Cosmolo

I will tes t it tomorrow- have been flat out so no chance today.. Will post as soon as i've done it!

Kaz, flooding doesn't always have to be high intensity and stressful. Without realising it you may end up doing some flooding so its important that you know if/ when your using it even though it may not be your preference/ intention. I am flat out tomorrow but i'll try to pm you some information on what we did with our girl and what you could consider trying if appropriate, in the next day or two.

The suggestions received are good- but only if the dog has low- medium levels of fear. Otherwise, by taking the dog to an area where the very things the dog is afraid of breach the dogs critical distance (distance at which the fear is exhibited) you are not desnsitising but flooding and are likely to carry out incomplete flooding. Sometimes it is not possible to start with slow desensitisation as much as we would like to.

Here is a question for k9/ neutralisation fans- If the dog has a neutral value and at a later date has a negative experience with X thing, isn't it easier and more likely that they will fall into the negative side of the scale/ form a negative association at that point than a well socialised dog who has a positive value?

I was hoping you would reply Jeff- you make some excellent points. We're not training for any kind of professional work, doing it because both we and the dog really enjoy it. But, in saying that i'm sure i'll alter one or two of the things i was going to do based on what you've said. Jeff, could you clarify whether quarantine dogs would indicate on such an item? If anyone would like some dangerous basil detected in their herb garden, we'll be available for hire soon!

The dog needs to be assessed by a professional behaviourist so that an appropriate strategy can be determined that is suitable for everyone involved. Giving advice over the nternet without seeing the dog is not something that i and many others would consider doing with this kind of situation

Come on guys, have a guess.. i will be testing tonight!

Kaz, is a video possible? If so, i'm happy to volunteer to consult with you from here.

Depending on the level of fear, sometimes gradual desensitisation is not possible or effective, particularly as critical distance will be breached regularly. We used some flooding with our girl which, while it worked incredibly well and got her to the point where we could then gradually desnsitise and build confidence- i would not recommend you do without assistance as if done incorrectly, it can make problems much worse.

Constant- always constant. My girl is trained to give a passive indication- ie, sit at the target as the quarantine dogs do. but has a combination of passive and active reward- food and tug/ dummy. We use a verbal marker and no reward mark too- no physical or verbal corrections ever but will deny her the opportunity to work/ earn rewards if she is just messing around.

LP- hopefully Jeff smith will come along to correct me if i'm wrong but i was under the impression that quarantine dogs had to differentiate alot between those sorts of things- remember its not drugs that they're detecting and if there is a animal/ plant product mixed with something else, it would usually have undergone processing of some sort. They can't have quarantine dogs indicating on apple scented toiletries etc. Drug dogs are different and would be trained to indicate on minute quantities of the odour, mixed with other things or not.

Wish i was nearby to help, we are/ haverehabilitated a terrified, panic stricken dog to a point and continue to do so as she is our dog (ex shelter) and while improved beyond our expectations, she still has a way to go. feel free to pm or email me and maybe i can offer my general thoughts. Hard without seeing the pup though- any chance of a video?!

This is just a bit of fun to see what you think before i test it out.. One of my dogs has been doing some scent detection training with the odour she indicates on being the herb basil. She has just started doing room searches, is doing well and is very reliable. Here is my question-i am about to get out a face cream product that has real basil in it- will the dog indicate AND should she indicate? Obviously the quarantine dogs are trained to ignore such a thing but i would think that they do indicate on it to begin with, get no reward and LEARN that it holds no reward for them.

I agree with jesomil and my situation is similar with 4 dogs that spend alot of time together and work with us as individuals or sometimes i will take two out at a time depending on what clients i'm seeing etc. When we get our next pup i will socialise rather than neutralise as i think there are advantages and disadvantages to both and the pup will spend quite a bit of time with the other dogs and have lots of one on one with us.

I'm not necesarily looking for free rein- just flexibility! I am happy to take direction etc but its the inflexibility (and lack of results because certain things do not work for my dog/s) that leads me to wanting to 'do my own thing'. I appreciate the replies given- does anyone have the contact details for K9 Agility?

