wuffles

What special tricks are you teaching this weekend KTB, considering the disgusting weather? By the way, Ava didn't even arrive at our house until 12 weeks!!

My favourite quote from the article is this: I also think the explanation of the Fight-Bite Ratio is important -- there is a difference between warnings, scraps and actual aggression resulting in injury. OP, I'm glad to hear your girl doesn't seem too traumatised by the incident

My older dog whinges at squeaky toys. With one particular toy we got him, he squeaked it (with his nose, not his mouth) then let out this long, mournful "mmmmrrrrrrnnnnnnnnnnn!" He also whinges when playing bitey face with our puppy.

I wonder how many DOLers have crawled into the monster crates with their dogs. I got in ours with Ava. Satchmo wandered around the outside wanting to join in but he is too tall to fit ;)

Don't want to answer for her, but for me the reason is enrichment and enjoyment. The same reason I give them different and challenging toys, or teach them tricks, or take them to new places on the weekend.

The prevailing opinion here seems to be that reactive, aggressive dogs are fine and normal, whereas friendly, sometimes rude dogs have horrible owners who never train them But I agree with Aidan, no blame is needed here, dogs are dogs and accidents happen.

I don't let mine do it, not that I have any good reason for or against. Our big boy in particular is obsessed with wounds of any kind, whether they're on another animal or a human. He's found papercuts on my fingers before I've even noticed

Amazing! He just looks so happy to be working with his owner

My boy has changed. He has grown in confidence and has learned to be a bit more assertive in letting other dogs (and us!) know what he wants. Not sure if that's a good thing or not He has also realised that he now has a "partner in crime" that will follow him and copy him, which he loves, and uses to his full advantage.

Our crate just arrived only a day after ordering - WOW, what a great deal. It's awesome. I'm tempted to get one of the huge ones for our other dog as well now, just thinking it would really come in handy when we go on holidays, but I don't think it'll fit in the car Edited to add: The Ark, it is a great size, if slightly spacious, for Aussies

While I agree that the method a lot of people mentioned above is good, it is not for everyone. I have socialised the heck out of my dogs and think they are better dogs for it. Just my opinion, and my way of doing things. My dogs may get excited when they see another dog on walks, but... if an off leash dog rushes up to them on leash they are completely comfortable with that. When other dogs nip or snap or growl at them; they react by either ignoring the other dog or submitting. I am confident that in pretty much any random or unexpected situation, they would act appropriately, and this takes a lot of worry out of our walks. My youngest LOVES other dogs and she LOVES other people. Yet at obedience training, I have no issues with her running off to see other dogs. The exercises we undertake off leash, she does well and is focused on me. Sure, she may not be as reliable as a dog who has been neutralised to other dogs, but I enjoy her sociability so this works for us. I'm sure it works for plenty of other people as well.

It's definitely not wrong. But just a warning, my girl acts like an absolute idiot when we come home from work too, even though she has our boy as company. Sometimes she wags her bum so hard she falls over She launches herself at the gate, makes noises like she's dying and we joke that she seems like her head is going to explode... We didn't think our boy needed the company, but thought he would enjoy it. He does, and he loves his little sister, but I think he would have been just as content to lay in the sun all day without being bugged by a puppy

We added our puppy when our older dog was 5, it has been a good decision. In addition to the comments above in relation to having more than one oldie at once, if you like puppies, keep in mind if you only want two dogs, you might not be able to get another for 10 years or more! The only downside to waiting until our boy was 5 is that he is much less interested in playing than he used to be, so the puppy wears him out and annoys him easily. Not all dogs are like that though, I suspect our girl will be ready for action well into old age

Thanks for all your replies guys I already do try to make it fun for her and we never do really long heeling sessions. I've armed myself with some soft toys which she loves but doesn't get often as she tears them to pieces, and am going to try using those as a reward along with food. She tends to do positioning and really short (one or two step) exercises well already so I will go back to those for a while to keep her interest up. She's a great little dog to work and is full of spirit, the kind that does most things with bum-a-waggin' and tongue hanging out the side of her mouth. I know it's my job to encourage that attitude rather than making her think, "do I have to?"

