Kimbas_mum

Really pleased the gorgeous 'dozer hound is home Hope all goes well with the measurements etc and that she can have the op sooner rather than later

My first memory of horses was my Grandad's old hunter, he used to have a farm and apparently from being old enough to hold my own head up, my Grandad would take me out in front of him on the saddle and do the rounds of his stock on the farm with me. I can remember getting old enough to be allowed to sit on on my own eventually!!! They sold the farm when I was about 6 but we still went up and visited their friends with horses and ponies up there so I still got to ride, eventually persuaded my parents to let me start riding lessons when I was 10 and saved from that day onwards all my birthday money and money from paper rounds/market work etc until I could afford to buy my first pony at 15 (a certain little grey beast that still gives me trouble now!!!)

How is the little chick you were worried about, hope everything is ok

And from me

All sounding very positive, hope the ECG & X-rays etc go well today and they can give you a date as soon as poss for the operation. Glad to hear Flora is having the appropriate adulation whilst at the vets

Thinking of you and Flora today, hope it all goes well and you get lots of the right answers

Will be thinking of you and the little bulldozer on Monday, lots of healthy bone thoughts for her and for you

Thanks for the response, I have ended up not feeding any of them this morning, not very popular!!! The strange thing is that they all seem to be poo-ing normally the rest of the time Oh well, I'm at the vets with 2 of them tomorrow so if no better I might just take them all in for a check up.

Both yesterday and today one of my dogs has had really bad dire rear in the morning when they are left (for 3 hours). None of them seem to be under the weather and all their poos seem normal when I take them out the rest of the day. Normally I would just starve the one with the dodgy tummy then re-introduce easy food etc. The problem is, I have no idea which one of the 4 it is that is poorly. I can't seperate them to find out which one it is cos 2 of them have seperation problems and get really stressed if the pack is split up. So the question is, would you starve all 4 of them in the morning (mine only have 1 meal a day? or just leave them to it and hope that whoever it is will get it out of their system anyway, this was the option I was going for yesterday but having happened again today I am a bit more concerned (not bothered about the pooing itself - the wonders of tiled floors and really good air fans!!! just worried in case one of them has something nasty going on inside) Thanks for your ideas (or miracle cures!!!)

Loads of positive thoughts for the beautiful Flora And big for you and your family having to see her as she is now. Hope everything goes to plan and she is soon back up and running again

Probably not a very big brag for most people, but Maddie got her first flyball points on Sunday . It has taken over 3 years to get her to open racing and lots of us have worked really hard to get her there. Big thanks have to go to Mandy (Mad Mandy on here) for not giving up on us and also to my new team members at Rotherham for giving her a chance. The worried little timid girl appears to be a thing of the past cos the only real problem I had with her was getting her to stop leaping in the air and spinning round when I was trying to line her up for the start!!! I am really proud of my little Saluki girl, she is the only saluki in flyball and has overcome a lot of her fears to get this far, and to be really starting to enjoy it now. Onwards and upwards for my beautful little girl, flyball dog here we come

Bummer - I'm in Doncaster flyballing with the hounds on Sunday other wise that would have been perfect, my lot could do with a really good blast on the beach too. Oh well, next time!!!

Thankfully my dogs kind of do that job for me. Half the time I am walking my dogs in the dark, either at my stables on my own (nobody else up there at 5am!!!) or in a huge park in a not very nice area. I have 5 dogs, including a very large doberman who is the biggest softy in the world, but will always look after me, as well as being a really good deterrant to anyone thinking bad thoughts, and a dog who is pretty reactive to people and barks if he sees anyone when we are out, between the 2 of them (and the others) I generally feel pretty safe when I'm out and about. Still makes me jump out of my skin when one of them barks in the dark though!

I'm looking for a new coat for Roi my collie lurcher, he needs a new waterproof warm coat cos he has killed his current one Does anyone know any good shops that sell lurcher shape coats for reasonable money that will also benefit a rescue? Thanks K & Roi

Those harnesses look fab, I was just thinking that Roi could do with a new harness cos his is starting to look a bit shabby. Can you do any of your 1" trims with these harnesses? How much will you be charging for them? Thanks. K

Cheers Jayne, I'll pass that all on.

