squeak

Dare I ask what that means???

I *think* brisket are beef ribs and lamb flaps are lamb ribs - lamb bones tend to be slightly softer than beef bones.

We have the L or XL size of that kennel (will need to find a tape measure later & check the dimensions). Although ours is now minus the windows... thanks to two very inquistive dog noses... something for you to think about. I thought that our deerhound x (size of large greyhound) would only just fit into this kennel. She fits comfortably, but I have now found out that our other dog (retriever x) now shares the same kennel with her!!! Never would I have thought that they would both fit in there!!!

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Interesting. I would be concerned about the "Position Statement" for Service Dogs. Whilst I understand them not supporting assistance dog trainers (not the handlers/recipient) obtaining public access for their own personal dog, it is unclear on if they support public access for assistance dogs in training who are accompanying handlers who are not disabled. This is a bit of a "passion" of mine, as it appears to be a very fuzzy area in Australia. It seems, (correct me if I am wrong) that if you are training an assistance dog, and are also disabled, then public access is supported. But where does that leave assistance dogs who are being trained by able-bodied people?

I was there yesterday as well - any chance you can help me put a face with a userid? PM me if you would prefer

Oooh! Did I see you when I was training yesterday afternoon? I occasionally make it to Steve's group classes and noticed that the NDTF group joined us - a bit unexpected, as it hasn't happened before! I was the one with "Murphy" - retreiver x collie x ???? Also, I am curious - the dog Zac - was that a boarding dog, or a student's dog?

Is that Rex, or another dog?

How about one of these... bonus is that they fold up, which I am not sure if the others do????? http://www.ccrates.com.au/alcrate.html

May I ask why you no longer instruct?

This is probably something else that is kicking around in my mind. I would like to try to trial one of my dog's next year, but by doing the instructors' course, it will mean that I am not getting to train with the trialling group. Same goes as for if/when I start instructing. I guess part of me feels like I should give trialling a go, and THEN think about instructing.

I am struggling a bit at the moment trying to "find my feet" with dog training and trying to work out if I want to instruct. I have limited experience with dogs - grew up with them, but never really trained them growing up. Adopted "my" first dog two years ago and trained her at the obedience club ever since. She will never be a star, but has come a long, long way. I have also recently done the NDTF course and learnt a lot about dog training, but realise that I am by no means an expert and still have much to learn. My current problem is that I *think* I want to instruct, but am not sure if I would make a good instructor. Also, at our club, there is great variation amongst the instructors - from purely positive to very traditional. I personally like this, as I believe you can learn from everyone, however I can understand that it can be very confusing for students when they get told one thing one week, and something entirely different by someone else the next week. I am currently doing the "instructors' course" with the club - I am starting to realise that the club's "preferred teaching" method for certain things, may not be my preferred teaching method, for certain things. Part of me says that I shouldn't let this worry me but part of me thinks that if I am going to teach, I should follow the club's guidelines. Then, I feel that I am limited in my knowledge - in reality, I don't have much more experience or qualifications than the people who I would be teaching. What right does that give me to tell them what to do? I am not sure that I am confident enough to control a class for 1 hour, or to spot any potential problems (ie., aggressive dogs) before they cause a real issue. So, I guess I have a couple of questions for people... - what made you want to teach? - at what point did you feel comfortable teaching? - what do you think makes for a good instructor? Sorry to ramble on for so long, it is something that I am really struggling with at the moment.

Search & Rescue????

I am no expert, so more than happy to be corrected by those who are more knowledgeable. My understanding is that mantrailling is where a dog finds a person by the quickest means - usually by air scenting. If for some reason the dog cannot air scent at a particular point, they will track until the find the air scent again. Whereas tracking is following the scent of the footprints along the ground. At the NDTF course, we were told that you could teach a tracking to to trail, but not vice versa (ie., you cannot teach a trailling dog to track). The reason that we were given was that once you have taught a dog to air scent, they will use this as the "default" as it is the quickest means of getting to the "quarry". Very happy to hear input from other people.

High value treats for Stormy = any treat that another trainer has Doesn't matter if they have dried liver or kibble in their treat pouch and I have devon or BBQ chicken. She is just motivated by other people... which makes it hard use as a reward! Murphy = anything that he can swallow, though he did seem to like the roasted lamb's fry I did a couple of weeks ago. Their is "chicken loaf" you can buy in the large rolls - have you though about trying this? Also, I have just bought a "dog roll" (processed dog food made into a huge sausage shape). I haven't tried it yet, but bought it hoping that it will be suitable to cut up for treats. I have also toyed with the idea of using raw liver (my guys don't really like dried stuff), but haven't gotten to that yet.

Can I just say that I am sooooooooooooo jealous! Compared that, my dogs must the dumbest of the bunch (but that is said with extraordinary love). Took Stormy six months to learn how to sit but then again, sitting isn't natural for her (sighthound cross). Murphy did surprise me when he learnt to sit within a week (we adopted him at 18 mths of age).

Can I ask what it is about fresh meat that your friend doesn't like? I am thinking that if she doesn't like handling and cutting it up, is it possible for you to buy, cut up, portion and freeze sufficient meat for your dog whilst your away? That way she just has to take it out of the freezer, defrost it and plonk it in his dish - she wouldn't actually be "handling" the meat? Just a thought...

Interesting approach, which makes sense. May I as how you train this?

Just checked back into this thread - thank you both.

I am toying with the idea of entering obedience trials in the future. I am interested to find out from people who trial what hand signals they use for the sit, down/drop and stand, at a distance and how these might vary from the ones that they use during a heeling pattern, if they do vary at all. I have done a search on the internet and also you tube, but haven't really come up with anything. Any links to websites or videos would be appreciated.

Thanks for that. The reason that I ask was that I have been thinking about looking at trialling classes - may I ask what time on Tuesday night?

May I ask if you need to do their "pet classes" first? The reason that I ask is that I have found that a lot of clubs will insist you do this and will not let you join their trialling class straight away.

Thakns Erny and sorry to the OP if I have taken the thread off-topic - I gave my input as I felt that was was the OP was asking, so sorry if I was mistaken. I am still very much learning how to train and am always interested in how other people train and why they choose to train that way. Doesn't always mean that I will choose to change how I train, but hopefully gives me a greater understanding of training by making me look at how I train.

** bump ** still hoping for a reply from Erny.

This one depends on your school of thought. "Clicker trainers" teach that EVERY time you click food should follow, otherwise your click is weakened as a conditioned reinforcer. However, I have seen other people train as you have suggested - click means correct, but food doesn't necessarily follow, when the move to an intermittent reward schedule. I would suggest that when they started doing this, that they moved fairly slowly - click, reward, click, no reward, click reward, click reward, etc, so that the dog doesn't really think too much about missing the reward as most of the time they still receive it. I would be very interested to hear Erny's and Cosmolo's thoughts on this.