Steve K9Pro

K9: Hows the first of November? (Not a guarantee but a possible)

K9: The reliability in this situation will largely depend on the dogs temperament eg drives & nerves & what the dog call satisfaction. Once he had caught the lizard the prey had stopped movin hence held a lesser value in terms of distraction. This is just one possibility. K9: which in many cases can be an advantage. K9: there are two issues (at least) with this last statement. 1. How are you the dogs friend if you ended up taking the prey away? That makes you part of the problem, not the solution. You ended the drive process rather than made it continue. 2. If your not there & the dog has access to a little life, what chance is there that the dog will allow that life to continue? None? K9: You might not be aware of this but it also makes him a dangerous dog, according to NSW law. I am not one who doesnt understand that animals will hunt prey, but to the dog there is little difference between a lizard to a rabbit to a cat to a child. There needs to be some manner of control. K9: Fun is very situational though, I am sure the lizards arent cheering about it... lol. K9: They can be used in many ways, to achieve various results. Used correctly, there is no better training tool. K9: Probably best leave it there lol... C:

K9: I have been emailing Laeral & its all under control. Its good to keep an open mind & although level 20 sounds high, this is a low to medium power collar with 127 levels, the difference between each level is less than 1% so its minimal. I can not feel anything under level 35 on this model. My method of training works on the lowest level that the dog can just percieve which is why we use this type of collar. K9: Its a Dogtra 280NCP, great unit K9: In theory yes, but in practice no. The working level is about adjusting the collar level from the lowest level to the point in which the dog can just feel it, its not a correctional type level. K9: If the level was set on very high then all this is theoretically possible, but as the level is well below anything that could be deemed painful, there is no risk. Used at this level the collar becomes a "behavioural interuptor" that can be shaped according to certain conditions. K9: Good question: In some states of high arousal or drive, the dogs ears are quite inefficient, also referred to as "selective deafness". Whistles in those cases are not of much use. K9: This is largely dependant on many variables. Training in drive is my preferred method of training, but you must have a dog with drive or it has no real value. In the case you mentioned above, many dogs learn how to satisfy their drive before the trainer shows up with a tug (or similar prey item). This means that its well & good to play tug but when the game of tug starts to cost more than chasing the "x", reliability may go out the window. Something may need to be done to "de value" the free prey items which in turn can increase the value of your prey item, (tug). K9: if you go too far with punishments with any dog you lose them...

K9: In reality, its not a stage as it is a learned behaviour. The TOT is creating a foundation to build your training & pack structure on rather than a total solution to a problem. K9: from your description it appears that your dog is over sensitive to the trigger/stimuli of food. This means that you will need to change the way the dog is fed to a large degree. Your dog appears to be now triggering on the sight of you at the back door. This will have been because you have constantly appeared at the door with food consistantly. I would stop all food from coming out that door to begin with, to take the focus off the door. K9: The success many have gained from this program has come from following the instructions to the letter, this means a sit first. The sit is a more static/relaxed position & includes some submission. So it must be first movement, the attention on you being the first action. I know in the show world people think sitting will compromise the stand, but that is a myth. He won't touch the food untill I say OK but he is torn between looking at me and staring down his food - he knows that looking at me means that he can eat once given the ok, but tries to predict me and dives toward his food once he has glanced at me, but stops before getting to the food because I have said "AH" letting him know that I don't approve of his actions (this doesn't work when he is being loud). K9: Behaviour diagnosis can really only take place when I see the dog, not hear your take on what is happening. This robs me of seeing the dogs body language, pack position & amount of drive. The best bet is to book a consult with me or anonther behaviourist before these behaviours become deep seated & habitual. It is far too hit & miss to do it online.

K9: There is stacks of stuff on drive training to read but what I teach is my own method through my own program, whilst on the surface some may look similar, there are significant differences. There are some drive articles on my web site, & of course we have Distance learning packages which include training in drive that are comprehensive & are specifically designed for each individual case. There is also quite an intensive thread I started on DOL a while ago that can help.

