m-j

I'm not a dogmatic person (no pun intended) & am open to any ideas & theories which enhance the training & wellbeing of dogs ....

Hi Aus Aus wrote: the exceptions being, that I don't use tie backs...my dogs tie up fine...& just having the food in front of them & my control is enough to keep them in drive. M-J wrote: From my understanding of the TOT the tie back is to increase the dogs frustration, therefore increase the natural drive the dog already has, and it also sets it up to succeed to build reliability at the same time....... I could be wrong? Aus wrote: & my alpha status, I achieve the same way a dog would....I lay them down & growl and bite the scruff if necesssary.....then hold them in a drop stay, for however long it takes It only takes me one challenge..(which I have to win of course) and they then look to me as alpha & this is reinforced by feeding regimes, reward allocation & effective growls when behaviour oversteps the mark acceptable. M-J wrote: I'm not absolutely certain on what you call Alpha status but in this situation I would say being able to put the dogs food down and not have it take it until released by me, while at a distance from the bowl, is demonstrating Alpha status, maybe you have other thoughts. I have achieved this with not one growl or verbal correction, not one hand on his body, no tie back and my Dobe was a rescue that had had 4 homes in 12 mths so he wasn't a walk in the park to deal with when he first came here and he does have a little rank drive. He also has a high food drive and will sit there like yours drool and blow bubbles, but so far (8mths) he has been 100 percent reliable as I have set him up to be through training in drive, not by breaking it. So because of this I'm not absolutely certain that generally Dobes really do need your Alpha training to make them reliable companion dogs. I believe training in drive by controlling resourses does make you Alpha...again just an opinion, not saying I'm right. cheers M-J

Hi Does this mean a game of some sort, as opposed to food?? cheers M-J

Hi Well done Mrs D. He is soooooooo cute especially in the bow photo. cheers M-J

Hi Erny I'm sure she will, so we can all ponder it's merits :D You are a dag (in the nicer sense of the word). Can't wait to hear what a German Meat Test is. cheers M-J

huh????

Hi I agree with mjk05 as you don't know that he needs to go to the toilet or not as he could be cold, when you come back in put a coat on him and put him back in the crate, as before dawn is the coldest time of the night. He will learn that whinging just brings a trip out into the cold and then back into the crate, perhaps give him something to chew on. If he is demanding to get into the bed you will need to ride the extinction burst (the increased whinging), if you give in when/if you try again the whinging will be more intense. Not good news to those whose sleep is precious, in the short term, but the long term you will have fixed your problem without having to get ratty at the dog, which doesn't make for a peaceful sleep anyway. Another thing also when you wake up don't immediately let him out of the crate, do a couple of things first 1/2 min or so, and not the same things or length of time each time, so the dog doesn't learn that you stirring in your sleep means he is going to get out of the crate or after a certain amount of time or a certain behaviour pattern from you, you dictate that when you are ready. Or you could just let him sleep with you cheers M-J

She did too. I'll find out if you can use the dam , if not we have other dams cheers M-J

LL This is all your fault anyway, you introduced us to Sardog Trish it was a pity you guys couldn't be there I know you would have enjoyed it despite having to climb into very dusty tunnels, up conveyor (sp?) belts to work cabins way way up, get squished in cupboards, into the cavities in walls, well Andrew spared us from doing that...this time:) cheers M-J

Hi It has amazed me how these things have just evolved, I have been very lucky in my attempt to get SARDA out there. Jade and I did the interview. They basically wanted to know what our plans were as far as SARDA is concerned, I couldn't even pass this on to Sardog . We just explained we would be going through the rescue side of training navigation, communication, how scent works and how the dogs utilise it, learn more about the process of training the dog before actually getting a puppy. What type of searches these dogs are trained for.... to best of our limited knowledge anyway:) If I could take the 5mins back I would, calm down then say all that I wanted to say and had practised the night before, it all went out the window I do not have good nerve:) As far as being able to download it I don't know?? cheers M-J

Hi They don't talk they scream! (& so do the handlers at times) :p Cheers MJ

Guilty as charged- but only momentarily. They're so good I couldn't resist! Thankfully Pat made up so many - although probably not according to u LL. :p It doesn't get much better than that, great food, great company, great weather - what else could a person ask for. I'd like to take the opportunity (while I've taken over MJ's computer) to thank all who attended on the weekend & I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Hope you can make it too the next one LL. :laugh Bye for now. Jade

Hi Thanks, Jade and I would do this again, it was well and truely worth it. cheers M-J

