Staffyluv

Have you had a look at the games videos yet BB? You can sit with all of them :) Zig and I have already done the whole lot about 5 times each (for about a minute each time).. He has them sorted. I broke and took Zig to the park today and now I wished I didn't - his toe is bleeding again and will take longer to heal now. He has had a whole week at home, with only just a little walk here and there (about 5-10 minutes).. I just felt so sorry for him and thought a trip to the park and a nice walk would be fine but we ran into some people we know with a new puppy and he was rolling around, play bowing and being a total dork for the puppy.. He must have bumped it because it bled a lot. So home, cleaned it up and he is passed out on the lounge now..

Great to see others doing the courses.. We have just done the first 4 videos and it is pretty standard stuff.. Zig already knows all of these games, so it was just a bit of fun.. One thing I haven't done before is watching him more closely as we play the game - looking for his response to what I ask. I am really keen to do the heeling one next time around - once we get these stays working for us.

I a only doing the one course this time around - Sensational Stays. I paid for the silver course because I want some feedback on the what they can see, that I am not seeing.. I have tried so many things with his stays and we are still not getting any better.. In fact, I think we are worse than we were a year ago - so hopefully, someone else looking at it, will see what we are doing wrong. Next time around I want to do the building relationship through play and the heel work one as well..

Hi all, I have just signed Zig and I up to do the Sensational Stays course, at silver level so I can get some feedback. We are still having stay issues - better than he was but not good enough to pass or trail at this point. I was wondering if anyone else has signed up to do any of the other classes? Maybe we can share our ups and downs in here as the course forum is limited to gold and silver being able to post. There were so many I would like to have signed up for but I really do want to just concentrate on his stays and get them right.

Yes it is..

I don't necessarily agree with a lot of the stuff he does - but he does get a lot of good results with dogs who have issues - basing this purely on what I have personally read and a few of his shows that I have seen from time to time. I did see one where he was dealing with a lab with resource guarding issues (I think) and it bit him - he readily admitted that he was at fault when the dog bit him. He did continue working. I personally, didn't like the way he treated the dog - to me it looked like he was bullying the dog into submission but he got the result he wanted in the end.. I don't think walking a great dane (or any breed) unleashed in a pack is an issue (he seems to walk all his dogs unleashed and doesn't have too many problems from what I can see)... Walking that dog, at that time in the pack, unleashed was a problem. It is one dog and no other dog was a problem, based on the story. I agree, he does rely a lot on 'his energy' making the dogs behave.. Each to their own but if people take their dogs to him and get the result they want in the end - it isn't a bad thing (just not everyone's cup of tea).

Happy Birthday lovely girl - I hope you were spoilt :)

We do get snakes - browns and red bellies - and people have lost dogs to them. So it's not zero risk, but I think it's lower risk than those Lake George areas. I have a friend out at Bywong who has a poodle that has been bitten 3 times by a tiger snake - saved every time, thankfully but last time he was a very sick boy.. I don't have a big issue with snakes (the kid has two pets here at the moment and one is a 7 foot diamond python, the other is about 3 feet long and some other sort of snake, can't remember what he is) - but the poisonous ones I can do without. If I can choose a rural place that seems to have less around, I will choose it over another place that seems to have more.

This is an important point. I'm in the Yass region and where I am is mostly old sheep country converted to 15-40 acre lifestyle blocks. Despite being fairly close to the Yass River we would see about 1 snake a season. Friends in Bywong/Bungendore/Wambon seem to see many more of them, don't know why, some people say it's Lake George + all the bush. It's one reason why I'd be disinclined to move into that area tho', I used to really envy a fellow exhibitor's Bywong property until I realised how many snakes she deals with every season. Thanks for that tidbit about the snakes. I am looking for a lifestyle block and have been looking at areas around Bungendore/Wamboin/Sutton etc.. I might change that and head towards Murrumbateman way.

There are loads of DHA rentals here.. I personally know 6 people who own DHA properties - all occupied at the moment.. 5 of the 6 are in Queanbeyan.

I would still be vary wary about feeding them together..

I use the small side for Zig and I (if there isn't anyone else that wants it), when a couple of full on dogs are there - which they are sometimes. One male in particular doesn't seem to happy about Zig being around and nips him sometimes, so it is just easier to play in the little side. I am usually there around 7.30am at the moment because it is so cold. Zig is super friendly, if you ever want to come up for a play date with the pups.

