RockDog

Thanks. It's frustrating, well actually a downright Pain, when you need something and can only get it in Perth. I try to go there as little as possible. Not because I don't like the city, I love the city. But becaus it's such a looooong drive! It's funny, on the rare occasion that I find myself in Perth or even Geraldton (large town 180kms away), it takes ages to get used to the fact that some shops/servos are open after 6pm, and there's public transport. Takes a while to get used to traffic lights too! lol I'm now quiiiietly confident that this problem with Rocky can be helped a lot, and I'm looking forward to getting stuck in to it. I know it's gonna take an awful LOT of patience and understanding and time, but that's a small price to pay for his happiness and ability to enjoy life to the full. Bless 'is little cotton socks!

:rolleyes: Yes. Quite an experience, this has been!

Thanks Yeah, in some ways we're quite disadvantaged living up here. Small supermarket with high prices for one! And of course the price of fuel. I remember when there was an absolute outcry in Perth at the price of fuel reaching $1 a litre. We up here just groaned! :rolleyes: Some other difficulties are getting to a vet, a specialist, Centrelink, Entertainment/concerts, and of course getting to see a dog trainer or especially a behaviourist. Just the price we pay for living in a little slice of paradise. I only know ONE person in Kalbarri who knows a lot about dogs (there are SO many irresponsible dog owners here it's not funny). He used to be a trainer and was head of the GSD state display squad. Trouble is, he gave it all up more than 20 years ago and when he heard me using a clicker with Rocky a couple of months ago he had to ask what on Earth it was! lol Anyway, he's always incredibly busy so I can't really utilise his knowledge. I'm confident that I'll get a lot of help from the behaviourist and Honey Gross-Richardson though, so I'm looking forward to next week.

MY HEAD HURTS!!!

OK, the bad news is that I've been advised not to have anything to do with the behaviourist I spoke to this morning and had arranged to see twice while I'm in Perth. Bugga! The good news is that I finally found Honey Gross-Richardson's number and had a chat with her for an hour and ten minutes! She said to come and see her at the GSD homegrounds on the Sunday, and come along to the reactive dog class on the Wednesday, and she also MAY be able to see me if I go to Geraldton the following weekend. I hold Honey in very high esteem, so I'm really pleased about that Back to the drawing board with finding a suitable behaviourist though ;)

Nah, too scared to let him off leash now. Poor Rocky-Rock-Rock ;) If I'm going to be playing fetch with him or let him have a dip in the water, I have him on a 20m long line. I put him in a sit, walk to the end of the leash, and throw about 10 metres away from me, so that he at least gets a 30m run, then back to me and start again. But I see that another poster has quite rightly pointed out the danger of this too! Oh dear, can't win. Fetch in the back yard it is, then, lol

Yep, have had one on order from UK for a week, they're just waiting for me to pay for it It's called a "Perfect Fit Harness" and has a front-attaching D ring as well as on the dog's back.

Good point about the GL possibly increasing frustration. Though he's worn it on and off all his life, so I'm not super concerned. Something to think about. I did have a choke chain lying around for ages, but I think I got rid of it. So I'll use the coupler on the flat collar. Some good points coming up on this thread, and good advice, here and in PMs, which I'm really grateful for

Kavic, that link just took me to the Black Dog home page, but I think you were referring to a coupler? I have one, so might use that. Good point about the muzzle. In certain areas, outside the local shops for example, a small dog could appear from nowhere. Definately trying to keep him away from other dogs as much as possible. We try to find quiet spots (or open spots when he's on the 20m line) at certain times of the day, and I always take my son with me to act as 'look out' for other dogs.

I'm pretty sure he couldn't get out of the GL. But if I were to use a back-up collar, couldn't I thread the lead through the D ring on his (sturdy) flat collar? That way If the GL came off or broke, I don't think the whole bunched-up GL would easily get through the D ring.

That's the one. It's only about 3' long, including handle. It's actually not that stratchy really. if you hold an end in each hand and pull it's quite tough. A bit like the old "chest expanders" in the 70s but in reverse. If you see what I mean. (No, I didn't have one, my dad did when he was having a midlife crisis after the divorce! ) OK, tmi.

It's Sian. But don't try pronouncing it! Actually, it's pronounced Shaarn. I'm from Wales, and it's a very common name at home. No, I don't have a muzzle. The visiting vet has them but he's not coming up here for another two and a half weeks. Not too keen to get one anyway, as it's been suggested to me this morning (and I've read the same many times) that muzzling him at the moment may actually exasperate the situation by increasing his frustration. I'm not against it, just want to be careful not to put him in a worse state. Now before you all start, yes I know that attacking a dog WILL put him in a worse state - as in possibly death row. I'm considering that. The other night when Rocky wanted to get to my friend's Shih-Tzu across the street from the chip shop, he was on a flat collar (because we'd been in the car and I hadn't intended getting him out) and it was hard to keep him with me when he lunged. Now, whenever we leave the house for whatever reason, I take the Gentle Leader and a short, strong, "Bungee" lead whith a flat handle. Much more control incase he sees another dog. Which we try to avoid anyway. We don't go for 'walks' as such, I drive him to, say, the beach, the other beach, the oval, the tennis courts, up river in the bush etc, and let him off leash there to run around or we have long games of fetch (practicing come, sit, stay, look, give, etc). So there's another question for you guys to chew on - What do people think about whether I should muzzle Rocky for now or not? Given his age and recent history, is it wise to muzzle him and risk making things worse? I'm leaning against it, going on proffessional advice, but just interested to hear what others think.

I don't. And I'd be mad to! I've been looking for a professional behaviourist all along, way before I posted this thread. I asked in all sorts of places, looked in the phone book, asked on different lists, asked other dog owners I know, and spent hours phoning trainers from Yellow Pages, leaving messages etc. Trying to find a behaviourist has literally consumed the last 5 days of my life, since the attack on Taffy. The day I started this thread (or the day before), someone from FunctionalRewards emailed me with a few names she'd heard of. I spent ages looking for info on those who had websites, and left messages with 5 of them. One has got back to me so far through email, and one has left a message on my phone this morning. Yesterday, a friend gave me the number of a Veterinary behaviourist who I spoke to on the phone and is sending me a questionnaire. Also, a behaviourist in Perth saw my plea on FunctionalRewards and contacted me, offering her services. I finally got to speak to her about an hour ago, and am probably going to use her. I think I've said before (not sure) that the MAIN reason for posting this thread was to see if anyone had any 1) Names of behaviourists they could recommend. 2) Advice on what I could be doing in the meantime, while I'm waiting to get to Perth. I have received both, including being told that I should string Rocky up, choke him, and it would WORK. There is no way I would think that any book would solve my problems with Rocky. However, there are some excellent books out there which come very higly recommended by well-respected proffessionals, which can help most pet dog owners immensely. The other day I went slightly mad and ordered about three thousand of them. OK, slight exaggeration, but my bank manager's gonna hate me!