Kavik

Go Harley

No, I have not suddenly become a fan of headcollars But I am curious as to what the differences are between the different headcollar brands. Do some suit different breeds/builds/head types better? And if someone insisted on using one, what would you recommend? and why? I have used halti, gentle leader, limited exposure to infin8, mostly at work.

OK they are going to send me an information package and I will have a look at the units and see how many match up, then give them another call.

Office of Training and Tertiary Education Thanks I will look them up.

What is OTTE?

That is an amazing shot Vickie!

Certainly questioned a lot more than someone who for example says they don't wish to shape using a clicker Not everyone is comfortable using every tool, whether it is seen to be positive or not so positive. Some people don't have the patience for shaping (though now I have gotten the hang of it, I use it all the time!) and others are not comfortable with the use of an ecollar even if it is low stim and they understand the methodology.

I do understand what some are saying re hounding - e collars on this forum are a good example. When I first came on you were hounded if you mentioned you were interested in them. Now you are hounded if you say you don't wish to use one. Very interesting turn of events.

I just watched the fear aggressive dog one with the headcollar (had to get Quicktime first) - did not look that positive to me! Lot of use of the headcollar, lots of fast movement by handler. Probably how I would have tried to do things with Zoe in the past. Unfortunately I found the constant need to do stuff like tricks and lots of movement to keep her attention on me around other dogs very tiring, and I don't think it really taught her how to deal with other dogs. Recently I have also had success with a sort of stand like a tree method combined with Click to Calm, if she starts pulling because there is a dog walking in front and she starts to focus on it, I stop and wait and when she gives me attention on her own she gets rewarded and we continue. I have found calming things down and giving her the choice instead of always trying to elicit attention through commands, movement etc has helped.

What differences are there in temperament between the three sizes of Schnauzer? And why?

I'm still waiting to hear from them about how to upgrade from the Professional Dog Trainers Course I did with them in 2000 to the Cert III course - it has been a year now and I email them regularly to ask. First response was that they wouldn't recognise the other course at all for RPL and I would have to do it again, most recent was more positive but haven't heard anything concrete yet about what I have to do.

I also found that when I tried correcting Zoe for her aggression that I was really stressed every time there was another dog around. Another trainer could do it but it was not the right method for me, I worried about what she was going to do. There was no trust. She didn't trust me to make sure no other dogs came close to her and I didn't trust her not to be aggressive. I ended up thinking more about when I had to correct her. Now I do everything in my power to ensure no other dogs come into her space, she does not meet other dogs EVER unless a loose dog that I cannot prevent and I think some trust is being formed. I am much more relaxed handling her and she seems more relaxed when we come across other dogs, as we have focus training to do. Well, she is not a relaxed dog in general I guess I should say she is less stressed about the other dogs being there. She has plenty of drive, more than Diesel, and is fun to train on her own. Today I started her and Kaos on the jump grid groundwork for running contacts which she got right the first time, though she will not get to try it for real unless/until I get my own equipment.

Are we allowed to take photos/video of the dogs competing? More likely video, as I'm hopeless with movement still shots

Certainly a police dog must obey commands at all times. But we are not talking about police dogs not doing what they are told, but about an aggressive (emotional) response to another dog by a dog that does not necessarily have the temperament (especially stability and nerves in the case of my dog ) of a police dog. We are talking about a dog who is scared of thunderstorms/fireworks and buses backfiring. I started the clicker work with my dog a large distance (across the street) from other dogs, so there was no chance the other dog could decide to come over and say hi (or moronic owners let it) so I could relax and just focus on what my dog was doing. She already knew that click = treat as we had done other clicker work before and we had done attention work with the clicker so she knew if she looked at me she got a click. I used the exercises outlined in the book Click to Calm. It is not so much a bribe system (show dog treat to get dog to stop aggressing) but if you choose to look at me when you see another dog you get click/treat. So dog looks at other dog, looks back at you, click/treat. Though it does differ in some ways (in that it uses clicker and treats ) I found some of the principles not that different to that of K9 Force in that you have to give the dog the choice/opportunity to look at the other dog and to deal with the other dog coming. Previously I had done the give the dog a treat while another dog passes just to get past them but this did not teach the dog how to deal with it or what to do when another dog came around. Now my dog knows what she has to do when she sees another dog - look at me.

