kiesha09

10 minutes feels like an eternity as well Mine didn't take quite that long but they did take their sweet time with that too. I was using a mixture of treats that they are completely crazy about... roast chicken, BBQ sausage and garlic prawns. Still no fast drive in though

Has anyone here trained Susan Garretts crate games? I started ages ago with my two but never followed through with it. Since its so hot here in Adelaide at the moment I thought that its time to dust of the DVD and get back into it since its something we can do inside My problem lies in getting my two to drive away from me into the crate. Susan grabs her dogs collar and when she lets it go they drive fast into the crate. With mine they mosy on in there taking their sweet time. How can I get faster drive into the crate?

With my first dog I taught nose targets first but they were consistent but not really solid. Then I taught foot targets. This created a dog who really didn't know either on cue and would always offer me both. Was kinda frustrating to undo With my second dog I tried to get my dogs nose touch as solid as possible and then moved onto targeting with other body parts. I made sure that they could follow my target stick as well as go to a stationary target that was at least 5 metres away from me and this was reliably on cue. Then I made it more complicated and had her go over jumps to a target, around poles to a target etc. Only when this was probably 95% reliable on cue did I move to another body part target. Was the best decision I ever made with no confusion for her. Plus I noticed that the first few things took a while for her to catch on eg. nose, front foot touch, back foot touch with duration but after that she caugh on so quickly for things like the top of her paw (used to make her lift up her foot), hip targeting and best of all a tail target!! (looks good for a water pump trick). ETA - should actually answer your question: Yes you can have a nose touch as a default and touch cues for other body parts. If I presented a target with no cue they would both nose touch. If you have them all reliably on cue you shouldn't have too much trouble.

Exactly the answer I was going to give. My dogs have now been so heavily reinforced for just being around me that some times I have trouble getting them to go off and play at the park. As puppies I would also often go to them clip on the lead walk a few steps heeling and then let them off again (what better reward for good heel work is there than being let off to play with other dogs at the park ). So me going to them and having the lead put on also never meant we were always going home. Just like at home I used to put the lead on then take it off multiple times a day so that the leash didn't necessarily mean we were going anywhere and hence no use getting all crazy excited Me thinks I'm a mean mummy Lastly I'd say that the number of times I go to my dogs and they get something great so greatly outweighs something bad happening that its not an issue.

My dog is aggressive to a degree. He has skin allergies which created sores on his tail and his feet. Previous to this he was perfectly happy to have these two areas touched and groomed. The sores on his tail and feet became very sore and were infected so I took him to the vet. The vet was very rough and pulled him towards her with his tail whilst she was inspecting it as he tried to move away from her. He growled, she jumped away... bingo growl worked. She went back to inspecting it, he growled, she didn't move, he snapped, she jumped away... bingo snapping worked. Then the consult was over. I then had a dog in pain who would snap at me when medicating his sores... it hurt I understand that and snapping worked for him in the past. I've since worked on this ALOT and through desensitization and counter conditioning can now touch and groom his tail, but I still see the stress singles - ears back, lip licking, tail down. My dog is aggressive in this instance and would I ever trust a child to grab his tail.... never! Its now a behaviour I manage but certainly isn't cured. I believe we can teach our dogs more appropriate ways of behaving than resorting to aggression but I guarantee if put in a situation that goes above their threshold they will resort back to it. Why? Because it was reinforcing and it has worked for them in the past! I also just want to add that having a dog with aggression issues is hard work! And many other dog owners and the general public look apon it with such disdain, but really you don't need to be ashamed of it. It is a natural canine behaviour and if you work on it and get to a level that you and your dog are comfortable with then it really shouldn't be a big deal that it is something you manage in your every day life, rather than cure it.

You have already been given some great advice Flux. The only thing I would add is that I wouldn't call her to come for anything she deems unpleasant eg to be shut away for the night, a bath, to have nails clipped, to be told off, to go home from the park etc. while you are in the teaching stage. It would be better to go and get her without saying anything. The reason for this is because you want coming to you to be the BEST thing in the world. So whilst she's learning I would be using her favourite treats (eg roast chicken) and do lots of rewarding and praise. Anything unpleasant could be seen as a punishment and you don't want that! While I think of it another thing I think is really important is that when on the long line or off lead at the park call her to you all the time, treat and then let her go play again. Don't just call her to go home or she'll just work out that coming to you at the park means the end of the fun. I actually go and get both my dogs to go home from the park... I don't want to dilute recall.

