sheena

The vet probably meant for you to get animal sulphur from a produce store. It's common for it to be put into the food of animals to repel pests. I have used it myself for horses & chooks & know someone who used to give it to their dog. It is also used as a sulphur lick block for cattle to repel ticks in organic farming. Not sure what the difference is, but I think that horticultural sulphur may not be fit for consumption.

Thanks everyone for the replies & suggestions. I ended up buying some Elastoplast & see how that goes. It should also come in handy for when the dogs scratch us on the back of the hand & it wont stop bleeding. ;)

OOOOOOOHHHHHHH!!!! I think we need a couple of photos here....pleeeeeease

Re: the runny poos....what are you using for treats. Liver treats will give some dogs the scoots. For pulling on the lead there are a couple of things you can use with your training, but you have to be consistant. When he pulls, stop & wait till he turns & looks at you, click & treat then continue, he pull, you stop, he looks at you etc. The other is when he pulls, stop & take a step backwards & only continue on immediately the lead slackens off. Another method is when he pulls, do a sharp turn & walk the other way. All methods mean that at first you wont get far on your walk but be consistant, & to be fair to the dog, start off in a place with no distractions & as he masters that move on to a more distracting spot. If he is too overwhelmed & not responding, then you need to go back to a less distracting spot. Good idea to have a FRONT attached body harness on him as well as his collar, so you can walk him in this when you get tired & it wont be negative to his collar & lead training. Good Luck...this is still a work in motion with me & my new pup, but we are getting there, I just have to remember to put him in his harness so I can switch when things get too exciting, otherwise our training goes backwards. ;)

noooooooooo....I was trying to think how to phrase that question & it needs correcting, but don't know how to do it All this lady told me was that her dog can't have any salt, as the dog has crystals in it's urine ...she was going to contact me & tell me a little more about it, cause at $105 for 8 kilos, if there is a better one out there & it's not sold by the vets, then she is caught between a rock & a hard place. ETA...have just corrected my title...hope that makes more sense

Here is some good books on clicker training http://www.callicoma.com.au/books.htm

Must add we have started our pup on Puppy Jumping by Susan Salo (also available from Clean Run) which uses stride regulators not jumps. Foundation work for agility covers all sorts of things, but just to mention a few.....focus work..recall..shaping using a clicker...reliable stays (not moving even a paw)...tugging..learning no to cross behind you...distractions...leave it..driving forward..learning what "out" means followed by "come"...& heaps, heaps more. Clean Run still have their "The Focused Puppy" on free postage at the moment & this is a great place to start. Here is the link http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=2502&ParentCat=449. If you wanted it, I wouldn't waste any time in ordering, as it has been up there on free postage for a long time now, & could be removed at anytime ;) A great book if you don't know where to start.

I like the idea of these particular ones as they leave the palm free to hold treats etc, without getting gloves dirty all the time. I just put them on & virtually leave them on all day, different to a fingerless glove which you have to keep taking off to do certain things. The skin on the back of my hands is so thin (old age thing), that when one of the dogs scratches me, I bleed for ages.

That's the very first thing I thought of when this was mentioned to me, especially when he said to dip her feet in the solution

I bought a pair of these GoSo gloves today from BGF Camping/Fishing shop. A friend put me onto them as I am always getting scratched on the back of the hands & it is hard to stop the bleeding. So hopefully, if I remember to put these on before doing any dog training/handling then problem will be soslved http://www.sunsmartshop.com.au/popup_image.php?pID=593

Wow...what a smart cat

I have a new puppy & since I got him at the age of 11 weeks, I have'nt wasted any time at all. He is now 4 months & the most attentive, focused, toy/food driven pup...his little brain is like a sponge & just loves his training. I have a number of puppy training DVD's but the one I like best is the 6 CD set of Foundation Fundamentals, & the book, The Focused Puppy, both from Clean Run. Vickie, if you read this, it will answer your other question you asked in another thread, about my puppy's training.

My BC girl just loves seesaws...they can bang, wobble anything & she thinks they are great. ....BUT... there is one particular see saw which keeps popping up & she refuses to walk on it. Two feet on, then its a complete refusal. This happened again on the weekend...Saturday fine...Sunday they used the other see saw & "no way". I had a feel of the surface & it would be like walking on crushed glass It belongs to my club, but because I am have the only dog which finds it painful, they are not interested in sanding it back a bit. So it was suggested that I dip her feet in a solution of condys crystals to toughen her pads. Because we are on a farm, the only places she gets to go are always on soft grass, which lately has been constantly wet, so guessing her feet may be a bit tender. Does anyone know what dilution I make it & it is a poison, so what if she licks it off. Maybe I could use methylated spirits instead, I know guitar players use MS to toughen their fingertips. Any ideas.....Thanks.

