Joan of Arc

Good luck Shad. make sure we get lots of photos in the Lab thread when you get your new baby.

Shad have PMd you I should have also invited you to join us in the Labrador thread where you'll meet lots of like minded people who are all owned by their Labradors.

Sorry Samboy cant help you there. We just feed our dogs sardines at least once a week and of course they occassionally get some codliver oil.

Just looking in to see how your puppy went with his crate training last night. Just keep plugging away at it, they end up being very good at going to bed and are better travellers if you want to take the crate on holidays with you.

Same here, we have Labradors and dont really want them playing inside, that's their and our quiet time. WE have an old blanket on the floor in the room we sit in, they know 'on your bed' and then they are rewarded for meeting that and other requests. It's part of their obedience training to be cooperative and stay on the bed (even if we leave the room).

I went to TAFE and spent one night each week learning Photoshop and now use CS4 and spent another night each week doing digital photograhpy, where I also learnt to use lightroom. I'm still learning but at least now I can do a new signature if I want and I edit all the dog photos instead of sending cards to a friend for her to do them.

Yes you can buy dividers but you have to purchase certain brands of crates and buy the divider at teh same time = try Groomers or one of the 'better' pet supplies places. I would steer clear of the idiot 'expert'. I crate train and its my experience that 'a dog never fowls its own yard' unless it has no alternative.

I didnt mean to indicate that it wasnt a good club, only that in Wagga there is only one club so the choice is that or none. We thoroughly enjoyed it when we attended but our Labs are always food driven so easy to train. It used to be a big club with lots of members attending every week and a plethora of dog breeds. You'll enjoy it I'm sure.

You could try to fix this problem by moving the food/stimulus away to a further distance while working, and then release him to it. Experiment with distance to the food target to work towards a managable drive level acceptable for learning. Normally distance to the stimulus has a big effect on drive level. Thanks dogdude, I'm on a mission now - as soon as I finish school reports and pups go and a whole lot of other time consuming stuff are over in the next week. Thanks heaps to everyone

Its a 'Delta' orientated club - they dont allow the use of check chains and they are certainly into food rewards etc. I attended for 2 years with my yellow boy when he was a pup - that was about 4 years ago when we lived in Wagga. If you live in Wagga its your only choice.

We know a couple who used Bark busters for their cattle dog pup. Supposedly to train it for basic obedience etc. They took the dog for ages, a few months I think and then 'graduated' and stopped going. When the dog was 9 months old they discovered teh dog was deaf. While I admit that the owners should have reailsed this at some stage, one would expect that if a trainer is coming to your house and seeing the dog two or three times a week, they would notice it.

We've been here a month now so maybe I wont be able to use it much longer either

You're right it will frustrate you, until the dog learns exactly what is required to get the food, and you learn how to harness her drive, then you won't look back. cheers M-J Thanks m-j, I'm determined to do this right and will persist, we go to shows and exhibit and do well enough but I really enjoy the obedience and working gundog side of things and believe I would rather do that.

Thanks Tibbiemax71, I knew about the training trials but a couple of us were under teh impression they were every 3rd Sunday of the month. AS for where our copy of the BOrder Bark is - do remember we have recently moved house so I can give you the standard movers reply ITS IN A BOX I'll check on Tuesday night - wasnt there last week.

Drive Tina has drive to spare and when you get food out the drive starts at the bum end and drives all the way through to the head You've seen her in action, how much drive should she need but she is a little over the top when food is around and I just thought that if I introduced excess food (I already bridge and reward) that I might have to start again and that would frustrate both of us. I think too with pups at home and moving house etc I havent been overly focused on teh bigger scheme lately.

That's the correct contact details for the club and they usually train on a Wednesday night unless they have changed their training times. They also train for Agility on a Sunday morning.

