Mrs Rusty Bucket

That seems like a very calm copperhead. Except for a brief Steve Irwin moment in the middle of the video. Most of the snakes I've seen are very keen to move - mostly somewhere else at high speed. Ie makes the idea of trying to catch one very scary.

whole cloves the spice you put in the corn beef or ground up for cakes and biscuits etc. Ie so two bags of that in the boiling mix. Or (still checking this) buy some oil of cloves from the chemist and try a quarter teaspoon of that in a litre of water. If it doesn't deter snakes - it will kill mould and mildew. So good for shower alcolves and windows that collect condensation, and occasionally for the wash cycle and for making frou frous (not sure spelling) to keep shoes and feet fresh smelling...

teela Instructor rotation and some are better than others - I wonder if that's my club... Some of the instructors have aggressive dogs. And my dog always wants to greet them. And the signal to stop her - is writ clear on the instructor's faces. Oops I forgot. Though my dog doesn't upset the fear aggressive ones - cos she's crawling along the ground as flat as she can get grovel grovel. I also have a lot of hope for your dog - since she can get along with your other dogs at home. So theoretically - it's not a brain tumor causing the problem and the right training ought to have some effect. My club is not too cluey about rewards based training, distraction training, LAT training or how to get a dog comfortable with something that was causing major distraction. It doesn't matter why the dog is distracted, fear, aggression, playfulness, hunger, curiosity - the method is the same. Ie work at a sufficient distance that your dog can play attention to you. Then run the drill again - slightly closer. If the dog so much as looks at another dog - you're too close etc. increase and decrease your distance by varying amounts eg +1 -3 +1 -2 +1 -3 etc. I think that some dogs that attack with no warning - have been punished, corrected or scolded for giving a warning eg a growl - so they learn to just attack. There are usually some signals they're uncomfortable - eg calming signals or general tension and anxiety. But I think I'd still get the professional in. They're usually better at spotting the problem and finding ways to deal with it than most people.

Around Adelaide - there are quite a few public fully fenced and gated double tennis courts. There is a set at the end of my street - and I used to practice training with my puppy there quite a bit - when they weren't in use by the local kids. You're there by yourself - room to chuck a ball, and no other dogs to attack. For the dog that - seems like it was playing too rough - a better recall and lots of distraction training and Look at That Look at me, "LAT" training would probably help. For the dog that actually attacks (and draws blood and takes all the fun out of a day at the dog park for everyone) - definitely needs to be assessed by a professional to see what can be done and I would be avoiding opportunities for the dog to practice and ingrain this behaviour. Ie if my dog was like that, I would only let her off lead in securely fenced places where there were no other dogs.

PS A snake owning person from another website just tried actual cloves with his snakes and they weren't bothered at all. And I explained cloves is not the same as oil of cloves (or cloves boiled in water until the water is black).

Snake Catcher Do you think substituting oil of cloves for the boil up recipe would work? Shannon Lush has a recipe very similar to that for making your own oil of cloves - but you need to use a bit more of the home recipe than the bought stuff. Her recipe for using the shop bought oil of cloves is one quarter teaspoon (tiny amount) per litre of water and spraying that to kill mould and mildew. I imagine a similar rate or maybe slightly higher concentration would work as snake deterrent? Not much higher - because that has side effects you really don't want in your house - oil of cloves is powerful (stinky) stuff.

This is a protocol for teaching a dog to relax eg training an off switch. I haven't been through all of it but it seems straight forward if a bit tediuous. It helps to read a bit of the .doc file to find out why you're doing what you're doing - and the the mp3 files make doing it - easier. http://championofmyheart.com/relaxation-protocol-mp3-files/ And it would definitely work the dogs mind in the same way as trick training. And you would get a lot of exercise in the process. All that moving on your part is a way of changing the habitat or upping the distraction / difficulty ie proofing the task for the dog. But you don't have to keep finding new dog exercise areas to do it.

I used to share the horse feed shed with a big brown snake. There were several pallets to keep the hay off the ground and the snake could escape under there - which it usually did. It never bit a dog, even though the dogs were very interested in the pallets - they never got to the snake hole and the snake was always gone before the dogs could get to it. It never threatened a human - though it did freak us out from time to time by sunning itself in front of the shed doors. So it was well accustomed to our habits and kept clear of us, and we didn't have any stranger snakes hassling us either. It didn't exactly do the best job on keeping the mouse population down either. There didn't seem to be any point in killing it. And the snake catcher said if he took it away - other snakes would move in - too much food for them not to. Across south eastern Australia - for two seasons now - has been excellent for mice breeding and plenty of food for most critters to breed up and move into areas that otherwise would not have had enough food for them. I live in a very urban area but we get blue tongues, koalas, possums, foxes, mice, rats, geckos, kookaburras etc. Everything is right for the snakes to move in.

I thought people were more likely to get vitamin E from cereals, nuts and vegies in their diet that might not be as common in a doggy diet. I'm not taking fish oil supplements - I prefer to eat fish occasionally, and I have walnuts (omega3) on my breakfast. And I eat a fair bit of whole grain bread. My dog gets a couple of sardines on kibble about once a week. Pretty sure the kibble and the promite on wholemeal toast - contain a fair bit of vitamin E from the cereals. And she also gets some sweet potato in the casserole I make for her.

I think my dog is willing but I can't stand it. She'd have to peel me off the ceiling. However she's welcome to do my mum's toes. And for some bizarre reason - she likes to lick my brother despite the fact he can't stand it either and has tried to tell her. If I could stop laughing long enough I'd tell her - but it's just too funny.

Just another unprofessional thought to get myself in trouble... I have read that lots of fish oil supplements can deplete vitamin E in dogs, so maybe a vitamin E supplement would help. It's supposed to help with doggy skin problems too - as long as nothing else is causing it.

I don't know anyone who thinks the snake repellers work, and a lot of people including a snake catcher who posted here somewhere - who thinks they're a scam.

LoL @ Bubbity I sometimes look at my dog when she's "shaping me" and say "what are you going to do for me?" to see what she comes up with. First port of call are usually doggy push ups (drop-sit-drop-sit-drop-sit). We are still having negotiations about when I open the door for her. The official protocol is - she sits at the door (and barks if I'm not paying attention) and I open the door. What I get is I want to go out the door, she won't sit. She does this sticky walk towards the back door - like a preying mantis creep... but no sit. So I have to let go the door knob and walk away. I come back later and there is dog lying down next to the door, which is - "I still wanna go out but I can't be stuffed maintaining a sit". And she is so cute when she tells me she's lost a bit of kibble from the squirrel dude under some piece of furniture and could I get it for her. Rooo rooo rooooo roo?

A certain dog training guru's new puppy has worked out how to get crate free time in the house. He loudly says he's busting. Hubby takes the puppy out to toilet and conveniently (from the puppy's point of view) "forgets" to put puppy back in the crate... PS this particular forgetful move has cost them several rolls of toilet paper.

Ness Have you tried putting the carpet on a phone book? Frosty loves standing/sitting/lying/swatting/2o2o on a towel covered phone book. Lots of promite on toast makes it so.

At the moment - given Abbie is still healing - stop him before if you can. Otherwise during. Ie gage when Abbie objects and then grab him. If your recall doesn't work on him, maybe try it on her and grab him when he comes over, otherwise just go get him. And in the meantime - looks like training task number one is working on his recall ie conditioning it so he comes automatically without making a decision about it. got yummy treats? three times a day when he's already headed your way - say your recall word and give him uber treats when he shows up. Do not use this recall word for anything else. Ie if you use his name to get his attention - use another for recall. Although if you get attention and recall - that can be good to depending on context. Bowl and not saying anything - if he decides he can sneak in cos you didn't say, then put him back in the wait - without saying anything... ie the cue to wait should be - she's still eating not what you say. efs

Hooray He'll be ready for next year's lure coursing... Sorry I missed all the excitment - I got eaten up by Masters Games.

love the update kitcatswing. I thought my puppy could sleep in the crate in the kitchen and she had other ideas. I never wanted her to be an outside only dog tho.

Or Erik is really good at back chaining. I wish I understood better how to use that to my advantage. I don't like accidentally training in a "mistake" to get a distraction/reward either. And there are some things where I want my dog to connect the dots...

The dog cognition survey got me thinking Does your dog play "tricks" on you - or shape you into doing things for their benefit. For example when my dog wants off lead, she makes all the signs she really wants to play with another dog, play bows and all the rest, and the other dog might even reciprocate ie indicate that they want to play too. As soon as my dog is off lead - she goes sniffing or hunting food left overs (school kids eat their lunch on that oval). Completely ignores the dog that wants to play too. She has also been known in the mornings to say she needs to go out - NOW, and I let her out, and I go to the toilet myself and when I get back to bed - she's on it. She never went out to toilet - you can tell there are no wet paw prints off the grass onto the concrete at the back door. Not sure why she does this so elaborately. She could just get on the bed in the mornings. Somehow a few minutes of the boss's bed all to herself are worth it. PS link to survey thread http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/228472-online-survey-about-dog-cognition/page__pid__5551655#entry5551655

I visited Europe a couple of times in the last 5 years and the dogs are incredibly well behaved. I didn't see any strays and no dog fights, no grumpy or anxious dogs and only two accidents - one of which was a puppy on a 8 hour train trip so that was bound to happen. The train steward dealt with it exactly as he would have an accident with a child. The owners were mortified on each occasion (different dogs and places). Most male dogs I saw had all their bits. Most females I saw - did not have any sign of having had puppies but I'm no expert. They seem to have a different attitude to urban dog ownership. And even in rural areas I visited - there didn't seem to be any farm dogs loose to chase cars or people. I guess dogs might be more precious to them. In Berlin - you got a strong sense of the months of nothing to eat and no way to keep warm after the war - that they don't take anything for granted now. And they don't want to go back there so they make an effort to remember.

If you're running training sessions or treat sessions and one dog is sitting out in a crate or something - make sure the one that is sitting out gets rewarded roughly twice as often as the one you're working with - for being calm and polite in the crate - ie you don't want to reward barking its head off (cover the crate). So first you have to work on getting the one that is sitting out (not time out) being ok with that. Maybe a kong would help, or just really short tasks with loads of rewards for the one in the crate. I would catch Buckley every time he goes over the top or fails to come when he's called. You gotta stop him "self reinforcing" ie making his own reward and fun out of behaviour you find unacceptable.

You could always inform the original content owners - and they can ask him or his ISP to take it down or give proper credit (along with appropriate royalties).

Yeah the tanty - is "invigoration" or going hyper. Frosty does that. Barkathon with her. Some dogs do zoomies. And you want to work through the tanty to persistance. Which SG calls working through the "don't wanna don't hafta" - and then it really pays to party when they finally make an effort and try something instead of yelling at you. I have entire conversations with Frosty going round the agility course at training. "Table up" - no this table is too short SHORT I TELL YA WHY WOULD I BOTHER SHORT SHORT, THE VIEW IS CRAP, NO WAY. Erm... She does the weaves better ie will keep going if I keep telling her she's doing it right, so our weaves are like "go weave, yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes... yes YAAAYYY". Still working on it but she's much more enthusiastic.

You know that kneeding thing that cats do before they curl up... that's a vague remnant of the nipple hunting exercise. I think it feels good to a cat. My brother's dog had his kitten attached to her face like the alien in alien (the first movie)... Just kind of polished the floor with the kitten for a bit but didn't actually do anything nasty.