koalathebear

I've been reading this method of teaching a dog left and right. Before I embark on it - does anyone have an easier method? As to why we want to do it, we read somewhere before that you should teach hand signals as well as voice commands in case the dog goes deaf one day. Thus, Elbie's been taught hand signals as well as voice cues for all of his tricks/commands. Then yesterday I read that it's good to teach your dog left and right in case it goes blind. So we're preparing for all contingencies! Thanks very much in advance.

Oh gosh she's absolutely darling!!! Those eyes - that nose! For some reason I thought poodles always had long thin snouts but your dog's snout is just adorable. My favourite photo is her as a scruffy puppy. I suspect I could convince even my OH to get a poodle if it looked like yours

Elbie's been eating Hills puppy since he was about 9 weeks - he had fairly runny poos when we first got him and that was very unappealing so the Hills made his poops more manageable. I know Hills isn't popular on DOL but Elbie's very healthy, shiny coat and solid poos ... He has lamb flaps sometimes, devon and other treats but mostly it's just Hills. I really hope that Mindy feels better soon - the poor thing to have constant poo woes

Oh - Max is absolutely adorable. That is so clever of him to be able to do 'dead' already. That attentive expression on his face is extremely familiar to me. I really can't wait to see more videos of him - he's almost quivering with anticipation

For Elbie, I sat behind him and when my husband held his hand up, I guided Elbie's paw to do a high five. After a couple of times, he did it on his own. It was easy to develop into a wave, too. I just faced Elbie, held my hand up in a wave position and he copied me. Then I gave it a name and a signal. He does a beg and so if I hold both hands up before him, he will imitate me and do a high 10. Hope that helps!

I'm now curious about the difference between knowing when a dog is being a sook and a dog having separation anxiety - which I thought was a far more 'serious' condition. The reason I'm not sure is that in another thread, I have been reading about how it's not normal for a puppy to go from room to room and then get upset if he can't get to you. Elbie whinges and complains for a bit but usually settles down after a few minutes. When we put him outside, depending on his mood he might complain for a bit (a bit of whimpering, sometimes a bit of barking) but then will go and do his own thing. He only gets let back inside when he's quiet. When we get home, we ignore him and usually don't let him inside until after we've put everything away and settled in. When inside, he doesn't necessarily have to be in the same room as us but he does like the door open so that he can inspect. He's quite nosy so will follow us around to see what we're doing. If he's interested, he'll stick around, if not he'll go back to his dog bed or go back to playing with his toys. He will whimper and fuss a bit if the door is closed and someone is on the other side - but even then he'll usually settle after less than a minute. I don't see any barking/clawing at doors ... he also doesn't seem to be unsettled for more than a minute or so. ETA: To clarify, I guess what I'm saying is that at present, we just take a kind of: "too bad, deal with it" attitude to any whinging that comes from Elbie. We were warned that kelpies (including kelpie crosses) can be manipulative little so and sos that push situations to see what they can get away with. So as we see it, he just has to deal with the separation and we don't see anything that concerns us - but I was a bit puzzled that following from room to room and bleating might be considered something to worry about?

Ishy - Buffy is sooooooooooooo cute. Beagle puppies are just so adorable! Hope you have lots of fun with her

wizzle: she's looking great. I really do love her rollovers - a big ball of fur rolling over. She's also very excited and wriggley which is also so funny to see - as the owner of a big wriggler, I identify with it. I also sympathise with the whole ‘treat burner’ thing. Elbie does a lot of his training at dinner time but if I know that he’s going to be trained during the day, I try to put outside some of his kibble as treats because I don’t want to overfeed him and end up with a chunky monkey. While not as attractive to him, Elbie can be motivated to do tricks with his tug toy and his other toys – but we have to ‘charge their value’ up first. Basically my husband and I walk around carrying his toys and pretending to be fascinated by them – then Elbie will become re-interested them and do a series of tricks in exchange for a toy.

Thanks sas. I feel very relieved because while I was trying not to fling peel around while peeling, I have to admit I wasn't being particularly cautious about peeling. Normally Elbie's as tough as nails and it's quite unusual for him to throw up. When we just got him, he had a weird tanbark addiction and was a total tanbark bandit -finding tanbark in the yard even though we didn't even know where it was. We were constantly taking random bits of tanbark from him because he kept wanting to eat it. Our heart sank when we moved into our own house and saw that the back yard was just filled with tanbark - we had visions of coming home and finding our little puppy bulked up on tanbark overdose. Fortunately he seemed to give up the desire to eat everything in his path which may be why we've only ever seen him throw up his food once. This is true ... I still remember why I left one of the US discussion fora. I ranted about it here. When I said that we were going to leave our pup in the backyard when he was old enough when we went to work almost all of the posters made me feel like I was a criminal and that they didn't even leave their dogs alone in the yard when they were grown up!

