lucyandmeg

I have just seen the running orders, and we don't really have a hope of winning any races! My teams in div 4, seeded 6th, but all of the other teams fastest times are way faster than we could ever do. Oh well! Annyetta, the hounds are running on the saturday (the harriers are on the monday.) You are seeded 4th out of 5 teams in div 15.

I think you'll be in the hampshire hounds annyetta.

Megs racing in the hampshire harriers. I'll probably be camping, but we have no idea which day we'll be racing yet. I'm hoping the weather will be better than last weekend, there is nothing more disappointing than racing being called off!

Megs racing in div 2 in the hampshire harriers abd ding agility on the sat, but then you knew that!

I'm going up friday lunchtime and camping for the weekend. I'm running 3 dogs in the agility on saturday and running div 2 in the flyball with meg on sunday. I'm also entered for agility on sunday but i probably won't have the time or energy!! I went last year and it was a great show.

It depends very much on the size of the dog and the vets preference. Some vets are quite happy to spay small bitches at 6 months, but most tend to wait until the larger bitches and dogs are older as neutering early is thought to cause growth problems and urinary incontinence in some of the larger breeds. If a bitch is bein g spayed after her first season it needs to be 3 months from the end of the season so that it is mid way between the two seasons. Some vets like to castrate dogs from about 8 months to a year upwards, particularly with the larger breeds.

If a dog that is in grade 1 wins a class that is grade 1 and 2 combined does that mean she has won out of just grade 1, both or none? How do you normally win out in kennel club shows? We normally just compete at uka shows but at out first kc show meg won the large grade 1 and 2 combined agility, and i'm really hoping that she hasn't won me out of starters for life cos my other dogs will never reach that level!

Meg came FIRST in large combine 1 and 2 agility at Haslemere show today, first ever clear we have had in agility! Just to prove it wasn't a fluke she went clear in jumping and got 6th place. She also managed a cracking round in the open pairs, but sadly my partner had a problem with the weaves. I'm so proud of my girlie, i've never managed a whole day without faults or E's with her before! Murphy spaniel also managed a clear round in agility and only picked up 5 faults in the weaves in jumping which is amazing for him so i'm really happy with him too.

Luckily for me i go to flyball training on a monday evening and agility on either a wed evening, fri morning or saturday depending on which club i am going to, so i have plenty of options. Shows don't often seem to clash too much so its not really been an issue. However i always give flyball priority as i am part of our main, fast team and i don't like letting the team down. Saying that i don't often get clears in agility anyway, so i'm not missing too much at agility shows!

This is not meant to panic anyone, but more likely raise awareness. My friends border collie has recently been critically ill following a flyball practice sesion. He is a very big dog and gets quite wound up. Hes coming up 9 and semi-retired but my friend was just running him for a bit of fun. He hadn't eaten before hand, was warmed up and warmed down before sitting in the car whilst we finished the next class. On arriving home she noticed something wasn't right and rushed him to the vets and he had bloat, which turned into a gastric torsion. His stomach had filled with frothy saliva (caused by over excitment) and twisted. After emergency surgery throughout the night he is now doing very well, but he is never going to do flyball or agility again. Luckily his owner noticed so quickly as unfortunately they live in an outdoor kennel and had she not noticed and put them to bed he would have been dead in 3 hours. So those of you with deep chested breeds please be careful and vigilant, if your dog appears unwell and looks very blated get to a vet asap.

Hiya, what colour starters division were you in? I was there with the hampshire harriers starters team with my spaniel. We also came 2nd so you must have been in a different div. Wasn't it a great day?!

Its a real shame, we could have done with her speed, given how slow murphy is going at the moment!!

We had a really great day (if not a very cold day!!) Murphy managed a clear round in agility and to my surprise didn't even attempt to run off in any of the runs! Meg got third in beg steeplechase std, and was so close to a clear in jumping, just knocked one pole! Biggest surprise of the day was ellies casual jumping run, i was expecting 2 jumps and then run out the ring (she gets very worried) but instead i found myself sprinting to keep up as she zoomed round. Unfortunately for us i was so shocked that i sent her over the wrong jump and nearly fell over her, but she didn't panic like she usually would and completed the course! She seems to love the competition atmosphere because she was on a complete high!

I'll be there on sunday, doing beginner steeplechase, agility and jumping with meg and murphy and casual jumping with ellie. I'm dreading it a little after this morning, ellie was in one of those "i don't want to do it and you can't make me" moods, shes been doing quite well recently but shes an all or nothing kind of girl!! I'm really hoping its going to be megs year, this year after 2 years of eliminations we have finally got our weaves sorted so fingers crossed! Annyetta, i'll be there lurking somewhere with James, we'll look out for you, do you know if karen and belle are coming? I think Jo and Bea may be coming too but i could be wrong.

A target stick can be used for lots of things. Basically the dog learns to touch the end of the stick with her nose and it enables you to manovere the dog into lots of different positions and moves. They are particularly good for a small dog as you can teach them to lay down or do heelwork without breaking your back! Even if you don't use it for anything special, its just something different for the dogs to learn and for some reason most seem to love it. You don't need to buy anything fancy, to start with i just used a piece of dowling stick.

I'm at frimley on 7th of April, All about dogs on the 12th may Hopefully the european champs on 26th May 23rd June - Frimley Lodge Park, Frimley Green, Surrey

Still quite good value for money though, with their no excess policy. Certainly cheaper than pet plan with an £80 excess! THeir admin is a bit pants but they have so far always paid out. I think their prices were very unrealistic before and it was only a matter of time before they had to put them up. As long as they keep up the no excess policy i think they are fantastic.

Yes he can wear a harness (or indeed a headcollar as my meg had to) as long as it isn't the only thing stopping him pulling and he is under control. Fingers crossed there are no squirrels around! Murphy took his last week and luckily we didn't meet any cats or birds but we did meet a couple of dogs, but luckily he was a star and passed with flying colours.

I've answered but its a bit of a onfusing one as it depends on what you define as dog to dog aggression. My first two dogs, i both had from pups and they are 100% fine with other dogs off lead on walks but can be a bit snappy when on lead and confined, such as a training class and the vets. My rescue boy was ok when we got him at 10 months, but developed dog-dog aggression when out on walks as he got a little older. (Mainly entire males, but strangely he is 100% with other dogs in any training situation. Weird!!)

Dormitor and torbugesic. Its a reversable sedative that we use all the time at work.

Does the name sound like domitor?

I'll be there all 4 days spending lots of money that i shouldn't!

Dock diving is actually done in this country, but its called dash and splash and is often seen at dog shows around the country. The current record holder at the moment (and has been for the last couple of years) is a flat coat retriever with a huge jump, but i can remember just how many feet it is. Anyone can have a go at the shows though. I tried murphy once, but he was a bit scared of the pool as its not quite like a real river to him!!

This does seem to be the case for many bitches. I think it is because their metabolism slows down and so they need less food than they had before they were spayed. My goldie was quite a slim adolescent but in the last 2 years or so (shes nearly 4) we have struggled to keep her weight at an acceptable level, and have had to reduce her food right down, and increase the exercise she does.

I love all 3, they are all my babies and i love them all for differnt things. BUT meg will always be my special girl. She was my first dog and we have such a bond. She worries when i am upset, tries to cheer me up and is always with me. As much as i love the others and could never be woithout them, i don't feel i have that strong a bond with them.