Luke W

It is soooo hard for the average pet owner to really know what the current, scientific consensus on vaccination is. Yearly? 3 Yearly? Never? What's the consensus? Is there one? Is there no single answer and 'it depends' ?

I do that too. It amazing (for me at least) how much difference in focus being fired up makes.

- Dog-Friendly Dog Training by Andrea Arden (similar to the Dunbar book) - The Other End of the Leash (Paperback) by Patricia McConnell - The Culture Clash: A Revolutionary New Way to Understanding the Relationship Between Humans and Domestic Dogs (Paperback) by Jean Donaldson - The Perfect Puppy by Gwen Baily You can download the Before Dunbar book here: http://www.siriuspup.com/beforebook.html

I would give up the "NO" command. You will make the dog immune to "NO" and you're giving it the attention it wants. Negative attention is often more satisfying than no attention at all. Stand up, turn your back on the dog.

I've got a 4 month old cocker and I've been playing my version of 'on/off' game - recommended in one of the books or DVDs I've got...I think it was in the "In Focus Foundation Work" DVD - or maybe is was the Building Blocks for Performance Book...maybe both... Anyway... I play tug for short blocks..30 seconds getting him as excited as possible...then I say "Enough", put the tug toy away...then soothing, deep slow 'good boy', 'settle' and patting around his shoulders and face for 30 seconds...then into the tug for 30 seconds...I do lots of these little blocks - 30secs of tug, 30secs of calm, 1 minute of tug, 30secs of calm...mixing up the times...2 minutes of tug....3 minutes of calm....etc.

PS - here's an article about bite inhibition: http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/teach...bite-inhibition The entire Dog Star daily is well worth a read...get to it... It will get better with the correct approach - but puppies ARE hard work. Think how great it will be when she's 18 months old and a perfectly behaved, loved member of the family

Couple of thoughts - get yourself off to puppy school. - when the pup bites hard - yelp like a puppy and stand up and walk away - the puppy will eventually learn...don't let her draw blood!! arghh!!! - tell wife and kids to simply keep hands away from puppy - if it bites them or jumps up...stand up, hands crossed in front of chest, still like a tree - the pup WILL stop eventually - chewing stuff - no you can't monitor it 24 hours a day - that's what the pen is for - keep it in the pen whenever you can't monitor it every second. Manage the household - get everything up off the floor, tether the dog in the middle of the lounge to your leg if you have to... read Ian Dunbar... Download Before You get Your Puppy here: http://www.jamesandkenneth.com/new_puppy.html then buy Before and After from Amazon Or buy The Perfect Puppy by Gwen Bailey from Amazon...NOW! Been there (well apart from the blood) done that... I reiterate, in my experience, jumping and biting was solved by standing up and turning my back on my pup.

I'm confused... What is this 'protection work'? What do you intend to do with a 'protection trained' dog? Is it a sport like shutzhund? Or is it a profession like being an armed security guard or a bodyguard with a dog? Added...Or are learning to train protection dogs for one of the purposes above? Genuinely curious about the demand for protection dogs, and protection dog trainers..

I don't think it really matters why - the point is he's getting to choose. It sounds similar to nosing at your hand to demand a pat. I wouldn't allow it but then again, I wouldn't let him sleep on the bed either :cool:

also airdogs.com.au and caninetrainingsystems.com

Just make sure it's a decent quality filter. Not much point in putting a $10 filter when you pay big dollars for the glass on your lens.

Great news indeed I hope the spirit of cooperation and communication lasts a lifetime and that you all have many happy years together!!! Congrats!!

Thanks Luke W, I have seen some of your beautiful shots. I have a friend about to purchase the Canon 70-200 2.8, so will have a trial on hers. I am stuck between the 24-70 and 70-200 at this stage. Had play with the 24-70 and it was a nice lens. Yeah - try a 70-200. I have both a 70-200 and a 24-70 and both are really nice (Canon) lenses. I have no doubt the Nikon equivalents are really nice too. I find the longer focal length of the 70-200 is better for dog shots - simply because you don't need to be so close. Nearly all my outdoor shots are shot on the 70-200, while most of the indoor 'studio' shots are shot on the 24-70. If you are mainly going to be shooting outdoors with plenty of room - the 70-200, indoors or without a lot of room - the 24-70... But hey, both are really nice...It's going to be a matter of which one you get first

I'm a Canon person - but I shot most stuff with a 70-200 2.8. I strongly suspect that the Nikon 70-200 2.8 would be the lens of choice.

