Tilly

My GSD pup got his bath the very first night we got him. He was off the plane, 30+ minutes in the car on the way home and then straight into the warm hydrobath at about 11pm that night. While I would rather not have bathed him at night ... he stunk big time.

We just had lure coursing at Kuraby this morning and my little boy did his first full run (he has just turned 9 months). He had lots of fun and really enjoyed himself. Silly boy carried on big time waiting for his turn ... and when his run was all over he wanted to have another go. Shame it was so hot... Was there anyone else from DOL there?

Maybe look at an outdoor shower used for camping. It is a black bag you hang up and then use to shower. Alternatively - we use something like a jerry can (but square plastic) to carry dog water in the car. It has a tap.

The camps are as follows: 24/25 April - Richard Curtis (UK) - Dances with Dogs 26/27 June - Terry Ryan (USA) - Motivational Training 24/25 July - Steve Davies (Sydney) - Drive & Attention 4/5 September - Maree Field (Gold Coast) - Dances with Dogs 11/12 Sept - ANKC D.W.D. Official Competition (hosted by the Grafton Dog Obedience Club) TBA - Sue Hogben (Perth)

I haven't done anything like already mentioned. I can't say I have done anything "out there" but my neighbour will say they think I am a little strange when I was following our rottie around the front yard with a rubber glove and a little sterile bottle to catch a pee sample. There is also the time that the rottie was brought home from the vet after sedation and was desperate for a pee but was too wobbly on his feet to lift his leg without falling over. So there I was out the front of the house with one arm around his chest, and my knee supporting his body and I was holding up his leg for him so he could pee. Of course people had to walk past at the time and were looking at me very strangely.

Do you feed dry food or raw? I found my boys drink more when they were getting dry then they do now.

Nope .. definately some guy called Steve Davies. There is also another weekend with Terry Ryan on Motivational Training if anyone is interested

Camp Tailwaggers is running a weekend camp on "Drive and Attention" by Steve Davies from Sydney .... But I have never heard of this guy .... and I can't find anything other someone of that name was an author of a couple of books. One titled RAF police dogs on patrol (or something similar). Can anyone give me a link or tell me something on this guy? Many Thanks

Our rottie got his head stuck in a bucket after it was used by my mother to spread blood and bone ... our dogs are obsessed with it. We use Scotties Law Builder on our lawn and never had a problem with the dogs. Normally I spread it when it starts raining (and with the dogs locked out of the lawn area due to the rain) but if it isn't raining then water it in to get it off the surface of the lawn and down to the roots should be sufficient.

I thought it was only a problem when you didn't give the whole egg (eg yoke and white)... My boys get an egg at least once a week.

Try a produce place (horse supplies) and buy a "lunge" lead. Alternatively you could use a length of cord and tie knots at intervals along the length so you can step on the line if you are using it as a drag line.

Not long ago I had my GSD pup at an off-leash area. I had him on a lead while we tried out some agility equipment. There was another 2 dogs in the park but they were up the other end. After about 10 minutes one of the dogs came running towards us. Initally the dog appeared friendly and both dogs sniffed each other. Then suddenly the other dog growled and tried to nip my boy. I immediately stepped between them and shoo'ed the other dog away. As its owner was coming towards us and calling the dog ... it headed towards her. Then he turned and came back towards us so I used by foot to push the dog away. The owner made the comment of "what do you expect with your dog onleash" ... as if it was our fault that her dog tried to attack mine... This is a good article to read on how to break up a dog attack without getting hurt.

I get a whine/whinge when the brat needs to toilet ... usually only used when he is crated or we are in the car. When we head off so I can toilet him ... he will look back at me over his shoulder with a "will you hurry up" look as if he is waiting for his toilet command so he can pee. Both boys sit perfectly and look longingly their bowls when they want food. When the older boy is at work with my brother he will pick up his water bowl and take it over to the ice machine and look from the ice machine to my brother (and give a bit of a bark to get his attention) when he runs out of ice. He loves to crunch ice cubes. Slight OT - my two cockatiels which make a lot of noise if their water tube or seed dish is getting a little low ...

I took my boy to my mothers property for the Christmas break and while she only has stock fences (not dog proof fencing) I allowed him to run around dragging his normal leash ... he was a couple of metres from me (we were playing with his tennis ball) when he got distracted and headed towards some cattle over the other side of the road. While the road is a very quiet side road, I didn't want him near the cattle ... so I called him and he stopped, looked at me and then came running full pelt towards me. He got lots and lots of praise and some fun play time. Before starting RRR - I would never have allowed him the freedom to run around without being at the end of a 10 metre lead.

When my 9 month old hit the teething and 6 month stage he went from reasonably obedience to a complete handful. From day one we worked on his obedience etc so he learnt come, sit, drop, toilet, his name, heel, wait, and his food command (wait to eat on command). When he went through teething he stopped coming when called and then he turned everything into a battle of the wills ... and it became a case of my battling to get one step ahead of him. He is now settling down again but we had to go back to absolute basics and start his training from scratch again.

I don't particularly like Eukanuba ... maybe look at something like Royal Canin or Artemis - you should be able to get samples to try. As far as giving her extra stuff - that is no real problem as long as you reduce the amount of dry to compensate for the extra food. I used to give my boys stuff like chicken necks, chicken frames, sardines, egg and bones (brisket etc). I have now switched to total raw and our boys are loving it.

Maybe just ask them for their contact details and if the fine (for having a dog off-leash in an on-leash area) will be paid in cash or credit ... works for me ... especially when I pretend to take their photo with my mobile

Point six is weird, if punishment has to happen every time, then clearly the punishment hasn't worked. I would be looking for a better training system, dogs never chose to be in trouble. An example might be the dog getting up on the couch when he is not allowed. You "punish" the dog by removing him from the couch and putting him in the laundry. If you only remove him some of the time then the dog "could decide that performing the behavior was worth the risk of getting punished".

Punishment can range from a verbal correction, ignoring the dog for bad behaviour or a physical correction on the collar. I am all for positive rewards for training young pups but at some point you are going to need to correct the dog ... and this correction is a form of punishment.

The rules make perfect sense to me ...

Lochie is sooo cute

I am soo glad to hear he is not the only one who does this. I was beginning to think maybe he had been dropped on his head or something

I always assumed all dog lapped up water ... until we got the little brat. When he drinks he submerges his muzzle/head up to his eyes (or sometime over his eyes) and drinks his water that way. Obviously if the water is not that deep then he will lap up the water but his preference is submerging his head. Is there any other dogs out there that drinks this way or is my boy just abnormal ...

I stayed home last night to see how the brat went with the fireworks ... only because I hadn't exposed him to them before (and also because I didn't want to deal with crowds, drunk idiots, anti-social behaviour etc). I didn't expect him to have a problem as he has been fine with loud noises so far ... and he was great. He even barks at a few people who were wandering the streets late at night. The idiots started letting off the crackers at about 6pm ... and they ended up about 1am ... thankfully not constant but enough to be annoying.

Creating a barrier is one sure way of preventing damage. When my older GSD was a pup he chewed the corners of the plastic pots and I have tried everything to stop him chewing ... and the only thing that I have found that stopped him is tabasco sauce and extra hot cayenne pepper mixed together and painted on the area. Sounds cruel but plain tabasco sauce was not hot enough for him. When we got our current pup I had fenced off the entire garden area so I would continue to have a garden. The one area I didn't fence off was a thick bouganvilla hedge ... until he started chewing on it ... it is now fenced off.