Mrs Rusty Bucket

You don't automatically get a freebie - you get to be in the draw for a prize. With a 100 or so others.

I'm wondering how often the puppy gets rewarded for staying off the garden bed in the first place. Something you thought the puppy had learned is quickly forgotten if you don't maintain it, ie continue to reward what you do want. For holes - I tend to put a bit of her own dog poo in the hole and cover it over. And it's really important not to get the back chaining of - if I do something naughty/dig we get a cool game of chase me with the boss. Maybe the boss should play some games when the puppy is being good. Or there is the redirect - ie be really fun and exciting over here so the puppy comes away from the digging hole and does something good with you, and then you can treat the hole with dog repellant. And it's good to have a designated place for digging as the others have said. Susan Garrett is doing a puppy training online thing at the moment, well worth joining up if you have these kinds of problems and need to come up with ways of solving them that do not involve punishing your dog. Punishment - other than withholding a reward - can have unexpected consequences. Most of the time the dog will not connect the "correction" with what you want it to do instead.

SG has posted three more videos (or one video split into three) will be up for the next four or five days. The course is $200 for the year or $20 per month.

http://www.petrescue.com.au/search/?a=d&g=f&s=m&l=vic&a_id= I'd start there - unless I had a particular breed in mind - and then I might try the breed rescue... I got my dog from AWL. I went out to the RSPCA a few times and they weren't very friendly or helpful, but the people on at the AWL were. Just being there is a bit traumatic if you're not used to it. I've heard stories the other way about too - so I think it depends on which people are on and whether they're having a good day or not. I've also heard at the RSPCA that they're not allowed to express any personal opinion about what dog they like best which is sad. The dog I chose from AWL had a sister there who was very pretty but wasn't as friendly and a chat with the staff - confirmed that the puppy I liked was always friendly - and very loud at dinner time - nothing's changed.

my understanding is that these dogs bond to particular animals and if you sell the animals or move the dog away from his animals - you may need to start again with the bonding. One of my friends had a maremma in with chooks, turkeys, ducks and goats with kids. It was fine. It used to be with the sheep but they sold its bonded ewe and so it wouldn't guard that flock anymore. I don't know how you go about rebonding the dog. I know that my friends chooks and etc were locked up at night and the dog stopped foxes coming near the chook pens. Maybe some of those big geese would help? They're much more assertive. Or ask the breeder. Although it reads like the breeder thinks this dog is a lost cause and can't be retrained. If the dog was "papered" (registered with the breed club and maybe the ANKC) it might still have been useful as a stud dog - maybe. Sometimes they can be rehomed as pets.

I used to have a neighbour with a little yappying dog in his back yard that belonged to his GF. I taught his dog, a Rotti, not to bark at me with the hose but the SWF didn't learn and the GF got mad at me. So after being kept awake by yapping dog at 3am - because it was barking at possums - I went around to the neighbours and asked them to make it stop. I went around fairly early on the Sunday morning like 7am - because that's what time I had to be up to do what I had organised for the day. I didn't have the opportunity to sleep in so neither should they. A couple of times doing this - and the SWF moved home. I don't know where it went and I didn't care. I had offered to help them retrain it and they had refused. I expect someone else had reported the dog to council because the barking was excessive ie all day every day and all night sometimes and they wouldn't keep it inside because it pee'd. Sigh. The Rotti was a much nicer dog. And smarter. So I second the thought about collecting evidence of doggy harrassment from next door - just in case.

dandybrush Mine didn't try to eat her way out but she did yell a lot the first few times I left her in the crate at training. I played a kind of hot and cold ie the more she yelled, the further away I went, ie as soon as she barked - I walked further away, and when she was quiet, I went closer, and if I got all the way back I rewarded her with treats or a game of tug out the crate. The first few times I had trouble getting her to go back in the crate but now she understands I'll be coming back - so I guess if you can also practice letting her out and putting her back in and repeat for varying lengths of time with an increasing (but not every time) length of time trend - that helps. If I ever went back when she was barking - the barking and yelling would get worse. Sigh. Haven't managed to generalise a good quiet crate time to the side of the hockey field - will have to get a sheet for that I think.

If you want to do agility - there are heaps of foundation training things you can do while the dog is sitll a puppy. Ie a good retrieve and game of tug are very handy for training agility. As are body awareness and balance skills which a puppy can learn. And basic trick training or "shaping" ie teaching the puppy to try new things to get a reward, and not to give up trying new things if the reward doesn't come. Ie keep trying, don't give up is best taught to a puppy. You also need a great stay in sit or stand, and a fast release (go) and reliable recall to you. And shadow handling - teaching the dog to follow your direction signals. http://www.clickerdogs.com/articles.htm

Our dog club doesn't have any fenced areas except the club verandah. Members of the public sometimes wander through classes and trials with their dogs off lead - in an area clearly designated ON LEAD (Except for club sanctioned activities - I hope). Some of them can call their dogs clear, and lots of them think they don't need to ie that the dog club shouldn't be there or something. ACT has a good dog park ettiquette list, and it's stuck to the gates as well. http://www.tams.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/125423/29061_Territory_Services_Dog_Etiquette_Rev.pdf I avoid the fenced dog parks in our area. It's too easy for a dog to get trapped in a corner. I know some dogs that are fine as long as no other dogs have food or toys. So it is polite to ask before getting those out. I had problems when my dog was a puppy with someone exercising their dog with a ball, and my dog nicked the ball. Eventually I got the ball back for the owner but she kept throwing it. Which I thought was a bit rude. My dog's manners have improved considerably since then - but I would have appreciated a heads up so I could have put my puppy on lead. She still nicks balls from time to time but she always asks the other dog first, and gives it back when the other dog says. Or I say.

Bullbreedlover Because you're the one who suggested that I don't know what I'm talking about - because I'm not a bulldog breeder or a genetic scientist. The person who pointed the specific problem with the bulldog breed standard (which may or may not be being followed by bulldog breeders) has these qualifications: BVSc, PhD, MRCVS, MACVS (Animal Welfare), Cert CABC, Grad Cert Higher Ed. RCVS Recognised Specialist in Veterinary Behavioural Medicine He also helped set up the genetic database at University of Sydney to track gene lines in the hope of getting healthier puppies because the genetics of the parents could be matched better. I don't think you're qualified to say what it takes to know what I'm talking about.

I dunno about pom's but we had a GSP for a while that was extremely good at navigating traffic to find its way home. It used to travel from the city to Aldinga (FMC was there but Aldinga was still farmland). Eventually the GSP found a new home with kids that were home all day - half way between.

"natural" doesn't mean anything at all anymore, it's not a reason to choose or avoid a product. I get paris creek or Margaret river unflavoured yogurts. If I want vanilla I add some vanilla and sugar to it and still come out ahead about 3 teaspoons full of sugar per serve. The margaret river yogurt is much thicker than the paris creek one - don't know why, neither have added thickeners in that I know of. I used to get the green and white farmers union, but it's more expensive than the other two. Go figure. The gippsland and the dairy vale seem to be in smaller packets for the same or more money - so I avoid those. Have been eyeing off the KI sheep yogurt - plain or with honey... cos it's yummy. I used to get ski flavoured yoghurt but it has way too much sugar in it for me, and not enough fruit, so now I mix my own up. And bonus - the dog gets a couple of spoonfuls, and I can use for savoury things like tandoori mix and curries.

Trying to figure out where this is, since there is no overpass on Port Road, and Port Road doesn't intersect Henley beach road. There is an East Terrace / James Condon overpass next to the parklands and railway lines Mile End that goes over Henley Beach Rd. Hope the dogs are ok. There are German Short Haired pointers and poms in my area (Mitcham) but that's a long way from Mile End.

meat is easier to chop up when it's just frozen. I also find it easier to chop up when it's cooked. If you're worried about stuff under your nails - get some rubber gloves either the washing up sort or the disposable food handling sort. I sometimes get a cheap lump of meat from the foodland supermarket and roast that and chop that up into treats. I also use kitten biscuits for treats. I use promite on toast chopped into bits. Or bits of roast chicken. Or left over steak - the chewy or fatty bits I don't want to eat. You can divide your treats into average, good, and better than chasing possums (a grade). And you can teach your dog to enjoy tugging. There is a food tug cross over toy called a "tuggit", which you can stuff with something smelly and yummy like sardines or metwurst (german salami) and teach your dog to tug on it. tugs use calories instead of adding them. The trouble with dry treats - depending what you're training is that dogs sometimes inhale them and hawk them up in the next repeat of your session ie the treats come back to haunt us. I don't think the dog will forget what the treat was for as long as your clicker or "yes" is well timed.

Bullbreedlover Not involved currently. But I can read what is on the ANKC site for breed standard. Are you trying to tell me that this standard is wrong? As far as I know - the show dogs which are supposed to be the best for breeding - are judged to this standard. And it's this standard that is encouraging selection to unhealthy extremes. I also have a science degree. So I'm quite good at logical arguments and taking things to literal extremes. since I assume you are an expert in bulldogs How many champion bulldogs are not from c-section or breed puppies requiring c-section to be born? How many champion bulldogs have trouble breathing when they get a bit excited or run a lap around a standard football oval (or maybe just the length of a tennis court). Why is the breed standard still as I quoted? I don't see how I need any qualifications beyond primary school reading to come to the conclusion that is clearly outlined by the breed standard. Happy to learn your point of view.

JulesP It might be worth sending someone less emotional about this to go around the neighbours and check if they've been using any bait. I just assume mine do and hope it doesn't come in my place. And my dog is inside when I'm not home. Except the other day when she declared it far too nice outside to come in (sigh). We've got crows in our area who definitely carry around some quite big things, like bbq t-bones (minus most of the steak). And bones and my dog do not agree. I wish I was a bit better at teaching her to ask permission before she tucks into something. She's quite good when I'm around inside, but not good outside. School playground and new ovals and the day after footy games (bbq residues and debris) bad.

While the British Bulldog standard still has this in it, they deserve to be called to account. http://www.ankc.org.au/Breed_Details.aspx?bid=183 In the faults section - it says something about faults (ie not being as described by the standard) being weighed up against the health of the dog, but really - I think that dogs that are required to be born by C-section because of their genetic shape - should be excluded from the main (breeding) register. And ones that can't breathe easily when exercised - because of the genetic shape - too.

JulesP Horrible news. Can't make it better no matter how much we want to. One of our local BCs (in Hawthorn, Adelaide) died the same way recently - poison. We don't know how he got the poison either but it does make me paranoid. People put snail bait in their front gardens - with no fences, and even on lead my dog tries to hoover it. And rats and birds transport the stuff. Ie they carry the whole box off and dump it somewhere you don't want. And then there's mum who has it all round her house and doesn't think to tell you. I don't like to take the dog to her house anymore. She knows rats move the stuff. Sheesh. you're not alone, and it sucks.

My dog's sit stay was hopeless until I started making her practice in order to get her dinner. Now she does sit stays and down stays with her tail wagging the whole time. For those who want to see what trialing two dogs at the same time looks like (funny ROTFL), there is this agility brace comp. Not sure what it would look like in obedience. but two dogs going in at opposite ends of the tunnel is very funny. I apologise for the google ads.

When I got my puppy, I didn't have a crate or know anything about them. But even if I got another puppy now I don't think I'd use a crate for sleeping at night. I put my puppy in a bed next to my bed (in a box) and attached a lead to her, and under me and to the far side of my bed so she couldn't move without me knowing and I wouldn't tangle up the lead like I would if it was attached to me. I also set an alarm for 2am and 4am to let her out for potty until she was about 14 weeks old or so. I got her at 10 weeks.

You could probably make something using a normal belt with a metal buckle and a mountain climbing quality carabiner. But sometimes an unbreakable buckle means it's you that's going to break instead. Ie most horse gear is designed to let the horse go if things get extreme. The places that repair horse rugs could probably make something suitable too.

I like having a dog happy in crate. I can put her in a crate when I'm out but need somewhere safe for her and the car is not - ie not in the shade on a hot day. It keeps her out of trouble. I used it at home to stop destructo puppy from eating everything - like furniture. I also used it when I needed to do the washing up without puppy trip me up. And I used it when I needed some peace. I use it now at dog club and at hockey when I can't pay attention to her. It keeps her safe from other dogs and people and hockey balls, and I can put it in the shade. Much to the amusement of some country locals, I used it when visiting rellies who decided to have lunch in the local pub which is a dog free zone and I couldn't get a place in the shade for the car. So I put crate under the deep shade of a tree, and it protected her from small children and inquisitive locals - I could see the crate and dog from where I was sitting. The only con is the training and the noise that some dogs make before they've learned that barking = owner repellent.

B-Q I might ask Cathy at Agility Click - they're queensland based, and she doesn't sell them but she might know how does. If you have Susan Garrett's 2x2 weaves dvds, I think one of them has a specification included with a work book or something, and you could give that to your local metal worker or engineering firm to get made up. A hole for a "peg" in half way between the two uprights can make rotating easier, but pegging it there would probably break the latest equipment rules. I've been thinking about talking to a boat builder or plastics manufacturer about getting some made up out of plastic or carbon fibre. I know that the rules say metal, but this other stuff would be lighter and stiffer and possibly stronger. My lesson for the weekend. Do not try to steward (leads or time keeping or anything important) at a trial or mock trial if you want to run your dog. It doesn't work. If you're thinking about getting the dog out and round as fast as possible, she will oblige by not paying any attention to where she's supposed to be going, she will jump off the top of the scramble (contact, what contact?) and she won't do the weaves. Sigh And you will forget to take your hat and jacket off before the run. Which doesn't help either.

Would the dog have to be desexed as well? I think that's how it works if you want to register a dog of unknown breeding for dogs sports in SA.

I think someone actually wrote a book full of training games devised by SG and put their own name on it with no credit for or permission from SG. I think the other purpose for the online technique is SG can train a lot more people with much less hassle and travel. Though the puppy thing is less of a training thing than a kind of voyeur thing for us - ie we get to see how she works, but she's not instructing us directly.