poodlefan

Move the crate to your bedroom! My guess is that its the social isolation that's upsetting him as much as the confinement. If that's not possible, move the crate to where you spend most of the time - the living area. You want it to be a place he can find and use when you're chilling out.

Any good metal working firm should be able to construct one if you provide photos of what you want. Your other option is a place that builds or customises trailers.

I'd describe it as very pungent, very organic and somewhat metallic.

I dont' see why there can't be a mix of pet classes and obedience classes at a club? If people found the pet classes interesting and actually saw the results and how they improved their relationship with their dog then they might be more interested in the obedience stuff too. The challenge would be too run two streams from the beginning.. simply not the call for it at this stage. I don't see "pet" training and "obedience" training as incompatible if taught correctly from the get go. For most folk you're only talking about 1 8 week class anyway. However some of the things being taught at one stage were incompatible. One 'fun' exercise taught was to find things under plastic cones.. which are used by many clubs as numbers for agility courses. A dog taught that finding the right cone would yield a tasty treat was a tad conflicted.

No worries FHRP. With all the weight pulling and sledding Flynn will be doing, he'll be beefed up in no time!

I'd recommend you check it out. I know dogs that will run on three legs given the right motivation.. doesn't mean they ain't in pain. Lack of bladder/bowel control can also have a skeletal/spinal origin. Thanks poodlefan - no harm in checking it out. This bloody dog. Good thing she is my heart dog as she's costing me a fortune!!! My other question would relate to her vision.. how well does she see at night? Is she from PRA tested parents?

I'd recommend you check it out. I know dogs that will run on three legs given the right motivation.. doesn't mean they ain't in pain. Lack of bladder/bowel control can also have a skeletal/spinal origin.

Has she ever seen a chiropractor?

There's nothing "bad" about check chains if used correctly. Studies to the contrary will be thin on the ground because used correctly they cause no harm. I fail to see how any learning theory could rate a piece of training equipment as "bad". Most learning theory acknowledges the appropriate use of aversives. For some dogs they are absolutely the most appropriate collar. Don't taint the equipment with the kind of uses uninformed people can put it to. Personally I'd rather see a correction delivered in a check chain than on a head collar. .. don't kind yourself that reefing and jerking a dog on a head collar never happens. I would like to see dog training heading away from the labels applied to some methods by those who don't care for them. Most "positive" dog trainers aren't purely positive but that's the label that attracts the business these days. Our club completely changed its curriculum a few years back to cater for pet/companionship training. Problem was, basing classes on the needs of those who only stayed short term (even if they are the majority) failed to prepare those who wanted to go on to do other things with the basics they needed. Long term trainers are the next generation of instructors and the back bone of our club. The pendulum has swung back towards the middle for now thank God.

How's her back - is she finding it difficult to exit via the dog door? If she was reliable and that is failing, my guess is there's a good reason.

You've changed the criteria for toileting so now you have to retrain it. She knew to sit at the door but now you have to train her to use the dog door. She won't have formed the habit of using the dog door so you need to go back to your toilet training regime and get her out the door under her own steam for reward. Until she is doing this reliably, keep her confined in the house as before. No point in growling at a dog who clearly doesn't understand that a closed door is not a barrier to what she's been taught to do.

Vickie's pretty much nailed it. I think we'll see more and more "behavioural" training in the future. More focus on problem solving than problem prevention. I don't necessarily consider that to be a good thing. Trainers are already (IMO) training handlers about dog basics as much as they are training dogs. I think if dogs continue to become surrogate little humans for some owners, that market will increase. The market also seems to consider that 8 weeks is enough training for a pup to last them for life. Behaviour modification will continue to be the training that picks up the pieces afterwards.

I hope you are missing a negative in there pf Ah yes. Will fix.

The trigger in this case appears to have been an attempt to open the gate. The fact that dogs rarely attack for no reason does not mean that these attacks should be excused or attempts not made to prevent them. Here's the thing: There are a number of professions that may need to access your home without your permission or without notice. If you believe your dog might be a threat to the safety of such people then my advice is to contain the dog in such a way that it cannot attack people entering the property to access your front door. If you don't want to do that then lock your bloody gates, add a 'beware of the dog' sign and accept that your dog may be shot if entry is required in an emergency.

