Staff'n'Toller

Is it possible that he is stressed by having to deal with up to 10 dogs staying at the boarding house? Whilst they may all be good dogs, if he has trouble reading signals it could be very stressful 24 hours a day for him to read them and try to fit in. Particularly if he is only there occasionally, and the pack is fluid i.e. there are perhaps 1 or 2 new dogs each time for him to negotiate. Just my 2c.

I'd be happy to organise and host seminars for Melbourne. :)

I will PM you :)

We used one for ?months? with a medium sized dog who had back surgery. They don't rub at all, the straps are sewn on the outside. They seem very comfortable for the dog. :) I have a larger size at my clinic now for large dog in-patient use too.

Kudos to you. It's lovely to see how quickly the dog world can assist each other in a time of crisis. :)

Perhaps try all of the larger breed clubs in Vic?

Dogs would love that, needs some edging though! :p

Just as an FYI on that, I went to buy one today. You can join online or in store, but when I took the ramp to the register, the dude scanned a generic members card he had sitting on his till, so I got the discount but didn't have to join. I don't much care if he or the store get points or whatever, as I never shop there anyway. :laugh:

Fair enough, sounds like you are working very hard to help him. K9Pro has distance packages for training in drive, perhaps that is worth enquiring about. :)

Some thoughts...take no notice if you disagree paddles. :p Is he OK as far as hips and elbows? There seems to be an obvious reluctance, particularly to drop, makes me think it is either something physical, or he is expecting a correction. What does he absolutely go crazy about? Are you using it as a jackpot? I'm not sure how much I believe in 'poison cues' but is it worth retraining your sit and drop with other cue words and clicker/food/jackpot to increase drive? Gundogs can be very visually stimulated, I agree he should be kept fresh and mostly be in that place where he feels chilled enough to sleep - so whether that is crate or car etc. He heels very nicely, I think he would start to look up more often if you did walk faster. :) Most young GSP's I know are crazy bananas, they generally levitate more than walk. I know my Toller hates repetition, I have been to a few seminars of top trainers who say they teach everything in separate parts, with jackpots etc, and only really put it together in the trial ring. Get down to FOO's if you can, it sounds fantastic for practice and advice. Maybe you will see a few handlers using jackpots too. :)

Sorry, I should have noted that was directed to the OP. :p

Just out of interest, how did you teach sit and drop? Were corrections used in the past for non-compliance?

Call your Vet as there are two dosages depending on severity- 2mg/kg or 4mg/kg. :) also the tablets come in 3 sizes so you may well have a different size.

Either KCC or out at Narre Warren. KCC is pretty bad at the moment so I've heard - very poor water quality and cracks in the ground that can injure your dog - so I won't be going there for a bit. I know there is water near you (the biggish lake?) but it's not much use for retrieving training - not enough entry/exit points and way too many dogs running riot for my liking. Ah, right. Yeah, such a shame about that dam, I can remember being down there for hours with my first dog/s and sitting at the creek and never being disturbed. Now there are so many rude dogs there, can't go at all.

Which water source do you use TSD?

Choose a dog that is going to be good with your kids and easy to have indoors, take on holidays etc. I don't want to sound negative, but you have four young children, which means in a short while, you may have four kids doing four separate sporting activities, music, and if they will be private schooled - weekend school sport. There are only two days in the weekend. :) I'm just saying...choose a breed that suits your lifestyle first, and your dog sport aspirations second.

Apart from Devon Meadows there aren't any others as far as I know. We used to pay $30 for 30 mins for a private session at Doveton, I had three dogs, now down to two. I was very happy to pay it as we had two dogs old and fragile. Plus the pool owner needs to be reimbursed the same as if they had booked 3 separate dogs into any session. We are currently driving to Kepala but it's an hour each way and starting to grate on me considering it's my only day off. The things we do for our dogs! :laugh: Pool cleanliness is a big concern of mine since I have a dog with a compromised immune system that can't afford to get a tummy bug from consuming ill-treated water. We really need one in the East/South East, but it's a big investment, you need an indoor space, build the pool, extra filtration, staff who can do pool maintenance, management of dog behaviour (and people behaviour!) and some knowledge of the impact of swimming on dogs who've had surgery in case they are also coming in.

If you're coming to Melbourne at some point my Dad makes them too. He has a template set up from when he made mine. :laugh:

I had a medium in my Pulsar and it fits in an X-trail just fine. :) I have a large in my X-trail at the moment but I consider it to be too big. I have the fleece as scratchy dogs nails drive me bananas. It does seem like an exorbitant amount but it is just a really well made product that lasts for years and it doesn't seem there is any equivalent in terms of quality and materials.

Do you have an indoor dog pool anywhere near you Staffyluv? They can be great for exercise - and no other dogs to bother you if you can book private sessions.

Thanks Erny, you understand what I was getting at. :) I'm very sure anyone could do a search in the purely positive training threads here and find me commenting that there is no such thing, I have never purported that to be true. Where you have a puppy with little wrong as far as behaviour is concerned, we can always reach for reward/motivation based techniques first. :) I don't recommend people randomly out of an internet directory. I know Deb Millikan personally, she was one of my tutors back in 2005/06 and was well experienced then, she has done much more study since, and has bucket loads of hands on experience. I also know that Deb would be well qualified to help the OP with her adult dog and integrating children into the dog/human unit.

I think, what people are trying to impart to you, is that it's doubtful CM methods will produce a dog who wants to connect with you. :) CM is a self taught *trainer* (I use the term very lightly). He has created a specialty for himself working with dangerous dogs and dogs that have severe and sometimes not-so-severe behaviour problems. Your puppy is a clean slate, thankfully :) seek out a reward based trainer. Try Canine Behavioural School if they are near you.

You may have trouble as they're with the APVMA for registration. If they are hard to find you need to ask your Vet to special order them from Ceva- they are not currently distributing to wholesalers.

My Toller eats RC Labrador Adult. I've tried an assortment of other brands including Eagle Pack, Artemis and Black Hawk. I can't see any difference between them TBH. He put on 3kg eating Advance Turkey and Rice, so switched him back to Labrador, he can eat more of it and the weight has fallen off quite quickly.

Don't stress ok? :) Animal eye care are the bestest. I'm sure Rudy will do fine. The worst case scenario is (I believe) that you may have to do a second round of surgery down the track. I'm pretty sure your Vets will say NSAID's and Cartrophen first for Scootie and see how it goes.