megan_

Oopoh, how much?

However, the prerequisite - strong shaping skills - takes more than that. I love 2 x 2 but I wouldn't try it with a dog that didn't truly understand shaping. It would be too frustrating for them and the handler (and I see many people just luring the dog anyway and the dog has no idea what they're actually doing).

So sorry to hear pers. He was one of my DOL favourites.

Lucy waits until I'm out the room and steals the remote - she never even tries this when I'm watching her. If I leave the room and call out "Miss Lucy, don't even try it" in a neutral tone she won't touch it either.

Look at the first few posts in the reactive dogs thread (in the training sub forum). Free shaping with the clicker is the best thing for exercising their minds. I taught my dogs to touch a target now I hide it around the house and then they seek it out. They absolutely love this game

Same here - they lurve their food. No bowls though. They either work for it by training or get a bit of dry in an activity toy. I don't actually own bowls. I dog sat two dogs who got el cheapo dry only over Christmas. I gave the young one some raw and she was perplexed. She eventually got the gist of things then loved it.

15 mins on even a mild day is long enough to kill a dog

Thanks ness. Might finally have to visit the family in WA...

Does anyone know if she's coming to Melbourne?

Yes - but not for the full session due to the heat

Add $150 to the price and refund on proof of desexing. Given they're a small breed I'd most probably get them desexed before they leave

Asses Charlie is One of my favourite DOL dogs

Is it the same test as humans (factor 8 I thunk)?

Advanced Dogs Skills Australia. They teach the disturbed ground method - it takes ages to train but you will get a dog that really, really knows how to track (to a schutzhund level). They also train in summer because you start with only a few steps for ages and ages.

Where your breeding stock hip scored? If yes, then I think you're in the clear (you've done everything you can to ensure healthy puppies, whether genetic or not). If not, then you have not done everything to ensure you breed healthy puppies and you'd be better off just paying up now, before you are awarded costs against you.

Definitely not a real thing.

Does she tug? Maybe she needs really active, physical rewards. Plus we need photos.

An on leash dog saying hello to an unknown off leas dog is never good socialization. Your dog can't choose whether to say hello or not and their flight defense is taken away from them. People with dogs who don't like other dogs in their face have the right to go for a walk without being mobbed by " he's friendly" dogs. Most people don't have a clue about dog body language so have no real idea about whether their dog is friendly or not.

For those that think their dog is safe look in the news thread re: the staffy stolen outside a very popular supermarket

This is my local area - there are almost always dogs tied up outside the shops - so risky. I'm glad they caught him, especially since brindle staffy x's are so common it would have been hard to ID the dog.

I started the "How to exercise a reactive dog" thread in the training forum for dogs that can't go to off leash parks. My girl doesn't go to them (she has never attacked or bitten another dog) because she doesn't like rude, in-your-face dogs. There are plenty of safe ways to meet your dog's needs. There are even private off leash one-dog-only places you can go to too.

I have seen terrified dogs as: * people push their very loud trollies past (for some reason people seem to tie their dogs up right by the doors) * children run up to them * 5 or 6 adults hover over the dog * people bark in a dog's face. Seriously. I am my dogs' guardian and it is my responsibility not to put them in situations where the risk outweighs the reward. Even if the dog doesn't get physically harmed or stolen, there is still a risk to their temperament.

No one has said it doesn't matter. If people have additional information then they should cite their source - stand behind what they are saying. Also, if people come with additional facts that change the circumstances, they shouldn't do the whole screaming thing - they have info that other people don't.

How on earth does empathy equate to brushing something under the carpet? How does it equate to a double standard? How does it equate to ducking responsibility?

I agree & it saddens me that people are making excuses for this moron. He knew it was a hot day, he shouldn't have left the dog in the car for 5 minutes. I hope he is sacked. RIP sweet puppy, you not only lost your life, but a blind person out there has lost a pair of eyes & a loving companion. He didn't intentionally forget the dog - that is the big difference. If he had said "I'll leave it there for 5 mins" and then never came back that would be different. You are implying that he deliberately chose to leave the dog in a hot car which is a very different scenario. Last week I got home from agility at 10pm. Opened the gate with my stuff and then remembered Fergus was on the back seat. He has been trained to sit or lie nicely when in the car (with a harness on). I love my dog very much, I am not a heartless moron but I forgot I had him with me for all of 20 seconds. If I didn't normally have him there and I wasn't going home I can imagine that I could forget. My dogs are much loved and my life outside of work revolves around them. You can forget to close a gate and end up with a dog dying a terrible death. You can forget to give a dog their meds just once and end up with a dog dying a terrible death. No one is "making excuses" for this person, they are saying that it is a terrible tragedy. labradore - it is pretty low to try and paint the people on this forum as "not caring about dogs" just because they aren't baying for this guy's blood. People on this forum do real things to help dogs every day.