Daggles

Maybe, maybe not. Much depends on how you use whichever training tool. However, given that you are under direction of a trainer and that your trainer has had the advantage of observing your dog (where we have not), perhaps he/she saw the benefits over another tool other than the Infin8. I don't really think it sounds like the trainer "told you off", but the trainer should be sympathetic to YOUR capabilities in handling your dog rather than what the trainer THINKS he/she could manage. There are ways and means of training and of weaning off (often it's the handler who needs to learn to be able to "wean off") certain tools before another tool which might end up being more effective, can be properly manipulated. Seeing as you are under the direction of a trainer, return to your school with your concerns and ask them for more help given your current difficulties in holding onto your dog with anything less than a head-collar. Let us know how you get on. I will do this but I know they want me to use a corrention chain instead & I dont want to. I felt that being told to remove the infin8 without effiecient explaination on how I was to control Maverick in a situation were he doesnt listen to, was ineffect a way of being told off....sure felt like it :rolleyes: I think you are right, he (trainer) is so much stronger than me, he was a big burly bloke & I am 5 foot 3 & 51 kg.

Did you ask why? Did the trainer explain why? Yes, he said because the dog wont learn the correct behaviour ie not to lunge at dogs just by using it, which I agree with but my dog is almost pulling me over and I am not fast enough to see the lunge coming before it happens. I feel it is to point were he could lunge & get away from me. so what am I supposed to do?

Hey, Freja, looks like we both have the same problem. The infin8 worked like magic on Mav, but i have been told it wont train him so I cant use it. Good luck in your search!

I want to know what the disadvantages of training in a Black Dog infin8? And he benifits of training with a check chain? I turned up to training using an infin8 and was told to remove it and it was suggested I use a check chain instead.

My 6 mth old GSD has been trying to do it since he was a pup. Apparently very common espesically on a raw diet. I clean up his poo right away and watch him do it so when he turns around for the sniff I say Arrrgh. Havent tried the pinapple juice because I keep forgetting to buy it but I heard it works. good luck with it

oh, that is so funny, well for me to read anyway, bet you are not laughing Maverick let himself in the back sliding door one night when he was about 3 months old, I must have left it unlocked. hubby found him at 6am asleep on his mat, I was terriffied he had chewed up all the kids toys but what an angel, nothing was touched. I hope your fella didnt have any accidents whilst cruising around the house! :D

Can anyone recommend a good book on dog Psychology? Since I have been training my German Shepherd I have started to think about how he thinks. I have tried the library but no luck there.

Because I am against puppy mills and backyard breeding so I dont want to help out those selling pups or kitttens in anyway. I wont be going back to Pets direct either. I will make the trip to 4 paws & more. thank you for the advice everyone.

I have heard it is a very good food, but as far as I am aware only stocked by a pet store chain which most DOLers won't buy from because they sell puppies out of the stores. I wouldnt buy anything from a shop that sold puppies or kittens. I got it from Pets Goods Direct, a store that has been open for about 7 weeks near us.

I went to buy Nutro or Eagle Pack today but the store didnt have it, instead I was talked into Innova. I have never heard of it, has anyone else? good or bad?

My GSD is suffering in the same way yours is and I too have decided it must the grass since he has only been itchy in the last 5 weeks. Kavik you have given me another idea though, maybe it is the washing powder, it is OMO, I am going to try a phosphate chemical free one, it is worth a try. I asked my Naturapath what would help and he suggested 1 tablespoon of flax oil in food per day amd I am applying almond oil to the itchy areas.

Oh dear ISH, Mavricks ears are still floppy! I dont know if he is loose all over, I wouldnt know what to look for. I know of 2 other GSD breeders who used it but said the pups stopped eating it when rehome at 8 weeks old. I thought this might have been because new owners wherent getting in mixed right... What dry food do you feed?

I have a 18 week old GSD and I have been feeding him Vets all natural since I got him as this is what the breeder feed. I am not convinced he does well on it, I wieght it all out and feed it with either beef mince or roo mince. He always seems thin and he also gets chicken carcass's and wings daily. he has a shiny coat but is always itchy and thats not from washing him as he hasnt been washed for 6 weeks. Does anyone have any opinions of it? oh, his poos seem large and he does about 4 in 24 hours, I can see a lot of the vets all natural in it kind of looking the same as when it was in his bowl. He also regularly eats his droppings.

I dont want to scare you PJ or anyone else for that matter but I will tell you a story. My friend had 2 fully grown Boxers whom she would give lamb shanks to as a treat about once a month. Daisy was about 8 and Gatsby was 6. One warm evening she gave the dogs a lamb shank outside whilst she was watering. When she turned around Gatsby was dead , he had choked on the bone, he must have tried to swallow it whole maybe and Jan didnt hear anything above the noise of the hose. I will never give Maverick a lamb shank.

I want to do something with my German Shepherd Dog but I am not sure which avenue to go down. My considerations are: Obedience, agility, tracking, lure coursing maybe. I know what obedience is and what is involved in agility but can some please explain the other to me? Are there particular things I should look out for in my dog to see if he is more suited to one sport or another?

