Gspsplease

I'm fairly sure it was a min pin owned by Rae Galea; she started at 6 months and went straight through Novice, open and Ud and had all titles by about 10 months, in the late 1960s or early 1970s. As there wasn't any other dog sport at the time, she then had a UD dog with nothing else to aim for!

There is a dog training club (Eastern Suburbs DTC) in Centennial Park and one at Homebush (Western Suburbs DTC). Check their websites for more details; from the date of your post I assume by now your pup is too old for puppy preschool.

Hi, your dog is too old for a puppy school (8-16 weeks); you need a dog training club/school that takes dogs over 4 months old. Western Suburbs Dog Training Club at Homebush is a positive training club with Sat afternoon classes -- look at their website. There are other clubs that train Sundays-- check the Dogs NSW website for other locations and websites; some clubs do not use positive training methods so perhaps go and observe to be sure that you will be comfortable with the classes. www.dogstardaily.com is a fantastic resource for all dog owners. good luck

One issue may be that the dog is only taken for long drives, or stressful ones (like to the vet) or very exciting ones (like to the dog park); perhaps the owner needs to work on desensitizing the dog to the car. I suggest the car is parked inside the property and all doors left open for an hour or so -- I get car sick if I get into a car that has been closed up because of the fumes that come off the vinyl upholstery when the car is sitting in the sun -- so I'm sure a dog could suffer too. So, with a well ventilated car, the owner should play fetch the toy out of the passenger floor side -- when the dog is happily jumping in and out of the car, try feeding the dog on the passenger floor so the dog is in the car for 5 minutes or so. The next step is to close the door, start up the car and then turn the engine off -- so the dog is not alarmed by the sound of the car engine. At this time the dog could also be accustomed to whatever restraint will be used. Don't make a big fuss when dog gets out of car. Next step is to just reverse the car for a few metres so the dog becomes desensitised to the motion -- you get the picture -- the owner just gradually builds up the dog's experiences with the car so it is no longer a stressful time. (You didn't think a one year habit would be cured overnight, did you?) I would suggest to the owner that he/she aims to do 5 minutes a day, every day, to change the dog's attitude to the car, before trying medication.

Sometimes the problem can be that the dog associates car trips to the vet causing anxiety, or to a park, causing excitement. Can you put the dog into the car and just drive around the block 2-3 times a day, so that nothing happens after this short car trip? This should gradually desensitize the dog to car motion. Also try tethering the dog on the floor in the front passenger side, so it cannot see outside the window, and it should settle quickly.

When obedience clubs started in Australia, heeling was the only type of on lead (and off lead) work taught, since it was a requirement of the obedience trial ring. And the method used was the jerking correction and some praise when the dog was at heel. The result was that the thousands of dogs who attended dog training clubs for the past 50 years could heel when required but most still pulled their owners around the block unless the owner concentrated on keeping the dog at heel the whole time -- not relaxing for dog or owner. Modern thinking is that the dog should be able to walk on a loose lead, even ahead of the owner, sniff the ground etc and generally enjoy a "pleasure walk" since that is most dogs only way of exploring the world. So I would keep on with your loose lead walking, using the stopping method when the lead is tight, and both of you should enjoy the walk. As others have commented, heeling is useful -- eg when crossing the road -- you can't stop in the middle of the road if the dog is pulling. Rather than jerking or tightening the lead, I agree that you can use food treats to reward your dog when he is in a close heeling position, at first almost constantly, then every 5 steps, then every 10 steps, until he can heel for a reasonable distance. Like any exercise, find a use for heeling and you will then be more inclined to practise it and develop as much proficiency as YOU require --not anyone else.

There is a worldwide (?) competition each year for the best short film clip about clicker training called the Canis film awards. You can goodle to find them. This year the winner showed the training of a poodle in object recognition, teaching the dog to fetch an identical object to the item held up (eg ball on rope) from behind a screen, and eventually fetching an identical object from a photo of the object. Another film showed teaching a dog to blow bubbles underwater. There is also a website called kikopup which has lots of film clips of basic clicker training which would probably be a good place to start. cheers

My GSP has titles in Flyball, Agility, and Obedience. Previous GSPs were mainly obedience and one breed champion, also non-slip retrieving (so if you get a gundog you have another avenue of competition available). There is no other definition of easy care coat! I can't understand that you have met GSPs not interested in their owners -- all I have met who live in a family situation (ie not show dogs from large kennels) are devoted house dogs and like nothing better than a handy lap to curl up on. However, like most breeds, they have their own play style -- usually running full speed and jumping over each other while they run! Not sure they would appreciate body slamming -- my girl would be most offended. Similarly most border collies I have met like to play with other border collies. Can you visit a few agility trials and see whether you like the working styles of the various breeds you are interested in?

My GSP adores her Wolf's Den back zippered jacket -- it keeps her warm and snug all night especially on the chest area which a normal dog coat doesn't cover. She also quite happily wears full length (front legs) fluorescent fleecy PJs which a friend made for her; these are mainly worn after flyball competitions while we wait for final placings and the cold night air is closing in. She strolls around totally ignoring people laughing at her -- (I tell her they are just jealous!)Of course, it could be just pure happiness after a full day of flyball. cheers

my 3 GSPs have all crossed their paws when lying down and slightly alert; I have a german porcelain statue of a GSP in this pose so I assume it is a breed characteristic. Re the pointing: my 8 year old has never been very fussed about pointing birds but after much praise when she pointed a cockroach in the house, has now started to bring my attention to dead or dying roaches. very useful!

Since the name of the object was written on it with indelible pen, perhaps the dog just learned to read? (Only joking,-- before I get outraged replies.) There is an interesting video clip on teaching object identification using clicker training in the canis film awards for 2011.

My first GSP would drink and then lick her lips carefully before raising her head from the bowl -- and I never appreciated that or realised how rare it was! My 2nd and 3rd both drink and walk away with water streaming from their lips. Look on youtube for a slow motion film of dogs and cats drinking -- it's amazing how different their methods are -- cats lick up water onto the top of their tongues and close the tongue around it, dogs pull the water onto the bottom of their tongue and somehow carry it into their mouths -- it's amazing more water doesn't end up on the floor.

Something we tried with an advanced obedience class was the sit with handlers' eyes closed-- amazing how many dogs did not think that the command was real if Mum couldn't see me! One I tried in front of a floor to ceiling mirror -- getting my dog to sit from a stand while I stood behind her and just used a hand signal.

My GSP adores both flyball and agility. Flyball is more of a pattern without the great variations that you find in an agility course, but for a ball fanatic that hardly matters. When you trial at agility, you are active for 30-40 seconds each time in each of the 2 or 3 classes you have entered, and then it's over. At flyball you are competing every half hour or so for the whole day, for 5-10 minutes at a time, so a full day competition is exactly that. Plus the flyball club/team atmosphere is very different to other dog sports, but then agility people are very friendly and you can always find people to sit with and talk to. In my opinion agilty requires more control and skill from the handler and a real partnership, and more mental effort from the handler to memorise a course and plot the best route for his/her dog. Flyball requires more control of your dog around other dogs, especially when you consider they are running flat out towards each other to pass through a metre wide gap at the same time as the other dog. Both sports enhance your relationship with your dog, and give both of you a good physical workout -- so why not try both? cheers

One of the speakers at the APDT conference a few years ago ran her own pound in the mid-West. Sorry I can't recall her name right now but she invented the "bite assesser" artifical hand that is widely used in dog pounds. Her comment on this type of problem is that owners often vow they will do anything to retrain their dog, work with it, monitor it etc, and they do -- for the first year they are incredibly vigilant and nothing happens. Then human nature takes over and the next year the owners are slightly less careful, and still nothing happens. When the owners become more complacent and less vigilant, often a couple of years down the track, there is a tragic attack and someone else (and the dog too) suffers. So the question becomes "Are you prepared to confine or closely supervise this dog for the rest of his/her life ? maybe another 10-12 years? Sandra

I suggest that you hand feed your dog all his meals using the suggestions above so your dog learns that he will get an enormous amount of food from your hands when he takes it gently. Often dogs are so keen to get treats that they grab the food, but once they realise that there is a continual supply of food from your hands, they become less frantic and can relax. It will probably take only 1-2 days before you notice that your dog is less obsessed with grabbing food. cheers Sandra

In case any one is interested, an early question about dogs named after the man who developed them, included the answer Dandie Dinmont. This breed was named after a character in a novel by Sir Walter Scott, not a real person.

