hankdog

Oh he's gorgeous how can you not post 100 pictures????p

I trained a dog way back in the 80's when choke chains were it, luckily he was a dog that loved to train and seldom needed correction. I'm training a 6 year old multiple issues dog at the moment. He really couldn't give a hoot about leash corrections. at his worst he was quite happy to take his front legs off the ground on a prong collar. Clicker training has been the way to reach him. It established a dialog, allowed him to be proactive and taught him how to succeed. The thing about positive only is its very subtle and with the help of a professional I'm learning to withhold treats in order to get him to speed up and get that lovely quick enthusiastic response. He gets the odd "huh huh" for actively doing something wrong and a small leash pop if he needs it. Honestly go investigate all possible methods and see which "gels" with your dog and if you didn't get it, for me clicker training rocks!

One of the many things I've done for my reactive dog is feed him mostly salmon and vegetables. It did seem to help but then I've done lots of other stuff so I can't say exactly that it was the diet change.

Jake just fits but he doesn't mind, got his in camoflauge.

I met a Neapolitan mastiff yesterday.....turns out I like my dogs huge and slobbery and very jowly. Can you imagine a couch cuddle from one of them.

A real "doggie bag!"

Hahaha loving the cheesy grin.

Gosh that must have been a very large puppy stork!

I was up a tree trying to snap some baby butcher birds when Jake decided to do some great poses in front of a empty birdcage.

I'm sensing a small nudge could tip it into reality. Any photos of these "dream" hairy hairless possibilities.

Oodles of oodles, I'm pretty good at recognizing the crosses now. After that retrievers and labs, we are a family area so I guess that's why the labs. There's a few kelpie and cattle dog types and unfortunately the three I know seem to be not well looked after. Jake is the only bulldog I know and there's two staffies a few blocks over, they're beautifully trained and excellent representatives of their breed.

Brilliant Z-doggies. Well done to you for all the work,

I've had a confident, independent, one person because I like this one and the rest if you are irrelevant dog and now I've got Velcro, anxious, one person because I only know this person and will freak out if anyone else thinks about me dog so I think I'd like confident, Velcro and functionally one family kind of dog. I would like some of that "what do you want me to do now" stuff that BC's seem to come with but I'd need an off switch. I'd also like some of the laid back elegance of the greyhounds but I definitely would keep the bull dog squishy cuddles, Jakes just one moving snuggle looking for a place to happen.

Yea I like the black and white one too, just can't find a matching cushion! Harvey looking good in green again, I love how his red tag really pops out. Good composition.

Busy roads are great, office parks on weekends are good too, if you're ok with on leash dogs then very busy kids parks will normally shame people into leashing their dogs. My best place is a nearby office park that has lovely water features you'd be surprised at the wildlife they attract when everyone's gone home.

Oh I do love Cookie, poor doggies haven't found a home yet? Lovely light again and beautifully posed dogs.

I have one if those counter bells that I fastened onto a board. Just normal clicker training, first for looking at, then moving towards etc until he pawed it. Easier than targeting a hanging bell probably.

SL Zig still has the puppy look doesn't he? Jakes doing well at his training. the last two weeks we have trained in the paddock behind the kennels so he can hear dogs barking all the time. Last week he was very distracted. swinging around to face the kennels every time he sat and constantly checking over his shoulder when walking. This week he was much better, the heat got to him and he was a bit lethargic but was able to explain this to us by rolling over for belly rubs, something that would have been unthinkable so close to barking dogs a while ago. I'm really happy out trainer is holding us to a good standard, she wants focused heeling and quick position changes. I'm enjoying the challenge and both old dogs are learning new skills. On the dog front where I used to out the peanut butter jar right up his nose I now just hold it out to the side. If he starts to perform I'll give him a leash correction and tell him "what do you do?" This will generally snap him out of it and he'll get into his favorite thing. I'll use my judgement though because sometimes he's too fatigued or the dog's too scary in which case I just jam the jar right in there! He used to chew up at least one jar a week though and he hasn't done that in ages. He still chooses to run away sometimes and I always give him a big reward for that as well. I see a lot of regular walkers who sometimes compliment me on his behaviour and that smile I get lasts for days. I so of course get the nasty pitbull comments and its quite hard to say how that makes be feel, I guess it must be something like how mums feel when people call their children ugly or stupid.

Aw he's all grown up, his face has changed into a mature dog now. How's the rest of your gorgeous gang? How did the colorful sheep grow up?

I would say a rest is a good idea. I've been pushing Jake to speed up response time and (for heavens sake) "get" a stand. All that happened was a big-fat-lay-down ignore-you tantrum. I just stopped and concentrated on crate training for two days and today in 3 goes with no treats our trainer had him standing. It seemed simpler without treats flying around, just giving him the command and a leash pop in the right direction and allowing him to think what he was doing. Jake seems to baulk when I really want him to do something.

Is there a chance you could speak to the kid and let him befriend Rocky. Let him give Rocky pats and treats and explain to him how his actions are affecting Rocky and could end up causing a really bad outcome for Rocky. There is a small chance that he's being unthinking rather than uncaring. Appealing to his better nature might help.

We're redocorating and are considering some new cushions. Love the light Impatiens, very warm.

Well darn!!! Thankyou so much for all the help you have been with Jake. Honestly you have been a rock for me and I will definitely have to Facebook friend you. It's obvious you are deeply passionate about your field and I'm sure you're going to make a very valuable academic contribution to help all of us deal with our naughty dogs.

Thanks guys, I was in a rush and just posted it but now I look at it I'm thinking its really different to his other photos. Normally he's clownish but this is a kind of dignified pose. Must say Gertrude your camera skills are showing. Loving the focus in this one, those little whiskers on the left are great. I so meant to read the camera book I bought and try a different setting on the camera each week.....????. Maybe I'll fish it out from under the couch and read it one day.

It's a lot to take in especially behind a dog determined to do his own thing. I've just started privately because of his DA issues and I'm still finding the order of things like reward, release, marker word very difficult. The trainers are way stricter than me, really I'm just a giant treat dispenser but boy does he work for them. Couple of slightly growly words or pops on the leash and Mr " I'm considering all my options here" suddenly can just do what he's told. I had bought into the whole bulldogs are different thing but turns out with the right training they respond just like any other dog.