squeak

Any news???

Phone an after hours vet and ask them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, I didn't know that!!! I will definitely try to get down to training on Wednesday. With my luck Murphy will behave perfectly like he did in class last time . At least I will get to pick everyone's brains! What time?

Thanks Mrs Dog. I do understand that he is still settling in and as you say, I do believe that as you say the licking might be a submissive behaviour. I am trying really hard to ignore the licking and not go crook at him. He is just beginning to understand "sit" - nowhere near reliable yet, but just very occasionally if we ignore the licking for long enough he will sit instead... and then he gets all the praise and attention that he wants... we probably seem to be a "bit over the top" when this happens, but it seems to be working. I am trying to be consistent with the rules, but am finding it more difficult to be consistent with two dogs, which is probably only serving to confuse him, but I am trying hard. And, I don't know if it is right or wrong, but it seems to be working at the moment.... Murphy likes chasing and fetching a ball more than Stormy so he gets to do that whilst Stormy has a nice uninterrupted pat All subject to change and me understanding the dynamics of the pair. I think that I just have to accept the licking (meaning ignore it) until he is more comfortable in his surroundings and works out how else to win our attention. It is early days yet and I know I am probably expecting too much, too soon, but I think that is part of being human.

Tony - I am curious to know why you asked about herding behaviours.. I am just trying to learn as much as I can.

I am not quite sure what you mean by this. He doesn't appear to try to "round up" either myself, hubby or our other dog. He will mouth/lick your bare toes, and when he runs/plays with Stormy, he does short-cut corners (I think because he is slower) and tries to "tackle" her from underneath, again, I think it is because he is slower/heavier than her. It is still very early days, and I probably haven't seen enough of any of his behaviour to be clearer on this, I'm sorry.

Okay, I will try to keep that in mind. I am on a very steep learning curve!!!

Tony - the relationship between the two dogs seems good (to me). At the moment, I am not sure who I see as the top dog, but believe as "leader" I should be able to pat who I want, when I want (and I could be wrong on this). At the moment, I am probably slightly leaning toward thinking that Stormy will emerge as top dog, but am still very open-minded about this. Stormy tends to be the one who calls it quits on play first - I am not sure if this is a tiredness or a top dog thing. Also, sometimes Murphy will try to initiate play, but Stormy is not interested. I have also noticed that she will sometimes claim the paddling pool as hers, and not let Murphy in it for a while - but she usually bores and changes the game. The only other thing that has made me think that Stormy may become top dog is when they were playing together with a toy - they both went for it at the same time, and Stormy growled when she didn't get it, then took it from Murphy. I wasn't impressed with the growling, went crook on her and took the toy away from both of them.... rightly or wrongly. I have no doubt made mistakes, but I am trying to learn.

Thanks BP and Mark. We think Murphy is about 20 months old. I have been trying to ignore the licking, but it's tough... I know it is all about consistency, and I think I need to have a good honest look to see if I am being consistent. But, with extinction, just reassure me that it is likely to get worse before it gets better, right?! We are working on leadership, but I think that it is something that may take some time, as when we got him, he did not appear to have any training. He is just starting to understand "sit" and we are starting to use this - sit for pats instead of jumping, sit before we go for a walk/inside/outside, etc. Mark, I have been trying to do a similar thing to what you suggest in "claiming my space". When I want to pat Stormy and he intrudes, I deliberately put myself between them, with my back to him, and continue to do so, until he calms and either walks away, or stops trying to win my attention. It seems to be working, somewhat, I guess that I am probably just being a little impatient at the moment. It all takes time, right?

Can I join in on this thread and ask for some training advice??? We have recently (two weeks ago) adopted our second dog, Murphy, who we think is a golden retriever x collie x everything else!!! He has settled in well, apart from a couple of small issues, which I would like to resolve, but ask myself if I am expecting too much too soon. We haven't done much training with him, except getting him to walk on a loose lead and the start of a sit. We have pretty much have just been letting him settle in. He is very licky and very mouthy. Whilst I understand some people like licky dogs, it is something which I cannot stand. Any suggestions for dealing with this one? And, as I said, he is very mouthy. He will jump up on you (which is ignored) but then will mouth you - he usually latches onto my elbow, which can be painful - he is not biting as such, it is just where he grabs. This isn't too bad when he is by himself, but if he is out in the yard with our other dog, Stormy, it gets worse. Particularly if you try to pat Stormy and not him. I know that I am probably missing something really obvious, so fire away. His "sit" is not reliable enough (yet) to use as part of the solution. And, any advice on getting him to let us pat Stormy and not him if we choose, or vice versa?

