Janba

Wanted to know what in her opinon is the allowance for time. as to me it might be 0.5 sec and to her 10 sec. and for some it might be 3 minutes It depends on what I am training and what discipline. In herding the correction is immediate and so is the praise. I doubt in any discipline, other than tracking, I would wait 10 seconds, probably closer to a second maximum with the older ones and a maximum of 2 with the pup. I don't work on my dogs 'beating the correction' and I rarely train my dogs on lead except for tracking.

I have my back door open most of the time as well but if it is shut the dogs will come up to me and make it known they want to go out. It just happened I never really taught them. I had one dally who asked to go out one night while I was watching TV. I didn't want to miss anything so I ignored her and she eventually gave me a really dirty look and squatted. Not a drop came out but I was up and opening the door as quickly as I could

I agree with Poodlefan amd Jules P. It depends on the dog, the level of training and what you have actually taught the dog. As an example with an automatic sit, if the dog does it 99 times out of 100 what is different in the 100th time ? Was it your body language, not enough distraction training and a lot of other factors. If the dog only sits 6 times out of 10 does it really understand the exercise?

How much time? Tell the dog to sit (and it knows what to do) dog looks around takes a step to walk. What then? Then it has offered a different behaviour than the one you asked for.

If you give a correction before the cue you are correcting the behaviour the dog is currently doing or has just completed. It used to be said that the reward has to be given within 2 seconds but I think it has to be a lot sooner in a lot of cases. It has to be given before the dog does another behaviour. With a correction I would allow enough time for the dog to perform the behaviour but the reward has to come as soon as the dog responds to the correction. ETA I don't want a dog that needs to avoid any of my actions. Correction can be verbal or placing the dog in posn but if you use check chains etc you still need to reward the response to your correction so the dog knows that its response to the correction is right

From what I have learnt and experienced there are 3 times a dog tests pack position, approximately at the times when they reach sexual maturity, physical maturity and social maturity. Your girl would be at about the stage of physical maturity. Now I don my flame suit. In my opinion and observations most dogs don't want to be packleaders, it isn't in their particular nature. Imagine in a pack situation if every member wanted to be alpha - it would be chaos, but there are dogs whose nature is to be dominant. From what I have observed and learnt over 30 years of being involved with dogs is that the biggest problems are where an owner doesn't assume leadership and forces a dog who would rather be led to take on the role of pack leader - it is very stressful for them. Pack leadership is also not a dictatorship. I have often watched the bitch who is alpha of my dogs stand looking at one of the others who has something she wants - a bone or the best bed. They don't neccessarily give it to her or get up and she doesn't force them to as they seem to have a right to that thing while they possess it. On the other hand they will not stand beside her while she has a bone but wait at a respectable distance. Also have you actually taught her that a recall in a nice tone means that you don't necessarliy have to obey instantly but a harsher tone does? The same with calling her at the park. You say you have to call her twice, so oin her mind is the second harsher command the one she has to obey? Barking when you make a mistake in agility could be frustration or confusion but is hard to tell withoout seeing it. Herding is different to a lot of other disciplines as you are working with instinct. As Colin Webster puts it there are 2 types of dogs in herding, the gatherers and the killers (not literally) that follows on from the way a pack hunts in driving the prey to the waiting dogs or wolves to kill. This seems to be instinctive and nothing to do with dominance. My pup who is definitely bottom of the pack and quite a submissive dog is a killer. He had a bad dive in and grab when I first started him (and tried it regardless of who was working him). You gear you training to the type of dog you have and a good stop and out command work wonders. Dogs will also often try to grab or chase when you work them on their bad side as they find it harder and get frustrated.

What do you feed your pup? Diet can play a big part in how acid or alkaline urine is.

