raineth

The poor dear, she sounds so so frightened. Now I don't know the specifics of thunderstorm phobia - if it truly is painful to her ears in some way then you will be limited to how much success you can achieve. I use systematic desensitisation. And if you are willing I would be more than happy to take you through it. I am not a trainer or anything but I am a psychology student and used this knowledge, incorporated it with the clicker and have had huge success with it. my dog who I adopted a month ago has 3 strong fears: cameras, fly spray, and people laying next to him. I have cured the camera one, and am onto the people laying next to him fear. If you want send me a pm. It would be so nice for her to not have this problem any more.

I think she looks lovely deelee - what a great waist line! if you get comments I would just set about politely educating the people who make them. with points like: that feeling ribs is a good thing, protruding hips and spine are what indicates a dog is too thin. that thin means a healthier heart and healthier joints.

I agree that there is a chance that she could make the next pup frightened - but there is also a chance the new pup won't be at all affected. I am really surprised to hear that what behaviourists and trainers recommended have made things worse. Would you mind briefly outlining the method? I am just very interested as I have been very busy curing a few of my dog's fear lately. thanks

Hi SnF! I enjoyed reading this thread very much! mainly because of your enthusiasm, its very contagious! :D anyway I'm just also saying that I think Nutro is great food. But it sounds like you are really on track with the BARF/raw diet now! Yellowgirl SnF would've had to remove the emoticons because there is a limit to how many you can have in each post ;)

yay! Another happy instalment in the Buddy saga I really want to see a photo too as at the moment I imagine he is so much like our new dog. Sounds the same in looks and temperament. Also, although she went a bit crazy at him, its really good that she was willing to have a go at having him inside!

Goldens are pretty special. :D What about other breeds of retrievers? labradors ( as someone else said) poodles are retrievers Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever Curly coated retriever Flat Coat retriever not saying that any or all of those would be suitable, but you could look them up to decide. Then you also have hunt, point and tretireve breeds such as German Shorthaired Pointer and Hungarian Vizsla All these breeds do tend to have a lot of energy, can't remember if that's an issue or not.

Hi there PC, I just wanted to add, because its really important, that the bigger the dog the more $$$$. WHich I am assuming may be an issue for a young person who perhaps isn't in a fully secure finanacial situation. Not trying to be rude or anything tho! Giant breeds require special puppy food which usually costs arouynd $110 a bag. And you can't just put them on cheap stuff or you will end up with disastrous health problems as they require very specific calcium/phosphorous ratios. But tis not just food - EVERYTHING costs a fortune. Because they require more of everything; more vaccine, more worming, more flea treatment... the equipment costs more because it is bigger. And as a puppy you will need to replace it a lot because they grow out of it every couple of months. And every vet treatment costs more too. You really need to be prepared and able to spend thousands on the maintenance of your dog every year if you want a giant breed! Good luck finding the right breed for yourself have you thought of a Golden Retriever?

Sounds like somewhere I'd like Does it have live music? Do Irish musicians busk there? It sounds like that kind of place yeah it sounds all irish and fun; but there was always heaps of fights there; it was pretty violent. not crazy fun; crazy crazy, if ya know what I mean :D

ahh crazy its one of those places though, we used to live near that area, and there was always crazy stuff happening at the Mean Fiddler.

great photo Lilli captured a calming signal and everything

awesome well done

Oh, I'm not sure about that Pete hopefully someone else will shed some light

Yes, one day you will see that stare (I don't necessarily mean in your dog) and you will recognise it immediately. It is very intense and usually whole body is rigid and tail is stiff and up high, sometimes kind of arched over the body. When you've seen it you'll also realise that other looks, like that for 'watch me', have a softness about them. Maybe you could type 'dominant stare & dogs' into a google image search. Or maybe even a youtube search. in my experience though, dogs will differ in how intimidating they find it to give eye contact. My Dane boy (below) found it very difficult, and I think it may have had something to do with how submissive he was. Also, maybe when Pete is out on a walk he feels a little too distracted to give you good eye contact. Or maybe the motivators are not high enough, compared to the motivator of dinner edited for clarity

