Jigsaw

It looks absolutely shocking. OMG. I've just come back from two weeks holiday in Queenstown. Every time we went through a tunnel or in a cave the possibility of an earthquake was in our minds. My mum just rang me to find out whether we were home or not. She was very upset as she was worried we were still there.

Great video Staranais! Mumtoshelley, have you done any eye contact work with your dog? This may also help your dog to look up at you when heeling. It sounds as if your dog isn't motivated in obedience heeling at the moment. She might be doing the exercise correctly but not with any animation. You really need to find out what floats her boat with regard to using food or toys. Using her dinner may work at home but in a more distracting environment it is less likely to be accepted. If someone offers me a dry biscuit, I might take it but it won't hold my attention. If someone gives me a biscuit with some brie on it, I'll be more interested and maybe look at them for a moment and go back to what I was doing. But if someone started offering me some chocolate I'd certainly be sitting up and taking notice, looking at them, hanging around them and figuring out how to get the next one. Maybe experiment with different toys too and only ask her to fetch once. Invite her to play with you, get her to chase you, you could chase her. Work on getting her excited and animated to be with you before trying to teach that style of heeling.

No problem! Just wish I hadn't rushed out and bought the book and DVD! Bugger!

Sophia Yin's book is available in abridged version for free download at the moment. She has video as well available. Good stuff!! http://lowstresshandling.drsophiayin.com/online/abridged/

What about him spelling a word like DOG from a whole lot of wooden letters? The dog searches through a pile of wooden letters and finds the right ones which have been scent marked by yourself or have been marked with a scent. Pile of letters spread on the floor and dog finds the right letters. Or someone from audience can scent the desired letters for you and dog finds them. You could set up like the zoos do with their live animal displays, have some patter mapped out but within that talk you have key words and visual cues (movement of the hands, legs or head) the dog would take the signals from you to do tricks while you're talking. Depending on what your dog does you could make quite a humourous routine I reckon!

Beginner class sizes can be very large, 20 or so dogs in a class. As you go up in grades the numbers drop off. Different instructor for each session so you may get variations in teaching methods too from the different instructors.

The handler's play style can change in public too, (feeling conspicuous when no one else is using a toy at your club) which can inhibit the dog. Been there, done that!

I had typed up a reply and lost it. So second try! Most problem behaviours occur when the dog fails to uphold the owner's expectations, be it jumping up, stealing, inappropriate marking, pulling on leash. Which as mentioned are more training issues and some behaviours bother some people and others aren't worried by them. If we haven't trained our dog what not to do, they are going to fall into behaviours that are more natural for them and this may then cause problems for owners. Problems such as aggression are usually an emotional response to a trigger and management as well as training need to be used. Behavior problems such as spinning, excessive self chewing or licking, or licking of surfaces as some examples may need drug therapy as well as training.

Could she be recognising the context as a training situation and therefore particularly want to be with you because you reward her a lot in training situations when she's with you? Or it could just be that she hasn't generalised away from you=okay in every scenario. I think Corvus is on track. Looking at the training history it's possible that your dog has a history of high reinforcement from you, especially in a training session whilst previously little has come from another person. Sometimes it pays for you to hold the lead but the other person works with the dog providing all the reinforcement while you be a "disinterested" party, ie no eye contact, no verbal, no food, no touching. You are close to the dog distance wise so the dog is not distracted by looking for you. This enables the dog to work out more easily where the reinforcement is coming from. There are of course a few other variables in the equation depending on the temperament of your dog too.

When I go through the internal garage door and return with a bone from the freezer I get the happy dance and she runs out to her outside bed to wait for her bone. The door to the garage is the provider of all things good, for through that door appears bones, shopping, people and when you go through it you go for a car ride or a walk! When I come home with the groceries my girl goes through each bag until she finds the docket which she then triumphantly rips to shreds!

Well done Sally!!! You should be proud of her. I hope she's had some extra special treats!

Sit/down at the beach with the waves rolling in! I think it was Susan Garrett who gave commands while standing on her head?!! I usually try and mix up from facing away, lying down, sitting down, even just turning my head. In the middle of talking to someone else. Good reminder for me to put back on my practise list.