For dumbells, also try... http://www.petnetwork.com.au/cgi-bin/shopp...;cart_id=928863

http://www.callicoma.com.au/

Thanks Tony. Can you believe that it is something I didn't consider until I got the second dog home And, he was by no means a impulse decision, as we have been looking for about the last 6 months... And, yes, I do understand the point you make about the dogs sorting out their status. I concerns me a little, but I just have to be strong and firm and make it clear what the rules are in our house. I saw a tiny bit of it last night - both dogs were crated and had been given Kongs. Stormy was not at all interested in hers, but growled (tiny) when the other dog looked at her. Not something that I would normally expect from her, but just indicates that I have to, initially at least, be very attentive to them both when there might be food around. But having said that, it does make sense in a way, as we have brought a new dog onto her "turf". I made it quite clear to her that it was unacceptable. I just really need to remind myself not to become "soft" on Stormy because I have brought an intruder in and feel sorry for her. Fair and firm, right?! I think that the thing that I will really need to remind myself of, is that the dogs need to sort out their order in the pack (below the humans)... and it doesn't matter who I think should be "top dog" out of them, that it is up to them to decide and I will need to respect that. It should be interesting to see what develops, as they both seem to have fairly easy going natures, but I am guessing that in time one will take the lead more than the other. We are just really hoping that we have made the right match... time will tell.

** bump **

We have just adopted and brought home our second furkid. Just wondering the best way of introducing them. Our first dog is Stormy, a 2.5 yr old female deerhound X adopted June 2006. Our current adoption is a 20mth old male retriever x lab - we think to be names Murphy or Murray. So far they have had two runs together at the RSPCA. We have introduced them at home on lead, after going for a walk down the street. Before this, we let Murray/Murphy explore the backyard whilst Stormy was in the house. Then we let Stormy out to explore and sniff the backyard. Any and all advice is appreciated, particularly since Murray/Murphy has only been desexed today and the instructions say not to let him play with other dogs until he gets his stitches out

Hi Sabby I don't think you actually would have missed much by doing the course in Sydney vs Melbourne. There are actually three different groups doing my course - we barely covered intrinsic/extrinsice P/R, but one of the other groups covered it in much more detail :rolleyes: ... our problem was probably similar to yours - we were the first distance learning group, and there were a couple of minor "teething" problems, which are to be expected, and I imagine it is probably similar for you being the first group in Sydney. Hope to see you at training on Sunday.

You were lucky... our group had to answer both those questions, as well as a complex question on Classical/Operant Conditioning which I believe might be removed from future assignments (aka the Kelpie question for the previous students) - were were told that the question was at least Cert 4 level, if not Diploma!!!

May I ask if you are doing the NDTF course? If you are, I would suggest emailing or asking one of the lecturers.

I sit possible that she may have picked up on your anxiety about this???

Why do you ask? I know that Bob Bailey in the UK uses chooks to teach clicker training, but I am not sure what they teach the chooks!

Any chance of getting a photo of the buckle/adjuster on the black collar???

Yes, I have heard of dogs bloating on raw food... as well as dry - soaked and unsoaked, and elevated/not elevated food bowls.

Hold a really good treat in your closed fist. Hold your fist out in front of him and let him sniff at it. After a little while most dogs will paw at your hand as they try to work out how to get the treat. When he paws at your hand, immediately open your hand and reward him with the treat. When he is reliably pawing at your hand, hold a treat in the other hand and offer him an empty fist, which he will hopefully still paw at. Reward him from the opposite hand - this will get him used to understanding that the treat doesn't have to be present in the hand offered for him to still get it. Then, finally, offer an open palm and see if he will paw at that. Hope that makes some sense.

Found this article on K9 dressage and thought you might be interested... http://www.dancingdogs.net/Website%20K9D%20-%20to%20WCFO.pdf

We are no where up to the standard of you guys, but I hope you don't mind me adding my small brags. Stormy is a shelter dog that we adopted June last year and had little, or probably no training when we got her. It still amazes me that she has learnt to walk on a loose lead and to heel. She knows her release word and is happy to heel on our walks until she is released and is then happy to sniff and keep walking on a loose lead, most of the time. If she gets too rapt up in the smells, a quick "let's go" gets her moving again. We still working on making our sits, drops and stands reliable. She understands the commands, but sometimes decides she didn't hear you . Recalls... well, we won't go there!!! My other brag is the tricks that she has managed to learn in the last 12 months - shake paws (both sides), putting her paw on you knee, walking backwards, hi 5 and "hug". But, my biggest brag is her newest trick of "say your prayers", which is where the paws on knee started. It's taken us more than 6 months to get her to do this trick, but I wasn't pushing her initially as I wasn't sure if she was fully mature and if it would put too much pressure on her skeleton. We're at the stage that she will reliably put both paws on my knee - still working on getting her head down on command, but it's getting pretty good. I think it looks soo cool and fairly impressive for her size (she's a deerhound X)!