kiesha09

Over the years I have seen many people post about the dramas of getting two puppies together and have never been able to understand why. A bit more work? So what. Look at the love and fun you get in return. Bond to each other instead of the people? Hardly think so. I was a complete novice when I adopted two 8 & 9 week old puppies as there was no way in the world I was going to get one dog and leave him/her on h/er own through the day. I picked them up on the same day and never had any problems at all. The only problem was me ..... I was a nervous wreck :D at having these tiny lives dependant on me. And I would like to echo what others have said about an outside dog. I could no more shut a dog out than I could a child, although I know many dog owners don't agree with me. I am not experienced with large dogs, but I bring little dogs into my home all the time and just tell them all to get on - LOL. Were these two dogs litter mates? I think this is where the problems lies.

Can someone tell Aubrey this - she is 2 now and still as mad and active as when she was 6 months! Clearly my Kiesha hasn't been privy to this information either since she is still loopy and 3 in May ;) Please someone fill her in by the time shes 4!!!!

Once your dog is reliably offering the behaviour you can then add the cue for it. So for example if you are teaching a sit you would get that happening reliably - clicking as soon as his butt hit the ground and then treat. When your dog knows it really well it will keep offering it during your training session to try and earn the click and treat. This is when I would say 'sit' just as he is starting to bend his legs to plant his butt. Again as soon as his butt hits the ground I c/t. Does that make sense? ETA: Some people do say the cue as they are luring the behaviour etc. but for me I don't want to name a weak behaviour that isn't at all reliable in case I then get a sloppy response from the cue as it has been rewarded.

My parents own a winery in the Barossa Valley and have two dogs that feature in that book - Lightening the Kelpie and Jack the BC. Most wineries that I can think of have dogs either as pets or working dogs. Mum and Dad also own a farm so they are working dogs but go everywhere with Dad including to the winery and out in the vineyards. My two dogs love nothing more than going for a run in the vineyards chasing the bunny rabbits

Wohoo I'm in too Can I please order 4 x smalls Thanks Ravyk for organising!

What do you do when he is barking? Are you telling him off? If he is doing it for attention, you telling him off or looking at him is giving him what he wants. I would be completely ignoring him and the second he is quite lots of treats and praise and even a game. if he starts barking back to ignoring him or even moving into another room.

I have a kiddie pool that I fill up with water which they play in but never have they completely emptied it in one day.

Both my dogs are trained using a clicker when we are working on new individual behaviours or those which are very specific. But both dogs are also trained using a marker word (exactly the same concept as the click just verbal) so that I can still reward if I don't have a clicker on me or for good behaviour around for everyday life behaviours around the house. Each dog has their own marker word for eg Chips is 'tag' and Kieshas is 'yes'. Therefore in the situation you were talking about re the car I would use the individuals marker word and reward the respective dog. It works really well and neither dog responds to the others marker word.

Ravyk I would definately be interested in ordering some if you go ahead with an order. These balls sound too good to be true.

Just on this point. I agree that if this continues I will absolutely be training them to go to their mat. I am currently using this with Kiesha and she is generally very good (but then she is a good girl in general). Chip on the other hand is very demanding and pushy so he is the main instigator of this pushy behaviour. The thing is though, his arousal levels go through the roof as soon as any kind of training is involved, especially with the clicker and food. So whilst I can cue him to go to his mat, which he will. He is 100% not relaxed but completely tensed, legs tucked under and ready to spring off the mat in a second. This is actually the exact opposite of what I'm looking for. I want him to be completely relaxed and chilling out instead. But not sure how to go about 'training' this per se. (Hope that makes sense to you all)

No, I certainly am not giving any attention when it is demanded. I simply ignore it and continue watching tv albeit with the volume much louder Maybe its just trying me on because they have never done it before. They had always been fully aware that when I gave the 'all done' cue that was it, we had finished. Now that we are training more, I think they are hoping for even more. So I get them throwing behaviours, nudging, licking, barking etc. Its funny because neither one are really high drive dogs unless its training in the house but now I wouldn't exactly call them lowdrive dogs. I'm in two minds because I would like to foster this as its great for training, just don't want to live with it on an every day basis. To be honest I enjoyed watching telly at the end of the night in peace and quite I would love the intensity in training and then them to be exhausted and be couch potatoes after BTW... was just joking about the BC's and Aussies I still want one, just going to make sure I develop the off switch (although won't be for many years yet - 2 dogs is plenty!)

