Greytmate

Oh, I didn't recommend my favourite dog... I recommended a dog that would suit what you said you required in a dog

Of course you can! And a good obedience club will help you every step of the way. There is only so much you can do working alone on this. Even experienced handlers can require another person to actually watch what they do, and point out little things to help polish up their routine and get it precise. Some even take video footage of themselves to see what can be improved on, but the personal help of instructors is the easiest way to go. It's called ringcraft, and it requires practise. While trialling may sometimes be a little frustrating, it is a challenge, and the reward of you and your dog earning a recognised title is immense. Definately go and watch some trials, and you will see that there are handlers from all different clubs there. You may find that some clubs are better represented than others. These are the clubs that help their members achieve, and give them the encouragment and skills to do so.

Tess you may benefit from joining an obedience club that is VCA affiliated. That way you will be taught the exersizes that will be judged in the obedience ring. The exersizes are all things that are useful and practical in everyday life, for instance heeling is simply walking next to the handler on a loose lead, stand for exam is what happens at the vets, etc. The precision that is called for in training at a trialling club is useful, as it reinforces to the dog that it must work exactly as it is told to work, and is not allowed any leeway to make its own decisions. That is what obedience training is all about, and it results in a dog that works sharply and responds quickly to command. There is no confusion for the dog, it knows exactly what is expected of it while it is working. As you progress through the classes, you improve to a level where one day the instructor will say "How about entering a trial?" There is no need to re-learn or alter anything you have learned in the past, and you won't be having to undo any bad habits that may have resulted from a less precise approach to training. Nothing wrong with clubs that don't teach the excercises that are judged in trialling, but it is such a shame to put all that work in, and then have no benchmark to see what you and your dog have acheived. That is what trialling is all about, a common benchmark to test a wide range of dogs and handlers from different backgrounds and training methods. Before entering a Novice trial, there is a class called Encouragement, that does not require any off lead heeling. It is a fun way to start competition.

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

I was told the reason why no other languages were to be used (other than english), is because some people used a made up word that had many syllables to get their dog to recall. They would keep talking gibberish until the unresponsive dog got motivated enough to get up and recall. When questioned they tried to say to the judge that it was Swahili or some other obscure language for "come". So the rule was brought in to stop these cheats. Tilly, you were given the correct information about using the dog's name in the ring. You can use the dog's name to get its attention, but it must not recall on hearing its name, it must wait for the command. Therefore there must be a distinct break between using the name and the command, you cannot join them together. Otherwise the judge will say that the dog recalled upon hearing its name instead of recalling upon hearing the command, and you will fail the exercise. Even though you were not trialling with your own dogs, it would have been remiss of the instructor not to teach you the right thing, just in case you wanted to trial later.

Do you mean repetition? All methods of dog training require repetition, it is not a method in itself. Food and praise are motivators, but are not the only motivators that people can use. There are many things that may motivate a dog to perform an action. For instance, the motivation for your dog to get in the car may be the journey she gets to go on. Unless she is doing it because you are providing a negative reinforcment if she does not jump in the car for you. It is always good to think about how our dogs are learning things. Is your dog not going into the shops now because -You provide a negative reinforcement if she does? -You are giving her a motivation that is positive reinforcement to walk along with you rather than wander off? -You are doing both? Repetition of either method will work, but repetition alone is not what trains your dog not to go into shops.

This topic is so gross, but it is important. There is a combantrin that just does round worm, and one that also does hookworm and tapeworm. Don't take combantrin on an empty stomach. You do not need to check your stool for worms. Symptoms that you may have worms include an itchy bum at night, and teeth grinding at night. At night, the worms come out of your bum to lay their eggs, that is what causes the itchyness. Just take the wormer, and wash all the bed linen and towels on the one day, so you get rid of any worm eggs. Scrub under the fingernails if you have been scratching your itchy bum. This is all too gross to even think about, so if you have dogs, just worm them, and yourself and your family, and don't go searching through stools or anything else that may be unpleasant.

It's good to hear that the dog is sometimes calm around the cat when you tell her to behave. This shows that with the right training, you should be able to overcome the problem. That is great that she calms down when on the lead. I don't think that she will charge at you at all. With some dogs, you will get misdirected prey drive. That is, when they are in high prey drive, and they are confined to a short lead, or a car or a trailer, they will bite whatever they can reach. It does not happen with all dogs, and may not happen with your girl, but just to be safe, when she is in prey drive, keep other dogs and children away from her, and do not put your face close to her. Let us know how you go with the trainer.

rockstar, Reading this topic scares me. Your cat is in danger of being killed by your dog. There is also a danger that you cat may seriously injure your dog. In some cases, a dog in high prey drive that is being confined will lash out in frustration at what ever or who ever is closest. I suggest you contact a professional trainer as soon as possible. It is not good at all to have a cat wandering around triggering the high prey drive in your dog. Do not let the dog go anywhere near, see, or even smell the cat, until you have help from somebody. There are training tools and techniques that can be used to solve this problem, but you need to be properly shown how to use them. There is no magic wand solution. It will take time, and careful management. Good luck.

Dogs are not reasonable. They are not able to reason. This thread is not about you making sacrifices for your dog, it is about helping Gibbo train his dog. You are not contributing towards that. The fact that you are willing to make unrestricted sacrifices towards your own dog is irrelevant here, but I will say that it shows that you are a poor example for the role of pack leader, and quite possibly when your dog is mature she will take advantage of your weaknesses and take on that role for herself.

