Weasels

Lilmisssascha good luck Fox is ball-obsessed 24/7 and not at all interested in other dogs so in one sense we were lucky there, since we already knew her highest reward. With Weez i did a bit more trial and error to find what he'll work best for, he works well for food (usually 4legs treats but sometimes meat scraps if he's really lucky) but to really bomb-proof a behaviour i'll practice it around sheep and let him herd as a reward, and the commands do seem to still work when we're nowhere near sheep. So trying multiple things to find the best reward can be worthwhile, and can be different for each dog. The other thing I need to do with Weez is keep an eye on him and intervene before he gets 'zeroed in' on something. For example if i see another dog and it doesn't look like the other owner wants it to socialise, i get in and do focus work with lots of treats and put him in a heel to walk past as soon as he notices the dog and before he starts to approach, since once he's off there's a chance he'll make the wrong decision and keep going The idea is he then gets a history of reward by staying with me and doesn't get to practice/self-reward by running off to the other dog without permission. Then if staying with me is already super-fun that should help recall too. This is just stuff that worked for me tho, hopefully both lms and Kja you find what works for your pooches

It would make more sense to have one pro rata payment for tne 6 months or whatever to get people in line, instead of charging a full year for a service they had no intention of delivering

I mix plain greek yoghurt with their dry food and a tin of sardines to freeze in a kong twice a week. I use a whole single-serve container but that usually fills 2 large and 2 small kongs so they get about half a 200g container a week each

Soooo..... do they just pick a random renewal month for each person? Edit: i just checked - we joined in July and they want the renewal by the end of November.

Hmmmm it doesn't say anything about a fixed renewal date on the membership form or in the fees list. I might have to give them a call on monday just to check. Thanks for the heads-up Ososwift!

Oh, sorry, just read your edit i will have to check it out in the morning, i haven't been this confused since i first tried to join!

Ososwift yes that's a double, we have both dogs in both our names so i can still trial them if my husband goes away for work (we usually handle one each). I just wasn't aware it went from a fixed time each year rather than for a year from when we joined more fool me. I think we joined in July.

Ours too - $95 for associate and we paid $200 to join only a few months ago! Seems like a pretty big ask just for the occasional herding trial

Aw what a good-looking and happy birthday boy! Happy birthday Kenzie!

Before we even got our first dog OH said he preferred to have 2 dogs so they could keep each other company. I filed that information away for future reference...

Is she keen for chasing a ball? I got the best results training a recall on my girl by stopping a game of fetch, calling her in, then throwing the ball back behind me. So it's kind of like i was doing her a favour by getting her halfway to where the ball was going to be, if that makes sense. Worked great for the foxdog, anyway.

I like it too. I think it's best to advocate the right dog for the right person, be it purebred or rescue, then hopefully we can reduce the number of dogs finding themselves in need of help in the first place :D

Huskies, i think it's great that you are passionate about such a good cause, one that I fully agree with But a couple of people here have said that they find that 'don't buy...' line to be judgemental to non-rescuers. I'm just suggesting that certain approaches turn people away rather than starting a conversation about the benefits of rescue. It seems that your caption is getting people at least on-guard, possibly offended, about the pro-rescue message.

Hi Christine Most Perth DOLers recommend Kathy Kopellis McCleod - http://kathysdogtraining.com.au/ I've also had good help from paw prints pet training - http://pawprintspettraining.com.au/ Good luck!

More generally, I'm not a fan of using guilt to promote rescue either. I chose to get rescue dogs myself, but that was because a) my favourite breed shows up in rescue a lot for no other reason than people didn't have time for them, b) I had the time and inclination to address any behavioural issues that arose and c) I didn't want them for a specific purpose other than pets. There are plenty of other reasons that people get dogs, and rescue dogs don't necessarily suit all of them. If someone wanted a dog specifically for a type of competition for example, or if they wanted a breed that doesn't show up in rescue too often, I wouldn't necessariy point them towards a shelter. Getting (e.g.) emails and facebook posts about how awful life is for shelter dogs doesn't change how many I am able to adequately care for, so these serve no other purpose to depress people, and possibly think the problem is too big and give up. /rant Edit: I certainly appreciate the passion and dedication of people who work in and support rescue, I just think there's a fine line between engaging people and alienating them.

