luvsablue

Thanks heaps for all the information. I feel more confident about taking her across, and it won't be until the summer. luvsablue

Hi Everyone, Does anyone know whether you can take dogs on the ferry? I was told it is dangerous and someone's dogs died because of the fumes from the ship engines. (They have to stay in the car which is parked down near the engines) I would be grateful for any information on this, because I was going to visit over there and wanted to take the car and the dog. luvsablue, Victoria

As well as going to an obedience school some people find other dog people near them and they all walk together and meet so the dogs can socialise. It might be less embarrassing than being at a formal school. You might be able to ask at the local vet's, or put it on their notice board, if they have one. Even though some private professional help would cost a bit, you'd probably only need one or two sessions. There are some very basic and easy techniques for getting the dog's attention onto you and away from whatever it is, in your case other dogs. Your dog sounds very intelligent and would soon learn to leave what you say to leave. It is important that after you ask it to leave (the thing it is doing that you don't want) you give it something else to do eg sit, so you can reward. Good luck luvsablue

corvus you sound a lot like me. I get a real kick out of my happy dog and her good, noooo beautiful work, and feel very proud of her. (But I also get a kick out of her wicked antics when she decides to do the wrong thing, she looks so full of fun and defiant) Is this called partnership? or idiocy? She really knows how to make me look an idiot, but also how to make me laugh. luvsablue

Thanks everyone that is a great help. I wanted this for a friend who has an ultra enthusiastic heeling working gsd. She's been losing marks (and once was failed) for too much contact and bumping mainly on the left turns. This should help her I think, because mainly the dog is forging with her rear end not parallel to the handler and angled across the handler's left side. I think it is called crabbing. Anyway the dog is high drive, keen and enjoying herself, which was a real achievement in itself, because when my friend first got her as an older dog she was the opposite. Nervous unwilling and sulky, and petrified of judges and stewards. Thanks again, luvsablue

Hi everyone, I remember seeing a video clip on teaching back end awareness. The dog was standing front paws on a phone book and was learning to walk around with its back legs while keeping the front legs on the book. Does anyone know of this, or anything similar? It was clicker I think, but doesn't have to be. It's just that I can't remember the sequence used to get this behaviour happening. From luvsablue

I think train both cop and broad jump. Because the more you teach your dog the better, (for both of you). Food refusal is easy to train. Just remember to offer the food in as many different ways as you can think of. Eg, in your fingers, on the palm of your hand, on the back of your hand, on your foot, and drop it on accidentally on purpose so the dog knows dropped food counts as well, on the lid of a container, in a container, container held in the hand and placed on the ground. And do everything in all 3 positions, sit drop and stand. Start each offering of the food by saying "this is a leave" and try to teach the dog not to look at or sniff the food. luvsablue

You said you'd seen her carrying things sometimes. If it was me I'd first condition her to clicker, (if she isn't already), then when and every time I saw her carrying something in her mouth I'd c/t. Then I'd take it from there. Maybe leave something around, or offer something, even if she only looks at it c/t. Good luck and let us know how you go. luvsablue

There's a good one called "Who's the Boss?", but sorry, I can't recall the author's name. luvsablue

I think the main thing here is the context within which we teach the dogs, and how this is really an extension of the words we use as commands. When we are teaching the dogs we wrap the words up with many different body-language cues, and they learn these too. If you keep your actions consistent, the word may not matter as much, particularly when accompanied by a hand signal. The dogs observe all our body language, some of it barely noticed by other people, eg slight hesitations, tense muscles etc. So inter changing words when a signal goes with them shouldn't be too hard for the dog, although I don't know why you'd do it. I mean unless you forgot and used German at home and English out on the training ground? luvsablue

Me again. I meant to add don't be too concerned about what breed is suitable etc. It is all in the training. Good trainers can make any sort of dog look really great in competition, and lousy trainers make the same breeds look terrrible, if you catch my drift, luvsablue.

Boxers are graceful and fun-loving dogs. If you like the dog put that fact first, and put whatever activity second. It doesn't have to be a puppy either. Sorry dogdude but starting from scratch with a puppy is no guarantee really. I know several cases of expensive pure bred pups who've turned out to be disappointing and in a couple of cases, physically not up to scratch. I think it is luck, to some extent anyway. Go and see the dog; if you feel the "good vibes" get the dog and let happen what will. Sometimes these rescue and pound dogs are brilliant - take the chance! Good luck, luvsablue, (and rescue dog Beckie the Bluey)

