Mrs Rusty Bucket

You could try Susan Garrett's "Re-inforcement Zone" method also known as RZ. Kikopup's loose lead walking methods are similar. RZ start with the dog in a sit, you stand next to dog, (click) treat, 5 x maybe. Then take a step forward, if you have to release from sit - say your release word first... Hopefully your dog will step forward with you. Or you can encourage a bit - that's ok in rally... then five more treats for dog stepping with you. Do some heel work and dish out treats - touch your hip (for a tall dog) then deliver the treat - as long as the dog is in the right spot. Eventually - with lots of rewards for dog being by your side... you will be able to step in any direction and the dog will stick to the reinforcement zone. And then you need to start rewarding average or better and fading out the treats (personal fail). But we also practice heel work with a cup full of treats and after a pattern is done, I say "yes" and we run to the treat cup for treats. More recently - I've been practicing whatever training drills I want out in the back yard, and then sending her to her dinner (which she watched me serve up), when we're done. This causes much frustration and a huge effort in self control for my dog - that can only help when in the ring. It also helps her work with me without treats on me or in sight. But Rally is pretty fun - cos you can talk to your dog and pat them. eg if they get on a bit of a surge - you can call them back. This is what RZ training looks like (no that's not me). If the dog is really low to the ground, you can use peanut paste on a wooden spoon to extend your reach. Note if dog's butt starts swinging out - try rewarding on the outside of their face ie rewarding between you and the dog can send the dog's butt out, but rewarding with the treat on the far side of the dog from you, can bring the butt back. And then you have to just go "oops" if the butt swings out or the dog starts cutting in front of you (touching the treat to the hip before delivery helps avoid the cut in front problem).

Thanks Hankdog, can you tell I've been learning from Susan Garrett and friends - paired with my dog teaching me lots. I had to find someone like Susan - because evil hound just went to pieces if I tried any other method. We've had some problems with reactivity - which has really made me pay attention to her triggers. Got a really good look at her in action at the beach the other day with an extremely rude poodle x (her most common trigger dog - from history of bad experiences with them). Rude poodle x (RPX) made a direct line for one of Evil hounds friends - who also dislikes RPX, and it went for that dog's butt, and there was a lot of scolding so evil hound went to help her friend. She never touched the RPX, but she scolded it robustly and herded it away from her friend (Turid Rugaas calls that "splitting"?), and the RPX - instead of apologising in the doggy way - yelled back. All noise no contact and evil hound was quite easy to be split away and caught by me and RPX owner apologised and put her dog on lead for a bit. And then let it off again - where it got into trouble again with some different dogs. So I couldn't be mad at my dog for scary looking scolding. Was extremely pleased she never put tooth on dog, which suggests to me - she just doesn't do that unless the other dog bites her first. And that's only happened once. But the main thing for me - is never ever join in the scolding. And I've managed to avoid a scolding match a few times by catching my dog before any RPX arrives, and telling her over and over what a good dog she is for staying calm while RPX does its thing, gets bored, and leaves. Sometimes if RPX or other rude dog is looking to pick a fight, they get unravelled by my happy good dog talk, thinking I mean them so they go from aggressive stance to friendly stance and leave when there's nothing in it for them to stay. So far haven't been in any major dog fights, managed to see a few coming and leave before they started. You can see it coming sometimes - and there's not a lot I can do except leave as fast as possible. For other dog fights, if mine is off lead - she will sometimes run between the agresssors (scare the shit out of me), act as cheer squad, or a team of them will gang up and herd some poor dog off the park. None of that is ok with me. There's been a couple of times where she's spotted some RPX before me and ripped the lead out of my hand - including breaking my finger one time. That's not fun but she's never hurt one. I'd be mortified if she did and I'd rather she didn't feel the need to put them in their place. The kinds of owners these dogs have - generally don't understand the why of it at all. Neither do their dogs or it would not have happened.

