Kavik

I do the open the mouth and down the throat option Have you tried putting it in a piece of cheese? Best to use only a small amount of food so they can't pick it out and something you can wrap it in.

Kaos is happy to approach people, but is unsure when people approach him for a pat if they are loud or full on about it. Including kids. I would like him to be more confident in this regard. He prefers to be the one approaching. This goes for dogs too. I can't help but wonder if I had encouraged more interaction and pats with people and kids when he was a pup would he be more confident and relaxed about it. Once he goes over and says hi he loves getting pats.

Double post sorry.

I will socialise not neutralise future dogs, including any sports dogs I get. This is because I want to include them in family events and outings and also because I still don't see how neutralisation can teach a dog how to deal with the human interaction that will occur such as people and children coming up for pats. Since people are at times scared of my breeds of dog, I like to show that there is nothing to be scared of and that they are friendly and use it as a chance to educate people and make new friends. With other dogs, I am still working out the best way to do this, all 3 of my dogs are completely different in their attitude towards other dogs, and I am not sure how much of this is breed traits, individual personality/temperament and socialisation experience.

Like with Cosmolo, people DO come up to pat my dogs and chat to me about them. I enjoy this, and it is often a way to educate people as well as have some fun chatting. Since it is important to get the dog used to things like being handled for grooming etc by handling different parts of its body, I would also think it is important to get the dog used to the type of handling they may receive from other people, especially children as they do not act the same as adults. If the only contact they have with people are from those that ignore them, how are they supposed to know how to react when one comes up to give them a hug? Kaos is not interested in playing with other dogs. He is happy to go and have a sniff then go on his way. Which is fine. But he does not like when dogs want to play with him or bounce on him. Nerves, temperament or socialisation experience? I don't know. I would like him to put up with it more than he does. I avoid dogs which I think he won't handle. While I don't go to crowded dog parks, I do go offlead in quieter areas and training, and it is important for me that he does not react to what other dogs do.

My question in regards to neutralisation is how do they deal with sudden things? Like people suddenly coming up to pat them, kids coming up to pat them, vet examinations etc if they don't get attention from other people? I want my dogs to enjoy getting pats from other people and to be fine with kids. Part of the fun of having a dog is enjoying its interactions with others. At the very least I do not want my dog to be scared of these things and if people only ignore the dog, how will you teach the dog to deal with these situations? With other dogs, because of my experiences with a dog aggressive dog, I have no problem with the idea of neutralising to other dogs. But how do you then teach the dog to deal with playful, exuberant dogs if all other dogs it has met have not been interested in interacting?

I understand neutralisation, tried to do it with Kaos, didn't work the way I had hoped. I won't be trying it with my next dog. With regards to other dogs, I agree with ness that some dogs would rather be working/playing with their handler than playing with other dogs. Kaos is like this, he is not interested in playing with other dogs, would much rather be working with me. Diesel would rather play with other dogs though

It is important to me that my dogs work happily and enthusiastically. The reason I haven't trialled Diesel yet is because while he works happily at home and at training, he will not work happily in a busy environment like a trial, and I don't want to trial him until he will (even if that means he never trials). At the moment I am trying a few things to see if I can get him more comfortable there. I want to make use of their drives and find what motivates them and use that to my advantage and build a good relationship with them through this. I understand that other people have different goals to me with their dogs and when asked try to give advice that will help them achieve their goals.

My OH's family's staffy gets this as well, as did their Bully. I never knew what it was

Interestingly Midol, crossing with wolves comes up in his book, in a section you would be very interested in. To do with sled dogs. Can't remember exactly what was said (will look it up if you like) but someone did cross Huskies with wolves to try to make a better sled dog and what they ended up with was not a good sled dog - skittish, etc and not as good a worker as the Huskies. I don't think all breeds that look 'wolfish' are closer in behaviour to wolves than other dogs. I like breeds that have a 'natural', wolfish look but I also like the ones that are biddable and good sports prospects. So GSDs, Belgian Shepherds, Kelpies etc which have that look do not have a wolfish temperament (which would be more standoffish, not biddable etc).

