fuzzy82

I'm finding it interesting so far, and I'm surprised at how quickly the dogs have responded. Pixie has never been crate trained, yet after only 2 tries at crate games she now runs into the crate and will sit before I open the door. Not as much drive as I'd like, but she's getting there pretty quick. Obi didn't have heel on cue, he will sometimes offer it on the left though because I have rewarded him there a few times. So I started the RZ on the right, and at first I thought there is no way this will work as quickly as SG suggested, but after 4-5 short sessions over 2 days, he's now offering a sit on both sides of me, and will move with me one step and stop in the RZ. When I first read what we had to do I thought it seemed over-simplified, like a lot of trainers tend to do, and there is no way it would be as quick and easy as that. But it has been, the dogs are responding really quickly, and the steps are really easy to follow.

So true, one of my dogs is reactive/fear aggressive. With a LOT of work for nearly a year now I can take him for normal walks and he will just sit and watch both people and dogs as they pass. Sometimes we're unable to get off the path due to trees and tall grass in one area where we walk, so I then put him in a sit right on the edge of the path, squat down over him and hold him by the collar, and the other hand is either on his chest or wrapped around the leash 3 times. You'd think that says pretty clearly that we don't really want to greet other dogs who are passing us. We rarely have people who actively want to meet and greet, but usually people make no effort to stop their dog on a flexi wandering over to my dog, then act all shocked because my dog suddenly snarls and tries to lunge. There was one time when a mother and a girl of about 8 with a small dog were across the road from us. My dog stopped and had a look at them, but he was calm, so it was all good. Then all of a sudden they start crossing the road towards us, so I tried to hurry my dog along and get out of their way, but before I know it the girl with the dog is RUNNING at us because she's so excited that her dog will get to meet my dog. Her dog seemed friendly and happy enough, but my dog can't handle being that close to other dogs on walks, and this dog was running at us. I couldn't get out of the way in time, so I just put my dog in a sit between my legs and physically blocked the other dog with my free arm while shouting "they can't meet". They then stopped dead and then kept walking. No apology from the mother or anything. My other dog isn't aggressive or reactive, but she's a bit scared of other dogs coming too close. She's fine having her face sniffed, but if they go for her butt she gets all weird about it, so we've stopped greeting other dogs on walks. I just don't care that she doesn't want to socialise, as long as she's not reactive it's all good. I usually put her in a sit or get off the path when we see people coming, but people still let their dogs wander up to her, again not a deliberate meeting, they just don't bother to shorten the leash.

If they are rotties, why the DNA test? Why would they say they're rotties if they really don't know?

Agree with this. I love seeing my dogs happy and I will give them what they want, if they give me what I want first. So for baked goods, I would make them sit or do a trick or something before giving it to them. Which is no different to being pawed at, it's just a different trick and one that I asked them to do. If I asked for the same trick every time they would start doing it without me asking. It's important for dogs to feel that they have control over their environment, such as sitting at doors gets you let outside, and doing tricks gets you attention (or lying quietly if that's what you want to reinforce, to the dog it's just another behaviour that has a predictable outcome). I noticed a huge increase in confidence when I started doing NILIF with my oldest dog which I got from a shelter. Suddenly she didn't have to wait for things to happen, she could make them happen. And it doesn't work every time, sometimes they don't get what they want, but by reinforcing what I want, I get a happy obedient dog and the dog gets what it wants. Everyone wins and everyone's happy.

I wouldn't use an e-collar if you have no experience with them. I would contact a trainer and get them to do it for you, or at least show you how it's done. I would imagine it's no different to snake avoidance training.

But if you had taught the dog 'drop it' and 'leave it', you wouldn't have had to verbally correct or tap the dog on the nose at all. I'm not against using punishment in some situations, but what I have noticed is that people who do use corrections/punishment stop 'using their words' and punishment becomes a quick fix so they don't actually have to train their dogs as much as someone who refuses to use corrections.

With a threat like that I'd call the cops, just to let them know. Then if anything happens they will know who it is.

I signed up too:) Paid by credit card so don't know how much it converts to yet.

Playing with vaccinated dogs is fine, the only risk is that the other dogs go out and could step in something, but you can't really make the puppy's environment completely sterile. You could step in something while you're out and the puppy could come in contact with your shoes. There will always be a small risk, but as above, socialisation is more important than being sterile. No good have a dog if you can never take it out in public because it was never socialised. Just carrying it around is also part of socialisation, exposing it to new sights and noises and letting it look at people etc.

This is OT, but I can't see the other thread.... Does anyone know how long it goes for? I'm considering signing up, been wanting to do it for a while, but I'm quite busy with various things these days...

I'm generally proud of my dogs out in public, but I do find it embarrassing when Obi is reactive on walks. We've worked on it a lot and most of the time he's good, but once in a while he reacts and people look at us and I can just see they're thinking stuff about small dogs and/or JRT's. I take pride in my dogs' training, so I find that quite embarrassing.

Yep, I'd use it.

