wuffles

Thanks, I love my happy little wriggler! :D My secrets? There are a few... the main one is lots and lots of work I spent heaps of time on the basics and still do lots of simple stuff when we go out. Another thing would be trying to keep training fun and short. The only times I ever do heel patterns as long as in the video are occasionally at dog club (even then I reward more often) and when I'm making videos I am only just starting to work on duration to increase the amount of time she will heel without rewards and the result of that is the video! I go to the oval after work and just sit with her and reward for calm behaviour. I walk around the oval, where people including kids are playing, and just call her to me and reward if she looks like she's being distracted. Sometimes I just wander around and call her to heel position, reward her and release, a few times over. Or I heel in a circle, rewarding her every few steps. Or I play games where we heel a few steps then I throw her reward a few metres away then run away and ask her to heel again. And at home I do a lot of the stationery exercises so just maintaining heel position while I walk one or two steps, change directions, turn in a circle, etc. She really enjoys most of these exercises as long as I keep the reward rate quite high and mix it up with other exercises like stays, recalls, tricks and play. Also I think making sure she knows what "heel position" is rather than just "walking beside me" has been important... The last "secret" is having an ultra smart and willing dog who makes it lots of fun to train I love how she wiggles and runs at the same time. OH often calls her to him in the study just to see her do the wigglewalk. Did you notice how Satch was just wandering around going "hey, I wonder if there's anything interesting in here... oh hi Ava... anyway, this smells good..." :D

Walking backwards is a good trick as well, or maybe bow! I used a nose-to-hand touch to teach the weave which was easier than working out how to hold the treat Some vids from us: A fun one, here is after a day in her prison last week And a boring one for anyone who cares to watch, here is from this afternoon.

Regarding the collar, I do think it's a pretty common thing. Ava is as soft as butter so if you ask her to do something, she does it Satch is stubborn and as they don't wear collars when we're at home, we bribe him if he won't do something. He does hate it when I grab his collar at the dog park as it generally means he's been naughty and he's going to get put back on leash. He knows better than to growl or snap though, he just turns his head and then looks defeated... I bought Ava and Kuma birthday pressies today, I think they'll love them! Can't believe my little girl is one next week. She's pretty special! Loose leash walking is evil. Despite all the 'experts' saying it's an easy thing to teach, nearly everyone I know has problems with it.

Awesome, go Shandy! I wouldn't mind doing something like this but I have some health issues which mean I should stay as far away from hospitals as humanly possible unless necessary

I don't agree that you have the right to use that as a justification for allowing your dog to pester them without making any effort to control him. See, I knew this comment was coming I don't really feel like I need to justify myself Do they need to justify themselves for taking food into a dedicated dog park? Who knows. There are no rules or laws either way. I'm probably more lax about these things than most people on DOL. I don't let my dogs bug other people when we're out and about, but I do let them act like dogs sometimes. I don't let them run up to people when they're off leash in an unfenced area but I don't have issues if other people's dogs run up to us. I've been to the local oval with the intent of doing training but other dogs have been playing and have come up to us so I just let Ava have a run with them instead. I remove them from the gate at the dog park when another dog is entering, but people never do the same for me. I don't think we can expect every single dog owner to have the exact same opinion when it comes to what is acceptable and what is not

lilli_star, Ava is making the most of being able to jump at Satch's face, bite his ears, paw his nose and generally be an annoying brat This thread is going to turn really sad, really quickly, but I can't help myself. My childhood dog was a CKCS called Pokey after the Poky Little Puppy story. When he was 10 years old (and I was about 15) he had to be PTS due to a brain tumour. He went downhill fast and his illness was very upsetting to watch. Anyway, my dad and I drove him to the vet but I was so upset that my dad had to drop me off at the local shopping centre on the way. We also had a cockatiel that thought he was a dog and was an awesome little bird. He was 8 years old when he flew out the back door, freaked out and flew into the distance. My dad spent the whole day searching for him, in the end a couple found him in their yard being attacked by magpies and took him to the vet. Unfortunately he went into shock and couldn't be saved. I still cry whenever I think of Beau (and so does my dad as he blames himself, it is heartbreaking) as he must have been so scared. Knowing Beau, he'd probably gone up to the other birds to say hello and go through his repertoire of noises and words and songs OH and I still reminisce about Beau because when we were dating, we'd be in my bedroom and all of a sudden Beau would fly onto the bed and announce, "HELLO!" and go through his little routine. He was so cool ;) I know everyone's stories are very sad but I think it's good in a way for kids to experience the love and loss of a pet. Life is like that. I think it makes everyone realise (including you KTB!) that the joy of having a pet is worth the heartbreak at the end

A friend dogsat Satchmo at Christmas last year for a few weeks. She has a dog who Satch gets along really well with. Anyway, when we arrived to pick him up, we heard the dogs barking in the yard... our friend opened the doggie door, both dogs came tearing in and ran straight past us. 10 seconds later, our dog popped his head in the door, looked at us, wagged his tail then ran off again to play with his friend He then sulked for about a week when he got home and readjusted to being by himself during the day.