SBT303, I didn't see the first trial but in the second one the dally was giving off some pretty nervous vibes. Maybe it was just that particular dog rather than dalmatians in general? :p

corvus, sounds like Ava and Erik have common views of the world Tapua, thanks for your comments. Ava is an Australian Shepherd. She actually seems to thrive on training and gets very excited if I get the treat bag out or even look like I might give her a command! For example, at the local oval when I take her off the leash she usually just stares at me waiting to do something. OH won't take her to the oval because he says "she just hangs around my legs and won't leave me alone" I do appreciate that her age may have something to do with it, though, and I am in no hurry to trial her or anything like that. EFS

We do train at a club which does the typical hour-long lessons using positive methods BUT we only do short bursts of heeling and loose leash walking in class. She does all the other exercises with enthusiasm, no issues with stays, recalls. She has good focus in all these exercises, even when we are standing listening to the instructor. I do lots of tricks between exercises to keep her interested. As for training at home, I do short sessions with her mixed with play, either running around the backyard or play with toys. I use food rewards and praise. She can be a bit funny with rewards while we are training outside the house, she seems to get in "work" mode and won't have a bar of pats, or toys. I have suspected that I need to build her drive for the rewards but just don't know how to go about it, so any suggestions gratefully received! She is quite food motivated. She loves to run and jump and be rough, so when training at the local oval, I try to do one or two exercises then release her for a run and a play with me. She refocuses quickly... unless I want her to heel

Ok, I know I need to keep obedience training fun which I feel like I'm doing most of the time, but Ava is not enjoying heeling at the moment so I thought I'd ask for ideas for some fun activities or games to help us! I'm mainly interested in heeling but would love to try ANY fun games really! She loved heeling as a puppy but as she's gotten older (she's now 9 months) she is losing focus easily and showing displacement behaviours like sniffing when I ask her to heel so I need to change the way I'm doing things! If I am doing some loose leash walking with her (not expected to heel, just not pull) she won't listen, unless I call her to me and give her a command like sit/down/stand which she is very willing and happy to do. Her focus in all other exercises is excellent. One of the games she does like is heeling in a circle and me throwing the reward away, sending her to get it then calling her back. I also do hind end awareness with her using a phone book which she does very enthusiastically. Can I expand on these exercises to translate them better to actual heeling patterns?

I can't speak for Belgians but in my experience, most Aussies will only do something if they deem it "fun". They don't work for the sake of working. You need to get creative to train Aussies in obedience, but they most definitely have the intelligence and are biddable enough to do really well with the right trainer.

I'll just say that we noticed a big difference in Ava's poos when we changed her from Advance to Royal Canin. In saying that, I'm sure there are plenty of dogs that do well on supermarket brands

I'm stewarding for the PM trial if that counts

Once I got angry at my dog while she was in the process of destroying the outdoor bedding, and for a week afterwards she cowered and ran away every time I so much as opened the door to let her in. What a failure, as I felt terrible, and she still ate the bedding while I wasn't watching

I wasn't intending a small dog v big dog debate either, I have seen dogs of all sizes harass other dogs I also think there is a difference between fenced, designated dog parks and open spaces that are dog off leash areas. Back to your original question, I have given advice before but not for any serious matters. I've told someone who brought their 8 week old puppy to the dog park that it's not the best idea I've given advice on how to teach tricks. I've given suggestions on loose leash walking that people may not have tried. I've also discussed dog body language with people... But as I say, no serious behaviour problems!

This happens regularly to us as well. Smaller dogs come and jump on my dogs faces, run away, then when they get chased they squeal and just keep running and running. Sometimes I grab my dogs (who love chasing games) but the other dogs jump on their faces while they're in a stay or while I'm holding their collars!! IMO both owners have some responsibility. If you have a small dog that runs away and squeals, it might not be the best idea to bring them to the park when big dogs are around. Likewise, if you have a big dog that likes to chase, it might not be the best idea to bring them into the park when certain dogs are there that you know set them off. I think some people expect dogs to be perfect, and they are not, we can only do our best to minimise the risks and be aware of our own dog's behaviour.

Our dogs both dig, the yard looks like the moon, no grass left except for where they poo At first it stressed me out, but now I am over it. They're dogs and if I'm going to leave them alone I have to deal with it. Once you can get over the point where you care a lot about it, you will find things become a LOT less stressful and you can enjoy your dog a lot more. I know, easier said than done...