If the dog has crystals in its urine it is on the Science diet to keep its urine at a specific pH. This may be alkaline OR acidic depending on the composition of the crystals in question. She should not be changing the diet without consulting with her vet as even just feeding treats can disrupt the pH levels with the consequence of the crystals turning to stones and blocking the urethra Agreed. It's got nothing to do with one food being better than the other. If I were you Sheena I would give her a call asap and advise her not to feed the BH. While Black Hawk is a good maintenance food it does not replace the value/importance of any vet prescribed SD range. Her $105 on SD is well spent when she considers the alternative Yes, I did tell her to best check with her vet, but the sample was for her other dog which has no problems. The dog in question can't have any salt, for instance. Just thought I would post this question to see if anyone had any personal experience with it.

I gave a sample of Black Hawk today to a lady who's dog is currently on Hills Science Diet as it has crystals in its urine. It is currently costing her $105 for 8 kilos of Hills SD, so she was very interested in the Black Hawk. So I told her I would ask if anyone else has fed BH to a dog with a similar problem. Thanks

what is she getting distracted by? Is she both distracted outside and inside of the ring? I doubt switching methods in one day had any impact at all on your runs, especially if she's prone to distraction while running. Sounds like you need some serious work on your reward system. I know someone in agility who used LAT between runs at trials as her dog was prone to reactivity outside of the ring but was fine in the ring. In the end she gave up on it as the LAT game became more fun for him than the chance to earn a reward in agility & the result WAS distraction both inside & outside of the ring. She gets distracted in the ring, not a lot, but just enough to put us one or two seconds over time & its mainly dogs running in the other ring that pull her attention away from the job at hand. I did some more LAT today at the trial & she ran well, but still overtime, due to small pauses to look over her shoulder At monday night's training she doesn't get distracted, so I can only really practice this in trial situations. I am going to a seminar with Ashley Roach tomorrow...anyone know about him...he was our judge for the weekend.

You don't need a kit to get into clicker training, just a clicker (about $3.00) & a bag of treats. The idea is to mark a behaviour with the clicker then reward with treat & you start off by "charging" the clicker (putting value on it). Do this by tossing a treat, & when dog reaches it - click, (dog picks up treat). Keep doing this till the dog gets the idea that a click means treat. You use the clicker to "shape" a behaviour, the dog offers a behaviour you click & treat. Take for EG teaching the dog to walk backwards...dog moves a back leg just slightly, you click & treat. Dog says "OK I moved my leg & got C&T, so I will try moving it again"....does that make sense

At what stage do you add the Look at That verbal cue. ?

OK...tell me where I am going wrong. I thought I would try LAT today in a trial situation. Armed with yummy treats & a clicker, everytime she glanced at a distraction, I clicked & treated, before she had time to react to the distraction. We went on to do two lovely rounds without her getting distracted BUT......people who know better than me, said I should be clicking & treating ONLY when she takes her eyes off the distraction & looks at me I switched to this, & we then did two lousy rounds where she looked at everything else but me So Who is right....do I click & treat when she looks at the distraction OR after she decides to look back at me.

Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but I think it is because you click when the dog looks at the stimuli (but doesn't react), then you treat when the dog turns to you. Some people just use "look". This thread has encouraged me to start to do a bit of this with my girl, who is easily distracted

How old is she If she was over 11 weeks old when you took her, then she may have bonded with one of her litter mates & you just have to be patient & give her time.

When he does this, you immediately stop walking towards him & wait for him to sit again, even break eye contact. Have you done any focus training with him, like the slow treats & NILIF (nothing in life is free)

If you only brought her home yesterday, then she is still probably missing her mum & litter mates. What was she like when you picked her out of the litter What did the breeder use for treats?? She wont come when called, because she hasn't been trained to. Try offering her yummy treats before you feed her, or if she likes her food, get her used to eating bits of it out of your hand. And be prepared to put in a lot of effort training your pup but just little bits at a time...cause she is a BC & will thrive on learning new things. ;)

From the first day I had my puppy home, strict instructions were that he was to get nothing eg. food, pats, let through the door,any attention at all, until he had all four feet on the ground. He caught on pretty quick that the best way to get what he wanted was to remain calm. My ten YO granddaughter visited last week & I gave her this instruction, but he was way too excited & it didn't work (especially with her screaming & waving her hands in the air as kids do) . So I told her to put some old cloths on & armed her with a pocket full of yummy treats. Then she staid still while he jumped & as soon as he put all 4 feet on the ground, I clicked & she treated. He caught on very quick, then I told her to get down to his level as a reward. Wish I could get more visitors so I could repeat this excercise with strangers. ;)

Callicoma Kelpies & Pet Supplies can beat Priceless Pets by a long shot http://www.callicoma.com.au/