Mrs Rusty Bucket

Hi Willow I understand about the possible over reaction to falling cans. However the dog would not associate the cans or noise with you - just the now evil sofa... Ah well. Motion triggered air freshener?

the idea is the tin cans would be noisy and the noise would repel. My brother's staffy is terrified of loud noises - so it works on her. Have you tried rattling a few tin cans at your dog to see how he reacts? If he backs off - they will stop him getting on the couch.

Frosty sticks her whole head underwater and blows bubbles. EEEK. She tastes it and won't drink it. She will sometimes drink some fresh water after the beach if I hose her face down enough first, and then she drinks straight out of the tap - cos that's safe... Tokkie, whether you rinse or not will depend how much you like the salty feel on your dog. One guy that walks at our oval takes his dog to the beach and doesn't rinse because the salt water helps kill the fungal skin infections she has.

I rinse my dog off after a morning at the beach - I use the tap under the shower that's there - usually hook a hose attachment and a cheap hose-shower to it. I hate the way salt water feels in my hair - sort of um damp and abrasive, and I'm not real fond of it on my dog either. And every now and again she finds something extremely stinky and rotten to roll in. I find a rinse is usually sufficient and if I don't use shampoo or detergent - I'm not going to remove her natural skin oils. I only get the shampoo out (at home) if I can't get the stink off.

I used to put piles of tin cans on top of the chairs I didn't want my dog on. I put a yogurt lid under the bottom can to stop rust stains, but a rag would probably do. The idea is if dog gets up the cans fall down and rattle and dog gets off. Worked for my dog. However I never put the cans on the sofa cos I don't mind her up there and don't notice the smell. Note - sofa has on top of the covers, a blanket, two flanny sheets, a cotton double sheet, and some towels and rugs. Ie it's a long way down to the actual sofa.

Hi Tigger000 also mix up the treats - ie frankfurts will "wear off" after a while and you will need to swap to something else or have a mix of things to treat with. And cut them up into tiny pieces eg 1/2 cm cubes. So he doesn't get full too quickly. I use a mix of things, current treat is bread and promite - cos dog LURVES it. Mostly she loves it because I eat it but whatever works. I second what Persephone said. Use the tastiest treats for reward for responding to his name. Not just kibble.

I don't free feed. 1. dog would get fat 2. dog would be hard to train as it would never be hungry or interested in treats 3. a full food bowl attacts mice and ants and free loading magpies.

This is how you break the word and remove all usefullness for it. What you need is Lesley Nelson's "Really Reliable Recall". http://www.dogwise.com/ItemDetails.cfm?ID=DTB810P If she can get Afghans to come when called, you should be able to train a dalmatian but you're going to need to go back to scratch and start again where there are very few distractions eg your laundry. And if he's not interested in any treat you have - try skipping a meal and then training before the next meal is due. You may also want to investigate using methods from "Nothing in life is free" (aka NILIF) and "Triangle of Temptation" (aka TOT). Ie no dinner until he's doing what you want. Or he has to work for every piece of dinner. Ie if you get a successful sit-stay-come for every piece of kibble - that's a really high repetition rate... it should start to sink in. But you may need new command words if you have broken all your old ones.

I like the accommodation places who make their decision based on meeting your dog. If I left Frosty outside all night she'd bark - though she doesn't mind the big landcrusier as a crate. I've done that when staying with friends who are allergic. Are dog owners less responsible than parents of small children or drunken adults when it comes to mess and accidents. I know one bloke who, in a single effort, made more mess in his hotel ensuite and a bit outside - than any dog could hope to do. And just to prove how really putrid he was - he then recorded it with his phone camera and showed everybody else - argh. And I find I have trouble sleeping in a room that has been occupied or cleaned by a smoker. Never mind smelly dogs. Could accomodation places have the same rules for everybody? Ie you make more mess or damage than a normal sleeping person would that requires additional cleaning attention and expense - then you pay for that? Then it wouldn't matter who or what did it, adult, child or pet. And as for being allegic - how do you deal with people who are allergic to peanuts or some colognes or jasmine flowers or similar and a previous patron leaves those in the room? If the room was cleaned between patrons and bedding washed and aired - wouldn't that sort dog dander problems? What about human skin and dust mites - heaps of people are allergic to that (gives them asthma). If accomodation places were serious about being friendly to people with allergies - they wouldn't have any wall to wall carpet. Hesapandabear - I'm not picking on you in particular, I'm just questioning how likely is the dog allergy problem vs dust mites from humans problem etc. People are allergic to all sorts of things - why pick on dogs? And I do think people should be responsible for any mess they make in their accomodation that is beyond what is normal - no matter what made it. It just doesn't seem logical to me. But I don't run a farm stay - so I don't know how bad dogs are compared to humans really. I do know some of the accomodation I've stayed in that has no dogs allowed can still be really foul - my main problem is smokers - even if they don't smoke in the room, they still leave a smell.

