Steve K9Pro

H: Uh oh, this is going to be another one of those chatty workshops... ;)

K9: Ease up, you wil end up in MY Naughty corner...

S: 'specially if BC4ME comes along - she's a trouble maker that one! LOL

K9: careful teasing BC4ME, she has no mercy, just look how she names her dogs.... lol..

S: At this rate I'm going to have the best behaved dog there seeing as you all think your dogs are naughty!

K9: Oh? did I mention I am bringing one of MY dogs?

W: So, are you allowed to bring naughty dogs? Like ones that dont listen when there are distractions and all they want to do is drag you all over the place to play with other dogs? Everyone else's dogs sound very well behaved.

K9: Please do, they are our best successes!

S: I have just emailed to see if there is a spot available for me So hopefully I am coming to, I am nervous now

K9: There are a couple of places left, so I think you should be fine, I think it will sell out today though.

K9: Sorry the weekend workshop is full, its an instructors only event also. This is why we decided to run the Friday one, I didnt want to not see my Qld people.

K9: Good work Huski, I dont doubt, your vids of Daisy training have improved so much, your really going well!!!

Good work.

Woooo woooo wooooo lol.

K9: Perhaps another demo!!!!

Err, perhaps - maybe Daisy can be the 'before' dog and Ella can be the finished product

K9: Oh dont try & fool everyone! I have seen your videos, Daisy is looking super!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When the mood takes her she's great, she's definitely come a long way from when we started though

K9: yep she has, you have done a great job with her. Though I must admit Ella is brilliant...

K9: Perhaps another demo!!!!

Err, perhaps - maybe Daisy can be the 'before' dog and Ella can be the finished product

K9: Oh dont try & fool everyone! I have seen your videos, Daisy is looking super!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

K9: Perhaps another demo!!!!

K9: Just a note, emails have been sent to our QLD email list, if you don't have an email from us, please pm me here or email me.

K9: To try & keep a long story short, lol, I had a weekend off planned mid October, a lady contacted me in Victoria who I spoke with for a while on the phone with some dog problems she was keen to sort out.

She convinced me she was dedicated so I agreed to come down on my weekend off to run two days of private consults. They are all sold out but this is happening Oct 10th & 11th.

I have all intentions of running something down in Vic as I have so many great clients there who have been doing really fantastic things with my Distance Learning Packages, but it is very hard to get some time to allocate to the set up & booking of the venue, attendees etc. with our very heavy workload here.

We are also making some big changes at K9 Force that will be announced soonish, that will really change the face of us.

My workshop / travel intentions are to: -

Complete the Consults in October in Victoria

Complete the workshop we just announced in Qld on the 20th November

Complete the two day (closed & full) workshop in Qld 21st & 22nd Nov at Camp Tailwaggers

Set up a workshop in Victoria for early 2010

Set up a workshop at our facility here in Kurrajong in early 2010.

I am happy to hear from anyone in Vic who would like to attend a workshop & what you would like covered, then I can see what we can do...

Hand's up, already replied to the email to book my spot!!

Steve - Ella will be available for a demo if required.

K9: what do you mean, "if required"? YES PLEASE!!!

Thanks for the email, we have got it I'm told, workshop half sold out so that's good news.

Hey guys, just a note to let you know that I am running a full day workshop in Qld, all details are on my website under "Upcoming".

Workshop details

K9: Our leashes must not be "commercial" then, as ours are soft right from new, no oil, no wearing them in.

The one I use in my training every day was taken out of stock in 96, still in perfect condition, & I cant imagine how many dogs have been on the end of it as it is used commercially.

BD: If your looking at buying an e-collar - go with someone that owns dogs.

The big corporate guys are all just salesman.

K9: Owns AND trains dogs might be even better.

K9 - I would imagine that once I put his bowl down, even with no other dogs around, he will be straight back into standing/lying in his food bowl. He does this to control his food - how do I deal with THAT part of it or will it fade in time as he learns that I'm in charge?

K9: well eventually, he wont be able to fit in the bowl lol but until then, you can elevate the food bowl or have two tie outs, one that keeps him in place & the other to allow him to reach the food only, not lay in it.

Once he knows no one else will take it (feed him separate to begin) then he will be fine.

The upside is that if he has developed a good food drive, this can be a great training tool / motivator.

K9: the tie back & handler not holding or forcing the dog teaches the dog that being calm & looking to the Alpha for directions is more effective than pushing & fighting. Plus who ever adopts the pup can also continue the routine.

K9: Train (especially) the dominant pup in the TOT, pinned at the top of the training forum, this will teach him to use his head instead of his muscle when it comes to gaining food.

The "C" tick is a radiocommunications compliance label administered by the Australian Communications & Media Authority. To get the C tick an electronic item needs to comply with a particular Australian Standard (the number of which I can't remember) which is supposed to guarrantee that it won't interfere with other radio communications services. You can find more details at ACMA.

In the USA the regulatory authority is the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

K9: Yes I believe the above all to be correct.

The rules for short range devices such as e-collar transmitters only require the importer/ seller to certify that the equipment complies. No Australian laboratory testing is required.

Given that the major e-collar manufacturers, (Dogtra, Tritronics, Innotek) export to many countries, you will probably find the US manufacturer will ensure that equipment complies and will affix the C tick or whatever regulatory label applies to the country they are sending to the equipment before dispatch. It wouldn't be done by the local dealer.

K9: No this is incorrect, as in Aust we have needed a permit to import previously, from my understanding, Tri Tronics for one have not ensured their products comply.

Also, Dogtra wont sell to Aust residents as they have dealer here, the collars that would be sent here from the US would be intended for sale elsewhere so dont come with the label affixed.

