Serket

Can't help, but can sympathise. We've just moved into the 'proper' obedience classes and now it's totally got to be 100% focus and attention for a full hour. When we're not doing an exercise we're supposed to have our dogs watching us ALL the time, not looking at anything else and ignoring other distractions. No playing with other dogs is allowed. Gypsy has been doing really well, but no way do I normally train for a full hour and demand 100% attention the entire time. In our previous classes, we'd do an exercise, practice some focus work, and then I'd let her play with a friend quietly just wrestling on the ground or something, and then get her attention back and repeat. I found that worked really well for keeping her interested in the entire class. At only 7 months I don't think she can really be expected to work for an hour surrounded by strange dogs she wasn't even allowed to meet and greet I don't see why it's considered so wrong to let them play for a minute or two to break the monotony of sit/drop/stay/heel/look at me/sit/stand/stay I actually think it's good to let them play and then ask them to focus again - it shows you can get their attention away from something "fun" and they also know there's fun in the class for them, not just food and boring exercises they already know how to do (just not with the complete precision required for trialling)

My dog must be the odd one out Then again, I don't know if she'd eat it if I gave her the entire thing at once.

My dog loves them I use one in pieces as training treats when she's due for it. Can you break it up and smush it together with some mince?

Gypsy LOVES them and I actually break it into a few pieces and use it as a training treat - we practice heeling up and down the hallway and she works really hard Could you try putting them into the dog's food bowl, I hide things like tablets in yoghurt or mince and they all get eaten (I supervise and check the bowl/surrounding area after. Granted, I do have a golden retriever who has never met anything that didn't seem edible (except for mint).

Well, at least they're trying to make sure it goes to a suitable home and not just anywhere

This.. it rocks back and forth rather than rolling like the normal treat balls do, she hated it at first because she couldn't make it work, but now she's got it all figured out The kong time is expensive, but it comes with the 4 large kongs so it's actually not too bad given how expensive they are by themselves, the problem is she's just cost me $300 in new glasses, so not the best time for an expensive new toy She'd eat them all at once She's quite strategic - she bounces the kong off things to get food out, then chews, bounces, etc. Same with the treat balls she has - it doesn't take her very long at all to get the food out. Haven't tried freezing them yet because I never remember to do it, I'll try to be more organised this week and see how it goes. Thought about that but I can't think of anywhere we can hang it, not a very useful backyard, no trees, just brick walls, colourbond fence. It looks like it needs to be overhead, rather than hanging down off a wall ETA: Just looked at the price for those and for a golden retriever sized one

I think the idea is they go up somewhere high and the kongs drop out....except that clearly she likes to bench surf and can get up pretty high herself, possibly knocking the whole thing down Ants should be ok :D haven't had them anywhere near her food yet 4 large kongs would essentially be her food for the day, but I have two medium ones here so maybe I could use those instead, and/or put something different in then, like vegies so it's not so much food. I normally fill the kongs with her dry food + yoghurt or similar anyway, so they're not too unhealthy. Instead of breakfast she'd just get left at home with the first kong, and then when we get home from work she might get a small dinner just so she doesn't think she's been deprived. Hmm. GoldenWei - It's not really called puppy agility as such, it's just a local (Central Coast) agility class that's more agility for fun, rather than serious competition, although the instructor does compete in trials with her own dogs. I call it puppy agility on here as the way they run it its suitable for younger dogs as the jumps are basically set up as frames with the poles on the ground if there's a puppy/young dog in the class and we do tunnels and weave poles, but none of the bigger equipment. We sometimes run through youngest/smallest to oldest so the bigger adult dogs get to jump the proper height. It's good fun - Gypsy absolutely adores running through tunnels, as soon as she sees a tunnel she heads right for it, no instructions required

So lately OH & I have been working some pretty long hours during the week, and Gypsy is left home alone for about 10-12 hours at a time 2-3 days a week (I'm home 3-4 days a week, including weekends, most weeks so it's not every day). She has obedience once a week and puppy agility once a week, and we do short training sessions most days and short walks around the block as she's only 7months old. She's not normally destructive when we're not home, only when we are (ironically), but I came home tonight to find she's destroyed a $300 pair of reading glasses - this is the 2nd pair she's destroyed and I can't afford to keep replacing them - it's not just the frames, but the lenses are quite expensive too, I already bought a cheap ugly frame after the first time. She climbed up onto a bench to get them - they were (in theory) out of her reach, I did learn after the last pair., but obviously not well enough. The next pair will be either be being worn, or in a drawer (hopefully the drawers are still dog-proof). Anyway, we leave her with a treat ball, a kong or a bob a lot thing when we leave in the morning, but obviously none of those lasts more than an hour at best. I've seen the 'kong time' dispensers advertised at vetnpet direct, and wondered if they're worth getting? It dispenses 4 large kongs at random intervals over a set period of time. If anyone has one, do you find they're sturdy? Where do you keep it? Has your dog tried to 'break in' or chew on it?

I tried to resist.....but 1 x Medium for me please

Gypsy loves swimming. I was (am) worried that the noise/movement of waves might be scary for her and so I first took her to the beach at a place that is dead calm, no waves. Each time we ventured deeper and she just followed me out. Now she takes herself in, although we haven't yet been to a place with real waves. As for teaching her to actually swim - she just did that herself, once her feet couldn't touch the bottom, but at first I only went out that far for a few seconds, and then back into shallower water as I think it's quite exhausting at first, and that could be scary when the dog feels that it's getting tired but can't reach the bottom.

