Willem

hm, IMO it depends on what becomes the 'normal' scenario. A dog used to treats (or a pat) if he makes the right choice get used to it...I recall my dog and she comes as she knows she gets the treat, and sometimes she even comes without having here called, sits in perfect heel position and her eyes asking me, 'hey where is my treat, that was a perfect recall...come on..'...so this behaviour becomes the 'normal scenario' after intensive training. If she does a lousy job I can 'add' the scenario where I refuse to give here the reward...IMO a positive punishment once the good behaviour pattern with the reward is established. I think one of the problems is that we humans tend to believe that a new approach has to be 'better' read more successful, more effective....more convenient etc. While this might be justified wrt technical gadgets, IMO it is not always appropriate regarding dog training. Most of us don't own a dog because they have to, but because of the fun factor, hence the chosen trainings approach should reflect the fun factor for dog and owner too. Seems to be easy when getting the dog as a puppy without having to deal with the load of a 'bad history', however, for adopted problem dogs the question about the best trainings approach can be pretty tricky I guess, and I believe it is in the best interest of the dog and the owner of such a problem dog to consider all available options including the not popular once. EDTA the following question for the experts: you are speeding and the police officer gives you a ticket...positive or negative punishment? :D

...giving no treats or not rewarding the dog is already a form of positive punishment ...'positive reinforcement' works only in combination with 'refusing positive reinforcement' as the negative consequence after an undesired behavior. Once the dog is used to positive reinforcement every refusal of positive reinforcement is obviously felt as punishment respectively unpleasant scenario.

70% women: that's probably a good representation of people obsessed with dog training. Have you been to any dog competition apart from IPO recently? no,...in our obedience classes the ratio is more 50%/50%, in the agility courses there might be slightly more female dog owners ....but yes, if they would really compare apples with apples in the study and would have an objective benchmark for the trainings success the gender of the trainer / dog owner shouldn't make a difference.

geez, and I thought that is the way they communicate...our dog barks sometime at the neighbour dog (the only way they can communicate as they are separated by a colourbond fence)....she barks something like I guess, 'ha, they let you out today, but stay away from my guinea pigs'...and he response 'who's interested in your stinky guinea pigs'...or something similar (the subject matter experts might be able to translate it :D ),...takes 5-10 seconds, and then each one follow their own business. If it takes longer the neighbour calls his dog or I call her, they come and barking stops. Sometimes we met her big Lab friend in the off leash area and sometimes they bark (to each other or just out of fun) while we let them run free...I can't see any kind of problematic behaviour in this...they are dogs.

...pretty sure the dog is long-sighted...so the smart girl just steps back to get a better view.

You haven't met many dogs then. if your dog never barked I would get him checked ... There is a difference between a dog barking and problem barking. And no my previous dog did not once bark at other dogs. I know many dogs that have no interest in barking at other dogs. My current dog does get over excited some times and will bark, I recognise this as a problem behaviour and am taking steps to resolve this. There is a time and a place. I had such a soft toy too when I was 9 years old, but I always wanted a real dog :D

mr rusty bucket Bristol uni animal behaviour dept, specificaly in the 'dog training' area and senior lecturer Dr Rachel Casey was trashed in terms of its credibilty years ago. The author of the vids below was contacted by the unis' lawyer as long ago as 2009 and told to remove the only existing vid (at that time) about Dr Casey from youtube - The response to that letter was the vid maker made more vids which are all over youtube on Dr Rachel Casey Bristol Uni search 5 years on, the vid maker has the PDFs to prove his evidence and Bristol uni's legal dept could not and cannot do anything as a result, proffesionaly 'scared for life' comes to mind. Using Bristol unis 'science' as 'evidence' is like going to court and pleading guilty of silliness Bristol Dr Casey search http://bit.ly/1mTii5N . the video is not any better than the study...beside this the name of this Dr C. is not even mentioned in the report so I don't think it is justified to trash the study just because of the origin. If a scientific study claims to verify something, the results need to be repeatable and their have to be objective benchmarks, e.g. for the obedience level as the indicator of the success of the particular trainings methodology. This is not the case for this study, they compare the obedience levels of dogs with different ages, different breeds with different traits, different origin, different experience of the dog owners, and then they leave the rating to the owners - and finally they link the 'results' to the trainings method, that's scientific bollock.

I don't think you understand the difference between toilet training and incontinance??... well, that's the question the study should have included in their survey...I'm pretty sure their are quite some frustrated owners of spayed female dogs out there who have no idea that some of the accidents (urinating inside the house despite whatsoever toilette training they adopted) could be linked to spaying...