I went to a saddler in Mornington at the industrial estate, (but there's probably one in Somerville) and bought a rein, which I had made into a lead with a big horse clip from a headstall. And screw in studs to make the handle part. It is great. I needed a heavy clip, because when it was windy the lead used to blow in her face and annoy her during heelwork. (This was in the days when novice had an on lead heeling exercise, which shows how long good leather will last) luvsablue Victoria

For reasons I won't bother you with, I wanted to teach my dog to walk backwards when I asked her to. For about 2 years I tried it but all she'd do was sit in front of me. Then I started clicker with her about January this year. I waited until she walked back of her own accord, and clicked this and treated. (When this was happening she was already conditioned to the click and what it means etc.) She started walking back a lot, then I put a word to it. Then I would ask her to stand, and every time she stood, from down or sit, she'd take a few steps back. This was exactly what I wanted to train and it happened using clicker. I think that when we start the free shaping in this way, the dog seems to learn faster than if we try to put words in before it knows what we want it to do. There are no words at all, and maybe it's the silence, except for the click which makes it clearer for the dog? Who knows? Before I ever did clicker we trained with a lot of fun, rewards and games. But there were words, big long strings of them, which of course are just a meaningless babble of sound to a dog. So when I'm introducing something new I use click/treat and no words. And also to polish up a few things. So it might have something to do with the silence. Actually, I find most people talk a lot while training, and sometimes leave the dog sitting there while they gabble away. If your dog hears your voice a lot it's going to tune out, and this is not good for a training situation. Cheers, luvsablue

On having both a mini poodle and a bad back...... You can do a lot of your training sitting down close to the little dog's level. You don't need to be standing all the time. And when you are, you don't need to bend down to feed treats. You can teach the pup to catch pieces of food dropped from a short way from fingertips. When pup can catch those toss the rewards from a bit higher until he can catch really well. All your early sits downs and stands can be taught with you sitting down, also basic hold and sit in front for retrieves, sit in front for recall. Or most of this early puppy stuff can be taught with pup on a table and you standing, not bending down. luvsablue

I love it because there is no "oh no, not this boring training again........oh well if you insist" It's more, "great, what are we doing now? The eagerness shines in their eyes, and they are willing to try heaps of things until they get the click. There's no confrontation, it's all spontaneous, and you find you've got a dog who loves to learn, and is confident in what it does. luvsablue

Hi kelpiekaye, Your dogs look absolutely gorgeous, luvsablue

Totally agree. Except I keep more written notes and think more about how I'm going to train something before I start. But the times with the dog are better because I plan it out more. Therefore we are more relaxed when doing stuff. She learns better that way, and I enjoy it more. It is partly because when I know what I want to do beforehand there is no discussion with other people when we should be quietly focussing on what the dog is doing. I really dislike a lot of chatter doing training: it distracts the dogs, we talk after we've finished. luvsablue

Yes I'll be at Mornington. I'm a member and must go and also compete. And the Berwick double. Chelo and I had a party with Beckie and Isobel. Champagne, and pavlova, and healthy salad and chicken. C u at the trials, luvsablue

Thanks Tiggy, That's what I do half the time and it is how I taught Beckie. I added a step or three back off both her stands (from sit and down) as well, to compensate for any forwards movements when she does the drop from the sit. You can just touch the stifle and they'll stand from sit or drop. Good clip, luvsablue

Im having trouble teaching my pup to stand, I dont know what this "kick back stand" is, can someone clarify? Hi GoldenGirl85 I don't know what the kick back stand is but I think you can try rewarding her every time she is standing in the house while you are putting on her lead etc. She probably does stand sometimes. If you are using clicker this is easy. Just click/treat every stand you see, and then add the cue word. So it is not part of a training session, because she probably associates training with sits. Try sitting on the floor with her and food luring her into the stand, you draw the food away and forward so she has to get up to follow it, then click the getting up on all fours. Try Mary Ray's website for DVDs, in particular, "From Puppy to Novice", and "From Novice to Crufts". luvsablue :D

Hi, I am not trialing at Peninsula tomorrow as I went to Ballarat's one last Saturday. No pass cards to brag about Luvsablue, but we did have fun competiting in UDX. Good luck trialing tomorrow, will look forward to hearing your results Hi Kallistar, :D A terrific day, but no pass card. She fell down on one lousy retrieve, then got two 10s for the other two!!!! I was very pleased with all her other work. I suppose we can forgive one lapse of concentration, when they give us such a fun ride. luvsablue

Five months is still pretty young, at that age mine used to jump up and down and sideways like a crazy kangaroo. When she wasn't being a kangaroo she used to sniff the ground in a really manic way. She kind of grew out of it and started acting as though she had a brain when she was older. luvsablue

To The Spotted Devil, Good luck to you too!! luvsablue