cwm

Well, I've been working hard at 'low key' comings and goings, and so far so good. Apparently she's been quiet now when I leave to go to work in the mornings. God, there's hope for me yet

Why is it bad? Ours did it every now and again, we just ignored it - she's a puppy...and now she doesn't do it.

aaah yes, the old adage... I need to be more 'trainable' better book into some k9force stuff hubby works from home during the day, and he puts her outside all day - she's quite happy, not a peep!

Well, my little angel, Rhodesian Ridgeback, is 8 and a half months old. She is my dog first and foremost, loves my husband, but I'm the one that trains her...and truth be told, smothers her like she's my firstborn. When we leave her outside, and she knows we've left. She's fine. she just puts herself to bed in her kennel. She sleeps outside in her kennel, safely tucked in (by him, not me ) and she's fine. When she knows we, or particularly I am around, she whinges, whines, and howls. It's worse when she can see me too - I was working in our front yard, so I had put her on the verandah so she could enjoy the sun and be nearby. She whinged and moaned so much we shoved her back out the backyard - whereupon she kept on whinging and moaning. Oh....what have I done?!! What can be done?? am I a lost cause? :D

My first puppy preschool I went to with our local vet. It was the worst thing for my puppy, and we dropped out in frustration after 2 or 3 visits. It was basically a free for all with lots of talking more about care etc than anything. I hadn't had a pup for 16 or more years and I don't think there was such a thing as puppy preschool back then, so we were basically fairly ignorant about what to expect/look for. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. The next one I went to was brilliant. It was run by a different vet, but by a delta trained instructor, for the most part it was about learning to walk beside you on the leash, sit, stay, come. It just provides you with good groundwork - but you need to ensure you keep up with the training, as with anything. the only trouble was, because my puppy had been exposed to the 'free for all' type mentality in the first instance, she felt that every meeting where there was a group of dogs meant only one thing...play. So proceeded to just whinge and whine the whole time, so do choose cautiously and wisely. If you can, I'm sure most 'reputable' ones will allow you to go and watch a class, so that may be a good option for you to be able to see if it's going to be right for you and your pup.

excellent, we'll keep an eye out for you. Julie said it's not on this weekend due to people being away etc, but should be back on following weekend.

Just wanted to say a belated thankyou for Saturday. My head was spinning a bit - so much information, but all makes perfect sense. Steve, I'll definitely be doing some of your correspondence courses. I would love to get Jemima out for some one on ones if we can get some more spare time (which seems to be more of a luxury these days). I feel like I just need more background/reading/info before I can confidently put it into practice.

Hell I would say if you were questioning it, it would be all the more reason to come and hone your skills in bringing out what drive he does have... Is there a LEAP and WOOF drive?

8 1/2 months old ridgeback

Ha! all your dogs will look like absolute angels when compared to the bouncing Jemima! She's one exuberant 32kg baby Look forward to meeting everyone tomorrow - hope we don't get too lost - I'm coming from the Gong, so hopefully 2 hours should do it!!

We had the same issues with our pup, and this method, depending on the pup will work, but it takes time and consistency. If people aren't consistent, and with kids this can be difficult, it will take a lot longer. Our friends are proving harder to train than our pup, and we have now had to resort to water spray bottles. If she sees someone with a water spray bottle, she doesn't jump! Maybe, to nip it quickly in the bud, you can arm your kids with water pistols. As soon as the pup jumps at them, they spray him. It works quickly and fast, and your kids may have fun in the process - it turns it into a game that they can win, rather than crying because they've been raked by claws. Our pup is quite defiant, and the woof of frustration comes out when she sees she's been defeated by the spray bottle!

Hi Ben, The poor girl obviously has a self confidence issue and now you're the best thing that's ever happened to her, so she obviously is scared you'll disappear. I think it's something that will just take time. Have you thought about trying some homeopathics that may help her a little? Holistic Animal medicines or Bach flower essences Pet Homeopath

we may have to get one of these!!!! We literally have to sneak up on our girl whilst she's sleeping and cut one claw at a time... but she often wakes as she hears the gentle unclip of the clippers...

Valby, it might be a drive, but the puppy preschool at Balgownie Vet is really worthwhile - Trevor Chittenden is Delta trained.

Also, if it is just when you put him outside, just do it for very short bursts to start. But only let him in when he's quiet. so if you put him out, he's quiet for 2 minutes, then let him in. just so he gets used to the fact you're not deserting him. there's some great bach flower remedies & homeopathics that may help too. Holistic animal medicines Pet Homeopath

thats great!They have the meet and great classes for beginners every week so you could come anytime.The other 2 DOL people are in the beginners class so you'll get to be with them after the 1st week. LOL, Yeah I'm one of the slackers - god I would hate having to try and stick a halter on Jemima - I've tried all sorts of introductions of one and it just drives her totally insane (well, more insane than normal ) - I think she'd do herself so much harm in one of those - the way she leaps and carries on sometimes. Valby, look out for a mad ridgeback puppy as well (well, she's nearly 8 months and is probably nearly full size) when you come along - that's me! Caroline Julie, would love to hear about Steve's training - I am keen to get Jemima along to the next drive training workshop.

