Mrs Rusty Bucket

So I wonder what all these people who are anti crate think happens to a dog when it goes to the vet? Ie needs to have surgery or observation etc. Wouldn't it be better if it was used to that kind of environment. And pretty sure there is somewhere on the PETA website that says no humans should have pets at all.

Susan Garrett is releasing the "critical core" games which are her foundations to all her dog training on June 29th - for FREE (well for your email address) so that would include It's yer choice collar grab crate games and recall once game and maybe record keeping That would get you a bit start. Number one thing you need for agility - a rock solid start line stay... Number two - release - ie dog goes when you say. Number three - dog comes back to you no matter how exciting everything is everywhere else. So you start somewhere nice and easy with no distractions or duration and gradually add these in bit by bit... http://www.brilliantrecalls.com/freecallers-sneak-peak.html blatant plug - but I figure it's easier if she shows you how than I try to describe it... Note you sign up and I think the time you can do that will be limited and the time the stuff will be available will be limited - not completely sure about that but given it's a big experiment for her - I can't make promises about how long the thing will be available.

Hmm based on wag's condition ACMACR403A Identify and respond to animal behaviour - fail ACMCAS301A Work effectively in the companion animal industry ACMCAS302A Provide advice on companion animal selection and general care ACMCAS401A Manage compliance in the companion animal industry - what? ACMCAS404A Develop enrichment strategies for companion animals ACMCAS409A Provide training advice to companion animal owners ACMCAS410A Conduct companion animal training classes ACMGAS301A Maintain and monitor animal health and wellbeing - fail ACMGAS306A Assist with conditioning animals - fail ACMOHS401A Maintain occupational health and safety processes - fail ACMSPE304A Provide basic care of dogs - FAIL ACMVET411A Prepare, deliver and review animal care education programs BSBSMB405B Monitor and manage small business operations I'm not sure what compliance in companion animal industry is - but I'm pretty sure that letting one animal kill another one in your care through neglect or lack of adequate supervision - would breach animal cruelty laws?

Dobermaniac - Look for the foundation training for agilty, and canine conditioning and body awareness - ie you can start that now, and the sooner the better, it's not jumping or landing or tight turns... it's about knowing where feet are, backing up, perch work, stepping over broom sticks and garden stakes on the ground (like trotting poles for horses) so dogs learn about where their feet are and to pick them up. If you want to do agility work later - remember also to practice heel work on both sides, left and right. You can also practice handling signals eg go that way, go this way, go out - without jumps. I've trained mine to go out around sulo bins and milk crates... beware of fetch the ball games... you want to avoid the face plant, skid and turn that some dogs do when picking up the ball.

So sad. It does nicely sum up how you know when it's time...

Pick one thing, the easiest thing, and get that first. So for your dog (and mine) that was barking on cue. Shaping / capturing means you let the dog do what it want to do - and then you "mark" what you like (eg barking) by saying "Yes" (while the dog is barking) and then delivering the treat. Sometimes you can just deliver the treat. So pretty soon the dog is barking at you for a treat. Then when the dog has figured out barking gets a treat - you increase the criteria to get a treat.. ie add a cue. So "speak" (bark) "yes" treat... and then you only reward the barking after you've said the word "speak" and not other times. The dog might not understand this straight away... and there might be a bit of frenzied barking... but the faster you move through the steps the better... Then - you say speak and you say "yes" as soon as you hear any noise out of the dog ie the pre-bark. Most dogs are quiet as you hand over a treat... so that cuts out the super loud ie the yes coming early... So eventually "speak" becomes the growl at the front of the bark and "louder" has become my cue for a full on bark... ie "speak louder"... You can pick whatever cue word you like. But (this does my head in) you only add the cue after the dog has got the hang of this game means bark for treat... Then - maybe the next day or the next session depending on how easily confused your dog might be... You can start working on the quiet. ie reward quiet - with out a cue, then add the cue - if the dog is managing to be quiet for short spells (half a second, a second, then a few seconds)... ie long enough for you to say "Yes" and deliver a treat. When you've got three seconds or so, you can start adding the cue of "quiet" then (maybe next session) add duration ie to get the treat after you say "quiet" you need three and a bit seconds of quiet. Then reward two seconds of quiet, then 1 second then three seconds... and every now and again time how long your dog can be quiet - without losing it, and work on the edge of that time span ie reward shorter and longer and more random. Start looking for "average or better" performance - reward that. shorter quiets - I would say "nearly" and give the dog a bit of an ear rub. Just very gradually session by session - change one criteria - more time, or more distractions (excitement) or a different place or in front of dinner. Actually the stuff I train in front of the dog's dinner have the most solid performance... She gets pretty excited about dinner and if she can do what I ask in front of dinner she can do it most places.

