Alison Ma

Hi there, I recently lost my 1 and a half year old Siberian Husky x Alaskan Malamute to Cryptococcus and wanted to know if any other dog owner has lost their dog to Cryptococcus? She developed a lump on her gum, then lost her eyesight from the bacteria in her gum within not even two weeks. Treatment was not successful and we did not want her to suffer anymore. Please write to me, and let me know your outcome. (allyma74 at gmail.com) Thank you.

NO- your main problem, as I see it is to get BOTH of you some help so you can TRAIN your dog- then you will be able to go for walks/runs/ all sorts of things. An untrained ,confused dog , as you have found out- is not a happy and settled one Your partner may well be stronger and more able to physically hold and control Lola- but all that is doing is making her stronger and more likely to pull Ego has no part in helping educate a dog,or child, for that matter. if someone does NOT understand the way a dog/child behaves/learns/responds to certain stimuli- then that person will gain much from learning with a professional! Good for you in calling the trainer!!! ____________________ Thank you for your advice. Along with Lola, I am confused too. I know we definitely need a trainer, so I am going to call Craig Murray today.

Explain to him that the dog can only listen to one person at a time, and you need him to think about that and step back sometimes so you can work with her too. I know, not easy to say that to his face if he's ego driven - but I think you are going to have to. ______ Yeah, I need to take charge and do what I think is right, because at the end of the day, she is my dog. I am definitely going to call the trainer and ask him to help me out.

______________ My partner has this huge ego-trip when it comes to me telling him how it is with Lola. Last night, Lola was getting confused, because I am the one doing the exercises with her, but my partner is int he background yelling "sit, stay".

_____________ I know. That is exactly what I said to my partner. Stuff him, I am going to call the trainer.

Alison- so , how did you get on with the trainer? ________________ I spoke with my partner when I got home about calling a trainer. He told me to wait until we go to the training course on 28 March. I’m going to call Craig Murray, even though my partner doesn’t want me too. It is like me and my partner aren’t on the same team when it comes to Lola. Once he joined us outside, he was a distraction to Lola. It is very frustrating to me, that once he steps outside with us, her focus is not on me, when it needs to be. We did a lot exercises with her last night. I went outside, and put her harness on, took it off, put it on, took it off again. At the end, she was very calm and was happy for us to do this. We stayed at the front door until her excitement wore off. Once she was calm, I walked out the door first telling her to stay, I could tell in her eyes that she wanted to please me, so she stayed. (its a look like “is this what you want me to do mummy”). We stood on our front veranda, and she got excited, she barks like “why are we stopping” kind of bark. Once her excitement worse off, we walked 5 metres, I continued this exercise for an hour or so. I just took her for a walk up and down our street last night because this is our problem area. She gets distracted when it comes to other dogs barking, I need to have her in a confined area to practice.

_____ Thank you for your advice. She gets moody. Sometimes she is happy to listen, and other times, I tell her to stay, I move 10 metres back, and then she decides to walk to me. So, I do the whole exercise again. Repeat, repeat and repeat. Last night I did some practice with her. I put her harness on, took it off, put it back on and took it off again. Continuous, until it got very boring to her. I then walked her through the house, stopping whenever she pulled. I stood at the front door with her, she got excited, I told her to sit and we stayed there for 5 mins (until her excitement wore off) I opened the front door and I walked out first. She got very excited then and nearly pulled me down my front steps. We stayed there for 5 minutes (until her excitement wore) off. I would do that every 5 or so metres. Our main problem is exercising her. I need to take her for an hour walk every day. Once I have that in place, all will go into place. The Husky Club of NSW is having a day course, which will help guide us in the right direction. We do an hour presentation, and then hour outside with the dogs. I have a number of a trainer that another member of DOL provided me.

I'm pretty sure the trainer who I mentioned would be able to squeeze you in this week. What I was aiming at when I was saying before you trying anymore different tools just wait until you see a trainer otherwise you're wasting your monye on tools that your dog is going to ignore I took Lola for a walk this afternoon, just up and down our street and see seems to get that I don't want her to pull. Whenever she hears dogs barking, she gets distracted and starts to pull. I just stop and turn back. Any kind of excitement, I would walk back to the house.

_____________ Yeah, we tried putting her harness on and taking it off, then putting it back on and taking it back off. To make her feel as if it is boring and just another routine kind of thing. So, that next time we take her on a walk, she won't be so excited. I am attended a course in two weeks, and I will see what that does. Hopefully, they are supportive as they say they are and will help me, my partner and Lola.

I know right. As soon as we put a joggers on, Casey on older dog knows what that means, then going to get their leads.... They are already going nuts. Walking out the front door, down the stairs. More like being pulled out of the house and down the stairs!

________________ I do those things with her now. We play in the backyard when I am at home. I haven't thought of that before. I am going to practice putting the leash on and taking it off. We went away for a week and when it came time to going for a walk, she wasn't excited. She went out for walks all the time when we were away. I have another dog at home too. A 10 year old Dalmatian. She still acts as if she is a puppy when it comes to walking, I am going to do the same with her.

Did you see SaS's post. Everyone would have been looking at you because your dog was behaving like a pork chop, not because you weren't welcome. That's why you go to training - to get help getting past it. However, I agree that a private trainer is going to get you a lot further than group classes. Yes I saw that. I am going to call him after work and see if he can help me out.

Hi Alison, the important thing is to want to fix it but at the moment it's the blind leading the blind. Judging by what you've said above Lola doesn't understand that a check means don't pull. She thinks the check means sit, so she sits then you walk off and she pulls again, you check and she sits and so on. She thinks she's doing what you want her to do. I've been training dogs since I was a child and it is something you have to learn, it's not difficult but it's one of those things where you need someone to show you not just how but when. A trainer or and obedience club will help you. Don't be embarrassed we all have to learn, no one is born knowing these things. Good luck! _____________ Well, that makes sense! When I pull her to the side, she sits. So, she isn't understanding that we want her to stop pulling. Definitely going to stop that then.

and she pulls so much because neither you, or Lola have been trained in how to walk correctly using a check collar .(or anything else) Alison- you have the canine equivalent of a V8 towtruck on the end of the lead! Would you just hop in a vehicle like that and go? NO. You would be shown, step by step, how to start off slowly, how to apply the brakes at the right time, so you don't skid, or crash.. all those things. Now, dogs are WAY more complicated, cos they make their own decisions- and react instinctively to so many things we are not aware of!! Unfortunately, the more training collars, etc you try, and the more they do not work, the longer it may take to get the two of you working together You will both be in the grip of bad habits. So- as you are embarrassed in public- and want it fixed ASAP- so you can enjoy your beautiful girl - private training now would be a grand thing to do _______________ Yeah, I completely understand what you are saying. I just don't know what to do in the meantime. I want to walk my dog, but I don't want her to be walking me. I don't know what to use, harness, halti or what? I want to take my dog to the park and have a run around, I don't want her to be stuck in the yard while we wait for a trainer to come. Get what I am saying?

_____________ I sure am going to walk her everyday. I don't want her to be sad and depressed, or bored at home. I live near Parramatta. Do you know of any around my area? I attended a training lesson at a school in Bankstown, and everyone looked at me like I wasn't welcome because of how she was acting.