Kavik

Honestly I have left it too late for my original goal which was to compete with Zoe. My modified goal is to be able to walk her and go past another dog without her reacting. I don't expect her to be able to meet another dog. Zoe turns 11 later this year, she is not a young dog. She has improved a LOT since I started the click to calm technique. Sometimes I am able to walk past another dog (had to do it earlier in the walk yesterday no problems, the other dog owner was talking to someone and was stationary so the only way to pass them). I prefer to stop as it allows me to do more training at the time. I can stop and set her up in a good location, relax, give her time to relax and to see the other dog coming and choose to look back at me multiple times before the dog passes us. This gives me more time to reward her rather than worrying about moving and juggling everything and worrying about where the other dog is all at the same time. I make sure that we are far enough away that (usually) I don't have to worry about the other dog coming to visit. I didn't think this dog would come over as it was just ambling along the footpath ahead of its owner. It didn't look excited. If I thought it would come over, I would have gone around the corner and several more metres away so I wouldn't have to deal with it. My aim is to ensure that Zoe is not put in a situation where she feels she has to react, which means that if necessary and possible I cross the road or go into a driveway.

You making some equipment westielover?

My plan is to get Zoe to be more relaxed around other dogs, so I use an exercise where she looks at another dog and when she looks back at me she gets a click/treat. This has improved her behaviour enormously around other dogs, and I find works best if we are stationary as it is difficult to do when moving. I am trying to teach her to cope with being able to see another dog move past without reacting. I am sorry STITCH, I don't think too much of Cesar's methods for dealing with dog-dog aggression. I have used correction based methods to try and fix it in the past and it did not help things with me and my dog.

I didn't realise she was so 'racy' - she makes my Kelpie look chunky by comparison How much does she weigh?

Pretty much what Shell said. It is easier to get Zoe to give me her attention if she is sitting (or standing still) than if we are moving. I NEVER let Zoe say hi to other dogs EVER, this is purely to get her OK with dogs in the vicinity without going off. That is why I give myself distance, so she can see the other dog but we don't have to worry about meeting them.

He is growing up to be handsome

I've taught Kaos to spin. Only one direction at the moment. When I get around to it I will teach the other way.

I walk the dogs separately as they are quite different to walk and have different needs. And Zoe is 'special' If only you could explain to them and make it all better - she would be quite a nice agility dog if she wasn't aggro!

Diesel paces too. Not sure why. He did break a leg at 6 months. There is nothing to your girl is there Staranais!

Agree with poodlefan

I was walking Zoe this morning and it was going well - walked past 2 dogs and gave them enough space and Zoe was behaving. On the way back I spotted a Golden Retriever. No dramas, I move 4 METRES to the left of the footpath, more than enough space for them to get past. I tell the lady that my dog doesn't like other dogs and not to let her dog near mine. Zoe is in a sit. The lady then proceeds to allow the dog who is off lead to come up to Zoe, who starts carrying on, I then tell the lady again MY DOG DOES NOT LIKE OTHER DOGS! and in order to prevent her dog from being bitten I swing my foot at it and tell it to go away. (which is more than she is doing, she is just standing there). She then proceeds to tell me I have a vicious dog! I tell her that she had the WHOLE FOOTPATH to pass us! Why don't people listen? Obviously if someone is far away from the footpath with their dog, they don't want it to meet yours! Rant over.

Here is an agility run from last month - so close! Just a refusal on the last jump. He shook his head and ears were at a funny angle - so I think something made his ear itchy or a fly or something?

dogwalk planks are 30cms I'm pretty sure, although for foundation work exercises I don't think it will matter what you use, it will more about getting him used to the idea of a plank for him to walk across. Tunnels are 60cm.