Can I just add there has been some great ideas put forward so far. However, from experience I have found that yes leaving the TV or radio on can help settle a dog with seperation anxiety in the beginning. However, eventually these two things can be conditioned to be a cue for your leaving and so becomes something that starts to stress out the dog. This isn't the case for all dogs but can be for some.

Great article Corvus!

Yikes that sounds like a horrible place to have a grass seed!!! Wierd thing is she never bum scoots on grass only on the tiles. But agree as you never know where a grass seed could be hiding.

This might be a bit far from you but while I was in the Hills I used to go to the 'hills veterinary clinic' in Blackwood. They are still the best vet I've ever been to and I'd definately recommend them!!!

Last night I took the dogs to the park for a run and found there was grass seeds everywhere!! When I got home I checked both dogs all over and picked out all that I could see. Unfortunately I was too late as CHip already had one in his ear. Off to the vets this morning for him to be sedated and it removed. The vet mentioned that they had already had 7 dogs in just this week for grass seed removal procedures. Its well and truly grass seed season so don't forget to do the 4 paw, ears and eyes check regularly.

I change the water in mine a few times a week, but not because it gets dirty but because it gets emptied by two dogs who like to empty it by splashing around in it. I move it around the lawn so it serves a double purpose and waters it for me Otherwise I would probably just change it once a week unless it got too dirty.

Thanks everyone for the replies. She is actually a poodle x so the hair getting caught is a possibility, although she does it even when she is trimmed very short like she is currently. Will have to check it out As for diet she is fed a raw diet and certainly doesn't appear to be constipated. But she has done it for a fair while now (probably about a year) and has had different food over that time eg was fed commercial diet.

I know this isn't a particularly fun topic but my bitch always does a bum scoot after toileting. I've had her checked by the vet and her anal glands are all clear and she doesn't have worms. Is there any other reason you have heard dogs do this for? It's almost as though she does it for cleaning purposes

What are these i-squeeks you speak of and why are they so good? PS. I could look on clean run but I've banned myself and am too scared to peek in-case my willpower fails me and I burn a hole in my purse!!!!

You can buy the softtouch concepts sensible harness from Bodil Schou-Hansen who owns Adelaide Pet Dog Training as she distributes them here in Australia. I'm sure she would organise to send one to you if you were interested. The sensible harnesses are much better than the Easy Walk harness because they do not restrict your dogs leg movement (although could it you left it on while free running off-lead but then you should never leave any harness on your dog when it is free running off lead IMO). I was part of a road test team who tested a whole range of no pull tools such as the Sensible harness, Easy walk harness, sporn harness, gentle leader, infin8 head coller etc. For my own dog who was a BIG puller the sensible came out on top. But this tool doesn't replace training at all. It just provided me with more opportunity to reinforce the desired behaviour whilst also keeping the undesired behaviour at amanageable level. It also reduced any discomfort the dog experienced by pulling on a flat collar around the neck. Nik, whether you use any kind of training tool (head halter or harness) if it were me in your situation I would work more on training your puppy without the children involved. Work on the loose leash walking and gradually increasing the distraction until she can walk with your boys on their scooters and bikes etc (which is highly highly distracting for your pup, not sure my 2 year old dog would be at that level yet). Once this is really reliable then introduce having the children walk your pup. And remember... loose lead walking is one of the hardest behaviours you will master and it will talk time to train.

OT from OP's original post but was discussed. I agree with you Serket re not letting Gypsy dictate her breakfast time. No way I want to be getting up at 5.30am for breaky With my dogs I don't have a feeding schedule at all and that way they NEVER bother me about it because there is no schedule to keep to. Generally I feed them twice a day but those two meals could happen at any time and won't necessarily come in a bowl. But then once maybe twice a week I'll only feed them once a day and just add extra to their next days ration or feed them 3 times the next day (on a Saturday perhaps). I spread their food out between training (this could be used in one session during the day or 5 depends on my schedule), kongs, treat balls, thrown on the floor and a bowl. This works great for me because I'm one of these people who doesn't have a set schedule but for other people it may not work as well. But I'm lucky in the fact that my dogs will sleep in until noon with me if I want and not bug me for breakfast But as soon as I do get up irrelevant of the time its always puppy zoomie time THere was a time though that they did have a morning and night schedule at at about 7pm every night Chip would put his nose in the bowl and push it around with the 'c'mon mum wheres dinner, you're late!!'look. Then if I was late from work or out at dinner/drinks or something at 7pm I always felt guilty about not giving them dinner yet. Never again!

