poodlefan

Premack principal, the dog can get to the other dog to play (provided they are socialised), but only if it is on a loose leash. I'd be teaching "you cannot move forwards on a tight lead" without the presence of other dogs, so that the dog got the idea without too much distraction, with additional rewards (food or toy rewards) until the dog got the idea, and then let it see other dogs (perhaps at an offleash park) from a distance, once it has kept a loose leash for a few moments (gradually increasing moments) the behavior would be marked and the dog would be allowed off leash to play. I may or may not suggest a head halter or easy walk harness, depending on the size/strength/determination of the dog etc. So you think head halters have no aversive effect. Interesting. The dog is a Boxer (so no halti fits well) and the handler has a very bad back. The critical distance for the dog to react is about 100 metres. The dog is not great with other dogs. However it needs to be walked. And before you think this is a total wind up, I've seen this dog/hander combination. K9 Pro can tell you about a 70+ kg dog that dragged its handler over 300m on a halti (as recommended by the PP trainer) to get to another dog. Fact is the overwhelming majority of dogs would be fine to train using your preferred method Jeanne. The question then becomes, what do you do with the others - toss them in the "too hard" basket? :D

Jeanne: Not even a verbal correction? Personally, I'd rather see an effective, well placed correction given in a timely manner than see a dog reap the consquences of built up handler frustration. One of our club's supposed 'softy' handlers isn't above reacting aggressively when really frustrated by her dog. She just thinks no one sees it. :D You can be fair, and set boundaries without being harsh. Indeed, setting them up early with a lot of dogs will prevent the need to ever GET harsh. So Jeanne, how would you handle a dog that pulls very strongly on the lead towards others and has no motivation greater than getting to them?

Surveys of new handlers at our club show that basically what they want is a dog that won't pull on the lead, won't knock the kids over and comes when its' called. I think its really important to remember as a dog trainer that giving people what they want is more important than giving them what you think they should know. Two hours of class room stuff on operant conditioning doesn't fit the bill. For a while our club was flooding new handlers with stuff like targetting when their needs were more simple. Same goes for clickers. Yes, they're bloody great for marking behaviour. But most handlers won't use one again once they finish training so teaching a marker word is probably more useful. Besides, a lot of new handlers having trouble juggling clicker, leash and food.

Staranais: Probably about the time being free shaping your dog to interact with a box became more important to some folk than teaching it an effective recall. Your average dog owner will never free shape anything. When you walk into a training class of new handlers, it pays to bear that in mind. I'm no fan of training for training's sake. I'm happy for my dogs to be dogs within accepted boundaries as set by me.

One thing that troubles me about "referring on" is that sometimes you're the only chance a dog will get. At our club, you will see a dog for 8 weeks on average. That's 8 weeks to set a dog and handler up with what they need to know for life. Clearly you need to cut to the chase, focus on essentials and get the relationship started. Time is a luxury you may not have. Most dog owners bring their dogs to a trainer expecting results. They pay their money and they want them. If you limit yourself to methods that cannot help the dog in the time you've got, then it may be curtains. Clearly for serious behavioural issues, a referral is both necessary and justified. But for simple behaviours like dogs jumping on people when that dog is NOT going to respond quickly to "turn you back" or "teach a sit" and the family's kids themselves can't implement it - what do you do? You haven't got weeks to fix the issue - you may only have hours. Ditto for simple things like pups mouthing. Some pups wont' be at all deterred by yelps of pain (quite the contrary) or deflected by a toy. What do you do when a large hard headed young dog is brought to you by an older couple who simply lack the strength to walk it - tell them to take it to the pound? How does it help dogs and family if because of your ethical approach to training you will not advise on methods to deter the common unwanted behaviours? That's the reality of a lot of situations that every day trainers face. The "best interests of the dog" test can raise a lot of ethical dilemmas. I hope all courses talk about such issues. Sometimes diversion and or replacement behaviours are not going to get you over the line. What then? If studies show that the combination of aversives and rewards encourage animals to learn faster, why wouldn't you use them if time is limited with the dogs you see? The best training method for a particular dog/handler combination is the one that (within humane guidelines) WORKS. Any course that limits the methods you can use on philosphical rather than "real" dog welfare grounds, is not focussing on what matters IMO - and that's setting trainers up to teach in the real world.

For me its not the frequency with which you use a quadrant that should dictate your knowledge of it. Indeed, knowing WHEN to use alone dictates thorough knowledge. Most "balanced" trainers I know prefer to train using positive reinforcement and its certainly the easiest to teach handlers (timing can take some work) Our club uses positives because they have the least potential, in the hands of a newb handler to cause harm to the dog.

