MrsD

RIP Mo , condolences to Anne & David :D .

Can I ask, for those that give their dog the human form, where do you get the glucosamine & chondroitin from? I could only find tablets at my local chemists & they are HUGE & I can't swallow them . I was taking them for a while & since I've gone off them I can hardly get around at times :D so I need to find something easy to take.

will have a look on Sunday

I've fed all my GSDs on Supercoat & they have all done well on it except for a short while when my current GSD changed from puppy food to adult food (she just lost condition for some reason), but she's back on it again now & looks great :p Why, so Atlas can sh*t it out of his bum again?

I'll go to bed tonight better for knowing that fact TB :p Tortue Cin = stand around all staring at her for hours so she can't pee

Thanx shoey, that site looks interesting . I'll sort something out with the paws, will just have to think about it for a bit. I guess the best indication of the dog really understanding what you are asking, is when the dog does the action required as soon as you have given the command & without the clicker or the toy as motivator. He did exactly that his afternoon & looked sooooooo pleased with himself afterwards :p :rofl: .

Thanx M-J & Jejuna, I think he's pretty cute too, but then Im biased . He's just turned 5 months, so still very young! Shoey, thanx for the advice I will wait til he's pretty good at it & then become more particular about which paw. It's just like training anything else really isn't it, as Rusky said, just start to extend the time etc. Same as sit at heel, to start with you don't mind if he's a little crooked, then as he progresses & gets older you start to ask for a straighter faster sit. So first you ask for a paw (or even an attempt at lifting a paw), then when he gets better, you start asking for a specific paw - easy! :D But here's a question - I can see that you could use the trick in many situations not just shaking hands like Im doing now, so do you ask for the paw on the same side that you are signalling ie their right, your left, or do you ask for the paw on the other side ie as if you are shaking hands, their right, your right - or do you teach both & use a different command or signal? Now I think Im confusing even myself . I'll have to look up targetting as Im not really sure what it is or entails apart from the dog touching something.

CTD - I looked at your videos, well done . And I saw the high 5 - very cute :D . OK, so we have to look out for the 2 BC's & the toller - anyone else going to be at Mary Ray or Richard Curtis that we need to watch out for? Mrsdog, what sort of dog do you have? Ive just sent our money off for Richard Curtis tonight, still need to call about Mary Ray, but want to talk to Hesa on Sunday. Unfortunately all the dog places were booked with Richard, so we will all be there as spectators only, but since we'll only have 1 dog between us anyway, thats probably not such a big deal .

Where's my rock, yeah I saw that on his site the other day, Ive just been doing it in the hallway, but that might be a good idea to try. Rusky thanx OK here's my next pic, this one is of him shaking hands, he seems to change paws ie doesnt use the same one all the time. Im not quite sure what to do about that, for now Im just happy that he's doing it. Can't quite believe how smart he is - he picks things up very very quickly! He's looking at my other hand as I have the clicker & toy in it :D .

Ohhhh, am I not supposed to be doing that? :D Rusky, thanx, I havent done targetting or touching yet, I think I've started at the top of the heap & am working my way back down - not always the eaiest way to do it . He's started turning around after he takes one step backwards if he's out in the open, so I will have to put him back in the hallway again to get him to go straight & do lots & lots more practice. I also started teaching him to "shake hands" this morning, only took about 3 tries & he is now doing it (although he's using the paw on the same side as Im using my hand ie my right hand, his left paw, so I might change the command to "paw" or something), I will try to get a pic later & post it (thankfully hubby is home, trying to take a pic of him shaking hands with me would be almost impossible, not enough hands ) . One other question I wanted to ask was if I want him to stay in the bow position longer, do I just hold off clicking until he's held it for a few seconds? He's starting to hold himself down there longer & I want to encourage him to keep the position, so do I just click a little bit later each time & get him to extend it? (hope that makes sense)

L&P, yes, my timing is pretty good, been working with dogs for a fair while now, so plenty of practice. He definitely isnt overfed & is just not food motivated - last night at training club he turned his nose up at diced roast chicken, don't think you can get much more palatable than that . He doesnt seem to like dried anything - the only dried thing I have ever seen him touch apart from his dry food in his bowl is some dried roo heart that KK had at lurecoursing one day. He also doesnt like eating when anyone else is around - I have to feed him outside on the verandah by himself. Interesting - this morning I put him outside on the verandah while the kids were getting ready for school (as I do every morning, otherwise the kids end up playing with him & not getting ready) & went to say goodbye & give him a pat just before we left. Quick pat & cuddle then I put him back onto the verandah where he proceeded to bark at me whilst madly bowing & backing up all over the place trying to get my attention .

