poodlefan

I think the early desexing is probably the key factor there.

The Wolf's Den who are one fo of the DOL advertisers stock vet bed. If she's pretty incontinent she'd be better off on that than in undies - no urine burn. Vet bed is fully machine washable - get several pieces. It's great to use as bedding anyway.

Yes, it is possible to over exercise a puppy. The rule that many folk follow is not to exercise a puppy onlead (ie by going for long walks) until its over 6 months old. Off leash play allows the pup more chance to dictate the pace and to stop when he's tired.

Our club conducts courses - weekly 3 hour lectures for about 10? weeks, peer group classes for practical stuff and then assists with a qualified instructor. ETA:There's a written and a practical exam. There are two levels for obedience (2 separate courses) and agility and flyball are separate courses too. That said, the quality of instructors is a bit variable.. but I can say the same about those who hang up a shingle and call themselves a "professional dog trainer". I'd also say the same about Delta qualifed folk.. they range from very talented to pretty darn hopeless. What sorts the wheat from the chaff for any trainer is the "challenging dogs". Some people can't think outside the square I'm afraid.

oooh thought of another one. Humping is [always] a sign of sexual frustration.

A few for starters: "If I discipline him he won't love me any more" "Obedience training will turn my dog into a robot with no spirit". I just love that one. "You have to alpha roll a dog before he'll respect you" "If I let my dog sit higher than me he'll think he's the alpha" "You have to be really tough and discipline a dog that displays aggression"

Where is she?

Definitely the behaviourist to start and possibly the obedience as part of it. Sooo what's changed since the reconciliation. Is the dog getting less attention (seems likely). Have it's living arrangements changed?

Seeing as you've got a month, why not ask to watch a couple of classes in the puppy school's you're considering. Things to watch for: Does the instructor ensure that pups aren't allowed to get out of control or intimidated? Are the participants actually learning anything or is it more of an expensive play date? Is the area well set up, thoroughly cleaned and disinfected? Do you get good instructional handouts or a book? How big are classes? Are there enough puppies to make it worthwhile but not so many as to prevent some one on one time? I think puppy pre-school is a great idea if its well run and owners don't make the rather common mistake of thinking that their dog will learn all it needs to in those weeks. I'd love to see at least a puppy high school too - where adolescent pups learn new boundaries and how to interact appropriately with adult dogs - a skill that will be far more important across their lives.

What Ari said. This dog could infect YOU!!!

Liza, I think no matter what diet you settle on, the first thing you need to be feeding is LESS. Canned food and those rolls are probably about the most expensive way to feed a dog - you are paying for mostly water. They are also pretty crap from a quality perspective. I'd ditch them. You could switch to a decent kibble (best you can afford) and supplement with chicken frames, wings or drumsticks and other raw meaty bones. You could also make your own "dog food" based on a BARF recipe and supplement with bones. You don't need to feed an adult dog twice a day but if you want to, make the meals smaller. If your Mum is going to continue to feed scraps, then ask her to put them in a bowl and that becomes part of the meal (you remove any really fatty stuff) not an addition to it.

You could try some kind of aversive collar. Using a water bottle you can't stop them barking if you aren't there. Do your dog have access to any part of the unit when you're not home?

What happens if you try TOBY.. HERE.. in an excited voice rather than a firm one.. do you encourage him in with your voice (verbal praise) as he's coming in. Mix it up with the running away and not.. keep him on his toes. If he likes a ball, try throwing past you it in a continuation of the direction he's coming.. especially at the end of a restrained recall.. you are building the dog's motivation to get to you as soon as he can.

Have you got a harness? Will she use both front legs if she pulls on one? I found when Ted had a front leg injury that he would use it at very slow speeds but pick it up and carry it otherwise. What happens if she's onlead and forced to go slowly. Try up or down hill too. Uphill would be easier on her at first.

Get her swimming. Any accessible pools in your area?

Sounds like he has yet to learn balance over higher jumps, which due to take off/landing distances, tend to have less time to adjust to the next one. Here's a quick experiment. Set a sequence of jumps out at the height he takes bars off, but further apart than normal. Let me know if he knocks bars off. Every dog benefits from the lessons the handler learns on the previous ones. He may simply need more time learning to balance himself at new heights. The best exercise for many sports dogs is hard running over uneven/hilly ground. Does he get much opportunity to do free running over such terrain?

We all have our methods, but I never stop my dogs in the middle of a sequence. I've found it kills speed quicker than anything else. I complete and work on the issue separately. If the issue is jump bars, then my advice is to fix it with jumping specific issues. The other thing that can assist is to vary the height of the jumps (both above and below the desired height) to encourage the dog to actually look at the jump rather than simply flinging itself into the air as some are prone to do. The tyre is an interesting obstacle. Very few dogs will be casual about hitting it because it's pretty solid. Taking a bar on the other hand means nothing to many dogs. Reddi if he tends to chest bars in a sequence, I think he has balance, judgement issues. Do you space the jumps/heights randomly?