Hi Phantomreptiles I second what everyone else has said about getting some help - ideally one to one and face to face. My dog has to stay inside when my lawnmower man comes. She just thinks he is the most exciting thing ever and he winds her up so there's no way I can retrain that one. The problem is - when she's that excited - she tries to heel him in the heeler way. Doesn't break the skin but does hurt. There's no way I want her repeating that behaviour. When yours goes fence running - what are you doing to stop that? I don't mean yelling and scolding your dog - because most dogs read that as you're helping chase the bad guys (junk mail deliverers) away. So they will do it more because you clearly approve - you join in. What I do when my dog bounces off the fences (out the back) is I put her on lead. The initial warning is - I just say - in a neutral tone "enough". If she doesn't stop (too excited), I walk up to her and put her collar on, hold it and wait for her to get her brain back. Then I let her go to see what her choice is. If it's more fence running - I take her inside with me and shut the door. I don't yell or scold, I do it all quietly with minimal talking. You don't want your dog to be afraid of you, or think you are something to fight. And the quieter and calmer that you can be, the better. I tried using treats for calm behaviour but evil hound just joined the dots - act massively naughty then act calm = treat. So she only gets long calming stroke pats now. Which aren't worth putting on a naughty performance to get. With the cage aggression - can you cover up the cage? Some dogs feel much calmer if they can't see out. They can still hear and smell what is going on but any dog staring at them is no longer threatening. Any trainer behaviourist help you get now - it would help them if you pay attention to what her triggers are, and how far away they are when she notices them (before she reacts), what she does between noticing and reacting. Also keep a list of things she loves - favourite food and toys. Also note what you do when there is a reactive event from when you notice she's noticed the thing, or if you see the dog/trigger approaching before she does - what do you do? Do you keep approaching, or cross the road, or turn away, or yell at the approaching person to stay away? Keep notes on all this stuff for your behaviourist. A trainer - will help with training and your timing with dealing with your dog. A vet behaviourist - can diagnose your dog - and prescribe calming drugs that will allow you to train your dog in the face of triggers - with the help of a trainer - who may be the vet or a separate person who is skilled at dog and people training (you both need training). A couple of games to try with your dog now - are collar grab - eg inside, low distractions, say your dog's name (or not), grab your dog's collar (start really gently), and give a treat that your dog loves. Let your dog go, do something else, and then repeat... you might also need to start this game on lead so your dog can't nick off. If you're getting it right - after a few sessions - you reach out to grab your dog's collar - and they will put their neck in your hand and that's when you treat... This is really handy when you want to remove your excited dog from the front fence. Ideally she will see being grabbed as a good thing that feels like getting a treat. Don't give a treat if she's just been doing something you don't like. Just pats for letting you grab collar. Its yer choice game (from Susan Garrett)... You put some food your dog likes in one hand, tiny pieces - I use kibble - but my dog loves all food, you let your dog know there's some treats in your hand, if she tries to steal the treats, you close your hand, if she backs off - you open your hand. If she dives back in to steal - you close your hand (you have to be fast with some dogs), if she stays calm and backed off, try picking a treat up with the other hand - and as long as she stays backed off, give her the treat. If she starts to dive in or snatch - put the treat back and close your hand. I'd do this for five treats or 3 minutes... If she barks or bites, take your hand with the treats away. But you will probably get a lot of nuzzling and licking and mouthing to start with. It's the dog's choice - so you just stay quiet until she does something you like - in which case you can say "good"... and see if you can get the next stage of delivering the treat. The idea of this game is to teach calm self control. Again you start easy in a low distraction place, and as she gets good at it, you make it a bit harder - eg put treats on the floor or coffee table and cover up with one hand if she tries to steal... When you say you rotate toys - how much time do you spend actually trying to train her or play with her yourself - cos that can help her pay attention to you when you ask. Trainers (I don't think they're vet behaviourists but they might be able to recommend one) I've seen recommended in QLD / Brisbane area are Jane Harper http://www.dogsontrack.com.au/ Craig Murray http://www.dogschool.com.au/ And this is an article about how to choose a good trainer. You have to be comfortable with what they're telling you or you're not going to do it, and your dog won't change. So if you don't like the technique they recommend - tell them, tell them why, ask them if there is another way or to explain why they are using that technique. Trainers are not mind readers tho it can sometimes seem like it. http://www.k9protraining.com.au/how-to-choose-a-dog-trainer/

You can't send him a text message asking for the right one? Try it without the .au on the end? PS - really nice photo. I wish pix of me turned out that good. But I kind of stiffen up when I know someone is pointing a camera at me and that ruins the pictures.