What time is this on? I think I may have to inflict this on the OH this weekend!!!

Really sorry everyone, I was sure I had posted on this weeks ago. Wanted to say a really big thank you to all my lots Secret Santas. All the pressies went down really well and the treats all got scoffed in seconds!!! I will hopefully get my oh so wonderful (or alternatively really, really carp!!) computer at home to behave for long enough to post piccies of them all opening their pressies and also check the cards to remind myself who got what from who!!! Thanks again everybody. Katherine, Kimba, Maddie, Jasper, Roi and Jack!!

Jasper my little pointer has cartrophen injections and they have made the world of difference to him. He is only just 3 years old and has severe arthritis in one elbow due to having had surgery on it for major joint problems when he was about 16months old. They start off with a course of 1 injection a week for 4 weeks then go down to maintenance injections as needed, Jasper has them about every 4 weeks. My insurance covers it no problems and he is a much happier, more active dog. Having had to make the decision myself about quantity or quality for him, I know how hard it is, I couldn't face the idea of keeping a 1 year old working GSP on a lead constantly cos he would have been miserable, so I let him live his life, he runs round like an idiot bounces on every other dog he meets and generally has a ball. He has also been on Synflex for the last 2 years which has really helped him too and kept him sound until the last few months which is why we started the Cartrophen jabs. Occasionally he will overdo it so I have a stock of Rimadyl for as and when he needs it, but I only tend to give it to him if he is uncomfortable on an evening and struggling to sleep, the rest of the time, as harsh as it sounds, I would rather he feels a little pain so that he slows down a little bit (not a lot) when his elbow is playing up and gives it a chance to recover. Good luck with the gorgeous Flora (one of my favourite Refuge dogs!!!)

Well, Will was an absolute star last night, very sharp when I first got on him, but after the first 15 minutes and several huge bucks, he settled really well and worked fantastic. I can't believe how well he is getting on, by the end of the lesson he was working to a level where he would have been getting approx 65% in Prelim dressage (according to my instructor!!!). I'll get some photos this weekend all being well and post them on here. Well done Jayne, pleased to hear that you are competing again and that Blue boy is behaving himself. Good luck next month!!! Where can I find details about the interdressage comps? I think a couple of people I know might be interested in competing, problems with transport etc means they can't really get to other competitions.

Hello everyone, not been posting on here much recently but I have been keeping up with everyones news. Micky is absolutely gorgeous, looks like a really good fun horse, very cute foalie picture Sorry to hear Dexter isn't having the best time of it Bobbysmum, hopefully she will get her head straight at some point and start looking after him properly. Claire - sounds to me like you have pretty much made your mind up - the only thing you stand to lose is the small amount of hacking that you have said you are fed up with anyway. My yard is a bit of a sanctuary for me, I love to go there and spend time there, it would be a big problem if for some reason I wasn't content there. Muffy looks lovely and toastie in her big hairy coat, love to see ponies like that!!! I have given Apple the last few months off, I decided he had earned a good break so done the odd bit of hacking but otherwise have just let him be a horse in the field and enjoy himself, and he has loved it. Just starting to get him back into work now rady to do a couple of dressage comps from the end of Feb. Will is coming along really well, doing quite a bit with him and really starting to click with him. He had his first clip yesterday and is really starting to look like a proper horse!!! We have got our first session with my trainer tonight so will update tomorrow, and hopefully get some photos this weekend to show you the changes in him.

Good luck today at the vets Akita. for your worried mum & dad (and for your sisters too )

Hope your beautiful girl is feeling a bit better now and will be back causing mayhem soon for you, John and the hounds

Wow, thats amazing - talk about well trained dogs, especially the one on the far side!!! Well done to her and both her dogs.

Kimba has got his Ice Blue Moon, he is the only Doberman ever to reach this milestone so I am a little bit proud of my big beast