Tangwyn

Jeff Smith, Do you conduct training exercises using mixed presentations of target and non-target odours?

Serious??? What was the value of the products? :D You must have gotten a Customs Officer that day with PMT! ;)

There shouldn't be a problem with Customs unless you're bringing the product in in commercial quantities. I've bought heaps of stuff from the US and have never had any issues. :p

Actually, it appears as though its mostly made in NZ? Perhaps the one with roo is made here. It also contains possum meat. Yuck...

Definitely Aloveen :p My Lab tries to eat it when I'm lathering her up!!

Hi there, This is way too embarrassing but here goes anyway... My last Golden Retriever was a crazy, mad retriever. At his first retrieving trial I heeled him up to the peg, removed his collar and lead and watched him immediately speed off into the paddock in search of the bird which had yet to be thrown. When I finally got him back and to the actual firing point, he broke as soon as the bird went up, sped out like a steam train, picked up the bird and took it to the bloke sitting on the bird throwing machine I loved that dog... :D ETA C-J I love the black stump story!!! and Lablover - how would the judge score Cracker's inspired blind?

Hi again, 1m isn't very high so he probably jumped it I'd say. Where are you moving to in Sydney? The best idea is to get out and join an obedience and an agility club. Most of them have classes in the evening to suit people who work. Going to classes will get you started in understanding how to go about teaching appropriate exercises, will introduce you to lots more puppy owners who are all having the same "fun" you are, and will allow you to have a look at older, experienced dogs which should provide you with enough inspiration to carry on! Confining your boy to a pen with lots of toys and treat-filled kongs during the day, coupled with heaps of training and exercise should be the answer to your problems. There are several companies who manufacture 6ft high portable pens for dogs at a reasonable price, especially if you add up how much damage a dog can do to your backyard in the space of 12 months! I'm also in the Sydney area so if you'd like to catch up sometime for a Flatcoat puppy frenzy I'm sure "Pepper" would be up for it! BTW, its raining today so my boy has finished the job he started on the straw broom. Ah, the joys of puppies. ;)

Hi there, I have a 6 month old Flatcoat boy so I can sympathise! Firstly, I don't know how anyone can have a dog on its own. They need a friend - especially if you're out at work all day. Secondly, intelligent dogs need mental stimulation as well as physical stimulation so training, training, training is the key. I take my guy out training at 6am every morning and the yard stays fairly clean. If I miss a day like I did this morning he repays me by trashing the yard. Today I went out the back to find pot plants emptied, the plastic rake completely chewed in half, blankets ripped up, clothes pulled off the line and the lilies pulled out of my water feature. All I could do is sigh and think "fair enough, should have gotten my rear end out of bed and done something with him." Containment is certainly the answer to keeping your yard and possessions relatively unscathed. However, it does not address the issues of boredom and loneliness which will have a long term negative impact on your dog's psychological well-being. Training your dog will allow you to form a better bond with him and also will mean you get the most out of your time with him. There are so many things you can try with your dog - agility, retrieving, flyball, obedience, trick training etc etc. Give one or all a go, its great fun! Cheers Tangwyn

The reward I use depends on what exercise I'm training. My pup is 4 1/2 months old so we're still very much in the teaching phase of everything. If I'm doing retrieve training I'll intersperse "serious" retrieves with "fun dummies". At the moment its about 1:1 ratio. However, he still gets tactile and verbal praise for each and every retrieve he completes. I use birds about once a week to keep his retrieve drive firing on all 6 cylinders. For the obedience component of training I have phased out food almost altogether now. Using myself as the primary motivator keeps me on the ball and also ensures that I maintain a very active and positive attitude. I have also found that this is almost a failsafe way to ensure that I only train when I'm in the right frame of mind. If I'm unable to adequately reward my pup with my play and praise then I shouldn't be training that day! I use a release word to indicate when his tactile reward is coming. Because I tend to throw the "Ok" in at any point I find he is now looking up at me in anticipation for most of our heelwork. This tells me that I'm using the right reward ;) Edited to fix my rubbish spelling...

I agree with K9Force. As soon as I saw the pic I got the feeling the dog is licking food off the child's hand. Given the seemingly endless sticky nature of my nieces' hands when they visit I would assume that any dog would find them enticing. If the dog has been re-inforced by finding some tasty treat smeared on those fingers it will be a difficult habit to break. Even worse is that a variable reward is most re-inforcing so even the occasional reward from those hands (or other part of the body) means the behaviour goes on. Exclusion from the area of the child may be the only answer at the stage. Very tricky...

Yes it does. And good looking too! :D As for Woody's semen... is there enough left over for that working-line bitch I'm gonna import in a few years?

C-J, I can't remember if your two original dogs were related or not? I'm still considering my genetic theory...

Whilst the act of licking is not necessarily restricted to Flat Coated Retrievers from what I understand it would be a very rare Flatcoat that wasn't an almost obsessive licker. When a friend of mine (who had previously owned a Flatcoat) heard I was getting one he said, "Get ready for a whole lotta lovin'!" I was pondering the behaviour the other night and wondering if there is a common ancestor that is responsible for the "lickety-lick" nature of the breed. The gene pool became so small at one point that I wouldn't be at all surprised if this was the case. Tangwyn Edited for spelling...

