Ms James

Yeah, our BC X Heeler does it to our ball-mad Kelpie X girl, too. My daughter always says that he's playing defence :rolleyes:

Yep, we use "paw" as well, & "high 5". It's a real crowd-pleaser for the kids

I'm not too sure of the brand (it's outside somewhere & too cold for my tootsies to go looking for it! ), but I got it from as a cheapie from a petshop. Does this make a difference? Should I get something better quality? I've printed up that info & shall get started with the fun tomorrow I'll keep you updated as to our progress!

Aw fanx molasseslass!! Bella is a 3 year old BC X Kelpie: Aww she so pretty! She's a mad keen ball retriever, you could spend hours tossing a tennis ball for her & she doesn't tire out. I've never seen her catch the ball on the full, though, she seems to prefer waiting for it to bounce, catch it, & then bring it back for more throwy fun. Is there any hope for my girl? ETA: oops! Forgot to mention that she'll get her squeaky toy from wherever she's hidden it if I ask her "Bella, where's your squeaky?"

Awww! I've been trying to get Bella interested in the frisbee, but she just watches it land & comes bouncing back to me frisbee-less My dog is broken

At least you're not using Pepsi *squinty eyes*

I'm with Sidoney It would really be necessary to see exactly how your dog is behaving in that situation in order to make a correct diagnosis, & a behaviourist will be able to map out a plan for you to work on based on that diagnosis ;) Your doggy might simply be reacting to the stress of the show ring & the peripheral activities, rather than acting out in a more calm & settled environment. In any case, you'll get better tools from a behaviourist that's met with your dog one on one. And...if you're from Shelbyville, don't try to get one of those behaviourists from Springfield! :p Sorry, pathetic Simspons joke there

ADT runs evening classes on Mondays in Hawthorne & Thursdays in the Doncaster/Box Hill area

Wooyay!!!

Haha I know! But Strepsils are the only ones that taste good! All other lozenges make me want to spit them out straight away! Oh god don't make me eat them! Oh yes, I shall! I'm big & mean, just ask poor MiniJames

I have seen the motion for photos, seen it seconded, and now I pass it We do a modified triangle of temptation for our guys, but the problem child gets fed on a lead so that he doesn't go & attack our Belly Buttons when she's scarfing down her food. Not too sure how that would help you with 4 puppies though

We've got a lemon tree out the back that doesn't seem to want to produce anything apart from little green knobs Maybe I should get MrJames to have his wee walks out there

Strepsils! they're just lollies masquerading as medication. What you need is some Cepacols, they taste really gross so you know that they're good for you I notice you're in Wezza, so am I. Don't make me stalk you & shove Cepacols into your mouth

It's quite possible he's noticed the subtle signs of going to training - preparing for training, the clothes you put on, dropping the kids off at a particular place etc etc. Our guys also get super excited when they notice the little things we do in preparation for walking out the door to do something super-interesting, so what our trainer has gotten us to do is to devalue the motions that we go through ie picking up the lead usually means "WALKIES! MY FAVOURITE THING!", or picking up my car keys "DRIVINKS! MY FAVOURITE THING!", or picking up the bin "THE BIN AREA! MY FAVOURITE THING!". What we do is we pick up these items & walk around the house for about 30 or so seconds & then replace them - dogs get worked up but then nothing interesting happens, & little by little they've started to have these motions devalued in their minds. Do you drop the doggy off to your parent's place at any other time with him in the car? It might be worth adding a component of "devaluing the trip" where you go through those same motions, but then come straight back home without going to training. Trainers will probably be able to explain this a lot better than me but I know we've had some success in getting the dogs to not care when we do something interesting

The family's been under the weather for the last couple of weeks here too & now it's finally hit me Usually we can work through when we're ill, but we take it a little more easily especially with problem child (we'll hang around on the sidelines & just praise for not wanting to eat other doggies ) But the flu this year has been utterly terrible for everyone! When it's that bad, training takes a backseat probably because we're far too busy sitting on the couch gurgling & whining about how we're feeling Roggie (problem child) isn't too bad when we're sick, but Bella will notice if we're not 100% on top of our game & will just run more rampant than she usually does (bloody kelpies). Best you go wrap yourself up in a doona & get some honey lemony drinks into ya hope you feel better soon!

