Cosmolo

I have a great dane x and 3 medium sized dogs and i have a medium. Because it works so well, its not overly important to have a large one to cover the dog more quickly as you save so much time anyway. Its good for short haired dogs too

I have used it twice so far and will use it as needed- probably once a week or fortnight

I would go a medium- they're nice and easy to handle. With having 4 dogs it makes a huge difference in terms of time and i have less hair all over the house already. I don't mind shedding but having a house covered in hair 5 seconds after cleaning can be frustrating! Cowanbree- i only have short- medium haired dogs so am not really sure- it didn't appear to cut or remove my guys top coat though- for instance, one of my dogs is predominantly white and all the hair that came out was black undercoat.

I got mine through my vet and used it on 3 out of 4 of my dogs. I got two shopping bags full of hair out of them and their coats now look incredible with all the dead hair gone. I have tried slickers and while they were good, they didn't come close to this!

Yes, an electronic collar. Are you looking to manage the problem or to eventually fix it so that he can be around stock, even at a distance?

Flame away but the mot reliable and IMO kindest solution for stock chasing is to have a session with him, a reputable trainer and a remote trainer. Usually there is not much that is of a higher value to the dog so its hard if not impossible to lure him away and reward and lead corrections will only serve well while he is on a lead. Chaining him up after is unlikely to help, it may make it worse if the chaining increases his level of frustration for next time.

I'd like to see his drop on the move pushed further if you haven't already though- what if your running or playing with him and you give him the command when he is in mid flight? Have you got someone who can handle him at a distance?

Has anyone else used a furminator before? I have just bought one and it is the best tool for removing dead, loose hair and undercoat i have ever used. And so easy! My dogs coats feel amazing once all the dead hair has been removed too

I might shoot myself in the foot here- but it sounds like your making it needlessly more coplicated than it should be? If you have taught a new command to get him to fold back, why not spend more time on that command and get rid of the drop command completely unless its informal? Why not get someone else to handle him at a distance to prevent him from creeping when you give the command? What is your drop on the move like with him? From a heel for instance?

At what point does he start creeping? And what exactly have you tried with him so far?

Thanks for posting the details Erny- are you going? I haven't heard of him before now.

Is anyone else going to the innotek seminar on the Gold Coast in April? Its on positive/ negative stimulus training with remote trainers, and sounds really interesting. The trainer (whose name escapes me for a moment) is coming out from Europe.

I was 'lucky' to have an extremely difficult horse a few years ago who taught me the very definition of the word patience! I have never lost my temper at my dogs as such- been frustrated but still remained calm. However, i do remember being very frustrated with a cat a few years ago- i was doing scent detection with my then pup- only 5-6 months old which was hard enough, i had another trainer come out to watch because i'd been talling him how well she'd been going and i wanted to see if she'd be ready for her assessment. So she starts working and we weren't past the 2nd box before one of the resident cats came and curled itself around one of the boxes. It was the one distraction my girl couldn't work under at that point, she desperately wanted to play with the cat. We had been working so hard and it had been a real struggle with her to begin with- not just her age but she had excellent obedience that interfered terribly with the scent detection so it was a long hard road. We had to abandon the training session as we couldn't get her back working again after that. I'm not sure if Erny recalls, but i went and sat down and cried (she came and gave me a few encouraging words) and as i was sitting there, the cat in question came and jumped into my lap. That is the closest i've been to 'losing my temper with an animal- as the cat purred and tried to snuggle on my lap! People on the other hand- thats a different story!

We're not talking about lacing the dogs food with poison- perhaps it needs to be worded differently- the normal taste/ value of the dogs meal would be lowered by adding something the dog will eat but does not particularly like. To give an example, a few of my dogs don't really like apple cider vinegar- they'll eat the food, but if i then presented them with the same kibble with no ACV, the value of that kibble would increase. We're not talking about something we would ever really have to do so its not something i would normally do or recommend. But we're refering to a situation that is very structured- if it was an option i'd just change the motivator- but it wasn't

Not sure if this is oddball enough, but if you wanted to increse the value of the dry kibble as a reward you could feed the dog with something that tates awful at meal times so it would appreciate the dry food during training.

Unlikely to be dominance but likely to be either 'fun' or frustration at the headcollar. Have you desensitised him to the headcollar before walking him on it? I wouldn't allow it even if it is a game as it doesn't take much for the dog to chew through their lead and can make the dog harder to handle.

Would have to be an absolute last resort. I would be asking what training the dog has, mental stimulation available, the dogs routine, when it is barking- constant or only at certain times? Bark collars are a last resort for problematic barking that occurs when you are not home in most cases.

silvercons, its unlikely that the club would allow you to bring in your own trainer. The clubs i have trained at or seen would not allow it as it can be confusing/ conflicting for their other members. Does the trainer have any dogs of their own that they could perhaps use? I would hesitate to use the neighbours dog as well, i don't think two excited out of control dogs is the easiest situation for your dog to learn in. It does concern me a little that the trainer has said to you that everything will be able to be achieved on a flat collar before even seeing the dog?? I never tell people over the phone exactly what equipment, technique will be used as it depends on the dog. Its fine to have a preference for a technique, but what will the trainer do if the flat collar turns out to be unsuitable?

I think it will always depend on the dog that you are dealing with. I trained Cosmo to what i consider to be an advanced level by the time she was 6 months old. She was reliable on and off lead and had excelent stays- out of sight etc. She also did scent detection and basic assistance dog work because i was doing the course at the time. I had a number of people tell me i was doing the wrong thing but i felt i knew my dog well enough to recognise if there were issues and there never were. She loved training as much as i did and i made sure we did alot of purely 'fun stuff' for her as well so i think she had a terrific balance. I was in a fortunate situation in that i wasn't working a great deal so we spent alot of time together- it wasn't as though all the time we had was spent training. I see some problems that occur the other way round- a young dog being held back when it should be pushed further to maintain interest, excitement and motivation- these dogs often lose interest in training and by the time they get to the next level, they are bored and unmotivated- which begs the question, chicken or the egg? Does the handler get bored and less motivating for being held back first or does the dog?

We have given our dogs livamol in the past which was great for their coats. Don't know about copra

Have used a zoom groom to scrub and the other dogs have longer thicker coats (but still short) This dog has a coat similar to a ridgeback or am staff

Thanks guys. No tear stains- she is a mastiff cross so just dirt stains. I washed her 2 times the other day and conditioned and there was still dirt coming out! Will look at getting the plush puppy. We have tried the Fidos and that doesn't remove the stains on her, was good on the other dogs though.

Sounds good- where can i get the plush puppy from? I haven't seen that brand before

Am having all sorts of trouble trying to get stains out of one of our dogs. She is all white with a short coat but seems to absorb more dirt than the other dogs with thicker coats. She also has sensitive skin so we have to be careful with what we wash her in. We use aloveen at the moment but it won't get the stains on her face and along her back out no matter what i do. She is allergic to glo white (horse shampoo) so can't use that, although even when we did use it the stains were still there. What else can i do?!

I feed Advance and find it to be excellent for all 4 of my dogs