Wow, beautiful photographs and beautiful dogs. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks. My brother commented when Elbie was little that all puppies are cute and Elbie wouldn't be as cute when he grew up but it wouldn't matter because he would have grown up 'with' us and we'd love him even if he was ugly. For a while, I felt like my facebook was filled with photos of ugly babies whose parents were convinced that they were gorgeous and I even took to muttering sotto voce to my husband when I saw an ugly baby on the street that that was a "facebook baby" and then we fretted about whether or not parenthood made one blind to the ugliness of one's own baby. Yes I know that's mean, please don't think that I am a terrible person - and to be fair, very young babies are usually kind of ugly and a lot of the ugly babies have grown up to be very cute toddlers and I do have a lot of cute babies posted to my facebook, too. My husband has warned me that the same 'blindness' may occur in relation to dogs and that while I am cooing over my dog and thinking he's still cute, we might have become one of Those Dog Owners that inflicts photo after photo of an ugly dog on the world while under the deluded misapprehension that one's dog is still cute ... Anyway, what I'm getting at is that we still love our dog to bits even though we realise he's not the cute little dewey eyed, snub-nosed wee puppy he used to be and more important, we love the personality that is unfolding. I'm sure you're enjoying finding out all the new facets of Max's personality, too I really want to see his photos. Fret not about the ear - I think it lends character. Also, after I read A Letter to a Kelpie, I resolved to cherish Elbie for his wonky, mismatched ears Hee hee. Elbie is a real theatrical doggy sometimes. I can't wait to see Max's version. Have you seen Niques' lab James do 'dead'? It's gorgeous.

Wow - photo 1 is so happy and photo 3 is so pensive and sad! what did you do? Say: "Think about something sad?????"

First, I can't wait to see more photos of Max - he looks like a very nice-looking dog. Secondly, I guess you might want to manage your expectations about classes going forward When we went to our first obedience class at dog school I was a bit shocked that we were learning really basic things like sit, drop, stay etc. I was even more horrified when I learned that the next level up (bronze) was pretty much the same stuff all over again - I thought that the dog and us were going to go crazy with boredom. It turns out that even though the content is notionally the same - the level of difficulty expected will vary depending on the class. Also, things that are really easy at home can be quite challenging at Dog School when there are so many smells, sounds, dogs and people. For instance, one week the most placid dog in our class was freaked out by a combination of other dogs and cherry picker in the background. While Elbie does a stay perfectly at home, at Dog School he might accidentally break his stay because the person next to us releases HER dog and he gets confused etc Or, in the middle of his sit, the friendly GSD next to him decides she wants to slobber on him. So thus far, I've not been bored at Dog School at all. In beginner obedience, we didn't do assessment and the expectations of the puppies was pretty low. In bronze, they expect 30 second stays, more discipline when waiting for food, longer distance for 'go to your mat' that sort of thing. There's also weave work and little obstacle courses. You also stand next to different dogs and learn which dogs distract your dog more. In our class we have a little girl who accompanies her mother and we call her the pink ninja because her favourite thing is leaping out of nowhere and trying to distract Elbie during class - we actually think that's great because it helps us to get focus. So in terms of 'technical' stuff, chances are you can get all of that off the internet and books - way more than can be taught in a class setting but I don't think there's any substitute for going to classes. We've also been really lucky that for beginner and bronze we've had good instructors who are really kind to our dog. I have to admit that I didn't love puppy classes but I do really enjoy our obedience classes at dog school. They always tell us that obedience classes aren't about training the dog - it's about training us as owners to train our dogs. I have noticed some people that are disappointed in themselves and their dogs because they bring their dog to class once a week but don't do anything else in terms of training during the week - that's setting both up for unhappiness during class because the dog can't deliver and the owner is frustrated. So like all things, obedience classes are all about what you bring to them

Wow, those photos are amazing!!! Thanks for sharing.

lilli_star and spottychick: so sorry about the squeakerama Elbie does that, too - goes bonkers when he hears squeakers on youtube etc. To be honest, the pig mat squeakers really aren't that bad compared to his other squeakers. is a comparative video of Elbie's various squeaky toys. See what I mean? Also - I will warn you that there is squeakage in the video ...spottychick: Thanks! There's still a long way to go for him but we're really happy with his progress. Elbie has done ToT. He is very motivated so we train him with treats (VERY food motivated), tug and toys. Sometimes we train him by clicker-training him the behaviour we want, sometimes we show him how to do it For instance, he learned to 'wave' because I held my hand up to him in a wave position and he copied me Depends on the trick - we tackle the training with different methods. * Also, to keep this post updated, is Elbie playing fetch. He is reluctant to drop the toy right at my feet because he knows we're going to throw it again.

