jacksmum

Such a sad story, poor baby, run free little girl.

I started agility with my sprollie in November and we are totally hooked, doing our first comp end of this month, really nervous about it but looking at just having lots of fun. We aren't as clever as you, Jack tends to do everything at 100 miles an hour and leaps off the see saw, having to really work at getting him to slow for contacts, it has been a real learning curve for me, he will do it perfectly if I command correctly..not as easy as it sounds, especially with a fast dog! I have been using the word 'right' to bring him to my right side for heel, but made a big mistake of teaching weaves on the left and now we are having to re-do the training for right weaves, should have worked both sides from the start. I have got some electric fencing stakes to practise at home so the weaves (which I think are the hardest to learn) are now very good on the left and getting there on the right. Totally addictive and a great thing to do with your dog.

I didn't know your dog had to actually be a working dog to feed it vat free food! Does agility count as working???? I agree that cheap foods will have cheap ingredients, but I also think the very high priced foods are most probably not any better than the middle of the range foods, but I have nothing to back this up it's just how I feel as I have worked in the food industry and I know that when the big payers order has been filled (like M&S) the next order is filled using the same product but will retail at a lower price. It has made me wonder where they get the meat for the dog food cos in my experience they mash everything up for us humans, skin, bones and feet.

I have been really happy with my complete food, I started Jack off with a brand found in the local supermarket and he lost weight and coat very quickly so I went back to the rescue I got him from and they fed him supaselect, a gun dog food which is high protein. I have been feeding him that ever since, I have not been able to source it locally so make a trip up to the rescue every month to get some more. He is doing really well on it and I often get comments on how good he looks, but this food is not advertised or found in pet shops (well I haven't seen it in any), I will investigate the ingredients a bit more now that I have read this. I have never felt that money buys quality with pet foods and I think my £12.50 sack of food shows that..I am not supplementing their advertising budget!

I had the same problem when we went onto summer evening class as I find that if I don't give Jack anything before I go he gets too hungry for the treats and doesn't concentrate as well. I have been doing 2 classes, one at 5.30 and the other at 7.00, it doesn't give me enough time to feed him before class on the first one and I really noticed the difference so have started giving him a half feed to take the edge off his hunger and like you give him the rest of his treats to eat in the car on the way home. It seems to be working so far! Sounds like you done really well on your first class, to wait for 3 jumps is really good, it's one of the things that we can do but not many in my class can leave their dogs more than 2 jumps if any at all!

This little boy is so adorable, he is full of character and loves people, really affectionate little lad. He has been to visit us as his fosterer lives nearby and we have not seen any sign of aggression, my dog hated him but he didn't bat an eyelid, just totally ignored him. His personality is something else, in the right home he will be a fantastic dog.

Poplar Farm Kennels please!

last time I spoke to Becks he was about the same, lungs not clear enough to do tests yet and lump still in his throat, he has been a very poorly boy bless him, lets hope the vets can get to the bottom of it..

I met dear little Blaze on Good Friday, he is so cute, quiet for a puppy and still abit unsure of himself when outside, but he is responding to his name and will sit for a treat.

I was quite shocked reading this. Of course it isn't acceptable behaviour and your dog shouldn't suffer for it, I don't think the dog that is biting should be chucked out of the club but if the owner can't keep it under control then maybe it should have private sessions until they have learnt to work together and have better control. There has been a couple of times when dogs have become aggressive at my club but its been a one off and that can be forgiven, but if it is continuous then it needs to be addressed. If Jack has had a break from training due to weather and holidays etc he gets a bit hyper his first day back but he will settle after he has done a few jumps etc, and he never shows aggression towards the other dogs (he just leaps about like a nutter).

I had the same problem with Jack, the spaniel in him loves to chase and the smell/sight of a rabbit made his normal good recall into total deaf ears. I found the wait command invaluable and as long as I anticipate the chase I can stop him, he has also become very fond of playing ball so that will distract him from anything else going on so if we are off lead in a rabbit area I take his ball with me. Over the last few months he has just got better and better and very rarely bombs off now, I use lots of praise as soon as he turns in my direction and a treat when he gets to me. He is a completely different dog off lead now and although he will have a good run about stays closer to me and comes back every now and then just in case there is a biscuit going!

Thank you everyone, I am very proud of my lovely dog who has come on in leaps and bounds since I first got him. He constantly jumped up and mouthed and was very insecure but he is much more settled and fairly calm for a dog with his parentage! We have just started agility and that's going really well, I am looking for a decent obedience class now so we can fine tune.

They don't get on together, Oscar steers clear and Jack wants to chase, one good glare from Oscar and he would crumble...he is a bit of a lala! Opps..got 2 of the same and don't now how to delete! Hi Rachel! How are you?

Hi Everyone I joined in October but forgot my password and have only just got round to sorting it out! My name is Debs and I have a dog Jack who is a springer x collie who came over from an irish pound last March, I adopted him in June and he is fantastic. I also have a ginger cat called Oscar but she turned out to be a girl! I have always loved animals and have owned several dogs and horses over the years, I walked dogs for a local Dobe breeder when I was a girl and ended up showing all over the country. Most of my own dogs have been rescue, Afhgans, lurcher, poodle x, lab x and finally my gorgeous sprollie who is the most wonderful dog ever. We have just started agility, I am a complete novice but Jack seems to have got the hang of it no problem!