http://www.adacagility.com/ :D

Koas - AD and novice titles in ADAC and ADAA ETA Forgot about Jumping! Would love some Jumping titles too (probably more likely than agility ones as we have yet to perfect our contacts and weaving is almost there!) Diesel - would love for him to not stress at obedience so we could trial! But if that's not likely, at least enjoy tracking and learn more about that (not sure if I have the time to put into getting him to trial standard there :D )

Rusky, this is where Coppinger's theory on domestication is very different to that of Darwin's and then later Lorenz's (who admitted he was incorrect). He does not believe that humans turned wolves into hunting dogs by merely stealing wolf pups from the den and "training" them as this is virtually impossible. I have the answer to this but it would take me another whole day to write it out. It makes a whole heap of sense. You can read most of Ray's theories in his book "Dogs" but if you ever get the chance to go and participate in one of his lectures, then I would highly recommend it. Pssst....just a secret....he is coming to Australia in November 09. I found this part of his theory very interesting (having read the book) and makes sense to me. Will need to reread it if I want to explain it though I was also going to bring up Dingoes - as being dogs that have reverted back to being wild, and that they are not like wolf packs, much more loosely structured, and fewer dogs together. There are a few theories as to why - terrain, type of food available (lots of small things like rabbits, not as much big game that would require a cohesive pack).

kateshep In other countries Border Collies and Labradors as well as many other breeds can and have done Schutzhund and gained titles Australia only allows some breeds to compete.

I love this clip! You would need a lot of patience!

Are you including barking at the door/fence?

He won't tug. Hand touches would work - he likes those He is starting to really like a squeaky on a rope, I'm trying to get him to like that in new places too. I'm also trying to get him to run to a toy or my treat bag for a reward, so we are doing some of that (sort of like send away stuff) so that eventually I can reward away from my body. I just get frustrated when he won't work as well away from his comfort zone as I know he can

Diesel can work that well too - but not in busy environments or trials So at the moment I am doing really short motivating sessions and end before he gets bored/stressed/distracted

I would think a police dog would have good control over a distance? Security dogs generally work close from what I've seen. Certainly the two SchH orgs should cooperate with their sport in jeopardy.

I'm sure a well trained security or police dog has a good OUT I would hope so anyway.

The early stages of training in SchH and service dogs is very similar, but later on there are more marked differences. Sport dogs are worked in prey drive and taught to bite the sleeve. Service dogs/security etc are worked first in prey drive and then when confident, some work in defence so that they can handle more pressure and stress. They are also taught to be 'civil' and target the man not the equipment. I remember being scared when I met my first security trained dog doing NDTF. Later, through getting to know the people and dogs, I gained a lot of respect for what these people and dogs do. I love seeing the focus and enthusiasm in SchH dogs I have seen on video, at trials and training. I think Nekhbet when talking about Flyball, is looking at the ramifications of this long term. If someone as high profile as Steve Austin can get a warning for playing tug with a dog during a demo, that speaks volumes about where this is going. All Flyball dogs that I have seen and a lot of agility dogs have a tug session at the end. If playing tug is targetted then many sports are at risk.

The important thing is that you are happy with the breeder The Malinois people I have talked to have not bagged each other out. They have also been very helpful and informative. The Dutch Shepherd people on the other hand helpful about the breed but not nice to each other - especially considering there are only a couple in the whole country, you would think they would cooperate instead of bagging the other one

For the Drive and Focus DVD you need to have a good level of prey drive in your dog built up - if you have that - it shows good techniques for getting focus and teaching self control for the toy.

I'm interested, will see if I can drum up more interest here

I find food comes in very handy when trying to shape behaviours, when I use a clicker. Teaching them to touch a target with nose or paws, there are a couple of methods for teaching eye contact for competition heeling etc, and I am teaching a 3 pole weave entry with a clicker and food. For things like this it is difficult to try to use something like a pat. You also may want to reward the dog going away from you, in a different direction or not focussing on you. I am teaching Zoe a send away and she doesn't work well for toys, so I am using food. I am placing the food on a target on the ground and sending her to it and gradually moving the target further away. I am also giving her the send command and throwing food when she looks ahead, now up to throwing the food once she goes forward on command looking ahead. I want her to know the reward will come from forward and go and look that direction.