Photo please!!

The plot thickens! You will have problems ensuring compliance in one area of the dog's training if you are not clear about where he stands in other areas of his life. Respect is so, so important! You shouldn't have too much of a problem using the long line at the park with other dogs. How many other dogs are there? If you are able to have a quick word to the owners' of other dogs in the park, let them know what you're working on. They can assist by not letting their dogs mob you when you're trying to reward yours. Perhaps they might like to practise some recall training With my pup, the correction for ignoring a recall command is a few persistent tugs (not pulls) on the long line. Its like, "Hello, anyone there?" . I then repeat the command (because I now have the dog's attention) and reel him in and reward. I then release him immediately to continue playing. I'm not sure about the legalities of using an e-collar in WA (they are illegal in NSW) but I wouldn't recommend it for your situation. The dog needs to be appropriately conditioned to the collar and you need to have excellent timing when it comes to administering a correction. You have a soft, intelligent dog that I believe will respond to amish methods of training just fine.

ILFCs, This is the key. If you give a command, (eg "Come") and the dog ignores it you need to be in a position to follow up immediately with a correction. If you're not in a position to follow up immediately and you think your dog is likely to ignore the command do not give the command at all. Go get him instead. Every time you allow your dog to disobey a command or ignore an instruction you actively de-value that command or instruction. Personally, I'm all for keeping the dog on a long line until you have proofed the recall. As for feeding out treats, there is a bit of an art to getting the treat into the right dog when you're being mobbed by a pack of dogs. Make sure your treats are soft so that they are swallowed easily and hold it tightly in your fist until its your dog's mouth against your hand. Then quickly slip the treat straight into your dog's mouth. The other dogs won't even know what happened. You will only get into problems if you throw treats on the ground or drop them. Hope this helps. He's a smart dog - I'm sure you'll do ok.

I don't believe the Flatcoat licking behaviours are necessarily submissive although dogs of this breed generally appear to be of soft temperament. My Flatcoat even licks the cat and he's certainly not being submissive. More like he's treating the cat like an icy-pole! He licks me, my other dogs, new dogs, new people etc etc and he only pairs the licking with other submissive behaviours on the odd occasion. To me, wanting to stop licking behaviours in a Flatcoat is similar to wanting to stop herding behaviours in a Kelpie because all that stalking, crouching and running up and down is annoying. Certain characteristics are inherent in breeds - annoying or not. Three words - recall, recall, recall.

Yeah, where's the rest?

Bad news, I'm afraid. They don't call Flatcoats the "lick-lick-dogs" for no reason! :rolleyes: Its an innate breed trait and one which you will probably have to live with. I find it adorable but guess others may not... ETA: The best way to control it in the off-leash environment is to improve the quality and reliability of your recall. He should be coming immediately and every time you call. It is do-able. My 4 month old Flatcoat pup is extremely sociable but I noted the other day that when I called him as he was en-route to a Border Collie he did a 180 degree turn and came straight back. His recall has been conditioned with treats and a clicker. He's currently on a 1:1 reward schedule for recall. Good luck!

Lab, Sheltie and a Flatcoated Retriever. They're all equally as bad

:D :D

What sort of dogs do you own Jensta? If I based what I ate on what my dogs would consume I hate to think what would be going into my meals Dead, rotten birds, scraps left on the ground at the park, rabbit poo, horse poo, cow poo, cat poo... One of my work Labs lunged for a used prophylactic at the park once. Lucky I caught her in time!

Hi CTD, Hope everything goes ok for Moses. In my experience there is no such thing as JUST a grass seed. Fingers crossed that either its already come out or there wasn't ever one there... Sending big pats for Moses

Indeed it is. Savour every moment...

I would have to say, yes, in the past I have lost my temper when training. This would have usually been in the lead up to a competition when I would feel significant pressure to ensure that all problems were rectified within a defined period of time. A real recipe for disaster in dog training!! As I've gotten older I've come to understand my own personality alot better and now manage myself accordingly. If I start to get frustrated or inconsistent I put the dog away immediately. This can be tough to do if I've driven an hour or two to train on a particular property but I've learnt to do it anyway. So much damage can be done by persisting on working through a problem when the dog has obviously shut down that I'd rather waste a whole day in travel and petrol than set the dog back by weeks or months. The same goes for the trial, if I have to skip it because the dog has developed a problem then no big deal - I'll wear that. Often when I read the list of ideal traits for dog trainers I wonder if anyone could possibly fit all those requirements. And although there may be some who can tick off every personality and physical trait on the list, what about the rest of the population who can't? Does that mean they shouldn't train a dog or indeed have a dog? I think successful dog training comes down to knowing your own limitations and managing them accordingly. The best thing I ever came to understand is that any problem my dog has is MY problem, not his. It means I now walk away from my training sessions thinking, what can I do better? What should I have done differently? This change in focus, I think, makes all the difference.