An article re dominance and dogs Dominance and dogs I really don't think its a bad thing that you hang around while your dog eats. In fact I always suggest that people don't feed their dogs in isolation. In fact as puppies I train for this and have never had an issue with any kind of resource guarding. I will add things to the bowl, pick up the bowl, take the bone away, give it back, move the bowl around to different areas, throw a tennis ball past it etc. This is also a fantastic excercise in leadership training as it shows your dog that all resources are controlled by you. The reason I do this is because I have seen a dog be given its food outside while a friends child was playing with a tennis ball right up the back of the garden. Well the child threw the ball and it rolled passed the dog and bowl. The child ran after the ball past the dog and the child was bitten as the dog tried to defend its bowl. It had ALWAYS been fed in isolation so had never learned any different. As with the humping my dog did this as a puppy for no other reason than attention and it sounds like your puppy is doing the same. Rather than yelling at him and pushing him off you which is just reinforcing the behaviour with attention (good or bad she's unlikely to care, its attention after all) and redirect her to what you do want her to do. If shes doing it while your walking down the hallway and you would prefer her to walk nicely along with you as you walk down the hall then reward it and train her to do it. Her reward could be a treat, a game of tug or fetch. My dog would actually hump my leg as I walked down the hallway too for attention and because it was exciting. In the end I used the opportunity to practice our heeling up and down and added a sit, a drop, a stay and a recall all in the hallway. Stopped the humping very quickly. ETA: Serket, please don't think that you are getting your head bitten off . We're just trying to give you some helpful advice. Personally, my advice is based on training a number of dogs but particularly one that gave me the exact same troubles that you are having so I hope that you find it helpful. The fun thing with dog training is that everyone has their own methods and oppinions so I guess just pick out the bits of advice that make sense to you and go with what you believe.

Hi have the exact same problem!! I would like to teach a go to the mat but their arousal levels are through the roof when someone comes. I don't think I'd have a hope in hell to get them to stay there. What would be your steps to training a go to mat ie. what are your steps of increased distraction?

Yesterday my friends 4YO lab was diagnosed with hip displasia. It does not appear to be a severe case and the vet recommended to firstly put him on a diet to lose the extra weight he is carrying and to reduce his exercise. He is not on any pain medication They live at the river so I have recommended that they use swimming as a form of exercise as its low impact, rather than lots of running. He has weight issues so to slim him down he will need to do some form of exercise. But I would like to know what supplements people recommend or have had success with. I have heard glucosomine can be beneficial, but in what quantities? Can anyone recommend any good websites with good information?

Great photos Kaffy. Your dogs are gorgeous! And... Keishas a GREAT name!! My dog is called Kiesha too

Oh WOW SnoPaws half a ball!!! It actually wouldn't suprise me if Kiesha had ingested a ball although biting it into tiny morsels and eating them would be more her thing. I hope your dog is on the mend. She is much much better tonight. Back to her old self and had a big play session with my other dog, is throwing her kong off the back of the couch and barking at the rug not sitting right for her to lie on. I think she is going to be fine Thanks everyone for the advice and well wishes. I feel truly blessed that she is ok after reading about some of the other sick doggies out there and those who haven't made it.

Yes that is what she is eating. She also has some additional tablets to settle her stomach as she begins to eat again.

BB Gorgea is a gorgeous pup. Not let all this stress affect you. I'm sure that you will have many happy years with your pup. What I would recommend though is that you do some heavy socialisation with your pup. Due to the fact that she was probably quite isolated from so many things she's going to encounter in your life as a pet. So I'd be heading down to the local shops and meeting as many different people as possible (elderly, young, men with hats, etc) , bikes, prams, post office trucks etc. This will just ensure that she doesn't develop any fears of new experiences.

We went back to the vets last night and Kiesha was put on an IV and left over night No vomitting or diarrhea. I picked her up early this morning and she has already eaten and had a big drink and even chased her ball (her doing, she kicked it and followed chase). They did blood tests and I should get the results back today. She is still fairly lethargic in my oppinion though compared to normal but this may just be her getting over whatever bug she has had. If she hasn't had obvious improvement by this afternoon it is back for an xray. But at this stage the vet is fairly happy that she is eating and drinking quite well.