corvus

Yes.

Yes. Do they need to be stressed? I'd rather they weren't. Kivi notices, but ignores them. If they go right over our heads he comes and presses himself against me. I consider that pretty normal. He ignores them unless they are really scary ones, then he seeks reassurance through social contact. Erik gets aroused by storms. If it's just one going over he is not too bad. I can ask him to do something other than barking and he will. A bit of training or play and he forgets about the thunder. I wouldn't leave him to deal with it on his own if I don't have to. I don't want him to be stressed if he needn't be, and I consider it good emotional conditioning to make sure he's in a positive emotional state as much as possible when a storm is around. Just not tooooo positive.

I think you can both the drive forward & the straight angle just by teaching a position by your side. It is possible to build anticipation on the flat with a toy. Dog is only released when they focus ahead. Using this method it is easy to put a jump or a weave entry in front for the to drive through & be rewarded. I do lots of restrained recalls as well but find the above exercise builds as much anticipation & drive as the rr does. Thanks. I'll talk to my instructor about it. It might be a better option for him.

Well, you know what Temple Grandin says? Animals are masters of detail.

I like braided polar fleece. I have one tug toy with a bungee handle that is freaking awesome. The dogs love the give. Just gotta watch out if they happen to let it go!

But is something you couldn't live with but can easily enough train out of a dog really a problem behaviour? I don't tend to call something a problem until I've tried to fix it and didn't have much success! I used to think my dogs sometimes pulled on leash until I tried walking some dogs that didn't know how to walk on a loose leash and discovered that I just have a really low tolerance for pressure. To me a dog pulling on a leash is not a behavioural problem unless it's chronic and several unsuccessful attempts have been made to change the behaviour. What about possible temperament issues, like nervousness or lacking an off switch?

While you're waiting for professional help, I think it's a good rule of thumb that if your dog is barking, whining, lunging, tongue flicking, stiff, or staring, then you are too close to the trigger. Either stop and wait for the trigger to move away (or your dog to start thinking again) or move your dog away until they can act normally again. Watch her tail especially. You want it to be relaxed, low if the dog normally carries their tail low, and if it's wagging it should be a loose wag. If it's up, stiff, or wagging stiffly, then back off if you can.

Mostly I just want to line him up straight before he goes, and as far as I'm aware that was the purpose for doing it at training. But considering how leery he was of it I decided the best way to get him to both drive forwards when I let him go and actually like the collar hold was to reward the hell out of pushing into the collar. Lucky he doesn't wear a collar any other time! I have been working on it away from the obstacles and he's pretty good and gets really into it, but still ducks sometimes. The purpose of sitting in front of the weavers to do it today was to try to counteract any leeryness that was transferring to the weaves. I've been thinking about a tab and even looking around for one, but haven't seen any. Does anybody know where to get them?

Thanks Kavik. I'm just not sure I'm doing the right thing with him. Today I was pulling and pushing him around a bit and he was working with it, but I can see there's a part of him that doesn't really like it. I've done a tiny bit of sending him to a toy and I've been sending him to his plank from a collar hold, but he's no better with any of that. In the past if I've wanted him to wait before doing something I've put him in a sit or down and then release. He's good at that, but I don't know that I want to start him in front of an obstacle in a sit or down, even if it's just two weave poles not yet in their final positions. He can fire pretty fast from a sit or a down, but I dunno, it just feels kinda wrong to set him up in a position that isn't very fast to take off from when I want him to go fast? He's a really routine little dude and downs especially are so strong for him, I don't want him to be habitually downing in front of obstacles.