Yes pewithers, but a dog must learn that he can't always have what he wants. Even in a multiple dog family, I would advise that the dogs become accustomed to being left alone occasionally.

Great advice Sidoney, and written simply and eloquently. Gibbo, it might be a good idea to take your lovely little pup over to visit the neighbours for an introduction. You can explain how you are trying to keep the little one quiet in the mornings, so if they are being disturbed by the barking, they will understand that you are taking steps to stop this happenning.

Don't forget to check under and between his toes, and up his nose, and everywhere else. (I'm sure you already know this)

Ok, this is what I would do (because I don't know any better) I would just pull them all off, and check every single day for new ones. I would not use any of the products you have, but I would ring Bayer or another manufacturer to get some advice tomorrow.

We have also found that people have a tendancy to not read the "instruction book" that comes with their dog. I guess its is because they are so excited about the new pet, that they spend all their time with the new pet, and put the book aside, rather than read it. We try to overcome this, by sending out the book a week in advance of them getting the dog. This is the time when they are wanting to learn what to do, and are wanting to prepare for the new dog, and buy everything it needs. We hope that they take the time to read the book during the week, before the dog arrives.

This thread is very interesting. My vet does take some types of dog medication himself. Next time I see him, I will ask if he worms himself with the dog wormers. Hmm, maybe I wont ask him that, it might be a bit rude. Maybe I will ask him if its ok for people to take them. :rolleyes:

When using food treats for training, only the tiniest bit is neccessary. Less than the size of your little fingernail is fine. Even the dried liver should not work out too expensive when used sparingly like this, and if you forget to take it out of your treat bag, you wont get a nasty surprise a few days later.

Hi Bommy, For those days you don't feel like cooking, you could try Nature's Gift canned food. It does not contain any ingredients other than meat, vegetables, and rice, barley or oats. It is cooked in the can. My dogs eat it and they are in excellent condition.

If your dogs teeth are stained yellow, you can bleach them with peroxide.

Hi darcy, Try wiping your dogs teeth with listerine after you brush them.

Thank you Rappie

I don't know much about anaesthetics, but I do know that greyhounds can easily die if given the wrong one. I only take the GAP dogs to a few select vets for desexing, they know what to give. The other day, I had to take a greyhound for some emergency stitching on a Sunday to a normal pet vet, instead of a greyhound vet. I was a bit worried about whether the vet knew to give the right anaesthetic. I asked him if he knew about the problems greys have under anaesthesia, and he didn't seem really happy about me asking. He just said he knew what to give. Rappie, are you taught about greyhounds at vet school? I have heard a few stories of greyhounds dying on the table through the wrong anaesthetic, and I wonder if some vets learn by trial and error. Should I have a written sheet about greyhounds that I give to the vet if something like this comes up again?

Great advice Anne. Whisper, that is great that you are going to take your dog for help. A responsible training establishment will usually require that the dog be fully immunised before attending classes. While the internet is a great tool, it would be irresponsible of any of us to give specific advice on dealing with your dog's aggression, simply because we are unable to observe the way that your dog was acting, and see the visual signals that your dog and the child were giving each other. That's the great thing about visiting a trainer, they can see the behaviour and work with it. One piece of general advice that I will give you, that nobody else has mentioned is that it can be dangerous to allow your dog to run around with the lead still attached. If the lead gets caught on something, or around the dog's legs, it can suffer an injury. Better to keep hold of the lead until your have the dog's problems sorted out, then after that, remove the lead when the dog is running free. Keep up the good work.

It depends on what problem you are having Dortoure. There are plenty of people in Victoria who may be able to help. Steve is very highly regarded by a lot of people here because he is happy to give advice on the forum, and has the techniques to solve some of the more difficult problems that people may have. Steve is very knowledgable about dog training and behaviour, and has helped a lot of people and their dogs.

Hi Fin, No food is 100% completely safe. I have read research discussing the dangers of bones and raw food. One danger is the risk of the dog contracting neosporosis. Read this topic to learn about it, and how you can avoid it. Neosporosis Some dogs have had problems with bones causing problems to internal organs. It is quite rare though. A problem was caused by a raw bone just recently that we heard about here. Not Eating, my 16 month old mal has stopped eating I have never heard of a dog having problems with salmonella, or e.coli. I have never heard of a person poisoned by those things after being licked by a dog. Not to say it will never happen though, maybe it does happen, but people don't think to blame the dog's dinner. BARF is an excellent diet. I would not say that it is perfect though. It is all about weighing up the risks. Nothing that your dog can chew is 100% safe. Dogs need to chew things to keep their teeth clean. If something is hard enough to clean the dog's teeth, it is a risk to the dog. By not giving your dog hard things like bones to chew, you risk your dog getting dental disease. That is a huge risk, and not one that I would be prepared to take. There are many pre packaged commercial foods that contain much more nutritious ingredients than foods like chum. My advice is to read the label, and avoid feeding any food that lists ingredients that you wouldn't have in your own kitchen. If you want to feed your dog BARF, be sensible about the size of the bones that you give to your dog, and freeze all of your meat for at least 24 hours before feeding. BARF will keep your dog in the best possible condition. Good luck.