BrigadoonRose

I've just realised this is the day of my daughters' dance concert so I'll have to give it a miss, as much as I'd rather be playing with puppies than curling hair

Bahahaha :) You two do it all!

Great! Clown puppies it is :) I'll check the family schedule and see what I can wangle.

Nekhbet, good luck with that fancy dress costume X-) So are spectators welcome? I'd love to learn some more about retrieving but my dog is only 7 mo.

Maybe try charging the battery & leaving it out of the camera for 24hrs then test its charge.

They passed off dogs as lions in China a few weeks ago, so why not a bear as a dog :)

I saw some in a $2 shop during the week. I don't know how much they were, but they'd be cheapies.

Yay! Hope to see some photos soon :)

Weekend kids' sport or even mid week training is good. The crowds for a lot of the junior games (we attend) tend to stick to one part of the ground so you can keep your distance but still experience all the busyness. You still need to keep your eye out for the occasional feral child but they don't appear that often.

That's a great image granger. The lighting creates real character.

Bahahaha :)

Talcum powder is a passable substitute for human dry shampoo. I guess it would do a similar job for dogs.

They should open into the PS Raw editor. You can do quite a bit of tweaking there and then, if you still want, go on to more tweaking in Photoshop. Check that Photoshop has the latest Camera Raw update (Help > Updates).

I don't know how anyone could say 'non-shedding' is the easy option. I'd rather deal with Labrador dust bunnies any day to the extra grooming a non-shedder requires! I'm still haunted by the daily removal of burrs from our Mini Schnauzer (& carpet) nearly 20 years later :-P

Thanks Ness! And well done to you all. Sounds like you're going great guns!

Excuse the interruption from the blonde with a dumb question, but could someone please explain the difference between tracking and track & search? :-/

Yes, that makes sense. Zeus doesn't (seem to) chew his kibble if I use it for treats, just straight down the hatch so I'm sure there's not much of a flavour hit - it could just as well be cardboard :) Little bits of hot dog have been working well. Doubly so because I've been able to convince the kids it's raw and they won't pinch it all, not like kabana :) Last night I took Zeus to my daughter's netball training where I often get weird looks for having a pocket full of treats. I told one lady (self proclaimed dog know-it-all) I was giving him hotdogs & she was gobsmacked. She just kept repeating 'Hotdogs!' It was hilarious. I'll have to think of something to blow her mind for next week ;)

Lots of great suggestions, thanks! Some of these things I've never heard of, so a bit of investigating is in order :) I've been tending to mix it up, but probably should cut back on the kibble & add in something more yummy for the higher distraction stuff. I have a 'magical coat pocket of magicalness'. Every time I put that particular coat on, it's all eyes on me :) My clumsily put question was more about the theory that the dog should work for it's dinner, I guess, rather than the actual reward. But isn't the reward experience going to be more "rewarding" if it's something he really likes? Hmm. I tried cooking up some beef & kangaroo mince in the microwave. Don't know why, but it made me feel Stupid because I cook them both for human food :)

I saw this with my pup on the weekend. He even would snap to attention when our trainer was just telling me how to go about something. The expert vs the bumbler :)

Agree 100%

As I'm discovering with all things doggy, there's lots of differing opinions about what sort of food rewards to use. I've read that some people provide most of the dog's daily food as hand fed rewards during the day (I assume this means kibble). Then, there's others that say only super tasty treats, like hotdogs, should be used for training. So, what do you tend to use for training rewards (food-wise) and why?

A six year old attacked by dogs 7 times is extremely unusual in my experience. I have 3 kids 12 & under and none of them, their friends or my nieces & nephews have ever been attacked by dogs. I have come across kids that have a fear of dogs for no apparent reason, especially toddlers & preschoolers. I think whether they "grow out of it" depends a lot on how the parents handle it. It seems you are dealing with a father who is very protective of his daughter. Trying to change parenting style/attitudes is a bigger can of worms than dog training styles!

Maybe work experience at a country vet *before* starting the degree should be compulsory. For the most part they see a bit of everything (well, maybe not so many hamsters). Preg testing a cow would be a great reality check ;)

No words of wisdom from me except good luck & enjoy! And don't forget to come back and tell us how it all went :)

That's what concerns me the most. A child has died, and people are in a frenzy to look like they're doing something productive about it. How many knee jerk reactions have happened about dogs in the past few years, more laws that don't get properly policed. Agreed. It's treating the symptom & not the cause. Unfortunately, getting to the cause takes a lot more effort & resources - not something pollies are keen on investing. They want to be seen "taking action". It's horrific every time anyone, let alone a child, is attacked. Yet statistically, compared to say car accidents, the incidence is quite small. When high profile people are quick to lay blame & come up with "solutions", the voice of reason is unfortunately lost. I'm at a loss really. I never want to see another story about a child, or anyone, being attacked by a dog. But how do you fix the problem when: it's not being policed adequately people don't want to report issues (Wendy Harmer article) people seem ignorant about the benefits of training (themselves & their dog)