So you may be able to buy equipment direct from a US manufacturer that is compliant but as has been mentioned earlier the advantage of buying from a local dealer is the ability to easily phone the dealer and berate him and get warranty service if the item breaks down, which might prove difficult if bought overseas.

K9: Items that comply are affixed with an approval label which certifies the item is C Tick compliant, in the Dogtra brand for example, I have never seen one imported come with this lable affixed as they were not inteded for sale in Australia.

ie the only C Tick compliant units are the ones sold here by approved dealers.

In practice, remote control e-collar transmitters are only used in short bursts so it would be difficult for them to cause interference or be detected causing interference.

K9: It is a chance I guess one may take but radio signals can certainly travel a lot further than the manufacturer intends, some peple have reported signal skip on water up to 1000km.

A company here definately could not take the risk of interfearing with radio waves such as transmitters that deploy explosives for example.

As mentioned previously, it would be cheaper for us to import these units without the add on costs of legal importation, but if we cant sell them legally, perhaps people should not use them illegally?

I will shoot a email to the ACMA & see what they say these days.

The c tick compliance is this difficult to get. How can it be restricted but allowed thats confusing who says we can or can't use them

K9: C tick have nothing to do with importation laws, so they just haven't changed. When the ban was in place some people were able to sneak a collar or two through, many just lost their money.

The problem now is that people in the US will sell them to you but if you get caught with a non compliant collar, they will not be responsible & cant be made responsible.

Buying from a genuine Australian dealer is more expensive, but being genuine means it will come with all taxes & duties paid & with C tick compliance and Australian warranty.

If it didn't & you have an issue, the problem would be on the supplier & if they are in Australia, the problem would be theirs not the end users.

We do sell them at the best price we can, but with all legitimate paperwork & compliance & we provide an Australian warranty, they are cheaper overseas of course but we cant of course supply people with illegal items as we offer lifetime support on our products.

K9: Also, collars imported from overseas will not have Australian C Tick compliance, meaning they are not legal to even own here. Never mind state laws...

Very welcome guys, glad it is helping with your pups!

K9: Sure that's no problem, book well in advance though, the soonest we have now is the end of October for standard consults.

You would be able to learn what you need to do in terms of drive training & I would teach you how fix that leash pulling in a few minutes.

The bottom of this page shows what your dog should be walking like.

Thanks again K9 - I had a quick look at the drive thread but will have to have a proper read tonight (42 pages to read). I am not sure exactly what training in drive means so hopefully I will find out the technique in those pages?

K9: There isn't so much technique there as there is an explanation of how prey drive training works, my version of it anyway. A number of years ago I used my experience & research to formulate my own training methods including training in drive. I have used those techniques with great success an many dogs, including many members dogs here. There are many ways to train in drive, some just I find better than others.

I'm concerned now about the jogging with her in a halti as we've done this for the past year. When we jog she runs naturally in a heel position and on a loose lead. Only occasionally does she pull away (and luckily only once has tripped me up!). I feel I have good control over her with the halti and I worry about running with the check chain as my control (at this stage) is lacking when using that. We run most days and I would hate to stop that but maybe I should for a while and just concentrate purely on the training?

K9: Your probably less likely to cause any injury with the check chain, I dont use halters at al & dont use checks either. This article may help you understand

I dont think cutting back on play or exercise is the right thing to dfo with your dog, but then again I havent met your dog so cant for sure say mcuh more than I have so far.

This article may also help understand training in drive with less than 42 pages

NKsyd: hanks K9 - I do try to keep her mentally stimulated. We play lots of games at home and at the park and we also have training time at home (recently perfecting her drop which has taken time I must confess). When I am not home she has lots of toys (rotated regularly) and her kong.

K9: I prefer to steer away from the easy play, as many (even driven) dogs gain very little mental stimulation from say throwing a ball.

I use a technique known as training in drive. See a thread I wrote Here.

Training in drive achieves drive satisfaction, which for a driven dog leads to balance of drives, which is ... bliss.

In obedience class (we're only in class one) she is very good at keeping her eyes on me and repsonding to her name; same when she is at home. Her repsonsiveness is impressive. It's only when we're out and walking on leash. Is there other things I should / could be doing? Any suggestions definitely welcome.

K9: The concern is that if you don't have control you wont diminish her excitability toward other distractions. whilst she knows she has a chance, she will always try!

Dogs are the eternal optimist.

Oh, and also as I mentioned before we have two different types of walking - we use the halti for going jogging and also when out for a casual stroll with friends and use the check chain for training walks. Not sure if that's the right thing to do or not?

K9: It isnt advisable to jog on a halter, they can & have caused injuries to the neck & its more likely when jogging.

The other thing is that it promotes two sets of rules or a degree of flexibility and when in training yo must be consistent.

K9: It really sounds like your putting a lot of emphasis on the tool alone, the way the collar is used plus the method applied makes all the difference in the teaching of the loose leash walk.

Once the exercise is taught, to keep the dog performing it well you must sure the rest of the dogs life is in balance, making sure that the dog is mentally stimulated will keep that balance.

Citronella is a repellent. It has very low toxicity and is 'GRAS' (generally regarded as safe).

http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/biopesticide...heet_021901.htm

It can irritate skin, and certainly some individuals are predisposed to having a reaction to it. I also have concerns about cheap oils, particularly where pets are concerned because manufacturers (particularly in some parts of the world) seem to not care about the welfare of our pets. Citronella may not be the problem. Stick with reputable manufacturers.

K9: It isn't safe when it causes skin irritation, the reactions I have personally viewed were not worth the risk.