Cosmolo

Hate having to keep it clean but white with black markings i really like as well as blue like an ACD and blue black Cockers

I have seen foxes in some very urban Melbourne areas!

We have one pedigree dog, 2 rescues and 2 farm bred dogs. The pedigree dog is our Jack Russell and i would go back to his breeder in a heartbeat. She ticks every one of my boxes and so do her dogs and we now have a dog that is EXACTLY what we wanted- and a bit more. She didn't 'grill' us but we met a few times before the litter was on the ground and waited patiently, keeping in touch during that time. It wasn't hard but there was respect and trust involved- we respected what she was doing and i'd like to think she developed some trust in us over time hence allowing us to have a puppy- keeping in mind that among everything else we were bringing home a 1.7kg puppy into a home with 2 35kg+ dogs- there had to be some trust there for her to let us do that. Our experience with bringing home a pup from this breeder make us much more likely than we were before to go pedigree again in the future.

That's what we do too Aidan, except we use a verbal instead of the clicker.

Just to add to what Corvus has already said. One of the problems with traditional focus/ look at me type training is that it depends on the dog remaining looking at the handler. Most handlers (and me as a trainer actually) WANT the dog to be able to look around and to look at things like dogs and people WITHOUT going down a reactive/ predatory/ aggressive/ panic type response. And when you think about it- for many dogs focusing on the handler instead of the stimulus is a form of avoidance. I don't want the dogs to feel as though they need to avoid the stimulus- the more LAT you do, the more the dog has the ability to cope with the stimulus instead of avoid it. This type of reward history then really pays off when critical distance is badly breached- it raises the dogs threshold/ tolerance. I do use the word interupt when i talk about LAT- simply because the process of LAT interupts the normal 'bad' behavioural sequence (simple eg- look- lunge- growl- snap)before it becomes inappropriate. To answer the question what happens when you are without your clicker/ marker? The dog offers the behaviour themselves- look at stimulus, look at you and you reward them any way you can! But with very reactive dogs i strongly encourage owners to take rewards often if not always and actively look for opportunities to reward. In my experience this maintains the appropriate behaviour and hand in hand emotional response much better than traditional focus and/ or compulsion alone.

Surely it's a good thing for a vet to offer discount desexing for instance for dogs that come from pet shops or puppy farms? If they were receiving kick backs- a certain amount of $$ from every puppy sale that would be different.

We have a really nice blue in our collar range- can be custom made and has brass fittings and rivets so won't break. Depending on size they are $20- $40 www.underdogtraining.com.au

It's just so much more complicated and risky than what some people think. Of course there are simple straight forward situations too- but 99% of people won't know whether what they are dealing with is so OR is one of the riskier more dangerous situations- until it's too late. Don't ever underestimate the difference that the presence and interaction of the owner makes too- you might think you can read and control the dogs involved but it's the human behaviour, relationship AND prior learning with the dog that can take what seems a safe situation and turn it into a dangerous one. The consequences for making a mistake are very high. Early in my training career i made an error of judgement while doing this kind of work. I was lucky not to end up with a dead dog. My advice- unless you are a professional with lots of experience, DON'T do it.

It's interesting to consider submission too. None of the dogs i have ever seen do well being used for this kind of work have been what one would describe as submissive.

I use a few of my dogs with aggressive or reactive dogs in very controlled situations. I choose which dog is used in which situation as they are all different. 2 of my dogs are what i would call bombproof while the other 3 can be used successfully in various situations. One of the bombproof dogs is SO relaxed during this type of work, it's amazing. BUT that kind of trust is a VERY serious responsibility for us to have and we take it VERY seriously. You can damage even a 'bombproof' dog if you are not extremely careful. And just because a dog can tolerate something doesn't mean they should have to. Tolerance is not the same as the dog being completely relaxed and comfortable in the given situation. It's something to be quite cautious with if you don't want to create problems in your dogs.

Hope he is okay- you know i loved him when i met him.

Someone told me that Pacers doesn't exist anymore? Is this true and does anyone know why?

"Dog doesn't like drums that son plays"

I have met her and while she seemed very nice/ professional/ knowledgeable i prefer Dr Robert Holmes.

That's certainly not a correct assumption. Lots of people use harnesses for lots of different reasons and lots of trainers support their use for lots of different reasons.

Cottage Kennels- we have had clients dogs there very recently and they were very happy.

I think while it can be confidence related it can also be related to expectations and anticipation. When an animal is familiar with an environment they develop a set of expectations as to how that environment should be- what objects are in what position, what animals they encounter etc. Those expectations can either lead to anticipation- therefore the dog is already going down the path of reactivity before anything happens OR when the animals expectations are violated (eg- they expect to see a certain 'thing' in that environment and they see something completely different) they become reactive for that reason.

No i am not exaggerating. But your point is valid in that there are also headcollars handed out when they shouldn't be.

I think the label balanced has been poisoned. There are lots of correction heavy trainers who would describe themselves as balanced. I have dealt with thousands of surrendered animals and believe it is rare that dogs are surrendered because of a training attempt that was positive that did not work. Dogs that have never had training- yes. There are many other factors pertaining to the owner and genetics of the dog involved.

And yes T- owner preferences are absolutely one of the factors we consider in embarking on a training program with any dog/ owner combination.

I think that is a very simplistic view of why dogs end up in pounds with reasons like " can't walk pulls on lead". I find many trainers who use physical corrections frequently are just as closed minded as their positive counterparts. I am around dog trainers and dog trainers in training alot and the closed mindedness exists equally in both camps.

In the situation you describe, it might be appropriate, it might not. I'm not saying there is never a case where it is the right thing to do. BUT i am sick of seeing chains and prongs handed out like lollies by 'balanced' trainers to people who shouldn't have them AND dogs that don't need them under the guise of being 'balanced'.

If they don't have the timing, knowledge, skill set to apply positive techniques- why give them tools that have high levels of corrective function that also require timing, knowledge and skill sets? Someone who is training with correction collars or headcollars of any sort need even more ability, timing and comittment IMO.

Define success?

I agree with both Corvus and Aidan's posts. As i have also posted in another thread recently- it's not just about correct use either. There are many other questions that need to be asked including but not limited to- How likely is the tool to be used correctly? (some tools are easier to learn to use than others) How long will it take to learn to use XYZ tool correctly? What happens to the dog during this time? What happens to the dog when the tool is used incorrectly? (links strongly with how likely it is to be used correctly or not). For what it's worth i went from what most would call positive to 'balanced' and then to something else that i'm not sure has a label. I believe my best training has been without label.