Mrs Rusty Bucket

This is my opinion only - the fact that the camera operator is not bitten inside 20 seconds for getting in the dog's face makes me think this dog is friendly and a bit frustrated. There is something in the water that looks like a ball, the staffie tries to get. The ears are down and back (friendly non threatening gesture) Staffy looks away multiple times - also a friendly non threatening gesture. Also lots of lip licking as the others have said - more friendly help me (derived from feed me) gestures. There is no lip rolled back teeth barred snapping and growling and lunging, and the camera person is not bitten despite getting in the staffie's face. If I did that to my dog I'd have the attention seeking nip about 20 seconds in for not helping her out. And I still wouldn't call that aggressive. Aggressive would be grabbing hold and shaking, or repeated hard skin ripping bites and then ducking out of reach and then returning... And most dogs will give some sort of warning growl indicating back off first. Unless they think you're a cat (prey) but they don't usually consider something bigger than them prey. Hackles are not up, and the Staffy is not rushing forwards and backwards in direct threatening rushes. And staffy gets distracted early on by some engine noise - no way a dog in a middle of an aggressive pose would lose focus from target of the aggression unless the target did something to encourage it to change its mind (like standing up to it). My Mate Jack: What makes you think it could be aggressive? Frustrated maybe but aggressive no.

canine fun sports... That all makes good sense to me. But what if dog and I haven't crossed the start line at all? That's the problem I'm having. SA judges - at the same comp - eg the jumping course and the agility course - are expressing different opinions on how it goes. FHRP - there are definitely some judges are calling it this way. Ie they say "you may go" as soon as I let go the dog, and well before either of us have crossed the start line... and according to them I can't touch the dog again. But as best I can tell from the current (new) rules, I haven't started. Or have I. It's actually a bit ambiguous ie I'm started when the judge says I am, or I'm started when I cross the start line. It definitely pays to get clarification from the judge about how they deem things. And I'm definitely going to have to work on a better start line stay - but it's hard when all the clubs have different equipment and evil hound has decided to spook at new stuff. Hmm, plan... Line her up for stays in front of all sorts of weird stuff... Playground equipment might be fun.

dammit, 4WD tyre not quite big enough and always seems to have some water in it... But my hound likes under the rain water tank for some reason.

Thanks for all your replies. FHRP - I think with the new ANKC rules - the judge can deem you ready whether you say anything or not, they don't have to have the ask and answer conversation with you, though they can if they want. So some are saying effectively if they think I'm ready - and they indicate I may go when I'm ready - I can't touch my dog again... So what seems to work is I keep hold of her until I've told her to wait, and then I look up and make eye contact with the judge - to see if they're ready... and they say I may go - which means they are - and then I lead out or not depending what my dog is doing... I've got a reasonable remote drop so I guess if she nicks off, I could put her in a drop, just so we can get started - without a lead out as zeebie suggests. As far as I know - we only have ANKC rules agility/jumping/games/obedience in SA. Not sure how to get the other comp up. She's not doing anything the same twice, which I guess is a good thing ie it's not a distinct pattern or I'm not training one in. But we've only just started so it's hard to say. We also need somehow to practice on all different gear so she doesn't tell me - this gear is wrong, but I may need the novice title to be able to do that at our clubs. I think our weaves are sometimes going to hell because the competition weaves have a flat metal strip between them, and our training weaves are just poles in the ground. So she treads on the metal and that puts her off her stride. So we need to do some practice runs on the competition standard weaves too.