Good. Horrific injurires. I hate to imagine the terror those kids experienced during this attack. You fail to control your dogs, they do things like this, you SHOULD be held to account. I only hope it gives a few other dog owners pause to control their dogs better.

Lets not forget that police have access to powers that council officers do not have. I have done my research Jed. The police in this incident were responding to a domestic incident for which they have express powers to enter premises. I provided a copy of those powers. I don't doubt that you've got the law relating to council officers entering premises to look for dogs weighed off but it doesn't apply here. Tralee asserted that no one had the power to enter premises without owner permission. He was wrong.

When it's not "effective". A dog that cannot be controlled by the person walking it onlead is not under "effective control". Age isn't the only barrier to that control either.

The ACT is sending specialist urban/building search firies tonight. They can pull people out of these sorts of situations for days after the event. Fingers crossed that many more emerge alive from the rubble. Julia Gillard said something a few days ago that resonated with me and is particularly relevant to what's happening now. It was something along the lines of: "Australia has many ties with other countries but only New Zealand is family". Hear hear.

Rubbish. The procedure is legal in most states provided the vet is presented with evidence that debarking is only be resorted to after other methods have failed and after council approval. Once again misinformation from an animal industry worker that should know better. If the dog was debarked before you got him, then you aren't responsible for what happened. I'd ignore any comments. It may be that you'll find out for yourself why the procedure was performed. He might be an incessant barker. A dog not kept quiet after the procedure (to heal) or a not very well performed procedure will leave the dog with a 'voice'.

Resource guarders aren't "bad" dogs. They're displaying a perfectly natural canine response to threats (perceived or otherwise) to things they value. Food they don't place a high value on, they don't guard. Decreasing the perceptionn of threats helps stop the behaviour from escalating but IMO the trait is always present and maybe desensitised but not cured. Shyfig, a professional will help but my advice to you is to lock your cats up when your dog is feeding, to feed him in crate or outside and offleash and to remove both the cats and yourself from the equation. If your dog is doing no more than chasing the cats off, I'd be counting your blessings. Behaviour escalates because the dog perceives it is working. My advice to you is to remove the cats so that your dog never feels they are a threat to his food. Treats etc present a whole new management issue.

If the only time you're seeing issues is outside the crate, try feeding all meals there. I'd suggest you stop interrupting her feeding in the crate and that you feed her chicken wings in there too. Separation from your other dog might also decrease her anxiety.

Much as I agree with Susan Garratt's training on a lot of issues, I don't agree with this. If a dog is sniffing its often displacement behaviour - the dog is stressed and unfocussed. Our challenge is to get the focus and position and reward it when we do. HOLDING the head up doesn't teach it anything. The trick to good heel work is to show the dog what you want and reward it when you get it. MTS: Get a piece of roast chook or similar. Show Shelly that you've got it then clamp it in your left fist and hold it on your left hip. Start walking.. and report back on your dog's level of focus and energy. If you're worried about making her fat, cut her other meals back and make her train for food. When it comes to training, its best to use what the dog finds most rewarding to reward. If that's food, so be it. Personally I favour the approach that sees the heel position taught as a stationary exercise first. The dog is taught that heel means "be close to handler's left side sitting straight". Once you've got that, adding handler movement means the dog holds position and sits when you stop.

A heat pad is another option or one of those dog hot water bottles you heat in the microwave.

He's a shocker, it drives me crazy, but he's been like this ever since he first came home! I think I might have to look into it for him, but he also has a habit of scratching his bedding and tearing it up to make a 'nest' so I'd hate for him to do that to a heated bed. You can get heat pads where the heating wires are embedded in hard plastic. They go under bedding.

Buy him an insulated kennel AND rug him. A crate offers no protection from the elements, and minimal insulation if covered. Personally I'd be sleeping both dogs together, outside if necessary. They will be company and warmth for one another.