Kavik

Yep sounds like a Kelpie Mine are crated overnight so we get some peace when we sleep.

Kaos barked at people for a while. Mostly if I didn't let him go and visit them. I was pretty sure he was just being cheeky but it did worry me. When I went to see K9 Force it was one of the issues I brought up. He obliged me by barking at K9 Force while we were talking so he got to see what I meant . The barking, along with most of his other problem behaviours, stopped soon after my consult with K9 Force, so I think in the end it was attention seeking and challenging me, and my improved leadership thanks to K9 Force curbed this. Now he just gets wiggly and wants a pat . A lot of it was that I was much more relaxed and felt more in control after the consult, Kaos had been picking up on my uncertainty and tension at the situation.

A game some of mine like is to search for a favourite toy (tug, ball or squeaky). Sometimes I put it in one of those eco friendly shopping bags and they have to figure out hoe to get it out (I scrunch the bag up) or hide it under furniture etc. I also do tug and fetch, and incorporate that into my training. Clicker training can be good to keep them busy too - targetting is a fun way to start.

Kaos did this too - barked at trees Strange creatures they are sometimes

Thanks guys Looks like they are going to have fun

Hi guys A Puli has come into the daycare for a bath, and we haven't done a Puli before. Apparently it is a stud dog so they want to do a good job! Is there anything special you have to do with their corded coats? Any special shampoo needed? What is the best way to brush them?

If you are serious about seeing if it is a food allergy you have to do a proper food trial. This means feeding him food containing a novel protein, one he has never had before, for a minimum of 6 weeks (and no other food or treats). You can do a homemade diet for this (but it may be difficult) or you can use a commercial food that contains a novel protein. Some which you may want to consider are those containing fish if he has not had fish before, but check the ingredients carefully to ensure that it does not contain chicken fat. Or there is Hills Z/D which is specifically for food allergies, has had the protein broken up (or something similar) so the dog can't recognise the source and can't be allergic to it. This is what I had to do as Diesel had already had fish as part of his diet. Diesel ended up not having a food allergy.

I would have the pup in a secure yard outside with shelter, water and toys. Feed before work after work and night. As for daycare, carefully find out how their day is scheduled and how it is organised. Pups need a lot of rest and daycare can be full on. You also don't want the pup overexercised, overtired or bullied by larger dominant dogs or learn to bully others. I certainly would not send a young pup to daycare everyday.

On a side note . . . In some of my older fiction books like the Big Red series with the Irish Setters, there is a mention of slip collars and training collars. For the longest time I wondered what that meant, as I had assumed slip collars would be what they meant by training collar, but now I think they might have meant prong collar? What do you guys think? In the book Irish Red, it is mentioned that Mike pulled on a slip collar but would not on a training collar.

I agree with Paganman. I would never recommend sending a dog to daycare 5 days a week - it is too much and too full on! Especially for pups - too much exercise and excitement. Dogs, especially puppies but even adults, sleep a lot of their day or do nothing much, maybe wander around. Running and wrestling with heaps of dogs all day every day is too much. The dogs that I have seen come to daycare that often get very cranky because they are very tired. Not even the boss brings his dog in every day. I would try reducing the number of days he is at daycare. He will likely sleep all day on those days, due to being so tired. Edit: just saw you are going to reduce his daycare days in your last post I am typing slow today I guess!

I agree that it's likely the environment at the daycare and not only a crating issue if he crates fine at home. From having worked in a daycare, I have noticed that the behaviour of some dogs is different in the daycare than at home or the park, mine included. What do they do at the daycare to try to help him settle in a crate? Do they use treats or kongs with peanut butter for example (this is what we do). How long is he in the crate for? Has he had a chance to go to the toilet? Do they give adequate rest times for young dogs? All day 5 days a week is a LONG time in a daycare! Maybe he gets overstimulated or overtired? How is it structured?

Thank You

Hi, does anyone have the web address for Steve Austin's new place?

This thread has been really interesting! Thanks Erny for some great advice - this will come in very handy when my new addition starts walking and causing toddler mayhem amongst the dogs!

Another one . . .

Here are some photos taken earlier this year by my stepdad in the USA

I guess I fall into this category I would like to compete but haven't gotten there yet, and since I have just had a baby, obviously have little time at the moment :D I also get nervous, and this affects my dogs performances and mine. Not sure if I will ever get there with Diesel as he just doesn't have the desire, drive or motivation to do high level work. I have a hard time keeping his attention. Kaos has the potential to do competition, and I would like to give agility a proper go. There is just the issue with him and other dogs when things get excited and there are lots of other dogs around, but he is improving. Regardless of whether I compete or not, I certainly want to further their training. Herding especially looks fascinating and there is sooo much for me to learn! And Kaos really enjoys it.

