Gspsplease

Sorry to hear about the GSP burnout; often if you are not closely involved in a sport you don't hear about the problems. I can see how the lighter, leaner GSP body is not as well suited to weight bearing exercise -- I guess "moderation in all things" is the answer. In many dog sports people seem to become too fanatical about competing and forget the idea of just having fun with their dog partner. cheers Gspsplease

Hi, I have heard great things of GSPs in sledding; another advantage is that in non-sledding season you can do agility, flyball or gun dog work as well. And don't believe it will confuse your dog; the more and varied activities you do, the better your relationship with your dog and the more he will concentrate on working for you. good luck!

Hi, for our fun (ie not serious competition) agility class, I bought a coffee table at a garage sale for $5, painted the top and covered the top with dry sand, then shook off the surplus sand after an hour or so. The result is a very sturdy table with non-slide surface. For a 300 dog you might need to shorten the legs of the table. This would be a minimal effort piece of equipment -- you might eventually decide you don't really need a pause table at home, just use one regularly at training as I do. good luck.

Hi, one of the advantages of a whistle is that it always sounds the same ie never angry or anxious or panicking which your voice may well do, depending on the circumstances. Many men find it difficult to be loud and happy when they call -- they sound aggravated. Also I find that in an emergency my voice dries up and I can't project it, hence the joy of a whistle. My whistle is on a lanyard next to my bumbag and both are part of my checklist whenever I go out with my dog. At our pet dog class we teach a collar grab (or hold) whenever a dog is called in, to stop the "hit and run" dog who takes the treat and takes off. The dog is always given permission "off you go" when the collar is released -- the dog never decides "I'm going over here now". I always advise handlers to save their best treats eg BBQ chicken for recall training, but also to have other emergency plans like letting out a scream and running in the opposite direction, having a very loud squeaky toy that the dog is very occasionally allowed to play with after a recall, making your dog ball mad and occasionally throwing the ball when the dog is running in for a recall. Also in a VERY safe park occasionally stepping behind a tree so your dog needs to hunt for you and then becomes convinced that he always needs to keep an eye on where you are, or he will lose you. I believe developing (and keeping) a reliable recall is a life long practice with your dog.

Hi Alison, I agree totally with all the comments about extra exercise, daily walks and finding a good trainer you are comfortable with who does not use force or punishment with your dog. You may find checkchains hard to use on a long coated dog as they tend to catch in the fur. Have a look at dogstardaily.com which is an excellent website for positive training; there are also many websites which include short videos on how to use head halters (including how to introduce your dog gently to one) and how to use the various no-pull harnesses (but most pet shops do not stock these harnesses -- a good trainer may do so). As well as walks for socialisation, exploring the world etc, try some at-home energy consuming activites which may tire your dog out before you try to walk her. (search on google for environmental enrichment for at home dog or home-alone activities or similiar topics) Aussie dog have excellent food balls and tug items which your dog can play with while you're away, so she won't be so frantic for stimulation when you get home. Also, try not to think of her as being "naughty" (as in one of your earlier posts) -- dogs are not born with original sin and she simply needs to be trained in the behaviour you find acceptable --- if she learned to sit etc as you mentioned, she is trying to please you already. There are some positive dog training clubs around-- what area do you live in?

Beware of that phrase "got rid of the rats" -- you never really do, you have just killed off one generation and if your property was attractive for the first lot, it will be recolonised. I blocked up holes, put out bait stations etc and for a while there was peace, but unless you can persuade your neighbours to also take action, within a few months the rats will return. But at least you dog will let you know that has happened......

The most likely offender in a suburban area is rats-- my pest controller says you are never more than 4 metres from a rat. (and I live in a good middle class suburb) I have seen them running along the horizontal supports of paling fences at night-- sometimes if I am our without the dog, the rats will even turn and smile at me! I have animal and bird proof baiting stations around the house, but it's an uphill battle if no-one else in the area tries to keep the rats down -- most of my neighbouts have no idea how prevalent rats are. So it's hardly a surprise when my GSP races round the boundaries at night (mostly quietly) to scare them away, before her toilet activities. I always take food treats with me, and use a toilet command (HUURY UP); then a really good treat follows, so often I can divert her from the rat patrol.

I bought a heavy weight plastic storage container at Bunnings that holds the largest size dry dog food (not sure what this is 18kilos??) It is quite narrow with a sloping front and fitted lid that is hinged-- hard to describe but works very well for me. The sloping front makes it easy to reach into and measure out kibble, by just opening the front half of the hinged lid, so you can store other things on top without needing to lift off the lid for access. Much more sturdy than the plastic storage from K mart etc. Cost about $25.

Hi, Have you tried throwing his kibble over the lawn instead of feeding in a bowl? My GSP finds this a very exciting way to be fed, and spends up to half an hour searching for every piece of kibble, rather than eating her meal in 30 seconds. During the searching she is using her brain and nose, and afterwards settles down for a nap. You could also try searching games with your dog; start off by one person holding the dog while the other walks around the garden and drops things to be found -- toys if you had a dog interested in them, but as you dont, try biscuits or small treats. At the beginning the dog can watch while this happens; as he learns "find" or "seek" command you can do it out of his sight to make it more of a challenge and exciting. As you play these games with your dog he will realise that you are a great source of fun, and perhaps become more interested in retrieving type games which can use up a lot of energy.

