poodlefan

Show me two dog trainers Dogdude and I'll show you a debate. I have a violent allergy to dogma and believe it behoves any trainer to keep an open mind to all dog training methods that aren't abusive. The use of e-collars has been debated on this forum ad nauseum from both "positive" and "negative" training perspectives. Personally I don't fully subscribe to one or the other. As I've said before I judge the results of a training method by the reaction of the dog and the effectiveness in teaching the desired behaviour. I'm as tired as hell of these "I'm right and you're wrong/cruel/ineffective debates.. there is no one right way to train a dog. Perhaps we could all agree on that. It would be a way forward.

Dogdude: Isn't the author of these articles bagging positive training methods?? The obedience writer for the DogsNSW mag is another old school trainer who poo poos any use of food as "bribery". As was put so eloquently at the APDT seminar, bagging other trainers training methods serves to make you look unprofessional and to divide a sport that needs to unite to survive. If you ain't seen it used and haven't tried it yourself then shut the hell up I say unless what you have seen with your own eyes is abusive. Border collies excel at the "wrap style" heeling popular in the UK. It's hard for many many breeds to emulate what passes for "total focus" in such a stylised approximation of close work and focus. I don't doubt that it's hard to do well with other breeds and the serious competitors will buy the dog for the job. The sport will be the poorer for it if it really catches on here. Personally I think of lot of wrap style heeling is crowding the handler and should be faulted as such. If you can't turn a corner without banging into your dog, it's crowding.

So are you saying when Aaron stops playing with him he pees? First rule of toilet training.. take him out when he wakes, after eating, after playing or when he looks sniffy. I really don't think this behaviour is intentional. If he's peeing when Aaron isn't paying attention to him and you're not there, could it be that Aaron is missing the signals that indicate that Louie is about to pee? Are you more vigilant?

If your pug is aged under 6 months or so I think you'll find this is submissive wetting.. or wetting triggered by excitement. It's not a matter of "not wanting to hold it" but because of having an immature set of bladder muscles, not being able to. Despite what you think, he CAN'T hold on if he gets too excited. Tell your partner to greet him outside (to prevent accidents) and to ignore or give a low key greeting until he calms down. This is quite common and most pups grow out of it as they mature. The key to no accidents is to stop him from getting over excited when people greet or play him. When analysing puppy behaviour, it's best to avoid ideas of intentional bad behaviour which appears to be what you were suggesting. Pups don't generally do things to annoy us like toileting because they "can't be bothered holding it" - they just do what they do. It's up to us to encourage the behaviours we like and avoid triggering or discourage others.

For obedience AND agility I'd be looking for a dog from proven performance lines and would look at breeds including: Poodle - Toy or Mini Papillon - If you don't want a show dog, there are larger dogs around that jump 300 Sheltie - but choose very very carefully. I see far too many timid Shelties Swedish Valhund... longer legs than a Corgi and very very capable little sports dogs Cocker Spaniel - choose carefully but there are some really great little sports cockers around. CKCS but again choose from a breeder who's got dogs out there performing. Quite a few Cavs appear to lack drive.

Hi Chloe, Crossbreeds can compete in agility, including ANKC agility in Qld these days. Agility can be a great confidence builder for timid dogs so don't rule Holly out just yet. Basically any breed can have a go but breeds with longer legs for their body length tend to dominate. In the smaller dogs you see quite a few Papillons, poodles and Shelties. Working breeds like Border Collies, Koolies and Kelpies dominate the place getters around her but the lighter set spaniels and utility gundog breeds also do well at the larger heights. Buy a breed you like first and foremost - you only do agility part time - you have to live with the dog all the time. :D

Happy shopping!! You'll probably find a higher proportion of sweeter veggies like pumpkin, sweet potato and carrot, together with fruit may help initially.

Oh, she's still a youngster. I'd be inclined to read the gas as part of the new diet but I would be tempted to add the probiotics. What she doesn't have you can. Make sure what you feed is at room temp, not cold and garnishing with some nice grated cheese (mine liked parmesan ) seems to assist with palatability.

If you read the can, you'll find there's more water in there than anything else.

I try to feed some fruit, a root vegie (usually several) a green vegie or two and always pumpkin in my mixes. I look for what's on special mainly. I juice it and only add enough juice to make a firm but not wet consistency. As she's an adult dog, I'd not worry too much about her missing out on nutrients - she'll get most of what she needs from RMBs while she adjusts to the new food. I make and freeze my BARF mix in meal sized batches. Friends of mine with a few larger dogs just do the eggs, yoghurt and veggies and add fresh mince to save on freezer space. I have posted my BARF recipe on here a few times and can do so again if you like.

Probiotics are gut flora that aid digestion. The best ones are obtained in the fridge section of the health food shop. As she is eating a diet that in someways is 'new' to her digestive system, they may be of assistance in digesting it. Sometimes dogs switching to a full BARF diet experience some "detox" reactions - this may be part of the issue. That should pass in a few weeks. A higher level of processing of the veggies (ie blending or juicing) might help and I"d also suggest adding some apples or pears to the mix - the pectin they contain is very settling for the stomach. I'd reduce the amount of veggies in the mince to about 20% and then slowly work up once that level is being eaten. My dogs changed over using this method after initial 50/50 meals were rejected. If you were looking a general nutritional supplement I'd recommend the one from www.greenpet.com.au which comes from Brisbane. I also feed their joint formula. Missing Link canine formula is great but not available at the moment.

