Steve K9Pro

K9: Not to really side with or against anyone, these comments are I think worth a mention. K9: I think sometimes it is about lowering drives in some dogs. K9: True and the aggressive dog will eventually come to terms with the other dog being there, if the other (decoy) dog continues to provide the same level of distraction, if the aggressive triggers reaction in the decoy dog, you may not successfully wait out the aggressive dog. I find this a slipperly slope to work on in the early part of rehab.

K9: Coming into this late, very busy time of year but anyway... K9: I dont think it is wise to set a time "limit" on pschological changes taking place but, being time aware helps us keep a rein on how well the specific program is working, so for me it isnt about how long it will take for the dogs feelings to change, but more what effect has occured in x amount of time on this program. K9: Be it thatI would guess that other dogs will be in the class or vacinity, I would also recommend a muzzle as no handler is good enough to be on the whole time, and if another dog runs over the aggressive dog, accidents can happen and it never goes down well when someones dog is aggressed upon in a class environment.

K9: Just to clarify, if you get a Jafco muzzle from us or a Lightweight Plastic Basket Muzzle like SA is using, and on arrival you fit it and its a little to big or small, we will swap it for sure, the dog needs to have it fitted so that you can see if it does fit or not. If you had it on your dog for a week, well that maybe another story, but fitting for size is certainly ok. For some dogs that have irregularly shaped noses or jaws, we have had to swap a few times and even have custom made muzzles made, happy to work with you to get it right. K9: Ideally measure the circumference of the nose (dogs muzzle) at the stop, this is the flat section in front of the eyes, also measure from this point to the end of the nose and use our sizing chart.

K9: Thanks BD, you guys brought your A game every day and let me push the envelope every minute to get you the best results I could hope for. Blayde worked hard and it all flowed well to get a great result! Lets keep going with him and make sure the changes are permanent! And thanks everyone else for the kind words, I really appreciate them. :D

K9: shoot me an email and I will give you a muzzle training program :rolleyes:

K9: I havent tried that particular one, but most "remedy" level products vary from no change to a very small change. They of course may be helpful and even more so in conjunction with other things.

K9: I have had the opportunity to complete quite a lot of testing with DAP. Considerations: DAP is helpful to a dog that has had a normal 0 - 8 weeks life schedule and environment, if there were trauma or stress in this period, I have found DAP either not helpful or aversive / unsettling. The best most consistent results we have had are with the Diffusers, plugged in the home and left running constantly, the effects after a 3 week intro period have been quite good. Tried the collars and the spray, with inconsistent results at best. There were a few dogs that showed really solid improvements but the majority seemed unaffected so we decided only to stock the Diffuser and not the spray or collar. This may change though if we find better results.

K9: Of course you can, but I really think that you may be drawing the bar of "when to see a behaviourist" a little high. K9: yes I believe so, if you have a pet dog that is forcing humans to do things then it is a really good time to seek help. The breed really has no part in this decision or if the behaviour should be excepted (IMO) K9: I think if you look at this from a BSL perspective you may not have put it this way... Many dogs were bred for things that arent permitted now, this doesnt mean that the dog should be excused from these behaviors, or that these behaviors cant be managed, redirected or trained out. K9: If your still reading this, or perhaps for others benefit, this dog may not have an excess of prey drive which caused this issue, he could have a hyper active disorder that means that he cannot help himself. There are therapies, medicines and treatments that can help either cure or manage these problems and this is why a behaviorist should be consulted with. Considering your experience in training and with this breed, I would be surprised to find this dog just displaying uncontrolled prey drive alone. The problem I think most people see is that, put this dog in the same situation again, the same out come will arise.

K9: you have some great choices in Victoria but do look first at the guys who give their time here like Erny, Kelipie I, Cosmolo and Nekbet.

K9: the poison comes from the tick not the soap or other removal chemical. These DO work but when the tick can't breathe it's common for them to panic and release more poison, possibly killing the dog.

K9: the TOT isn't designed as a fix all, but it is a great start, it would be advisable to get some expert help here before matters get worse.

