sidoney

Shocked I am, shocked! Will look forward to hearing more about them.

From the way you have described it, the barking is more linked to you. She sees the reward for the barking as you getting out of bed, moving about. This is the way I read your description. If you want to address the barking then you will need to do something about it, put more control into the situation, remove the "bark, get mum up" link. Hence the suggestion of crate in laundry, with radio. Otherwise, it looks like you and the neighbours will be living with the barking for some time. Another possibility would be to use some kind of aversive for the barking, but I would not be doing that with a puppy.

LOL I'm making very early enquiries about flying down with Xia for the workshop. We could go together if it pans out.

Rhi's suggestion of disrupting the walk routine sounds good to me. IME if dogs get TOO used to a routine then disrupting it can even cause stress and illness. If she's getting excited and worked up about a walk then asking her to sit quietly before you walk, while you do the coffee thing, and/or doing it in the evening at times, can only help with her own ability to cope with change.

Another suggestion is to break the behaviour down into small pieces and teach the pieces, rather than teach the whole behaviour at once. So if there is one aspect that you want to correct, that is consistent through behaviours, teach the correct position in the easiest behaviour context, then move through other behavioural contexts. You might choose "head up" or "upright front position" (as distinct from a crouch) or something like that (or one and then the other and then the hindquarters even!). Reward the dog with the toy for the particular behaviour you are looking for in a simple context, e.g. just a sit or a stand, before adding it to more complex behaviour patterns. You could also try just "catching" the dog in the position you want, could be in a "work" session or just anywhere, any time. Use a bridge and then pull the toy out and give the toy. Dog doesn't have to see the toy the whole time.

Ignore depends on the neighbours a bit. Perhaps you could go and visit them and tell them that you want to fix your dog's barking, but that it might take a little while. See what they say.

I know that one as "Proper prior planning prevents poor performance" but it's the same sort of thing. Maybe we can combine them and add another P. Edit: sorry Saltwood, didn't see your post before I clicked post. I'd see that as the dog needing to learn more control around the toy (with your help), and you having very clear criteria about what earns the toy.

I was going to say, "Premack principle" and transfer of value and then I found this previous post of mine, so I don't have to retype it all. I had the reverse desire, get toy going as well as food. Again, Premack gives a possible explanation for this behaviour. "Transfer of value". Doing agility brings reward, becomes more valued in its own right, becomes self rewarding. I read an interesting post on an email list a while back. Edit: pretty sure it was a post by Helix Fairweather, she of the "cyber-agility" training site and a regular poster on the early email clicker lists. She described that she trained her dogs to sit on low platforms while waiting for their turn to train agility. Sitting on the platform was rewarded by coming off it to train. The value transferred and sitting on the platform became more rewarding, with the dogs then doing the training in order to earn the reward of sitting on the platform. The highest value (training or sitting on the platform) flip flopped between the two. BTW Xia is now quite a tug and toy fiend, still working on getting it going in new environments, but going well.

If you had no neighbours, I'd say try leaving her outside and only let her hear you move when she is quiet. See if the radio near her sleep area does anything. If not, you may need to move her back in for a while. At her age she should not need to go to the toilet during the night, if she has a last pit stop before bed (unless she is ill with diarrhoea or something). You could be pretty confident that barking would be for another reason. IMO a crate in the laundry would be the way to go - not free run of the laundry. It sounds like she has been rewarded for this barking - possibly by being let out to go toilet when younger. Which she may or may not have actually needed to do at the time, depending on how old she was. Now you need to stop an established behaviour, which will be more difficult than preventing one from starting, but it's doable. Be aware that when you stop a behaviour by stopping the rewards for it, the behaviour will get worse before it gets better (if something that works first time (like a lift button) doesn't work, you'll press it a few times in a row, harder and faster, before you give up - it's called the "extinction burst"). And if you give in to the barking, even just once, it will make it harder to stop overall, since she will then know that if it doesn't work nine times, then it might on the tenth - you get the drift.

Dogs have super duper hearing and she would be focused on listening for you. You are sure that her stopping barking is linked to your getting up? If it's the same time, then the association is pretty clear. If she's chained the behaviour - and if the above association is clear, then it sounds possible - then perhaps something more fundamental needs to be changed. A possible change could be to move her inside at night, in a crate. My two Shepherd fosters have just had that change and the difference was remarkable. If she was crated with a radio on in the same room she would not be able to hear you getting up. You would not need to blast her, just enough to cover background noises. Then you could sneak up on her crate room and reward her for being quiet by letting her out. OR have a "reward marker" and/or "bridge cue" (the terminology varies a little), the "good dog" that means reward is coming, tell her "good dog" when she is quiet, and then go to her (I might repeat it as I come closer, if she remains quiet) and let her out without delay - but only if she remains quiet. If you do begin to use a reward marker, make sure you use it in other situations as well, so she knows it.