It's quite possible he's noticed the subtle signs of going to training - preparing for training, the clothes you put on, dropping the kids off at a particular place etc etc. Our guys also get super excited when they notice the little things we do in preparation for walking out the door to do something super-interesting, so what our trainer has gotten us to do is to devalue the motions that we go through ie picking up the lead usually means "WALKIES! MY FAVOURITE THING!", or picking up my car keys "DRIVINKS! MY FAVOURITE THING!", or picking up the bin "THE BIN AREA! MY FAVOURITE THING!". What we do is we pick up these items & walk around the house for about 30 or so seconds & then replace them - dogs get worked up but then nothing interesting happens, & little by little they've started to have these motions devalued in their minds. Do you drop the doggy off to your parent's place at any other time with him in the car? It might be worth adding a component of "devaluing the trip" where you go through those same motions, but then come straight back home without going to training. Trainers will probably be able to explain this a lot better than me but I know we've had some success in getting the dogs to not care when we do something interesting you explained this beautifully and I had the same idea in mind so will give it a go.

Well we seemed to have some success today. I got him to have a wee before getting into the car to go to training. He sat on the floor as i had to take my 3 & 5 yearold to mums place first. H e made the 25 min journey without empting. When we left I tried for 15 minutes to get him to wee but to no avail. i spoke to a few instructors about the problem and the all agreed it was very rare. One suggested putting him in the car with the engine running for 5 minutes and then he him out & try to get him to wee. Did this but no success. So I loaded him into the back seat of the Mazda and drove anout 10 min but he kept coming through the console so I had to put him in the foot well again. anyway he made it home WITHOUT EMPTING IN THE CAR! So I gave him heaps of praise & some treats from my pocket. On a different note, he has taken to vomiting in the car but only on the 2 last sunday mornings and both times within 1km of my mums house (which is only 1 km from my house )after I dropped off the kids. It is like he knows we are going to training and get worked up. He spent a total of 3 hours in the car yesterday with no sings of vomiting, no drooling ect. Could be really know where we are going?

I have popped in to read your thread from time to time and must admit that "unease" was a thought that first popped into my mind. The above highlighted (by me) section could well be a clue. I hear what you say about the car being full, but the 'experiment' I suggested might at least narrow down WHY the urination at this time is occurring. Just do it a few times by taking him out without all the kids in the car. If he doesn't urinate on those occasions, perhaps we can then make some suggestions that might help for when he is back in the foot well of the car. Will you entertain this idea? Can you? ok so you mean some "dummy" runs so to speak? Ok I can do that, so should I put him in the back of the station wagon or on the back seat of the Mazda, how do I stop him from running around the car & jumping over the seats?

This would be a good experiment but the backseat is full of kids. HE still has a lot of room in the footwell and he likes to put his head up on the seat. He has been in the footwell since he was a pup and he seems very relaxed there, he also jumps in to the car very willing.

Might be trying your idea persephone!! (I will try this tomorrow if I can get him to wee on the dirt today & not the grass, we have training tomorrow) We went to a kids party 1.5 hours from home today, it started out well, Maverick had a wee before getting into the car but about 1 hour into the trip he wee'd, this is a first, normally it is the way home. He spends 2 to 3 hours inside our house at a time and never urinates inside. We where at the party for 2 hours and yes he did drink. I tried to get him to wee before we left but no luck, we stopped about 10 minutes down the road for about 10 minutes for him to have a wee but again, no luck. He made it home without weeing in the car and had a wee when I took him to his "spot". So somehow I have trained him to go in one spot only I think As I was sitting in the passenger seat & hubby was driving I was able watch him closely but I still couldnt tell when he was weeing. I did notice at one stage that his breathing became faster though. Do you think he will grow out of it when he matures and uses urine to mark things, ie empting his bladder?

Thank you all for your input. I dont think it is a weak bladder as he doesn't urinate in his bed, but I have a vet app for next week. (he has had vaccinations) I can get a urine sample no worries but what would they test it for? Neither do I believe I have over toileted him as he sleeps outside all night, it would only be about twice a day I get him to wee on command. I think that the soil Idea is great in theroy but not really acheivable because I would end up digging up my lawn every time we go in the car. I do think that I will change the toilet spot and take him out the front lawn so that he can get use to weeing in different spots. We have had success at the last training day, I put him in and empty grassed run and he wee'd on my command within 2 minutes but he wouldnt do it whilst on the lead. Thank you for your input and your ideas, I will let you know how he goes over the weekend and at the vets.

I hadnt thought of a vet check up but I give it a go. We will try shorter drives, around the block kind of thing and see how he goes but in the meanwhile we still have to do longer trips to training. I always praise him when I see him wee, even if I didnt ask him to. I think I have had a small breakthrough tonight because he had a wee within 30 seconds of me asking him too rather than the normal 10 to 20 minutes.

That would be a good idea BUT the crate is too big, even for the station wagon.

Hi Kavik, This is the amazing/strange/frustrating thing about the weeing in the car, he will wee on command at home and 50% of the time when we are out. But similar to your dog, he wont wee on the lead during training until I finish & walk him around giving him the command to wee, this takes about 20 mins though. So why is he laying down & weeing, surely most dog would at least sit up?

He is crate trained & house trained, he only does it in the car.