Any chance you could teach her to bark on cue, ie give it value so she doesn't give it away for free? If a dog can bark on cue, then you can also teach quiet on cue. Works with my dog. First I had the bark - pretty easy to capture and reward - especially at dinner time... then I started rewarding the "pre bark" which is the noise she makes as she starts to bark and is much quieter... so that became what she does for bark on cue ie asking her to speak - shuts her up, unless I say "louder"... And then you can add the cue - "who is best?" and invite her to bark her head off :)

I know a few people who do all that. Ie tracking and agility and obedience and rally and anything else they can train their dog for. There's also dances with dogs - which combines heelwork and trick training and music and not everyone pays attention to the music. flyball and agility can lead to injury in your dog - especially shoulders - you need to train the dog to turn and brake without hurting itself... but that can be done too.

Thank you for posting Grumpette I think they look like they're enjoying themselves and that's the most important thing. Love the camera operator too.

I saw. You don't fix hate and outrage with more hate and outrage... sigh.

Same survey that dogbesotted shared in April. http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/262635-dog-behaviour-survey-for-a-masters-in-dog-behaviour/page__p__6691009#entry6691009

One of my favourite free resources for learning to train a puppy or dog... is kikopup on youtube. The lady who does that recently visited Australia (Sydney) but I found out too late to go sadly. https://www.youtube.com/user/kikopup The other person - more expensive is Susan Garrett, but she has a blog page and often puts good ideas up there. I think her recallers course is about to invite sign ups - includes about 35 or so games including crate games and lots of trouble shooting and help - give your email to the blog page and it will tell you when to sign up. Recallers has a money back guarantee (pro rata) if you don't like it. Cost last time was somewhere between $300 ish to $2000 ish US dollars depending what you signed up for. And people renewing always get a discount. http://susangarrettdogagility.com/

here's the link to the other thread http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/263319-7-day-old-baby-bitten-by-family-dog

They were talking on the radio this morning and said the period for public submissions ends this Friday. http://yoursay.sa.gov.au/yoursay/south-australia-s-dog-and-cat-reforms They also said that the fines are going to be increased - but the fines they talked about were a lot less than most councils have listed. eg I think they said about $55 for not picking up after your dog, but Adelaide city council has it more like $125 or over, and still they don't find it worth while to send rangers out to enforce it. And stray (escaped?) dog fine was $80 and will go up a few hundred - so AWL rep was saying on the radio - that some people would not be able to afford to get their dogs out of the pound without a payment plan. I guess they'd have to commit to the payment plan and get their dog out at the same time or they will accrue boarding costs faster than they could ever afford to pay it back. There's a big fine for not having dog microchipped... and it grows for every three months the dog is left unmicrochipped but the age is 3 months old so puppies can be sold without them. Personally I think they ought to increase the overhead on puppy farms - so no selling or rehoming puppies without microchips or under 8 weeks old.

SBT - weight around 12kg ish give or take - and usually all muscle. KCCS - weight 6kg give or take - half an SBT Not exactly an even contest. I think they're (FD) are just making stuff up - like they have from the start.

Maybe you could take her somewhere like a footy ground when training is on. The vague rule of thumb I was told - for healthy joint development is 5 minutes of exercise per month of age. So 3 months old - 15 minutes of exercise in one session (you can have more than one session spread out but no hour long walks). I think the regime for big dogs like Rottweilers was even stricter. One of my friends would set a timer eg five minutes out and five minutes back... Given you probably have a very energetic puppy - you might work on her brain as much as her body... and you can combine to wear a puppy out. Eg train her to put her paws on a perch eg a phone book (does anyone still have those?) wrapped in a towel - or just a folded towel to start with. start with front paws, then all four, then one paw at a time - each paw... Train her nose touches, collar grabs, its yer choice train / lure some stretches and bends ie getting her nose towards her back feet between her front feet - don't push it, just let her follow the treat or your hand. etc. Google canine conditioning and body awareness for more tricks like these, google "shaping tricks" for how to train etc...

koolietas so sorry about the kidney thing. my dog isn't getting worse which is good. The ointment seems like magic stuff and she doesn't seem as keen to chew on it ie she's not trying. The shoulder lameness seems to be getting less, but hard to tell. And the lump on her back - also hard to tell. I've been taking photos of the leg wound - I probably ought to take video of the limp and photos of the lump... She's out the back sunbaking at the moment but tied to a peg so she can't blast around the yard.

Looks great. And like they got some ideas from the dog shaming website... :) Pretty sure my dog does a fair bit of sleeping. But I don't go out much.

