Sne

What gorgeous little bubbas!

T4 profile shows the output of the thyroid - so gives an indication of how it is functioning, from what I understand it's the same way we test humans for thyroid problems (other thyroid tests such as TSH, or auto-antibodies aren't covered by medicare etc. from my *limited* understanding). But whether there may be changes between dog breeds I'm not sure. Though if you're happy to fork out the money for the tests for peace of mind I say go for it - what is $250 in the space of his lifetime (I know Ranger wouldn't be here if we hadn't been willing to splurge on countless tests)?

I feed Advance to my golden Sally because Ranger was brought up on it and so we had them both on it while they were young. Now he's on the Hills Science LD only because he has to be - he'd otherwise be on advance too.

I go to the Heidelberg ADT. I think that it was a great place for me to start training, but if I were to get another dog I'd chose perhaps a different club that was more trial-training focused, and maybe more flexible in training styles especially now that I've learnt about different methods that have suited one of my dogs much better. The club was great for me cause it is walking distance from home and provided a good basis for training, and I can continue to go there for the dogs life - though ADT is pretty costly. It is great for the socialisation aspect of training though. I've heard great things about the Warringal club.

Like others I'd never heard of a prong collar until DOL. For my current two dogs I have had no real need to use one - for walking one has consistently been an excellent walker, and the other responded very positively to the check chain. However my old lab (now deceased) would I think have gained a lot from the correct use of a prong collar. We had previously used check chain (without training on it, and therefore no results) amongst other aids for walking such as a head-halter...also used without advice - much to my shame now. Perhaps with the knowledge I have know his walking might have improved without a prong, but if i'd taken time to learn how to use one I think it would have been a life saver. Due to his poor social walking, he missed out on many a walk. Whilst I have no experience in their use, I'd like to think that under proper advice they would be available to me in the right situation. I try to keep an open mind about most training methods, provided the people using them know what they're doing. I think prong collars have their place in the dog training society.

I taught my two to "touch" my fingers by putting something smelly on my fingers (I can't remember what it was now) and clicking for sniffs and touches etc - It was the first clicker taught thing I did. I used two fingers, with the others clenched so as to distinguish from an open hand - someone else suggested that. I'm now starting to train to an object too - and have started holding the object in my hand and moving closer to the ground, and hopefully tomorrow i'll be able to have it on the ground and begin moving it away over time. I don't know if this is the "correct" way...but its working for me so far.

Good luck everyone!!

I was just wondering if anyone uses hand signals for a release?

What if you have a dog like mine that seems to have no eye-mouth co-ordination? To memory he's never caught anything in his life. I never let him get food that drops, but that just means I end up with a dog bored because he's not getting anything.

I've really got to get my hands on that book....

When I see my dogs getting distracted/bored I always pull them away from the group and have a little play. Or if I know my dog is tired near the end of class, I just don't do much more obedience but try rather to keep him focused and motivated - there's no point pushing a dog past its limitations. There have been the odd days where he just wasn't wanting to work and so I decided to just go home instead of making everything worse for both of us.

I try to vary where I train - though I still keep most of my work at home. Most things I start working inside the house, and move around in different rooms. Then I progress to outside, and then finally to a high distraction area like the park. With my toller I've noticed that when we get to obedience classes he KNOWS he's there to do obedience, and is far more attentive and excited about the work. I think it may be partially due to the fact he gets that early socialisation and that really hypes him up a little too. I'd be working where you know can get her attention/where you know she enjoys it, and then work towards getting attention in the backyard. Maybe you could solely do focus work in the backyard rather than other obedience so she learns that paying attention in the backyard is really fun and worth it.

My treats range from day to day, depending on a) what I have available at the time and b) what i'm attempting to teach the dog. My golden retriever will take just about anything as a reward - it doesn't seem to matter what it is (a toy, food, play...) as long as she gets something in the end. I've used cheese, liver treats, cold meats (ie tiny pieces of ham or chicken offcuts etc..), various store bought treats.

It may just take a bit more time? Some dogs pick it up much faster than others - I would know. My golden came with the idea of toileting outside firmly implanted in her head by 9 weeks - we rarely had problems. My toller seemed to take FOREVER to train - he was probably about 4.5ish months before he was reliably not toileting inside. Before that he'd wee outside, and then five minutes later would wee inside too. I can't tell you how much paper towel we went through. Then one day I think it just clicked? Others have said their pup was 7 months before it was fully toilet trained.

This is not my dog...but I found this link on youtube: