pipsqueak

I cannot see why not

Ok i brought back the marker and he definitely associates that to a cross without me having to point at it which is good. There are 2 things: 1) For one side, he undo the crossing as soon as he crosses (ie bottom paw is lifted out as soon as the top crosses over) 2) As soon as i take away the marker, he doesn't know what to do Any pointers? thanks Q1. No reward is given when he just uncrosses his legs. Reward is only given when he waits with his legs crossed for a split second, then maybe 2 secs then 3secs and so you will build duration. Q2 This is telling me he doesn't understand the command go back using the marker slowly reduce the marker size so your dog understands the command this will take time don't rush. I would work on Q2 before I start trying for duration one thing at a time so as not to confuse him. He touches the marker effortlessly everytime i say cross. I will reduce the size of the marker and try again. Thanks for the tip, will try again. Can I hijack this thread for a second - as I think you might run into a problem which I had when teaching this. I taught one of our dogs to cross paws with a metal disc target. Slowly decreased/faded target size down to size of 5 cent piece. I *think* I put behaviour on cue at this point. Dog was fine to cross paws and target 5 cent piece (couldn't fade it any further). Removed 5 cent piece and cued behaviour, and dog was clueless - seemed to have noooo idea of what was being asked. replaced 5 c piece, no problems. My suggestion would be if dog can happily do command with you pointing, that you transfer the behaviour to a verbal command, and then fade out the pointing. Transfer it to a verbal cue, but giving verbal command, waiting 1 second, and then cueing behaviour by pointing - the idea here is that the verbal cue becomes to reliability predict the physical prompt. At some stage, when you're doing this, hopefully he will hear the verbal cue, and anticipate the physical prompt - this is when you're getting close to getting it on verbal command. Then start to fade out physical prompt by making your pointing smaller and less noticeable until you make it disappear altogether.

Spoke with manufacturer this morning, the New PP10 & PP50 available shortly 7-10 days, I am awaiting on prices and delivery. PP50 takes dog weight up to 20kg. •PP10/PP20/PP30/PP40/PP50s are made of high quality plastic, which are strong and durable. •Beautifully designed with a flexible cage lock, generously sized water bowl, funnel and litter tray. •Can be used as a kennel as well as a portable carrier. •Dimensions: PP10 33 x 33 x 48.5 cm PP20 37 x 37 x 52 cm PP30 43 x 45 x 62 cm PP40 44 x 53 x 73 cm PP50 56 x 60 x 82 cm All of these crates have been airline approved. I will let you know as soon as available. Dumb question, but what do those people with large/giant breeds do when the have previously transported their dogs in wire crates of the following dimensions? And that there dog needs this length, width, height to be able to turn around. And, if you cannot use collapsible crates, what do you do if you have a car that crates of these size won't fit into? XLarge 110cm 70cm 80cm XXLarge 120cm 75cm 85cm

I love the look of the first sites products. The problem is there doesn't seem to be any contact details anywhere on the site. For some reason when I clicked on the link it only took me to a frame. Manged to find the whole website with contact details. http://www.karere.com.au/ http://www.karere.com.au/ ACCOUNTS MANAGER: Katie Mollison (Mobile: 0408057923) LOCATION: 26 Judge Street, Sunshine, Victoria 3020, Australia PHONE: (613) 9311-8211 FAX: (613) 9312-5336 EMAILS: [email protected] [email protected]

http://www.crittercottage.com.au/product.aspx?id=349

maybe these... http://www.crittercottage.com.au/product.aspx?id=150

http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...p;ParentCat=200 http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...p;ParentCat=200 http://www.kyjen.com/wholesale/index.php/d...lking-toys.html

Standard Poodle? Or too big? apparently some do well at obedience.

Perhaps too much fur for you, Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

Could you explain what this is, please?

I'll ask a question that I'll probably be shot down in flames for, by you. Over what period of time were the 20 reps done? If, as poodlefan suggested the dog might have been stressed, doesn't that mean that there is a build of up cortisol in the system which takes time to disperse - I've read the current thinking is up to 24 hours - and that this cortisol can impede learning. Again, with our sighthound cross, you can do a dozen reps, which no apparrent success or association, take a break for a day or two, come back to the skill, and she is leaps and bounds ahead of where you left off...

