kayla1

I’m using drive training for two of my dogs – I’m still completing K9 Force’s TID course so haven’t decided which dog sports they will go on to yet. Both dogs are very prey driven and TID has been a godsend for them. Annie is only a small dog, and was quite timid, but she is so much more confident now and a much happier dog. There is no way I could get this amount of focus, and such quick responses, through other methods of training – not with these dogs anyway.

Yes that’s what it felt like! No I haven’t tried that – I am always around when he has his nails clipped as he generally struggles to get behind/under me. Not sure re breed as he’s a rescue, possibly a small bc x about 2 yrs old. Initially he was much worse – enormous drive and no outlet, and no off switch – so totally over the top and consistently stressed/anxious. It’s taken many months and he has improved immensely but you’re right, there is still a lot of work to do in regard to his fears. Different behaviourists have suggested different things – distraction using food/balls, corrections such as water spray, time out, Be Still exercise etc. I’m now trying to slowly decrease the distance at which he reacts by rewarding appropriate behaviour. But at the vets he is too close to too many strange people, on top of his fear re dew claws, so it's just all too much.

Mornington Peninsula. Happy to travel!

Thanks very much Erny. Will email.

That's what happened today - he was muzzled, held down by myself and a vet nurse, and the vet clipped the nails. I just wanted to try and find a way that wasn't so obviously stressful for him. When he ripped his dew claws, he caught them on something when running and the nail was ripped partly off. The vet then pulled the nail completely off.

Yes absolutely - Maxie has already been assessed by two behaviourists. He is a very high drive, highly strung dog and is fear aggressive. He has improved a great deal but still a long way to go.

I can hold his paw but when I try to examine or clip his dew claws he struggles, moans, and mouths my hand. Yes I did consider having his dew claws removed as he ripped them several times within a relatively short period of time. However with regular clipping he hasn't ripped a nail since.

Sorry - fearful of both. The fear of nail clipping has been brought on by the times when the vet has pulled the dew claw out after being ripped. Yes he is also now fearful of me clipping his nails. His fear of of the vets is partly related to those experiences, and also because he is fearful of strange people anyway. I would prefer to clip his nails myself to avoid taking him to the vet - so would love some advice on that - and also some advice on dealing with his fear of vets.

One of my dogs, Maxie, is fear aggressive with strange people and becomes stressed/anxious very easily - especially when at the vets. He has been to the vets three times for ripping a dew claw, and each time the vet has pulled the claw out. He now has an extreme fear of getting his nails clipped – however they need to be kept short so that he doesn’t rip them again. I took him to a vet today to get his nails trimmed and he was totally uncontrollable with fear. Vet suggested valium before any future vet visits. Maxie has seen several vets, though today was the first time he has seen this particular vet and the first time he has been this uncontrollable – on previous visits he has been very fearful but not to the extent he was today. Does anyone have any advice, desensitisation tips, for dealing with such a fear of the vets? Also, any suggestions about how I could desensitise Maxie to nail clipping so I could it myself would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Does anyone know how often Capstar can be given, and how long for?

One of my dogs has worn canines also. His teeth were like that when he came here as a rescue. I don’t know his history, however he is ball obsessed so I guess it’s possible it was caused by excessive tennis ball chewing in his previous life. But I really don't know the cause.

So is the Be Still exercise something that should be used for highly strung dogs? I’ve seen a trainer perform this technique with a highly strung dog who is fearful of strangers and he seemed to become even more stressed while being restrained, not calmer. The trainer released him after some time when he showed some stress displacement behaviours but the dog was still very anxious when released.

Great thanks, certainly sounds like it’s manageable with a full-time job.

Couldn't find this in previous threads but for those that have done the NDTF distance course, what is the time commitment involved? I notice the info pack says the course doesn't interfere with regular employment, but roughly how many hours of study per week is involved?

No bull breeds here either but my three dogs are always left together. One of my dogs had to be separated initially as he was too full on for the smaller one, but now there is no problem. I always separate new foster dogs when unsupervised until I’m comfortable leaving them together.

Thanks for your replies. Last vet visit was a couple of months ago. The limping has gradually been getting worse over the past couple of years or so, and her walks are getting progressively shorter. She’s had her legs checked a few times during this period and the vets have said the same thing – good range of movement and just mild arthritis. At the last visit, the vet said medication wouldn’t be needed until I saw signs of stiffness after resting or problems with jumping – which I haven’t seen. But she’s obviously uncomfortable on her walks. I might try a different vet, get another opinion – I read that Monash Vet is good for this type of problem?

Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this. Kayla (bc x lab I think, about 9 years old) has a problem with limping when out walking. She’s fine around the house, doesn’t seem to have any stiffness. But when out walking, she’ll walk along fine for a while but then start to limp slightly on her hind legs (swaying motion) and also limp on one of her front legs. I only walk her for about 20-30 mins now, and this time has been decreasing gradually over the last couple of years as her legs have been getting worse. The vet says she has good range of movement but has some mild arthritis, and says that the swaying/limping is just tiredness on walks?? She’s on Glyde for the arthritis, no medication, and she's a good weight. I’m not so sure that it is just tiredness causing the limping, or whether there is another problem. Any thoughts?

I took one of my dogs for a vaccination today and the vet spent a couple of minutes explaining the possible side effects before giving the vaccination – said dogs may become itchy at the site, experience swelling around the face, to watch the dog over the next 24 hours etc. I’ve taken several dogs to this particular vet previously and she has never provided this info, in fact nor has any other vet I've been to unless I have specifically asked for it. I guess it will become more commonplace with the new vaccination protocol and greater public awareness of the risks – but I'm wondering if there is a new requirement for vets to disclose this information??

Does "no" mean anything? The only way to answer this would be to use it on it's own, then observe to see if there is actually a reduction in this behaviour or not. Otherwise you might as well be saying "look at the birds" You're basically just putting it on cue. Yes, she knows that ‘no’ means stop whatever you are doing.

Balls are definitely higher value than tug toys because she loves the chase. If the chasing is encouraged by lure coursing or something similar, would that increase her desire to chase other things like birds? Or would her desire to chase birds be reduced because she is getting drive satisfaction elsewhere. I’m not sure how often lure coursing is run but I think it’s only once a month or so (?), which wouldn’t be enough to satisfy her drive. I do worry about her safety, more so than other dogs – she’s only 5kg and very fast, and if she was off lead after a bird she’d be gone in a second. So from a safety point of view, chasing birds is not something I want to encourage.

I’m looking for some training suggestions for a dog with a bird obsession. I have a small pap/terrier mix with a fancy for small creatures – but in particular, birds. She is totally and utterly obsessed – doesn’t matter whether the bird is in the yard, outside of the car window, on the ground, in the trees – she will go into prey drive immediately. She shakes, barks and squeals, lunges if on lead etc. I have spent many months building up her drive for other things, tug toys and balls, and inside the house I can get a pretty high level of drive for these toys. At the park, she can focus on the toy/ball for a few minutes but not for any length of time because as soon as she spots a bird, that’s it. I don’t know how to increase the level of distraction gradually as obviously I have no control over the birds! I don’t let her off lead because as soon as she sees a bird, prey drive kicks in immediately and she takes off in less than a second – well, takes off but doesn’t get very far cos she hits the end of the lead. She is walked on a flat collar or harness, and a long lead sometimes for training. I’ve tried a few things, the latest being as soon as she spots a bird, I say ‘no’ and then say ‘yes’ and reward when she looks at me. I’ve had some success with this, but most birds she just finds too exciting. Also this is hard because I have to say no before her drive kicks in, and with so many birds around it’s rather difficult as she usually spots the birds before I do! Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks.

I have a 2 yr old bc x that has torn his front dew claws three times in a few months, each time resulting in a vet visit to pull off the claw. The vet has suggested removing them since it has happened so often. Given the toes have to be removed, does this affect the dog in terms of holding things or running? He'll soon be doing one of the dog sports, flyball or agility perhaps, so he's an active boy and I guess it's likely he'll tear the claws again - but I'm a bit worried about him having the toes removed if he uses them.

Yes I use a tug toy at obedience - the ball is used along with various other toys when training in other environments. Fortunately this boy is goes into drive for just about any ball or toy. I don't try to hide the toy at obedience - it's kept in my pocket simply for convenience. Thanks Jess, have been reading Control Unleashed but forgot about Shaping Success. Will look at that too.

I use a verbal marker, yes. That's good to know re classes being too exciting as I can work on that. At the moment I ignore the barking/jumping and reward when he is sitting and focussing on me. But what about the anxious behaviour with strangers, should I try to distract him before he reacts, or what are the other options? I did try the 'be still' exercise for a while but it didn't seem to work, or maybe I was doing something wrong. Water spray has no effect.

He focusses first on whatever I have in my hand, but he won't get rewarded until he makes eye contact with me. If I do this in a low distraction environment he will sit, freeze, look intently and shake with anticipation until he gets his ball (or whatever it might be). Then I do things like putting his ball on the ground, or throwing it, and he has to wait until he makes eye contact with me and gets the ok before he can get the ball. He is getting quicker at making eye contact with me. But at obedience the other day, he was so worked up and all self control went out the window - so instead of sitting and focussing on me, he was barking continously, spinning and throwing himself in the air cos he knew I had his toy in my pocket.