Havent seen it but sounds interesting.

Is it this one by Miklosi's group? Animal Behaviour 79 (2010) 917–925. Beckoff's book is next on my list of books to buy. That's it! Thank you! You'll enjoy Beckoff's book! It has a whole chapter on play in animals btw!

Great pic and post Corvus! I can't see your all your pics Lollipup, we've had a major dip in power so some pics aren't loading for me on 3G. But I was going to say a play bow usually has front legs widely splayed and the mouth open and relaxed. I also often see a greeting bow which is when front legs are close together and mouth is closed but the dog is relaxed. It's like a stretch but different . Mark Bekoff's book The Emotional Lives of Animals is a great book that may help you. There's also the study done on dogs recognizing different types of growls ie play as distinguished from keep away. Can't post a link as computer is too slow to find it atm!

I'm currently reading Inside of a Dog by Alexandra Horowitz. An easy read, informative and sprinkled with personal anecdotes. Have read quite a few of the others mentioned too. Steven Lindsay always interesting but yes a bit dry! Patricia McConnell a good read too. I've got one of Michael Ellis' DVDs and enjoyed that too, some good stuff there. Kathy Sdao would be one of my top DVD recommendations, I don't think she has any books out though. Corvus - I'm interested on your feedback on the BAT dvd's too.

I have more trouble from the cat trying to swipe food off my plate if she's around! My dog is on her mat when we eat, she will get a chew of her own to eat while we eat some nights but not all nights. Like most dogs she will look for a sucker if we have visitors. My last dog knew he never got fed at the table from me but if my mum or FIL were around they got the starving eyes stare and it frequently worked! lol

Just an acknowledgment that all dog's should be on leash when arriving or leaving the grounds and this applies even to members who've been attending for many years, and no matter how well trained their dog is.

My toy poodle made it to almost 16. Just thinking about losing him would set me off (still does). He was my little shadow. Each day spent with him became more and more precious as he aged. We went for the occasional big walk in his dotage, to the end of the street, 100m and I would carry him home, he still liked to pee on everything! Blind, deaf and toothless at the end, I nursed and loved him so. Took me two years to get another dog. This one's wormed her way into my heart, she's 3 and I hope I have many more years with her.

Would the calming effect come from the hormone oxytocin? I understand oxytocin levels are increased with touch which would promote a sort of de-stress effect. Which could be why the thundershirt helps relax dogs too, just pondering there. Oxytocin is sometimes promoted as the cuddle hormone in humans! Cortisol levels are naturally higher in the early morning so it make sense to reduce the pile on effect of stressors during the day by reducing the initial normal stress before daily events both normal and abnormal increase the cortisol level further. Hmm does that make sense??

Lovan can take a little while to take affect as with all anti-anxiety medications. Sometimes there is adjustment needed for the dosage. I have had one client have good success with the use of it for general anxiety, amongst other problems this dog had. Did your vet do any tests or other assessments on your dog? There is a vet behaviourist in Newcastle, Robert Stabler.

Very clever I'll have to remember this one for next Christmas. http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/japanfan/9c89/

You need to give her some more time! Early days yet, she's getting used to you and vice versa. I would suggest soft treats that can go down quick. Soft, moist food usually gets their attention quicker than commercial dried liver (as opposed to boiled or oven dried) or biscuits. If you're really struggling pan fry some meat quickly so it is just brown but still really rare inside. Cooking the meat slightly can entice the nose more which hopefully will make the dog more interested in the food. Hand feed all her meals. Sometimes it takes quite a few weeks for a dog to settle in and accept the changes in their lives and they can sometimes seem quite subdued and tentative in play and food drive during this settling in period.

Lovely news!

There may have been some environmental triggers that may have put him over the edge if you've not had him display this level of stress before. A full vet check to rule out any physiological problems is a good idea. Medication may be needed together with a training plan. Bear in mind that the medication can sometimes take a few weeks before you start seeing any significant effects. I've had success with training using Karen Overall's Protocol for Relaxation in conjunction with some other training. Where on the Central Coast are you?