It didn't bother me for long, just at the time I thought it was a bit insulting to say that about my dog, but then got busy and pretty much forgot all about it. I've had other small dog owners let their dogs come up to Obi as well, even when I've pulled him aside and put him in a sit and I'm sitting next to him holding his collar. Somehow that doesn't deter people from letting their dog come over for a sniff. Oh well.

I was out walking Obi just now. Obi developed fear aggression at the onset of puberty at 6 months, and is now 16 months. I've worked on him since the start to fix it, and he's doing really well. He's naturally quite reactive as well, being a JRT x. But it's all good, it's under control, I train him every time we pass people and dogs. But today a couple with an old dog came walking towards us on the path, so I pulled Obi to the side of the path and had him sit. This is usually enough to stop him from having a growl, but not today. It wasn't bad though, I held him by the collar and he had a little bit of a growl and a snarl, but that was it. Then the woman says "does he have small dog syndrome?" and then Obi had another growl so she then said "yep, small dog syndrome" and kept walking. I didn't know what to say, but isn't this a bit..... offensive? I found it offensive to be labelled that way, and even embarrassing. Suddenly I'm no longer a good owner who's trying to train my dog, I'm now a "small dog owner" whose small dog has "small dog syndrome". It's like they've labelled it as something that all small dogs do, something inevitable and unfixable. I get that a lot of small dogs behave that way, but to label it that way just seems insulting. Is it just me?

I've had a trainer tell me the same thing. We were doing a training to be tethered away from us exercise, and the instructor told us to look over our dogs' heads, not directly at them. I thought it was ridiculous then, and I still think it's ridiculous now. My dogs are encouraged to make eye contact, they stare at me when they want something because it's a highly reinforced behaviour. They don't care if I make eye contact with them. It's just a training thing.

I don't think it's right to keep a dog on leash in and off leash area. If another dog does approach yours, your dog will feel trapped and is more likely to lash out. Not only that, but you know your dog is aggressive and still take him to an off leash area, where he's likely to be approached by other dogs and be put in a situation where he's uncomfortable. On leash or not, I wouldn't be happy if there was an aggressive dog at the dog park. Even a highly trained dog can never be 100% reliable, and might approach yours. I dare say that in an off leash area, you can't blame the off leash dog if there is a fight. I'd blame the silly owner with the aggressive dog that was on leash.

I have the same problem, puppy was fine in the car when I first got him, then started getting carsick and as a result started hating the car. I hoped he would grow out of it, but at 15 months he hasn't, and still vomits every time we go in the car. If I give him a long massage before we go he will usually only drool, but I can't massage him before leaving to come home, so he will then vomit. Usually when we go in the car it's for training classes or walks, so it always has a fun outcome. Tried ginger tablets, he HATES them, and after the first time I was unable to get him to swallow it. Had no effect anyway. I thought I might ask the vet for something, anyone have any experience with that?

My dog gets muzzled and she has never bitten. It is a preventative measure. According to you she csnbe seized and killed because I'm responsible?? No, of course not. But why is this preventative measure even needed? My dogs don't need to wear muzzles as a preventative measure. What does it say about your dog that it does?

Why was the dog kept muzzled? Doesn't that suggest that the owner had some concerns about whether or not the dog would bite someone? And why would he be concerned about that? Could it be because maybe the dog had bitten someone in the past? As far as I know, people don't muzzle their dogs for no good reason.

For number 3, you can download the rules from here: http://www.ankc.org.au/Rules.aspx I read them the other day and I seem to remember something about where to perform each exercise, and it depends if it's a stationary exercise too. I can't remember the specifics though.

I cut them about once a week. Long nails are a big pet peeve of mine, and I try to keep them as short as possible on my dogs. I've taught them to not care if I touch them all over, so I always ask the groomer not to cut Pixie's nails, because I'd rather take care of it myself. But if for whatever reason I *couldn't* do it, then yes, I would pay someone to do it. That would only happen if I got sick and ended up in hospital or similar though, and even then I'd probably let them go uncut for a few weeks rather than paying someone to do it. I would only pay someone to do it if I was away/sick for many weeks.

I'm not a breeder so I wouldn't really know, but I have heard from experience dog people (can't remember if they were a breeder) that even if you cross a large dog with a small dog, the size of the pups and number of puppies will adjust to the female's smaller size, so that it usually works out ok anyway.

Her timing is awful though. The dog at 2:50 was all over the snake, and it was only when it was already pulling away that she stimmed it and the dog started yelping. But yea, that's pretty much how the video further up shows it as well, let them wander up to the snake on their own, then stim them and let them think the snake did it to them.

I'd like to have my dogs snake trained, if anyone knows anyone on Brisbane who does it I'd love to know. Does anyone ever cane toad train their dogs? Because that seems just as useful to me, and around here we have loads more cane toads than snakes.

I must have missed the bit where you said you'd be adopting from another state without meeting the dog first. NO WAY I'd adopt an adult dog like that. A puppy yes (I already did), but an adult, nope.