Vickie

WEEK THIRTEEN: Pep has been doing some bonding with Ben lately. Chloe has a better social life than anyone I know, so little Pep has had to seek a stand-in best friend for when Chloe is not here. Ben seems to be meeting her needs perfectly :D Training wise... Pep loves diving in her crate and is very good about waiting for her release. She is so much more settled here now & I am comfortable not crating her when we leave to go out. She is secure in a large run with other dogs but I always suspected she may be destructive if left for a long period of time. She's not and has earnt the priviledge of lots more space. She has a really nice solid start line now. I can see that she is learning the names for some of the obstacles & is getting great at picking a line of obstacles without Chloe micro-managing her Chloe is still working very small sequences with her. They are both learning. Every now & then Chloe forgets that Pep does not have the training nor experience of the girls...lucky she has me to remind her ;) . Chloe has also taught Pep to lie on a mat. It is pretty cute, I bought her a pink spotted mat & she loves it. She is only rewarded if all her feet are on the mat & she has worked it out very quickly. They are currently building duration. Ive been a bit slack with her weaves (the one thing I am training her in). She has a good understanding of 3 poles, but I haven't finished working her entries yet No rush I guess.

And isn't this pup lucky she started hers with Dasha, otherwise she would undoubtedly have been shot by now. A dog like this is not a dog you can keep around like a spare wheel for 15 years. Far better that she's going somewhere that will give her the solid work she so desperately needs and will thrive on.

seems odd that they just mentioned one cruciferous vegetable though I've just done some googling & can't find anything about silverbeet being bad for dogs. I grow it, specifically for my dogs . Might have to start growing something else instead.

Just thought of number 5 I have found our Peppi to be very high energy. She does not have the endurance of the BCs, but when she is full of beans, she is really full on. We use this time for training. I want her to use all that energy with us humans, not with the dogs. She is not as annoying to them & does not play so full on with them once we have drained some of that energy via ball games or training.

Didn't you get some help with jak when you first got her? Might be time for a follow up visit... Some thoughts in the meantime...most of what you are describing sounds like leadership issues. We got our latest dog, a JRT mix a few months ago & I had to work through a couple of the issues you are describing. Number one is not to greet either dog when you get home for at least 10 minutes & even when you do, do so calmly. Number two, I don't let any of my 5 pick on another one. Rough play is ok, but if any of mine look unhappy, I step in. They are not allowed to discipline each other. I don't care who is dominant, there is no bullying allowed here. Number 3, I tackle the food differently to many I guess. Mine all eat together & I like it that way. When a new dog comes in, I protect the others food & teach it that everything but their own bowl/bone is off limits. I do this b/c I am confident in doing so, it is not for everyone. Otherwise, feed separately. For the treats...are they earning them with tricks/training? Or do they get them for nothing? I would start with each in a stay a few metres apart & reward for the stay & gradually decrease the distance. They should be too focussed on earning their treat from you to worry about each other. Number 4, do they have their own crates to sleep in? Dogs like to have a place of their own where they will not be disturbed. Ed might be less reactive if he has his own spot out of the way. Just my thoughts, others may have different ideas.

Agree, can't hurt to take her back to the vet. My Zeus is nearly 14. Six months ago he was given the all clear for his heart & lungs. Last week I was told his heart is not great & he has some fluid in the lungs. We have started him on medication & have fingers crossed that it will help. We are lucky that he still wants to play & eats very well but at times he pants very hard. He seems to be panting less regularly on medication and I am trying not to let him get too excited. I know it's his age, but just want him to be as comfortable as possible while he's still happy. That's all any of us can do (apart from spoiling them rotten) until we need to make the right decision for them.

AD, another thing the owner of this dog could consider is having some privates, where they can progress skill, teamwork & motivation wise without having to deal with the presence of other dogs. I have worked with a few dogs this year who have aggression problems. They are also seeing a behaviourist, we just work on the agility and are having good results.