Julie, when I finally get back to obedience training maybe 14 June (what with two saturdays out with sore leg, one show, now this weekend will be wet wet wet) I will bring you one of my books, it's called Control Unleashed - really worthwhile stuff to read as well. Caroline

Hi there, there's a great book called "Control Unleashed" which is really worthwhile reading - available on agilityclick.com, or I'm in Woonona if you want a loan. Susan Rhind of (Marvellous Muttswww.marvellousmutts.com) is an animal behaviourist. She runs great classes that involve no interaction between the dogs at all, but help in trying to get them focussing on you instead of the other dogs - and helping them get through that issue. Caroline

Hi Ben, With my last two dogs, we had an older ridgeback boy, and then I also brought home a kelpie x girl from the pound, after our previous Ridgeback girl had to be put down (at this point our boy went into deep depression for 6 months, not a wag, not a smile - it was heartbreaking - despite his 'new companion'. He was the slowest eater in the world, and as he was our oldest 'child' he was deemed the most important. Therefore, he was allowed to eat his food first, while Suki our kelpie x had to sit and wait. When he was nearly finished, she got the okay to eat hers. Which was like a vaccuum in two seconds flat :rolleyes: (I won't mention the large spray of saliva in the semi circle around her from her looking to us and back to her bowl waiting for the okay). She was always trying to be the dominant one though - not in fighting with old darby, our ridgey (he had a thing about him that no dog tried to mess with him), but always trying to be in front on our walks, always trying to round him up and chew on his ankles..trying to push in front of him to say hi.. all those sweet things, so we always made sure we said hi to him first etc. When our old boy died, she became the happiest dog on earth. As a single dog she absolutely became one of the sweetest dogs around...it was quite unbelievable the change in her - and until that point, I would never have believed anyone had they told me that some dogs are happier as 'single children'. I guess, the point I am trying to make is, you really need to be sure and find out what the extent of their noises are during the day - whether it's play or real. If it is real, you may find you might have to make a decision one way or the other as to whether to persist or have to separate them. We don't necessarily like everyone we meet, and I guess we shouldn't expect our dogs to always love the other one we force on them either! Caroline

LOL, I fear we'll be in Beginner class for quite some time I could almost hear Jemima saying manically "Fancy trying to sedate me...the lunatic princess!!!" as she did her large figure 8 zoomies off leash..

Well, good news for us, as Miss Jemima's been given a clean bill of health. I took her to the beach this morning to let off some energy... I swear she was so out of control with excitement that people must have been just looking at me shaking their heads... Back to obedience no. 2 next week!

When you say that your puppy walks around sniffing the room - this can generally be an indication that the dog is uncomfortable with the situation and doesn't really know what's expected of it. I don't know what cockers are usually like in terms of attention span - but I can imagine any young pup of that age would be pretty low in terms of attention span, so might be best to do a couple of things with the click treat, then leave it and do something else. I've also heard that some dogs hate the clicker sound! Maybe instead of the clicker you could try marking the right work with 'yes' in a nice excited voice. then treat... see how that goes, then click at the same time as yes, and just see if there's any difference in attitude.

Well, a bit of an update. There is no way in hell I can keep this puppy quiet..even on DRUGS! She fights them every step of the way. The instructions say to give them 1/2 hour before you want them to be sedated. 1 and a half hours later, she's there barking at my handbag - I swear she's having a bad trip and hallucinating So no more drugs for her. However, on the bright side, she is moving normally - no hobble, no lameness - so I am thinking that if there was a tear this would not be possible, so maybe just a strain. Can't feel any residual swelling either.... roll on Friday for the next vet visit!

Well, we got to meet Julie on Saturday! Jemima lived up to all lunatic expectations. After the first 40 minutes of having to be good and quiet and sit around waiting, she decided she'd had enough, and it was playtime. We then all had to get up and attempt 'heel'. Everyone else attempted this just fine. Jemima was having none of it at all, and decided laps in figure 8 zoomies around me on the leash was more what was needed. She just totally lost it!! aaah dear. Then sadly, I took her up to my horse this morning to let her have some fun, and she was in the shed playing with the other two dogs up there when I heard the most awful squealing yelping, which could only be coming from one source, my baby.... and it was... One of the dogs up there is a massive ridgeback mastiff cross, and he had torn his cruciate ligament a couple of years ago, been operated on, then tore it again, so now he's living up there as it's nice and flat for him to amble around. Jemima was holding her back leg uncannily like his..and hobbling in the same fashion... Straight down to our vet and she doesn't think at this stage it's torn - and looks more lateral than cruciate, so I have to keep her QUIET. Hmmmm..so we have some ACP pills to enable that, along with some painkillers. Fingers crossed it's nothing serious - so no more obedience just yet. Nor showing...maybe never?

Damn, wish I lived south just to see that Good luck with it! Welcome Black Magic - we'd be happy to meet up with you once your lovely Leila is ready to play - my Jemima is lovely with other dogs - she's quite the submissive one, then once she has worked out it's safe, then she's playful.