyperdrug http://www.hyperdrug.com/prodinfo.asp?number=COMFOIL

Okay, will do, just thought an oldies club member might find it handy. Have put it in the swap shop, it's just not free anymore

Hi, I have a size 6 Canny Collar, barely used as even though it seems to be the biggest size, it doesn't comfortably fit my monster of a rottie Can post for free. Jo

I think that's just puppies for you!! I can remember sitting and looking at Rudi in the early hours when he was small and thinking "what have I done"! Try making her last meal much earlier (as suggested) and go to bed earlier - you'll find she sleeps more as she gets older, but I hate to tell you that it's just a case of grin and bear it for another couple of weeks It does change though!