I think most dog parks get their fair share of owners who don't watch their dogs.. That is the reason we go early. It seems to me that certain owners like that don't like to get up early. Whereas our early crew are the dog owners that interact with their own dogs, doing bits of training, playing tug etc.. I think the worst time to go (to ours) is the after work run.. So many that go at that time just walk in, let their dog go and don't even look at it again until they want to leave..

Our Queanbeyan dog park at the Scar, has the same system - it works really well.

You need professional help as already suggested. The sooner the better. Don't ever feed them near each other until this is sorted (if it ever is).. Personally, I wouldn't be leaving any resources around that could cause a scrap between them - toys, bones or food/treats. I would also be keeping the pup out of harms way - the last thing you want is a pup in the middle of warring SBTs

I second the Wolfs Den.. Awesome products and double sided, so they are nice and warm.

I have a 1.5 litre bowl in the kitchen and Zig will empty that each day. He won't drink the from the one on the back deck because it makes him vomit if the water is too cold. Yet the loon will swim in the clam shell in minus temps..

My last foster girl had a dislocated hip that was left untreated, so couldn't be put back in place. They operated and removed the femoral head - it took about 3 weeks before she was putting weight on the leg and by 6 weeks she was running and using the leg again.

Do you do obedience or other formal training with him? It is just my opinion but I found the best dogs for my boy to be around were at obedience. Before and after class, a group have a play but class time is working time. This would be a safer and more controlled environment to 'expose' your dog to more dogs. Even a good walk early in the morning is a good time to expose a dog to more dogs - there are loads of people who walk their dogs early. You can always ask if the dogs can say hello. A decent recall is a must at dog parks - you need to be able to call them away from the gate (if someone is trying to get in - there is nothing worse than a dozen dogs bailing you up at the gate). You also need to be able to call them away if there is a problem, like two dogs in a disagreement. You don't want your dog in the middle of something like that. You also need to teach your dog what is and isn't acceptable at the park - bad behaviour, gets leashed and removed.. The game ends. I also go to the dog park all the time but like I said before, I worked out the 'safest' time for us to go, with other dogs that got on well together. You will work it out - watch your dog and watch the way other dogs respond to it. If you notice a particularly good interaction, talk to the other owners and find out when they come to the park.

In all honesty - I would go to the dog park without your pup at a few different times to see what sort of people and dogs are there at different times. Pick the best group to hang with and intro that way. I know that I only attend our dog park between 6.30am and 8.00am any morning of the week. The early morning crew are great - all dog responsible people that interact with their dogs and each other. I never go later in the afternoon because most that go at that time just let their dogs run amok and it is just a big free for all. Hopefully you can find a good time to go.

Bugger, I guess I will stay at Queanbeyan then.. The grounds over there are awesome but I can't justify the change of venue for just the grounds because their fees are huge compared to ours.

Something I did with Zig was to walk near a wall or fence. Basically the dog is in heel position, between you and the wall or fence. Start walking and if the dog goes to go past you, step toward the fence/wall, effectively blocking the dog from going past (so they can't pull). The more I did this the better he became. The other thing that worked with him was holding a tennis ball (he is ball motivated, not treat motivated) in the same hand as the lead, with the dog at heel - he would walk really nicely while near the ball (at my hip level). He worked out very quickly that he would get his reward if he stayed at a heel position.. Different things work for different dogs - we try most methods and suggestions.

Oh does she? I know Raelene - I will give her a call (I didn't know that).. Thanks heaps. Is the ACT CDC the one that runs from Symonston? I was going to switch clubs last year from Queanbeyan to the Symonston one but we had just paid and their joining fee was huge, so I stayed with Queanbeyan. We are about to renew again so if it is Symonston I might bite the bullet and change over.

I might have a look on you tube for some examples and training. I know we have a tracking group locally - not sure where but I will look them up.

We had our chiro appointment today and the vet was great. Walks only - no rough housing until we see some improvement. She found 3 spots on his spine that were particularly sore. His pelvis felt like it was tilted (might explain the hip issues) and his front left shoulder was very stiff.. Poor lad. She manipulated him today and we go back in a fortnight. My vet is organising copies of his hip x-rays for her today, so she can see exactly what is going on with his hips for herself. Hopefully we are on the right track.