megan_

Today is Lucy's fourth Gotcha Day. It has been an "interesting" four years with lots of high highs and some low lows. Just over four years ago Lucy was a breeding bitch on a puppy farm at Kerang. She had no name, was never walked, never knew what a scratch behind the ear felt like, never received vet care and lived a pretty miserable life locked in a cage with a group of other mini schnauzers. She was rescued by the good people of the Schnauzer Club of Victoria and four years on she is a well mannered, spritely little mini with a few personality quirks. When I first met Miss Lucy her way of dealing with the overwhelming fear was to shut down. It took a few months for her to progress to sitting next to me on the couch (and leaping off if I moved a muscle). She had no idea about living with humans and for 2 months she used to wake up at 2am and come into the bedroom to get Fergus to play! She then learnt that aggression made all the scarey things - dogs and people - go away (run away!), which provided us with a whole new set of challenges. Fast forward four years and she is a great little watch dog who loves walks, training and agility, even though she isn't particularly good at it :). It has been well over 18 months since she did so much as growl at something that scared her (bar when my sister stayed with us for 3 months, she hates my sister with a special kind of passion!). She still needs tight management and she isn't the kind of dog I'd ever take to the dog park and let her run riot - it would all be too much for her. She now knows how to make good decisions when scared (scarey thing = I look to my mum for guidance and I get rewarded for being a good girl!). We've had a few incidence where we have been approached by off leash dogs or scarey looking people and she has handled them calmly. Every morning she wakes up and demands a scratch behind her ears and a little cuddle. Every evening as I come home from work she dances at the door waiting for me to open it up and then rushes to pick and apple off the apple tree. She wags her tail every time I say her name. Every. Single. Time. I will never get sick of the sound of her tail beating on the floor boards as she is lounging in the sun and I say "hello Miss Lucy". Basides Fergus, her BFF is Cosmolo's Gilbert, followed by the rest of the Underdog pack. It is great to see her playing like a 'normal' dog with her friends. Fergus deserves a special mention because he has been such a patient, understanding little brother who gave Lucy plenty of space when she first arrived. I will never forget on day 2 I got up early in the morning and found them both outside (I spied through the window). He was sniffing around in what I now know to be a calming signal as she gingerly followed him, sniffing too. There have many times when I have thought Lucy has reached her full potential. Like the first time she was introduced to agility and she was too scared to even go near the pause table. Now she stands on that table with a grin and her tail wagging a million miles an hour. Or the first time she went to the park and she sat like a lump for 1/2 an hour. Now she squeals with excitement when we drive down the avenue towards the Botanical Gardens - her favourite walking spot ever. So Happy Gotcha Day Lucy. Every time I have thought your cup is full you bring out a bigger cup. Love The Lady Who Gives You Food At the puppy farm :-( (given they weren't named, I'm not 100% sure this is her, but based on her body language I believe it to be her): In hospital after eating a mouldy sandwich last year: Partners in crime:

Did the dogs in this case 'attack' in ways that fit the descriptions of dangerous dog behaviours as set out in the legislation? If so, the Council would fail in their responsibility if they didn't adhere to the label 'dangerous dog'. If not, then the label 'dangerous' with all its consequences wouldn't apply. All I can find is the OP saying the police described the incident as 'minor'. But that's not descriptive of actual dog behaviours. So doesn't answer the question. What is beyond question, is that the dogs were on the loose outside their property. And the owner would well be ordered, by the Council, to set in place future containment management ... with whatever penalties would follow from any failure. A dangerous dog declaration doesn't mean that a dog is dangerous - it is just the name of the declaration. I don't know about NSW, but in Vic a dog merely needs to look menacing or charge/approach a person so that the person feels threatened to be declared dangerous.

Good news Panzer. I think the no picking up is a good idea. My dogs don't like it either (they don't bite, but they evade).

Agree with Clyde. Don't understand why that makes the council greedy and lazy. Four large guardian breeds were out roaming - they do need to be suitably contained. The controls agreed to (live in pens, on leash when on public property) are most of the controls that dangerous dogs need to live by.

I wanted to access it from my iPhone and laptop!

He looks mighty suspicious of the camera!

Thanks Kavik. Don't know why I couldn't see that! She doesn't waste time. Fr - I believe the DVD has been offered before. I would be very surprised if it got sold separately in the near future. I've enrolled in the most basic course. I would love to have the ebbon and DVD but I just cant justify the extra $. I'm saving my money for when she visits Australia....

