RealityBites

Before I got those Dobes, I have had 3 GSD, the last one being the most full on! I'm afraid that that is what they are like and they don't ever really grow up!! You just have to learn how to channel the energy!!

I suppose the bonus of finding local trainers would be that you could have a couple of them over the week? It would be too expensive to bring out more than one trainer from overseas, but you could maybe have two or three local trainers who specialise in different fields? Dunno, but I do like the idea....................

Don't think K9 would have the time to run a week's course..................... And besides I think being stuck with us lot for a week would probably drive him insane anyway *Pauses and imagines K9 running screaming, hands in air after only 2 days of intense bonding with half a dozen crazy people and their insane dogs* There must be IPO trainers that can speak english? You'd want to look for someone that had trialled at a top level but can also TEACH! Not neccesarily something that would go hand in hand! Cool idea tho, maybe you should look into it! As to the farm, could have helped there a few months ago.......................have loads of friends on property tho that may 'lend' it to us for a week!

If you do want to organise something like that, I'll help!

I've just met some 'German' Trainers that were treated as special because they were 'German' trainers and they were hopeless. So what I meant is that it doesn't matter what country they come from as long as they're good trainers!

I have a 20 month old male Dobe like that. He is fed twice a day and is on a good diet, but is skin and bones because he just never stops moving! If he's inside, he's round and round the couch, if hes outside he's chasing birds, flies whatever he happens to see. The only thing I have started doing with him that has made a difference is training in drive. It doesn't matter how long or how far I walk him for, it makes no difference. He is a rescue case from NSW, and I'm not sure what the people did with him before hand, but the drive training is the ONLY thing that makes him calm down and settle. AND I don't have to do it for ages either, a 5 or 10 minutes session twice a day, and he's happy to zone out inside. My other dobe who is 6 months old has been trained in drive since I got him at 8 weeks and he's about as laid back as a Bullmastiff who has walked 20 kms!! Try it and see if it makes a difference, if you do a search you'll find heaps of info about it and how to start etc etc.

http://www.australiandogtraining.com.au/ This club would be one of the only ones I'd go too if I wasn't already involved in something else. Haven and Erny could tell you more about them, but I was impressed when I visited.

Yes I would definately attend something like that, sounds like it would be great fun! It would be great to invite a well known (And succesfull) overseas trainer to come over and run a seminar like that. As long as it was a GOOD trainer and not just someone who happened to come from Europe (That doesn't impress me very much!! )

You would have to come and see an IPO club for yourself and watch the dogs, and form your own opinion if it is dangerous or not. But until you have seen it, don't assume anything

Well I am hoping that in spite of the fact that I hate driving around sydney (Done that once too many times! LOL) and that my trusty map works, I'm sure I'll find my way to your place eventually! Whether it's Friday or saturday!

Yep Cranbourne, Vic! Shame it wasn't more widely advertised as hardly anyone knew it was on. Would love to see the video's of last year! Maybe when I'm up there next weekend?................

Well I have told my two in no uncertain terms that they better look out!! They are in for a big shock if Mr K9 Force can teach me what to do with them!! The puppy actually dropped the remote for my amplifier out of his mouth at this bit of news. Too late for the remote, but I was pleased to see that he looked a little worried as I picked up the scattered black pieces of plastic from all over the lounge. "Did you hear that?" I said to my older dobe who was too busy worrying the ear of my *once beautiful* leopard toy for it to sink in. It was whiskerless by the time I got to it, and had one eye nearly hanging out, but he seemed suitably subdued when I told him the regime he would be on. "Mwahahahahaa!" *evil laugh* (For those that don't know what one actually looks like when written down.....................) *I wander off PLANNING to watch a movie, but then suddenly realise that altho I can still WATCH them, I can no longer HEAR them thanks to a certain 6 month old dobe puppy......................* If anyone else has horror hounds, better get in quick, apparently I'm not the only one with canine delinquents!!

The Aussi championships were held in Cranbourne this year and I stopped in for a sticky ion between moving house It was a great excuse for a break!! Anyway didn't get stacks of pictures but here are some of the ones I took. The guy with the Shepherd is from the Broadmeadows club and ended up winning it (I think!) So if anyone knows who it is please post his name here! Now I shall wander off and sigh in utter disgust that I can't even get my dogs to sit for more than 3 seconds.......................