xena98 it's always my fault. I feel a bit naughty doing the agility runs cos we are in no way ready for that, so I do treat them a bit like training runs. The worst bit is when something goes wrong or I'm not sure about whether or not I got the contact or I get lost, I shut down... and then my dog gets upset and confused... nothing like looking at the video to see me stuffing up and then the effect that has on the evil hound. Not good. But I need the practice. It's my first dog and I'm making loads of mistakes with her. The jumping courses at Gawler Mock trial - were very hard - in my opinion, there were changes of direction 3 or 4 obstacles in a row, so no way can I get a front cross in on every single one. And the Open - which I should not have done - cos I forgot/didn't know about the exclusion zone - which we have not trained at all, was on a pivot turn ie a complete spiral, but you had to stand outside the circle not in the middle like I would normally do. ARGH. Anyway I had a go at getting the first jump, but we stuffed that together - cos I stopped moving (can't cross the tape), so she wasn't sure about what to do next. And then I picked up and treated it like a normal run... blah blah Anyway - that's all besides the point. I really need to get some gear I can train at home and the park with. Especially the go-outs. Or get that first title and then training at club should be easier. I'm still 100% fuzzy on what the start line protocol is. What I do in training - is if she moves, I turn her round and set her again. Reward is to release her if she hasn't moved. Sometimes I reward with food at training - especially if the instructors are distracted and I just need to stop dog from getting bored. But she likes the release and chase better. For me it would be really tough to leave if we make a mistake, in Cananda they can use the ring as a training run if that happens, ie go back - reset the dog and start again - though it won't count for points/prizes. Here - not so much. Well that's what mock trials are for. So I know if I want to be half as good as you, I should reconsider what I'm letting evil hound practice in the ring. But I also need to practice in the ring: recovery when I get lost and adapting when my dog isn't where I thought she'd be, ie the whole timing and speed thing - how fast do I need to get from A to B, will my dog be ahead or behind me, and how will that affect both of us... The start line, and finish and how long it takes to run 10 dogs around a course - ie how long does it take me and dog to be ready to go - so when do I get her out... ie 10 dogs is too many, 3 is about right - and just when you thought there was 3, it turns out there was really 8 dogs ahead of me - curses. And remembering to put lead on before get out ring, despite next dog being lined up ready to go... All that stuff can only be learned by doing competitions for me.

I find at our local dog parks - there is a quiet period between when the people who walk their dogs before work - finish and when people who walk their dogs after everyone else has left for work or school (ie dropped the kids off etc) start. usually around 7:30am to 8am give or take - at our local park - which is about 30 minutes drive/bus in the mornings from where most people work. And there is another quiet period around dinner time for most people. After dark is bad - because that's when most of the people who don't pick up after their dogs, and dogs that have aggression problems with other dogs, show up.

tanstaff you don't breed a dog with people... you breed it with a bitch. Anyway the thing is you can't tell what problems you're going to pass on to the puppies without some genetic testing, hip scores and stuff, both parent dogs have to be tested so you don't double up on any bad gene and make a litter of dodgy puppies. And if there are any temperment problems - you don't want to be passing those on either. 100% controlable at home in a familiar low distraction environment - isn't much of a challenge. But if you never let other dogs visit again, and don't take him out, that would be ok, I suppose. There are so many risks for the bitch that has the puppies, and the puppies themselves. It can be messy and traumatic. Are you sure "people you know" want to do that to their beloved pet? And you won't be well received in here if you decide to go ahead and breed unpapered dogs. The pounds are already full of unwanted staffies. And in Victoria if there is a larger than normal one and it's got no pedigree papers - it can be declared illegal and confiscated. This is what a responsible breeder should be doing. http://kb.rspca.org.au/What-is-a-responsible-companion-animal-breeder_327.html and "people you know" should also be familiar with this. http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/pets/dog-care/new-regulations-for-dog-breeders I don't know why you'd want your dog to be breeding. Desexing would benefit his long term health and be convenient as far as reducing the risk of unwanted puppies in the world. And you might get less humping and leg cocking but there's no guarantee of that. http://www.ndn.org.au/

That pretty much sums up the previous "judges orders" rule for start line, but not the current ones. There's been a few changes, my fave is for weaves. Ie if your dog butchers them, you don't have to go back, you can just keep going - it's a fault but not a dq. It is a dq if you go back and do it again not quite right - I think you have to send the dog back in where it popped out, if you repeat any bit eg go back to the start and try again its a dq - wrong course.