You haven't met many dogs then. if your dog never barked I would get him checked ...

sorry, but IMO this study(?) is pathetic - I can't see that the adopted methodologies could lead to any reasonable findings considering e.g.: small numbers of respondents (plus 70% women - how can they assume that this is a representative survey?)... plus neglecting the experience of each dog owner and the time spent for the training on the findings; ignoring impact of spaying on toilet training for female dogs; no objective assessment for obedience (in a way they leave it to the dog owners to rate the success of their trainings methods); total ignorance of breed specific behaviour; total ignorance of history of dog (owned and trained as a puppy, rehomed,...); ...and I never met a dog that didn't bark from time to time at other dogs...if this is classified as 'problematic behaviour'...oh dear...

...if you know the culprit and he/she doesn't respond to a friendly comment a 'letterbox therapy' normally helps if it is a local. A wildlife trap camera to get the evidence cost approx. $120 - 200 on eBay (they work also in the dark). I found that in most cases dog owners who come down the coast for holidays have this 'I don't live here so why should I pick up after my dog' attitude.

...we have a short-hair BC, very energetic and definitely able to run the long distances :D ...she is a little bit tough to our Guinea pigs so we decided for now to keep them in their compound (before the females were roaming free in the garden)...not sure about chickens, I guess she would love to chase them... EDTA:...hm, 'gentle'...nah, I wouldn't call her a very 'gentle' dog so :D ...maybe she will calm down a little bit when she gets older (1 year now). EDTA:...sorry, I missed the updates...good luck with the new family member; we had a boxer in the family in the past and she was definitely more gentle than our BC...

uncontrolled peeing can be one of the downsides of spayed female dogs...these accidents are prone to happen for spayed female dogs. It is likely that the one accident on the couch wasn't the first, and the urine scent spread over the house might have also 'encouraged' her in the meanwhile to poo inside. A continuous rigorous cleaning regime might help to keep the encouraging urine scent minimal (not likely that you can stop her from uncontrolled urinating all the time) and with a stricter toilet training (more times on walks) might help with the poo issue. Good luck.

the cheapest and perhaps most reliable / sturdy method is: get a good rope (from Bunnings and the like) and a few carabineer. A few points to consider: 15 meter is very long, if you let the dog jump around it will tangle very fast; It also allows the dog to accelerate to full speed, so you have to consider the inertia of mass which could cause hefty injuries to the dog or yourself if the dog hits the end of the rope at full speed; Make sure the rope is not too thin: while a thinner rope might be strong enough, it can cut easily in your hands and cause burns. The rope should be thick enough to allow you a good grip without causing burns; I would start with a shorter length e.g. 5 meter first.

I wouldn't feed the normal food ration when it is so hot...the dog just don't need it respectively it is just too much 'fuel' for the metabolism of such a breed that is used to much colder temperatures.

I like and use these coils too, just a word of warning: they burn for hours, don't leave them burning and hanging in a tree unsupervised as this could be a severe fire hazard. Also if in a holder, they could fall off and set the coil free... If the pub is old enough to use Advantix: Advantix claims that beside killing ticks and fleas it repels mosquitos and ticks too; licking is not an issue if applied to areas the dog can't reach...don't get it on your hands and let the dog lick the hands...

when did he start this and does the laundry has access to the outside / garden, e.g. via a dog flap?

...no worries, there is a sensor and the threshold for stopping the motor is actually very little.

...it is strange how some printed words that make a law makes good or bad people; I grew up in Germany where docking was banned in 1998 - I never saw a Doberman or Boxer while living in Germany with a tail, now I 'know' all these breeders and / or owners who docked the tail / cropped the ears were 'criminals' and no dog lovers at all...so dog lovers must have been a really rare species before 1998... I wonder what will happen with all these dog owners / dog lovers in a few years who have desexed their dogs ... will they be 'criminals' in a few years too?...as they would be already if they lived in Norway?...

