Aidan

Some evidence suggests that speying a bitch with a history of aggression can lead to further aggression. There are theories about why this might be the case, although causality has not been proven.

Parks and Wildlife don't mention anything about pro-hunting groups in their reports (which is not to say that there haven't been investigations, but it's not the "official" story). Neither Parks and Wildlife or the Fox Eradication Taskforce have shot or captured a fox. http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/file.aspx?id=6536

It's hard to tell what people mean when they say "dominance", and a lot of what some people have traditionally regarded as "being dominant" is likely to lead to further problems in the long run. See your behaviourist for an informed opinion based on sound research and evidence.

"the Bulldog came out worse for wear but not seriously injured just scratched up here and there" was the report. I won't make assumptions based on breed, that's a job for the media and our elected representatives.

What's the difference?

Behavioural Science, with an emphasis on avoiding clinical psychology Is this just with animals ( the furry kind) ?? No, the furless kind who cause all the problems.

Behavioural Science, with an emphasis on avoiding clinical psychology

Yes, almost exactly the same. The Troy product has a very high dose of one of the B Vitamins, which has been shown to have therapeutic benefit on it's own and may be a useful adjunct. Proteins are made up of amino acids. The percentage of each amino in a protein varies. The brain can only use so many of these aminos at any one time, and some of the larger aminos take preference, I suppose you could say the bully their way through. By raising insulin you effectively increase the % of tryptophan by sending the larger aminos away to build muscle, repair organs, make fat and all the other things that happen when you raise insulin. What happens when you supplement with tryptophan is that you increase the % of tryptophan shortly after it is digested. If the dogs are being exercised and have good access to natural sunlight and aren't being kept awake unnaturally then the tryptophan gets used in the brain (actually it gets converted to something else first, but I'm keeping it very simple). In short, there is more than one road to Rome. However, tryptophan isn't the only amino that gets taken up in the process when you raise insulin, and it isn't the only amino that is a precursor for important neurotransmitters either. So my theory is that by raising insulin, just a little, for a short period of time, in a well exercised dog who is getting natural sunlight and sleeping in rhythm with the cycles of the planet that they evolved upon - you give the brain (and the rest of the body) a shot at getting everything it needs to function properly for the rest of the day. So it's not always necessary to raise insulin through carbs, but it can be helpful, and a % of dogs (unknown, not studied) do benefit from it. So when I make the recommendation, I use the recipe which I have the most experience with. Hopefully, one day, I will finish my degree and someone will throw a few bucks my way and I'll be able to find out some more of the parameters. At this stage I'm only working with slightly more information than a charlatan... so I'm cautious. Do dogs need carbs? No. Did dogs evolve eating carbs and might this have had some bearing on selective breeding? It would be hard to argue otherwise, although many have their opinions. I prefer to let the dog decide. Both of mine respond very differently to carbs in their diets.

Yes, but the trick is to make it very clear that the contingency for coming back is to sit on the spot and not move. The only fair way to do this is to start off very small, one step at a time as you have described. I use the "300 Peck" method in the article so that there is no guesswork involved. The first break will be a little one, not a highly emotionally charged event, and you can even cue "sit" the first few times (although I wouldn't keep cueing it, you won't be there to cue it when you are out of sight).

You should notice an immediate change, if there are any trials for any ANKC sport this weekend, enter and win!!!

I'd certainly be giving it a go. If there is something that is part of your routine that causes her to whine, that's a good place to take baseline measurement of whining. Sound sensitivity is a little harder to measure, every time you take a measurement the dog becomes a little more habituated to the sound but you might be able to video tape her response to an "every day" sound which she would already be habituated to, such as dropping your car keys on the counter. Brewer's Yeast is really cheap at health food shops, it's just a repackaged waste product from breweries.

That's fine, for a while I was making cooked and raw patties and freezing them, and even a big batch of biscuits which lasted ages. It's a stable amino. Just be sure to divide the recipe evenly so that you know which dosage you are using.

I think I pay $79 for 500gm, but for the purposes of a trial you can buy a 50gm sachet for $9-$10 which is enough for a couple of weeks (1 tsp is about 3gm).

To those who want to try this, I really do recommend taking some sort of objective measurement before, during and after. We can't ask them how they are feeling so measurement is important. Usually there is something a dog who might benefit from this will do that really concerns you. For my dog it was screaming when I went to put a crate in the car. So if you have screaming at something you do regularly at a certain time of day, time it or even record it. Sleeping patterns are fairly easy to make notes on, just be objective. If treatment is successful you won't necessarily see big changes, but you will see changes that aren't a result of training or behaviour modification. If you can change what we call "affective behaviours" that are regulated by brain chemistry it becomes a lot easier to change other behaviours. For e.g. I could train my dog not to lunge, bark or eyeball other dogs. But the effects were never long lived like they were with client's dogs. Typically I would resume training again over summer (over winter we walk in the dark and do not see too many other dogs) and be back almost to square one each year. After supplementation we could make bigger changes more easily, in fact I was walking my dog off-leash with selected other dogs very soon after treatment. Obviously, for her, she had a fairly serious deficiency which I suspect has something to do with her gastro-intestinal tract (or what's left of it now). Not all dogs, even dogs with a deficiency, will respond in such an obvious way.

I hope he is OK. I've dug something up that might be helpful: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P...j00367-0050.pdf

Skinner, running to the bedroom is operant behaviour. Sorry, I'm a nerd.

With the exception of champions (e.g obedience, field, retrieving etc) who are so good they get to put their working title at the front. Then it will say O.Ch, T. Ch, FT.Ch etc

Or needing to cheat to pass...