K9: yep you can't go wrong with Jane!

K9: Yep thats true in many cases. K9: Yes if they arent embeded sometimes your fingers will do the trick, if they are I used to use tweezers but found that I often had to dig pieces of tick out of the dog, so I guess pulling the tick in half was stressful and more poison would be injected.

K9: I have been using Tick Keys for a while now, they are truly very simple and there is one hanging off every key ring we have. The problem with putting a chemical on the tick is that the chemical does aggravate the tick which can cause the tick to release more poison into the dog, with paralasys ticks this is not good. The tick key takes the ticks out complete, fast without stressing them or breaking them off in the dog. Tick Key

K9: He actually discussed with the council the fact that he was going to fight the case with a temp assessment & we had asked him to get some paperwork together, references etc and armed with those and the fact that his dog wasnt guilty, they dropped the case. Which is a great result

K9: It is a good point, and worth thinking about however, we get a lot of these cases come our way and the vast majority of them are dogs that are far from deserving of this fate, it seems people with the "real" dangerous dogs keep them out of the spotlight. Rarely is the judgement deserved...

K9: They actually will Ruth, the owners view isnt always part of the investigation... We deal with a lot of these and there are some steps your friend can take if they move now. Get them to give me a call I can advise them what to do. Have a look at this link also... DDD 1

Literally. K9: lol or two... This is usually the sort of training you see when the trainer and decoy have matching white singlets, shorts and thongs on...

K9: Playing tug is almost a science, I have dedicated many years working on methods that get the dog to engage perfectly, it takes a lot of practice and concentration to get started.

K9: I would suggest that you may have played too long and he learned to bite your hands to get control of the game, I would be using a thin, long tug and a pair of gloves so you wont flinch when he goes near your hand. I would then start moving my hand to where he would bite and end the training session the second he touched your hand,.

K9: we cant really see what the decoy is doing, bad decoy work that adds frustration with no vent produces this type of behaviour in a high drive dog. There may not have been a decoy either as they hand what looks like a side arm back to the handler and I think I heard him say something about dry firing it, perhaps the dog ramps up under gun fire, even so this is far from anything close to what should be done... The dog looks like a young dog with little training, lucky though because a serious dog would have crunched that fool who keeps climbing on top of it. I heard him getting instructions from somebody who was brave enough to tell him what to do rather than do it... This looks like training from 20 years ago but looking at the Patrol car its recent. It is a very poor training session by some very lucky people, a seasoned civil dog would really have a ball with this type of treatment.

K9: Yep sure can. K9: It can be achieved a number of ways, thats the beauty of dogs, they are pretty adaptable to training, but yes it does make it harder / more time consuming and adds steps. ?K9: yep, no reason why not, but this question makes me wonder if you truly understand what each is, none of the concepts will effect pack structure in a negative way. K9: That of course is the goal, but there is always a chance that things can go wrong from genetic inception to death, its that uncertainty that keeps us guessing! Many people that have working dogs have used these methods with great success, more success even than pet owners I would think as their routine is more regimented and social outings less...

K9: Yep not permitted for use in NSW, lucky I travel so much eh...

K9: No not at all. K9: I am sure that she was in a situation she thought that was the best option, and I agree with debarking before euthanizing any dog. The reason I am pointing out other aspects of debarking is that they do exist. The problems I mentioned are well known amongst vets and behaviorists. I am sure that council etc took a dim view of someone who had 20 barking dogs in suburbia. I am in no way disappointed with your post and as I said, I dont disagree with Debarking under the right circumstances, which is when the dogs owner knows the possible outcomes and risks. I am sure you wouldn't be against that either. K9: lol perhaps there is a list? but I dont have one. K9: Sorry I have no idea what you have written here lol..

K9: Yes this is true on both counts, in our own tests spray collars are about 70 - 75% effective. K9: There are good and bad ones and the behaviour takes time to extinguish, if it didnt the aversive would be so fierce it would be problematic. I might suggest looking into why your dog is barking at as little as a fly, this might help This link