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I will try to find out his breeding and if he is KC reg :) He's one of the ones I walk 3x a week. I'd be surprised if he wasn't a full GSD. When agility was invented in the late 1970s it was Working Trial people who got it going and GSDs were quite common. However, as the demands of the sport incre...

Laura Sanborn studies are also worth reading, as some of the most modern. :) But not unbiased. I prefer objective summaries. Where do you find bias? These are proper peer-reviewed scientific studies. They also challenge previous studies which turned out to be unscientific, such as those with no pro...

Nettle wrote:Laura Sanborn studies are also worth reading, as some of the most modern.

But not unbiased. I prefer objective summaries.

Hi! Since you haven't had your pup neutered yet, I'd recommend doing some research before you decide on going through with it. There is lots of evidence that neutering before maturity can negatively affect behavior and health: Thread on this forum - http://positively.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&...

Explaining my logic :) We prepare the food. Unless we are in a protective suit, we come into contact with the raw meat: it is in our shopping bags, our refrigerators, our hands, on our worktops and chopping boards, on our knives, and the residue is washed up however we do (we don't all have dishwas...

We prepare raw meat for ourselves (unless veggie or vegan) every day and don't stress out about salmonella and the like. if we are feeding human grade meat and prepare it with the normal care we prepare our own food, and clear up the normal way we already do, we are highly unikely to encounter trou...

15 years ago I adopted a semi feral 12 month old lurcher and boy was it difficult to get him to recall, but we got there in the end, although I always had to be alert to things on the horizon that he might find more interesting than coming back and take preemptive action by getting him back before w...

I am not competitive but I do compete (when I have a suitable dog) and I am pleased if we do well, but not devastated if we don't. Training anything to competition standard takes us out of our comfort zone which can only be a good thing to prevent us just coasting in life generally. If you are train...

Infectious or not, a dog that isn't well should not be doing agility. It's a complete no brainer.

But I also know dogs where just one or two sprays have stopped unwanted barking without producing a neurotic wreck of a dog. How do I argue with that? It worked for those owners. It didn't harm their dogs physically or mentally. how do you "argue" with that? very easy. they got lucky, and...

I have to be aware too of others correcting or shouting at their dog..my dog thinks it's directed at him and he goes off ears back far away to get away.I think people who use aversives and shouting should be more aware of how it affects other dogs around them....chance would be a fine thing Exactly...

While some advocate a "Watch Me" approach I do not. IMO this create a conflict with a timid fearful dog in watching what is triggering his fear and complying with his owner's wishes to watch me. If you notice when you are afraid, the impossibility you have to not "look away" Lik...

wvvdiup1 wrote:Maybe I have an odd way of thinking, but I consider my dogs to be "seniors" when I see them slow down, not active as they used to be.

Not odd at all. I totally agree.
More sensible than relying on a chart compiled by someone who has never seen your dog.

Pam

When I asked the vet about switching her to a senior food, he said she was very healthy for her age, and seemed to be doing great on her current food. And the same applies to dogs. It used to be thought that older dogs needed less protein but actually more recent research suggests that the opposite...

It's important to be clear about the squirt. clearly you aren't harming a dog physically. BUT, not only does a squirt NOT teach the dog what it should be doing, but you risk the squirt having emotional consequences. sounds touchy feely, but until you have worked with a dog who has emotional issues,...