Thanks LP, croydon is pretty far away from me though- which would be fine if i wasn't so pushed for time. More often than not i am heading to training straight from a late client and rushing to get there! I have been to action dogs before- quite a while ago and stopped because the time was so late.. Sigh- just don't know what to do. Private sounds great, if anyone can provide further details, it would be much appreciated

Cosmo is a much more experienced dog who, according to everyone who sees her, should have been trialling 6 months ago but i didn't feel i or we as a team were ready. And PF, this intstructor takes the class every week without fail- there is no variation in instructors whatsoever. And i totally understand being a 'control freak' as you put it at basic levels- i would have to say that i am as well when instructing- but i do give options. Its like unless georgie does it perfectly the first time, she shouldn't be doing agility at all and is not suitable. WMR- yes, same person as last week. How does private agility training work? Do you have any idea of costs, locations etc?

I don't know why she wasn't allowed to do anything. Even one of the other people asked why we weren't doing anything with Georgie and tried to 'convince' us to do something with her. We didn't need convincing just permission from the instructor. I didn't want a conferentation so i didn't push as to why- if we go back next week and if it happens again i will ask and be more assertive- i am just a bit cautious as i don't really want to start an argument that ends with us being told to leave. The instructor wasn't talking to us unless he was criticising me- telling me not to look at the dog and not to worry if she doesn't do something correctly, that everything she did was my fault, (which is probably true but you don't have to demoralise someone about it- i know i make mistakes) telling me off for the way i ran the course, when i was doing crosses etc. They use food rewards alot and i think they get annoyed when i use a tug and food at times. They have a large and somewhat slow breed and they get 'annoyed' at me for not being able to do the same things they do with their dogs because Cosmo is super fast- they have tried to run her and literally fell over her trying to get in front of her so its not that simple. I try to think about how to make things easier for me so that i can handle her better. My OH (trainer as well) agrees with the way i ran some of last night but i got told it was wrong even though it worked very well. So i would finish the course, the Oh was ready to say that was great, instructor is shaking head saying no, no- all wrong. I try to take constructive criticism and learn from it (its not like i'm sensitive and can't except critique) but this was picking on things for the sake of it- and i wasn't the only one who thought so. The only other thing i can think of is whether it is something to do with her breed not being a 'typical' agility breed? I just don't know- her obedience is excellent no dramas with her recalling off lead, no aggression etc. And you should have seen how happy she was to be there..

If anyone knows of a club that has mid week agility in the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne and who would assess a dogs experience and place them in the appropriate level OR ideally let someone with experience do 'almost' their own thing, could you please let me know. Some of you may have read of our experience last week with an instructor at agility training. Well, we went again last night and this time Georgie wasn't allowed to do anything and i got picked on relentlessly the whole night (shoemonster can vouch for that) for what i was doing with Cosmo- even though she was working very well. I was both upset and frustrated because georgie arrived at training more excited than i've ever seen her- desperate for a toy, desperate for food, a pat- she really wanted to work- and she wasn't allowed to at all- not even the things she was happily completing last week. There is part of me that doesn't want to go back at all but another part that knows that a) if i find another club, i may go through the same thing there b) it is the closest club to us and so convenient given that we are usually working/ have clients when training is on weekends etc c) if i don't find a club and pursue other interests (herding, scent work etc), i feel awful because Cosmo and now Georgie LOVE agility and it has improved our bonds, confidence and overall relationship in many ways. AND, although Cosmo can be easily redirected to other activities, it is definitely not that easy for Georgie. It was frustrating to see her so excited last night and really wanting to work, and not being able to use that and have fun with her. What would you do?

FD- thats so funny, i say that about aloveen too Another vote for aloveen from me

Thanks calliech- whats the difference between those products and pyohex- if you know? I think i am very lucky that she doesn't scratch alot, nor bite at herself etc. Thanks for the info staff n toller, i hate allergies and skin conditions!

Hills R/D worked very well for one of our dogs and once he lost the initial weight he went back to eating a combination of BARF and ADVANCE light or senior and he does very well on it.

Thanks for that information. Would stress affect the validity of the results? The reason why i ask is because she is terrified of strange people and doesn't cope well at the vet when i'm there at the best of times- let alone if she was by herself and undergoing tests. Does it matter that we would have no history beyond the last few months? I know some people who have had allergy tests come up with their dog being allergic to many things, grasses etc- if that was a result, how do you determine which allergen is causing the problem and what if you can't remove the cause- grass etc?

We use malaseb regularly. I can't keep her off the grass completely- she has been off it for a little while for other reasons except to toilet and seems to have made no difference. Had her back to the vet today and she is on cephalexin for an infection and prednil tablets. The vet discussed antihistamines and an injection that i can't remember the name of as well. Can anyone tell me what a specialist would actually do if i was to take her to one?

Can anyone tell me what a specialist would actually do?