Jigsaw

It seems like Daisy's bond to Micha is slightly stronger than her bond to you (looking for Micha, doesn't like being left behind). Sometimes it can take a little experimentation to find what works best for you in your situation. As Nekhbet suggested continue working one on one with them. I would look also at Daisy's behaviour before you start on the walk with Micha - what's happening then, before you get out the door?

Koolie x Rottie - you've got a dog that wants to work and use it's brain!!! Look into clicker training http://www.clickertraining.com/whatis You can start with really short sessions - 3 mins several times a day is more than enough for a little puppy and will wear his brain out quickly and make him tired. Little legs and joints are not meant for long forced (as in on lead) walks at this age as it can put a lot of strain on their bodies. I would also suggest that you look at drive training. K9 Force has a great distance program and starting as a pup is a good idea too. http://www.k9force.net/

If you catch the cats in the yard squirting them with water is usually a quick efficient way of scaring them off. But if they're doing it at night it's a little harder. Some councils have curfews on cats so check the local regulations too in this regard. The addition of pineapple to the dog's diet I thought was usually for dogs eating their own or other dogs' poo. I'm not sure on the efficacy of this for cats' poo but it could be worth a try.

He's being possessive not protective. As Miranda has said TOT and NILIF are a good place to start. At the moment he is controlling the other dog's access to the resource which is your OH and you. He will actually probably feel a lot more comfortable in the house and settle down once you and your husband establish yourselves as stronger leaders. Your husband has probably taken great comfort from Hudson during his illness but unfortunately dogs don't always see it the same way as we do. Especially considering his young age you need to show him the rules before he becomes a teenage monster.

He does, doesn't he! I know he is a big advocate of the prong collar and most of his training solutions are "put a prong collar" on. I'm not saying the prong collar doesn't have a place but he seems to use it as a cure all for a lot of things.

Came across this YouTube vid First time I've come across someone actively saying clicker training is only for tricks and shouldn't be used for obedience. Somehow I don't think he has quite grasped the "clicker methodology".

I'm the same as Ness. I don't use a stay command. I've had a few comments from instructors at the club that I should use one but she's pretty solid most of the time but still working on distractions like balls! I use wait as an informal command to stop her if we're walking or jumping out of the car but I don't use it in formal obedience.

Sounds like you're doing a wonderful job with the clicker training. You need to introduce the three "d's" - distance, duration and distraction!! You might find she performs all these commands perfectly well at home but move outside to the backyard or the frontyard, or have another dog near you and you suddenly find that she may not perform them quite as well! All of these need to be introduced slowly and built up over time. Sounds like she's a great dog and a quick learner. Keep up the training and keep us all posted on your progress.

I bought some Roo Barf patties a little while ago and my dog has refused to eat them. First time she's not eaten her food. But she has had roo Barf before, so I'm not sure what's going on. She will eat roo tails though and they stink and make her fart a lot!!!! Last week I tried some raw lamb liver mixed with some other food and she refused that too. But the cat loved it! I've dried it out in the oven and she prefers it like that so I'm using as a training treat now.

I've had that problem too Huski!!! Sometimes for my dog the raw meat is a little too exciting. When I want her to concentrate and I'm using raw she tends to get fixated on the food rather than the training. But it's really good for recall!!!

Is it possible to keep the shitzu separate from the maltese so that she gets some time free from him? Management of their time together to stop any escalation of the problem when they are together is important. Have you looked at the Triangle of Temptation - it's a sticky at the top of the training thread. Feed them all separately and don't let him in until they've all finished feeding and remove any bowls before he comes in. Have you looked at NILIF - nothing in life is free - along the lines of what you are NILIFsuggesting for the shitzu. Your f maltese may also be reacting to your mother's tone of voice and body language when she disciplines the shitzu, especially if the two dogs are together when she is rousing on him. She doesn't realise that it is directed at the male not her.

It does sound as if his medical problems are contributing to his lack of drive. For my two cents just love him as he is and look back on some of the lessons he may have taught you :rolleyes: ! And/or leave him be for a few weeks, change your training place, schedule completely and try something new someplace new.

I prefer to use soft treats - chopped devon, raw meat, BBQ chicken when training on the move. The dog is more likely to swallow the soft treat and can recover quickly. Harder treats can be inhaled while moving and dogs are less inclined to chew when moving or excited. When I use liver treats my dog often stops and gags and it goes flying out her mouth. I've not had this problem with softer treats. I also find that with most dogs the softer foods have a higher value to them than dried liver or kibble. But depends on the dog!

My girl has a murmur but a grade 1 to 1.5. Last time we were at our vet she said she could hardly hear it. Paxy's murmur was there when I got her at 7 1/2 weeks and I hoped it would fix itself. When she was desexed I had her heart checked again and they confirmed it was still there. Because I want to do dog sports with her such as obedience, agility and maybe some herding I wanted to know more so I knew where I stood and what could happen down the track. So my vet gave me a referral to the clinic in Sydney where they did a colour Doppler ultrasound to measure the flow rate into and around the heart. I would certainly get a second opinion and get an ultrasound. Vets have never mentioned medication to me, just to watch out for signs of stress in her breathing which are more likely to appear with old age but I do notice a slight difference in her recovery rate on really hot days if she's been running around to what I would consider the norm. They also recommended to keep her weight down, not that it's been a problem.