I've been known to use - besides "yes" good, chicken, cheese, treat yup noice "I'll pay that" bonus brilliant "what a clever dog" sweet "I like that" cookie And for when she hasn't quite got it... "nearly" "keep trying" "try again" And for when she's going the wrong way... "oops" "nope" "nup" "no treat for that" (which might be confusing but she's a mind reader) "no way" "don't even think about it"

If I don't look after evil hound - I'm not sure who else will. Ok I might have a few takers but last time they tried dog sitting her - they got a bit of a shock about how bossy she can be. She gets more bossy if you cave in... don't do that. I call it dog obsessed - not dog sad. There are sometimes when I question my own thoughts about it. Like yesterday someone came to the park with an out of control border collie which charged directly up to other dogs, and did not come when it was called. A CKCS - that didn't come when it was called, went around the entire park greeting all the other dogs and people, and then did a crap un-noticed by the owners... in the middle of the oval. The owners of these two also brought 3 puppies 7 weeks old. They had been vaccinated and the vet had told them it was ok to take them to the park. And all I could think was "train wreck waiting to happen" - especially when there were three puppies and five or six of the regular park dogs all together, one puppy was being chased and rolled repeatedly by one of the park regulars, a SWF - but the puppy was smaller. The puppy was a BC cross - so it might remember - for a long time that SWF are no fun to play with. They did pick up their crap when I pointed it out to them. :) At least they didn't argue about that. But the BC could have crapped anywhere and not been seen... same with the puppies. I left as I thought one more of the park regulars on top of those puppies would not help their socialisation. Overwhelmed much. And me judge the fact that these puppies get taken on 2 hour walks daily - "because they're border collie cross". WTF? They're 7 week old puppies!

I don't know where Greensborough is. But it seems Cosmolo does dog training and is in Victoria. http://www.underdogtraining.com.au/ These are two more I've seen good reports and recommendations about. If they can't help, they might be able to recommend someone who can. Melbourne Erny (Judi Buchan) http://www.prok9.com.au/ Does Cranbourne, Frankston etc ie East Side. Nekhbet (Julie) http://inlinek9.webs.com/ Geelong based does up to Bendigo/Ballarat

I think OSoswift has super clear critiera on begging... I can understand my dog being a bit fuzzy cos I don't have such clear critiera. But in the kitchen - she has to stay on her mat when I'm doing food prep, and she's got that pretty clear. And in the dining room aka lounge - she knows she can't touch the porridge bowl if I put it down full or half finished. I don't know how she knows the difference... but I've got a 3 minute video of her sleeping next to the forgotten porridge bowl... well done evil hound. We're always training. There is no not-training time. If I'm not training her, she's training me.

Hi Pam These are the two dog trainers I've seen recommended for problem dogs in the Brisbane area, but I reckon they must also be good people trainers. If they're not comfortable with training 6yo girls - maybe you could ask them to recommend someone they think would do a good job. Jane Harper http://www.dogsontrack.com.au/ Craig Murray http://www.dogschool.com.au/ Hopefully someone else will get in here and make some recommendations. I remember my brother trying to train his kids how to behave around strange dogs (eg mine) and it was a total fail. Pay attention to what your twins like as rewards and make sure you have a good stash of these for when training day comes :)

Oh dear so sorry - I've corrupted him with a game of Its Yer Choice (ie no snatching) oops. Evil hound put on a choral performance for the porridge bowl this morning. She can hear when I put it down (I'm finished) when she's at the other end of the back yard and I'm in the house...

empty hands? who cares - let me do the plate pre rinse for you!

There is this story that goes around Adelaide - heard it again this morning... If you and your dog are in the water - the council and the state police can't touch you - the water belongs to the feds / british navy. WTF? But a lot of people believe it. The sand bar can be very popular after 10am during daylight savings - cos that's when our dogs all turn into pumpkins and must be put on leash so they don't wash away or something.

I've seen this lady recommended as well as Heike Raelene Koerber in Canberra - don't know if she's a "behaviourist" tho. [email protected] http://www.raelenekoerber.com/raelenekoerber/

Lol Sheena The disappearing box trick

Not many whippets down the beach - maybe because they're easily distracted by the rabbits and cats and foxes in the adjacent dunes... not to mention the seagulls. There was one lady who quit coming to the beach with her cocker spaniel because it would fixate on a seagull and follow it back to the roost - 20km that way... along the beach. But she didn't want to train it either. You know where you start in low distraction environment with lots of rewards and gradually build up to the beach with Olympic level distractions... Maybe a female vizsla would meet requirements - I see a few of those at the beach, not sure what they weigh tho. The females are usually smaller than the males. They've got short quick dry coats and they tend to stick with their owners and they get along well with all the other dogs at the beach.