Ummm can't I just make a point that is to do with the name of this thread? Dogs Don't LOVE people, they are animals!! However they will respect and enjoy your company as their pack leader. So you can't make a dog 'love' you! Sounds like Daniel has to balance his leadership with having fun with the dogs, playing games etc, being the one to feed them so they see good things as well as dicipline coming from him. ;)

I just wanted to ad that I needn't come to this seminar, because my dogs are perfectly behaved.And I said so quite heatedly to the window cleaner that turned up last night that I had forgotten was coming. "Of course my dogs are well behaved!" I cried when he showed me the half dozen paw prints all over his overalls (Personally I think my dogs were actaully trying to wipe dirt OFF him judging by the state of them) Apparently people that like to get into your backyard when you're not there, don't like having two male dobermans come tearing around the corner, and according to rumours, do NOT appreciate it when those fore mentioned dogs start hurling themselves at you with their tongues hanging out attempting to kiss your face while you scramble over the back fence "Come inside" I said, "I want to show you how well behaved my boys are" Unfortunately he couldn't hear me say that over the sound of a lamp crashing to the ground, as the two boys, attempting to imitate a steam train, were racing around and around my couch. "SIT!" I yelled, which they did!!! ON THE WINDOW CLEANER!!!!!! He still didn't beleive me, as they attempted to give him mouth to mouth as he had collapsed so suddenly they were concerned! (The didn't link this sudden complete collapse to the fact he was not able to use his legs after being bowled into by 50 odd kgs of hyper muscle) I had to slip into plan B of my apology, which was to ply the poor man with beer to soothe his shattered nerves and usher him out the front door whilst using my Jedi mind trick 'You didn't see ANYTHING' ;) so I won't be coming. I think I have proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that my dogs are the most well behaved things in the world and hardly need any more training.

Lysterfield is kind of between Narre Warren and Ferntree Gully if that makes sense! Vaccinations are important this time because the venue is a working kennels.........................

Nope, if you've already organised it with Steve that's fine, I was just working on getting a venue for it I will have to keep track on numbers tho as it's limited seating, so anyone that has already spoken with Steve, can you let me know so I have a rough idea on numbers? Thanks guys

K9 Force will be giving a seminar on Diagnosing and Solving Behavioural problems in Lysterfield on November the 18th. It will be an all day seminar, dogs are allowed but must be up to date with their C5 shots and proof of vaccination must be brought with you. Please PM if interested in coming along. Take a look at K9's site for more info www.k9force.net Places are limited and I have already had alot of interest so be quick! Thanks all, looking forward to meeting some more DOL'ers that weekend!

We had a chronic chewer and destroyer, I have two of them now, but not so bad, they haven't destroyed any of their outside bedding-YET! But what we used to do for our shepherd who destroyed everything, was we put a low board across the bottom of his kennel and then filled it with straw! The board helped stop it from blowing everywhere and it was a warm bed that he couldn't destroy and was cheap to replace

Well I bought mine from the trainer at the dog club I go to, and all he did was fit it for me and then wander off again.................K9, can you email or pm me what I should be doing?? I should be paying you instead of the club............

I should have done some more research before buying mine! It's the type you have to undo the links to get off and on and it drives me insane! You must be supposed to have big strong man hands to do it, and it doesn't help when it's attached to a wriggling 30 kg Doberman either! Out of curiosity, what are you supposed to do when you're dog still pulls on a prong?? I don't want to use it like a check chain, or are you supposed to give a correction with it?? My older dobe still pulls me along happily in the prong which to me is actually proof they don't actually hurt!! He doesn't pull AS much as he does in a flat collar, but still enough to be annoying!

I have cues for the dog, so I don't actually use the word 'stay'. i.e the dog sits, I say 'YES!" so he knows that's what I wanted, then he has a release word which is 'OK" which means that excercise is finished. I started teaching stay by using meal times too,

I have both dogs! The high drive 'bang my head against a wall with' type, and the 'OMG you growled at me I am going to pee everywhere' type dog!! With my sooky dobe he does best with food, but I 'play' with the food the same way I would with a toy, i.e he has to chase it in my hand and THEN I give a command, this gets him quite excited about it, instead of just passively handing over pieces of food. This might help with the pup that is sitting automatically, if you put some 'life' into the food for him he might be more excited about chasing it and not thinking about sitting all the time.

I don't think chopping bits off your dog will help with training issues :D BUT you definately need to make him see that other dogs are not fun! Does he have a favourite toy you could take with you out on a walk? Don't play with it at any other time but when he goes for a walk. Do you have a friend who has a dog that is not interested in other dogs but is calm around them? Find a dog like that and have your dog try and play with it and fail, and then have a big game with him with his toy. If you can do that several times, he'll start to realise you are more fun than other dogs. Out of curiosity (For my own research I am doing at the moment) did you take him to a puppy socilisation class of any sort? Or was he sociliased around other dogs as a pup? Thanks!

:D Denis!! If that's not enough research material then I don't know what is!!! Now I'm off to check my, uuuuhhhhhh, bedroom equipment to make sure it stimulates in the right areas without stopping my heart...................