You might need to train a BC to be good with your livestock, but that's certainly do-able. An ACD might be a good fit too, in my experience a bit less kinetic than sheepdogs and less likely to get a kick from a horse since they have an instictive way of flattening themselves. Either way your cat might be in for a shock :D Edit: if you are in a hotter part of Qld maybe a kelpie over a BC, since they are bred for better heat tolerance? Also Aussie sheps are gorgeous, definitely worth considering!

I've started letting my girl up for a short time some mornings while I read my ipad too, she just curls up behind my spine or knees and is no trouble I think she is smart enough to work out that this is the only time she is allowed up, she hopped up once while I wasn't there are I kicked her straight off, she hasn't tried it since. I'm not sure if my boy would be able to work out the subtle distinction in rules tho So it's the dog-bed in the corner for him.

Wait, so if you're in the bed, and she's there long enough to go to sleep, does that mean you are not saying anything when she does jump up? Teach her an 'off' command, then use it as soon as she jumps up. She should get the picture after a few failed attempts to snuggle in.

Good luck I understand the feeling like a failure - poor Weez has come so far since we adopted him 10 months ago, picked up herding titles and is great when he's listening, but when he's barking away at the end of a leash at a jogger or cyclist I feel like the worst dog owner in the world, especially if it upsets the person he's barking at I think we just need persistence, patience and good timing tho to get the best out of our dogs

Some days it's hard to get going but I usually enjoy it once I'm out One thing that has been dampening our enjoyment lately tho is the number of loose cats in our neighbourhood. Not only does it stir up my dogs at the time (it's about the only thing that does stir up my girl, she's pretty bombproof otherwise), but then everytime we pass the spot where they've seen a cat my boy starts pulling on the lead and being super-vigilant, even weeks later. This morning I managed to get my reactive boy to watch a couple of cyclists go past without incident, but then they got all fired up by a loose cat and then the next cyclist he saw - bam. Crazy town. If any other animal was just let out onto the street unsupervised there would be an uproar, but we often see 2-3 loose cats on just the short walk down to the park

lilmisssascha83 - I taught Weez to ignore other dogs on command using the most super-tasty food I could find (in my case chicken/ham/bacon) and teaching a 'leave-it' or 'walk on'. If can find someone with a calm dog to help you out you could walk past and as you pass the other dog give a command and reward when they look ahead or at you. You can even lure them forward with the food. If you can't walk past calmly you could start by get close enough for your dog to show interest, then give the command and turn around/walk away and then build up to walking past. If you need to put a bit more enticement into the treats, if they are slightly warm they will release more scent. Using this method I can now even call Weez away from being in the middle of playing with another dog

teela - I second everything Nekhbet said. Best advice you'll get for free IMHO.

Are you sure she trusts that it is actually something she wants to eat being thrown? Some dogs like to do a thorough inspection before they eat something :p I like bedazzled's idea too, will she take food that is dropped while she paying full attention? This is how i get rid of my roast chicken scraps :D

Trinabean I've heard a few ppl say this about their breeds, most recently a Newfie owner since the dog was so dark and shaggy. I think i've also read on here that shar pei (?) owners say their breed has its own play style. We see a boxer at our park often and Weez does act differently to him than other dogs. The boxer will come up and paw-raise/nudge Weez until he reacts, but Weez will just chase him instead of his usual game of bitey-face. I'm not sure if it's a boxer thing or just an individual dog thing tho but they both seem to enjoy it and the boxer always comes back for more

And a lot of the time even if you do google a dog problem, DOL is the first result anyway