Lennards mince should be fine Jeff.. I find their products very fresh. How long have you been feeding BARF? Perhaps some probiotics may assist also.

Cazz: Why? If the intention is to train your dog to accept you being able to take valued items away from him (ie prevent resource guarding) I'd consider this at best a clumsy method of doing it and at worst an invitation to being bitten. Furthermore, whilst your dog may end up tolerating such behaviour from you, I'd suggest you don't assume that any such tolerance will automatically transfer to your children. My personal view is that meal times should not be considered to be normal training times. Yes, a dog should learn to sit quietly and wait for his/her dinner but after that they should be left in peace. Constant interference with food can raise a dog's anxiety levels and may create a resource guarding problem when one previously didn't exist. Allow your dog to eat its meals without interference and teach your children that lesson too. A dog growling at you is a warning.. .only the foolhardy persist in behaviour that a dog gives such a clear message about. Be thankful that your dog has a high bite threshold and stop doing this. If you are rubbing his muzzle, your face is within strike range.. you do the math. As as already been advised, teach 'give' and 'take', allow your dog to eat quietly and call him away from his food to reward him if you find it an important thing to be able to do. My view is that unless your friends are experienced dog trainers, take their advice as well intentioned but not necessarily well founded. If you remain concerned about the potential for a meal related biting incident, feed the dog in a crate or with a locked door between him and the kids. Physical barriers will prevent accidents.

If you are feeding pet quality mince, this may be the cause of the problem (in addition to the cauliflower). Try upgrading to human quality minces and see if it makes a difference. Pet mince can be less than fresh and heavily laced with preservatives - I've had a dog end up with gastro after feeding it.

I use #7F on the boys who have dark skins and #5F on Lily who has pale skin.

Would that be sit and stay? My new foster is also inclined to bounce around with excitement so this thread is interesting. I'd have to work on his bum being on the ground longer than the time it takes to eat the treat. Suggestions please? Put the treat in your fist and increase the duration of time until you open your fist.. slowly. Then start to fade the treat slowly out of the picture.

Does Dempsey attend training classes? To extinguish this kind of behaviour you have two choices: 1. Make jumping up so aversive that he chooses not to do it. You've indicated that's not what you want to do and it wouldn't be my recommendation anyway. 2. Substitute another desirable behaviour for the jumping. Sitting to be patted is an obvious one. As a noted dog trainer once put it, "sit" extinguishes about 80% of undesireable dog behaviour. :rolleyes: In the meantime, you have to control every single interaction with people. Show Dempsey the behaviour you want that gets him rewarded by attention and keep him onlead until it's reliable. If he does this to the wrong person, he'll get labelled "dangerous" and he could badly injure someone. You simply cannot afford to let him offlead in public until he has a reliable recall. In the interim, keep him on a long lead. I can think of any number of dog owners who wouldn't thank you for allowing him to rush up to their dogs either. If he does it to the wrong dog, he could find himself on the receiving end of some serious aggression.

If you think your vet is clueless, find another. I trust my vet probably as much if not more than I trust my own doctor. She's bloody knowledgeable and continues to update her skills. Spare a thought for all the vets who have to deal with clueless owners. :rolleyes:

Still shaking my head about this: That would be the last 30,000 years that we consider "recent"? If they hadn't been seeking a use for cereal byproduct, there wouldn't be any kibble. People need to ask themselves what Purina made before they made dog food.

Heat brings pus to the surface.. can you apply a hot compress or do you have a heat lamp?

And this is meant to cover the ground of raw feeding? This looks like a bit of a kibble v raw manufactured food battle to me. I have to giggle at the hysteria over possible bacterial contamination of dog's diets - this for an animal that will eat cat poo at the drop of a hat. It wasn't butchers that had to recall their product recently was it? If anyone suggested that none of us were capable of feeding our families a balanced diet and that all we should feed is cereal based products out of a box day in and day out, we'd laugh them out of the room. Some raw diets are crap.. feed crap quality products fresh or processed and you get problems. Bit of a no brainer really.

A number of dog forums (including this one) have had discussions about the potential for these chews, if swallowed in chunks, to cause bowel obstructions. I'll stick with real bones for my guys.

Ted: Crystallee Top Stuff CD AD JD Lily: Dootwa Iced Candy CCD AD JD Darce: Zillara Cut to the Chase AD JDX SPD GD ET

The only canine one I know of is Protexin. I do wonder about the efficacy of it though as it's not kept for sale in a fridge like good quality human probiotics.

Blitz: Really? When my dogs go into chase mode I'll yell my lungs out!! Maybe I am desperate.. I've been known to yell "leave it" when Lil is lining up for a nice roll in duck poo or Kanga guts too. However, my dogs don't hear me yell all the time - I save it for when it matters. Personally, Mystiq I'd be saving my ire for the instructor of the class - they control how people train and what happens. In the situation you describe, I'd have sent the handler back for their dog as soon as it broke.