Blue Mountains Dog Training Club

17/08/2023

OUR BLUE MOUNTAINS SHELTER
PLEASE consider this petition, thank you !

Amidst a housing crisis RSPCA NSW turns its back on shelter animals to boost wealth

01/07/2023

BEST PRACTICE FOR DOGS ???
The RSPCA is a charity not an Academic Institution.
Mr Coleman states Katoomba Shelter is not Best Practice.
Caring for stray and abandoned dogs does not require state of the art Best Practice. The dogs need temporary housing with food and TLC. The number of local kennels has to be adequate to deal with local demand. On many occasions the number of kennels at Katoomba has been inadequate and dogs have had to be transported to Hawkesbury. Mr Coleman now seeks to reduce the number of kennels at Katoomba to 16 only.
RSPCA requires local support throughout NSW. Mr Coleman's attitude and dealing with Katoomba Branch members is not helping or encouraging local support.
Mr Coleman appears to focus on state of the art facilities at Head Office, Yagoona. He is proud to boast Yagoona is the largest animal shelter in NSW offering Veterinary Hospital service to the public. Why does Mr Coleman seek to compete with existing veterinary services – are they inadequate? Yagoona is a long drive from Katoomba and from most of NSW.
Mr Coleman boasts Delta trained staff at Yagoona; if he wants state of the art; why are all RSPCA staff not animal welfare certificate holders?
Local support is essential for RSPCA. Yagoona cannot meet the immediate demand that may arise in any NSW location. RSPCA has a branch structure and a number of volunteer foster carers. Neglect or disregard these local people; try and rob the assets built up by local people; put local vets off-side and the future for RSPCA will be bleak. RSPCA does not need a state of the art head office; it needs a network of willing support throughout NSW and it needs to have agreements with local veterinary services.
Reducing the kennels at Katoomba from 50 to 16 only is not acceptable. Our Local Council has given willing support to RSPCA and has cooperated in dealing with local need for a dog shelter. The Council is directly involved in animal welfare and hopefully will prevent Mr Coleman's desire to centralise services to Yagoona.

26/03/2023

Our dogs need plenty of space to run free.
We need off-leash areas, the more the better.

59 signatures are still needed! Keep Katoomba Golf Course Off Leash

11/03/2023

Working Off-Lead
This video includes recall, ignore distraction & stay.

10/03/2023

BUT "it will only work for food" - Ha, Ha
Good to see an excellent dog OFF-LEAD.

03/03/2023

A long read; some waffle but well worth your time.

The old, obedience-driven model directed at show dogs is out. A new, more relationship-based approach aimed at companion dogs is in.

16/02/2023

Treats for Dog Training
It is quite essential you use compact pieces and not shredded chicken or similar. You must never drop food or other dogs will sniff and hunt for the bits. You want pleasant to handle, quickly dispensed and soft so the dog swallows and carries on training. If you use cheese, it needs to be cut into cubes from a solid block that will not fragment. Slow cooked liver is a favourite treat cut into thin slivers 15 or 20 cm long. The liver must be soft, not crisp or dried. Liver is a very good vitamin-rich protein but beware; liver is very high in vitamin A. Over time, too much vitamin A may lead to bone deformities or spurs, weakened muscles, digestive trouble and weight loss. For a medium-sized dog, one ounce, 30 grams of liver per day is max.
My regular treat is slow baked cheap sausage; about 30 minutes at 120 C, cut into 10 cent pieces.
Devon is also great but can be sticky in hot weather or if kept in the car too long. Easily fixed; bake or grill the small cubes at 110 C turning as soon as there is a change of colour about every 5 minutes.
Good O minis is a good soft biscuit standby but not idea as some dogs will stop to chew.
NOTE: my Dalmation is around 30+ Kg. With small dogs, cut the sausage ten cent piece in half. Devon I cut about 13 mm cubes. Small dogs cut the cubes into half.

12/02/2023

Sun exposure and sunburn for Dogs and Cats
Solar Dermatitis is the word that Vets use to describe sun-damaged or sunburnt skin. The main difference for pets is that usually we don’t see the acute sunburn symptoms like humans have after a day at the beach. In dogs this is usually the armpits, the groin, the flank and the top of the nose. The real concern with sunburn in our dogs and cats is the risk of cancer. Solar Dermatitis can lead to skin cancer which can spread throughout the body and become fatal.
Breeds with light coloured hair and skin are most at risk and in Australia; this includes Bull Terriers and Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Boxers, Dalmatians, Whippets, Bulldogs, and Great Danes.
The best treatment is prevention; avoiding sun exposure. Ideally, don’t take your dog out during the hottest part of the day; anywhere from 10am – 4pm; also routine use of pet-safe sunscreen but avoid zinc and other sunscreen for humans which can be toxic for pets.
https://www.pethealthnetwork.com/dog-health/dog-checkups-preventive-care/protect-your-pet-sun #:~:text=Just%20like%20us%2C%20dogs%20and,cancer%20in%20our%20animal%20friends.&text=vulnerable%20to%20the%20sun's%20harmful,very%20susceptible%20to%20sun%20damage.

26/12/2022