IMO, Jedda is a smart dog and knows that you getting up is one in a series of events that leads eventually to her being let out (or in?). Bark - hear person getting up - be quiet - get let through door. From your description, she understands the sequence, and her reward for barking would be to hear you getting up. Is there any way you can change that? That is, can you think of a way to NOT reward her for barking? For example, can you get up only when she's quiet, either when she has hushed up, or before she starts? Can you rig a behaviour interruptor? Where is she when she's barking?

Not sure, since I don't know what those exercises entail. I'm thinking that in some ways the dog would receive instant feedback about the way it balances and moves its body and places its feet, since if it is in balance and moves its body and places its feet correctly it moves unimpeded. If incorrectly, it treads on something or knocks itself or its balance is off and it loses the line it needs or face plants or something like that. Maintaining a precise line in thick cover at high speed would require a delicate control of balance, body and limb movement IMO. It would also need and develop an ability to think quickly, choose line, respond to sudden challenges such as a tree branch around a blind corner and things like that. That's the way I'm seeing it ATM.

Plans can be flexible, but always better to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve. End goal and intermediate goals. For a training partner, why don't you choose a like minded member on the forum (make sure your methods are aligned) and share videos between you?

I was watching my dogs bolt at top speed through the planted areas along the local creek. There are trees and shrubs, fallen branches and branches that are low, open areas and banks of varying steepness. They negotiate this at high speed, jumping fallen branches, ducking under other branches, swerving and turning around trees and shrubs, jumping up and down the banks. As I was watching, I was reminded of the equine truism that horses raised on rough ground are more surefooted than those raised on flat ground. I thought that this kind of exercise must surely help my dogs' agility and body awareness, particularly at high speed. What do you think? Do you think it would increase their agility, body awareness, and so on? And if so, do you incorporate it into your exercise routines, if you do not, would you?

More detailed. Simple phrases say nothing. WHAT you want to do - clear goals, so for example, Focus work: dog can focus for ten seconds under moderate distraction. And how you will do it, for example: Achieved by: click and reward ten second focus at mild distraction, build up distraction level. Ten repetitions at each level. Be flexible enough to realise you may not get to that goal in that training session, but if that is the goal you have set, achieve the goal before moving to the next level of that part of the training programme. Or something like that. If you feel that you need to be on a distinct path for training, mark out what your distinct path will be.

Write yourself up a training approach and plan. Once you commit it to paper, it will be more clear and more real to you. Go into each training session with very clear ideas of what you want to achieve and how you will achieve it.

I second seeing a behaviourist. This is the sort of obsessive compulsive behaviour that I would be addressing ASAP.

Yes, I even read an academic paper about dogs learning from watching each other.

My experience is the same as Jed's. If too many bones in a period, poos can get too hard, but if you mix it up, it stays about right - be observant and if poos are looking too hard, put more non bone food into the balance.

Yep, I'd be sticking to the staffy and keeping the other one out of the picture for a while.

Reading the comments made me feel amused, thinking about setting up a training situation as a possible excuse for more "gettin' down". One of my dogs here will bark if startled by strange shapes/unrecognised persons, it can take you by surprise. I was wondering about her eyesight but it does seem fine. I'll be asking the vet about her eyes next time I take her in, although she shows no signs of any problem, just the startle barking.

Oooh sweet description! One idea would be to work on desensitising your dog to people making these kinds of movements towards you. Also, how was the lighting? Perhaps the "picture" looked very strange to your dog, and that's what he was reacting to. A well known issue with many dogs is when familiar people carry strange things, such as a box. It makes the picture look strange, and their eyesight isn't great anyway. It's also possible that your body chemistry altered, and you emitted a different smell - heck, I get excited by romantic kisses - it may have been a component.

I was advised also that you could put a drop or two of revolution into the ear for a more direct application, and the rest in the normal place.

I saw the info about that DVD, sounds good.

Try poles if you can, the push in electric fence post ones are fine, as the dog will be able to associate them later with jump uprights.