10-15 minutes to correct a behaviour? I would have thought 1-1.5 seconds would be ample! Now to prevent a behaviour from recurring...that would take longer, depending on the dog, handler etc. sorry, couldn't resist

I would say all my dogs are like this. I choose dogs who are likely to want to work very hard for rewards & tend to be on the obsessive side about them, then I foster it & enhance it and use it for training. I may be oversimplifying things, but would say that a large percentage of agility & flyball dogs are exactly as you have described, for many of us, this type of nature is what we desire on a dog and is necessary to allow us to train the complex behaviours with the reliability & speed we want. Many of them do present challenges with self control, but I don't think they are insurrmountable for the average trainer. Le hammer who is a vet & teaches/competes on agility often talks about some dogs having fast twitch muscle Fibres. in humans, it is the difference between a spinter & a long distance runner. Thesedogs tend to do even the most basic things very quickly. Sounds like Erik is one of these. I find it a desirable trait, rather than an undesirable one. I would also say that these types of dogs are likely to find any activity done at speed very reinforcing. Rather than training for calm & self control before we start the speed stuff, we use the speed stuff to reward the calm & self control. Eta, when I am talking about speed, it is more about speed of response than physical speed across the ground.

Are you trying to shape two or more things in the same session? For instance, if you shape/ask for a nose touch & then switch it to a paw touch, it may be too much for him at this point. It might be better to do the nose in one session & the paw in another. Then when you have them both on cue, you can switch without frustration. Or pick 2 behaviours in one session that are totally different. I think you do need a certain amount of frustration in shaping, it's what motivates them to try new things. Trim often whines, in shaping, in anticipation of agility training & trials and sheep. I guess it's a kind of stress, but a good stress & one of the things I love so much about her

Thanks TSD, I hadn't thought of bringing the crate into it, will try that too. Looks like Pep is not the only one. I don't think it'd bother me so much if she wasn't so willing to run through puddles to play!

I was just sitting here & Peppi went to toilet on our back pavers. I called her out onto the grass but she kept coming back onto the pavers. Didn't want to go on the wet grass at all. I got a toy out & started throwing it around the back yard to see just how much she objected to the wet grass. She was right in the thick of it, running through puddles & her normal pushy, animated self with the toy. Once play stopped, she headed straight back to the pavers & did her wee! I'm going to try her on a lead next, probably tomorrow morning as it will be the next wee I can predict. My other dogs are trained to toilet on command, so we need to do this with her as well. I suspect she will hold off on the grass tomorrow. She seems to be able to hold on forever. Any other ideas? Not only do I not want her toileting on pavers, there will be times she will need to be happy training & trialling when it's wet.

One of the things that bothers me selling certain colours for more, is that you are not only meeting demand, you are also serving to create & increase it. If other breeders know that a certain colour will sell for more or be more sought after, some of them will be more likely to factor this in to their next breeding choices. The crappier breeders will be willing to sacrifice more to get the colours that there is demand for & pretty soon there are rainbow litters of crap dogs. I think people who sell their coloured pups for more should in part be willing to take some responsibility for this. The above is a MAJOR factor in my breed. 30-60% of the breeders ads on DOL at any point in time are often more about colour than anything else & like someone else mentioned, it seems to be more prevalent in QLD.

Just a point, the word of mouth thing can go both ways. I have taught a couple of people who I wouldn't like to be labelled as students of mine. They came each week, nodded their heads, never did any homework or seriously attempted what was suggested then proceeded to end up doing what they'd always done. Word of mouth can promote but it can also make good trainers look bad very easily. I think we can assume that sometimes when a behaviourist or trainers appears to fail with a dog, it doesn't mean their skills are necessarily lacking.

A couple of options would be xpens, chicken wire with star pickets or an old gate/0pool fence etc that is secured. If I need to contain mine while I'm at someones house, I use xpens. Easy for me as I trust them to stay in there, since I have used them since they were puppies. That said, I would never leave them in an xpen if I left the property to go shopping or out to dinner. Then they would be crated and generally in a room or garage/shed rather than in a backyard. Eta, once you decide what you will use, might be an idea to start getting them used to it now so you feel more confident.

