Kavik

AFAIK bark collars go off automatically when the dog barks - they are not controlled by the person - so how could the collar go off if the dog was not barking? Unless the collar was faulty?

I would say frustration about not being able to stop the annoying (painful to dog's ears? ) noise.

Certainly a loud/high pitched noise can cause a dog to become aggressive. Don't think I would call it prey drive unless the noise was coming from the animal/person attacked though? My previous dog would have a go at Zoe if Zoe got hurt/surprised/scared and made a noise - though I think in that case it was more like how dogs will gang up on a member that is going down.

Cool video! I taught bow by luring but I taught it before I knew how to shape

IMO you have to give some sort of clue to the dog what you want - even if that is only standing a certain way/certain posture. Eg you could stand legs slightly apart, hands together in front of you for your dog to give you a front position. Or stand feet together and one hand on hip for the dog to give you heel position. Or put the dog in a narrow hallway to get it to go backwards. If you do it only randomly then I agree Heidii it only confuses the dog, but if you give it context you can shape it.

I've actually found that dogs are pretty good at figuring out what pays and don't tend to offer every behaviour once they have figured out what you want for that exercise. You just ignore the responses you don't want or restart the exercise. Especially when there is a prop involved (any sort of object) they quickly remember what you want with each prop. Diesel knows to drop in the PVC box, and nose touch the raised target and my hand. I didn't start with drop in the box of course, started with investigating box, then putting a foot in the box etc. Kaos knows pounce on the mat/foot target,nose touch my hand, nose touch raised target, pounce in the PVC box. Zoe used to do her repertoire when shaping but does not do that anymore. She was the first dog I shaped with and I only started shaping with her when she was older, so it took her longer to start offering behaviours in the first place.

I have seen the odd GSD with rear dew claws, though they are not supposed to have them.

I've (luckily!) never been in a position to see what my dogs would do. I don't expect they would do a whole lot Likely some barking at a distance. Closest I've come is when the landlord came over to visit without telling me first so I could lock the dogs up. It was dark and raining, and there was only a perimeter fence, no separate back and front yard. Dogs were outside. Diesel barked his head off at the landlord when he came into the yard and towards the fence (who luckily was understanding and not worried about it!).

I do remember reading something in the gazette about Schutzhund and how it was discouraged but of course I can't seem to find it now.

AFAIK you can do it without the character work - you can get the OB and tracking titles without doing the character work necessary to get a SchH title.

I also have heaps of tugs even though only one dog tugs and that one doesn't tug reliably outside the yard Fire hose tugs Fleece tugs Sheepy tugs Orbee ball balls on a string Kong Wubbas

Zoe is a more sensitive dog in general - bit skittish, never liked loud noises, loved to hide under the bed. She prefers to be under the coffee table during storms and fireworks. She tends to bark if outside or in her crate, but not under the table. Belle tended to bark and rush at storms and fireworks. It was harder to manage her as she was the family dog and with 9 people in the house it was hard to get people to be consistent. She liked to be on top of tables/beds though in general. I think dogs with nervous/skittish/highly strung personalities and poor nerves are likely to react badly to thunderstorms and fireworks.

The fear of thunderstorms will not necessarily transfer to the next dog. Zoe is scared of thunderstorms and fireworks, as was my previous dog Belle. But Diesel and Kaos are not scared of storms or fireworks, and they are the younger ones. I think temperament plays a part too in noise sensitivity.

Cool Have I met him before?

Why does it have to be Friday? I have agility on Friday!

I do a lot of shaping but tend not to shape the simple important commands like sit, drop etc and instead lure for those. If training for something where I want those behaviours (eg working on Diesel to drop in PVC box) I did wait it out and shape it, which didn't take long as drop was already in his repertoire of behaviours that are rewarded. I think luring and then seeing if they will offer the behaviour without the lure is one way of weaning off the lure, so sounds fine to me!

Agree with the crate - makes travel much easier

Yes I was told this in K9 Force seminars. No I don't do it. May get better results with tug if I did but the walks are for my sanity as well

I don't agree with the premise that dogs from working lines are "generally unsafe in companion situations". Also, I think there is a bit of confusion in this thread. Obviously, lots of family pets will "step up" to a point and have proven to do so. I would not suggest it advisable that their owners would then be encouraged to go into potentially dangerous or risky situations relying upon those same dogs (as a security guard on patrol may do), even if they have shown good nerve and willingness to protect in other situations. e.g my Golden helped me dispatch two intruders who were attempting to break into my house during a time when there was a spate of home invasions in the area in which we lived at the time. Although he has "proven" himself in some capacity, I do not take him with me so that I can confront intruders when the alarm at work goes off, thinking that he will protect me.

A personal protection dog that had to be locked away would not be very useful. A good personal protection dog is also social (and I think a good security dog should be too - you would have to be able to talk to people without the dog wanting to bite everyone).

Not a big brag but we now have single stepping through solid base weave poles He was single stepping stick in the ground poles nicely but slower, less sure and putting the second foot down in solid poles. I got solid poles over Christmas and last night he was giving me good drive, speed and single stepping!

NDTF and Delta are the two main dog training courses available. http://www.ndtf.net.au/ http://www.deltasocietyaustralia.com.au/ They are quite different, so it would be worth looking at both and talking to people who have done each so you get what you are after.

The Dusk til Dawn trial sounded intense with the crazy weather we had :D Good results and well done Chloe Glad I wasn't there though

Happy birthday Furia! She's turned into a stunning girl

I use a crate. At the moment I am only trialling one dog. When I trial more than one, I will either bring two crates (so one for each) or get a pen, haven't decided yet.