I taught Diesel the flip finish - mostly because I hadn't taught it before, had always done the one where they go around you, and I wanted to try something different. He thinks it is a great game When he is really keen he does jump/flip into position, when not so keen he does more of a swing. I taught it in increments, getting him to get to heel position from different angles, starting with a step sideways and adding more angle til he was in front. Here is a video of him doing the finish - excuse the angle - you will have to watch it sideways! :D

I also recommend crating at night. My Kelpie and Kelpie cross can be barkers, and sleep in crates at night. With the Kelpie, I used to think if I just gave him more exercise or training he would stop barking in the evening. What I found is if I crated him he would fall instantly asleep, so it wasn't lack of exercise, he would just get himself worked up over something (I can't see or hear anything that he barks at when he is just barking, different to his play bark).

I'm so sorry for your loss Pix May she run free at the bridge.

Thanks guys for the well wishes. Belle was a very sweet and very clever dog who often managed to outsmart us - that is what I will remember the most I think She was also a very healthy dog who had few health problems until she got older.

I just found out that Belle, the family dog, was PTS in the USA. She was 17 years old. She was diagnosed with cancer 7 months ago, and lived longer than predicted by the vet. I am still deciding on a memorial for her - open to suggestions. This is her story: When we moved here from the USA I had to leave Kavik, my Schipperke behind. My parents said I could get another dog in Australia. I was 11 years old. Once we settled here, we started the search for a dog. My mother loves Cocker Spaniels, and we'd had one in the States, and she suggested another one. I didn't want something with long hair. I wanted a GSD, but my parents aren't keen on big dogs. Actually my stepdad isn't keen on dogs full stop! My mother didn't want a purebred apart from a cocker, and we scoured the papers looking at ads (don't know why we didn't look at a shelter). My mum found an ad for Cocker cross pups for $35, and insisted we look. Sure enough, there was a little black pup with short hair! So we took her home, and christened her Belle. Belle was the first dog I attempted to train. We went to Manly and Districts, and got to class 2, right before Novice. She preferred tricks though, and would have loved agility if I'd known about it when she was young. Belle's talents were: a love of food! She was a food thief, would steal food off the table, and could open the lid of any type of rubbish bin we owned. I came home many times to rubbish strewn all over the house. She was also an escape artist. She could jump 6 foot fences, open a heavy sliding glass door, slip past tradespeople. She was often waiting for me outside when I got home from school. One of the most remarkable things about Belle was how she changed my stepdad. He doesn't like dogs, prefers cats. He put up with the dogs, though he did complain about them. This was drastically reduced after the acquisiition of the Evil Beagle though! When I moved out of home, Belle was 13 years old, an I thought it would be nicer for her to stay where she was used to, as I would be renting and she would have to be outside, and she was used to being inside a lot. I took Zoe with me though, who was 4. When my parents decided to go the USA for a few years, they decided to take Belle with them. My stepdad by this point was quite fond of Belle and was known to feed her and even take her for walks! He ended up being the one to accompany her on the flight to the USA and even got her a bigger crate than originally purchased for her comfort. After a long walk which she enjoyed, Belle had problems walking and standing yesterday, and my stepdad and sister took her to the vet for their goodbyes. Unfortunately being on the other side of the world, I could not be there for her. So I wish Belle well, she had a long and happy life, plenty of walks, children to play with, other dogs to bark at.

Kaos went through a period of barking at kids too - about the same age I think too. What I found helped is to go armed with heaps of yummy treats and ask kids if they would give him a treat. This way he was approaching them for something he wanted instead of being intimidated by kids rushing up and crowding him. Now he will wiggle when he sees a kid, and will not bark. We are still working on getting him comfortable when kids come up to him, but he is happy to go up to them now.

Diesel's weight fluctuates a lot too. I don't know why. I will also feed him the same amount, he will look good for a while, then look thin or plump.

I found when I was building drive with my Kelpie that sometimes I was trying too hard and he wasn't working very well. Once I relaxed and made it more fun he improved greatly. Basically I guess I stopped trying to use rules such as crating beforehand, or even a command, and just got down and had fun! I think they can tell when you are really into it and enjoying it and when you aren't. So my advice is to relax and have fun, and don't try to use too many rules in your drive building just yet. She may genetically not have the amount of drive needed, you would need someone to see her to assess that. Only one of my three dogs has a decent amount of drive that I can channel into training. One of the others has drive but poor nerves coupled with the fact that I probably inhibited her drive development when young (didn't know about it then) and the other just does not have enough drive.