When does it actually start??

Are you doing recallers? I believe that part of recallers is building value for rewards. As KC suggests, maybe you need to do this first? I know it is very tempting to carry on without it, but if your dog doesn't LOOOOOVE a reward it isn't a reward at all. I also agree with ness re: a break. I have learnt with my dogs that sometimes less is more. Also, it stops the incorrect behaviour becoming patterned.

I agree. Especially since they didn't order a necropsy.

Miss Em. Retriever. Agility Dog. Actor. She has it all!

Enrolled! Won't let family & friends know that I paid $250 to learn to play games with the dogs :-P

It only takes one incident and it doesn't matter if it is an off leash park. I suggest ringing Steve of K9Pro. He is in another state but he has helped a few people with these so he might be able to offer advice or at least point you in the right direction. Given you're in Victoria, how the dog looks will play a big part too, no doubt.

The sheep skin one had good grip but is soft too

Is getting the DVD worth it? I might go for the el cheapo option unless there is a great reason to upgrade.

Happy gotcha day Jake.

I haven't tought 2x2 (plan to use it with my boy who already weaves though...) so I can't help you specifically, but this is what I'd do: Rewatch the DVD a few times. Really focus on the subtle things and critically ask yourself if you are following SG's method to a tee. NO weave training for a while until you've done this. * Are you using a marker word or clicker correctly? * Does he have a no reward marker (try again, not a correction, not in a harsh tone, just something to help tell him "you haven't got it yet, let's have another go"). * Have you been doing 1 set of poles for 3 - 4 weeks? This seems very long for this method. Maybe you've stayed on one step for too long and thinks this is what is required. SG moves through things very quickly, you get behaviour that is good enough and then move on straight away. You don't take the obedience "aim for perfection before moviong on" approach with her IMO. * What are you doing when he gets things wrong. You say "nothing I could do could bring him around away from the poles". Are you maybe interfering too much and not letting him work it out for himself? * You sould like you might have a few sets of poles set up and you only want him to go through one (the comment with the toy)? Is this correct? Is this how SG does it?

I *think* this might be the article: http://dogsinneedofspace.com/2012/12/02/treat-yo-self-the-dog-edition/ The site has a lot of useful tips and tricks too. Their handout on what to do when approached by an off leash dog is very useful.

Good news. I hope he blitz's the recovery

Aw BC Crazy. Any chance of you getting a break from Stella for a few days? As much as I love Lucy a day or two away (when I had visitors for example)when she was at her worst is what I needed. There is a great article on Dogs in Need of Space that I'll try to dig up. It is all about looking after yourself and not feeling guilty about having a rest day or two.

It is a beautiful picture. I still remember the pic of him as a pup giving you the stink eye - it made my day.

Are you still stuck in the bush BC Crazy?

whaaat? This dog showing scene must be a little more wild than what I've imagining!

Hankdog - I have a copy of the BAT book that my very generous DOL secret santa bought me (along with a swag of other goodies). I'm happy to lend it to you for a few months if you want, just PM me your address. He might respond better to BAT simply because the reward is to move away from what is setting him off (whereas traditional conditioning means you behave = you stay near that thing that is setting you off for longer. Doesn't take much for dogs to cotton on that reacting = you get to move away). Do you think having a "job" to do might also help him? We're learning tracking and it is very simple to do, yet the dogs absolutely love it. Lucy concentrates so hard when she does it that she didn't even look up when a dog went off 2m away from her. They are always tired even after a short track as they need to use their senses to find the article. I find that, if Lucy gets a decent amount of mental stimulation she is much calmer. I have been busy at work and have had a respiratory infection for the last few weeks so, while they have walked every day, the walks haven't been as long and I haven't done much training with them. She is definitely more on edge because of this.

Jess you seem to have found a website and taken it as gospel. The prescription range is vet prescribed food for dogs that can't tolerate normal food. For example, julesp's dog has a liver shunt and would die on normal dog food. She needs a very low protein diet and that means lots of "filler" foods - they keep her alive. Most of the people here are very knowledgeable about diet and feed their dogs what they do well on - not on what some website with undeclared interests says. ETA: some peole here have researched dog food for years, tried different things out. It sounds condescending that someone who seems to have just read a website to tell them to make informed decisions.