dlmckay

Sounds as if she's going into such a deep sleep, she's relaxing entirely and losing bladder control. Perhaps the trampoline mattress wasn't as comfortable If she were my dog, I'd put her somewhere easy to clean at night and arrange a vet appointment to discuss the incontinence.

I saw a Beagle competing in Flygility - funny thing was very entertaining to watch. He'd head out down the lane and when he'd reached the box, he'd sit and throw his head back in a bay! "Mum! I've found the box mum!" - absolutely hilarious, but not much of a competition winner

It's quite amazing the difference in opinion on Cesar Milan between Australia and the UK. UK boards abhor Cesar - very few people like him, they hate his methods, and find him cruel. Try talking about him on dogpages.co.uk or rykat.org! Oz boards seem to love Cesar and his methods. My view is that I like some of his methods - I like the interrupter "shhhttt" method of his. But I do think he pushes a dog quite hard and if it cracks and lunges, he tends to deck it to the floor. The flooding is another tricky one.... the dane was clearly stressed but did "get over it" in the end. Could this have been done more gently? Possibly. But you get better TV by pushing it. However, I flood my fear aggressive GSD x Huntaway at agility shows to make her lean on me and trust me. We've got a better working relationship out of it, but I wouldn't recommend anyone else try it without knowing the inside of their dog's mind. If I had a dog for which the usual positive cheese waving wasn't working, then I would certainly up the game and start implementing some of Cesar's methods.

I tried with the FR method but with the manual mouth opening... she hated it. It got to the stage where she would clamp her mouth tighter and tighter against my fingers opening her mouth and then she just started to move her head away whenever the dumbell came out. So I tried clicker for the first time ever and have managed to undo the hatred aimed at the DB and now she picks her ears up because she knows we're having a game. So far, we've been able to click for nose touches, but I've not been able to progress to her picking it up. She isn't an obvious dog, so maybe I'm missing those tiny increments that mean she's moving on... she starts to whine in frustration and then buggers off to her bed. Any tips? She's GSD x BC?

Would Premack's Principle help at all? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premack's_principle I read this in Leslie McDevitt's Control Unleashed for distracted dogs... http://www.k9behaviorservices.com/philosophy.html extract below

Glad you all like it! This is just a very basic course, other agility equipment gets used including six weave wands and a very low a-frame ramp (only raised about 1foot off the ground) and the courses also bend as the dog progesses in ability. The gaps between the obstacles vary, the only static distance is the five paces between the box and the first fly hurdle, otherwise it can be one stride to two strides between obstacles. The course is generally 15m in length, so the dog runs 30m in total. Raven did retrieve the ball from the box - the video is from a digital stills camera, not a camcorder, so no zoom. I'll see if I can get some video of our training nights if you like and show you my older dog, Tui, doing a course with a bend in. Now that I know how to do the techno wizardry, I'll fill you in a little more!

This is my young dog Raven winning a Beginners heat at flygility - hope you like! She got a runner's up position at the end of the event - very pleased!

Sure are - what you have to find is what works for you. Best piece of advice I was ever given when I started to train Raven after owning Tui. Two completely different dogs and two completely different training methods required on both of them. Personally, I prefer the Halti (which is not the same as a Gentle Leader, although similar), particularly for dogs with a tendency to lunge at other dogs. This is because you can pull the lead up and the strap closes down on the dog's muzzle, closing the jaws and at the same time, lifting the dog's head away from the other dog. I have not yet progressed from the Halti to a flat collar alone, but I am finding that I can control Raven off lead, with the Halti on, as she thinks I am still on the other end of the lead when she's wearing it

On my steady 25kg 4yo - a flat collar and the word "heel" - that's all that's needed. On my loopy 35kg 1yo, - a Halti and willpower! One day, she'll calm down... Diana

Then you need to check out this Zone 3 Agility Group Agility is fun! Diana x

Whoo hoo! Kiwi invasion!!!! Where are you then? And where do you train?

