The Balanced Canine Sydney

14/11/2025

Yas!

13/11/2025

No one is thinking vetting a dog is cheap, so why is it such a shock when it costs a lot of money, especially emergency or specialty services?

Our own medical costs would be insane if we didn't have Medicare.... look at America...ok, don't, that s**t is depressing.

Pet insurance is a very important thing if you don't have access to credit or funds.

𝗗𝗼𝗴 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗲, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁.

I saw a comment today that all vets should be forced to help save dogs that come in where the owners can't afford the bill.....

Whose gonna pay the vets rent and utilities? Whose gonna pay the medications bills? Whose gonna pay the staffing bills?

Some of ya'all need a wake-up call - dogs ain't cheap! These bastards often need vets on public holidays and outside business hours!

For sure, some Vets are overcharging a lot vs just making enough profit to make it all work, but so do every day businesses we have to pay that are not animal related. The last plumber I paid was here for under an hour to unblock a drain....$1,000.....but it's not a surprise that a plumber is going to be expensive...we just know it 😂

So come on, people, you know if you go to a specialist or emergency, or there's been something traumatic, it's gonna be expensive - how are you preparing yourself for this in advance?

12/11/2025

😁 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗗𝗢 𝗦𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗦 😁

If dog showing numbers continue as they are, there won't even be enough dogs for a 25pt BIG wide spread in the near future - it's already happening in a lot of places.

Come and check out sports, it's always going to be there, it's constantly growing, and new sports ANKC and non-ANKC, are coming all the time! AND!!! It's so much more fun for both dog and handler than running in circles 😁

Doing sports doesn't mean you forget your breed standard or know what other dogs are out there, it's just in addition...until you become obsessed 🤣

👌 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴!

🥇 Let's have a look at some gateway sports!

🏃‍♀️ 𝐒𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐃𝐨𝐠 - 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬
Your dog runs 100 metres, they can chase a lure if they're that way inclined, or they can simply recall to you - the name of the game is running as fast as those legs will take them. You're not competing against any other dog.

Short-legged, slow, and old dogs even do this sport; it doesn't actually matter how slow they are, it just means it will take longer to earn points towards titles.

You don't even need to handle your own dog, you can ask someone else to catch or release your dog.

The average dog will take 3 trials to achieve their first title, slow dogs up to 5 or 6 maybe.

𝗖𝗼𝗻: It's such a popular sport that in many cases you need to enter an actual lottery to get a spot, but that's all part of the thrill too 😅

🏃‍♀️ 𝐋𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 - 𝟔𝟎𝟎-𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬
Your dog will need to chase a lure. To learn if your dog will do this, keep an ear out for fun days where you can see if your dog will chase. You can also just enter a trial and see if they will chase, but if they don't, you need to depart, as there is no training or help offered at an actual trial.

It is recommended that you try lure coursing before SprintDog because if a dog is getting its jollies running 100m, why would it go further - obviously, some very driven dogs will, but that's just the general recommendation.

Me personally: There are far more SprintDog trials than Lure Coursing, so I'll give priority to SprintDog, but I also don't have a sighthound for whom the sport is designed for so my care factor is a bit different.

💪 𝐖𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐏𝐮𝐥𝐥
Do you have a dog who loves to pull or the lead or is big, strong, muscular, or perhaps even bred for pulling carts etc in their breed origin?

Weight Pull requires minimal training in terms of the skill to pull, they need to accept a weight pull harness and have the desire to pull weight forward or be motivated to do so. You can't force a dog to do this sport, they're gonna do it, or they're not going to.

Victoria seems to have the most active weight pull community, but with more sporting clubs forming, we might see more weight pull fun days and trials in the future in other states. Look to your Sled Sports Clubs for more information.

𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐃𝐨𝐠 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐍𝐊𝐂 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭:
https://dogsaustralia.org.au/training-dog-sports

OR ASK BELOW :)

12/11/2025

Dogs are awesome right?!

This memory popped up today, it was one of the hardest times of my life, I had brutal sciatica that 3 different opioids didn’t even touch the sides, I couldn’t stand for long and was on a walking stick at my worst.

There was one thing I knew and that was that I couldn’t continue to live like that, for the first time in my life, I had dark thoughts but throughout this time was my precious Ginger, she’d just look at me like she knew and she wanted so bad to help. She’d always be with me to do my stretches and sat next to me after surgery whilst I recovered.

She passed away a short time ago at such a young age from Cancer and this memory brought me some joy that I can say that I let the world stop to give her love when she needed it - I needed it too.

In loving memory of my precious girl.