Oh Anne I am so very sorry to hear about Claude, he was a lovely boy. My heart is with you. Run fee Claude :cool:

I have never had a puppies baby teeth removed unless there was a problem with the way they were erupting and that has only happened once. I would probably consider removal of hind dew claws if she has them as the are not attached by bone and can get caught in things and injured easily. Front dew claw removal is a lot more major in an older dog as they attached by bone, so the recovery time is longer and it is more painful. ETA I have never had a vet suggest tooth or dew claw removal when I have had a pup neutered. The only things my vet normally asks is about pre anaesthetic bloodtests and if I want the dog on a drip during the op.

I have a dally that does this sort of thing and she is just 'talking' to me. It is not a real bark but a loud 'whoa whoa'. She does it when I get home, when I pick up the food bowls to feed them, she also does it if I am very late in feeding them as a reminder and to the other dogs to make them play. She has no dominance issues and is just a talker. Have you thought that maybe you have taught her that a wagging finger is a signal to Bark?

Springy I am so sorry - what an awful thing to have happened. My heart goes out to you RIP Maxie -

LINK Scroll down to the cironella disifectant. They are at Riverstone but deliver all over Sydney

Whereabouts are you? One of my clients makes cleaning products and has a cleaner/disinfectant that contains citronella as a fly repellent for just this sort of thing

I have had a dog bitten by a RBB and showed only mild symptons of being off colour and not wanting to eat much (a bad sign in a dally). The emergency vet I took her on a weekend decided she had a tooth infection and sent me home with anti biotics and instructions to take her to my normal vet to have her teeth cleaned. My vet did a blood test and determined it was a RBB snake bite, but by then she was on the mend and didn't need antivenime (sp?). She had had a small wound on her lip and the vet thought she just caught one fang and didn't get much venom injected.

Thanks everybody. I called in to DogsNSW today and they printed me off a copy of the new rules and I have had a quick look. I'll read it at the weekend when I can relax and maybe absorb it.

Thanks indi-dog. My pup has his HIC and he can do the herded started course no problems other than his handlers mistakes. I'm in NSW and have heard of no information night for handlers and only rumours flying around about the changes. I guess I'll have to wait till the new rules get printed.

bump

I use the same size crate my pup will need as an adult, but put a smaller box as a bed in it to make them cosy and also to block of part of the crate. If the crate is too large they can get far enough away from their bed to pee. I put the crates in my room to start of with so I can hear them. I also have a crate in the living area of the house where i can put a pup when I can't keep on eye on them. I find they cry if they want to go to the toilet. I have never had a puppy or dog toilet in a crate. My older BC boy slept through the night form about 10 weeks and when I got my younger at 11 weeks he slept through from the moment I got him. The older still sleeps in his crate every night (door open) and the younger on a bed beside his crate. They usually feel secure in their crates- it is like a den. At pet expo we had a couple of crates set up in the dally stall and when the dogs got tired of meeting and greeting they were asking to be put into the crates for a rest. ETA Your puppy looks really cute Good luck with her.

I crated the 2 BC I have at the moment as babies. They stayed in the crates till I was ready to get up and let them out even though the older dogs were free. Now they both stay in their beds till I am up whether it is 6 am or 10 am. The youngest is just 10 months are full working bred so it does work. Could you crate him in the garage overnight?

Does anyone know what changes have been made to the herding rules? There was talk about the HT becoming optional, does any one know if this is now the case? Also any other changes? Thanks

Is this the one you mean? Link

I was listening to the puli man at pet expo yesterday and he was saying it took something like 4 or 5 hours to bath and dry the each dog.

My 9 month border is ball obsessed. I have always refused to play with him and the ball ( as I didn't want a dog that continually dropped balls at my feet for me to throw) so he invents games to amuse himself. He rolls it down steps and the pounces on it, he throws it in the air and does the same, drops it off the back of a chair , he plays soccer with a football and anything else he can think off.

Her details can befound on this link. Link I have been to lectures and seminars she has given as well as known dogs who have been refered to her. She is excellent

Congratulations As someone who has a BC who is struggling with HT (bad wool puller) that title can be a huge acheivement with some dogs and is can give you more of a thrill than with a dog that just does it easily.