Kavik

Generally monthly but Diesel may get done more often if he is itchy or really dirty.

I go to Asquith vet and have found them to be friendly and helpful. Only health problem they have had to deal with from my lot though is allergies, which are frustrating!

Zoe gets fed once a day and Kaos and Diesel get fed twice a day. I know that doesn't sound very fair but Zoe gets a lot less food. With the bigger meals the younger dogs get, I split it so that one meal is dry food and the other is a chicken frame.

wheres my rock had a good suggestion with the toy - I am doing this with Kaos with his drive work. With Zoe I started off by walking slowly and giving the drop command, and slowly increase speed til you can do it on the run. Out of the commands, drop is easiest to do this with. You want to have a very good drop first, probably on voice only as it will be easier than giving hand signals when you are running. If you are teaching for an obstacle only - you could teach go to that obstacle and then drop in/on that obstacle (I think in agility it is usually a table, not a box? It is a box in obedience though). That way you would combine the two and eventually give just the one command. I initially taught Zoe a sit on the table (I think it has to be drop now, didn't know that before) - I would do 'Table' for her to get on the table, then 'Sit' once on the table (you would do drop). Dogs are very good at anticipation and if you always give those commands in that order, your dog will string them together and get on the table/in box and drop.

Well Jeff's explanation was much better and thorough than mine could ever have been So I will just say I am glad I am not the only one who used a herb for scent detection work (I used mint).

I'll talk to you in depth about it on Saturday, maybe you can help me out with it. Argh, Kelpies can be frustrating, so much more difficult than Diesel!

I kept Kaos separate from the others for while, now he runs with Diesel and Zoe is separate. I tried the neutralisation thing with Kaos, think I managed to bugger it up

That is a good idea Rom! I might try that. My biggy (that I am getting help with from K9 Force next weekend) is how my body language affects my dog when meeting other dogs - with ones that can be reactive. If I am relaxed they are much better than if I am stressed, but I'm not sure how to change me. :p

My problem is that my body language is different in different scenarios - for example at training vs mock trials. And they behave accordingly. And in new places if unsure I get stressed and I know my body language shows that - and the dogs muck up as a result. My fault. But how do I change that?

This is one of the reasons Kaos travels in a crate in the car ;) Diesel is the only one of my dogs who chills out in the car, the Kelpies get very excited

Go Aloveen

My guys love cheese! Mine are considerably bigger than a chi, and I don't use much, but I haven't had a problem with the runs. Whatever treats you use you should take that into account when giving their meal. Harder with a small dog I imagine, a few training treats doesn't make as much difference to a 20 or 30 kg dog

I saw a dog like that at protection - they had real problems with the release, and prong and ecollar didn't work. Their release command was their recall command. What DID work in the end was having another decoy and when the dog let go they were rewarded by a bite on the other decoy. They also changed their command.

There must be some working dog thing going on Kaos is also mostly uninterested in other dogs. He will go and have a sniff and usually then ignore them. There are a few dogs he likes and wants to play with or does wiggly but hellos to, mostly these are either quieter older dogs or working Kelpies and Border Collies. Basically yeah other dogs that ignore him or act similarly. He is not keen on boisterous or really friendly dogs either that get in his face or dogs which try to dominate him and will snap at these. When I took him to agility he barked and snapped at some of the others when things got exciting/active with all the dogs running around. I think some of this was because I was stressed at being at agility as it is a VERY crazy atmosphere, very busy, and the same club I used to take Zoe to. I found I was stressed just going to this location, before I did anything with him which I am sure did not help at all. I am going to K9 Force in a few weeks to get some ideas on how to handle this. He is MUCH better than Zoe, he can meet other dogs and if I want to pass another dog on the street he is happy to pass and ignore them.

Belle, who lives with my parents and who turns 17 in June, has had two strokes. She recovered well from both. The first one took about a week, the second one longer. The head tilt went away, I think with her it was a balance issue as she would fall over and run into things, but is fine now. She got slower after each stroke, and not surpringly now spends most of her time sleeping. She now has cancer but my parents (who are in the USA) say she is doing well as still enjoys her walks.

I like the Click to Calm book, and have used aspects of it with Zoe and Kaos. I find especially with Zoe who is aggressive, that she is much better if I am calm. Correcting her for aggressive behaviour (or even trying to scare off a loose dog by yelling etc) makes her MUCH worse. Using the Click to Calm book has helped me to find a way to stay calmer when dealing with Zoe's aggression and has helped to get her to focus on me when she sees another dog. She is not anywhere near as good as I would like - she doesn't get to meet other dogs and I don't take her to classes. She is still a bugger with other dogs. But walking her has become more pleasant. BTW I am not a positve only trainer - just wanted to comment on click to calm and aggression since we were there

Doesn't tell you much does it Except that there is no legislation specifically on pinch collars. So they are not banned I think what they are saying is that if they can prove that your use of the pinch collar is causing an offence (pain on the animal ;) ) that you could be prosecuted. But to me it looks like someone would have to dob you in.

Considering that most clubs and individuals who trial their dogs use food and toys to train their dogs, I would say that this guy does not know everything about utilising these tools . . . Like all tools they can be misused, but used correctly they make for an enthusiastic working dog and a great way to help overcome distractions. If you don't plan to trial, even not properly phasing out the use of food will not cause a problem.

I hope that they do treat you differently if you decide to continue with them Personally, having seen the effects that some methods can have on some dogs, walking away regardless of the money lost at the time sometimes saves money, heartache and issues later down the track. Most local dog clubs I have been to charge around $20 a year and $2 or so a week that you attend.

Erin While it is possible to train a dog using pats and praise only as rewards, it is much easier (and more fun!) to use motivators like food. I have breeds that are 'traditionally' seen as easy to train and good for obedience - GSDs and Kelpies - and I still use food and toys for training! Beagles with their interest in scenting, are probably best off using food and toys as their interest is not necessarily in serving you. So I would just stop going to this training centre, and find another one with different methods. You don't have to justify to him why you are leaving. I have been a member of a club and stopped going, for various reasons. For not sniffing: I let my guys sniff on their walks when they are in 'free' mode, not training. When we are in 'working' mode such as heeling I don't let them sniff - this is where I have their attention with food/toys. You can also do exercises which help to build attention on you.

I would certainly go somewhere else. You want to find somewhere that will help you to find what motivates your dog, and use that to your advantage in training. Have you tried using treats? If they don't eat their food enthusiastically, maybe they are not hungry, and could have their food reduced. You can also try toys - tugs, balls, squeaky toys, fluffy toys. Some treats which my dogs really like are: cheese, cabanossi, chicken, etc. I mainly use cheese. Also, are you training them together or one at a time? You might find it easier to keep their concentration if you train them one at a time. That way they can concentrate on you instead of their partner.

Just curious - why not field line Brittanies? Out of my lot, the ones which are the best sports prospects are NOT the easiest to live with LOL!

Do a search on this site on DogTech and you will see what they are about :rolleyes:

Maybe a crate should be next on your shopping list :rolleyes: I find them very useful for sleeping, houstraining and for when play gets too rough. Do you have toys he can chew on? Can you redirect him to chew on his toys instead of you? The favourite around here (that is currently keeping my 12 month old Kelpie out of trouble) is a rope bone. Kongs and other hard plastic ones are also good and you can put food in them too to keep them busy for a while.

You especially need to supervise the times he is likely to chase - in this case when she is running or riding her bike. This can get dogs very excited! As soon as things start to get rough, I would stop play and get him to sit and calm down. Time out if he is continually too rough or excited, until he calms down. I don't roughhouse with my dogs either. Prey drive work/tug is the roughest I ever go.