poodlefan

S&B: Say nothing.. just prove her wrong. Success silences critics faster than anything else. It's just one person's opinion.

She is de-sexed (thank Dog for small mercies). Whilst at the vet's yesterday they shaved her feet and found a huge piece of chewing gum stuck to one of her rear paws I have noticed that she lifts her rear paws in a strange fashion (hard to explain, but almost as if she is worried about them touching the floor), I am guessing that she may not have had the hair removed from between her toes for some looong time! At least she wasn't a puppy factory. How matted was she?

Same here PF - and to a degree I agree with Pax (?) who said that it can cause a mild amount of anxiety. If the dog is offering behaviours at ANY time, it clearly doesn't have an understanding of what you want etc,etc. Do you see a lot of it? No, I don't. Most people I know don't use a lot of free shaping with their dogs. Or, if they do, it seems they do it properly. However, I've seen it enough to dislike it intensely. It's mindless, almost obsessive behaviour at its worst. I think most trained dogs will offer behaviour at times, especially if they have been trained using positive motivational techniques. It's the almost panic like offering that I dislike. Mind you I think the saddest conditioned behaviour around in dog training is learned helplessness and I've seen that too.

Naturally Wild: Point taken. It just goes to show that like other training tools, it's how you use them that makes all the difference. Man but I do hate that frantic offering of behaviours though...

Is she undesexed Loraine?

Nah, not silly.. if I had skin like the skin on my dogs pads, I'd be madly exfoliating and applying body butter.

Sounds like a dog in a very high state of arousal/anticipation to me. You could train him that barking means no forward progress towards the park.. only silence does.

Are you talking about the pads on her paws? If so, they should be dry and rough to touch.. it's simply tough/rough skin that's meant to be able to handle a variety of surfaces and protect the pad from damage. If we walk in bare feet all the time, we develop the same type of callousing on our feet.. I had it as a kid. Unless the pads are cracked or she shows signs of lameness, I'd consider dry and rough pads as normal. Or are you talking about the skin on her toes??

Angelblaze: You can put a dog door into glass but you can also get these really nifty inserts that go into the sliding door track and have a dog door at the bottom and a solid part at the top. They lock in using the door and the existing lock.

Hazel: I agree that this is something you should be able to do.. and you can train it. Give puppy something fairly low on her value list and then show her you have something better.. swap it. Teach a "give" cue... don't snatch it. Reward her for giving it up and return it. She'll learn that surrendering valued items results in good things. I'd suggest you do this away from 'normal' meal time initially and then work up from there. I've never met a dog who didn't respond well to the WIIFM ["what's in it for me] principle.

Everytime I see a shaggy faced poodle, my hand itches for the clippers.. ask Natashja!!!

I agree with Molasseslass. The key to toilet training is consistency and right now you are giving your pup conflicting messages about where she is and isn't allowed to eliminate. Why not confine her to the laundry during the day and install a dog door so she can go in and out... or as recommended, build her a small pen. While she's allowed to toilet inside during the day, I don't like your chances of getting her to only toilet outside at other times.

I have charged a clicker and used it to some degree with my dogs over the years but I'm ambivalent about them for following reasons: * Your average pet dog trainer has enough trouble juggling with a lead and treats. Add a clicker and its more fumbling and less focussing on their dog and what you're trying to teach them. Yes, once you show them to have the treats and the clicker in the same hand it's easier but it's not natural for a lot of people and they aren't easy to use for older or very young hands. Many trainers lack the precision timing requried to utilize one effectively. Frankly, I find a marker word as effective with most people and at least that is always with you - clickers ain't. * I don't believe clickers are the most effective method of training all exercises.. yes, they are good for exercises where you are shaping but [and perhaps it's my lack of experience with the clicker] I don't find them useful for things like stays beyound a certain point, especially as distances start to climb. * I personally find the frantic offering of behaviours that some primarily free shaping trained dogs display bloody annoying and I do tend to associate that with clicker use. I don't want frantic positional changes of sitting, bowing and downing if I'm trying to train something.. I want the dog to focus and follow a lure initially. To me they can be a useful gadget but only in some circumstances. They are a better marker than a voice one in terms of consistency, but at least the voice one is always with you. I'll confess to not having used one for some months now. ETA: Like BC, I use "yes" as a marker word

Hazel: Is is possible to secure the door of the crate with a child proof lock (like a pantry/fridge one)? Another option is to buy a higher puppy pen or put the crate in a play pen?? It's great that you are doing all the right things.. good practice for when that adorable pup becomes a naughty adolescent!!! Your son will probably be trying to get away from the puppy soon enough.

Where are you? I'd suggest you start training at a club with a view to trialling. A more stimulating environment with other dogs may be the key.