As probably the only kiwi here, I train at NorWest DTC in Kumeu, West Auckland! Train on Friday nights, out in all weathers (unless complete downpour) and have started being an Instructor Buddy, helping the instructor out with his junior class before my senior class is held. Diana

Just thinking on this bit, when he's just out of reach, can you get him to SIT and then get his collar? Sometimes the dogs don't realise that this means that their collar will be grabbed, they've got their head stuck on "HERE/COME means I'm back on lead" but they haven't realised that SIT or even DOWN could mean this too! Strange but true!

I've never used food for training - I found that my dog was soooo distracted with the food, she wasn't actually listening to me at all. I've used a tennis ball as a treat. She's only been ball motivated in the last year or so and now loves, loves it. She only gets to chase the ball once she's done what I want her to do. So, if she only does 10 weave poles, she still gets a pat and good girl, but she doesn't get the ball. Once she's done 12 weave poles, off that ball goes across the park! Didn't take her long to figure it out. Someone had troubles with recall after throwing a ball to their dog and I suggested they have a second ball in their hand when recalling. It worked, the dog came back with the first ball in order to have the second ball thrown. Might work if you're dog is toy motivated, but it would need to be a toy that doesn't come out very often and they really enjoy seeing it. A tugger or something similar? Good luck! Diana

Well exactly - take the prong/check/electric collar discussion/argument to another thread. This poor person here just wants to know some training tips for agilty and flyball! Sonny! One very good tip for teaching agility is LEFT and RIGHT - if Sonny's very into the tennis balls then hurl it left and call LEFT - work on that for a little while and then opposite to teach RIGHT. Invaluable for agility where there are very tight bends! Me, I can't get to grips with left and right, so I call TO ME and AWAY and gesture with my arms! Tui's cottoned on though! For flyball, you will need to get Sonny to give the ball up to you willingly, so don't fall into the trap of letting him keep it and chewing it into oblivion! Take it off him and throw another! He'll learn that fast recall back to you with a tennis ball means he gets to play again with another one and that's exactly what you want for flyball. Ditto about the low impact work (jumps, etc), but there's no reason why you can't play with tunnels or weavewands. Get some bamboo stakes and poke them into the ground at 60cm intervals - you'll need twelve... toss the ball at the end of the wands to encourage Sonny to go through them quicker! And above all - have fun, end on a high and remember that just 10 minutes of a new command can tire little brains out - have a play after training and don't push too hard - he's only a baby yet! Diana

Well, that's strange news to me! The only fence she can't see through is the unpainted one, but they can see around either side of it - the dogs can get under the deck and see over the retaining wall, but not fit through the gap and where it abuts the brown fence, there's a gap there too. The brown fence is made up of vertical slats with gaps between, so that's fully see-throughable too! Notwithstanding any of that, they only have to go to the gate on the deck to see what's happening all around! I think Dr Harry may have been stumped with my dog! Diana

Believe you me, a lot of thought goes into this dog! Because of her issues and her fears, I could make a situation a whole lot worse by approaching it the wrong way! I like to get lots of opinions and viewpoints, discuss it a while and then go with a plan of action. I've come a very, very long way with this dog and I'm not about to undo all my hard work by kneejerking! All the help and advice is very much appreciated by all parties Diana x

OK, hmm, how do I respond? It's tricky, because I know what's in my head and how her head works and I have trouble explaining it... you're not being annoying, you're just keen on a system that works for you! Now, the idea of having the hot wire at the top of the fence was that she needed to be fairly committed to going over before I was prepared to have her zapped. I believe that the Innotek collars do have a place, but I'm concerned that she'll be running in the dog pen playing with my other dog (or running up the boundary with the dog next door) and go over the boundary line set and get zapped for just having fun. As you can see from the pictures, it's quite a narrow run and she's quite a big dog. She can get from one side to the other in two strides. It wouldn't be fair to reprimand her for going near the fence when she had no intention of going over. Perhaps if I had a larger area, I would consider one. I've looked at a few, but never been fully happy to go through with it. I hope that explains! Diana

