whatevah

Finished closing the drawer, whats next?

Closing the drawer, he does it very quickly.

He puts a lot of effort into what he does. This was only a very small throw.

Moses giving paw.

Josh with both paws up. Quite a challenge for a 31kg dog.

Josh's paw at highest point. He is such a dufus.

The lift is getting higher. As in high five.

Josh starting to give a higher lift.

Josh giving paw.

Update: I got this email from the ranger. I think he forgets that Phil, Steff and I are the victims and not the owners of the dog. He does not think there is enough evidence to prosecute the owners. The facts are: sheep was disembowed. Dogs were seen in the area. Next door neighbour dog was attacked also and witnessed. Dogs arrived home with blood on them. Owner was seen looking for dogs. No other dogs seen in the area. To me this is very strong evidence, but I am going to ring a police prosecutor tomorrow and see what they think. Dogs returned to same exact place one week later. Another fact, owner discussed getting dogs put down, but did not do it and in fact dogs got out again. I think if it did not go to court, how would I know if dogs were put down or not. $600 penalty is not very much to me. I think the benefits of a court appearance is that the owners get a record against their name, so if it happens again it will be worse when they come before the court again. Also at court they will be charged with dog wandering by 2, as they were seen wandering on two separate occasions. So if it goes to court the attack may be dropped but the wandering won't. I am trying to get my neighbour to do a statement so the owner will at least be charged with the attack on his dog. Email from Ranger (edited for privacy reasons) I have completed formal interviews of the two dog owners in the attack on your sheep matter. They are very anxious to resolve this without a Court appearance. They have separated and have other issues to resolve without more complications in their lives. I have also discussed the Court matter with our barrister who as I have also, has concerns that no one actually witnessed the two dogs attacking your sheep or in fact perhaps standing over the animal , or even at close quarters with the sheep.Whilst we may be prepared to proceed to issue summonses in this matter,there is concern that as the dog owners have agreed to sign the two dogs over for euthanasia by Council and that they will also reimburse your Veterinary expenses for the sheeps visit to the Vet. pay dog at large penalties of $600,we are of the opinion that we may be better off accepting what is being put forward rather than run the risk of having them engage Counsel and then they get off on the aforementioned lack of a witness to the actual attack.

I loved hearing about his antics of climbing up the ladder and down again, that is amazing. ) Any other antics you would like to share.

Beryl would probably butt him!! She used to butt all animals that were smaller than her or pretend to butt them. She didn't have any horns. She was the leader of all the animals at my place.

I think you were great in thinking about Lassie's feelings and not your own and deciding to put her down before she really started to suffer. I have heard of people putting their animals through chemotherapy!!! Makes them very sick. I have a breed that is prone to cancer. If he gets cancer I hope I can be as brave as you were and put him down before he suffers.

Ripley, It is a council by-law in my area, that dogs are not allowed to roam the streets and another law that they are not allowed to attack another animal. So you are actually looking at two offences. Plus the dogs got out again, so that is three offences. There are two dogs. The owners have to pay board, until it goes to court. Thanx for asking.

Berryll, the attack dogs returned today. They were hanging outside my house, probably coming back for seconds. I put both of them into my car and dropped them off at the pound. The pound rang the ranger and he said to them over the phone "Never to Be Released". The ranger was very happy with me as he had been trying to contact the owner, and she was avoiding him. So now the dogs are at the pound until it goes to court, and the owners have to pay boarding fees, unless they decide to have them put down, but in any case the owners will still go to court. Cannot believe some people. Their dogs destroy an animal and still they let the dogs get out again!!! The dogs travelled at 500m to get to my place.

Those pictures are great!!! He seems to be a big dog and you seem to have little legs, but you still achieved it!! Great photos.