Just wondering how you do predict temperament of a puppy in front of you without meeting both parent dogs? I had to do that with my puppy, I had a choice of two 10 week old puppies in front of me and picked the friendly one... and she's stayed mostly very friendly - except with dogs that look like ones that have been unfriendly to her - she's got a long memory for that kind of thing. Otherwise - she goes off what I do.

Every time your dog pulls and gets to where she wants to go - you've just rewarded the pulling and your dog pulls more - cos it works. So it's worth being really super persistent - especially with Dalmatians who really check that you mean it - often. The ezydog check collar looks like a limited slip collar or variation on martingale. So it's still a correction based or punishment based collar. The only time I think a dog might need one of those is if it's very good at getting out of a normal flat collar. You can set them up so when they're tight they don't fit over the dog's head - good for dogs with big necks and a habit of slipping out of the collar. It's better than a slip chain too but not as good as training nice loose lead. So while your dog doesn't really understand what loose lead means - you need a lot of treats for loose lead, if you get this right - you won't be able to get the dog to pull at all, and when the dog is stuck to you, you start looking for "average or better" and only rewarding when the dog is doing their best job. Not when it's pull a bit come back a bit - not paying that one, got to be all nice loose - and gradually build up the duration or time the lead is loose. Again - stop the second the lead goes tight. I often ask my dog "are you pulling" and she remembers her job and gives me some slack. She has to come back to me of her own accord before I will proceed. There are still a few university grade distractions she doesn't cope well with yet (running cats right in front of her) but I can get to the park and back without having my arm pulled out of its socket. So your reward for loose lead - is stepping forward and your "correction" is stopping or changing direction. To me the change direction - takes the choice away from the dog. You need to get the dog thinking about what a good choice is and then rewarding when she makes a good choice.

Smaller one ok for short stays and cooler weather. Stinking hot weather and all day stays - need a bigger crate, with room to put fans in...

The ones on the link fold up :) My dog has "pawed a bit" at the vebo soft sided - and it was fine. She pawed a lot at the bottom of it chasing kibble out the bobalot and that eventually made holes in the bottom. This was the one that got broken when someone sat on it - so it's not good if people decide it's ok to put something on top. Had some strange things happen - like someone at hockey thought it would be good to elevate their injured ankle and tried to move it - except the dog was in it so it wouldn't move...

That's what I like to read. I'm with PIA too. But never needed to claim.

Just a bit worried about "tough sturdy metal". Is that cos the dog tries to get out of the crate - to me that would mean more or better training needed. My dog could quite easily rip her way out of all the crates I've had but doesn't try cos she likes it in there and knows I will always come back for her. The sturdiest ones I've seen are the show trolley crates. You can use those as tables too. One of my fold up crates got broken when someone sat or fell on it. http://www.ozgroomingworld.com.au/aeolus-1-berth-aluminium-show-trolley-small-size-p638/

I don't get the fuss about ownership, guardian etc. Unless we're talking Peta trying to ban companion animals completely. I think the correct term for the relationship between me and my dog might be "slave". I am her personal slave to do her every bidding. And in that way - she's a lot like a cat. So maybe she owns me. But I pay the expenses.

http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/264261-lost-dog-finds-owners-after-seeing-them-on-tv/ Same story that Samman posted on the 12th sept?

I agree redfeather. There's someone I see every day with two cav x - and she breeds them and sells the puppies and she's friendly and nice to everyone on the beach. I don't think she thinks what she is doing is wrong. I could try asking her about genetic health testing and follow up with her puppy buyers but I don't think she'd understand. Her bitch has saggy tits. I also know a couple who bought some BYB puppies, and their daughter went to the same breeder - cos she liked her parents' dogs so much. Never mind that both these dogs have massive problems with their teeth, their jaws being misaligned - they have coat problems at the nether end - dags and worse, gait problems and both of them have had spinal injuries. But that just happens right? not the breeder's fault? I can't explain to them (the dog owners) either. And they're nice people too.

I think I want advantix for personal use... :)