Teach the kids to turn their backs on him and stand very still if he jumps on them. They should only ever pay him any attention when he has all four paws on the ground. Be consistant. If you can't get your kids to do this, you will have to keep the dog away from the kids until you have taught your dog it gets no attention until all four paws are on the ground. Everytime you pat or in any way interact with your dog (including telling it to get down or pushing it off) you are taking 1 step backward in the training process.

You mileage may vary and leaving food available to graze should be seen in context of the overall behavior of your dog.. I've been led to believe that as part of establishing pack leadership - you should decide when your dog eats. And your dog should always eat after you have. If your dog always has food available it may begin to think it is his right to always have food available and that it's one of the perks of being alpha.

No firsthand experience but I thought this looked pretty cool: http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...p;ParentCat=158

You are so clever Luke you always have awesome ideas and tricks up your sleeve, what a lucky puppy you have Have fun bathing your puppy tommyspazz Thx BDL - I'm an information sponge!

Where do people buy his DVDs from? Here: www.caninetrainingsystems.com

I use Aloveen shampoo and conditioner. I also need about 1 tablespoon of peanut butter smeared on the side of the bath to keep him occupied. Plus a handful of chicken treats. Followed by a blow-dry and a brush and comb...he's so much nicer when he's nice :rolleyes: ps - don't use people shampoo - it's too harsh for dogs. I used Aloveen for Gypsy when she was little too. The peanut butter is a great suggestion Luke! I wish I had though of that :rolleyes: I normally just pull Gyps into the bath with me! I tihnk I might start showering with Barkly once a fortnight - I suspect it'd be easier and more fun for both of us !!!!!

I use Aloveen shampoo and conditioner. I also need about 1 tablespoon of peanut butter smeared on the side of the bath to keep him occupied. Plus a handful of chicken treats. Followed by a blow-dry and a brush and comb...he's so much nicer when he's nice :rolleyes: ps - don't use people shampoo - it's too harsh for dogs.

Probably - if the lenses are EF lenses, yes. If it's an old manual focus Canon SLR (with FD lenses), then no.

I'm constantly wowed by my pup. It's so cool watching them learn. Not a huge level of difficulty but we did hand touches today. I didn't time it but it couldn't have taken longer than 1 minute for him to work it out. So cute the way he bops my hand with his nose.

Hmmm I wouldn't wake a puppy up to take it to the toilet either. Looks like you and I had better agree to disagree Luke W. Yeah, that's cool, there's plenty room for different opinions. Mind you, I bet you're more experienced than I am! I seem to remember reading (was it Dunbar?) - that waking the pup in the early stages was a good idea...maybe I'm wrong...I don't wake him anymore btw. Added: Maybe if pups are crated during the day, they get used to being settled and quiet...if they are raised outside, they can't cope with crating as adults? Just a thought, horses for courses.

Hmmm...you know - I'm not sure about that. Now I'm no expert...but my initial thinking is that YOU want to be the source of all good things in your dogs life. YOU should be the center of attention. YOU should grant your dog access to smells, games, toys and such. I guess it depends on what kind of personality you want your dog to develop. I'm hoping for a competitive obeience and agility dog so I want my dogs primary focus to be ME. Also, puppies need heaps of rest. I think my multiple play and training sessions during the day, followed by rest in his crate seems to keep him satisfied. I could be wrong though. PS - I am home during the day, in the same room as my pups crate, it might be different if I was at work 8 hours a day...still not sure though. I don't know what breed you have Luke W (I can't make out your avatar), but I have gundogs and if I kept my dogs crated during the daytime they would go insane. What you are doing may be adequate while your dog is a baby puppy, but if you have any sort of working dog I don't think it will be a satisfactory arrangement once it starts to mature. He's a cocker spaniel. He'll be crated durig the day when I can't watch him and until I can trust him not to eat my stuff, then he'll have free reign inside. I work from home and have a lot of free time to play/train and take him out. I guess I'll find out how he copes and make adjustments as required. He will be a predominantly inside dog, I don't have a secure outdoor area. He'll also be occupied wih obedience and agility.