Luke W

When he stops barking for 30s, let him out.

Patience grasshopper Ignore him when he whines. Even put a blanket over the crate when he whines. As soon as he's quiet for 1 minute let him out, play with him for a few minutes, then put him back in. As soon as he's quiet for 1 minute, repeat, repeat, repeat. Gradually lengthening the time he's quiet in his crate. If he goes to sleep, let him sleep. When he wakes up - he has to be quiet for 1 minute before you let him out. It's worth persisting - having a dog that will comfortably stay in it's crate is incredibly handy. Oh - don't wait for him to cry in the night - set your alarm and take him out before he has a chance to learn that crying gets him out of the crate.

You know my response... Go the 70-200. For everyone else... Note, mine is a Canon. It's on my camera 90% of the time - but I'm a biggish bloke with big arms who doesn't really notice the weight. It's a great action lens, a great portrait lens and even takes some nice scenic/landscape shots (if you like the longer focal length style). It's a bit too short for birds, but with a 1.4X teleconverter on a cop body, it'll do in a pinch I suppose.

Cool! Where does this training method come from?

My target stick is a hand made one - a long 45cm thin pole with a clicker masking taped on one end, and a big bundle of masking tape to make a 3cm ball on the other end. HAHAHA! Yes. Very povo. :D Haven't done hand touches because I thought I would skip that. I read someone here say that their dogs constantly touched their hands when they had tea thus making them spill it. Re Fail 2 - Take your time...There's no need to try to add the cue in the first session - get the behavior really solid - over as many short sharp sessions as it takes - then add the cue. If you are going to try for many repetitions, you need to be able to do them really fast and reward really quickly. 30 touches, 30 clicks and 30 rewards in 30 seconds! Then call it quits! Barkly is pretty good at targetting - he will target my hand, a stick, a CD on the ground, a post-it note, I can direct him to target multiple CDs layed on the ground or post-it notes stuck on the wall. Targetting is great fun - for me and him. Stay upbeat - keep the reward rate really high in the early days.

Yep - session too long - 5 minutes of stick targetting is more than plenty! Mouthing might be the dog getting bored. Barkly mouths too if I go to long. "Alright, alright, I've touched it already. Sheesh, this is boring" The first time the dog targets perfectly - end the session!

If it looks better without it and it's not meant as a documentary image, yep.

The first two shots of cisco...that's a stuffed toy! Too cute.

Got papers with those dogs?

Yes they can make some dogs get the runs. But no matter if a dog gets the runs from sardines or is fine with them I fail to see how they would have an negative impact on it's anal glands. I think that when Barkly gets the runs, it stops him from emptying his anal glands when he poos. It only takes a couple of days of soft poos for him to start to get a bit stinky. At least, I think that's what's going on.

Sardines don't agree with Barkly either.

What time do you last take him to the toilet at night? Maybe being sick, he's not quite himself? My dog has the crate door open all night and just waits until I take him out in the morning. His bladder capacity seems phenomenal.

Ditto on the firming up of the poos. Have you changed diet recently? Could that be reason for the runny poos? If not, maybe a stomach bug? If it's diet related, a couple of chicken frames and a day or two later, the poos will firm up and the anal glands will take care of themselves. Well, works for Barkly anyway.

How are his poos - runny or solid? Barkly gets a bit whiffy if his poos are soft for a couple of days.

If you are going to use a clicker - I'd suggest getting a guide to using a clicker as well. I use an i-Cliker - they are a little quieter than others. The i-Click http://www.ozpetshop.com.au/product_info.p...roducts_id/1466 For a louder clicker - the Black Dog ones are popular. http://www.ozpetshop.com.au/product_info.p...products_id/959 This book by Karen Pryor is pretty ubiquitous: http://www.ozpetshop.com.au/product_info.p...roducts_id/1820 There's lots of other books and DVDs here: http://www.ozpetshop.com.au/index.php/cPath/21_32 Cheers.

Great pics everyone! They are all fantastic looking dogs!

I pay a bit extra and print them at home

..oops..

I use an Artcare Premier Portfolio - similar to those. Available in Australia. Well - I use the term 'use' loosely - I have one sitting in my cupboard. I bought the A2 size (to fit A3+ prints): Like these: http://www.theartshop.com.au/category554_1.htm I bought mine from: Dean's Art 369-371 Lonsdale Street

I like the size comparison shots Teranik Nice looking dogs too.

I'll be free in about 1 month...

Great thread and great photos everyone. Molly at 2 years is a crackup. That dog looks drunk! Barkly at around 10 weeks: And at nearly 13 months:

I thought the image of Uta Bindel's dog here: http://www.eagleheightssportdog.org/pdf/SeminarMay.pdf showed quite an extreme heeling style.

Me and Barkly are booked in! For all those DOLers who are attending.. Please accept my sincere apologies for any offence I've caused during my time here, I'm much nicer in real life :cry: