Mrs Rusty Bucket

k9pro sells martingale collars made exclusively for them. Dunno by whom. And pretty much any equestrian supplies shop that also does horse rug repairs could probably make one for you, or sail makers as in sailing boats - they do stuff with seatbelt webbing and loops... There is also ruthless leather - but I don't know if she makes martingales or will use anything but leather to make the collar.

I find that glass jars that had promite or chutney in them, hold the smell for a very long time, ie even after they've been washed in near boiling water. My dog can find (old) baseballs quite easily. And carobs - but rodents like carobs too. And she's good on the wooly things eg ugg boots. I am thinking it would be very useful if she could "indicate" termites reliably. I also find that rubber - eg kongs, and new plastic anything - especially the microban containers - smell toxic - for years in some cases. I've got a very old and stinky but extremely clean plastic jug you can have. I really should toss it out. Sigh.

I met an extremely fat dog, lab x something short (maybe spaniel) at the park on Saturday. Owner wasn't exactly skinny either but not as fat as her dog. I was talking to a guy with a cute kelpie about dog training and showing off what my dog could do (basic stuff in distracting environment). Lady said something along the lines of she wished she could train her dog... or that he was untrainable - he'd already schmoozed me into giving him pats and scratches... and I was trading that for "sit"... Anyway she said he didn't like food. And me and kelpie guy just looked at each other, stunned. What can you say to a person that dumb? That dog, I'd rate as more intelligent than his owner, but not acting in his own best interests (eating too much). My dog - I'd rate as one of the most difficult to train I've ever encountered. She's always got better things to do. But she has been more attentive as I try to get her to a weight more suitable for agility training. Sometime she learns really quickly and other times - argh.... PS she did look behind the TV and the mirror for the other dog, and I also let her sniff the dog photo calendar (and check behind it for the other dogs) before I hang it up - or she barks at it. She has worked out it's me in the mirror. Not sure if she's worked out it's her in the mirror too.

If you're sure he's not come in contact with any animals recently interestate - I'd leave it till tomorrow. Ticks start off tiny and then get bigger. I reckon you could check yourself now, if you've been walking with the dog. Which bit of SA are you in? Anywhere near the hills, or linear park or the beach (coastal dunes)? There's also a tiny chance they'd show up in the Adelaide Parklands - we've got possums, foxes and occasionally very lost kangaroos in there. Does the dog get off lead time? There's a very cute GSP that gets an occasional run on my local footy oval, but she busted her "knee" a year ago and is supposed to take it easy. Hard for a GSP to do. Note - I spend most of my time in "view new posts" not in any particular bit of the forum unless I'm reading a thread or posting in it. It's helpful to post the once, in the right place as this one is. Posting the same question in lots of places just confuses us and annoys the moderators. And makes it hard to find the thread when you want to refer back to it.

hi fiveplusone We do have ticks in SA, but you're right - they're not the paralysis ones. Although there is a tiny weeny chance those sometimes get imported as dogs and cars and plant material and stuff come in from the East occasionally. So if your dog starts getting wobbly around the back end - off to vet straight away. If there is one tick there may be others so you might want to give your dogs and yourselves a very thorough going over. My mum got two ticks on herself bush walking (including walking in long grass and the occasional bit of rock clambering). In embarassing places. Check the dogs lips and ears and armpits etc. What have your dogs been doing? Where have they been? Have you been with them? I have a black and white spotty dog, recently we went to the eastern states. I did my tick check pretty much by feel. There was no way I was going to see one. And she didn't get any. Might have had something to do with the proban tablets I'd been feeding her. You may want to keep watch on the bite site. If there is any part of the tick left including the mouth parts - the bite site can get infected and that might need antibiotics. Meantime you can try aloe vera (soothing and healing properties and tastes yucky so discourages licking and chewing), or maybe honey (antibiotic properties but won't discourage licking).

I've taken mine a couple of times to Cass at Meadows Kennels and Kattery boarding kennels. Cass does herding, judging, and training. I don't know if she's still there but I haven't heard anything different. You can also try the contact person on the herding page at DogsSa http://www.dogssa.com.au/Website/index.php?id=37&level=2 PS you can also ask Piper on here (send her a PM).

I think today's meet went well. We kept most of the dogs on lead including Frosty because there was another dogless group down the other end with open rubbish bags with fresh meat trays... too much for my evil hound to resist. Banshee was the only little dog and it was much quieter overall than last meet. And the group down the playground end called the ranger. Some amateur with a white van - no council logo and a black GSD silhouette on the side, came, asked us if we had any problems with dogs and then left without doing anything more. Hmm. I am really tempted to suggest for the next meet if a few of us can get there at 10:30am ish and stake out all the tables... or is that just mean? I don't understand why people come to the dog off lead park and then complain about dogs off lead. It did seem like they owned the place though - maybe the oldest one donated the land. Who knows. She didn't seem to mind the dogs. Photo thread (thanks Snook) http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...=214718&hl=

How can you call that annoying? You haven't been paid for services rendered. Did you get any agreement about payment in writing? Exploitation and fraud come to mind. And I would feel entirely ok about dealing direct with dog owners and I would also be letting all the dog owners know that the organiser renegged on paying, and you haven't been paid at all. If they paid by credit card they can cancel the payment by contacting the credit card company. There is a "fair work ombudsman" who may be able to help you. And probably the office of fair trade and consumer affairs in your state. They're all about getting paid for services and getting what you pay for. http://www.fairwork.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx There may be a slight issue about GST - if you sold any goods (ie dog food) at a higher cost than what you paid for it. But with services, my understanding is if your earnings are under a certain amount per year, you're exempt, and if the earnings are such that the ATO deems it a hobby - you're exempt. All the same, it seems like you've been scammed. maybe http://www.fido.gov.au/fido/fido.nsf/byHea...ndlers%20portal will also be interested.

I had a discussion with a couple of my vets about it. So if I stop the C5, I still need to get Kennel Cough done every year (and one of the other 5) and then the others can be done three yearly or get titre testing. Overall - doing it in bits and pieces would cost more than getting the C5 annually, so if she shows no adverse reaction to the C5 - might as well keep doing that. Sigh. I may have to investigate the actual costs of individual bits and pieces in more depth but for now, we got the C5 again, and that will save some grief when we renew membership at dog club and when she goes to boarding kennels. I keep meeting people who say their dog has a bit of a "doggy cold" ie kennel cough - but they're not isolating it till it gets better - argh. They're still taking it for walks and letting it greet other dogs. Yikes.

Does she like crawling a lot? Are there weeds in the lawn? Cape weed and some dandilion types can do that. And fresh cut buffalo gives me a rash. Kikuyu is better but I still get the itches if I roll on it with bare skin. My dog loves to commando crawl and sometimes she gets red from abrasion. And the mozzies have been getting stuck in lately. Sigh. Love the rain but could do without the bugs.

This is going to be a sweeping generalisation ... Farm dogs are generally much easier to train, most of them are very willing to please, and very quick to learn what you're trying to teach them. Other dogs can be somewhat slower. In my experience - sample size about 4 dogs ie insignificant statistcally, the LA dogs are a bit quicker at something like "its yer choice" game than maltese, or spaniel x. Some farm dogs - know they're smarter than you and life can get interesting then. But generally - you need to repeat yourself a lot more and be far more consistent with the not-working not-farm dogs to get them to understand what you're looking for. end sweeping generalisation.

What about a Lhasa Apso http://www.pedigree.com.au/breeds/?b=122&p=l&pp= http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/lhasaapso.htm I've got a couple of friends who have these, they're not as aggressive as maltese can be. They will bark a lot if left alone in the backyard with a sleepy lizard just through the fence. Not a good idea. I don't know if they're big shedders or not, but they don't shed like a jack russell can. Small dog syndrome is usually caused by humans thinking bad behaviour is cute in SWF puppies and they inadvertantly reward and encourage it. Wouldn't matter what dog you got, it's up to you to set limits and encourage good behaviour.

Bump I've edited the first post a bit. I'm still going to bring food, cos I like eating it. Am I repeating myself. Even after dinner with a bellyful of ripe nectarines and icecream... I'm still thinking about food, sigh.

I use those plug in electric pads things inside. Works. Outside I have used mozzie coils successfully but you need to set up a lot of them at all points to the wind. I know you can get outdoor squirties but I hear they're expensive. And I think you can get the pad things for outside run by candle power but you'd need at least one for every wind direction. One by itself is not very effective. I've got the rosemary and sandlewood stuff but I find it doesn't work for me and my hound. There are little sonic repellers but I have found they don't work reliably either. Ie was bitten when I had one working on me. Sigh.

Not that my dog qualifies as "little" but I can't make this one cos I booked in for the Paul McGreevy seminar in the Norwood hotel.

I used to cause my neighbours amusement by standing at the back door commanding "5hitnapiss". And "Shutting the door now" or "in or out". Never had to call "dinner" - there's no way I could go near her dinner without her being right there. And she'd be glued to the back of my knee anytime she thought I should be getting her food.

Um. You make friends with someone into dog sports in your area? But I figure you find out about one clinic and then sign up with the people that organised it, to let you know when the next one is on. Might take a while but you'll eventually get in. Another way might be to put your name down with the ones you know are "sold out" in case someone has a personal emergency and has to drop out. There's no single secret clinic list that I know of. Most of them are organised by individuals who invite people they know from doing their sport to come. I don't know of any dog sport clinics in SA in the near future either. The last one I went to was organised by Cathy Slot of Agility click and held in NSW. http://www.agilityclick.com/ There is a (dog free) seminar being given by Paul McGreevy in Adelaide in Feb run by these people http://www.petagog.net/workshops.htm There's also an agility forum - that I forget to look at on yahoo groups somewhere. http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/SAdogagility/ Some of the people who post there also do herding... I don't know if they have posted about clinics or not. Or you can look up the individual dog sport associations and ask them. What secret clinic have you missed out on because it was sold out? I'm all curious now.

I clicked and offered a lick of peanut butter instead of a piece of steak, there's a good chance my dog will go "Whaaaat? That might explain my dog's reaction to cheese as treats... lol The motivation must live somewhere (in the brain)... But I suppose that if each "reward" had a different circuit, you couldn't "transfer value" from one thing to another eg from food to tug to jumping (agility) as valued rewards...

I've got dog's bane. It's more like owner repellant. Stinky stuff. Dog doesn't mind it at all. I tried using it at our local oval to stop dogs from peeing on my "training track" (brickies line and reel), and they'd come up and sniff the dog's bane and pee on that. And one of the guys thought the dog's bane was lavendar (has a purple flower the same shape but not the same smell or leaf shape). It is easy to grow from cuttings. I think wormwort might do better, has a much stronger menthol smell, and the menthol in vicks vapour rub tends to repel dogs. Frosty likes chilli. Will even pick them off the bush. I tried using it on my counters to stop her from surfing but she just aquired the taste for it. Fail. I would not let him out there without you. No sneaking. The screaming thing trick - you don't do it at the puppy, you do it at the plant. Like I said - didn't work on my dog but does work on some.

Hi Corvus and all. Have to agree that the GSD vs BC was unlikely to fit the definition of "predatory drift" or a "drift/snap into a predatory attitude". Interesting about the "motivational specificity" ie that it's all the same "seeking" and not differentiated by the whys. I will have to do a bit more reading. I would like to know why it seems so counter intuitive ie it seems obvious to me that my dog "seeks" different things at different times, so her motivations are different and what will end the search (satisfy or reward) are different. Ie it's no good offering water when she wants food, or food when she wants a game, or a game when she's thirsty...

The only thing I know that keeps dogs off gardens besides training - is a fence. My mum recently put blood and bone on her pot plants - I couldn't let my dog wander out there unsupervised. I think it's a matter of supervising the dog, keeping it on lead and preventing it from getting into the pots. I have heard of people pretending to beat up the pot plants with newspaper and enthusiastically cursing and scolding the pot plants in front of the dog... so the dog knows that's a bad plant and a bad place to be. However - has not worked for me, my dog has NFI what the fuss is and sometimes tries to join in telling the plant off.

Corvus You write some very esoteric stuff assuming everybody will know what you're talking about. That's what I mean about an invalid assumption. Thank you for clarifying the Jaak list. It is a bit different from the ones I know. And it might be frustrating that it's not all that black and white with current level of knowledge about how brains work. I think your "joke" was a little flat with me - because, like Huski, I think "prey drive" (Jaak might call it seeking - but I find this covers an awful lot of very different things in my head - not having access to his definition) can be trained and satisfied with something other than a live critter or even a bear for a bear hunting dog. You really don't need the bear. Like with the lappie - you might not want to do this but I'm sure there would be a way of triggering his excitement with something that looks somewhat like a duck taking flight but not an actual duck, and this could be transfered to something more manageable like a feathered tug toy. All creatures Not on the pages about predatory drift that I read. It was more like a dog is in a playful state of mind chasing a small dog and drifts (or snaps) into a predatory state of mind, ie the SWF switches in the mind of the pursuing dog from play mate dog, to prey. I think the big dog barking along the fence was never in a "playful state of mind" to drift into a predatory one, I think it was always thinking to attack/kill the BC. Like I wrote before - I think in this context "drift" is not the best choice of word. And I would have to agree with Corvus, it's not all that well defined in the first place.

I do fake cues, eg for the start-wait-go, I will start running away from my dog and she's supposed to stay, and if she doesn't, I put her back and we do it again - a little slower... she's only supposed to go when I say "go". So I do all the body language without the verbal, sometimes I run, and sometimes I stand still and say go (she's still supposed to "go"). And haven't done this much but for stay proofing, walk round behind and then run past.... we do play a lot of chase games but she's not supposed to release herself if I put her in position. SG also does a "lure" fake out and she will lure something that looks like what a lot of people use for down (with a treat in their hand) and she will give the verbal to do something else like stand/sit. Dog must pay attention to the verbal first. Note she doesn't say "sit" and give her signal for "down", that would be unfair. I'm also trying to incorporate "stand" into the "sit" and "drop" mix. We've got "sit" any which way, but it's hard to get a "drop" on the "dinner mat", although we can get it out on the oval. Weird. But the idea with Change of Position (CoP) is to have enough commands that dog cannot anticipate what move is next.

If I can catch my dog when she's got contraband in her mouth, I push a bit of her lip over a tooth before I try to reach into her throat and grab things out. She's pretty good about that. It's the catching her bit that can be hard. I have also saved a horse's life after nearly killing it. I was dumb enough to feed it bits of apple and it was greedy enough to inhale them instead of chewing them up and swallowing - turned out his teeth needed filing but that's another story. Anyway he lay down to die - the bugger - and I felt along his throat and massaged the bits of apple back up until he was ok. And I made him stand up. And he was fine and I was freaked. I imagine I'd try that with a dog too. I think if you put a (big) stick or a shoe or something in a dog's mouth, if he clamped down, ideally he'd clamp on that first and not you.

Corvus I don't know everything you know, and I suspect sometimes I'd argue with you about what you know anyway. Some of what you write makes assumptions about what I (or anyone else reading) knows that are not valid. So he has prey drive, it's just the trigger is obscure or difficult to use on cue. What is an FAP? I googled Jaak Panksepp and I can't find a list as you describe, do you have a link or do I have to get his book (which one)? Paul McGreevy actually described "training in drive" as old hat in his book "A modern dog's life". Susan Garrett talks about "drivey dogs", I think she means dogs that get very excited easily. She definitely likes to get a dog excited as part of training and competition runs. I find if I can "fire my dog up" and get her excited, she works much harder. To me, drive describes an excited motivated dog, and the type of drive is what she's looking for to "satisfy the drive" so it is different things at different times. What some dog trainers talk about is "triggering the drive" ie training the dog to be excited on cue. And to provide reward based on which drive the dog is in. If it's excited about food - reward with food, if it's excited about herding sheep - reward with more sheep herding... I've accidentally trained a drive trigger, working off her natural (untrained) behaviour eg - sitting her at the back door, opening it and then calling "puss puss puss", gets me one fired up dog. Note - she's never hurt a cat, but she does love chasing the ones that run.