The Spotted Devil

Someone I know just used a reversing camera.

Hey RB, you could always teach them to wait, leave them in a sit, walk out throw the dummies, walk back to them then send them, by then they should b really excited! You can also do doubles like this. Yes - this! Not blinds RB - confidence building marks. You don't even have to walk back to her each time - you can just send her.

JEALOUS MUCH!!! It's quite a crazy place! I've got a lot of photos of stuffed animals. Somewhat creepy. Didn't buy a thing for Em but it's a great time for clothes shopping as the stores have to pay tax on their stock at the end of January. This is dear old Rolex - very likely in his final months. Cataracts and arthritis but he's still happy and bright with meds to help him through. Nothing wrong with his hearing either - yelled at me this morning for not letting him out as soon as I got up :laugh: His young sidekick, Roxie - I thought RV might particularly enjoy these pics. She is full of hunt and endless energy at 9 months old. Her breeder is thinking of having a few litters from her (they live down the road). I've been encouraging her owner to train her up for a hunt test :) "Where's that barn kitty got to?" "Ah hah! There he is!" (Followed by a swift swipe from the disgusted black kitty)

I have stayed here. Not exactly upmarket but very nice, spotlessly clean and absolutely lovely owner/manager. You must book and specify the dog room though. I was in a bind coming back from Sydney as my male Dally (aka Romeo) romanced his breeder's girls so much on our trip TO Sydney that they all promptly came into season :laugh: It was a last minute booking coordinated by Mr TSD from Melbourne and the room was all lit up with the heater on for my late, late arrival.

So news is from home that the dogs and Mr TSD are doing well. I had a full day off today so I drove from Dayton to Columbus for a road trip with some of my OSU friends to West Virginia. Put "Cabela's" and "Clearance" in the same sentence and I am easily pleased :D Will upload a pic of my friend's lovely young Brittany when I have a chance.

I'm glad it made sense! Remember that it's about the dog's perception of the reward value...it could be the one on one nature of receiving the treat and also because he has probably succeeded in getting Sully to back off. Working hard for a reward seems to increase the value of the reward too. I remember the days when Ziggy would turn up his nose at cooked chicken. Now he goes crazy for dry food and tug toys :laugh: In fact if he is anxious (eg new house, camping, Em in season) he's much easier to feed through training.

After a long day of agility trialling, Ziggy seems to alarm bark more....and since we live in a very quiet spot, at nothing in particular! We like to call him "the angry drunk" :D

RM - as treats are often perceived to be much higher in value, there might be an increased motivation for Luca to guard them. Also as puppies grow up there can be a shift in the balance about who's in charge. My dogs are food crazy but they understand that all good things come from me IF and only if they demonstrate self control. Even my entire male will demonstrate absolute self-control and zero food aggression in the presence of male puppies/gangly teens/adults (and even the cats!) if I want to hand out special treats - he doesn't care if they get in his face because his focus is on me. Without having a full understanding of your dog's motivation I would suggest he learns self-control in the presence of treats. It's a lot to explain but there is some great reading to be had on Susan Garrett's blog about self-control and also Leslie McDevitt. All these exercises involve SELF control so no talking from you - it's all about puppy learning and making choices for themselves. You need to start with puppy in a very low distraction environment building up slowly until the other dog can be present but on leash and under control. A really easy one to start with is placing a number of tasty treats on your open palm (I sit down and rest my hand on my knee but it depends on the height of the dog). If pup approaches to eat the treats, say nothing but quickly close your hand over the treats. When puppy stops harassing your hand, slowly open your hand again. When puppy takes a step back or otherwise moves away from the treats, immediately reward with a treat but from your OTHER hand. You can progress to even higher value treats (make them lower value if he is struggling), place them on the floor etc but you must be quick and cover them up before he self-rewars. Don't say "no" or anything else as this is about your puppy doing the thinking rather than being told. I hope that makes sense! These things are much easier to demonstrate than they are to write about in a few minutes. Then there's the "steady feet game" which I use to teach stays and self control - I really like this game and I used it to teach my ESS to be steady to the shot.

And Domino was the nickname of one of the Bond girls.

Nice! I'm thinking "Pu$$y Galore" might be a bit much :laugh:

Incomprehensible I'm so very, very sorry.

Thanks megan but I think a book would overwhelm him! The dogs and cats walk all over him at home so he couldn't believe how well Zig ran for him. I'm overseas again so I thought it nice for him to be able to do something with the dogs whilst I am away. It would be nice to build them up to run games at novice level but zero pressure on Mr TSD is the only way to go. He's always happy to help ME train though Couldn't do without him for retrieving training!

Two of the books/DVDs I reccommend to my puppy buyers are 1-Train Your Dog Like a Pro by Jean Donaldson an EXCELLENT DVD comes with book It is VERY easy to follow & the methods are rewards/clicker or "YES" & food based The methods WORK!!! www.dogwisedog&catbooks.com 2-Dog Training the Gentle Modern Method by David Weston Hyland House Pub. Australia Thanks CC - Ziggy runs with me in Masters/Open Jumping/Agility plus Open Obedience. The dog is perfect! It's my partner who is the one I'm trying to train :laugh:

I know they can't be shown, that;s why I was also asking about other dog sports where they maybe competing - or can;t an unrecognised breed do any competitions over there? They can't compete in ANKC retrieving or field trials but yes to obedience and agility (on the Associate register).