Have a look at Kikopup the website and short film clips on Yahoo. Lots of good information about positive training and clicker training. And I fully endorse dogstardaily.com cheers

Hi, I suggest you read some articles on www.dogstardaily.com (search for resource guarding) to get further perspectives on the problem, and some possible immediate action to take while you are waiting to see a behaviourist. At our pet dog classes we always recommend that owners stand near the food bowl while the dog is eating and drop extra, better food into the bowl (from a height, not putting hands down near the bowl) so that the presence of someone near the bowl means good things, not food being removed from the dog. Sandra

American research from a few years back reported that blowing on a dog's ear can trigger an automatic bite/snap response, like snapping at a fly. I wonder if small children hugging a dog and breathing quickly close to the dog's head results in this snap reflex which then escalates? Anyway, apart from the normal warnings about unsupervised children and dogs, I always warn my pet dog classes to prevent all children from hugging dogs around the head. Sandra

Hi, Many years ago we owned 4 pekes, not by design(found 2 seperately as strays, didn't realise the bitch wasn't desexed and kept the resultant 2 pups). Fantastic character, were a real family unit. As you can imagine, regular grooming and washing was essential- you need to do a bottom check every time they come inside, and if necessary wash off their trousers, particularly after loose bowel motions. As they aged, they found the Sydney humidity very hard to cope with, and struggled for breath at times. I loved them dearly but they are high maintenance -- my next dog was a GSP with no coat to manage! I trained 2 of the Pekes in obedience but they only have 2 paces, a rolling walk and a run, and I was forever being told by judges and instructors to make my dogs trot. They were clever and fast to learn but could be incredibly stubborn -- after I reprimanded the bitch for chewing a dumbell she refused to ever retrieve again. Now, with positive reward based training I am sure this would not be a problem. It's not unusual for them to live for 15 years, so a huge chunk of your life goes when they die, and since the last year or two can be very sad with heart problems etc, and still living with Sydney humidity, I don't think I could own a Peke again. cheers

Hi, Western Suburbs DTC trains at Bressington Park, Underwood Rd Homebush Bay. Tuesday nights at 7.30 for trialling dogs, Saturday afternoons for pet dog classes 2pm beginners and 3.30 for more advanced dogs -- fun agility (not full on agility equipment) retrieving, touch, scent work etc. Check their web site for contact details.

Hi, Most dogs like to feel enclosed while sleeping, so try getting a cardboard box from the supermarket or appliance store--you can always add old towels for bedding. Since the box was free, it doesn't matter if your puppy chews it up, and eventually he will grow out of that stage and then you can buy a more expensive permanent bed. Another larger box can be used a toy, by turning it upside down and cutting tunnel holes in it. Plastic cordial bottles can be great toys, as long as you remove the plastic rings at the top and check them daily for damage. You can put a few pieces of kibble in them like a food ball and show your pup how to kick them around to get the food out, and the dog will enjoy racing around carrying the bottle by the handle. Ice cream cartons make a great noise when dog scrapes them along concrete, they can be carried around and tossed in the air, but throw them away after they are chewed (but I'm sure all your friends and relatives will be delighted to find someone who wants their empty plastic cartons!) The cartons can also be used to freeze a sardine in water and give to your dog in hot weather. Try searching on Google for "home alone activities dogs" for other cheap ideas. Food balls are great (about $15-$30)-- just don't give them to an active dog if you have floor to ceiling glass doors and windows as they soon learn to hit the balls very hard to get food out --I speak from experience here! Aussiedog stuff is expensive but worth every penny -- lifetime guarentee (they are sold to zoos for lions and elephants to play with) and if you add up the cost of those cheap toys that only last a few days you can see what value they are. My dog is nearly 8 years old and still loves to charge around with her ice cream cartons and drink bottles; at least half her meals are fed from a food ball which is much more exciting way to eat then out of a dish and food lasts much longer, so an expensive food ball will probably be a good investment. cheers Sandra