You definitely need to try the test. get someone else to hide the doormat and show the dog - and see if you get the same look when you go out there. Get your helper to toss a coin to see when they will do it (more random), and for extra confirmation - make sure you don't see them before you check the mat in the study. Eg you go out, helper tosses coin, doesn't touch mat (keeps record). you check mat - as per usual - record results (look or no look). Another time you go out, helper tosses coin - this time they hide the mat and show the dog. then they go out and don't come home until after you have checked the mat (and the dog). Do you get the look or not. Try the experiment for a week. The helper has to write down if they moved the mat or not. you have to write down if the mat was moved or not and what the dog's reaction was and what you think happened. Otherwise - all you know is your dog has a strong association with you missing the mat and getting upset so offers appeasement calm down behaviours. I will see if I can find video where the lab assistant nicks the treat not the dog... owners cannot tell cos they get the same look from the dog whether the dog nicked the treat or not. And I don't know about you, but I have the exact same reaction to being scolded - whether I did something naughty or not. Mostly I get angry and upset. Other people might have different reactions but being scolded feels nasty - doesn't matter whether you deserved it or not. ok, I will try it out :) .

my brother inlaw had a Doberman, and other relatives German Shepards; when playing with them (was sometimes pretty rough) I found their movements much more predictable than the movements from smaller dogs (something to do with inertia of masses in movement), so in doubt I would have more respect from a cattle dog, STB and the like too.

some updates: the girl is now 12 month old, and while there is room for improvement there is a lot of positive change and development. I'm just back from the obedience training, and today she really presented herself from her best side. The training for her on the trainings ground includes 3 sessions for her: the first 15 - 20 minutes (before the official obedience training) is playing with the flirt pole 'take it - leave it' and approaching other dogs and the fenced off-leash area with the long leash training the recall; the second 'session' is 'playtime' with the other dogs in the fenced off-leash area (including recalls) and then the official obedience training. Now today when she was running with the other dogs in the fenced area she responded to every!!! recall (at least 10 recalls) nearly immediately!!! ...every time she got her treat, pats and another run as a reward...maybe she gets addicted to the juicy chicken meat balls, but whatever caused it, it was a astonishing performance. The official obedience training was also very good - the distraction here by other dogs is very, very little now - the biggest distractions are the 'lost treats' all over the trainings area and the different scents in the grass. She had her crazy 30 seconds when she jumped and tried to nibble, but no comparison to earlier trainings sessions - 'NO!' & 'DROP' and leaving her for 10 -30 seconds in drop does the job now. All the exercises we did today were at least 8 out of 10 :) . As a highlight she refused to take the treat from the instructor today when I gave her the 'NO!'...(on of he exercises we did today). The biggest challenge for her are meeting one of her flurry friends in the morning - if she sees one dog in the distance, she immediately drops while her tail goes like a propeller...if the dog passes on the other side of the road, she stays in drop without tension on the lead, but for the last 5 meters I still need some tension on the lead to hold her back from running off. Thanks to all the friendly dog owners in our neighborhood who are supporting our trainings regimen and waiting patiently outside the trigger zone for her to calm down. Her social skills regards other dogs are pretty good too - if another dog growls indicating that he wants to be left alone she backs off immediately, she approaches strange dogs (not the ones she is meeting every morning) with caution while not being scared of bigger dogs; most of the time she is one of the smallest / lightest dogs in the off-leash area, but if it is too wild for her taste she outruns the bigger guys like German Shepards and Boxers etc. and takes a break. ...so far so good :) .

@ dragonwoman: sorry, misread it, no...I don't think I have the doormat look,...I will ask the one who needs to be obeyed to confirm :D @ MRB: the study is a separate building in the backyard, so I have to leave the house and have to walk a few meters to get there. I don't expect the doormat from the study room missing, but when she (the dog) shows me this look instead of jumping on me I know she did something that is 'NO!' for her. She is most of the time in the garden circling the compounds with the guinea pigs, but when she hears someone coming she always comes to greet. She might indeed feel 'caught' as I move between house and study frequently and it is not that I found out hours later that she had a go.

... I believe 'what's intimidating and what isn't' depends on 'personal taste' - someone who is scared of bigger dogs automatically tends to believe that others are also more scared of bigger dogs - bad luck if a potential offender is more scared of a breed that is smaller but has a 'not so good reputation'. There are a few smaller breeds (compared to a German Shepherd or a Doberman) that would make excellent guard / protection dogs while size alone without the right training doesn't make a good Schutzhund.

She has learnt from past experience that there is a consequence, watch carefully, she may show subtle similar signs whenever you walk in the door, you may just not be noticing, perhaps you have the doormat look whenever she has been left alone indoors? ...no, she only shows the door mat look when she played with it; she is normally very exited when she sees one of the family no matter whether she was by herself for 5 minutes or for an hour, but when she shows me this 'look' I know I have to look for the door mat somewhere in the garden.