Agility start line procedures... I'm confused. In the rules dated effective 1st July 2011 --------------------------------So - all that stuff about are you ready, ready blah blah is gone. I thought - based on what some judges had told me - that I could do what I like with my dog regards set up as long as neither of us have crossed the start line eg I take the lead off, set her up, tell her to wait, let go, and she spooks because the first jump is nothing like she's seen before and nicks off, I can grab her and put her back. As long as neither of us have crossed the start line. If I had crossed the start line and the dog nicks off or around the first jump - I could go back and start her again - as long as I don't touch her. That counts as a refusal, but it's not a dq. Some judges are saying as soon as I've let go of her, I can't touch her again. Even if I haven't gone past the start line. What is right? What variations the theme are there, and what's the best thing to do as a start line procedure in terms of lining the dog up and setting her? She's usually got a great start line, but competition has a way of finding weaknesses I didn't know we had.

Before 8am - I always think someone in my immediate family must have died or be nearly dead if the phone rings then. Not a good feeling and I ofen answer the phone with "who died?". To which my brother usually says "so are you still under the duna then?"... Sometimes my family ring me then but not many other people. At the moment - I'm not often home first thing in the morning...out walking the dog if I'm good. So usually miss all calls until I get back. And then there is "after work" for not work calls. Before 8:30pm is best and after 6pm but that's right when most people have dinner and/or watch their fave telly which is still a PITA. So you can't win. Mostly I just say what it's about and ask when's good to talk. So they have the choice of defering the call if they want. Sometimes I delay making a call for ages - because there is never a good time to call.

"spe-shul" is how I used to put it. Until I worked out who was training who. It's not the dog that is spe-shul...

My dog is quite good at barking with her mouth full of tennis ball... She couldn't figure out on her own that I wasn't going to do anything fun until she let go of the tennis ball (and stopped barking).

Mythbusters did a show on motion sickness. The wrist bands did nothing (I've personal experience of this - they do nothing for me either). Ginger was quite good for one of the test subjects ie better than nothing but not perfect (when they cranked the machine up he still got sick). I think there were some other non-drug things they tried but only the ginger did anything useful. The commercial drugs worked reasonably well. But I don't know if they're ok for dogs. One is a patch - and you have to wear gloves to put it on, ideally somewhere you won't accidentally or unconsciously touch again. Cos the drug is not so nice if you put a finger full of it in your eye or mouth or something like that. My mum and sister used the patches for a boat ride to Antarctica.

I agree with the others that said get a professional in. I think Nekhbet would be good too - if you're in Victoria. Erm. It's currently a bad habit and he's doing it because it's "fun" (he gets what he wants) and he can. So you know he's going to do try it with visiting dogs. So make sure you have control before they're allowed in. Ie put him on lead first. And then try the choice stuff. If he can't make a good choice at any distance, put him where he can't see the other dogs or hear them (ideally). I would also consider organising meets with the visiting dogs somewhere neutral ie territory that neither dog is particularily familiar with, on lead - for control. If your dog can accept the visiting dog as a friend outside his territory, he may be more comfortable about allowing them into his territory. I'd probably use a crate, I have been known to use my car (when there is cool shady weather), and cover the crate up. If he stops yelping you can uncover part of the crate. The main thing is NEVER give in when he's yelling in the crate - or he will yell more - cos it obviously works. It would also help if you crate train him ie feed him favourite things in the crate, often, maybe once or twice a day, and all his meals in the crate - so he sees the crate as his safe place with yummy good things, and not solitary confinement. Like the difference between the average kids bedroom decked out with all their favourite stuff, and prison.

I think this would fairly accurately describe the amount of neglect your average puppy mill puppy gets. Ie no human attention and no training, and if it's taken away from its litter mates early (eg 6 weeks or younger) then not enough puppy to puppy and mother socialisation either. And then it's up to the new owner to make up the deficit IMMEDIATELY. A lot of people think they can leave puppy training until the puppy is a bit older and has more attention span. Not for these things. That's my interpretation of what Ian Dunbar has written. Hopefully a more responsible breeder would be spending more human time around the puppies even if they don't get a lot of human individual attention and hopefully they would be staying with their litter mates learning about gentle biting - up to at least 8 weeks old.

