Kavik

I think at this stage he will definitely stress at the trial .... I think your first goal is try to find what he likes and I think it's going to be the hardest part. I would also vary the food rewards so he never knows what is coming. Mine used to love cheese but got over it a little so I had to improvise. At some stage I only used raw meats in training (at the club) gross I know but it worked. Are you using clicker training? I found that my golden gets much more focused once she clicker is out (I think it's conditioned as for 1.5 years she had to ear all her dinners through clicker training). Are you going to bring him to Glendenning this Sat? I know he is not the one competing in agility but I would like to meet him I am using clicker training, and he does like that, and will happily do hand touches etc I think he may do these in a busy environment. Not sure he will give eye contact though. I have gotten him to do eye contact by waiting him out in a busy environment, but it can take a while! I am not going to bring him to Glendenning - only Kaos - not sure I could handle having the two of them there at once - Kaos would probably leave the ring to visit Diesel Plus Diesel is a whinger if I leave him. At the moment I am only using one type of reward at a time. I won't use raw meat - I have this thing about the smell of meat on my hands am going to try sausage though and see how we go. Have tried cabanossi/frankfurst and honestly he works better for cheese (and cheese is not so smelly!).

He doesn't like anything Food is the best I can find, and even that doesn't always work. He will work well if I can keep it lighthearted, but the second I get nervous, he goes flat. I was using cheese. I am going to cook up some sausages for him and try that tomorrow. But the main problem I think is that I WILL be stressed at a trial, and if he falls apart and won't work at all if I am nervous, there really is no point trying to trial him.

OK I tried the 2 food game - calling Diesel and throwing the food when I got his attention after he ate the food that he was sent to - no luck He still decided to sniff for ages first. He is a lazy dog at times. The only thing I have found to speed up his response with this is to correct him if he is slow to respond to the recall command. That does work though. I am now again unsure whether to bother - he is just so lazy! I know he won't respond like the Kelpies but I have problems getting him to move faster than a trot

The least responsive of my dogs is the only one who has a dependency problem Well, OK Zoe is not always that happy for me to leave her with others (on lead) either. Diesel barks and howls if I leave him with someone else, Kaos is not too bad.

Thanks Leopuppy - will give those a go!

I have had to do a lot of work with Kaos as he did have the focus on me that could lead to running into jumps but we've fixed that now. Diesel is much harder to keep motivated, so I am trying to get him keen by using a similar exercise as the send I've taught with Kaos, and then add in attention to me and then heeling and release to the food reward. My thinking is to make running and getting the food (sending to the food) very rewarding, and then add more work for him to do before he gets to do it. But I want him to know the send word and go to the food enthusiastically first.

Why would they attach the sleeve to the dog's collar or harness?

Yeah we do TOT - he is fantastic with his dinner bowl Probably the best training we do and no one will ever get to see it I am doing some sends to food with him focussing on the food (not asking for attention on me) and if he is doing well I ask for attention on me and then send. I just tried TSD's idea of then getting him to come back for a jackpot - he is rather slow on the return (have had this problem with this exercise) - not sure how to speed it up. I sent him to some dry food and had treats for when he came back. He went at a good clip to get the dry food. I tried both giving him the reward on return from me and also having the reward in another dish behind me and releasing him to that.

That sounds like a good idea I have been working on sending to a food reward as well as preparation for getting the rewards off my person.

I feed dry + chicken frame - so possible. I still use a pretty high rate of reinforcement in more busy environments. The problem is when we're heeling, if I reward him, then his attention will wander, so I find it easier to reward at the end of a heeling sequence and then start again rather than reward and continue walking. (so a sequence is not very long - up to maybe 10 steps )

Diesel only has a short attention span though - I can't train for very long in one session as he gets bored. Not sure I can fit that many training sessions in! Might be worth a try though.

I do get REALLY good focus when I feed him his dinner Fantastic eye contact and keen heeling. But he does need a lot of food - that would be a LOT of training

I've tried the feeding less thing - seems to make no difference I'll try some different treats over the next week or so and try to rate his response. I think the fact that he goes on and off cortisone for his skin problem doesn't help either.

I haven't yet found something he will take any time any place. If there is too much going on, he won't take food treats (I think he gets a bit stressed as well). He will only play with toys when he is comfotrable in his environment (home, at the park to some degree). I guess I could try different types of food treats, but the several I have tried get pretty much the same response.

You are right dogdude, our problem is about focus. I don't think Diesel has the drive for a great competition dog. If I could never getting him working well I wouldn't bother, but the little bugger gives me glimses of some really nice, motivated work so I am always hopeful We struggle with motivation to get that focus in distracting environments. If nothing else it will give me more experience for next time. Would like to at least get some title on him - something to show for all the hard work we've done - even if it is only CCD

Thanks for the video Jeff. Clever dog at around 3:00 who is able to hold 2 sleeves in his mouth at once

Those are 'sport' though, not protection and not the "C" phase of the sport either.

I'm simply saying that maybe those that prefer positive methods are not interested in protection training. Sort of like those that do protection may not be interested in doggy dancing if you get my drift?

After a few threads on trialling dogs that are not so young, I have decided I am not yet ready to give up on Diesel. I am looking for some ideas though. Our main problem: - Focus/reliability of performance. He works well at home, and on walks and at training when he is used to the venue. He won't work well in more crowded areas. May be a bit better this year as I have my licence so OH (who Diesel is very attached to) won't be there. Sometimes if I am nervous, he won't work at all. Very frustrating as when he wants to he can work very well. I am thinking of going to a few new places/shops and trials and do simple motivational exercises that he likes and see if that helps. Minor problems: - Stand for exam - silly fellow is a wiggle bum and tends to lean on and follow the examiner for a pat - My handling - not sure if I am giving signals or doing little things I may be pinged on. I guess ring experience will tell me this?

Can you keep us posted as to when in May she is coming, I would be interested

Midol, as exciting and interesting as protection work is, not all dog training revolves around it. Not all people or all trainers are interested in it, that does not make them lesser trainers than those that are. There are many dog sports out there, and many talented trainers in all dogsports.

The recovery time part is true - they can take longer to recover from halothane than isoflurane. I think most vets use iso now as standard, but some may still use halothane. The keeping overnight, depends on the vet. They should be a certain amount over the anaesthetic and not too wobbly before going home. Some vets may keep overnight as standard regardless of anaesthetic used. I don't think they meant that only vets who use slower metabolising anaesthetic keep them overnight. My current vet they can come home same day for castrate, haven't had a spey done there yet, I could call if people really want to know.

When Kaos had the runs badly a little while ago, the vet said 4 days on chicken and rice and gradually reintroduce the dry food. Said to give it a week after stomach has settled before giving raw meat again.

All the vets I've worked at do consults morning and afternoon and do the surgeries in the middle of the day.

That's what I was thinking too Erny.