I tell people that my social life consists of driving my dog to her social life (obedience, flyball, agility) but if I didn't have a dog I wouldn't be getting an hour of exercise every day, and would become one of those boring people who pay huge amounts of money to exercise at a gym (for a short time until the novelty wears off). Almost everyone can identify with people who start out exercising at the gym and quickly give up. So maybe you can "sell" your dog activities as essential exercise for yourself, not to mention the mental and emotional benefits of dog ownership -- but I fear many people have closed minds -- if their dogs have always lived (existed) in the back yard with maybe a weekly walk, then that is how the world should be.

These all look great; thanks so much for your quick response!!

Does anyone know a supplier where I can buy about 50 trojan (snap) clips for dog leads? One of our club members makes 8 metre webbing leads for club use and sale within the club, so I'm not talking about a commercial operation. Bunnings have a Zenith brand 20mm but it's about $5 and that gets rather expensive when the price of webbing is included, plus they often have only 1 or 2 in stock. Perhaps a supplier to the horse industry? Any suggestions appreciated. many thanks

Hi, I agree totally with the flea bomb suggestion; we had endless problems with 2 cats who constantly picked up fleas (and passed them on to our dog) and were reduced to bathing the cats every 2 weeks to try to eradicate the fleas-- and even bathing in a flea rinse (NOT recommended for cats) was not effective -- as an example of how tough fleas were, within a few minutes of getting the cats out of the bath the fleas, which had fastened themselves to the base of hair follicles, would start to move again. Once we flea bombed the house the problem was solved for 6 months or so, as any flea eggs could not hatch. An earlier suggestion was to look for wandering jew -- not a bad idea. Even if fleas are the problem, wandering jew can cause rashes on dogs with sensitive skin. It's a creeper with a deep green, spear head shaped leaf, found in shady areas. When you try to pull it out, it breaks off into small sections, each of which can root and start again. Try asking older neighbours working in their gardens to identify any suspect plants if you don't know what they are-- if you are in a rental property with a neglected garden it's quite likely there is wandering jew growing somewhere which may be a problem in the future, if not now. best of luck with the puppy.

So sorry to hear of your loss. When you have time, google "Where do you bury a dog" -- it has comforted me and friends of mine after dog losses.

Rather than a double ended lead, which many people find hard to manage (and end up pulling on the wrong end), our club uses connectors which have a trojan clip on one end and a closed ring on the other with about 10-12cms of webbing in between. The trojan clip attaches to the collar and the closed ring is held by the lead clip along with the gentle leader or harness ring. The result is that if a dog manages to pull out of a harness or head halter etc, there is still the connector attached to the dog's collar and lead. These connectors are available from Blackdog or Jenny Ireland for about $8. We never sell a head halter or front fastening harness without a connector.

Don't believe your gun dog can't sled -- one of my dog's relatives (a GSP) is competing very successfully in sledding in the Belonglo State Forrest area.

A variation on a treat ball is to throw your dog's dry kibble over the lawn instead of feeding in a bowl -- the dog will take 20 minutes or so to search for every piece of kibble, which is good for developing a sensitive nose, and at the end of the 20 minutes the dog will be exhausted and sleep for an hour or so. My 7 year old dog still finds this a very exciting way to be fed her breakfast! Also try tying a ball into the foot of a pantyhose and tying the other end to a solid piece of furniture like a table leg -- the pantyhose will stretch and bounce back, making the toy more exciting. CAUTION-- you will need to supervise this and remove once the pantyhose starts shredding as pup's teeth and paws can get caught, but it is one way of gaining 10 minutes rest while you read the paper.

Hi Clare, I would suggest you try to buy a cheap kids tunnel -- often seen at garage sales -- and make a couple of sandbag holders to keep the ends in place. You and a partner could send the dog through the tunnel several times -- most dogs find the tunnel very exciting and are keen to repeat it, and if you use the "tunnel" command then eventually the dog will run through by himself. You could make a small jump course along a side passageway, just using 2 bricks and a plank and put your dog's food bowl on the other side of the jump and teach him to go over for his dinner, and eventually build this up to a run of several jumps and the dog going over just for a treat at the end. (The advantage of a side passageway is that you can leave it set up permanently so it's quick to use whenever you have a few minutes to spare, and depending on the layout it may not be possible for the dog to go around the jump, so he is learning to always go over, even when not on a lead or under much control). Buy a child's small hoop and lure your dog through the hoop with a treat, then when he will happily go through the hoop resting on the ground, you can jamb the hoop into a door frame eg at the entrance to the lounge room, and gradually raise it off the ground so he starts to jump through it to get into a part of the house he likes. Lay a metal ladder on the ground and lure him to walk through it -- this will teach him to watch where he places his back legs, and he may find this quite exciting too. Find or build a low large box and place his food bowl on the box, and teach him the command "table" when he jumps onto the box. All these should be possible without a great deal of control and will make his garden exercise more interesting. I agree with other posts that to progress much further you will need on lead and off lead control, and trying more difficult equipment on lead can be dangerous to the dog. Go to an agility trial and see what other equipment you could make/modify for garden use with luring, and cut down your dog's food until he is very interested in working for his dinner after a few jumps etc. hope this helps Gspsplease

In group stays, if I notice someone else has a similiar lead to mine, I always loosely knot mine when I hand it over, so it is easy to identify. Once I ended up with a crappy lead with a faulty clip because the wrong one was handed back to me, in the days when nearly everyone used black webbing leads