Reddii, is he taking the bars off with his chest or his hind legs? Where he hits them will give an indicator to what's wrong with his jumping style. I assume these are straight line jumps. More often than not, if a dog takes a bar where directional change is involved, late or poor handler cues can shift the dog's position, dropping a leg and taking the bar. If he's taking them off on a straight line approach/landing with his front end, it may be that he can't judge the take off point. You'd never teach a horse to jump by sticking one pole at the desired height - you give it a ground line. Lay a pole in front of the jump at the same distance out as the jump is high. You can also try jumping him over drums layed on their side - the round shape encourages a rounded jump. "Filling" a jump with more bars or crossed bars can also be useful to give the dog more to judge. If it's the hind legs that are taking them off, you have another issue. Have you tried the Susan Clothier jumping stuff? There are some really articles on jump style in Clean Run too. If he hasn't been very carefully checked over by a vet/chiro, that would always be my starting point. I've heard a lot of dogs called 'lazy' or 'stupid' that are just plain sore. Can you get him to jump in front of a very experienced instructor - a good one will be able to spot what's going on. Some dogs take bars off because it doesn't matter to them if they hit them.. seems to be very much a working dog thing.. they are so intent on speed that they take a lot of bars.

Tatelina: At the risk of sounding schoolmarmish I do tend to remind handlers that their dog's name is not a cue. It's great if you've taught the dog to look at you when you say it's name but for many dogs names are just white noise. Work on your recall and say Jeddah... when the dog looks.. lure if you have to but get the dog to come. When the dog is coming add "come" or "quick" or whatever word you want and say it ONCE. Anything after that is just "pleading". So it's JEDDA... dog looks.. QUIIIIIIICK.. and verbally encourage them in... yay... good dog.. REWARD!!!!! Sometimes handlers forget that the dog actually coming towards you needs to be praised as much as it arriving. Don't forget that a visual cue eg. outstetched arms can help the dog when it's at distance. I'm a huuuge whistle fan though.

Toby is 4, he does get distracted by birds running dogs and the smell of a possum, and he is a domanent (sp?) dog, I have been trying to sort it out by trying to get more firm with him but he seems to be getting worse. At home he's very good and listens to me and is a real goof and loves to play With any dog, you have to tick the "what's in it for me" box to get a reliable recall. It's extremely hard to use aversives effectively for a recall because if you negatively reinforce any less than satisfactory return, the upshot is that you may not get a return at all. Why would you return to a person who gives you curry when you do? If you want to spot a dog that's been discplined for it in the obedience ring, look for a recall at about snail pace. If the dog comes back, REWARD. Discipline can wait for another time. For unreliable dogs, a long line (not a flexilead but something like a horse lunging line) is useful. You ask for the return and if the dog doesn't, then you reel him in. Don't call if you are not in position to get the dog to come back. I think its wise to have an emergecy or fast recall different to the formal obedience or everyday "come". I have trained my dogs to recall to a whistle and it's great becasue the whistle has far greater range and absolutely no emotion. Once they're inbound I use my voice to encourage them and ALWAYS reward if I can. Don't make the mistake of thinking that your dog has to stop and sit in front to get a good recall - what you want in this case is the check in for new messages. Calling the dog in and throwing the ball just past you as it comes can help. Running hard if the direction away from the dog can also be effective for some. Try calling them and then bolting away from them and see what happens. If they are really giving you the finger, go hunt them down. Don't use the cue over and over with them blowing you off. If they don't come to "come" use something new. My non-formal cue after the dog's name (when not using the whistle) is QUICK!!! The other thing I do is call a return when I don't need one, reward and send the dog out again. If the only time you ask for a recall is to leave the dog park or stop behaviour the dog finds rewarding, the dog doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to realise that "come" means the party is over. ETA: Whitka have you ever done restrained recalls?

Any chance it's an embedded grass seed? This seems to be the year for them.

Thanks for the link. Jatz is two years old. She is not all ball or toy orientated, which makes trying to think of ways to exercise her harder. What about sledding?

The closest would be the Belconnen Dog Obedience Club at Mitchell in the ACT. There isn't one in Yass.

I'd be discussing the idea with your vet first. Dogs really aren't designed to carry weight.. you'd be better off getting her to tow it.

Agree. With some littlies, nothing but a brush will do the trick. Lily gets a heap of bones but still gets bad tartar on her front teeth.