Yeah, in front of all X hundred exhibitors & 500 odd dogs, in centre ring. I think NOT!!! I dunno about the dog, but I get stage fright!

Tassie, yeah, Ann is o/s atm, it was Tony who replied. As for Mary loving Jonty - well how could you not? He even has my hubby wrapped around his little finger ;) . We're going to see Richard!!!!! :D We're still trying to work out finances & see if we can afford both Mary & Richard Curtis when they are so close together, I'll be booking today or tomorrow .

Thanx guys, no doubt I will have plenty more questions about specific tricks as I go along . My only prolem is that I can't throw the toy cos if I do it then becomes a game to get it back cos he dances just out of reach with it so for the time being Im just playing tug with it (which he loves). As I said, I find the timing pretty easy as Im used to marking only using my voice (I actually started the bow on Monday morning using the voice & then switched to the clicker after I bought it in the afternoon when I thought it was going to be easier ). EFS

After discovering canine freestyle a few days ago I have started having some fun with Jonty & teaching him a couple of things. I bought a clicker on Monday & so far have taught him the bow & this morning I have been getting him to walk backwards In the first one he is looking at my leg as I moved it towards him to encourage him to go back (hard to hold a camera steady, a clicker & a toy & give him a hand signal at the same time ), but the second one he did it on the verbal cue. He's certainly not perfect on either of them yet, but I think he's doing pretty well for only starting on Monday afternoon . My biggest problem is that he is totally unmotivated by food. I started off by doing the clicker association thing ie click - treat - click - treat but he is so uninterested in food that half the time I would click & he would sniff the food & turn his head away & lie down (yes, Im using something very palatable, cheese). So I just started teaching the bow using a toy (its a piece of old soft material thats been knotted into an octopus shape), clicked & rewarded with a tug session with the toy. Is this right? Ive never used a clicker before, I often use verbal cues in my training & have found it fairly easy to get the exact moment to click correct. I find the hardest thing is to motivate him if he doesnt feel like playing - if he's in a playful mood then that's alot easier, but if he's feeling tired or just woken from a sleep its a bit harder. If he was food motivated I think it would be alot easier! Does anyone else use a toy rather than food with clicker training? ETA - yes I know that the pics of him walking backwards look no different than if I had taken pics of him walking forward but you'll just have to trust me on that one as my video camera is broken right now & I can only use my camera :p

4Paws, the website says no .

Does anyone know if Richard Curtis is booked out in Sydney?

I got an answer back this morning & you can do it as a day visitor :D . CTD, all I can say is - YOU LUCKY THING!! I thought you should be able to teach basic things even to puppies, he will be almost 7 months old by then anyway, but its not so much the stuff you teach on the day anyway - its you learning the groundwork for teaching them stuff yourself :rolleyes: . Hesa - have sent it to you, Im going to email them & try to book in for the Friday (freestyle heeling), let me know if you want to come with me .

Hesa, yeah but Im sure there is some stuff that a 6 month old could learn until he's old enough to do the other stuff . Tassie, I have emailed Anne but havent heard back yet . Is it modular ie can you just do parts that you're interested in or do you have to do the whole week? Agility is a waste of time for me cos Im not really interested in it plus the dog is way too young, Im mainly interested in the freestyle stuff. CTD, are you coming up to Qld for the Mary Ray one as well?

I didnt know about this product b4 I looked on here. Think I will try it on my dogs. Is it safe to use on a lactating bitch? Sorry if it seems a stupid question but just curious. It's more my boy that could do with a bit better coat condition. thanks Here is their website which tells you about it Livamol . I notice that the list of animals on that website doesnt include dogs, but I had a look at the back of the actual packet just today & dogs were definitely there & recommended as having 25-50g (1 - 2 tablespoons)/day. I fed it for years to my horses when I used to show, its great stuff. I cant see anything (or any reason that I can think of) why it shouldnt be OK for lactating bitches. If in doubt you can always email them, the email is on that page at the bottom.

Says who? :rofl:

I've emailed about the Coolangatta one but I didnt realise that Richard Curtis was in Sydney the weekend we will be there!!!!! Hmmmm wonder if I can fit in a couple of days doing doggy freestyle instead of showing at the Nationals?

Congrats on the passes Hesa & glad you met my friend .

Hesa, Im so out of there you wont see me for dust ;) . Did you get my email? (I still dont trust it!) BRING ON THE DANCING DOGS AND PEOPLE!!! :D ;) .

You make sure you do post - I wanna see it! Just looked at the videos in the other thread, Molly is so keen she's done the rollover before you even tell her to :D . Great work from both of them . I only have 3 more shows to go & I am out of the show ring for good, I am so so so over the whole showing thing, I would much rather be doing something FUN with my dogs .