The Easy Walk harness (similar to the Sporn one) was an absolute lifesaver for us, we still use it when we are walking the dogs together or in really busy areas. We've found that the few times we've had ant issues, those "ant baits" where the ants take poison back to their nest fix the problem really quickly. Our weekend was good, pretty busy. Dog training this morning was good and I was very proud of my girl, as usual

I always have treats as I reward each and every recall. I don't really have any issues with other dogs running up to us as long as they are friendly and I'm also not really annoyed by dogs begging for treats If Ava sees someone training their dog she is there in a flash doing everything they say. I can call her away if I have to though. In saying that, this is in fenced dog parks, they are not great places for training. If we are on the local oval or another general use off leash area I keep her close to me (although I've never seen anyone else out training their dog anyway). I might get flamed for this but once a family brought fish and chips to the fenced dog park! My big boy hung around them like glue and they had to hold the chips way up high as his nose was going crazy. I didn't call him away as I thought it was a stupid thing to do in the first place.

An opinion of someone not in the show world. I have one rescue dog and one purebred from a registered breeder. Someone else already said this but I think there needs to be more opportunities for the public to see different breeds and meet breeders. I have an Australian Shepherd and no-one I know outside of the dog world has ever heard of them or seen them. The people I know only know about health problems and other things they "don't like" in the usual breeds from documentaries or word of mouth or even meeting some of these dogs. They always mention pugs and cavaliers. Many mention the modern GSD's back. People say they don't like the look of poodles. If some of these people actually met some well bred examples of these breeds with no health problems, I think that would help. I get heaps of people asking me for advice about breeds of dog that are right for them but they rarely take it because they go out and meet a "cute" oodle or other crossbreed that is healthy. What if I could say "here are some breeds you might like, and actually, you can go and meet some on x day at x time"? The general public doesn't want to go to dog shows, and often people there don't have the time of day for outsiders. Doggy events that are publicised by the local government, RSPCA, etc. are really well attended in my area, I think that we should make use of these. There were hundreds and hundreds of people at our local Dogs Day Out, there were rescue stalls, obedience demonstrations... but no stalls with friendly people and friendly dogs promoting their breed. I think that vets can be a very important link as well. Most of the vets I know are happy for people to breed their mutts and lots even promote crossbreeds. The general public trusts vets. Why is it that most vets I've met don't even know what an Australian Shepherd is? Should they be more educated about purebred dogs as well? Our puppy school instructor correctly guessed that one of the pups was a pug x beagle yet looked at my dog with a confused look on her face... "border collie?"

My dog isn't a lab but he is 36kg and he only gets 1.5 cups of dry food a day. He gets fat on anything more. Don't be afraid to cut back, he won't starve

Yep, our little one woke up the day after her surgery going "WOOHOO! Time for running and jumping and playing!" The vet gave us the ok to take her for a 15 minute on leash walk each day which I think took the edge off a little bit. She was also given bones, chew toys and treat toys to keep her occupied. I did some training with her each day (stationery heeling, stays, tricks) and she was in a confined space (our pergola) when we were out which meant she couldn't do much running around anyway. Even though she got out and did big zoomies with our older dog one day, her stitches have been fine For reference our desexing which included pain relief, IV fluids and follow-up appointments, was $320, plus we paid $90 for pre-anaesthetic bloods (this is optional). The ACT tends to be pretty expensive.

RIP Jade, lots of adventures to be had at the Rainbow Bridge!