The piece of piping sounds fantastic! I might give that a go. As Raven is quite a big dog (GSD x Huntaway I think), the drop won't be such a big deal for her. If I couple that with the wire, I think we're onto a winner. I'm just a little concerned that any type of hanging item to inhibit jumping will be pulled down by her. Rusky, I have no idea what's so fascinating about the other side... she has canine company, Kongs and chew toys. You can see in the photo that I even have an electric wire along the top, but apparently she's learnt to not be touching it with her feet on the floor and is managing not to get shocked... that's one clever pooch. There is a dog on the other side and she gets into their garden and bullies it to within an inch of it's life. The poor dog needed stitches last time and goodness knows the neighbours are being very wonderful by not demanding I pay for it - I don't think I'd have been as nice! There is also their kitten which loves it's own dog, but not mine! Thanks for all your help, the ideas have been tremendous. I don't know what I'd have done without you! Diana x

Seemed to me more like bickering than helpful advice! Maybe I'll trawl a bit further this evening! :rolleyes: We've decided to go for a tensioned wire running one length of the dog run to the other and enough chain that she can lie down, but no more than that. She'll have to be on a chain because she'll eat a rope line and I'm hoping that the lack of excess chain will mean that the wire is holding the weight, not her collar and that she'll be less likely to tangle herself in it. Trial run this weekend to see what sort of state she gets into. If she gets extremely distressed, we may have to think of something else. Diana

espinay2, thanks for those websites, they look more promising. The lean in arms are probably what I'm going to have to go for with an electric wire across the top to act as a reminder. I did look at the Innotek stuff, but Raven is a rescue and we have had HUGE issues to work through in regard to fear aggression and I don't think an electric collar is the way to go with her. Funny how the wolfdog site also dislikes the e-collars too So, some woodwork at the weekend! OH will be thrilled - NOT! Oh well, whatever keeps my baby in. Honestly, if this dog knew what I'd gone through to get her this far, I'm sure she'd never do a single "bad" thing again! Diana

Not wanting to be Miss Negativity, but the trellising is suffering from Raven leaping at it, grabbing a hold with her teeth and her weight pulling pieces of it off, thereby making a gap big enough for her front feet to yank herself over. I don't think any sort of wire is going to be strong enough to hold her off (unless electrified!). Definately looking at wood or an 8ft fence! And the 8ft fence is the bit where the council start getting excited and demanding over $600 in fees... Diana

This is what she jumps out of... mostly the new unpainted fence at the back and the top right hand corner...

Hi, I have Raven (the one on the right) and she's very keen at jumping my 180cm fence. Council restrictions will not let me take the fence any higher without getting planning permission and they'll charge me from $626 just for the admin.... Has anyone got pictures of fences with overhangs, electric lines, etc to give me ideas on how to keep this mutt in? Currently we have an electric line across the top, but she's still getting over. Any ideas, pictures, etc would be welcomed because she's treading on extremely thin ice with my husband who wants her rehomed... Diana

My Tui suffers from itchy ears constantly. She is now on an antihistamine permanently as the scarring inside her ear canal is starting to build up and block the ear. If the ear has brown gunge in it, clean it out. Use cotton buds and get into every crack and crevice. It probably won't smell, but it may seem a little musty? If you have this smell, it could be a yeast infection. The bacteria in the ears is very delicate and easily upset, so the pup licking at them won't have helped. The inside of the ear should always be dry. Tip the dog on it's side, soak the ear with warm water and leave the water in there for a few minutes to soften the gunge. Let the dog shake it out (standing well back!) and then attack with cotton buds - you'll need lots, you'll be surprised how much gunge can be in there. That should help until you get to the vet. Diana