There's also a Fairfield in Brisbane ;)

Call me crazy, but I think if I can remember correctly you can actually do the NDTF course through TAFE - but don't quote me on that because I might be wrong. If it is available through TAFE, you can get certain subsidies if you've got a healthcare card etc etc. It's just ringing a bell that I saw the NTDF training course available through TAFE distance ed. It might be worth checking out ;)

I agree, having 2 dogs won't guarantee a reliable recall in either of them, even if the second dog does a great recall. That being said, I've got 2 dogs, one with great off-leash recall & the other wouldn't give a flying fig if you recalled him & would just keep going until the cows come home & even then he'll probably just keep on moving ;) Yep, that one never gets let off lead I agree with Bear, make yourself the best place for your guy to be & eventually his recall will become reliable

You shouldn't feel shy, L&L, everyone (bar the instructors) at training are novices

Actually, I noticed that too. When we received our prong from Steve, it was definitely less chunky than the one that you have. I had to double check to make sure it was a Sprenger It's never come off, and the steel is still pretty damn fine quality. It took us ages to find a socially acceptable scrunchie to put on it though. Read "socially acceptable" as "MrJames would have a pink fit if I put a flowery pinky scrunchie on our male dog"...aparently it harms his masculinity All I could find was flowery & pink. We settled on a black headband thing instead.

Hi Deltron! We're seasoned ADT attendees (usually Hawthorne, but have been known to float to Okleigh when we're too lazy to get out of bed early on Sundays!). Your first introduction session will include a talk by one of the instructors as to what you can expect from training with ADT, they go indepth about the socialisation aspect of the course, and what outcomes you can expect from all the different levels. Towards the end of the session, several different trainers come & take dogs & owners for little one-on-one session so that they can assess the dog & you can talk about what you want to achieve with your doggy. It's all very much no-pressure, & you get given an info pack so that you can take it home & think about it further. So far, we haven't had socialisation with children - and I guess this is probably due to indemnity insurance more than anything. I know as a parent I'd be pretty reticent in allowing my kid to be guinea pig to a bunch of doggies! What you'll see is a bunch of people dressed up in weird outfits, jumping & screaming etc etc, rattling noises & you're given the tools to learn how to keep your dog under control & non reactive in these situations. It'll be one step further for you to use those tools in your own home & outdoors setting once you've learnt them & then you can take it on to socialising with children. Oh, & I know what you mean about the receptionist chick! I think she must be new there, or in training, because I recently called there & didn't get much help either! The lady I had when we first signed up earlier this year was waaaaaay more knowledgeable! Good luck

Thanks tollers! Off to browse...and then smack google for not bringing that link up :grr:

Does anyone know where I could take my Bella-buttons to flyball in the Western Suburbs (I'm in Werribee)? I've tried to google it to no avail. We don't want to do competitive flyball, just somewhere to go once a week for her to have a run around & have fun would be great Thanks!

It's basically like the difference between choosing a psychologist & a psychiatrist, isn't it? Same theory, different methods of learning. I'd use one in extreme circumstances where medication was necessary & the dispensing of said medication had to be done by a vet behaviourist - I know for Roggie, when we first went to the vet's to see what we could do & if we should put him on chlomicalm, the vet said we should consult with a vet behaviourist before ever putting him on such medication. As it stands, he doesn't need the meds - well I don't think he's so extreme in his aggro issues that it requires them. Cost would also be a major factor - vet behaviourists charge an exorbitant fee!

Didn't want to threadjack the other topic, so I thought I'd post a new one :rolleyes: The "Is there a point" thread got me thinking (yes, it hurt!), I have a 3 year old BC X Kelpie who's your typical exuberant, squeaky loving, hyperactive kelpie type; extremely well socialised although she does react if a dog is being aggressive towards her (normal, IMO) and is usually the submissive dog in our 2 dog pack household. What I have noticed is that, at training, she'll be snippy towards a younger dog that's acting like a little poop around her, especially in a crowded situation. When I say "snippy", it's just a quick bark towards the offending pup, she's quite happy to let them have a sniff around but if they get too nosy she'll react. I understand that in dog terms, she's putting the younger dog in its place for annoying her. It is at this point that I don't know whether or not I should allow her to react to an offending dog. As her handler, should I discourage her snipping at another dog (ie a correction when it occurs), or should I just let dogs be dogs & let them sort out pack hierarchy? I know that not all people at dog training aren't 100% dog behaviour specialists, and that they might not know the difference between an older dog putting a pup in its place and a dog exhibiting true aggression towards their pup - so I'd be worried that they'd view my girl as being the offender and take it out on me. Does her snipping show bad leadership on my behalf? Should she be seeing me as the one that deals with offending behaviour towards her? Should our training goal be to have a 100% non-reactive dog in situations such as these? I'd appreciate your thoughts