The only thing I could suggest would be to spend some time doing the drop with food and each time slowly extend the time between the drop, the bridge word and the reward. We have a bitch with a stubborn streak, she wont drop either, but that's how we won her over. But there are lots of professional trainers on DOL that will have a much better solution for you. Good luck

Why not use your left hand for your signals? I do. As I'm a lefty it is way easier for me to use my left hand for all signals. The bonus is that your left hand is usually right in front of your dog so you don't have to twist your body to complete a signal. I think the main reason that people tell you to use your right hand is that they are right handed. Bear. I was naturally using my left hand when I first got promoted to this class - where we started to work off lead - and every week the instructor was correcting me about using my left hand and telling me to use my right hand. Then we got a different instructor who told me to use which ever hand I wanted etc but by that time I had started to use my right hand and now its almost habit. I received a PM from a DOLer about thier club conducting mock trials and inviting me to join them for a practice. I thought that was a good idea but they are about 10 hours from me. It would be great if those of us within a couple of hours of each other could organise something similar. I find I like to learn from others and often trade ideas from outside the usual source. what I have decided to do is to get OH to video me training her, I will use my right and then my left hand and see which works best for the dog.

Thanks TerraNik I will take that info on board as well as the great advice from poodlefan and others. Appreciate the replies.

Thanks for the suggestion of the video poodlefan, OH can do that for me because we are in a later class than him. I think you may be correct about the drop of shoulder etc. Having had a knee replacement I dont always feel that steady on my feet in the dark and so sometimes I tend to check where she is so I dont trip etc. I am left handed and so have made a real effort to use my right hand to signal but do treat with my left hand. I do that because I see other dogs at training every week, sitting across their handlers left leg waiting for the treat from the right hand, instead of being beside the left knee. Its hard to explain why the food thing doesnt thrill me. I have used it before with our boy and very successfully, he is fantastic. Tina is a very excitable little girl, who we call wiggle bum for a reason. She is over excited when food is around and I wanted to try to work her with out it. I admit she does work well when there is food but others have said to try with another form of stimulus. Plus she is a lab and a 'good doer' so anything she gets at training has to come out of her daily food allowance. But I will try your suggestions and thanks for the advice.

We are getting ready to trial our girls in their first trial in July. Last weekend I was a steward at a trial (for the first time) and in conversation with the other stewards etc I passed the comment that Tina tends to heel a little behind my knee. I'm pretty sure this is because when I first started training her I was on crutches and maybe she thought she was going to get a whack in the head Different people have suggested that given she is a Labrador to just bait her forward with food and keep shovelling it in while she is in the correct spot. But I am reluctant to do this. Surely there is a better way that doesnt involve food? She is also easily excited so I was going to try and avoid the bouncing ball of squeaky toy technique. Any suggestions? I would love to try anything you can suggest.

Glad you're having fun Trish. See you next week with bells on.

Not sure what your girl weighs but if she is having dry biscuit in her Kongs of a morning I would be inclined to leave out the biscuit at the other meals. Mind you at two she really only needs one meal a day unless the Kongs also serve the purpose of keeping her amused while you are at work etc. You could add a small amount of cod liver oil to her diet, on top of the sardines.

My only comment would be that you should sit down as a family and make a list of the important things. These are some of the smaller issues and a couple of more important ones how much time can you afford to donate to exercise how much do you want to spend on food How old are your children Are any of them scared or a little wary of bigger dogs So what size dog do you want Will teh dog live inside / outside Will it be a dog that can be nursed by you or the kids - lap dogs can be lovely but not everyone wants a lapdog Why are you getting a dog, is it something to love, a guard dog, a lifelong companion for you or your kids, is it also part of a responsibility thing if your children are older. Whose going to feed it every morning and night and then eventually every night DO you want a puppy or an older dog that has gone through the puppy stage I, and most DOLers could add to this list. Only once you've answered these questions could you then sit down and go through the breed pages on DOL or "What DOg is That" etc to determine which breeds meet all your requirements. Good luck with your search and please let us know what you decide - and of course once the new member of your family arrives we would love photos.

I'm dong a digital photography course at TAFE and we went to the local cemetary last Wednesday night to work on DOF shots it was great. I will try and post some simple shots tomorrow.