sidoney

I want to find this article, I've read it before but can't remember where it is or the name of the lady that wrote it. Anyone?

My Shaula did a rock back sit. It was some years ago but I think that I retrained by luring her with some outstanding food, not over and back, but holding the food in a way that she didn't want to move her nose away from it as the butt went down. Sort of just up. Successive approximations of course. The rock back sit and the tuck sit, as you would know, are two different behaviours so you would want to put a different cue on the tuck sit. Had another thought. You might also be able to do it by teaching her to target a flattish thing with her front feet and then obtaining a tuck sit behaviour from that, if she understands to keep her feet on the target. Then fade the target.

Early days yet - he's still getting used to the new home and being away from siblings. I'd be keeping on with confining him away from you at times during the day as well as the crating at night. After he's been with you about a week or so, then start short daytime sessions in the run at times you anticipate he will sleep - feeling sleepy should shorten the crying times.

Yes, if you let them know what's going on they will feel that you are including them. They would also be able to help by giving you feedback from when you are gone. Do you have a crate or an indoor puppy pen? I'd start by confining him away from you inside the house. Let him learn to settle in the house and then that will transfer more easily to the outside run.

Are you sure? I read a couple of vet. medical books on parvo, and the information in both of them was that parvo is not airbourne. Has research revealed that it is? Well flies and other insects are airborne and parvo can certainly travel on the feet of flies.

No, and no. Those statements are not as extreme as the one I mentioned but he does make some statements that I disagree with. I have bred several dogs that are competing at the highest levels in obedience and they were well socialised but did not sit, lie down or roll over on request at eight weeks. They spent the first few weeks of their life inside but went into a puppy yard after that, with regular people interaction, and lots of supervised general backyard play. Some of us have a life as well as puppies, and also have a house that would not do well to be overtaken by large numbers of puppies and all the cleaning up that has to be done. My small house would be unlivable if we had eight or nine puppies living inside at seven and eight weeks. I do plenty to socialise pups and accustom them to noises, surfaces, toys, people, and so on, but to have all of the eight week old puppies performing several commands would not leave me time to do all the other things that I am responsible for. I will mention that I have a breed that is probably more likely to be stable and social naturally than some others.

Goody. It just came to me while I was typing about the firehoses with tennis balls. I don't think there were such things as pool noodles when I first got them.

When I had my pups at the vet for their vaccinations, tattoos, microchips, etc., a bloke near the door let his dog put its face on my leg, and then I later learned it was COUGHING. So of course I had to change my pants as soon as I got home. Luckily I didn't have any of the pups near my pants. None of them started coughing. All kinds of things at a vet surgery. And can be tracked outside the doors, away from the areas that are disinfected.

I have some dummies made out of fire hose stuffed with tennis balls. Is that the sort of thing you mean, or do you mean with feathers? What about a bit of pool noodle, say with a fluffy sock thingy around it? My first V., Amy, would go into water on cold and frosty mid-winter mornings if there were birds in there. I don't live any more on a property with dams and water birds so I don't know if the current ones would.

I have toys that are suitable to leave with the dogs, that they won't destroy, and other special toys that they could destroy, but which they only get to play with when I am playing with them. So they look forward to playing with me, and they don't destroy those toys.

Very true. The behavioural stuff is appropriate. I found some of the other stuff questionable, where it strays off that topic. My main point was that you cannot take all that a book says as "gospel" - although I probably put it more strongly than I might have, because I was a bit horrified at the statement I quoted. I think that particularly as a novice, there may be a tendency to believe that because most of what is said is good, that the rest must be as well. I know I tend to be uncritical when I am first venturing into an unknown area of knowledge. My latest puppies went out with Gwen Bailey's "The Perfect Puppy" - another good puppy book, more about training than the physical care - I thought that the OP wanted a more all-around book which is why I didn't mention it earlier. Again, I don't agree with everything in it, although I didn't find anything in there that shocked me quite as much as the statement I quoted. I gave it to my puppy people because I think that a puppy raised by that book has a very good chance of learning behaviour that is desirable in a human household, and thus remaining as a valued family member.

I've just been reading this and while it has some useful information it also has things that I totally and completely disagree with, such as this: No, no, no, no, no. This is irresponsible and could lead to unsuitable dogs being bred. Also, as a breeder, if I evaluated a puppy as not show quality, I would not want to see it in a show ring.

I'm having fleas despite Advantage, although not many. I'll try something else next time.

What is available to you depends on where in Australia you are. What state are you in?

IMO the main thing is that the dog is well behaved around other dogs. I remember a staffy that used to take off frequently and bite other dogs - this was very BAD representation for the breed. I think that the person was asked to leave, as they didn't address the issue. If your dog is well behaved and under control then I can't see that there should be problems.

I read it somewhere ... will see if I can refind it. Not sure if it's available in Australia, I think I read about it in the US context, but it was a little while ago now. Edit: here is some info from this page. The key phrase is "high titer" (or in Australia, "high titre").

I just want to add, to repeat what I've said above - I would be adopting from a rescue group that does in-home fostering. That way you can be sure of the temperament and health status of the dog. By adopting the rescue group's foster dog, you free up a space in that group for another pound dog to be saved.

Yes, that is true. Antibodies are large proteins that can only pass into the puppy in the first couple of days. The amount of antibodies the puppy has is associated with level of maternal antibodies, and the amount of colostrum the puppy drinks. Vaccinations are ineffective when the puppy has high immunity from the maternal antibodies. There is a "window" where the pup can get parvo, after maternal antibodies fade and before effective vaccination. However there are newer vaccines that are supposed to be able to cut through the maternal antibodies. Not if there is parvo already in the soil of your backyard. It's a very hardy virus which lives for years. Keeping your pup in your backyard is a means of minimising the risk but it's no guarantee. Sorry to hear about your baby. Yes, it's very tragic for you all. It must have been very horrible and upsetting for you. Parvo could also have been flown in on the feet of flies. Flies can land in contaminated poo, then come to visit you. At this stage, I would not be getting a puppy at all, but an older dog that is vaccinated and less susceptible. I would also avoid parvo sensitive breeds. A benefit of getting an older dog is that you can get one (a fostered rescue, or an older breeder placement, as examples) whose temperament you can be sure of as being suitable for a three year old boy. A puppy is often too boisterous for a young child and I personally don't tend to place puppies in homes with very young children, unless I know that the adults are experienced enough with dogs to manage it.

Not formal at all, it's just what they do naturally when I run them in paddocks. I suppose the trick is to find somewhere that they can find things. Mind you I may be stuffing them up totally for proper organised hunting, but since I don't do that, I don't really mind. And it's a chance for me to see some of their natural behaviours. I would not call it a "sport", not what I am doing, so I don't want to mislead you there. It's purely a recreational walk where I get to see them hunt and point. If you wanted to do it in a more organised way, there would be people who do it up there ... Vizsla people the McKays know how to hunt with their dogs properly. They are in Brisbane and would be able to point you in the right direction. www.aranyoz.com

Not sure what you mean here. It's just very informal, I go into the paddock, the dogs seek game and point it. They like it and I like to watch it. They do have good recalls so I don't lose them.

MM, many clubs will run foundation courses. Probably the best thing would be to use the list that Vickie linked to and ring around. I'm serious! It only gets harder as they get older. Ben attended his 3 day first seminar when he was about 6 weeks old. Perfect! I figure people have been helping me with my kids for years, it's about time I repaid the favour for someone. LOL @ that comment. I have spent many hours at training with Connor amusing himself climbing in tunnels and having to be retrieved when they need to be used, and things of that ilk.

Mine love to go into the field and quarter and point, although I've never done any shooting with them. In the dim dark past I've taken a dog or two to stubble fields and they have a great time looking for quail. Any place really where they can hunt for game. When they point it is an outstanding sight. I have to admit I've never trained mine to be steady on the flush!

My Vizslas adore the running and teamwork in agility. They are quite alike to the GSPs.

Yup, for the sake of the dog's health, grow her lean, and put her back in the ring when she's matured. A bit of patience now for the sake of the health of your dog will pay dividends later.

Change her treats. Most dogs enjoy carrots, broccoli stems, and so on. My sister had a fat Ridgy and got her weight down by replacing some of the food with grated carrot. Much better to feed the dog with proper food and not cut down the proper food because of scraps ... the scraps won't have everything the dog needs, particularly depending on what they are. Let hubby know he is affecting the dog's health and give him healthy low kj treats (vegies and fruit) to give the dog instead.