Corvus: I thought we were talking about training handlers, not dogs. All these courses train you to train handlers. How many handlers have you trained Corvus? How many folk have the luxury of weeks to build a relationship with a dog that they find impossible to manage on a daily basis? The greatest myth about becoming a dog trainer is that you'll spend your life training dogs. You won't. You'll spend your life training people of varying degrees of apptitude to train their dogs. This IMO is where you need to be particularly careful about the use of aversives. The worst kinds of trainers IMO are the ones that every time there's glitch in a training relationship say "here, give ME the dog". You may be able to get the dog to turn cartwheels but if the handler can't do a thing with it, you've failed them both.

Is she desexed? If so, at what age was it done. Hormonal incontinence might be a possiblity.

Second article:

If this dog only moves its back legs together (ie bunny hops) I'd be wondering about its hips. The usual sign of a luxating patella is "skipping" ie carrying a back leg for a few paces.

If that dog's parents suffered to produce the dog you love and care for then I'll have to disagree with you. I object to breeding dogs getting a lesser standard of care than the pups they produce. Someone I know lives next door to an oodle breeder. The breeding dogs are kept in a shed. The only time they leave it is when a bitch whelps. The stud dogs NEVER leave it. I'll say that again - NEVER. I judge someone who buys a pup produced like that harshly and I make no apology for that.

Cuts both ways. Especially from "superior" DD owners and the "you bought a purebred so you've killed a pound dog" brigade.

You'll see me Sunday. :D Knowing me I'll probably come out some other time too. Look forward to meeting you and Humphrey!! Humphrey is a great name by the way.

Wound looks good so far. I'll come out and help on Hound Club day so Howie can get some sympathy from his girlfriends.

I am a snob. I'd rather buy a name brand car with a warranty from an accredited dealer than something cobbled together out of any available parts parts by an amateur mechanic in their backyard. I don't feel any differently about dogs.

I know someone I highly respect has done. The dog was large, powerful and HA. Not suitable for rehoming (obviously) or for behaviour modification living with with its current family. Trainer said he'd never seen a dog like it. Absolutely hard wired for aggresion he said. It was the combination of dog/family that prompted his recommendation. With another family, it might have been different.

Don't be "difficult" be "helpful". Link her with information about all the risks of breeding and how much effort is required to properly raise pups. If you cant stop her, you might at least educate her for the sake of the dogs.

Get some samples. My dogs wouldn't touch the Holistic at all.

And there's one myth that needs exploding for a start. You cannot reliably "tailor" the size and shape of F1 cross two very different breeds. I wouldn't mind $10 for every time a DD owner has told me "he grew bigger than we expected". Crossing a Miniature Poodle and a Labrador Retriever gives you any combination of size, temperament and coat type. The only thing these dogs are tailored for is to look very cute in a pet shop or on the internet and to line their breeders wallets. The pounds are full of crossbred dogs that didnt' turn out like their owners expected. If you want more predictability in a adult dog, you buy a purebred pup. There's nothing wrong with poodles. Their biggest problem is the very incorrect image of them as only suitable for life as a cossetted lap dog.

Bugger Bugger. Scratch me from next weekend folks. Howie had a close encounter with a fence in pursuit of a rabbit at the dog club tonight and now has staples over his stifle (show side of course). Looks like I'll be sitting next weekend out. SSM I'll get in touch about whether you need some help for Hound Club. No doubt Howie will want to come out for sympathy too at some stage.

Stolen and used as bait dogs perhaps? Poor dogs and poor family.

For pity's sake - the CEO of RSPCA ACT OWNS a Pitbull. I think her name is Daisy. Before condemning the organisation in its entirety, I strongly recommend people do some research. An understanding of how the States and the National organisation work is useful. Next thing will be people referring to Dr Wirth as the National President. He hasn't been that in years.

If you plan to show your pup, the best source of advice on a lot of issues is his breeder, if they have experience in the show ring. Do they show their dogs?

No. ACT RSPCA is not 'the same'. Such generalisations are much more likely to damage the local scene here than to help. I repeat, no BSL here. No breed bias in the RSPCA. An RSPCA that rehomes APBT. And that certainly rehomes GSD. One place in the country that it isn't a problem, and people that don't live here still can't leave it alone. Amen Diva. I believe in giving credit where credit is due and our local RSPCA is not like others.

Seems to me the breed assesor got the dog OUT of the pound Lo Pan.