Those are the only two certified courses that I know about

What happens in a situation without a clicker and treat say for instance the dog slipped past you at the gate whilst focusing on a dog walking past on the street when the dog has learned to obey a click and reward???. I will say honestly that it would be a bad thing if my dog slipped past me at the gate while focussing on a dog walking past. Too late to do much but try to grab her somehow by that stage. I certainly hope this would never happen. Since my front yard is fenced and she can't see out, and she does not go out the front door (into front fenced area) without a lead on she would not get the opportunity.

I have actually been really impressed with how well the Click to Calm stuff is working with Zoe. She is nearly 10 years old, I started this when she was about 8, so already a mature dog with an established problem. I don't expect that she will be happy to meet another dog, but I have seen such an improvement of her attitude towards other dogs when we are walking. She seems calmer about other dogs approaching, gives me good focus, her critical distance is smaller, she will often now choose to look at me when she sees another dog for her click/treat. If she does react, it is not as intense and much shorter and I can refocus her more quickly. I think that if I had started this at 6 months when she started becoming aggressive (and if I had the experience and handling I do now) that I would have been able to get her to the point where she would be comfortable around other dogs enough to compete and go to class. My handling of her has also relaxed, is calmer and more confident.

Honestly I have had much more success with a clicker and treats in changing my dog's response to seeing another dog coming than I did by using leash corrections. Part of this is likely to be the change in my body language and handling techniques as I am calmer as I am giving the dog an opportunity to gain a reward rather than waiting to give a correction. While I still have to give her distance from other dogs, her demeanor is much happier and she is happy to give me attention rather than give the other dog her whole focus with negativity. My aim is not to get her to know she can't get other dogs but to reduce her desire to. Luckily she is very food motivated and very keen to work with clicker and treats

I think I understand where dogdude is coming from (feel free to say if I am wrong though ) I think it is not that ecollar training is not 'good enough' for a trial dog, but that it may be overkill. The dog is not taking off, the dog will recall and will sit, not a life/death situation, the OP just wants a faster response to try to get a perfect score. Dog is biddable. Doesn't seem to be a problem that requires a radical solution such as buying an expensive piece of equipment that uses escape from unpleasant stimuli to get results. Seems more like a communication/anticipation problem.

In another thread I mentioned I would like to train a drop for the article indication in tracking. Diesel does already have a good drop, but I was thinking of shaping a drop in response to the article (go to article and drop) instead of just telling him to drop when he gets to the article. I am getting better at shaping, doing heaps for agility stuff, but not sure where to start for this. Diesel is OK at shaping, not as good as the others as he is slower and has shorter attention span. He can nose touch, paw touch.

I think MonElite trains down that way? You can train and compete in obedience, agility, tracking, dances with dogs etc with both pedigree and non pedigree dogs. To compete, you and the dog must be a member of DogsNSW. You don't need to be a member of DogsNSW just to train (I only joined this year ), but you will need to be a member of whatever club you choose to go to. I assume your pedigree dog already is since you are showing him. Non pedigree dogs can go on the Associate Register. If you get a title on your dog through competing in ANKC competitions, you can get his title added to his papers.

Agree with Staranais

At the moment using mainstream approach to Diesel's allergies but not finding much relief OH reluctant to go down homeopathic route. Not sure what to do, it is costing a fortune and OH very grumpy about spending more on him, especially as Diesel does not want to compete either.

I remember being told once at agility with Zoe that I should drop the leash and walk away when she showed aggression towards another dog. I was like NO WAY! Couldn't figure out how that was going to help except to turn into a fight!

While on the subject of tracking . . . I haven't been doing much with Diesel, but thinking maybe I could teach article indications. I want to teach drop on the article, and am wondering if I can shape it (because doing lots of shaping lately, and, well, why not ). I can shape nose touch or paw touch, picking up and pawing, but not really sure how to best shape dropping with article between paws. Any ideas?