I know that having babies can cause incontinence (and fistulas) in women - what about bitches? Ie if you don't desex, and the dog gets pregnant and has puppies, are you back with the same incontinence risk factor? Not to mention the risk of Polymetra (spelling?) in a whole bitch is much higher than the risk of incontinence in a desexed one. And if you don't desex and you put the bitch on the pill so you don't have to deal with bitch in season or risk pregnancies - are you back to the same risk of incontinence because you've messed with the hormones?

I'd be really tempted to ask them what the name of the health regulation was and did they have a copy of it so you could read it, and how it applies to guide dogs. We're in far more danger, healthwise, from other humans than we are from dogs. Eg the staff and previous patrons are more dangerous than dogs.

I found something in the parramatta council rules for dogs and cats that says they're not allowed in food prep or consumption areas (does that mean they're not allowed in the park with you if you have a picnic). guide dogs are allowed everywhere. I also know of several places in NSW that allow dogs in the accommodation (eg cabins etc). So there can't be a law against that. I found something else that said pets may be allowed in public housing as pets are important to their owners. And with "pets as therapy" dogs going into nursing homes, and the health outcomes being better for people who have pet visit than those who don't... I couldn't find anything on the law link that says that dogs are not allowed in commercial accommodation. But that could be I did the wrong search. There is probably something to providing a safe work place for cleaning staff etc of hotels - and dogs might make that difficult if they're aggressive or crap inside a bedroom (dog poo is an OH&S hazard). Or if a cleaning staff member is allergic to dog hair - or subsequent patron. So I think accomodation places are allowed to make their own rules regarding pets - but they're not allowed to exclude guide dogs with their owners (stop disability discrimination law).

Murphys law says as soon as you book the bitch in for desexing - she will come in season... My bitch was desexed at 8 weeks by AWL, and we've had no problems with continence, or accidents. I think she's better than me at holding it, I need to go to toilet more often than she does. But she doesn't drink coffee. Other family dogs 2 bitches - both desexed - prolly around 6 months - before coming into season - no continence problems. Well Aussie Terror didn't like going outside when it was raining or the grass was wet but her indoors peeing was no accident. One GSP - had a car accident - always leaked when lying down.

Yes me too. I don't want anyone to think I will be in denial or defensive if they need me to put Frosty on lead or stop feeding treats or whatever. Sometimes Frosty pushes the limits when trying to greet a dog that isn't all that willing. Some dogs take a while to get used to her antics - it's like they can't quite believe what shes doing. And she usually does it when I'm picking up a dog crap - whether hers or a kharma crap (the one you will step in later if you don't pick it up now).

I dunno how I get away with what I do with treats. I even had one enthusiastic hound chewing on one of the treat bags, can't remember which dog but it got nowhere... most all dogs I've dealt with have learned very quickly that no dog is getting any treats at all if any of them so much as give another dog a "shoo look". But I could leave the treats and toys in the car. Catching Frosty might be harder, but she regards the lead as a fun tug toy too. I am just so glad she's such a grovel dog and I don't have to worry about these things, though life does get exciting if she steals a ball from a resource guarder - she drops it instantly when "told" though (by the other dog). Maybe we should have 100 balls or at least three for every dog - and they'd have a harder time guarding or biting if they all have their mouths full of tennis balls (for Earl, we would need a basketball). I did notice some who had balls out, but by time the squeaky ball showed up, I think there were fewer dogs anyway. I didn't know who had the orignal balls except that KHM sorted them and stuffed them in the fence wire. We were squashed into an area about 1/4 the normal area we get, and there were more dogs (or it seemed like it) than usual as well. I dunno. I did say to someone that maybe a ball wasn't a good idea, but I didn't want to be the policeman on the day and any dogs that might have caused a problem about it were under control (on lead?) by then. I do know on the gates to the fenced dog parks in the ACT they have an "ettiquette" sign that says no toys or balls. I have more problems when the human is the resource guarder, I get the ball back from my thief for them, and then they prompty give it back to her by throwing it again - often straight towards her. WTF? Why are they telling me off? I think it wouldn't hurt to ask or check with everyone else if anyone has a dog that would get into trouble over a ball before getting one out. And maybe the same with food. Generally it's not a good idea to hand out food without checking with owner first - I usually remember to ask. If there are too many people to ask then maybe that's when you keep the ball stashed. I also think we do better when there is more room. Though not sure of what alternate venues would be adequately fenced for some dogs... Might be something to think about though. That's the trouble with the internet. Lots of people might show up. I'm also happy to bring grovel dog to smaller meets if people want/need. PM me. There is a fenced double tennis court at the end of my street that doesn't get used at all in the mornings or school hours and bugger all after school during school week or when it's a bit cold... not sure about weekends but then there's my back yard... Near me are semi fenced ovals - Bailey, Mortlock Park, and Hawthorn ovals - just need to check when sport is on and avoid that. Goodwood oval - the hockey pitch does not get used during summer - well maybe for cricket juniors on Sunday mornings and that is well fenced on 3 sides. And there is also the old orphanage - but I don't know where that's at right now - never been there. Dammit - the adelaide city council parklands dogs rules are so confusing and they've changed them in the last 12 months. But they say dogs on leash within 50m of playground or BBQ - go figure and only ones that come immediately when they're called, may be off lead.

