Cosmolo

I absolutely love Canberra but i don't think we will make it there this year. Hopefully early 2013 we will get back there.

We have a number of training events coming up- further information to follow. We are really excited to be coming to some new areas and welcome any thoughts or suggestions for relevant topics to be covered.

MELBOURNE: 21st July

WAGGA WAGGA: 4th and 5th August

MELBOURNE: 13th October

PERTH: 26th-28th October

SYDNEY: 1st and 2nd December

MELBOURNE: 15th December

I would never want my dogs mixed with others. I have known a few kennels who pair up dogs to be kennelled with strange dogs over night and/ or have large groups playing unsupervised- NOT for me and my dogs.

While there are definitely optimum time frames and ideals, one also has to consider the demographic of the area they're working within to ensure training offered is actually going to be reasonable for the people in that area.

Thanks Horus, hope they are helpful for you and your group.

Bump for anyone who missed first time around.

For those who have the resources we welcome your feedback too.

Some dogs are capable of doing more damage than others. And some dogs on the receiving end are going to at least have a chance to live or defend themselves. Some will not. Having a small breed dog now has given me a greater understanding of the fear people experience when a dog capable of doing serious damage rushes them. Dogs rushing my JRT worry me more than my other bigger dogs because of the smaller margin for error.

The clear treat balls and amaze a balls have lasted a long time with my crew.

So sorry to hear this. x

I free shaped my Jack Russell to bark on command as he never barked so i couldn't capture it.

Sorry the assessment did not go better. Was it Kathy that you saw?

Haven't received an email as yet so if you have sent it, would be good to re-send. :)

You will be in excellent hands with Kathy. Make sure she knows that you want her opinion on suitability for rehoming as well as the general assessment of the dog

Suitability for rehoming is a different scenario to- Can the dog be trained/ rehabiltated etc. While in many cases it is possible to rehab a dog with issues, finding a home willing AND able to do so SAFELY can be near on impossible. Of course the dog described here may not have serious issues so this is more a general comment.

Good luck, hope to hear a positive update. I am sure Kathy will be able to give you specific tools but if you want something to start on now, feel free to email me and i will send through some notes i have regarding a training exercise that could certainly help and won't do any harm. [email protected] No charge.

Send an email to [email protected] and i will send you through some notes on classically conditioning a recall if you like. 11 weeks is the perfect time to start.

To the OP, i wish you all the best with your situation. I agree with what Greytmate said.

For those questioning assessment procedures in a shelter. No matter how good your assessment procedures are- unfortunately there are some behaviours that simply don't present in the shelter environment. I am not suggesting thats the case here- i have no idea who the shelter is or how the dog presented and whether or not the dog was properly assessed.

I have gone out and assessed a dog who had been rehomed from a shelter. The dog had territorial aggression issues that were dangerous in the environment i saw the dog in. I assessed the dog in the home and then again upon its return to the shelter. The issue simply did not present in the shelter assessment and had i assessed the dog prior to rehoming, he would have passed. However, having seen the dog in a home environment and having first hand knowledge of the dogs issues allowed the right decision to be made regarding a second rehoming. While it should NOT happen often, there are situations where a dog is rehomed with a serious issue that no one was aware of. The question then becomes, once you know the issue is there- what is the shelter going to do about it. It should not be ignored or glossed over.

I have used them for behaviour modification in conjunction with other strategies/ techniques with success.

bump

Thats great Ams, glad it could help so quickly!

Thanks T- tried to keep things simple and easy to understand.

Have replied to all emails received, hope you find the series useful.

These are available to groups all over Australia, doesn't have to be Melbourne based. Thanks for the interest so far.

Preventing an attack is alot better than having to respond to one. (i am speaking generally here) People who assess dog behaviour are sometimes criticised for failing a dog or seeking further assessment based on body language that to others was 'fine' and the dog 'didn't do anything'. You don't have to see the end result of a behaviour sequence to know where it is going when you know what you're looking at.

This isn't a breed thing for me either- i have 2 bull breed types in my home.

Discussions around child raising invariably result in someone saying parents ignore their child having a tantrum and how dare they do that. Extinction training is a valuable tool and one i would certainly not hesitate to use if i were in public with one of my nieces.

I used to say i disliked children. But though i don't desire any of my own, i now very much enjoy spending time with most children. i like most of the kids i meet in dog training sessions, many of whom want to 'help' with the training. I love my nieces and look forward to spending time with them. I remain uncomfortable around babies though- though only if put under pressure to hold them, feed them etc. I am more comfortable when they are interactive and not as fragile!

I feel sorry for parents with distressed children on planes etc. The ones i don't feel sorry for are those who don't put a stop to kids kicking the back of my chair or happily throwing food at me..

The dog absolutely moves quickly toward the officer. It does not look friendly. Some of the behaviour toward the beagle makes my stomach turn, as does the dogs screams.

Different dogs have different playing styles and different body language. But it being different doesn't automatically make it appropriate or okay. Dogs that 'play' in a certain way need to be carefully managed as adults. As puppies some play can be modified to become more appropriate and universally accepted. But i don't believe there is much play involved in that clip.

Advertising in classifieds has no bearing on how the breeders dogs are cared for, health tested and raised. I don't have any issue with it.

Please find below the information for our first workshop of the year- discounts applicable for rescue groups and shelters. There are limited places for each session so please email [email protected] to book or call 0402112105.

Underdog March Events Melbourne.docx