Staranais

Scenario 1: If you were fairly confident she'd stay in the drop till you released her, couldn't you shoo off the cat yourself, then release her? Just an idea. Scenario 2: I'm also wondering why you thought this was prey drive. I don't know much about drives, but unless the she was seeing the other dog as a prey object, I wouldn't have said that was prey drive.

Good post, Erny :D Lyssa, how are you doing?

It'll be more fun! Your dog will be welcome at your friend's houses and parties, since he will have a reputation for being well behaved. You'll be able to let him off leash in more places, since you know he will come back when asked and won't have to worry about him running off and getting hurt. You could even take him to agility, or flyball, or something. That's all got to add up to more fun for you, and for him. I'd second Poodlefan's advice to get a professional dog trainer in, just to get you started off. If you tell us your location, I'm sure someone on the board can point you in the direction of a really good trainer.

That does sound like a horrible experience - hope your daughter (and dogs!) are OK now.

I guess all dogs are different then. I just think it's amusing that my boy's a poster boy for ultra-cheapie supermarket food. :D

Lol, I have the opposite problem, both of the local schools here are very (VERY) positive, some of the instructors even refer to themselves are PURELY postitive. I like motivational training too, but I also see nothing wrong with using aversives to proof and correct a dog, as long as the dog fully understands what he's meant to be doing and the corrections are appropriate to a dog's temperament. If my dog's being a little bugger I will tell him so in no uncertain terms - which has got me some dirty looks at the club we attend. I could never teach at that club, I'd feel like I was lying to people. :D

I'm going to have to be the lone voice of dissent here... When I first adopted my dog, he used to have terrible flatulence. Really killer farts, at least several times an evening. We tried feeding lots of different foods (supermarket kibble like Tux, vet clinic kibble like Eukanuba, wet food, dog roll, 95% BARF, etc etc). Nothing helped. What stopped the flatulence? One particular supermarket brand. According to the label, it's pretty much full of non-meat crap and byproduct. So now he's on 50% BARF (for his health), 50% cheap kibble (for his bowels). Go figure... If anyone thinks they can explain this, they're welcome to go ahead!

'Down' is a very submissive position for a dog to be in. While he's down, he can't communicate with other dogs properly, he can't fight, and he can't run away. So it's asking quite a lot to make a dog assume a down position while there are strange dogs close by. If your dog is jumping up when another dog gets close, take that as a sign that you're pushing him too fast, and he's not yet comfortable being in an extended down that close to strange dogs. Ask for either shorter downs, or downs further away from the strange dogs. You want him to regard 'down' as a safe place, not have him feel uncomfortable and vulnerable there. Just my 2 cents.

Probably best to check the rules of your own discipline and country before you start teaching your dog, then - I know in NZ left side heeling is required for NZKC obedience trials and tests. Oz might be different, though.

Sorry, of course you all do. Whatever was I thinking?

I've been told (don't know if this is true) the tradition started because hunters hold a gun with their right hand, and fire it on their right shoulder. Therefore their dogs were taught to walk on the left, cos it's safer and quieter on that side. When competition obedience started, they just adopted this convention. My dog heels on the left, because we only heel for competition type events, which require the dog on the left. When we just go for a regular walk he tends to walk on the left too, but I don't enforce that.

Really? That seems a bit silly to me. Do people actually follow the law, or do cunning owners conceal them under bandanas and such like?

Lol, a "furbaby" is an affectionate name for a canine or feline family member. As opposed to your human "skinkids" or "skinbabies".

My staffie's the same - he will bark maybe max once or twice a day. Maybe not the best breed for a first time dog owner, though. That's a good idea to get an adult rescue - you can pick one who does not already have a barking problem, and if you keep him stimulated enough he probably won't develop one.

I'd personally prefer a pinch collar over either a choke or a halti, should you end up needing to use a training collar at all. I feel a pinch is safer for the dog than a choke, and kinder on most dogs than a halti. But each to their own - I'd recommend you try out all 3 type of device under supervision of a qualified trainer before you decide which you (and your dog) prefer. There are also several types of anti-pull harnesses available that you could investigate. Like the halti, these don't actually discourage the dog from pulling, but do apparently stop him pulling while he has the harness on. Like Erny says, you'll need to have a think about your training goals before you slap a training collar or harness on your dog, so that you can pick the appropriate one for what you're aiming to do.

IMO if you teach her to walk on a loose lead from a young age, she probably shouldn't ever need one. (Apart from that I can't help. The dogs I've worked with have all been way older than yours.)

I have never heard of a dog biting in his sleep before - now I'm glad mine just barks in his sleep! Terrorbull, hope you're doing OK there, and hope Kaos is OK - it sounds stressful. :D

Some experienced BARFers might disagree with me... but I reckon there's nothing wrong with starting off by feeding a semi-BARF diet. My boy has BARF breakfasts and kibble dinners. Best of both worlds for us - healthy and convenient. Perhaps you could try that, if the whole BARF thing seems too overwhelming? :rolleyes:

Don't forget fish, eggs and yoghurt too. :rolleyes:

Woohoo for the good bully publicity!

Congratulations to Atlas - what a great breed ambassador for bullies.

This is a topic I've been thinking about a bit lately. Many new dog owners expect to just be able to take their dogs down to the dog park and have them happily meet and greet every other dogs. I used to think that way myself, till I adopted my current dog! Dogs are descended from wolves, and much of their instincts and behaviour remains similar to wolf behaviour. Wolves are pack animals, and to my best knowledge an adult wolf will generally not be immediately friendly towards wolves it meets that are from another pack. Therefore, unless you own a dog from a breed that has undergone selection for dog friendliness (e.g pack hounds), I don't think that it should be regarded as unusual for an adult dog to dislike meeting strange dogs. Like I say, just my 2 cents - comments welcome.

OMG Haven, that's would be hilarious if it wasn't so sad.

Lol.... my boy started at 6 years old, since that's when I adopted him. He was a mature student. He was one of the best in the class when we graduated, though!

Wow, a dog chiro - I've never heard of one before! Where do they tend to advertise - or can your vet normally refer you to one?