Sayreovi

The thing is you would have buy heaps of the raw food too outlast the kibble, with super premium foods you dont need to feed as much as the protein it is packed into every bite.

Ive tried one of mine on the raw diet and he had to eat about a kilo and a bit every day to just keep the weight on and it was expensive with kibble he doesnt eat that much but still looks really healthy and keeps weight on easily. So the raw diet wasnt effective or cost effecient in my case. In your avatar you look to have a large dog and a medium breed puppy, you would have too feed a fair bit of raw foods to keep them looking great.

Plus you need to make sure you balance all the nutrients and supplements that a raw food diet needs which can be costly.

You can always buy smaller bags to try out.

Just for info i feed my dogs kibble at night (sometimes with mince, eggs or sardines) and either a carcass or necks for breakfeast.

Was hoping you would reply LL!!

I took a brightly coloured dog toy that floats with me yesterday but maybe it was big enough in the water for him too see, will go searching for another one.

He isnt at all hesitate about going in the water the only real problem we have is his splashing lol, if you have been to KCC park where that water is out the back he swam out too the little island because he lost the toy, located it again and jumped back in to get it lol

I am wanting to start training him in retrieving trials is there any beginner tips you can give me to start on him at home?

I am making him wait after i have thrown the toy then releasing him too get it, is that good too do or pointless to start teaching at the moment?

Just bought a couple of bags of Nutro today to start my dogs on so i vote for mix of premium dry and raw food.

Do you reckon then he will eventually sort himself out?

Thats the thing he can do it properly without all the splashing but only when he has something in his mouth.

Darcy really loves to swim or actually more the retrieving side, he gets so excited he starts shaking and whining.

I took the boys out too go swimming yesterday and ive noticed Darcy cant swim normally, he will be more upright then streamline in the water basically due to him lifting his front legs out of the water then slapping them on the water which not only is noisy but it does confuse him when he is out there fetching something and he does sometimes loses sight of it admist all the water splashing everywhere.

He does however swim 'normally' when he has something in his mouth as it brings his head down and forces him to swim normally lol

I wish to eventually get him into retrieving trials but its no use if he cant swim out properly and effectively lose his mark.

GoldieLover - Have you tried Robbos? I went there just the other day and they still had heaps.

4 year old Toller - 1 cup of dry food (sometimes less he is on a diet lol)

2 year old Toller - He gets as much as he wants.

Good luck with the results.

One of mine has trouble putting on weight too, but he is a very picky eater and wont eat heaps when he really should.

Recieved them and he loves it!

Thanks again!

For God sake people not everyone knows all about training do they?!

Back off a bit, most people grow up thinking a smack when they do something wrong is all right.

Daniel - I dont think its got anything to do with your voice, but sounding excited may help so try that, plus maybe get down on the ground with them and have a gentle play.....a 6ft tall person is intimidating to anyone

What do they do exactly that makes you think they are scared of you?

My dogs have always been weary of my dad, he has never hurt them but he is intimidating and they just cower to him. Beats me LOL

Hesapandabear - I still have your PM with their contacts, i am about a week off running out of Darcys food so am starting at looking at a different brand. I dont mind driving that far if he really likes it.

Sagittarian - Thanks! Hope he likes it.

Is there any place i can get a sample sent to me?

Im sick of buying bags of food and Darcy not eating it.

Do they have an energy formula?

Ohh ouch that looks extremely painful!

Did the dog do it with malicious intent?

If it did i would be kicking up a major fuss to get the dog to wear a muzzle and not be allowed off lead.

I have a sooky soft dog but thankfully he does have pretty high drives so he has been a dream to teach. However i cant raise my voice otherwise he shuts down but he is therefore teaching me too be a better trainer as i have to find other ways to get him too want too do it.

Average prices for 18-20kg bags, Eukanuba $80-$100, Pro Plan $90-$120 and Eagle Pack $100-$130.......i mainly look at the energy type formulas and they are more expensive.

Prices depend what flavour it is and if you are buying puppy, energy or allergy ones.

Cant help with smaller bags, where abouts are you?

Im sure some Dolers have sussed out where to get the cheapest food from.

veru interesting herding guy, just made me realise that I have got one of each at home. Rex does the capture and hold down, Divani is the shake and kill type of a dog.

Same here, Nova will just hold whatever he has down, whereas Darcy will shake it and throw it around.

Consider this; is a dog who mindlessly obeys its master time after time after time without question and becomes like a robot more "intelligent" than a dog who does a command 2 or 3 times then says to itself "hmm whats in this for me? I'm not going to do this anymore." :-)

Have a think about that.

Wouldnt that depend on the dog and the training it has recieved?

For the first example say the training method wasnt exactly positive wouldnt the dog be intelligent to learn to avoid behaviours that would recieve punishment? Or maybe the dog understands that their owner is extremely happy when they follow commands and then the dog gets a reward that it wants?

The second dog is intelligent but not smart lol, wouldnt a intelligent dog do what the owner requires and gets a reward the dog wants then to not do it and get punished?

If the dog is not doing it after a few times, maybe the motiviation is gone and you need to do something new to make the dog want to do it.

The click means reward, it doesnt matter what the reward is as long as the dog gets it after every click.

Well done, i love the bow trick photo

ETA: I do know someone who used to use a clicker with a toy, worked well and the dog is doing what it is supposed to be doing though maybe faster then the food rewarded dogs.

Hey

Cool, you were probably there the times Nova runs away lol, he does go well i swear!!

Yep ive got my licence! Ive been meaning to PM you about retrieving trials but as its nearing summer i didnt think you did it because of snakes.

Dont mean too hijack but i would be interested in getting Darcy to at least have a go, he has never done frisbee before. Any advice on how/where to start?

Interesting....my club does not encourage a head halter at all.

Martingale's are always a safe bet.

We dont encourage them, its just another alternative to a check. There is a proper class for just GL/Halti users if you are worried about new people using them

I would train more in drive, ive only sorta just started doing it with Darcy and he is coming along in leaps and bounds.

I actually had a very good day at training, so apologies if i was looking grumpy lol

Hey

I didnt know you were instructing, should of came and said hi lol