I can't believe you'd say that whiskedaway - Yellowgirl's ears would be burning. I get some of mine from her shop - fido's fun house on payneham road (South Australia) I also go to rural pet meats off South road, just south of Chandlers hill road (corner Sunvally rd) and there's a similar shop on Port road just East of South Road (yes the same one but much further North), on the South side of Port Road. They have things like pigs ears from Wunterlichs - locally done not from China. If I was in Victoria - I'd get treats from Happy paws. Do a find on "happy" on this page http://www.dogzonline.com.au/sponsors.asp

Congrats Ness Now you can send Steve an authentic pic for his website of the right dog doing well with TID...

Dog run / crate. There is such a thing as an "invisible fence" which involves an electric collar but I don't think it would be suitable for you and using e-collars in SA is not legal. Not that I've ever heard of that law being enforced. I talked to the cops and RSPCA and they didn't know.

Pugsley1 you might want to look up 2x2 weaver training (by Susan Garrett but there's a lot of stuff on youtube), you start with two poles and throw the reward along the line where you want the dog to go/be when she goes through... there's more to it than that, I highly recommend the dvd(s). You also want to do body awareness exercises (SG), and handling exercises (Greg Derrett "Foundation") - ie teaching yourself and the dog what signals mean what so you don't have to run the whole course with the dog, you guide them. Throwing a reward, requires a good recall and game of tug ideally. There's no point using a thrown reward if the dog nicks off with it.

SG's house...

I used to buy the treats until I read the ingredients and decided to switch to something else. I used to cut each piece into three because they were too big how they were. And quite frequently I'd stab myself with a bit of chicken bone. I didn't like thinking about that inside my dog. These days I will get a cheap roast meat eg 1kg of topside can be had for between $5 and $10 at our foodland and I still think the farmers get more from them than woolies or coles who can charge more than double.. - and slow pot roast it until tender, and then I eat some of it, and I chop the rest up into treat sized bits and freeze it in daily portion sizes (using freezer go between or snack bags). I also thought it was a bit rich that for the zip log bag with treats in it eg the "training treat pack" they charged more than double. ie you could buy a whole pack of zip locks with the difference. I also buy training treat sized things from Yellow Girl's shop, knowing they have quality ingredients.

Marley'z Mum Any chance the boarding kennel staff could send you a text or email to let you know it's all good on the second day or something - I got one of those and it was hugely reassuring for me.

She got someone to give her their tennis ball this morning. They were having a lovely game of fetch - WTF - Frosty doesn't Fetch - she chases the tennis ball, grabs it then lies down and eats it. So when the someone was ready to go, Frosty barked at him until he gave her the tennis ball... I still can't believe he did that.

KHM What would Rosie say about that? No, she rarely snores. Occasionally farts. Always seems surprised. No, it's the sneaky way she takes over when nobody is paying attention. And if you shut her outside/away from you she gets rather upset - that was agility instructor's mistake - he didn't tell me until it was too late that his dog was an outside dog. I'm pretty sure if Bully had shown up to that agility class - she would have heard Frosty's screaming coming out of my friend's car... And she's not much help when we're setting up. I drag her around on lead - it's ok but I can only do half as much set up, or I let her off and she goes and helps the clubroom cleaners or the people with dog aggressive dogs setting up their crates... I really must try bringing the crate and see how that goes. Or I tie her up and she yells at me. Strangely she's ok in my car but the first time I left her in there when she could see me (playing hockey) there was a lot of screaming. Not many people can ignore it for as long as it takes to get her the idea that she's not going to be in charge. Trouble is - she's all good with me, it's just with other people. Plenty have tried to lead her away and they get to find out how good she is as a sled dog when she realises I'm not coming too. Of course if she's off lead, she's quite happy to disappear clear across the football oval to check for treats and new dogs to greet etc. At this point, I hide behind a tree to remind her who's boss.

After one overnight stay (or less) they have all wanted to give her back, so far. Frosty is very very good at shaping people to do things they don't want to do. She told my agilty instructor that she gets to sleep on the boss's bed and he believed her. Oops.