We had a fantastic time at the Newcastle double agility trial. We camped there - it was a bit cold Saturday qually and 3rd place Novice Agility and only 1 fault in Open Jumping. Sunday qually and 2nd place Excellent Jumping and qually and 4th place Novice Agility giving us our AD title! What a good boy Kaos

I think with Diesel it would be a matter of taking him off any cortisone based drugs, giving no annual vaccinations and feeding a raw diet. It would take a number of months to see a big improvement. I am not a betting person but I would bet on the fact that you would see a massive improvement. Cortisone based drugs (whih are generally prescribed by most vets for skin problems) suppress the immune system - add vaccinations on top of that and the dog's system has no chance of being healthy. I can't remember if you have told me whether he still gets vaccs ot not but no vet should be giving vaccs to a dog with a compromised immune system. The 'raw feeding' breeder I purchased my 9 year old westie from has fixed a number of skin problems on westies by taking the dog from the owner for a few months and switching them to a raw diet and weening the dog off the drugs & vaccs. I have seen the results and they are truly amazing. To see a westie go from having not much fur, red raw skin and scratching itself to no end and then see transformed westie with a beautiful full coat and good skin is prrof enough for me. Also, when feeding raw - not every meal has to be balanced (I think a lot of people worry about this too much) - the meals are balanced over say a week. As long as the dog is being fed raw meat, offal, bones and green leafy mashed veggies every week - it should be okay. The raw diet isn't meant to be complicated. He's not on cortisone at the moment, on 3 yrly vaccs (until I find a vet that doesn't charge so much for titre testing!). Unfortunately that still would not solve my lack of freezer space Really it is chockers as it is and my OH complains about the space the dog's food takes up! Maybe when I can conjure up some more time I'll give it another go.

I tried raw for a while with Diesel to see if it would help with his skin, but I didn't see it make any noticeable difference. Also, I worried about getting it right, it took a long time to prepare (the vegie slop and sourcing all the bits and pieces of offal) and not that cheap either - the bits of offal were expensive. I also couldn't believe the amount I had to feed to keep any amount of weight on! I don't have a freezer dedicated to dog meat, they have to share space with the human food in the freezer, and there is no way I have enough room to keep enough food in there for them (and unless you buy in bulk it is actually expensive). My previous dog was only fed dry food her whole life and she lived to be 17 and was very healthy until she got to be about 14/15 when age related illnesses started creeping in. Out of my current lot, the Kelpies seem to do well on whatever food I choose to feed them, I have to be more careful with Diesel who has bad skin (and I will take recommendations for foods to try!). Mine get a mix of dry and chicken wings.

This is a good idea you could start with using a treat bag/container instead of having the treat in your hand, then move the treats further away.

There are several really good trainers in NSW. Some are very well known and have high profiles, others are not as well known.

Diesel has allergies (shown as skin problems) and broke a leg when he was a puppy. The other two are healthy. Poor Diesel!

I'm sure Australia recognises o/s show titles though? I'm sure that when I look through the dog profiles on DOL that it is noted if they are a US/Can/NZ Ch etc?

It is not necessarily anyone's fault. Goodness knows I did all I could with the knowledge I had to fix my dog's DA. Possibly could have gottten her considerably better if I knew then what I know now. Regardless of why they are DA, DA= less priveleges such as the loss of the privelege to run off lead at a dog park with other dogs around. Even if yours is very well trained, most dogs at dog parks are not well behaved but rude and in your face. Really not fair on anyone including DA dog to put them in that situation.

Puncture wounds = serious. Even though one of mine is DA and can be possessive of bed etc, I have NEVER had a fight which resulted in puncture wounds. Only dust ups which are noise, once or twice a mark on a dog's muzzle. ETA: I haven't had a dust up with my lot for a long time. You have two very strong, powerful breeds that will likely not back down if something is started.

If you can't hold the dog when it sees another dog and it can escape, you shouldn't be walking it in public at all! You can avoid peak walking times and go early morning or late at night when less likely to meet other people and dogs. And if you can't recall your dog offlead and it is aggressive, it should NOT EVER be allowed offlead, even if no other dogs are around. I don't care if it is muzzled or not.

I don't see why a dog aggressive dog should be muzzled when out if it is only ever walked on lead and in control . We give other dogs as much space as possible - I go into driveways or the far end of the footpath, and she does not lunge at dogs passing by thanks to lots of training I have done (can't say the same for some 'friendly' dogs that I see!).

I know it is hard, but the best way to fix the barking and whining is to ignore it. Mine only took a few days before they were quiet at night. I crate my dogs though, really made the whole thing so much easier! If you go back to him when he is barking or whining you are showing him that carrying on works. Since he has gotten attention that way, it will take longer to get rid of the habit, and it will get worse at first (extinction) before it stops. Hopefully some Weim people will come in and give some advice, I have heard that they are prone to separation type behaviours.