I think at this point I would do one of 2 things: sell her to the cattle home or take her to someones property for the weekend & work the crap out of her. By the end of it, you'd have a much better idea of whether she is worth putting effort into. Problem is...she's got bloody big boots to fill. If she's not going to going anywhere near filling them, better to spend your time & effort on a dog who will. Just thought of a third option! Definitely the best one! Sell Bess & breed Abby AND make sure there's a puppy for me!

I have never bonded with Noah. He is 13 now. I don't think he has had a crappy life, but I know he would have been happier & more suited to a different one. A number of people I respect told me to return him after a month of having him, but as usual, I was determined, pigheaded that I am, to make it work. And I did & learnt a he'll of a lot in the process. In hindsight, I wish I had rehomed him. It has only been in the last couple of years we have started to get along better. If I ever get another dog in the future that I just can't bond with, I will rehome & get one I can bond with. I am not saying I would not put work into a dog that needs it, that is different.

This may be way off topic, or maybe not. I think it's worth thinking about anyway. We take our dogs away every year camping. At least every 2nd campsite has a dog. The vast majority of these dogs have good manners. I wonder if they are there b/c they have good manners or they have good manners b/c they are there? Society in Australia in general does not accept dogs. We are not encouraged to take them travelling on holidays with us. They are not accepted in most accomodation situations, we don't take them shopping b/c we can't tie them up, Most beaches do not allow dogs, it is not the done thing to take them & sit in an outdoor cafe. All of these things can be done, but It is an effort to find all of the above. I think puppy classes & obedience clubs have a long way to go. I hear so many people say that their dog is a monster after failing a free for all playtime puppy class. Obedience classes, likewise do not give the average dog owner useful skills. Another big one for me is the change of family dynamics. Once upon a time, the mum was home all day with the dog or the dog went to work with dad. Now no-one is home all day & weekends are spent trying to have some quality time with kids in activities that do not include the family dog. I would love to see some 4H classes like they have in the US. Quality time with children & dogs in a recreational activity. Media wise, people have access to Dr Harry or Caesar Milan. Again, hardly helpful for the average owner!

I don't EVER feed puppy food. Lots of breeders in my breed do & recommend it, lots don't & recommend not to. The best you can do is your own research & make up your own mind which way you want to go.

55chevy, can I respectfully ask you to take your anti Susan Garrett posts & put them in another thread please. THIS thread is about my 11 year old daughter training her very stable terrier mix in agility. Personally I don't do Susan Garrett, although I respect her, I have chosen another style of training...hence my reason for asking questions for a program I think will suit my child & her dog. Thank you.

Yes amypie, but to be fair, she displayed absolutely no fear along the way, notwith the bang nor the movement. Having no fear meant that we progressed a lot faster than normal. Her end position will need work, she will get faster & there's lots of proofing to be done, but it was a great start!

Peppi started seesaw training today. she's looking great for her first day

it's a specific program 55chevy, devised by Susan Garrett. There is a heap more to it than just not being happy laying in a crate. Way to much to explain here & do it justice

are you just talking about the stability & release aspect of crate games here Jess or the drive aspect too? Obviously you can build value in driving to all these areas. Peppi seems pretty good on the stability/release stuff. We just now need to convince her that driving into a crate is worthwhile when we are then going to leave her in there for 2-3 hours while we go shopping. She's a smart cookie & seems to know the difference. It's not that she's not settled in there, she is, but she seems to have worked out the difference between flying in to wait for her next training session & going in so we can keep her secure while we leave. I may be misunderstanding things... Should we be expecting her to drive in each & every time we tell her to go kennel, regardless of what is happening next?

Thanks guys. It was interesting today as we created a situation where we realized that we hadn't built enough value for the crate under distraction. Pep was putting herself in after exercises & staying till released. Everything was great until another dog was brought out & trained. She was happy to stay in there & then come out & have her turn. After her turn, she was not at all keen to go back in & was choosing the value & reward of the exercise over the value of the crate. More work to do!