Kavik

I would NOT do what emmark suggests. It sounds like he is suggesting an alpha roll, and these can be dangerous and you can end up being bitten if the dog gets upset. Remember the Dobe is going to be a big dog . . . I would seek some professional help as dog to dog aggression really is no fun (one of mine is dog aggressive) and if not handled well can escalate and make walking/training/socialising very difficult. Basically I agree with Amhailte

I want to obedience trial Diesel this year. The instructors at my club are telling me to go for it! While it's great that they have such faith in us, we do have a problem to overcome first. Diesel works really well in class. Great eye contact and attention in heeling. Need some work on stays. He is focussed but relaxed. But our problem is that when I take him to a new location, he just loses his brain! He gets really excited and won't work well. And if my OH is there, he just want to be with my OH and it is hard to get him to focus. So far I have been doing simple exercises like come fores and eye contact, and occasionally finishes (he loves to do those) to get his attention. Does anyone have any ideas on how to get him more comfortable working in new locations?

Either fit, or crazy But it really is easier to train and walk them separately.

3 Dogs At least once a day, I train and walk them separately I don't find it hard to train all of them, I like that they are different and provide different challenges and different stuff to work on 7 years, 3 years, 10 months. 7 year old retired apart from trick training (well we never made it to competition, does that count as retired? ) 3 year old aiming for competition obedience this year competing (fingers crossed!), 10 month old agility and dabble in herding. Yes I feel I get enough time for each dog, although at times the squeaky wheel . . . I have different breeds, Kelpie, Kelpie X, GSD. I would consider possible other breeds and sports as well, though my preference leans towards herding breeds as well as sort of 'wolfish' appearance and shortish hair . . . so BSDs a possibility

I feed wings and frames - and they love it Never had a problem with them choking - although food motivated they tend to eat bones more slowly.

Wow HH that is some steep registration fees over there! In NSW they are supposed to be registered by 6 months - to give you time to desex and get the lower desexed rate

I see a lot of fat dogs . . . I think it is often more that people continue to feed adult dogs as pups when they don't need as much food, or they think the dog is supposed to be bigger than it actually is (has small build). I use mainly cheese as treats, sometimes cabanossi or chicken . They don't seem to be very picky Soft food is good for treats becaus ethe dog doesn't have to spend time chewing it. I keep my dogs lean - helps to keep them keen for training too

Most if not all muzzles restrict breathing to some extent - and today is 40 degrees where I am! I am worried about my dogs in the heat normally, muzzled they could easily overheat and die. And while a muzzle may prevent your dog from killing the cat, it won't solve the problem as the dog can still chase and harass and the cat can still attack. Same as with two new dogs, only have them together under supervision until you are sure they are OK. And some dogs can take the muzzle off anyway, or the muzzle could get stuck or tangled, and the dog could hurt itself. Certainly you can have the cat inside, dog outside, or the cat in a separate room?

Can't you just separate them when you are out? It is not safe to leave a muzzle on your dog when unsupervised, especially for long periods of time and in this weather!

I would prefer Sunday or a weeknight other than Tuesday. I sometimes work Saturdays and obedience is on Tuesdays. I have a camera - just need to work out how the video part works so far I have only taken stills.

I am near Hornsby

I have: 2 jumps 1 tunnel (large) 1 tunnel (small) 1 set channel weaves (6 poles) 1 see-saw (for up to medium dogs) - portable and can be moved easily

Hi Firstly toilet training takes time and you have only had Angus one day, so you will need to be patient. Angus is also a baby with little bladder control at the moment. It may take a few months before he becomes reliably toilet trained. I would recommend training him to toilet outside and not on the pee pads (those are inside?) as you probably would like him to toilet outside all the time given the size he will be and the size of his business is likely to be! A good way to start is to control when Angus is inside and when he is outside, that way you also know what he is getting up to. Regularly, and especially after eating, drinking, playing and sleeping, take him outside and walk around with him and give him the opportunity to go to the toilet. If he goes, use his toilet command and lots of praise! If not, take him out again in a short time. If he circles, sniffs the ground, looks like sitting or lying down, these could be signs he needs to go to the toilet.

I didn't take my last two to puppy preschool either, and probably won't take the next ones. Mostly because of the points Vickie made - I probably know more than the instructor, and don't want to cause waves, and I don't really want my dogs to wrestle with strange puppies - I want good doggy meeting manners which is meeting greeting sniffing and then on your way. And I want focus on me not the other dogs. The only dog I took to puppy preschool was Zoe, who was also the only one to go to off lead parks as a pup, and the only one to become dog aggressive! Figure that one out! So we do our socialising at obedience where I know the temperament of the other older dogs is calm.

Can't wait for the next one so I can bring Kaos out for a run And get some tips as well!

I can only do evening - OH gets back around 5:30ish from work and he has the car.

Wednesday is good for us

Sounds like fun! Have to talk to OH to see if we are available Wed. Do we have a venue yet?

It might be an idea to see a behaviourist to assess your situation and help you with a plan to improve your dog's social skills with other dogs. It is best to do this in a controlled environment where all the dogs are leashed and the temperament of the other dog is known and is quiet. I would stop taking your dog to parks where other dogs are going to run over off lead, as this will not help improve your dog's behaviour and may make it worse.

I taught this trick a different way. Zoe already knows how to hold objects and retrieve from obedience. I taught her to target the toy box using a clicker, then to put her head in the box. Then I had her hold a toy right over the toy box and put head in box and release. Then I put the toy on the ground next to the box, got her to pick it up, put head in box and release. Gradually I moved the toy further away from the box, and added a sit stay at the front.

What about licking the examiner madly on the stand for exam This is likely what Diesel will do, he is such a dag!

When I did club agility with Zoe, they got us to slow the dogs down - I used 'Slow'. Seemed to work alright except for the seesaw (she would sometimes jump off the seesaw when it tipped or just stop on it if I tried to slow her down too many times). With Kaos, after talking to other agility people, I am teaching the two on/two off contact behaviour. I like this idea as it doesn't require me to be near my dog for it to work, the dog should stop on its own without being told. It's good also because it is something I can train at home, as we haven't been to classes yet and Kaos is only 9 months

Hi Akitaowner I am hoping to trial soon too. My instructor thinks we are ready, but Diesel gets the attacks of the sillies in new environments so we are going to hang around some trials and new places and get him to focus better. He was very good at training this week so we'll see how we go. You certainly can NOT use a prong collar at a trial. You can use check chain, flat collar and I'm pretty sure martingale.

Slightly OT I was watching a program on Tasmanian Devils the other day - they all feed together with no fighting. And the test for the new carer was to go into the enclosure and feed them - by holding onto the piece of meat while they ate! And then to take the end of a piece of meat that one of the Devils had on its own. I was amazed that she was able to do this!

Timeouts here too when things get too rough works well, they come out again once they calm down.