The Spotted Devil

Yes. It's about people who want to live with wild animals on the animals terms. I'm certainly not going to be dragging a roo carcass into my back yard and eating its liver first to ensure my dogs respect me. I don't see a direct comparison to establishing a bond of trust and respect with a domesticated dog. For a start, they don't want the wolves to function in their home or in society. I don't see them taking the wolves walking in public on a loose lead, expecting their wolves to tolerate the presence of strange people or wolves or obedience training them to recall on cue. well i think the principles are the same when it comes to you as the leader and your dog as the follower. JMO So you would happily use techniques you have described on your own dogs?

Aw, come on, PF - you, a dead roo, a poodle and a whippet - now THAT would make great television

Hey Bub - sometimes I ask Zig to "leave" something....he releases it, I reinforce the behaviour with food and then I realise I asked him to leave something that was harmless so I release him back to the object as a bit of a bonus. He's much more likely to "leave" in the first place as he often gets the treat PLUS go back to what he was doing

Ah, well I'm not uneducated (post-grad in dog behaviour/welfare) but I'm definitely stubborn Dogs DID descend from wolves but that was about 100,000 years ago. Domestic dogs began to look different from wolves around 14,000 years ago. I suspect there has been a bit of natural selection, genetic drift and artificial selection since then. Heidii, out of interest, what do you think is an appropriate level of correction/display of 'dominance' that you would happily use on your own dog? I find it useful to think in that context as I wouldn't recommend to others what I wouldn't be happy to do myself.

Yoo hooooo! LP, where are you, our Clean Run addict?

I know - Vic Obedience is the same. The geocities web hosting has finished up.....it's going to be a right pain for a lot of people!!!

I use 4-legs dog food.....Ziggy loves them, they are very convenient (in little balls) and seem healthy. I fill up small bags and freeze them - only takes a minute to defrost in the microwave or overnight in the fridge

I didn't bother with gates - had a couple of chairs stopping annoying Dally puppy accessing the kitchen and his soft crate covering our bedroom door. The cats could get away whenever they chose He was a right pain in the @r$e sometimes too.....one of my Burmese girls would lie defiantly on the puppy's bed. Puppy respected her immensely and lay elsewhere but eventually couldn't resist the tempting lilac tail draped so elegantly. He picked it up gently like a treasured toy and tried to take it to his other bed Lilly has never forgiven him

Funny isn't it - I've been working for 6 months to get Zig excited about retrieving Finally got there but 3 times in one training session is all I ask of him at the moment! Would you consider going back and (re) clicker training the retrieve? I think that's how I would approach it - so you are reinforcing the retrieve with food rather than building on the excitement of the retrieve. Might be easier to be very precise about the behaviour you want???

Oh my, oh my, oh my

Good luck everyone! I have a rotten headache so decided to stay home.

He's a broken dally. I can't imagine a dal that won't try to move mountains to get their dinner Yep! Agree with Janba...definitely broken

Hi stranger I would be leaning toward a check up with a Bowen therapist or chiro. In my limited experience Dals tend to throw themselves around a lot as youngsters which can tighten muscles up a bit. They also need a VERY good reason to do something so I would also suggest some roast chicken *grin* ETA: Once Zig learned to jump it became very self rewarding. However I still have to intermitantly reward for jumping in the car

Sensational results LL Special mention for Yo of course...wow! 4 dogs in all age lol Congratulations on Stamp's National Results also!!! P.S. Thanks for the SS contact...very nice person and lovely dogs ETA: LOVE the pic

Liar

Great!! Licking is a step toward putting it in her mouth! Is she clicker trained? I would try shaping... Start shaping the lick and then raise your criteria for a bit of teeth action, then into the mouth, etc. Yeah she is clicker trained. I'll try that ! thanks! And be patient! (says me ) It took me a month to shape just picking up an article and a lot longer to build an enthusiastic retrieve. Bought a dumbell last weekend and he thinks it's a hoot already.

Congratulations LP and Kinta :p That is AWESOME ;)

Hand delivered my entry today

Axel is even MORE gorgeous face to face He is the first Mastiff I had ever come into contact with and is a wonderful ambassador for the breed! The toughest thing was getting any training done - when I was taking Ziggy around the practice show ring, he would launch playfully at Axel every time we passed him And being behind him in the "line-up"? Forget it!!! His whole body wagged in anticipation of getting to jump on Axel's head

Yes, the lovely Axel it was I figured you'd know him as they aren't very common as you say! Thank you

I'm so pleased you had the courage to see your Doctor and even more pleased that you have found a community of dog lovers who understand your grief. Your sadness is real but so are your beautiful memories of your beloved dog x Most of us have travelled this path any number of times and I still miss my dearly departed cat and dog immensely. I tend to think that without the pain of losing we cannot really know the joy of having - I'm forever grateful for the tears because they will always be followed by smiles. Take care x I'm so very sorry for your loss.

Hmmm....went through this a bit I did with my Spotted Devil Zig LOVES to free run so if his focus was awful I'd ask for something really simple, reinforce with food, then reward by releasing him to run and sniff and pee Then I'd call him back, reinforce the 'casual' recall, ask for slightly longer focus, reinforce with food, then reward by releasing. I still use the same system but he can focus for minutes now rather than seconds!!! Oh, and if he didn't come when he was called, I quietly walked over and put the lead on - no sniffing allowed for a few minutes, then released to try again. Coming when called became SO much more rewarding. The other lovely thing is that he often chooses to cut his free run short and comes back looking for food and training. I also make sure I stop BEFORE he loses focus and give him a clear release command so that I am the one who decides when training is finished. I was at an agility/jumping trial at the weekend and observed a number of handlers who turned their back on their dogs when the dog (read handler ) stuffed up - the dog was simply allowed to disengage when THEY chose to and in the ring! Of course you have to ask the usual questions - is the dog well? Have you been doing too much training? Too little training? etc etc. ETA: The very first thing I would do would be to ask the question: What did I do wrong?

My Dalmatian's very best friend at show training was an adult entire male Mastiff. I was gobsmacked at the wonderful temperament of this huge dog and his incredible tolerance as he played with a very silly, hyperactive and persistent 6 month old Spotted Clown. Funnily enough, the way he played with Ziggy is similar to how Ziggy now plays with my foster kittens - one relatively giant mouth gently wrestling with a much smaller animal.....the result was similar too....lots of drool My question is: is this tolerant, patient nature something you typically find in the breed? I just adored this lovely lad...although he was known to lie down at show training and refuse to move when he'd had enough

Sorry if it's been covered, but the absence of sex hormones due to spey/castration before maturity delays growth plate closure of the long bones, resullting in a very slightly taller dog (emphasis on very slightly). The reduction in muscle bulk due to the abscence of hormones may accentuate this. There is no clear evidence that this affects function...study results are very conflicting. Hope that helps :p

LP, if you want a "stranger" to clicker train to help generalise the behaviour let me know.