Jo - for gun dog work have a look at AWRC website. Let me know if you need any help or contacts :) 2013 Retrieving trial dates: http://www.australianworkingretrievercentral.org.au/bb/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=2909 2013 Field trial dates: http://www.australianworkingretrievercentral.org.au/bb/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2910 Plus obedience: http://www.vicdog.com/trials.htm ETA: I'll be back by then so remind me closer to the date can you?

Hey razzle Far, far away from the MIL tlc - my PhD looks at the relationship between human attitudes and human behaviour and dog behaviour and dog welfare in animal shelters. I looked at over 30 handlers and 1000 dogs in Australia but just couldn't get the work done there that I wanted to. I'm working with a very large and progressive animal shelter over here. Hopefully these last 2 studies won't take me much more than a month to get done as I've done all the hard work in terms of methodology already.

Yes, a little further afield :laugh: I'm in Ohio undertaking research for my PhD. I was homesick before I got on the plane but I try to enjoy the novelty of being somewhere different and count myself lucky that I get such opportunities! I've been following the weather and fires there - just awful and makes me a bit nervous. Mr TSD is home with the menagerie and is copping the heat but it's always a few degrees cooler there. Fortunately when the 4 trees fell on our house, the old air-con was replaced under insurance

I've been at it again....this is Hank, a 4 month old Irish Terrier..... He lives just around the corner from me so more puppy licks and cuddles to come!

And the cutest Irish Terrier puppy ever Hank is 4 months old...

I took myself out for a long walk, very well rugged up but I really need some ear muffs! I walked for an hour but it turns out I went the wrong way to find the local stores so after a brief stop at home I set out again. The footpaths haven't been cleared so it's reasonably heavy going and you need to watch for slippery ice. For the most part, the snow is soft and powdery but a good workout nonetheless! A pretty little building in a park... And an abandoned bird nest...

I'm far from a photographer but just wanted to share a few snaps... The temperature range is about -7C (min) to 0.5C (max) with sunny days. More snow predicted for the weekend. My host and her kids/grand kids were snowed in for Christmas and started this puzzle. We finished it over coffee yesterday morning. My host has the whole house themed for Christmas and her late husband made the reindeer and sleigh. Each of the 7 kids has one of the 11 reindeer as a memento and there is also a full size set!

I have been O/S a fair bit lately and missing my dogs dreadfully. I often ask if I can pat a dog and/or take a photo - even with a language barrier it's always a conversation starter....even if the only words I know are "super hund!!!" and "bier" :laugh: Last trip, my blog was filled with photos of beautiful dogs and I made a few new friends through them too. The highlights were a Dutch Partridge Hound in Vienna, a stunning young Leonberger in Salzburg and a Dalmatian (and his owners) in Paris. Here's a little friend I made yesterday in Los Angeles waiting for his flight...

LP's Kinta is a black tri! :) Such a pretty girl! Thank you!!!! Yes, her black markings were the first thing I thought of. I just think she is a stunner - and takes life very seriously :laugh:

In Dallies I like both liver and black spotted - pigmentation (especially around the eyes and nose) and quality of the white base are more important. I do prefer moderately spotted dogs and have trouble seeing past it! ESS - probably prefer a liver or black to a tri but wouldn't knock back the latter if it was the right dog. A good amount of white makes them easier to see in heavy cover and I'm a sucker for head markings - they don't have to be even, just pleasing to the eye. I love Em's off centre squiggle on her muzzle - it gives her a real quizzical look. I'm not sure what the colour is called (black? blue?) but I just love Sway's dark Danes I like Golden Retrievers that are dark. Black labs - which is probably bias due to the American working lines I've spent time with. Aussies - I am hopeless but whatever colour Leopuppy04's Kinta is. I still love Leo though - he could be pink with purple stripes for all I care

Well, that's it. Our final training session for at least a month Off to the USA tomorrow to work on my PhD. Has to be done, though, so will try to catch up with the agility and ESS people I met last time I was in Ohio. I really wanted to take the dogs out for water training this afternoon but a few things went pear shaped at the last minute (think the bank cancelling my "compromised" debit card ) and Mr TSD quietly suggested we do some drills at the oval instead. Started with walking singles. One long, one long, one short. I think the first one was angled back and I saw her hesitate very sightly which makes me think she didn't trust herself. Marked the next two spot on. Made sure Mr TSD used a black dummy for the short mark as I wanted to see if she was marking the fall or spying it on the grass as she ran. Much improved so very pleased. Mr TSD did some flat work with Zig for agility and then we got Em out again to work on the double (both marks being thrown to the right). Ran it as 2 singles first and her marking was spot on. Ran it as a double and, whilst she had a stickybeak at the memory mark once she'd picked up the second dummy, she didn't veer off course at all. Picked up the memory mark with much more confidence. The marks were all a good length and I was getting a bit antsy about finishing packing so just let the dogs have a good gallop. Thank goodness for Zig's great recall as I had to call him off a rabbit that ran straight in his path I'd been concentrating on keeping Em away from the forrest that borders the oval as if SHE had seen the bunny I'd still be out calling her :laugh: Happy training everyone Everything is starting to click for both of us so it's a really exciting time. Plus it helps that our weather has been very mild and thus the dogs are jumping out of their respective skins! Unlike the stinking hot days you poor sandgropers have been copping Thanks BlackJaq! It's a nice way to keep a training diary - I've tried other types but I enjoy the interactive nature of DOL. Em is the type of dog who has 2 speeds - asleep or RUN - so training is the best way to keep her occupied. Poor Mr TSD will have his hands full. Again