Kavik

Here is another good video on how to teach a retrieve :)

I also agree with using her food as her training treats. My young dog gets all of his food through training :) My fella is very active and does not need to lose weight, but this is what I feed him through training, I use the chicken and the lamb: http://www.prime100.com.au/Pages/Our_Range/Single_Protein_Diet___SPD___-_Vet_Recommended.aspx I bet the sardines and salmon would be high enough value to use for training treats :D and some dogs really like pumpkin, apple, carrot.

Zoe was diagnosed with Lupus when she was 13, similar presenting sypmtoms of skin issues, though hers were only on her lower legs. She was also diagnosed with kidney failure around the same time. The vet suggested regular washing with Malaseb, and due to her kidney issues I put her on the K/D diet. Actually, sorry, I think the Lupus she was diagnosed with is the other one, the systemic one, not the skin only one.

I would be careful of doggy daycares. They are not suitable for all dogs, and I don't just mean dogs which are not social. Some daycares are obviously better than others, but the one I worked at and another I have seen have a lot of dogs in a very small space and not many staff members, and this can be stressful for the dogs, and also the amount of dogs and activity over that period of time can overstimulate them and overexercise them (especially puppies). I would never take my dogs to one.

My vet charges a lot more for the 3 year vaccine than the annual vaccine (probably about 3 x as much :laugh: ) and says it is different, although I thought it was the same vaccine and they had just changed the recommended schedule.

Actually RMB, the clubs that I have seen use compulsion do use verbal praise and patting. And use restrained recalls.

yes. 3 rounds, then I think the top 2? from each round in the finals round

Hey TSD, I just looked at Susan Garrett's blog post and your video is in the finals! Congratulations! I'm voting for you :) http://susangarrettdogagility.com/2016/06/recallers-2016-day-one/

My main experience with specialist vets has been at the Vet Specialist Centre, which is pretty much now SASH (Small Animal Specialist Hospital). http://www.sashvets.com/ I would recommend Andrew Marchevsky, he is a great surgeon and also a really nice guy :) He fixed up Diesel's leg when he broke it as a puppy (Diesel is now 12 1/2 years old), and also when Zoe was attacked by another dog. I also worked with him for a little while (I was an animal attendant there).

Yep, this. If I am not actively training my dog, he is in his crate at training or trials. We are working on the lie on dog bed behaviour - this is proving rather challenging for him :laugh:

They are all gorgeous, and so keen! You must be so proud of them!

You can do the same with Its Yer Choice like in my video, instead of releasing them to the reward as I have done you can pick up the treat and give it in your hand. I didn't have to say "No" for this training :)

I love kikopup, she has great instructional videos :) I think the stop jumping up video looks good, rewards are placed on the floor so the dog anticipates low rewards (placement of reinforcement is very important) rather than high rewards so is more likely to keep their feet on the ground rather than jump up. Putting rewards on the ground is very common :) and often used to reset behaviours while shaping. Here is one of my videos :) I am using food here as a distraction for IYC and want him to look at the food but not get it until I release him Another one of mine - contact training this time, so sport specific. Rewards are placed on the ground as I want him to anticipate low rewards to keep his focus down and forward, and then release to a thrown food reward at the end.

Good fella, big jump! Some working Kelpies are big! Kaos is 57cm! and I know one that is 61cm!

Trainers using compulsion physically manipulate the dogs into positions such as sit and drop (and yes I have seen it done and also this was taught at NDTF). Some dogs may be fine with that, for eg it doesn't bother my GSD at all to be pushed around in this way (not surprising since he was bred by people I met while doing NDTF and people who train security, who would desire dogs who are like this). He is also happy to come in close in fronts etc. The Kelpies however do not deal with such hands on methods very well and do much better with a more hands off approach. They are more sensitive to body and handler pressure which is not surprising considering they are working bred for sheepwork and this is desireable for sheepwork training. Not that I trained Diesel using compulsion, I used reward based training with him :) but he would have tolerated it, that is the kind of dog he is. The Kelpies DO NOT tolerate manhandling well at all. The article is incorrect on a few matters such as saying that training with food provides a conditioned reflex rather than training. Ummm, not the case! Shaping is where the dog learns to offer behaviours and think, that is the opposite of a conditioned reflex which doesn't require thinking. Compulsion may train do what the handler says or else, but it does not teach thinking skills, or how to deal with failure, or how to be creative and offer behaviours, which are all things we strive for in positive training. I don't want my dog to be afraid to try something or to be afraid of failure.

No, the context of tug and correction are very different!

It depends on how SHE interprets the correction - it does not necessarily depend on how strong the correction is objectively but how it is subjectively felt by the dog. Some dogs are more sensitive to correction than others. How much force she likes to exert while playing tug is NOT indicative of the amount of force needed to correct her.

Yes my experience with NDTF is probably not that relevant now as it was 16 years ago and pretty much all lecturers were security guards or ex military. We were shown all training equipment and shown how it was used, when and why. They did not shy away from corrections. I met some people and saw some training that I would not have otherwise.

You would like the NDTF course :laugh:

I think if you want to train positively and the club uses physical corrections that you don't want to use, it would be very difficult to train there. I know your options for clubs and classes may be limited . It is difficult enough even when the club is positive but wants to train things differently to the way you want to, much less if they have a totally different training philosophy.

I love your Recallers video TSD! It really shows how you can progress the games. I hope you get chosen for the finals :)

Sure you can PM me about the NDTF course :) I did it quite a while ago now though, and it has changed since then, but happy to share my experience. I have done a lot since that course, and train very differently now than when I took the course, that was the first dog training course I did. Now I concentrate mostly on agility and do mainly online courses or seminars with particular trainers that I like.

Yes using the leash to correct the direction your dog is heading (if you pull on the leash) is a physical correction. No, a sound signal is verbal, not physical, but your 'Eh' sound is a verbal correction. You could have a leash on your dog, but not use it to correct the direction the dog is heading, instead you could be using food or your voice, body language, toys to keep your dog's attention, and the leash is just a safeguard to make sure it does not run off after something. And I have nothing against 'crazy walking', I do a similar thing but try to change direction before he gets so distracted that the leash will come into effect wrt 'EH' sound: it is actually more a mix of an attention seeking signal and verbal correction...similar like using the tongue making the clicker noise (but that does only work over a few meters, not if she is 30 meters away from me). I use also 'NO', and that would be the verbal correction. The 'EH' is more a 'watch out what you doing' and if she doesn't rethink I have to use the 'NO'. wrt 'crazy walking': as I mentioned I used also positive reinforcement (in form of treats, praise), however when she was younger she got so easily distracted that the added force (with the right timing while doing the crazy walk there is really no harsh jerking required) accelerated her learning dramatically. Now we do the crazy walk just a as heeling exercise without leash / force. wrt definition of 'physical correction': some light reading here http://www.training-your-dog-and-you.com/Dog-Training-Corrections.html I am not sure you are aware, but I have done the NDTF course, so quite well versed on the motivation matrix :)

Yes using the leash to correct the direction your dog is heading (if you pull on the leash) is a physical correction. No, a sound signal is verbal, not physical, but your 'Eh' sound is a verbal correction. You could have a leash on your dog, but not use it to correct the direction the dog is heading, instead you could be using food or your voice, body language, toys to keep your dog's attention, and the leash is just a safeguard to make sure it does not run off after something. And I have nothing against 'crazy walking', I do a similar thing but try to change direction before he gets so distracted that the leash will come into effect

Not all force is created equal in dog training :D When people state they train force free they generally mean without physical corrections. This is widely understood terminology. There are many times when restraining is used in positive training, but I would not say that this is using 'force' in dog training. Eg restrained recalls or restrained sends to eg equipment. You can train loose lead walking without you yourself pulling on the lead, you can use the lead to purely make sure the dog doesn't bolt off.