K9: things like the different types of aggression, what can be done about it, methods etc etc.. K9: aggression is another very complex task, to reach full rehab is possible but most think its not. If you didnt notice, I was extremly proud of a couple of dogs at te workshop whose owners have excelled themselves it rehabbing previously aggressive dogs. K9: I am happy to leave open some time for any topic people want to discuss....

K9: will try to lock a date in this week, so much happening here all the time keeps me flat out...

K9: good to hear about him looking for his tug toy. I am happy to video or have you video me doing the skateboard thing... Not with me riding it though... lol. ********************************** K9: yes we have another date reserved, so its just about the topic now... K9: Thank you all for your kind words, it is very hard to present the topic of training in drive because you never know what dogs you will get & how much drive there would be & that falls on top of the standard challenges running a workshop can bring, but there were so many good dogs there it made it a lot easier on me. There were a few very high drive dogs there & many more with great potential it was obvious to see. My advice to those who felt little drive was shown is try again to trigger drive in your dogs home territory, see what you get, you may be surprised. What we coveed is the tip of the Iceburg when it comes to Training In drive, but I hope I got a good explaination out there & all questions were answered. As always any questions about any topic covered, or those not covered email them onto me & I will answer them. Steve

K9: yes the chemical reaction in the dogs are the same for all drives. K9: yes & it stimulates a alternate value system in the dog. K9: drive satisfaction is the chemical reward, rather than the taste of the food etc. K9: exactly the same & its fine to ask no one remembers everything. The arousal sequence in some dogs is just triggered by a different means, everything else is much the same. K9: Most welcome..

K9: I actually really didnt notice him making any noise, all the dogs were very well behaved... K9: well like I said, you ever get sick of him, I will take him, that boy has a lot of potential. I dont make those comments lightly. K9: power him up in drive & he will amaze you with what he can do... K9: very welcome, like I said there were no dogs that were badly behaved.

K9: Looking forward to seeing you all at the workshop...

K9: Most dogs wil be hesitant at going full on into drive in a new place, but mostly this workshop is about teaching handlers how to get started with drive training & how to progress, most importantly, what not to do... The size of the dog doesnt matter either .. lol...

K9: It is a Federal offence if you import restricted goods without a permit, even in parts.

K9: we have Containment systems that have proven very effective, either that or we also have dog runs that are pretty much unescapable. Email us on [email protected] for more info

K9: there is a communication problem (in which the tot can help). Your dog needs to see the food or the high energy from you to be triggered into drive. This means that you do not own the trigger & as you can see this needs to be fixed. Its more of a training in drive problem than a TOT issue although as I said the TOT can help. Try looking up my training in drive thread & see if that helps, this isnt something I can solve easily over the net though...

K9: I wasnt, peop,e who have been to my workshops will tell you I dont stop until I get results... K9: Too ealry to tell, but if I do, we will let you know. K9: yep can be done. K9: have bucket loads of info K9: truck loads of info. K9: you know thats standard!

K9: RL, you have a private lesson booked down here unless I am mistaken, by the workshop I might be using your boy as a demo of a good dog.... My motto is "EXPECT RESULTS" Dont forget the K9 ism "the impossible we do at once, miracles take a little longer"...

K9: I have some stuff that will blow you away... Leadership is one of the key ingredients to solving dog aggression....

K9: thats easy... :D K9: My ol dogs are retired, just jump the fence & see...

K9: Putting a workshop together in QLD, in your dream workshop, what would you see?

K9: sorry Rom has been waiting on me, with bookings here so busy it had left my mind, but were back on it now... K9 Force > Qld > 2008 > yes.

K9: yes best too, otherwise some meals free, some cost obedience & attention will high light the triangle as "expensive place to eat".

K9: Makes no difference which dog first...

K9: Legs eleven you got it!

K9: lets plan for success, not prepare for failure is a good rule of thumb... :rolleyes: K9: I have seen this done in a dog crate, also you can back tie him twice, one long line to a ground stake, the other a 6 foot leash to something solid, when released only release the 6 foot... Not so hard...