The Spotted Devil

Thanks for that link Ptolomy I've been playing the 'find it' game with toys since Zig was a puppy - it's great for taking the 'sting' out of him if he's feeling a little mischievous Will have to wait until he's doing a decent retrieve before we start on scent discrimination

I suspect Ziggy is right pawed, but I will watch him more closely My last dog (an ACD) was very, very strongly left pawed - I was trying to teach her to shake paws and she just couldn't get it...I was really confused as she was so easy to train (much better at the training caper than I was ). Finally, I indicated her left paw and she gave me it with a look of derision as if to say 'what took you so long?'

Oh bugger! We're only at the 'hold' stage with shaping

I tend to go with the science of learning theory.....but then again I'm a scientist Interestingly though, when my Dally was a youngster (very energetic, easily distracted and exhausting!) I stopped using short, sharp commands (e.g. 'no') and just used long, low, drawn out commands such as 'steady' or 'leave' - it did work very well for him. It made ME feel automatically calmer and he picked up on that calmness - I honestly think it's that simple. He still goes absolutely ballistic when I walk in the door but just a gentle, drawn out 'steady' reminds him to keep those 4 paws on the ground whilst his tail just about wags itself off. When I do need to growl at him, it is very effective as it is rarely used. ETA: I should add, that if I'd only ever used 'steady' and never got out the steamed chicken....I'd still be trying to call my dog back

Great question! I want to have 110% faith in Zig before I step in the ring - I absolutely have that for his recall and stays. When I have that with his heel work (ongoing focus is the main issue) I'll enter. SFE is more a case of a lack of practice so I'm not particularly concerned about that. Go Poppy ETA: I love to see happy dogs in the ring. IMO happy dogs understand what is required of them - Zig looks so confident and nearly busting out of this skin when he does his recall and stays. He is having a lot more of those moments with his heel work but I'd like to see him confident from start to finish. It really is a surprisingly complex exercise!

Great advice from everyone as per usual! One thing I always find myself asking is what your reaction is when the dog DOES break? This includes both intentional and non-intentional body language When I was initially teaching Ziggy the sit stay he was absolutely rock solid. Then he went through a stage of trying to predict what the next part of the exercise was and breaking - it was frustrating but I came to realise it was all part the learning process - even to the point where now I am not convinced he fully understands the exercise until we have been through that stage of him experimenting and me guiding. Anyway, the long and the short of it is that I don't take the mistakes seriously (ensures my body language and voice stays 'light') and just give a NRM and start again. For the first time in ages I did a group stay with Zig a few weeks ago at my new club - to my delight he was rock solid despite dogs breaking next to him. However, it was the responses of the handlers which was most interesting - the mixed messages they were sending to their dogs when they DID break reminded me how important this part of the exercise really is. Good luck ETA: SpringerLass I feel your pain.....focus is not exactly a common word in the Dalmatian vocabulary either

More challenges please It's fun to try something different when you do the vast majority of training on your own!

It is interesting, particularly as I went back several months ago and taught 'front' as a position - I imagine it comes down to that fact that dogs aren't particularly good at generalising to different situations/people/distractions etc. I think that if I tried your exercise a couple of times, Zig would have it down pat in no time - it would be good fun to try this from side on as well

Just tried this one at the park - I could hear Ziggy bolting in, then he came straight in front and stopped at about 11 o'clock (looking rather confused ) in a half sit/half stand. He was looking me straight in the eye, just about begging me to un-confuse him. We then did a 'proper' recall and he looked soooo much happier - it was such a lovely effort that he received a chicken wing tip for his trouble ETA: Clicker trained and not yet trialling.

So pleased you are having some success Be prepared to be persistent, though

Apart from a health check.....I think she might be a little young to start sleeping on your bed. It's possible that when you move in the night, you are actually waking her up and suddenly she feels the urge to toilet. I love cavs - she sounds gorgeous Crates are actually really handy for plane or car travel or even holidays so are never a waste

*little tearies* Funny you have brought this up, Ptolomy - this is the main reason why I haven't started trialling Zig yet. His focus is beautiful once we get there, but he takes quite a bit to warm up. Too busy doing stats (plus I have 2 cats on my lap) to try it now but I think I might start writing down some times for inspiration

Just a quick reply as I have to eat my dinner! When Zig was a rascally puppy, I had a similar problem although it obviously wasn't as entrenched as yours has become (therefore it will take longer for you to break it). I purposely introduced him to the broom, vacuum cleaner, hose etc and as soon as he showed any interest in it I would stop moving it. When he lost interest I would start sweeping again. Puppy interested? Stop sweeping and ignore pup. I actually set him up several times a day rather than waited until I needed to do something. I had spotlessly clean garden paths in the end anyway He now sleeps through my vacuum and sweeping efforts

Funny little things aren't they! When Ziggy was a similar age, he developed an irrational fear of......Great Danes There happened to be several in our show handling class - he'd never had an issue with them when, all of a sudden, the 'brakes' went on and he flatly refused to go back into line-up anywhere near them. It took several classes, no reassuring but lots of rewards for being 'brave' and suddenly there wasn't a problem. Amazing to see in a very confident young dog who fears nothing but his stomach being empty

which is really tricky when there are young kids The adults may well be doing all the right things at the most appropriate times- but little kids cannot get the timing right, OR understand the reasoning behind it Oddly enough I've had that very same struggle with my OH, bless him

Hi Erny I hope I can clear this up for you - it's to do with the life cycle of the heart worm. The mosquito caries the microfilaria (the tiniest version)....when they are at the 3rd stage of larval development they are infective and are transferred to the dog via bite....the larvae live in the tissue for 3-4 months before migrating to the heart to mature. These mature worms produce microfilariae which circulate in the bloodstream......which infect the mosquito when it bites....and so it goes on. For treatment, you rely on adulticides and filaricides which treat the mature and immature worms respectively. You have to do this slowly (esp the adulticide) because the only way out for the dead worms is via the pulmonary artery towards the lungs. The preventative monthly treatment is the filaricide, so you are killing off any heart worm larvae before they reach the heart. Does that make sense, or even answer your question? ETA: *snap* PRS! I also use Sentinel Spectrum monthly.