I came across this on SEEK and thought someone here might be interested. http://www.seek.com.au/Job/programs-manage...sydney/18873199

I totally agree with poodlefan(?) on the sighthound thing. I took our sighthound x to tracking training one day to see how she would go. First track, she was totally clueless - to be expected as we'd never done anything like it before. Second half of the second track she suddenly put it together and started to track nicely. Third track, you could see her attitude change - it was like "Mum, we've already done this twice, why am I doing it again?!" Just lost interest totally, even though she was capable - and mind you, they were very short tracks of perhaps 20-30 metres! Same dog was clueless when she first came to us about the concept of following a lure. If you tried to lure her by bringing a treat in front of her nose and moving it away for her to follow, she wouldn't follow it, but rather quiet happily stand there and watch the treat disappear into the distance, or wait for the treat to be given to her. I think I've mentioned before that I had intended on training her with "purely positive" (ie., hands off) training, but had to resort to physically guiding her in order to make any progress... otherwise I had nothing to reward. Finally, this is a dog that took six months to learn how to sit!!! Perhaps it is a reflection on my training ability or her physical limitations (sighthounds often find it difficult to sit). However, recently she learnt to spin on cue, by following a lure, then a hand target/signal, in a reasonably distracting environment (which also happens to be also a rewarding environment for her). I think in her case, it was a matter of "learning how to learn", since she had very little, if any training for the first 6-12 months of her life, although it would appear she had a lot of socialisation. It has also been a matter of me learning which rewards "float her boat" at any given time... which I am still learning, and have also learnt recently, change as the environment change. If you asked me 4 years ago if she found praise alone motivating/rewarding, I would have said a resounding "no". However, I have discovered recently that praise is a huuuuge deal for her, particularly during a pets as therapy visit. Perhaps because it has been paired so frequently with food during the last four years, but I honestly think it is the environment and other people's attention which makes praise so effective in this situation. Or, perhaps I have finally learnt to relax some of my inhibitions and can give geniune praise, and not worry about sounding like a squeaky toy. Sorry about the ramble - you may or may not get anything out of it. My final thought was that perhaps the boxer enjoyed the treat, but it wasn't motivating enough for him to work for???

I can only give you my experience with our guinea pig, which some people feel isn't the same. I feel that I left it too late in making the decision for her. She started to lose the use of her back legs over a period of months - some days she would drag them, but then the next day she would seem fine. She had become incontinent, which meant it was exceptionally difficult to keep her and her cage clean - should would basically lay in urine/faeces. I made the decision to pts when her bad days outweighed her good, but as I said, I think I should have made it sooner - when she became incontinent. Even at the end, she still had her good days, where she was fairly mobile. And, she was still eating like the greedy guts that she was right until the end. I know people say that "you know when it's time", but I was never sure. And they also say that the animal tells you, but sorry, I didn't get that either. I know when I decided to pts, it was with love and caring, and to make sure she didn't get any worse and experience pain. I'm not sure if any of that helps you, or just makes the decision harder for you. It's a tough decision to have to make.

haven't got one, but these have been recommended in the past - "Pig In Mud" http://www.bowhouse.com.au/p/510027/pet-do...from-39995.html

But it's a really boring course Sale's ET is around a lake and through beautiful parkland. Plus, it was less than 10 degrees for the entire ET. Can I ask where they do it in Sydney?

I fee 100% dry most of the time. One dog cannot tolerate raw - gives her gastro for days.

When I volunteered at a shelter, I saw more than one dog back out of a harness!!!

Flat collar and martingale here (for the sighthound x). However, it has taken us 2 yrs for one dog and 6 months for the other dog to get to this point. I think flat collars and training is all well and good for puppies. However, when you pass judgement, please consider the owners like myself, who adopt their dogs as adults, at 12-18 mths of age and have had ZERO training. That, I feel, is an uphill battle. And yes, I took both dogs to training, to be told a different thing by a different instructor every week - that dog must be on an "insert training tool" - to be told off the next week for either refusing to put my sighthound cross on a halti (I personally believe her speed and a halti would be a deadly combination) or for having put the other dog on a check chain... not exactly things to encourage an owner to return, and I will admit that I often left training in tears, thinking "why bother". Add to that, one dog being charged by an off-lead dog (no owners) one morning, just when our LLW was starting to come under control. That honestly set our training back 6-12 months and added reactivity to the challenge.

Just curious what sort of car it is? The reason I ask is that we had the same problem getting one of our dogs in the back of the Outback. However, we found out it wasn't that she couldn't jump in, but WOULDN'T jump in, as from her height, it looked like she didn't have enough headroom - just mentioning it on the remote chance it might help.

I haven't used these guys, but I like the look of their stuff... www.customcages.com.au

What reason did the council give for closing them down?

Is this Australia-wide, or only in Queensland???

Not the link I was looking for, but might help for the time being... http://www.abc.net.au/creaturefeatures/make/petplacemat.htm

According to the Companion Animal Act, the maximum number of dogs a person can legally walk is FOUR.