This explains some very strange judging I saw... where dogs who were all over the place as far as heel goes - scored better for their heelwork - than one dog who was very tight most of the time with a few very short lapses. It was like the competitors were being compared to their own performance and not between competitors against a set standard. I thought that was very strange. But it was a new judge. My mental note was never to enter one of theirs. Not that I've entered any obedience comps.

I always go by "view new content" or "view my content" which goes across all the forums.. but regular posts in the thread helps. I can't remember if I answered the survey or not. Number 1 thing I want to see - is no dog or cat be rehomed or sold without a microchip. Number 2 thing - no puppy to be separated from its litter and mother ie rehomed without them - until at least 8 weeks old unless a good reason in writing from a vet. Ie the mother died. Number 3 - separate the cat stuff from the dog stuff where the breeding and homing requirements are. dogs and cats have different needs. Most people who breed one species - don't breed the other - it's confusing to have it all jumbled up together. Number 4. There should be some consequence for a breeder who rehomes a sick dog or puppy. Including genetic problems. Given it's kind of like adopting... maybe paying some of the vet fees up to the price of the puppy if the new owner doesn't want to give the puppy back. It's tricky - especially if the puppy has a problem that means it ought not be bred from... but there must be a way of solving this besides handing the "faulty puppy" back to the "faulty breeder" - bearing in mind some breeders don't care and some do care. A record should be kept - so that it can be clear if it's a pattern with that breeder and puppy parentage. Any fines should cover the cost of enforcement for council and RSPCA or they won't have the resources to do it and they won't bother. Any vague phrases that are just there for lawyers to argue about like "reasonable" and "acceptable" ie the time a dog or puppy spends on a mesh floor - I'd like to see that down to 30 minutes unless there is a letter from a vet... ie a specific time. ie 30 minutes ok, 1 hour - not so good, 3 hours - clear evidence of abuse - nothing for lawyers to argue about. That ought to sort that nasty person who hoists his scary looking dogs in cages above his parties.

I don't know what obedience judges do where you are. I think judges in SA are starting to look more favourably at dogs that look like they're enjoying themselves (that high stepping tail wagging enthusiasm) but maybe not so much the dogs that heel with their nose across the handler's left leg even if the butt is in the right place and not fond of the nose pointing to the sky like a lot of IPO. Dogs with "tight" heelwork tend to score better ie the ones that move with their handler and they're not lagging or late with transitions or forging ahead. I talked to a dog body conditioning dog physio lady about that and she said the nose to sky thing can cause problems in some dogs' necks and backs if they're not introduced to it gradually to build up strength in muscles and tendons. Personally I like a dog to look where it's going - but that's an agility thing. A subtle thing I haven't got quite right yet - I'd like my dog to be looking (or listening) for the next cue, not the next treat/reward. Oops. But she does seem to like the game of find and stay in the RZ a lot... Ie one of our games is can I get her out of position...

My parents were very very careful about cats and cots. I think our family cat had several "flying lessons" before she figured out baby cot was completely out of bounds. My dad worked in hospital emergency so I guess he'd seen a few cases of baby suffocated by cat. I don't remember the family dog ever being in the same room as the cot or in our bedrooms when we were little. Our family cot was very high sided (stuff the ergonomics for mum), I don't think a Malamute would have been able to reach over the top and put its head in - not like the bassinet in the picture Raineth posted. Tho some dogs and most cats would still be able to jump in. I think its main hazard was trapping baby fingers tho that did not happen to any of us.

Are bassinets still those sort of bouncy chair beds for babies that are on the floor? I bet those parents are wishing they had a do-over right now. Sigh.

Labs are so rude... and puppies so clueless... Was very funny - thanks for sharing. :)

I'm using an ointment called imflamol on a wound on my dog's hock. It contains prednisolone - a corticosteroid, and some antifungal and some antibiotic. Not an easy place for a wound given every time she sits, she puts that bit of her into the dirt and all the tendons overlap and attach there. So the main thing is to make sure she can't lick it - also not easy but she's currently in a cone of shame (Elizabethan collar) which slows down her attempts to bite her leg off. It's also really really important that she can't lick the ointment - cos of the side effects and that I don't touch it without gloves on. So I've been washing the area with paper towel, applying ointment with cotton bud, rubbing it in with a glove on, and then covering up the sticky bit with talcum powder to stop other dirt attaching or the ointment coming off on carpet and etc. so far so good. But too soon to tell if the wound is getting smaller. I've been photographing it after I wash it too - just to get a more objective look. But it doesn't seem to bother her as much as it did before the ointment which has to be good. Increased thirst and hunger is a side effect. I've got a bucket of water set up that she can drink out of with the cone of shame on. She was sneaking a chomp in when I took the cone off for dinner - so now she has to wear it when she eats. I only take it off for on lead walks.