This week Erik started on weaves. At my club we do the 2x2 method and reward with toys. I'm not having troubles with the method per se, but I've been taught to hold Erik by the collar in front of the weaves and then let him go and throw the toy when he goes through. Erik doesn't really like being held by the collar. I've been doing LOADS of counter-conditioning this week and he is now leaning into his collar, but still balks when I reach for his collar in front of the weaves. Part of this I think is because he's a short cattle herding breed and has a really strong duck instinct. When I do get him he immediately orients towards me instead of the weaves and is very reticent to face the right direction. I don't want to let him go crooked because I want him to run straight. Anyway, today we spent most of our training sessions me just sitting in front of the weaves with him oriented the right direction and leaning into the collar for food treats. Really high reinforcement rate, had him putting his whole weight behind him as he pulled towards the food treats, and letting him go through every now and then for a tug reward, which he was happy enough with. But he's still leery of the first collar grab. I wonder if I'm fighting a losing battle, or even the right battle?

For myself, I think SSM summed up pretty well how I feel about it. My main concern in my dogs' behaviour is everyone's safety and wellbeing. For safety I don't rely on training but would prefer to rely on management. I want to change any behaviour that indicates my dog is not entirely happy. I would tend to classify a lot of things as training problems rather than behavioural problems. An interesting conundrum for me is stereotypies. Erik has a few behaviours that are a touch compulsive. I know that it's coping behaviour and indicates that all is not right in his world. But I also know it probably makes him feel better. If Kivi were doing the same things I would be a lot more concerned. Kivi's temperament is much more passive and flexible than Erik's. Erik feels compelled to act long before Kivi does. So I view Erik's stereotypies as a flag that he's feeling ever so slightly conflicted or unsure. I do what I can to alleviate it, but have also accepted that sometimes it's not necessary for me to do something about it. The line between good coping behaviour and bad coping behaviour is a bit fuzzy to me. It's appropriate that he be allowed to poke things when I've asked him to do something difficult, but if he's walking around aimlessly poking things, I figure he needs more stimulation. He definitely does it much less if he's had plenty of exercise and training.

Would I be able to PM you, Greytmate? This is kinda turning into a two person conversation.

Some behavioural testing is certainly better than none. I don't doubt that in the hands of an experienced person, behavioural tests can be extremely useful and effective. To me the concern is that it's going to work better for some people than for others. People I have met that do behaviour testing are incredibly experienced and savvy. Even years down the track they are still making a lot of gut decisions. Doesn't mean they are wrong decisions, but I get the sense it is hard on them sometimes if they don't really know what they are responding to and why. And how do they pass those skills on? How do other people judge whether someone is going to be good at behavioural assessments? What if they don't have a choice and just have to use who they have got?

I've been chatting to a few people about behavioural assessments lately. A friend is just finishing a PhD on this topic in shelter dogs. I found it alarming how little was known about the predictive abilities of these tests. I looked into it and the literature really is pretty scarce. Even the studies that have been done sometimes seem restricted by what methods and timeframes were possible. I really feel for the people that have to make decisions about a dog's future based on a behavioural assessment. I guess they mostly have a lot of faith in the tests, though.

I really wanna brag, but I don't know where to do it. ;) Erik has just about mastered the logs that border the horse rings at our dog park! He can now walk along them with four feet, walk along with just front feet on, walk along with one back foot off, sit on them, down on them, balance on top perpendicular, stand with his back feet on top and his front feet on the ground, balance on top then put his front feet down and then put his front feet back up again without falling off, and yesterday he was backing his back feet up onto the log from the ground one at a time. It was gorgeous! Just because he always has to go one step further, he backed his back feet onto the log, then brought his front feet up as well. I am not sure what the significance of all of this is or why I should be so excited about it. While I'm messing around with logs, his agility training still needs a lot of work! I just never realised how much fun logs could be. ;) Kivi wanted to join in and yesterday for a brief moment got all four feet on the log. His balance was terrible! Poor Kivi. We will need to practice a lot.

Greytmate, just out of interest, what kind of behaviour testing do you have faith in? Good answers, everyone. ;)

Title: Impact of nutrition on canine behaviour: current status and possible mechanisms Nutrition Research Reviews (2007), 20, 180–194 Authors: G. Bosch, B. Beerda, W. H. Hendriks, A. F. B. van der Poel and M. W. A. Verstegen A paper I stumbled across about how nutrition may improve dog behaviour and therefore welfare. It's a bit heavy, but might be interesting for some folks. http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php...e7fa9d615b280fd

Oh, I think he tries not to be. ;) You do the best you can. It's meant to be "in general". If you can't answer a question you can skip it. Thanks, I'll fix it. Yep, training (and previous experience) always has an effect. Unfortunately, it's virtually impossible to quantify a dog's learning history.

