BrunoBella

OK, finally an update on our progress. Have been too busy for doling for a while! On last update I was practicing at walking the dogs offlead. I practiced one at a time and then both together. I can now walk both dogs offlead anywhere using 95% voice commands and the occasional stim for new situations . I still can't believe I can do this and that it is, and has been, so easy . Due to this new ability, the dogs and I now enjoy many more activities like exploring waterways, teaching bruno to swim (poor bruno was drowning) and exercising the dogs while travelling without having to find a fenced area. Bliss We have done a huge road trip to canberra and I could let them run at roadside stops with no fear. I can get in and out of gates without worrying about them escaping, they come back with or without the collar. My sisters birds are free from mortal fear . Who has birds in cages anyway? I think that is the greatest benefit of the ecollar is that I can totally relax when I take the dogs out and they get to have lots more doggy fun . LM, good luck. Just a hint, the dog wears the collar and you carry the remote :p .

You beat me to it settrlvr. I have a big spray bottle of betadine which I use for cuts and scrapes. Doesn't taste very nice! It does leave yellow foot prints though so use it outside. Betadine is fantastic at killing bugs. We used it all the time when I was a nurse.

Another suggestion, with all the exercises you need to repeat them again and again and again. I had problems with my dogs jumping on me when I walked outside. I would turn around and go back inside. Five minutes later I would go outside, dog jumped, I turn around and go back inside. Some days it took me thirty minutes to get out the door without being jumped on but now I never get jumped on.

A friend found her 6mth old standard poodle dead from choking on a chicken wing. I don't feed any bones unsuperviser. Neither of my dogs have had any problems with chicken wings as puppies or lamb shanks/ other bones as adults. They love chicken frames. I always feed bones despite the risk because it is necessary for the dogs health, particularly their teeth and coat. You have to find the right size for the size of your dog. Eg, too big for them to swallow in one gulp . Bruno used to gulp his bones as a puppy so I stayed right beside him while he was eating. He grew out of that really quickly though.

Here's a little update. We have been swimming a number of days per week for practice. Today I bought Bruno a K9 Ruffwear float coat and tried him in the lake. First swim out he was uncertain, second time he was looking more confident and the third time he had it down. He now swims using all four paws and only uses his front paws out of the water when he's turning. He looked so pleased with himself The coat also stops him from getting his front paws up too high so he had to figure out to use his back ones as well . eta: typo

I was wondering about that but I didn't realise it was an issue. I will tie bella up and let bruno retrieve and win in more situations. I will start now. Bella is also in charge of burglar detection and bruno only assists if bella is already busy. Thanks LL

I took the dogs to the lake this afternoon and bruno's swimming was a little better. He has his head lower and is splashing less. I will try to take him sun and mon as well and take the lead down. I will also send him in with a toy in his mouth but bella doesn't let him have them for very long

Thank you everyone. I think I'll try the lead trick before buying a buoyancy vest cause he's not scared and he's fit enough to keep himself afloat. I think he will sort this out quickly. His working so hard is usefull though because he sleeps for two days after half an hour of swimming

Is the ruffwear gear available in shops or do you have to buy it from the US?

I haven't been much help to him as I was rolling around laughing at him . I will give the lifejacket a try . Poor bruno had everyone laughing at the creek last sunday .

Thank you percyk. I will try and support his belly and teach him properly. He absolutely adores the water but has never been in deep water before. Sounds like I will have to get wet myself as we are in Canberra for the next two weeks still. The water is cold here . Might wait until we get back to brisbane and it's not too cold for me to get in..

Mr Bruno has only been swimming a few times and he just can't get it right. Bella always just swam perfectly but Bruno looks more like he's drowning than swimming . He seems to be only using his front paws. His bottom sinks and his front paws go up and down really high and he splashes badly . Fortunately he is very fit and strong so he can still keep afloat. All the other dogs seem to be able to swim by themselves. The only thing I can think off is that he is very lean and doesn't have much fat. Anyone had this problem and knows how to fix it? Thank you

Silly dogs. How can they lose a prong??