Of course! Brewer's Yeast actually has a reasonable % of tryptophan on it's own.

Anxiety and brain chemistry are a "chicken or egg" problem. They are interrelated, one may be causal of the other or vice-versa.

They bring together an actual meal with a good ratio of nutrients that are beneficial for dogs with anxiety issues. Veterinary studies have tended to focus on % of protein in a meal, which I believe is a red herring. You can have low % protein with a high volume of water, fat or fibre and still not raise insulin sufficiently to see an effect. I suspect this is why there is so much conflicting advice on % of protein in a meal for dogs with aggression, anxiety etc Olive oil is surprisingly psychoactive. How is not well understood but there are numerous studies where olive oil has been used as a placebo and skewed the data. If you compare these studies with other studies where different placebos are used, you get vastly different results which has lead some researchers to look more closely at olive oil. It is actually not a bad anti-depressant on it's own. However I know from omitting olive oil that the tryptophan is the active ingredient for my GSD, the olive oil is there for her health. Here's the actual recipe for a 30-35kg GSD with no grain or egg allergies: 1 egg in a measuring bowl, fill to 150ml with boiling water add 3/4cup wholegrain rolled oats. Mix, zap in microwave for 20s. Let cool for 5-10 minutes, let the water soak into the oats. Add 1tsp Good as Gold, 1tsp Brewer's Yeast, 1 glug of olive oil, 1/2 cup of good quality kibble.

A little background - l-tryptophan is an amino acid which the body uses to produce serotonin. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter. It is thought that deficiencies of this neurotransmitter result in anxiety and anxiety related disorders. Some of the B vitamins are also involved in neurotransmitter production. There is a dosage window for l-tryptophan. If you have too little or too much as a percentage of total aminos available to the brain then it doesn't make it through very well. If you have an excess of the larger aminos it won't make it through. One way to get around this is to raise insulin just enough to send the larger aminos off to build muscle, repair organs and that sort of thing. Another way to get around this is to supplement so that total % of tryptophan in a meal is above 1.5% of all aminos in the protein. Other factors are natural sunlight to the eyes (which regulates the cycle of production) and exercise (which places demands on the larger aminos). If you have a dog who is not producing enough serotonin for whatever reason, then a small meal containing some carbohydrate to raise insulin with a tryptophan and B Vit supplement can help. It will not change learned behaviour but it may change the affective behaviours (emotional states) that lead to unwanted behaviours and anxiety. Behave paste is good, but I make up a powder containing 50:50 "Good as Gold" (from horse feed suppliers) and Brewer's Yeast. This is mixed with a small amount of oats, boiling water, olive oil (also psychoactive) and an egg, given in the morning with a little dry food for palatability. Curtains are left open in the room in which the dog's sleep, and I make sure they get enough exercise, social contact etc. My GSD is a wreck if she misses 3 days of supplement. Within 2 days of supplementation she is better again. With her it is very noticeable and friends can reliably guess whether or not she has had her supplement based on her demeanour at training. I have a client with another GSD (different lines) who also responds similarly. As other posters have mentioned a trial will not harm your dog and may do some good but do not expect to see large changes in learned behaviour. If I recommend this protocol to clients I have them objectively measure things such as whining in certain situations, sleeping patterns (should see more sleeping in dogs), and other signs of anxiety. If these measures improve we know we're on the right track. Dosage is an individual thing, start with 1tsp of Good as Gold for a GSD or similar. Allow a couple of weeks to notice changes although it can work very quickly in some cases.

Ha, this is where I'm STILL at. Kivi will sit or he'll be okay on a loose leash until the very last moment when the owner is bringing the other dog to him and he is within range of greeting. Then he pulls and he gets rewarded EVERY time because the owner of the other dog keeps coming on. It's so annoying! Yup, that's why we drill it with controlled setups first. The dog has a choice, but the choice that has paid off over and over and over and over is not to pull.

I would like them to be sat in front of the door rather than jumping on it. I don't mind if they jump , but not ONTO the glass. But i'm not sure how to train that.. I ask the question for several reasons, not the least of which is because it helps if you have identified what it is you would like them to do specifically, rather than just being told what to do. Snoopy21 has shared what she has done in a similar situation and those are good principles. I would probably work on it with each dog separately in the early stages. This makes it a bit easier for you and also for your dogs. If they know how to sit already, get them used to sitting on the other side of the door. The door can be open at first, then work on it with the door closed. Start off with food in these early stages, small treats. The reward later on will be getting to greet you when you open the door. Build up the length of time that you expect them to remain sitting before you reward. Think about how long it will take you to come in, put your keys down, have a glass of water, put the groceries down and that sort of thing. Aim to train them to remain sitting for that length of time. Start off with a very short duration and work up to that, so you might start asking them to sit for just one second. If they will sit for one second in 4/5 trials, increase the time to two seconds, and so on. If they fail more than 1/5 trials, reduce the time a little and try again. Next have them remain sitting while you walk off and do things. Start off with just a step away from the door, make it really easy for them. Work up to being able to put bags away, take shoes off, and things you might typically do before you let them in. Keep setting them up for success every step of the way, make it easy for them. At some point it will seem like a good idea to try and work with both dogs together, go back to basics when you do this, you should be able to increase the difficulty very quickly from there but just remember to keep setting them up for success. I hope that helps.

Regardless of her motivation, you solve the problem the same way you would if she were on her own. Wanting to be out in front might be making it worse, but there is nothing you can do to stop her feeling that way except give her a reason not to be out in front and my preferred way to do that is to - never let a dog get anywhere on a tight leash, reward when in position. Nothing magical. Thanks Aidan. Patience and perseverance! Yup. Unfortunately...