Just grab your humping dog by the collar and put the lead on and remove him from the other dog. Keep the lead short enough that he can't climb aboard again. reward any attention on you with yummy treats. Ie if he can pay attention to you instead of the other dog - that's a good choice on his part and you can reward and encourage with a treat or a little bit more lead. If he chooses to go back to the other dog, shorten up the lead and step him further away. repeat until he can hold attention on you. I do know someone who bought one of those misting bottles for travel - ie 100mls or less - and filled that with water and used the noise it made as a distraction for her dog. Not sure how effective that would be. But if you can make some distraction for your dog before he gets to another dog, and get him back to you that would be good. If his only interactions with other dogs currently involve humping - he may not get to go sniff butt until it's clear he can make an acceptable choice. Whatever happens, do not let him get any rhythm up - it's self rewarding and self encouraging. Ie the more he gets to do it, the more he will want to do it. If you can stop him completely (doesn't get started) for a whole month, it may mean he will find making the right choice easier.

I've shared a room with my brother's staffy. She was a terrible farter... Not fun. I think my dog would like to share my bed but unfortunately I don't sleep still and she is the one that falls out when she pushes me.

Gorgeous dog, environment, photo, and painting - lots of talent. I love looking at pictures and photos that are beautiful and inspiring. Thank you for sharing.

i think some of the problem is that people think they need half an hour or more at one time to train a dog... I ask them - do they watch telly? - they could train their dog during the commercials... ie 30 seconds and five rewards here and there - works... Doing nothing because a person never has "enough" time in one hit, or only yelling at the dog when it's "naughty" - doesn't work. I get worried when I hear people being told "it takes hard work and effort". It's more like it takes a little bit often, and being consistent. And being consistent is hard but you only need 4 out of 5 (80%) consistent. The dog will forgive 20% error on your part.

Hope it works for you. I used to put a lot of newspaper around my dog too - cos it was much easier to rollup a few layers of newspaper covered in dog vomit - and chuck them out (or put in plastic bag), than to try to rinse off her bedding, towels, sheets etc. And if she ever sat up and started drooling, I'd get a whole newspaper under her mouth as fast as I could and pull over if possible. Usually worked. She has pretty much grown out of it now, I can drive across country (Adelaide to Mudgee) and she's ok. I do stop every couple of hours and take her for a walk.

Excellent news Staffyluv... Gawd - oops - guilty. My dog has always been very chatty and she's figured out I will think it's cute (reward her) if she's not too loud and makes lots of different talky talk noises - roo rooo rowl roo... Erm. oops.

A naughty dog is just an opportunity and challenge to become a better dog trainer. I got a breed I've known almost all my life and always found easy to train. Not this one. So I've had to learn a lot about dog training, being very consistent, and re-inforcement and what happens when you let a dog help themselves to undesirable re-inforcement like the take away chicken debris at the local park. Atanquin Find out what her dog loves and suggest she use it when he's really good and never give it "for free". I'd start with dried fish... I've met some gawd awful badly behaved malamute and huski - but I've also met some lovely ones. Same goes for Labradors etc. I think it's just that Malamute have slightly different motivations than other breeds and you just need to work with what they've got. Like a having a co-worker who doesn't need the money - you've got to find out what they do love...

A common thing I've heard suggested - for smaller dogs, is to put a box with insulation from the car floor (towels or blanket) under it, in the footwell of the car and put the dog in that so it can't see out at all. I used to not feed my dog for hours beforehand and seek out straight roads with few stops and starts. She figured out for herself if she likes flat on the back seat (in her harness) and keeps her eyes closed she's fine. We would drive 1.5km each morning to the local dog park, just to keep her used to the idea of going somewhere in the car. She's used to it enough now she can sit up and look where we're going. And she's worked out for herself it's a good idea to stay put, not try to encourage the driver to go faster to the park or beach.

Congrats Xena98 and Gabby It's amazing what those koolies can do when they work out they don't need to be ballistic all the time. I wish I was half as good at training my evil hound. I've got a huge brag (if yours was a tiny one)... Got a second and qual at first ever run in JD (novice aka beginners jumping) that counts (ie not a mock trial). I got video but it would make you sea sick...

Way to go Kavik I've only just started - but I started - cos I need the kind of practice you only get by doing... Like remembering to put the lead on before you leave, and making sure you consider the start as another obstacle. I'm not going near gamblers any time soon cos we're not too good at running without Da Mamma right there.