Gypsy tried the barking thing while preparing dinner for a week or so. I very pointedly stopped making her dinner, and did something else for a bit, and then went back. If she barked again, repeat. She got the message pretty quickly and has never done it since. You might also want to try the Triangle of Temptation program linked somewhere around here (puppy forum? training forum? general? Sorry, lazy tonight)

Hi MellBell - I think we need updated photos in the golden retriever thread by the way :D I think that by locking him outside when 'fun' things are happening, it makes it all the more exciting so that when he does come inside he's all worked up and bouncy, which means you need to put him out again, and a vicious cycle is begun. Can you put him on a lead, on his bed, on the floor near the kitchen/living room where he can see everyone and therefore feel included (tie the lead to something sturdy so he has to stay put), but not jump/steal food - and then teach him to go to his bed and stay there so when he's inside you can just send him to his bed. What I found helped with Gypsy was a 'time out' pen - she jumped up, she went into the pen - as soon as he does something wrong, put him in the pen and leave him there for a minute or too until he calms down, let him back out, but put him right back in if he does it again. Works if they're just a bit hyped up as well. They don't get let out of the pen until they're quiet and calm. Have you had your obedience instructor come out for a home visit? I'm sure she'd be happy to come out and see exactly what's going wrong and help you find solutions.

I was sleep deprived for weeks just because of multiple trips out at night, although Gypsy was pretty quiet, it is exhausting, but it does get better. Just last week Gypsy had two nights (at 7.5 months old) when she decided to bark all night in her crate next to my bed was not impressed.

Not sure if this is close enough but Woofs and Wags is quite good (maybe not so much if your main focus is on obedience trialling, but good for general obedience or agility) Central Coast Dog Obedience is at Kincumber, but that's not very close to you so probably no good. I think there's another club up around Wyong? Not sure.

I'm in....my weekends are pretty booked out, but Sunday mornings and Saturday afternoons are likely to be best. No preferences or suggestions for location

Glad to hear he's hanging in there - I'm glad his owner arrived safe and sound too - they must have been in such a hurry to get there

Nevermind

Doggy day care sounds like a good idea, especially to break up 5 long days of being home alone (rather than going every day). I'd love to use our local one but they won't take undesexed dogs of either sex over the age of 6 months

Not a multiple dog household here, but I've also been told just to leave and not say anything, whether it's leaving the house or tethering the dog to a stake at obedience but I find that causes much more anxiety than having a routine and a set phrase does If I walk out the front door without saying "back soon" Gypsy will start barking, like "hey, what about me? Why can't I come too?", but if I say "back soon" she knows I'm going out and will be coming back and just goes and does her own thing. Likewise, if I tie her up at training she frets if I just walk off without a word. Obviously it's not helpful to go all gooey and over the top when you're leaving and that can cause anxiety, but I see nothing wrong with putting leaving home/leaving the dog somewhere on a cue

That's even better. I have to say I politely but quickly say no and close the door if it's obviously religious people, actually, door knockers and telemarketers just get a blanket "not interested thanks" close door/hang up, but today must have been the day for it, as Telstra got me on the phone about the internet, and the girl wouldn't take no for an answer - wanted me to sign up and then think about it/talk to OH about it and cancel in 10 days if we didn't want it, and then that guy showed up EFS

Just got doorknocked by a guy from AGL asking us to switch from Energy Australia to them for electricity, I didn't let the guy in, because Gypsy still has a bad habit of jumping (and I wasn't interested in switching anyway). But then he starts asking what kind of dog she is, and what the difference between a Lab and a Golden Retriever is, and tries to pat her through the screen door Fast forward 10 minutes (because yes, I'm still talking to him damn people using the dog as a conversation starter) but then he asks what her name is, how old she is, how much we paid for her, where is a good place to get a puppy from and whether pet shops are ok or not, and so I explained about registered breeders and health testing, etc, and he said he's interested in a golden retriever or a cavalier king charles spaniel and we talked about breeders and how to find them, I pointed him in the direction of DogsNSW and DogzOnline So we ended up talking more about dogs than electricity, but I did switch over (conditionally anyway - discounts are always good), but at least he might be one more person to get a dog from a registered breeder rather than a pet shop now He seemed very taken by Gypsy, even though she had a good bark at him at first

Oooo, can my OH join the club? He taught Gypsy to jump up and drink from the bathroom tap when it gets turned on. So, every time people go to wash their hands after using the toilet she jumps up for a drink I'm trying to salvage the situation by teaching her to only do it if she's asked "do you want a drink?" and so far, she'll do it on command, but still try her luck at other times. Sigh. She's a princess now and won't drink from a bowl if given the choice

I like: *That they seem to respect my decisions, e.g. none of the vets at the practice have given me any trouble about not having my puppy desexed at 6 months - they did ask, but they respect my decision. Also, they didn't push anything more than a C3 on me when Gypsy's vaccinations were due, and no mention was ever made of the heartworm injection (for me, those are good things - another vet I saw elsewhere kept going on about it despite me saying I was not interested) *That most of the vets are very friendly, and keen to discuss things about your dog, e.g. breeding, training, diet (and when the vet hadn't heard of Artemis he asked for all the details and went to look into it so he was up to date) *Treats for dogs during consultation (some vets only though) I dislike (not that you asked!): *That sometimes I feel I get sent home with 'extras' that aren't actually necessary (e.g. antibiotics for things that would probably clear on their own) - I wonder if most pet owners feel they don't get 'value for money' if they take their dog to the vet and don't get given anything just charged the consult fee? Nothing else comes to mind at the moment ETA: I'd like to see the same vet each time, or actually know who each vet is (no first names ever given and last names only on the receipt for the visit) Don't care about the waiting room etc as long as it's clean, enough chairs and space for the number/type of animals it needs to hold

3 sides of Gypsy's crate are covered with just a light cotton blanket, haven't tried it without but I think it does help them to feel more secure and settled

Oh and we also have a patiolink door on our sliding door which is great (but it does narrow the doorway considerably)