Hi This weekend was sooooooo much fun. River, Gus, Julie, Andrew, Pat, Cindy, Kristy, Robyn, Judi, Jade thank you for helping me have one of the most memorable weekends I have had. I was exhausted, I imagine you guys would have been too after having to travel many hours to get home. We did 3 search types, a building search, a disaster search and an area search. River and Gus were amazing I had only seen an area search before and doing the building and searching at the quarry was another insight into how highly trained these dogs are (a victim was found while hiding in work cabin of a machine that was about the height of a 4-5th storey in a building off the ground) and how the "team" works, although I don't imagine victims would usually ask for a heart and lung machine to be bought up after climbing up a steep hill in the middle of nowhere . A huge thanks must also go out to the people who made all this possible, Allen McPherson from Boral Quarry, Peter Hassell and Kade Godde for the use of the Tannery and Neil and Wendy Phillips for the use of their beautiful property "Jirrima". Jirrima actually has a bit of history attached as it was one of the hideouts for a bushranger called Mad Dan Morgan, dunno how he got his horses up there, it's fairly rugged terrain for a horse. Thanks again guys, for a great weekend. cheers M-J

HI Gee this is a hard one, as not everyone enjoys the same things ie if you put a bit of comp into your lessons, games with prizes some find that off putting, some find doing the basics and getting them sound before moving on, boring. I find it hard to juggle the necessary basics, what people want, and make the lessons interesting for all. I will be interested what suggestions people may have. cheers M-J

Hi Just a quick note to say that we are expecting warm weather but the mornings have been frosty. It will be great to meet you and catch up with those I do know. Pity you can't come LL but we will be thinking of you, go girl!! cheers M-J

Hi Thanks everyone, it will be worth it, talking dogs all weekend AAHH bliss. cheers MJ

F666 wrote They are great to watch, they obviously enjoy their work. I got a lot out of the Melbourne workshop also. K9 wrote: There will be other weekends. Great little country pub to stay in, good food, fortunately not provided by me. If anyone has transport difficulties preventing them from coming down/up to a training session, the XPT (train from Sydney to Melbourne) stops within walking distance to the hotel where we will be staying. cheers MJ

I am really looking forward to it also and meeting some other dolers, it will be a bit of a social outing as well cheers M-J

Hi I am very lucky to be having Julie (Sardog) and Andrew Cowan of Search and Rescue Dogs Austrlia (SARDA) coming to Culcairn, near Albury/Wodonga, on the 19th and 20th August to conduct several training sessions, with their dogs River and Gus. These training sessions are being held to create an interest in setting up a NSW branch of SARDA. If anyone would like to come to this, or any future training sessions to learn about SARDA and the organisations activities, please PM me for more details, thanks. cheers M-J

Hi I would start by giving a rapid fire of treats every step while going around the post, making sure he is in position when the treat is being put into his mouth, even if you use a marker(don't hold your hand too far out, slide it down your leg). Move your hand back into the normal position after each treat. You then gradually wean off the treats, you may also have to reinforce the straight bit also every now and then as the rest of the fig8 might break down, if you don't. I was stewarding at trials today and you could tell the dogs that had been heavily reinforced for the outside turn they would get all enthusiastic but instantly lost animation/focus once the turn had finished. hth cheers M J

Sorry I didn't mean to scare you, I'm a big believer in don't panic until there is something to panic about but certainly keep it in the back of your mind that she might learn unwanted behaviours from repeated experiences, which it doesn't sound like will happen. One senario could be that carrying on like that may not appeal to her. I couldn't inspire my Maltese to play with a tug toy, through using model rival training or any other training, it just isn't in his nature, he was interested in watching them play but have a go himself I don't think so, "such an uncouth past time, pat me instead" Aren't dobes nice when they are asleep She is very cute. cheers M-J

Hi Myszka I believe there are so many variables that could be applied to this one episode (re Rex and Bear's behaviour) anything said via internet would be wild stabs in the dark as to what Diva would be inclined to pick up from that episode. That hypothetical scenario I gave was one of few that I believe could happen, that I can think of, similar to one dog teaching another the joys of chasing postmen, they come, dog barks, they go, they are good teaching tools, it works everytime. Any dog/pup that has an ounce of guarding/prey/pack drive will probably be interested enough to take note ( as dogs are very much "what is in this for me"), next join in on the fun and if taken to another environment are more than likely to continue this behaviour on their own. I'm no expert it is just that I have had an aggressive dog teach a normally non-aggressive dog to aggress at dogs and unfamiliar people in a certain place, she never ever became aggressive anywhere else with people. I'm actually not sure as to whether she would have actually bitten, had somone walked into the yard, but she looked pretty serious, I didn't test it. But that was my dog, they are all different. Erny... nice to have it confirmed that I'm not, cheers M-J

Can dogs smell our emotions??? I have often wondered this and I don't see why they can't as we do release chemicals and they can smell them and as they areen't silly I sure they could put our behaviour and a certain smell together??? or am I just being silly. cheers M-J

In some areas definately. cheers M-J