Teach Your Dog to Enjoy Swimming Uses It is great exercise, great way for dogs to cool down, you need it for water retrieves and dock jumping. It is especially good for dogs with hip displaysia. Equipment Needed Food that floats - rice crackers, bread Waders (gumboots attached to plastic legs, Rays Outdoors Stocks Them) Retrieving Toy - that dogs likes Body of Water - preferably beach, or lake with gentle incline. Method Food Method You need to first go to the lake, where there is an easy entry. Very important. Beach is ideal. Put on your waders or just walk in if you are wearing shorts. 1. Show the dog, you have the food and lure the dog in. Only lure him into so his legs are just in the water. When he does this, feed. He will probably either walk out of the water after the reward or stay where he is. 2. If dog has walked back to the shore, (that is where he is comfortable), just go back to the shore and lure him back in. You are only going in, so he can get his feet wet. 3. If the dog has stayed in the water, walk a little bit further in, and reward any footsteps towards you. You are facing the dog. 4. Practice this each day, gradually getting the dog further and further in. 5. When the dog gets to his tummy and is about to go out of his depth, place the food on the water (if it is a rice cracker or bread, it will float). The dog will eat the reward and go back to his comfort zone. Repeat this step a few times. Until the dog gets comfortable and starts swimming. You may need to place the food in a few spots on the lake. Keep practicing this step and the dog should get more and more confident. I have found that practicing each day really helps. With one of my dogs I thought great he is swimming now, I will give it another go in a weeks time. In that space of time my dog forgot that he liked swimming and we had to go back to the start again so keep up the practice. Once he is confident you can replace the food with a toy. Toy Method Same as food method but you are using a toy. Key Points 1. Put the toy just out of the dogs reach, so he was to walk in to get it. When he gets it, lots of praise and happy talk. Some dogs will need the toy right at the waters edge. Then slowly increase the distance. 2. Once the dog is getting more confident, stand a couple of metres away from the water edge, get the dog really interested in the toy and then throw it, so it lands near the waters edge. The dog may want the toy so much that he forgets he is scared of the water. Follow Me Method Put your swimming gear on, and swim. This is especially good for rivers. I did this with one of my dogs, and before I got to the other side he was swimming along behind me. It also helps to have other dogs that like swimming around when you practice, because some dogs will watch them and try it out as well. I have also crossed a small stream, but deep enough that the dog has to swim, and kept walking, the dog knew if he didn't follow he would get left behind. Important Point Never throw the dog in. I know a couple of people that did this with their dogs that like swimming and now their dogs will never go in again. It can be a bad training pitfall that you can never get out of, for some dogs. Some dogs will never go back in. Advanced Teach your Dog to run and leap in and jump off the waters edge, piers etc. Before teaching this make sure the water is deep, and the dog cannot impale itself on snags etc in the water. Very Important - Make sure that the dog can get out of the water by itself. A lot of dogs won't go in if they think they cannot get out. Method 1 Get a retrieving toy and stand about 5 metres away from the waters edge, throw the toy in. The dog should be so keen to get it, that it will run really fast and get more confident with water entrys. After a while it will just run and jump in. Method 2 You can also find a small edge, could be a small pier and just simply drop the toy in the water. The dog may get so frustrated that it simply just jumps in. Method 3 Play tug with the dog, so it jumps for the toy on land. Then walk into the water and play tug there so it is jumping out of the water and back into the water for the tug toy. I found this method on dock jumping site. I have one dog that does belly wackers into the water and my other dog does running jumps but not as good as the first dog.

Could you try rewarding the dogs right near your thigh, so they realise thats where they get the reward, after a lot of practice they won;t go as far ahead. I also free shaped Moses a bit to do the weave. Maybe take bigger steps. Great to see the action shots.

Teach Your Dog To Go Out and Paw A Target Uses Can be used in TV work, in teaching the box in Utility, Teaching Contacts In Agility, Teaching the Flyball Box, Equipment Needed Clicker and Treats, Target Method Get out a big target. I used Two Yellow Pages placed on the floor side by side. Dog is off lead in distraction free environment. Prerably in enclosed area inside the house. Step 1 Place the Yellow Pages side by side on the floor. Look at the yellow pages and walk towards them (do not say anything to the dog). As soon as the dog touches the yellow pages with his paw, click and treat. The dog should come to you as soon as it hears the click, if you have charged the clicker. Repeat the above step 10 times. Step 2 The dog should be by this time going out much quicker to the target and returning to you for his treat. Now take one of the yellow pages books away. The target will be a lot smaller. I just stare at the target and wait for the dog to go out and touch it with his paw. Click and reward for every paw touch. I then add in the cue word "Punch". But you can add any word. Do this approximately 10 times. Say the cue word as the dog is hitting the target. Step 3 Now move the target to another place, and repeat the above step. Some dogs do not generalise too well. Step 4 Take away the yellow pages and exchange for a smaller target, I used a small picture frame. Repeat the above steps. There you have it. This is the method I used to teach one of my dogs. I have heard that there is another method where you have some food in your hand and you give it to the dog when it starts to paw at it, but I didn;t use that method.

Hi, I think you did the best thing in sending Cher back. I could not have an animal around that killed one of my animals. I know how you feel in that Berryl my sheep was savaged by two Akita's, and she was left still alive. She was disembowed. It is an image in my mind that I will never forget. I was very lucky that my daughter did not see it. I asked her why she was not upset over the sheep and she said because she did not see it. You are very lucky your daughter did not see it, because the image would stay with her for a long time. I have a tonkinese cat, who is like a dog, she follows me everywhere and sits on my lap. I couldn;t stand it if something happened to her.

Thanx for the compliments and sympathy. We are getting another sheep in Spring, planning on getting a suffolk. They have black faces and white body. Have driven past a farm that had one the other day so will make enquiries. I read in the Herald today that a lot of people take time off from work when a pet dies. The average is 3 days. I took one day off and did feel better at work.