When I went and picked up my Great Dane pup, I spent quite a bit of time just sitting there and watching the pups (2 left as the other 3 had been picked up). His Mum was still very attentive to them, and feeding them, and making sure they played nice lol! When it was time and we picked him to take him to the car; I felt like his mum definitely knew. She escorted us to the car, and even seemed to give him one last nuzzle while he was in my arms, and watched very closely as we put him in the crate. It was like she was saying goodbye to him. I felt so dreadful, like I was stealing her baby!

I have been reading about you and Buddy I daresay my new boy is probably similar in size and maybe breed mix. Despite never having been lead trained before coming to us he doesn't pull - unless he sees a dog or a cat. I am using a check chain to teach him to walk by my side. That is going well. But I don't find it useful at all for when he sees a dog or a cat, and all I can do really is hold on. Although I try to talk to him in a happy cheerful voice and keep walking by the other dog/cat. Can you tell me Spottychick, how you think he would go on the easy walk harness? Happy for any suggestions too as I have a lot to learn

thought you'd like it gives you something else to think about when you invent the Aussie agility version of treiball

Oh Stormie! That is disgusting!

Hi Aidan, thought you might be interested in this: life with big dogs This lady uses Gym ball to condition her Danes! not quite a sport but still...

well I thought I'd join in as we have just adopted a dog. We have now had Digby for 3 weeks, he is 50 kg mutt. who is very calm and quiet in most situations Digby knew 'sit' but only really from the front, and not very reliably! I find he only tends to sit if he knows you have a treat, or he gets some other privelege! anyway here is our list *Reliable sit (from front and heel position) and when out on walks. * heeling * go to his bed and stay until released (25% there) * accept having nails clipped (80% there) * watch me (have to add the verbal marker; watch me under distractions) * not pulling towards other dogs - kind of comes under heeling * accept being bumped * desensiting him to the camera. * not jumping on me for a cuddle (big improvement) Digby has a bit of a camera phobia. So we have been desensitising him to it using the clicker. We have turned the corner, and he now wags his tail when he sees the camera come out. But I still need to 'proof' it. So that he is happy with anyone with a camera, in any situation. So far the two things that Digby has learnt completely is to sit (and give eye contact) for the food bowl and to not get on the lounges or the beds

Hi Staranais, Something I have learnt with clicker training is that it is better to click when the dog is looking at you, and preferable not to click if the dog is staring at the treat. I have found with my new dog this works very well and he is still concentrating on either my hand signal or my face (as well as doing what I'm asking him to do!) So maybe heeling would have been learnt quicker if you treated while he maintained that position. But I would say that if you do it that way, don't fall into the trap of having him focused more on the treat than on you (assuming that in order to treat in heel position you will have the treat in hand )

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Yes I write to them and then they reply and then I write back but I never herd from them again. but I dont really like much the look of some of there dogs and it was hard to get infomation about them. Have you tried phoning them? Sometimes things can be misunderstood when using written communication. Even if those dogs aren't to your fancy, if you ring them, they might be able to put you on to another breeder.

HI Jaybeece, I just wanted to add a couple of things. Instead of teaching him to wave when you raise your leg - teach him to wave when you wave at him (much cuter!) The great thing about big dogs is that any tricks involving their paws are really easy to teach so don't forget 'high five'. teaching him to lift his paw when you lift your leg is great though, as it is the first step in teaching 'marching paws'. about 'spin': Don't forget that you will need one command for a spin to the right and a different command for a spin to the left (I used 'twist' for turning to the his right - 'spin' for the left). Dogs don't generalise... and its good to specify what direction another good and easy fun one is just to teach your dog to touch his nose to something. This can also end up a great training tool, and preparation for using 'targeting sticks'.

Yes DEFINITELY that one!