Max #1: I have absolutely nothing useful to add except to say that I adore your avatar of Max there - very stylish. Looks like a moment from a Wong Kar Wai movie - if he made movies with dogs :p ) ETA: I agree with wuffles - you will see a wide range of skills, levels and personalities in just one class. Some dogs are very calm and placid but will not sit or drop for anything. It's a funny sight to see 2-3 adults trying to get a dog to drop :p As wuffles also said, there are some days when your dog seems to have the devil in him/her and he/she just will not behave ... I've met so many people at Dog School who at one time or another have said that they considered just going home because their dog was so distracted. We've had it happen a couple of times

Hmmm. I guess it will have to be sticky tape then. Be warned though, it took us three types of sticky tape before we could find some that would stick to Elbie's fur The challenge was then to make sure that after he swiped at it that we grabbed it before he could eat it Mama Koala was over when we were teaching him "are you shy" and she thought that it was the most hilarious thing ever. Can't wait until Genevieve learns 'drop dead' - she is going to be the cutest thing ever. Her rollovers are already sooooo cute. We felt very self-righteous and smug at Dog School today as the cold wind kept whacking us in the face. I had two hoods pulled over my head and looked like an evil elf Fetch has been tricky for us. Elbie prefers having us chase him around for the toy rather than giving it to us. He will fetch for food though so he will drop the toy at my feet when I have kibble in exchange for the kibble. Also, once he gets into the rhythm of it, you can get 3-4 fetches out of him for just one piece of kibble. Our puppy works for cheap. He also has a really funny way of flinging the toy back at us. Sometimes it's a short distance away and if we look at him reprovingly, he will toss it closer to us. Sometimes it takes him 2 or 3 goes to get it closer but the way he throws it down is almost impatient/contemptuous like: "Oh come on - surely that will do!" ETA: is the video of Elbie and fetch. Mr Koala and I were wondering how many people 'cheat' during the exams and sneak a bit of chicken or devon into their hands or pockets during the assessment. How embarrassing to be caught cheating at Dog School? Is there naming and shaming? Is the poor dog tried as an accessory after the fact??? I have to admit that Evil Koala did wonder what the rules would be in wearing gloves on the day - both of us have gloves that after each class positively reek of kibble and devon. :D I'm sure Ava will become a superstar heeler soon - going back to basics always seems to work and the fact that you're making it more fun for Ava will be a huge incentive for her since she loves to play. I had my clicker with me today and we almost got Elbie home without any barking except for the final turn off Ginninderra Drive There are four turns quite close to one another so the indicator signal was going almost constantly and he went bonkers. :p

She looked good in today's class from what I could see - and the crazy wind was an extra challenge ... * For our class in Dog School today, although it wasn't in the rain like I feared - the wind was fierce. Even normally placid dogs were going a bit crazy - barking and pulling at their leads. Our little witch's hats for the weave course were blowing over and our instructor used heavier witch's hats. The instructions cards at our little obstacle course were blowing away and less than half of our bronze class showed up and in the other bronze class, we noticed only 3 people showed up! Nonetheless, despite the initial craziness, Elbie settled down quite well and did all of his exercises well. He even sat still for exam twice - a record for him. He gave a bit of an excited wiggle when the second instructor patted him but he settled down again. What I found very distracting was that the wind was so strong that Elbie's ears kept flying up and billowing in the wind - looking even more wonky than usual. His right ear went all Bat Man on us while the left ear flopped around a lot. One challenge was the recall exercise. Normally we have him in a stay and then we walk off and then call him to us. Today he had to be on a 5 metre leash and we were supposed to make him go running off and then call him back to us where he was supposed to do an auto-sit. The first time he ran off and then came back properly but didn't auto-sit. The second time, he refused to run away and stayed too close Then my husband tried throwing kibble to make him run away but of course that made Elbie distracted - snuffling for kibble in the grass. We'll practise more during the week. Next week we'll get our guide sheets for his bronze assessment - no idea if he'll pass bronze but he's made a lot of progress. Hope everyone else is going well at puppy class/obedience class!