Obviously you want to avoid her breaking her stays in the first place.....however, it might be worth thinking about what your response is when she does break. Not just what you say but your body language....it may be exacerbating the problem Best of luck and congrats on your other results

Maybe a little anxiety? Perhaps you could try teaching a 'leave' command for unwanted behaviour rather than scolding her - as soon as she stops performing the unwanted behaviour, lots of praise and maybe a game or a treat as a reward. I think, as hard as we try, a correction can confuse the dog unless your timing is perfect

Puppy hiccups are sooooooooo cute :rolleyes: :rolleyes: I want a puppy

I had one of those I couldn't work out why she kept crashing through the jumps - turns out she was so busy watching me that she wasn't seeing the jumps until it was too late! I had to learn to give very exaggerated hand signals so she would learn to follow my hand and focus on the jump. Brilliant dog - RIP Dolly

Maybe you need to consider putting him back on lead and working on focus around the agility equipment....? Forget the equipment itself but practice handling him whilst being highly stimulated.

One other thing that I do - if ever when having a free run my Dal doesn't immediately return on command, I follow him, give him a non-reward marker ("Oh well"), snap the lead on and make him do controlled walking (no sniffing, no leg lifting nothing) - a few minutes, then he is released to do his own thing. He always recalls like a bullet after that is rewarded, then released again. Didn't take him long to learn that he could avoid all the hassle by coming back to me the first time! If I wanted to up it in a controlled training environment, I would quietly remove him (no yelling, no getting angry) and either put him in his crate or in the car. Leave him for a few minutes to calm down, get him out, reward for offered behaviours (such as focus) and proceed with training. They're smart little buggers!!!! ETA: If it's bad weather I'd be out in the rain doing obedience training or practising focus work under cover rather than letting my dog play.

Vickie - some great points...this one in particular rings true for me.... My Dally is an extremely sociable lad - when we arrived at the grounds last weekend I had quite a few looks of surprise when I insisted that Zig not interact with other dogs. I know him very well, however, and he has to learn that 'work' means 'work' and that does not include sniffing bottoms and having a play date. I also don't correct as such during training - only use a verbal non-reward marker and give him another opportunity to earn the reward - it keeps him really enthusiastic and focussed I also assume that if he stuffs up then I am not helping him understand what he has to do

I had to pick up these quotes from Nekhbet because they are spot on My dog only works for food as well so I'll stick to that. This is what I would do......firstly go back to working on focus around the house and then the park and then a busy training day - build up to it as slowly or as quickly as you need to. Let the dog know you have food but don't ask him to do anything - let HIM work out how to get a reward. Sometimes that means standing still in the middle of the dog park with your dog on lead busily sniffing and ignoring you - the second he looks you in the eye, click and treat. Don't ask him to watch - he needs to learn to look to you for direction. I went through a stage with Ziggy recently that no matter how good the treats were you could see him thinking: 'Oh stuff the treats, I know I can always get dinner tonight' So, I started feeding every scrap of food to him as a reward for training - my goodness, the change in him was astounding Sometimes I'll put a cup of dry food in my treat bag and practice a formal retrieve in the house - I'm shaping that behaviour so it takes a while....one biscuit for a good response and a handful for a big leap in understanding :rolleyes: Zig used to turn up his nose at the dry food if I tried to use them as treats outside the house....now he takes whatever he can get just in case that's the last opportunity Of course, I add a lovely mix of high value treats such as cooked chicken, raw chicken mince, 4 legs dog food etc to keep him guessing! ETA: I should add that Zig is extremely strong willed (has been since he was a puppy) and you really have to make everything he does worth his while. In terms of training (not for general behaviour around the house), anything other than a very positive, enthusiastic approach and he will give you 'the finger'. I must say, the club trainers on Sunday were pretty gob smacked by his responsiveness, focus and level of training as Dals don't always have the best reputation in this regard....it really has been a case of nutting out what makes him tick!

I took my 2 year old Dally to his first agility class last weekend and was a little concerned he would have the same response as your BC because it is such a stimulating environment. However, he worked really, really well and I think it came down to the fact that I have been working on focus, focus, focus (NOT a commonly found word in the Dalmatian vocabulary :rolleyes: ) in every and all situations. There was even a noisy scuffle between 2 dogs during an introductory chat - Zig got very excited and I just asked him to "watch" - he immediately looked me in the eye and calmed down. The problem is that running off and chasing dogs is a rewarding exercise in itself so you have to make staying with you worth while - I use food to train focus but whatever makes you dog tick I also reward really good focus at the park by then releasing Ziggy to lift his leg and play and hoon around like a teenage Dally