Hazel: The first and the second issue are not necessarily related. My guess is the pup is growling at your son because she wants to be left alone when she's sleeping and because him carrying her is making her uncomfortable or causing her pain. Allowing either of those to happen is risking a bite.. the severity of which will grow as she does. You need to be more than firm.. you need to stop this now. Step 1 - give your pup a time out area in either a crate or pen. Your son must learn that he does not touch the pup when she is in her area. No touching, period. Step 2 - Puppy stays on the ground. He may sit to play with her when you supervise but he must not pick her up. Go to town on him but this is about keeping both him and her safe. Show him how to play games with her ... rolling a ball, tossing a toy.. again with you supervising. If you cannot supervise, lock puppy in her own space. If you have an old play pen around that would be perfect. You son needs to learn that puppy is not a toy and needs to be treated a certain way. I know that you know this and it can be an uphill battle but restricting access to the pup when you can't supervise is the best way. You can also lock the pup outside if necessary. Your son needs to understand that he has a responsbility to act in a way that doesn't make puppy growl.. if he does he doesn't get to play with her. This is resource guarding and may not be directly related to the first issue. My personal view is that you won't "cure" this.. but you can manage it. Simplist solution is feed the pup in her own area.. crate or pen on the deck or whereever. She can't move the bones where you don't want them and most importantly, you son cannot accidently trigger a biting incident. Mucking about with her food while she's eating only increases her anxiety about it. If you haven't thought about taking your pup to obedience training, I highly recommend you do so. Reinforcing your leadership role may not cure this behaviours but it will help in many other ways. ETA: IMO you don't want to be disciplining the puppy for growling at your son. It's your son that needs to be disciplined for triggering it. Growling is a warning as you have explained to him. Discplining a dog for growling when it has been provoked to do so may extinguish the warning.. and you end up with a dog that bites without warning. I'd expect that if you don't stop your son from provoking these warnings your pup's fear of him or dislike of him may escalate. Best to nip it in the bud with a safe area for puppy that she can be in when you can't supervise.

Given the importance of seeing a dog and handler interact, and the need to obtain an objective view of what's happening (uncoloured by the owner's perception) I'd have to rate them as a waste of money at best, and potentially unsafe at worst. No doubt some good general tips can be imparted, and perhaps the use of video footage might improve things but unless I was in a remote area and could not access a professional any other way, I'd not be using one.

Sorry to hear about this PW. Big Ted had a Grade 3 luxating patella and had the op done to correct it when he was about 8 months old. Frankly, I wish I'd waited until he built more muscle and then made the decision but he never showed any real signs of having an issue with it. He recovered fine. Lily when I got her at 8 months had a mild luxation in one leg. Veterinary advice was to give her more time to build muscle (she didn't have much) and the patella firmed up. She has however, had an ongoing stifle issue which while not troubling her overly, receives regular chiropractic treatment. I'd agree that seeing a good canine chiropractor would be worthwhile. Has the vet told you the Grade of the luxation... my guess would be 3 or 4.

I found the easiest way to make the switch is to combine the barf with some raw mince (I started at about 30/70 as a mix) and slowly reduce the quanity of the mince. You can do a fair bit to increase palatability by serving your dog's food at room temperature or slightly warm.

You need to shop around a bit PW.. I pay about $11 per litre for the shampoo I use most frequently.

God knows Ptolomy.. she'd had a chance to toilet and she's not averse to marking so she could have gone. I told the judge (who I know quite well) that Lil was merely expressing her opinion of the course. She did it right before she hoped on the table and from then went like a bullet. She'd never done it before or since. Darcy on the other hand... My oldest boy would lag like buggery in obedience and be slow in agility. He commando crawled to me once in stays too. It took a fair while to get past that but we did in the end. Just time, experience and me learning to chill out, smile and breathe. Lil is a "freezer" in agility - won't come off the start. Time and experience and not leading out far if at all has cured that one. In obedience, she won't drop if stressed or cold. Her body language suggests to observers that she's regularly flogged. I'm not sure Darcy knows what stress is.. (actually not true, he turns sniffy)

First and only time Lily has ever peed in an agility ring was Adelaide Royal. The crowd loved it. From then on of course, we had a lovely run.

At the Royals I've attended, the biggest distraction is the proximity of the crowd.. right on the ring rope in some places. Some of the kids have food too. The noise of carnival rides, the steam engine folk (at Canberra) and fireworks can be distracting. I'd not do a dog's first trial in such a place but I've never done anything special beyond walking the dog around the area to allow the see the sights and sounds before competing. For me the hardest thing to do is to get your dog to toilet before competing because it's hard to find a decent spot.

God I hope not. Agility equipment shouldn't be available to people who've not been carefully instructed and coached in it's use. Put it in a public park and that's who will be using it.

If the club is doing it's job, it should be able to deliver the level of training your average dog owner wants in that time frame. Most people who walk through our club's doors want a dog that sits, walks on a loose lead, doesn't jump up and comes when it's called. They haven't heard of dog sports and have little understanding of the concept of training being an ongoing commitment. Step one is to fulfill their basic needs - deliver the training they want. Step 2, is to engage people who are enjoying training and offer them either dog sports training or more trick and "fun" training. Most professional dog training organisations tell people that 2 months of classes will set them up with a trained dog - that's the market you're competing in. Families are time poor these days and won't keep coming for the sake of it. It's a case of accept that most won't stay for more than about 8-12 weeks unless they see a benefit or enjoyment from being there.