I was peeling potatoes in the kitchen (up on the kitchen counter) and Elbie was lurking around like usual, trying to see what I was doing. Suddenly Elbie dashed off into the other room without any warning - I assumed that he heard something and went off to check. A bit later, I heard a horrible retching noise and my husband came dashing in to grab a paper towel and then ran back towards Elbie who had apparently vomited. I'm not sure how it happened but while I was peeling, a piece of peel must have gone flying through the air without me seeing it - Elbie caught it and dashed off with it in his mouth. Fortunately it was just one piece of peel and he threw it up immediately but apparently potato peel is toxic to dogs. I shall be very careful of flying potato peel in future. :D ETA: Elbie is totally fine and shows no ill-effects after having expelled the peel.

Ah, thanks for that! I will try that one once I get Elbie sorted with the 'in the box' thing. He's doing it beautifully if there's only one object but if there's a rope toy and a ball, he is a bit fixated by the ball and will literally dunk the tennis ball in and take it out again and dunk it back in again 10 times in a row and ignore the rope! I seem to remember you were working with Ava on object recognition - have you had much success with that? Perhaps I shouldn't mix object recognition with 'put object in box' at this stage yet ... What issues are you having with heeling? She doesn't like doing it or is just getting bored if you do heel-work for too long? Elbie will heel beautifully as long as he knows there's food on the way but I am really not quite sure what we're going to do for assessment where no food is permitted during the heeling ... Are you allowed to show the treat before the task and then treat immediately after?

That is just the most adorable photo ever!!! They look soooooooo sweet together and yes, heaps of room in that crate!

Haha. Our poor wedgehead If docking his snout doesn't work, we could try sanding it down to puppy snubbiness :D Ah the leafs game ... that a good match - I love ice hockey, although it's not something we get to see much of down here. My husband's Canadian so when I went to Toronto to visit his family a bit back, we got to see a hockey game You asked about the 16 squeaker pig mat ... it's actually a pretty inoffensive squeak in the scheme of things. If you want to know what annoying is, try - his cow and sheep squeakers are way more annoying. You have no idea how embarrassing it is to be on the telephone sometimes trying to have a 'serious' conversation and Elbie's in the background going *squeak* *squeak* *squeak* *squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeak*Some people like my brother will go: "Oh - that's Elbie." Other people are probably just thinking WTF

That's awesome! How did you teach Ava to put her paws on the phonebook like that? With a clicker? Yes but eau de wet dog is very evocative and pungent regardless of fur colour ...

About the pooping - Elbie has a toileting command which is "poop poop". It applies to wees and poops and whenever we say it, he knows he's supposed to go. Have you got a similar command for your pups? If not, if you developed a command then that could be a way to teach them to go on the dog loo. In the beginning, we took Elbie out on a leash to Poo Corner and didn't leave until he 'eliminated' (hilarious word) - saying "poop poop" when he did his thing. It's never too late to 'retrain' because sometimes after rain, we had to 'retrain' Elbie to go in the right spot so it was back on the leash again. As to tricks, we have two books: (1) Dog Tricks by Mary Ray; and (2) 101 Dog Tricks by Kyra Sundance. To be honest, we learned most of our tricks here at DOL or over at youtube. I was writing a bit about it here. Elbie seems to really like learning tricks and doesn't get bored so we use tricks as a way of keeping him entertained because we're a bit slack about walking him :D When we feel like teaching Elbie a trick, we look it up on the net. These days for new tricks (like tidying up), we use a clicker to get Elbie pointed in the right way and then after that we can just work with "good boy" to get him to do what we want. I like the clicker but I'm very unco so can't hold the clicker at the same time I'm juggling everything else. The order Elbie learned his tricks was approximately as follows: - sit - wait for food - drop - shake hands, high five, wave - spin and speak - rollover (this one took us a while) - backwards walk - stand and bow (he still struggles with these - are you shy? - drop dead Weirdly, "stay" took us a really, really long time to teach him because he always wanted to follow us. I can't remember when we taught him, but he has known "leave it" for a while, too. Tricks he's working on now are: - balancing treat on nose - putting things in a box - commando crawl Let me know if you need any help with any of them. wizzle has been working really hard with her puppy as well and probably has some good tips for motivating an excitable puppy and will have a good memory of "before" and "after" with the puppy. wuffles is quite a bit more advanced than I am and has been teaching her puppy more intellectual recognition exercises like rear end awareness etc. Good luck! Can't wait to see the vids.

What can I say? He's spethal.