No I am in outer suburbia. The ranger got back to me. He said the woman with the dogs was planning on getting both euthanized and had made an appointment. But the dog belong to her ex boyfriend who has moved to Mitcham, and it is up to him. He wants to keep one of the dogs. The ranger said they seemed to be "reasonable" people. He thinks it was the female Akita who did all the aggressing. He suggested to me that both dogs go to Mitcham. Or one dog be euthanized, or court action. He thinks it isn't really the woman 's fault because she it wasn't her dogs and she really didn't want them. I told him, that if the woman did not want the dogs then they she should have given to the pound. I also said that if the boyfriend wanted the dogs he should have moved to where he could have kept dogs. I also said that the dogs have gotten out before in the past. I said I could understand that most dogs do get out at some stage, but you work on the problem and fix it. I also said that the woman must have cared about the dogs to go out looking for them. I also told the Ranger that if Berryl only had a little nick on her chin I would not have even called him. The ranger showed up some photos of the dogs, and they are the ones. The ranger also told me that one of the dogs had come home covered in blood. The female akita. I spoke to a lady at the park and she said she had seen the Akita's attacking another dog in the past and they were both responsible. I thought it the dogs were euthanised, it is only the dog being punished. I am going to ask the ranger to take it to court, so hopefully both dogs euthanised, and owner with a conviction against her name and a hefty fine. Will make her think next time before keeping someone else's dogs that she does not really want. If someone said to me I am leaving my pitbull that is aggressive with you, there is no way that I would take it. I figure if people are going buy dogs that have been bred to attack other dogs, that they should put the work in and socialise them properly. I chose my dogs because they are less likely to be aggressive and I take them to obedience, and socialise them regulary to make sure they stay friendly. I also thought this lady going to court can cause her some grief also. Like the grief that my family has had in the last week.

On Monday, 19th April, at 6.30pm, Beryll was savaged so badly that she had to be put down. She was tethered out my front gate, I heard the gate moving and thought it was my husband coming home. I talked to him and he said he had not put the sheep away. So I went out looking for her. We finally found her in our front garden, with her innards hanging out from her rear. We have not got around to cleaning the blood off the driveway yet. She was still alive with eyes wide open and panting. We put her in the back of my car and took her to vets. On the way to the vets, despite her massive injuries, she kept looking over the back seat to see what was going on. The vet had a look at her and put her down. I had to hold her head up whilst they did it to her in the back of my car. My husband removed her collar. It still has her smell on it, and I have some of her fleece on top of the fridge. Beryl, I am so sorry that this happened to you. You were only two years old. You were lying there in so much pain, that you didn't even make a sound. Gone are the welcoming baa's you gave us when we got home from work. Gone is your wagging tail, that you used to do, when I patted your arm pits. Once I even put you in a paddock which you didn't like. Ten minutes later you jumped the fence and turned up in my driveway. Once you got across the road, and I tried to get you back and ended up chasing you and thought why am I chasing you, so I ran the other way and you ended up chasing me. All the kids and adults who used to wave to you, miss your dearly. They used to love to pat, you and feed you your sheep pellets, which you loved. We were delighted how you used to come when you were called. When I first got you, you wouldn't come within ten feet of me. You were about six months old. But I trained you to walk on a lead and come to your name. When I first put you on a lead you used to jump in the air. I used to love watching you running around the yard, jumping in the air. At first I thought there was something wrong with you, but now I realise you were just happy with life. Who is going to trim the hedge to size, now that you are gone. Who is going to trim the roses, the ferns, the Lily Pilly tree to sheep height. Who is going to try and bend their head over the veggie patch, to eat the tomatoe plants. Who is going to trim the neighbours backyards. You even taught my new puppy not to chase you, by pretending to butt him. You once butted him and he butted you back, then you butted him. You showed him that you were the boss, and he left you alone from then on. You even had to put up with licky licks from my other dog. The cat used to hang around you, while you were grazing. You saved us five hours of mowing every month, and got rid of all the wandering jew, ivy, thistles, who is going to do that for me now. You are especially missed by Phil who when he first saw you, said, that sheep is going back to where you got her from. But then two weeks later when he named you, I knew that you were here to stay. He has shed many tears over you. Berryl the dogs are still sniffing in the area that we found you. You tried to run away from the dogs and got off your lead, and ran for the safety of my front yard, but the dogs cornered you and you did not have a chance. Berryl we have found the dogs that did this to you. They also attacked another dog on that night. The ranger is having the owners charged. It doesn't bring you back, but it makes me feel better. Good bye Berryl (My Bezza), my little eating machine.

The toller is the faster learner. I taught him speak in one session. But he is really food motivated the flattie isn't. I spoke to clicking mad on MSN. Basically told her she needs to follow a plan, and not rush the dog. Needs to try out one method properly before trying another one. You don't try three different methods in one session. Also needs to teach the dog targetting to objects first, and practice it for a week before putting a target onto the door. The targetting method is already covered in another trick on this forum. But least she is out there giving it a go. Here are some photos. The open drawer. The scrunchie is on the drawer, because I have also taught him to open the drawer as well.