Wow! And to think I had planned my next dog to be an Aussie or a BC. Maybe not such a great idea. I'll start with crating and see how that goes.

I tried outside as well until a certain little rascal started barking at the possum in the tree. 9.30pm at night not so cool with the neighbours Maybe they'll just have to be crated for a bit until they learn to settle down - although have noticed that even in their crates the other day Kiesha was giving me a stand, drop, stand, sit, drop, stand, drop after we had been practicing those behaviours at a distance in training that day. Yikes I think they're turning into monsters

Lately I have been really upping the training with my dogs because there are a few things I want to work on and have had some extra time. I thought this would wear them out more since they would be expending some extra mental energy. Instead, now they are bouncing off the walls and not particularly fun to live with. They used to sit by my feet or on the lounge while we watched telly at the end of the night yet now they continually offer behaviours and then bark when no attention is given. This has gone on all week and its driving me nuts!!! Chip even woke me up in the middle of the night last night throwing his toy at me so we could do something - he used to be the sleepiest dog who put himself to bed at 8pm and would sleep well past 8am! They get a walk of an hour a day and 3 x 15 min training sessions each. Now don't get me wrong, I want them to LOVE training but at the same time when we're done we're done so I want them to understand I'm not playing any more. Anyone else have similar experiences? What did you do?

I would just keep doing what you are doing and not reward the behaviour. Are the behaviours on cue? The thing is though, isn't it good that she is offering behaviours, giving you a chance to reward different things and perhaps adding new tricks to her repetoire?

I had this exact same conversation with my vet ;) and I'm meant to brush Chips teeth everyday ;) But so far I haven't even bought the toothpaste yet I am happy to do it a few times a week but everyday seems a bit much to be honest.I would rather feed them more bones so what kinds of bones do you all feed to help with the tooth cleanning since the wings and necks don't do anything?

Have a look at the sensible harness instead (www.petdogtraining.com.au). THey are similar but don't seem to rub the way the easy walker harness does. They do look exactly the same but they are infact different. Just remember though that if both you an OH are not consistent in reminding her everytime then she is going to learn to pull on the easy walker harness or any other sort for that matter. If the harness keeps rubbing then perhaps you would be better playing some games of fetch, tug etc in the backyard in the morning (and not reinforce any pulling) to tire her out and then go for your walk in the afternoon just on a flat collar when you have time to incorporate loose leash walking training at the same time.

I just love the fact that they combine both every day things that will help make our dogs easier to live with and some foundation competition stuff. I was struggling with the fact that I had let my training go for a while and all these bad behaviours were popping up but I still wanted to be training the competition stuff but just wasn't getting anywhere with anything. By going back to basics and working through the levels I get to do some of both and hopefully at the end I get two well rounded dogs

Has anyoe done or is currently doing the training levels by Sue Ailsby? I started them ages ago but never finished them. I started them up again on the weekend and am loving that I have a structure again to my training. What did you enjoy about them and what things did you find difficult?

So is there anyone whos dogs didn't like the isqueeks? My dogs aren't really that toy motivated but with all the stories of isqueek obsessed dogs it is almost making me want to try one out!

Are you sure someone didn't swap him for a no recall schnauzer I do know that dogs with a recall are in high demand these days hehe! Sorry I can't be of more help. Maybe just go back to basics with him for a little while.

If it were my dog I'd pull it up. First trial or not I think consistency is the key and by letting her run it would be rewarding a broken start line stay, which may or may not cause issues down the track. But I wouldn't risk it. But it comes down to the criteria you set yourself before the trial I guess.

Thanks for the PM's

Can someone PM me what club this is? I'm from Adelaide and have no idea. But what I do know is that there is no way in hell I want to ever join it!!!! Not because of anything to do with the original post but because of the disgusting attitude of the instructors there as has been demonstrated on this forum.

Same! Absolute disgusting behaviour, what the hell is wrong with people?????