Cosmolo

No the off lead starts from past the yacht club- there is a path that cuts in half the 2 beaches (on lead- restricted times/ off lead)and the nicest bit is to the left of the yacht club- definitely a nice swimming spot.

Ricketts Point is 24/7 off lead 365 days a year. It stretches for quite a long way either side of the yacht club.

Toy unwrapping video

Toy selection video..

Ricketts Point in Beaumaris is the best IMO.

I would say that on average, you're looking at 10% of dogs that are pure and of those, maybe 1/4 of those are from registered breeders. There are other factors that influence how many pure dogs are seen though- socio economic areas, breed involved and whether shelter/ rescue/ pound is country or city.

Lots of staffy x's and undetermined bull breed crosses would be the # 1 in my experience. Not far behind though are herding breed mixes AND small, fluffy mixes.

Mine arrived- YAY!!!

Their is a risk that pedigree dogs can develop behavioural problems too- no puppy has a fully formed temperament, all they have are tendencies. Assessing these tendencies in a puppy from any source is very important. Good rescue and good breeders do this and help you in a puppy choice- average or bad rescues and breeders do not.

I have 2 shelter dogs, 2 farm bred dogs and 1 pedigree dog. While one of the shelter dogs has fear based issues, we knew and took her for that reason. The others all have wonderful temperaments. I would absolutely get another rescue, another pedigree dog and the only thing that stops me from getting another farm bred dog is ethical considerations- not issues with the dogs at all.

I HATE the guilt trips used by some rescues or rescue advocates- it makes me hide their facebook updates and switch off.

I find body language helps- as people start to coo and move towards a pup, keeping the puppy moving and saying thank you as you continue to move often helps when the beeline is made and it is unwanted.

Thanks for that- will get hold of the dvds i think.

are there any relevant DVD's that you know of demonstrating the technique Kelpie? Interested in knowing more.

http://ahimsadogtraining.com/blog/bat/ Reading material on BAT poochie- you have probably done some of this sort of work before.

Kelpie i- have you used BAT exclusively with success or in combination with LAT/ counter conditioning/ focus etc? I find it difficult to get my head around using BAT in uncontrolled situations in the early stages.

Provide plenty of interactive toys (kongs, treat balls etc) and feed his meals out there- then leave him out there for the periods of time you would like to. On beautiful sunny days like today i completely agree that it would be much better for him to be outside instead of in his crate too.

I wonder whether a campaign to check fencing would have any impact- seems as though a number of incidents occur due to unsafe fencing.

And i agree- you want to own large powerful dogs of any breed or cross breed - do what needs to be done to ensure their safety and that of the public.

That is a great poster. Despite being friendly- my dogs do not appreciate rude dogs making a beeline for them, and neither do i!

I also think that once you own a small dog- you gain an appreciation for why owners of small dogs are cautious, if you did not have one before. There is no margin of error with a small dog. My 22kg ACD was nearly killed by 2 dogs- if that had been my 6kg JRT he would have been dead in a few seconds.

Kathy uses reward based training- but has an excellent understanding of a variety of techniques. Definitely call her and ask- she is the best behaviour specialist in perth that i know of.

You mean Gilbert Trish- Dexter is the big boofy one who wanted (but resisted!) to eat your cat remember.

I love it that despite the size and weight imbalance, both my big guys are so good with Gilbert- its very beautiful to watch.

Yep, if Georgie is playing with our other big dog- the noise factor increases! I love watching my dogs play- could do it all day.

Here's how my dogs play together at times.

My 5 are varying degrees of playful, boisterous and rough with each other as well as very tolerant. They understand each other very well which i think dramatically increases their tolerance threshold and reduces the risk of misunderstandings and conflict.

While they are 'good' with other dogs- the level of tolerance is MUCH lower and so i take care when they mix with others. Once they get to know particular dogs, provided they are compatible in temperament they get more tolerant, more playful and boisterous but i don't allow rough behaviour with non pack members.

I got an email from them today saying they didn't have a raccoon i wanted and could they send a lamb instead. Said yes so hopefully it gets shipped soon!

Absolutely it works- and the more conditioning that is done in other situations where there are no dogs, the more value is built for the game and the more likely that you will be able to reduce the distance between her and the other dogs over time.

I would also consider how much free food she is getting- if you want to increase value for food, restrict and reduce at non training times.

You don't have to do it with a clicker either- personal preference either way.

For goodness sake- is it really THAT hard to safely contain a dog?? Come on people- its not rocket science!!!!!!!

National Pet Supplies in VIc can get them in for you.

It doesn't exist anymore- they sold the property. Such a shame- we stayed there before with our 4 and LOVED it.

I think the K9 Company do tracking workshops? They are in Eltham though. If you want things to do around the house, substance detection with a particular hidden scent would probably be easier to do more regularly than actual tracking. Stu can teach you that if you like, he used to work with explosives detection dogs.