As part of my PhD project, I'm looking at dog personality. I have put together a survey for Australian dog owners to collect information on how dog personality may affect dog behaviour. I would be very grateful to any dog owners in Australia who would take this survey. The more participants I get the stronger my results! You have to be over 18, though (sorry juniors). To take the survey, click on this link: http://sydney.edu.au/vetscience/teaching_l...bias_dogs.shtml, read the Participant Information Statement, and click on the link to the survey at the bottom of the page. Please do share the url with your friends. If you would like more information on the project, you're welcome to ask me and/or check my website: www.dogoptimism.com Many thanks!

They are really popular in the States as apartment dogs. I visited a store where one crept ever so carefully over to me and stared at me with sad puppy eyes until I invited him closer, and then he crept the rest of the way and put his head in my hands. I was on the ground with him in a matter of seconds. I am not the right owner for one, but sometimes I wish we could rent one for an afternoon. We have what must be an iggy cross that comes to the park sometimes, and a whippet puppy. Erik goes nuts chasing them both around in huge circles and runs himself ragged trying to catch them. Whenever they stop for a breather he catches up and play bows and barks and bounces around until they run again. He thinks they are the best fun a Vall that likes a challenge can have. He figured out he can cut corners to catch them, but he decided catching them wasn't nearly as fun as trying to catch them.

As per topic title, what do you define as "problem behaviour"? What behaviours will you try to change and what behaviours do you deem just part of your dog's personality or something that is best dealt with through management?

Neighbours of a friend had a pair of Maremmas to mind the property and the chickens while they were out. They had a free-range chicken farm. The Maremmas did a good job, but from the comfort and companionship of my friends' front verandah, thanks. They weren't dangerous, but they certainly did know about every little thing that happened across the way on their property. The properties were much smaller than yours - only about 15 acres between them. I always thought it was funny the dogs chose to do their job from next door. Didn't diminish their effectiveness in the slightest, but their adopted vantage point was part of their territory as far as they were concerned and they guarded my friend's place as well.

Happy bithday Charlie! OH says he and Charlie Skype sometimes. ;) OH is an outrageous liar. ;)

Kivi vomited the first couple of times he had it even given I gave it with a meal. Both dogs were slightly more quiet the first time. Not long ago Erik got an overdose because Kivi dropped his tablet and Erik dived on it. Erik became a zombie for a few hours and was extremely drowsy. But he was fine after that. I don't think it's stuff to use lightly, but then, maybe no medication is. Sure as hell was worth it, though. Dogs are a lot happier flea-free.

Ditto. We always stop. It would be hypocritical to hope someone stopped for ours and not stop for anyone else's. We have reunited three with their owners and had three run away from us. And one run away that ended up only being a couple of doors away from its house so it ran home. Who lets their dog roam without supervision even let alone a leash when they live 50m from a 6 lane arterial road?? We are not the only ones that stop, though. The other day there was a little dog on the road and we pulled over and so did another car and another one pulled over and then left again when they saw two of us were already on the case. The little dog ran away, though, and we couldn't catch it. Another time we saw a dog walking down the street on his own and we followed him around a corner where another person was trying to call him. Wasn't his dog, he said he was just worried about it. Don't get me started on utes. My ex lost a sheepdog on a trip into town. She jumped off for some reason and was dragged behind the ute on the road. By the time his dad realised something was wrong there was nothing left to save. What a senseless, sickening tragedy. I just can't forgive that negligence. How hard is it to imagine what could happen? I didn't even know they commonly did that with their dogs or I would have said something. Our dogs travel in the back seat on crash-tested seat belts with windows and doors locked!