The Spotted Devil

K9+ Soft Crates are great: http://k9softdogcrates.com.au/crates/royale2 I get my wire crates from Vebopet (online) - solid and very well built for the price.

Excellent. Come on you little fighter.

Nail trimming occurs every 7-10 days. Even if it's a tiny sliver it's important to keep them short. Springers' feathers are tidied up every few months. Baths? Is that the same as swimming? If so, at least weekly :laugh:

Yuck She must feel crappy. Sometimes body knows best but they can always give her an appetite stimulant if necessary. Unfortunately lack of appetite can be self-fulfilling if it goes too long. What about a chicken broth?

Oh I'm so pleased! He is really good. I was there yesterday with Ginny's poor face full of hives. I saw Jacinta who is also very compassionate. Damn. She's on such a restricted diet it's difficult to suggest something tasty.

Crap. Sorry to hear that Jules but good on you for picking it up early. If she is drinking is there something you can mix in the water to give her some sustenance? Poor girl and poor you!

But the one thing "its your choice" training method requires, is the undesired behaviour, to occur in front of the trainer. Which is not occurring here. ^ Actually that's the beauty of IYC - trained correctly it works beautifully out of sight and at great distances. But yes there's a lot of layers in there. I am finding it easier and quicker to apply with great success as I understand it better.

Just lovely

I assume you mean another dog? I really would love another one but could not imagine getting another one until I had this one under control and it still won't solve the problem of boarding when I travel for work. No definitely not a dog. A human house mate. I would note recommend that. I've seen it go wrong too often. Assuming everything else makes having a flatmate possible - you're basically looking for a live in nanny for your dog in this case. I'd be looking for a trusted friend to take the dog when you're not home, or building a good relationship with a house sitter who can be left with instructions around routine. On top of other sensible suggestons re: routine etc made in this thread. Yes I agree - I was more thinking of a specific arrangement where someone was almost a permanent house sitter.

I assume you mean another dog? I really would love another one but could not imagine getting another one until I had this one under control and it still won't solve the problem of boarding when I travel for work. No definitely not a dog. A human house mate.

Have you considered having an awesome house mate who could help?

Have PM'd you :)

Sorry it's late so I'm going to say 1/100th of advice I could give (I have working ESS) but it sounds like a very inconsistent and disruptive lifestyle could be causing some issues. Dogs thrive, not so much on routine (Dog knows every day is different in my house!) but on consistency. Sometimes equals every time. Springers, regardless of show vs working, require buckets of mental stimulation - training, thinking, problem solving - as well as physical stimulation. When I'm away or unwell my OH runs the daylights out of the Springers but it's just not the same. Even the 5.5 year old - who competes in retrieving and agility - gets ratty and shreds magazines. Let alone her 12 month old daughter

I'm not sure it's quite that simple. if it were we probably wouldn't be having this discussion. Attitudes take time to change for a start. And it's not about allowing lots of Pointers to breed with lots of Dalmatians - what was done in the USA was a careful outcross to a single Pointer over something like 30 years.

Hey sporti - collar grab is awesome! I play it with my dogs all the time - from the pup to the 9 year old. Every single time you recall, collar grab, treat. You cannot play this game enough. Make sure your dog thinks it's the BEST thing ever. Uses? It's great as an interrupter - so I ask two dogs to lie on their beds whilst the 3rd is working. If one gets up I walk quietly over and hold the collar - don't move the dog at all. Just signals the dog they've made a poor choice and give them a chance to make a good choice. Which is getting back on your bed. Then LOTS of praise but no treat until she has proved herself while I do some more work with the 3rd dog. Great also for restrained recalls or anywhere you want to build clarity and confidence. Use opposition reflex! Sometimes I will grab the collar and point my dog away from the correct weave entry or the wrong way around a jump or away from a dummy whilst giving the command - dog says "ha can't trick me!" and when they are straining in the right direction I release them, they do as asked and a party happens! And if I have to grab my dog in a hurry it's GOLD - think aggressive dog coming or some other such drama and my dogs rush right into my arms as soon as I extend my hand. Even pup throws her collar into my hand as I've built up such a strong association with it - it's a godsend as her recall isn't quite there yet but the conditioned response to the collar grab is sensational.

"Drive" could be substituted with the word "motivation" and be a lot more accurate. I understand what people are trying to say with "prey drive" "play drive" "in drive" etc but I don't like the terms at all - they are too open to interpretation. I prefer to observe and describe behaviour such as arousal or emotions such as fear which we have a better understanding of how to measure. If that's the article I think it is it's a pretty good summary.

Wasps are bad here at the moment - I either feed after dark outside or inside. As mentioned an old towel in a crate is perfect. Always have a heap from the op shop.

Bahaha. Great quote! I would sell my soul for a Dalmatian, but similarily I'm happy to wait until LUA's are more common in Australia and wait for one of them. Will be interesting to see how the majority of the breeders here accept them too. Historically purebred breeders don't always warm to such things as expected. Well I expected a complete backlash so I'm happy with the amount of support these dogs are getting. Hopefully there will be more imports/exports to spread the gene around.

The thing is it's impossible to know what internally motivates an animal - scientists even have trouble defining what "play" actually is. I've read a few books on the subject and I'm a scientist and I train dogs. I've read pages of Internet discussions and arguments about "drive" and I think it's a waste of time if you're actually trying to solve a problem. What would I do? Manage it in so far as prevent rehearsals of the unwanted behaviour eg put up temporary fence, take dog out on leash AND train it eg teach incompatible behaviours and treat the neighbour's dog as just another distraction.

Shooting is legal in Vic - not sure about NSW.

I deal with this stuff day in day out. The CoP around animal welfare is enforceable under the law.

LMFAO I guffawed aloud really loudly at that quote and Jiji bolted from my lap. Love Bob Bailey! Isn't he brilliant! I've been laid up the past few weeks so have been watching his 5 DVD series. I knew all that he was talking about but it was great to be reminded without any sense of bullshit factor :laugh: Steve - it's the same in every facet of human life - whether it's animal welfare, science, child welfare, world peace. You can't change the world, just do your little bit.

Code of Practice is enforceable under state legislation.

juice - apart from management, behaviourist etc consider giving her cardboard boxes filled with some food that she's allowed to destroy - I make a big deal of giving my dogs permission to wreck - they don't touch anything else unless I've really neglected their mental stimulation.

Oh and not saying the issue didn't savagely divide the Dalmatian Club of America or piss breeders off all over the world either. There has been plenty of disagreement and horror at the sullying of purebred Dalmatians but as Bob Bailey, one of the worlds most incredible animal trainers responded when he was asked how to deal with people who insisted that compulsion/aversives were an essential part of dog training: "sometimes you just have to wait for people to die." Essentially you will never change some people and don't waste your energy trying.