I was about to stand up to do my stretches for my damn sciatica and Ginger comes and sits next to me and wants love so now I’m giving Ginger love and I’m stuck here for as long as she needs love.

Do you get stuck too?!

12/11/2025

👉 Adults should sleep 12-14 hours - seniors and puppies need more.

👉 Lack of sleep can lead to behavioural and health challenges.

👉 Crates, pens and place training can help dogs settle if they need help to make it happen.

👉 Dogs that live in noisy households may need their humans to tweak their environment.

👉 Dogs need a really good sleep to perform the next day at a sporting comp.

11/11/2025

😂

38.5K likes, 793 comments. “ ”

11/11/2025

Your Vet is a crazy smart person, the amount of study they have done, including continuing education, is a lot!

But....Not all Vets are on the same page about everything, and just because your Vet says something doesn't mean that it's fact, another Vet may say the opposite.

When this happens, then we need to take a step back and look at what's being said from both parties, and then see if we can find some actual science to back up either side.

When your Vet says you should not feed a fresh food diet because it is too hard or too dangerous etc. it usually means that they don't have the extra education on the topic to help guide you.

Things change over time - what a Vet was taught 20+ years ago is going to be different from what is taught today. Your Vet may also not have an interest in doing additional nutrition studies, and that's ok!

What you can do is keep your awesome Vet for all your regular stuff and then consult with a fresh food knowledgeable vet for nutrition, and they can even communicate with your own Vet if your dog, for instance, has a medical issue that needs to be nutritionally managed.

What a lot of people don't know is that a dog never needs to be on a prescription kibble if you don't want them to - they can be managed on a thoughtfully formulated fresh food diet for their condition, but that takes a particular professional to do that for you.

When I say 'fresh food', I am referring to whole food diets that are raw or lightly cooked.

Start here: https://www.vngpets.com/

11/11/2025

🤔 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗴 𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺𝘀?

Yes Ma’am!!!

👉 Dogs can eat any mushrooms you can safely eat

👉 Cook them to break down the tough cell wall

❤️ Sautéed in butter is something many dogs love just like many humans!

10/11/2025

NSW Breeders now need to apply for a Breeder Identification Number (BIN) after the 1st of December (previous numbers will be deactivated) and this number will need to be included in ads for puppies.

When you log in to Service NSW and open your Pet Registry Dashboard, locate your Account icon, as circled below, to find where to apply for your BIN. It will be issued to you immediately.

Your breeding dogs, of course, need to be registered.

10/11/2025

𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗗𝗢𝗚 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗗𝗢𝗚𝗦 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗜𝗡 𝗕𝗨𝗗𝗗𝗜𝗘𝗦?

14 years ago, I had this harlequin Great Dane. He didn't like dogs outside of his environment, but lived with other dogs.

Little Man (the black dog pictured here), who is now 16, came home from the pound as a newly desexed 2-year-old, this could have been problematic, but the reason/s it wasn't ......

We personally selected Little Man from the pound as a foster dog due to his calm, friendly nature - Mr Wiggle Butt, he was! He wasn't going to be a problem for this insecure Great Dane.

Secondly, the meet and greet was thoughtful! A good initial meet and greet is so important, especially with a dog like this Dane.

People often rush the meet and greet or completely balls it up. If you have a dog who's a bit of a dick, then for the sake of their relationship with the new dog, having a trainer there to facilitate the meet and greet can be such a valuable thing to do.

A trainer can ensure the meet and greet is structured and thoughtful; they can also pull the pin if they don't think it is of value for the meeting to occur at that point, and instead, more work is necc. such as at-home separation and management.

Many reactive dogs can live with other dogs just fine. These 2 were the best of friends....when the Great Dane passed away, Little Man never played with toys again 😥

09/11/2025

HORMONE FREE 🙄

If a chicken product proudly states it is 👉hormone free👈 you can say “no s**t Sherlock”….hormones have not been given to Australian chooks since the 70s.

Meat chickens are selectively bred to get to their slaughter weight quickly. Antibiotic use however is something that could be problematic.

Some dogs who do not respond well to regular chicken meat can often do better on organic versions.

09/11/2025

𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗟 - 𝗧𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗢𝗡𝗟𝗬!!!!

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Chill Out Dude is our formula trainers love to buy bulk of, they find it takes the edge off dogs to help them with their behaviour modification training. People use it for different reasons from over excitability, dog shows & sports, storms and the likes.

Doggie W**d is our most favourite product with our customers with 1000's sold - simply mix in with your dogs meals to help keep their teeth clean and support a healthy oral microbiome.