Hi can i have some more information about this specialist vet you are talking about? My girl suffers from pancreatitias and i think it is time she sees someone who may be more specialised! Um this is stretching the memory as it was about 10 years ago I've just realised! All I can come up with is Chris ??? dredging the memory. He came up from Sydney about once a week. My dog had presented with a very strange problem where his front legs and back legs worked at different tempos which had the local vets stumped. Front legs went at normal speed and back legs in slow motion or vice versa, quite bizarre to watch. Eventually diagnosed as possibly meningitis and he responded to a long course of cortisone. Ring them and see if they can help you out. Things may have changed though - I didn't really think about how long ago it was - how time flies.

I've used the Hamilton vets in the past for boarding and they always treated my oldie very well. I haven't actually used them as a vet but know people who have and they always had good things to say about them. I've also used the vets at Merewether (opp Mary Ellen pub) several years ago for specialist services and they were good in there too.

There is another reference HERE. It explains it quite well too.

The best thing to do when the dog loses interest in training is to stop. You can do a sort of time out where the dog doesn't have your attention by turning your back on him. It may only need to be a few seconds. When you turn back it's best counted as a new session. If you still don't get any co-operation you can do another little time out. If it happens a third time it's time to stop and reconsider what you're doing as whatever you're doing is not allowing the dog to "get it". When starting shaping you may only get a few clicks in - do make sure the dog understands the relationship between the clicker and reward though. The dog has to realise that he has the power to get a reward by offering a behaviour. Make sure too that your reward is a high enough motivator too for him to want to work.

It would be interesting to read the whole paper. Abstract available HERE It is unfortunate that the word dominant has been to be linked to aggression by many people today. I think perhaps there is often an emotional reaction to the word dominant when discussing dogs where we think of, if not the carrying out of aggression the perceived threat of aggression. My one query with the study is the use of all neutered male domestic dogs. Perhaps the full article explains why but a mix up of the sexes might have given a more rounded study.

Well this afternoon I decided to bite the bullet and try some off leash heeling outside!!! We're going to have to do it sometime so ... Yesterday I tried some inside with good results but then again the training I do inside is off lead! So out we went and after some initial running around looking for anything to pick up (she found some masking tape) and generally being miss crazy she finally decided the tug was more interesting. I was then able to hold her interest with lots of food rewards as we worked and I was able to hold her interest for quite a while. I concentrated mostly on position which we already have pretty consolidated but different criteria with no leash and worked on small forward motion with left leg amongst other things. Despite it pouring with rain at one stage (we did move under shelter) and the wind blowing like crazy and the cockatoos screeching along with other birds as they flew overhead she stayed with me in the general area off leash until I released her. So a small but significant step for us! Sometimes you need a little push to try things out.

Thanks for replying everyone. Working offlead is not really an option for us at the moment but I'm hoping that we'll get there soon and I understand your thinking. Paxy goes into hyperdrive at the drop of a hat if we try to work offlead in the backyard so I need some control! She is however somewhat better in a park offleash (strange but true) but only if there are no other dogs or any balls about! We are working on self control with K9Force using drive training. Part of the issue I think is all the dogs and humans running and trotting is just sending her over the top. We'll keep working on heeling, at all paces, with focus and position at home and in low distraction environments and we'll get there! I agree Dogdude I don't think a club environment is the place to teach a new skill to a dog - teach the human not the dog there! The first class I went to three weeks ago had 21 dogs in it - the largest class we've ever been in. Before when we worked with a private trainer we had 5 dogs in a class so it's all a bit new for both of us working in a large club environment! But so far she's doing really well (except for the fast heel)!

We're not doing too badly at the moment at heeling, both normal and slow pace but when we do fast heeling dog gets excited goes wide and starts to tug on the leash. I'm thinking of breaking it down into something like two fast and then a sit and then two normal and sit and then two fast. Or something like that so she gets herself under control. Or maybe just slowly increase the pace, but at the moment I'm really only doing a few paces of heel with her at home to get both position and focus. We've only ever done the fast heeling at the club and that's only 3 times we've been there so I'm also thinking it's a bit of stress overload so I'm hoping to get some practise in at home this week where we can both concentrate. We haven't been doing heel in motion for very long as I concentrated on the position for a while before actually moving! Has anyone got any other ideas on how to improve her concentration during a fast heel?

This sounds encouraging Erny! Fingers crossed new poo analysis will give you some feedback about his system.

You've stated you moved about a month ago and this behaviour started about two weeks ago. I'd be looking and thinking about how your own behaviour and routine may have changed since you moved. It takes a while for us humans to settle into a new home and he may be just letting you know he's feeling a bit destabilised and unsettled. You may have changed things in a subtle way that has thrown him out of whack. There may be many new environmental factors he's previously not come into contact with too if you're now living in a more suburban area than rural too such as traffic, new smells, people noises, other dogs etc. He might be experiencing these on his walks and it might be making him feel insecure. If he gets pushy for attention you could ask him to sit or drop before petting him. Only guesswork and if you're really concerned about it get some professional advice.

Have just caught up with this thread Erny and I can't believe what this chiro has said to you. Yes you can call a spade a spade but you don't have to hit someone over the head with it. It's a wonder you were able to get home in one piece. I think it is ethically wrong for him to make that sort of pronouncement. The amount of care (or did he mean $$?) that you give to your dog is entirely your choice. You have a dog that has some medical issues and you've made a committment to care and help him overcome or come to term with these issues just as most of us would for any of our furkids or our human kids. Sometimes a dog is not "just a dog". I hope Mandela continues to bounce around (gently) through the next few days and his poos are just right!