megan_

I got some boxes out today and Lucy was beside herself with excitement.

Most people would buy a dog based on looks

Looking forward to this tomorrow!

Aw. Same month as Susan Garret visits Oz - and she only comes every few years. Decisions.

Depends on what I'm training. I do agility so I want a toy I can throw straight that has a bit of weight, that will land exactly where I want it and the dog can bring back to me (ball or decent tug works well in this regard). I also want a toy that can lie "dead" as a lure, they bring it to me and it springs to life. I ball doesn't work well in this scenario and a decent tug is best for this. The best tugs I've found for small dogs: i) The sheep bar tug from cleanrun ii) A mini sheep tug with a wee tennis ball on the end, which gives it good weight for throwing. I got it from Cathy Slot (I think her website is clickerdogs.com). My dogs have soft mouths and need something to grip, which is why they prefer the sheep tug over leather or french linen.

It is only Victoria that has "outlawed" protection training (ie a dog is automatically declared dangerous if it has had the training). That shouldn't stop dogs in other states? Even without protection training, a dog could still prove its working ability with obedience and tracking.

ETA: while dogs don't smell fear, fearful people act differently around dogs. They tend to tense up, become rigid and state at the dog. These are typical "fight " signs and this can set dogs off.

I must say I'd be protective of a 2.5 year old - not all dogs are stable, and I've seen many friendly dogs who don't know how to behave around kids. I'd only trust dogs that I know and have nerves of steel - not that many of those around.

I don't know any vet that accepts direct payments from the insurer. If the claim gets rejected them they are out of pocket.

I'm also not interested in a giant dog. I do agility so medium and small dogs are ideal.

Thanks for your answer black jack. Do you believe the ban on the fila should be lifted, imported by anyone and bred by anyone (we have no laws re: who can own a dog and dd laws are reactive)? I think that would lead to even more BSL down the track. As I said, I don't agree with most BSL, but I would hate to have more yobs with more powerful dogs in Australia

Thanks for your answer black jack. Do you believe the ban on the fila should be lifted, imported by anyone and bred by anyone (we have no laws re: who can own a dog and dd laws are reactive)? I think that would lead to even more BSL down the track. As I said, I don't agree with most BSL, but I would hate to have more yobs with more powerful dogs in Australia

Not interested in the drama, but I think most dogs would warm to someone - anyone - who feeds them for 15 years +, walks them every day , trains them, and provides them with the necessities of life. I love my dogs and we have a great relationship, but they'd be just as happy living with mr & mrs cosmolo. I'm glad about that as it shows they have coping skills and they wouldn't fall apart if I wasn't around (they'd pine for a while, but them they'd move on ),

I personally wouldn't take an on leash dog to an off leash area - his level of arousal my increase and he may be mobbed by other dogs. I'd prefer to learn manners with an on leash, well tempered dog. Maybe contact Steve from K9Pro and ask if he either has a distance program or whether a 1:1 would suit.

Corvus, interesting re: the environmental consulting. A family member is a biologist with a PhD who does environmental consulting for an engineering firm and she would be on about $250k?

Yes, but for similar qualifications you can earn a good six figure salary with a lot less hours of study and a lot less stress. The HECS debt for a specialist would be use. I work in IT. The vast majority of people I work with only did 4 years of uni and are on six figure salaries. Contractors would earn double (at a minimum) than what a good, highly qualified vet would. Of course they aren't in it for the money, but the pay is pretty crap when you consider their skill set, the amount of study and their hours (and the abuse that you'd cop almost every single day). How many times have vets been called greedy on this forum of dog lovers?

I am not, in general, a fan of BSL. There is one breed that is bred specifically for human aggression that is on the "banned for entry in Aus" list. I forget its name, but HA is specifically bred for and there have been a significant number of cases of the dogs turning on their handler too. Do people believe that we should lift import bans on this breed? After all, this IS BSL. No BSL means no legislation based on any breed (no greyhound green collar programs, for example).

I wouldn't just rely on an OB club to fix this problem though. It is about relationship building, so 1:1 advice with a qualified trainer is the way to go IMO.

This is a training issue that simple "more exposure to dogs" won't help - in fact, it will make it much worse, because he will find "going nuts around dogs" more and more rewarding. Every time he is allowed to do this is re-inforcing this message to him. Personally, I'd see a qualified trainer, one that knows about concepts such as "Look at That". If you go intro the training forum, do a search on "Look at That" or LAT for short and you'll find an explanation of how it works. It is often used for dogs that are DA, but it also works well for dogs that get over excited. I believe it is a game that EVERY dog should be taught!

There is a third: well meaning but ignorant. They are often more dangerous than the knuckleheads. I think a lot of dog owners fall into this category.

Bless! I meeded this today! Love the confirmation one (I can laugh at it as I don't show)

What a strange thing to say. What are you assuming here? You don't even know how I train my dogs or what they do. ...and I don't think Wiz is trained with an ecollar either? And she's a w/l mal.

and the dog needs to be able to cope with the training method too, but I think we agree on that. I wonder if there have been any studies that measure cortisol levels (they increase when stressed and have a permanent impact on health if they are too high too often). It would be interesting to know both levels when zapped and the time that it takes for them to recover to normal. That would be an independent way of measuring the true stress that a dog is under (as opposed to "I touched it and I was fine" line, which tells us nothing about the dogs state of mind). I still think Cosmolo's point re: the consequences of executing the training incorrectly hasn't been addressed. As I said before, I'm a pretty decent trainer (well, at least I try to be and my dogs are more well behaved than most) and I get my timing wrong. I get confuzzled. I forget to teach them to generalise. Surely this would happen with an ecollar too? What are the consequences for the dog when this happens? Is it worth the risk? For a dog that comes into constant contact with snakes I might say yes, but most dogs don't. BCNut needs to read up on the quadrants!

Yes - and when that child is bitten they will say "we never saw this coming". It is truly sickening. I hope lots of people have commented on the post.

"Positive only" trainers never only train in R+. You always have P- when you deny a reward. Who has ever said they train with R+ only? Any one who thinks positive-only training is all kittens-and-rainbows needs to read Susan' Garrett's Ruff Love - that is one tough program. I'm not sure I could follow it to the letter-of-the-law unless the dog was a total nutcase. I try to limit P+, mainly because I don't need it, I can do most things without it and I have sensitive dogs. Denial of a reward is normally enough to spur them on to better things. I've most probably used it accidentally many times in the past when I've pulled them away from something and given them an incorrect correction (eg from an in-your-face-dog when mine haven't done anything wrong). They cope with this fine though, but I should have rewarded my fearful girl for staying calm instead, rather than send her the message of "bad things are happening". Anyhow, that is all OT. Personally, I don't have a problem with e-collars if BEFORE someone buys it, they are required to see a licenced trainer for a certain number of sessions (including theory before they put it on their dog). The dogs temperament needs to be assessed before purchase too. I'm not comfortable that these devices are sold over the net to any old yob.