Ditto. btw Resucitating people who are still breathing leads to black eyes in the helper

Friday Progress: We are working our way quitely through levels of distraction. Every day is better than the one before. Now every time we walk on lead I will drop one of the leads at a time and let them go off lead without fences. I am teaching them to follow me off lead. It still feels strange that they can't run away anymore and I still expect the to bolt off into the distance ;) . This will be fantastic next time I take them on a road trip. I can let them run anywhere instead of having to find a place with fences I accidentally dropped bruno's collar while putting his lead on and he wandered off. He made no attempt to run away and sat on command waiting for me to put his lead on :D .

I used to walk bella on a head halter and an infin8. She hated them both with a passion and would do everything to get out of putting them on and trying to get them off again. And then there was the permanent scar across her nose . She also used to run to the end of the lead and snap her neck with a sickening sound . In the 18 months I used this, she never got any better at walking. I now use a prong collar and bella runs up to me to get her collar put on and never tries to take it off on our walk. She also very quickly stopped pulling altogether.

Fantastic news neorotic. Bellas are tough

Thanks again Oonga. Most of the stuff was learned by the end of 2 weeks, now just have to cut down the stims to nothing. LL, haven't started that one yet. Still proofing all the other stuff. From what I remember, it starts with running onto a mat on lead, and progresses from there. I think the rest might be copyright?? You'll have to ask K9 Force

I'm happy to hear there is improvement . Keep up the good work.

To get bella out of the backyard where the possum are used to be 15 minutes up to 3 hours. This was me calling her on and off and ignoring her. It also wasn't every time, only when she lost it. With ecollar on it is 3 seconds with a 100% success rate . With ecollar off last night about 5 minutes I think. Better than earlier.

Thanks oonga. I have to give a presentation at my interview so am madly studying possible scenarios while relaxing on dol I made an error yesterday and forgot to put the ecollars on. In the evening when the possums came out I could recall Bruno but Bella took a little while. Note to self. Don't forget to put your ecollar on in the morning............

You're not clueless cause you already have some good ideas. As your dog is new he will not be certain of your affection. If its attention seeking, I would suggest going out every half hour and spending some time with him and then gradually increase the time that you leave him outside. If he still barks, the only other thing I could suggest is that he is getting overexcited playing with the other dogs and to give him time out at say every 45 minutes. I have successfully used your current method for training Bella out of barking at passers-by. But recalling her in this situation is a correction rather than a reward because she enjoys the barking. When I tried it on Bruno for one day, his barking increased so with him I ignore his behaviour. Bruno is easy as he doesn't bark very often or very loudly. Good luck eta---- welcome to DOL donnaborneo and to remove excess words

That's very good news neOrotic. If she's responding to drugs then its not permanent nerve damage eta - calling neo neu

All right then. I've been busy this week again. Last week we worked on recall at the dog park (my high distraction training area) which is going really well. This week I did SAAD and DAAD at home for half an hour and then took that to the dog park. Bella did the sit and drop really well but occassionally comes to me instead of sitting at a distance. Did a lot of practice on a tie out at home and that improved. Bruno does the SAAD easily and never tries to come out to me so he had no problems doing this at the dog park. We now enter and leave the area with no issues. I use "This Way" without a stim instead of my recall to get the dogs to follow me as I move around. When I'm ready to go I call them and they trot over to have their leads put on. I still can't believe how easy this is We get lots of admirers and everyone wants an ecollar I also do a lot of work at home. Bella was barking at people going past the house. I started recalling her with stim and rewarding her for coming. I very rarely have to stim now and she has changed from a very excited bark to a single "Woof - there's burglars". I do all this from the back deck or the study without having to get up and call her in from the front door. So much better. Have to get ready for a job interview so no beach for us this weekend

;) I think if you sold your soul to the devil you could get one of those