Thanks for all your kind well wishes for Ava! She seems to be on the mend, although she is feeling pretty skinny. I love this thread Niques and betsy: Ava's breeder (hello if you're lurking) did warn us that she was a mischievous puppy She also sent us a few pics of her covered in mud so we knew we were in for it. We had asked for a quiet and clever pup, but couldn't resist Ava and her unique looks. She was also the only girl and we wanted a girl, so that sold it for us. So even though she is a bit more 'spirited' than we originally wanted, she is the most lovely girl and I wouldn't give her up for anything lilli_star: Awww, thanks! We think she was pretty darn cute too! She was soooo fluffy when she first came home as a pup. minxy: We taught play dead in a similar way as KTB but we did find it was too difficult until Ava was a bit older. I clicker trained it so even though she knew drop and roll over, I didn't use those commands as I wanted them strung together. So I lured her into a drop, then lured her onto her side (by moving the treat up behind her head and a little to the side). The millisecond she flopped onto her side I'd click&treat. I strung those two behaviours together with an exaggerated hand signal before I taught the wait/duration. She still looks a bit too aware and ready to jump up at any second, to really look "dead" though Strangely enough this trick has actually come in handy for us, I use it at the vet to get her to roll onto her belly and have also used it to help her calm down in other situations...

James is soooooo cute. That face. It needs smooshing. Although... my dogs would both be in the pool rather than playing near it, so I'm not sure how you manage that one! Reminds me of this photo of Ava when she was still at her breeder's house. Her and her brother were squeezing through the pool fence and going for swimsies on top of the pool cover Went and did some training at the oval just before, seeing as Ava seems to be holding down kibble now :D She was itching for it and had a great time. I was especially happy with her heeling The only thing I need to do a bit of work on before next week is her stays. They are usually rock solid but today she was acting a bit clingy, watching me like a hawk and acting a bit stressed until I came back. Stitches come out TOMORROW! :D

Mine are outside. They have a shaded pergola, a kennel, plenty of water and well maintained holes :D to lie in to stay cool!

Have fun with the separation... our girl's stitches come out tomorrow and we are doing a big cheer! Our dogs hate being separated and we even had to lock the gate as a certain little dog managed to work out how to open the latch to get out and play with her brother Was she trying to lick her stitches at the vet? We didn't use the e collar as Ava was not interested in her stitches at all, so that was a little bit less stress for her.

I don't think there'd be any problem with labs and flyball From what I've seen, most teams have a small dog or "height dog" which means all the dogs only have to jump tiny jumps anyway! There are a few labs at our club doing flyball. Agility would be much more taxing on the body. As long as you keep 'em lean and fit most would have no issues :p James is a TV star

And we put our names on the agility waiting list! Ava is destructive at the moment too as she's confined. Yay stitches out on Saturday! She's kept dinner down too, so far. Will start introducing her kibble again tomorrow so I can start training again. I kind of feel like our bond isn't as strong when we haven't been training, as weird as that sounds.

I rarely have problems with irresponsible owners around my area. Is anyone in the same boat? What are the common factors about areas that have a lot of issues and areas that don't? We are in the outer suburbs, a mixture of classes (mainly low to medium). Lots of walking paths and a few off leash areas. Lots of dogs around. Not sure if anything stands out or if it's just luck. Bins is a big one for me! I walk around a local lake which takes about an hour, and the only bin is one in a park off to the side. Carrying two stinky bags for 45 minutes sucks Does this still apply? Lifetime registration is now under $50 so I don't think it's much incentive even if it's still going on. Both my dogs have passed the necessary level for this at dog club but didn't receive anything for it Doesn't mean they are necessarily well behaved either

What is the GSD like around other dogs in general? Has she been to puppy preschool or been socialised with dogs outside your house? What is she like with bigger dogs? They definitely need to be separated until the GSD learns that your other dog is not a toy. It's not fair on your shih tzu any other way.

Satch made a "hoik" type noise last night in the lounge room and got up and went to the door so we thought he was going to throw up! But when we opened the door the feeling had obviously passed and he wandered back to his bed. I am so paranoid

Why did I get a broken dog that will bring me presents but will not retrieve?? Waaaahhhhhh

Nope, she's never been mouthy, even as a pup. She's a licker instead. It's kind of funny because I'm trying to teach her a retrieve at the moment and the problem she has is holding the dumbbell. She'll pick it up and chuck it at me over and over again. Yet when she has a toy in her mouth, she will walk around the house or yard with it in her mouth for a whole five or even ten minutes. I also see what you mean about calming them down... when I think about it, if she can't find something to hold in her mouth she often jumps up a lot and does zoomies and launches herself at our older dog. With the toy she wriggles and whines but doesn't go too nutty.

Mine is an Aussie, the strange thing is that she is not the slightest bit interested in retrieving. Throw a ball and she looks at you as if to say "why did you do that?", yet the same ball will be given as an offering to us or our other dog It being a displacement behaviour does make sense. I guess it has a similar effect to yawning, which is what our other dog does when excited.