Kelpie-i

Leg cocking is not an instinctual behaviour, but rather a learned behaviour. It is not something all male dogs do and they need to observe another dog doing it before they attempt it themselves. Some females leg cock as well to mark higher on the area, as do males. There are many males who never have, and never will, cock their legs.

Hi Haven Full payment is, of course, preferred but if you cannot afford the lot at the moment, then a deposit is accepted to at least secure your spot with balance payable by the due date. Registrations of interest received without deposit/full payment are booked on a tentative basis only and these places will be acquired by those who secure their booking with payment. Hope you are as well as can be at the moment .....I see you are due very soon!! Good luck with everything and hopefully we'll ge to meet bubs soon.

This sounds like attention seeking behaviour. Some dogs can be very 'needy' types which can result in stress if/when their 'needs' are not met. Reprimanding does not help with the problem as even this can be seen as reinforcement, believe it or not and only increases stress levels. A good leadership program will not go astray...try the NILIF program which is easily found on google. Good luck!

This could be either one of 2 things: 1. smells from the kennels (highly unlikley to bring on this behaviour) 2. Stress and compulsive behaviour (on the licking dog's part) Grooming each other is natural pack behaviour which is seen in some dog packs. I think the problem with your dog is not so much the grooming but more an OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) which has probably been worsened by stress from being in the kennels. You don't state what YOU do when you see this happen, but the worst you can do is talk to the dog (as most owners do) when you see it happen which only reinforces the behaviour. Best thing to do is distract the dogs to break the habit and get them involved in something else. It is best to catch him as he is THINKING of doing it and distract him. Of course, I give this advice based purely on the information you provide and it does not replace any advice given to you by a behaviourist who has or may consult with you on a private basis. The rest of the behaviours you mention are typical of multiple dog households.

***Bump*** There are still some places left for the Brenda Aloff seminar in Feb 08. If you haven't registered but wish to do so, please do this soon.

Hey Rhap, what do you mean??

Yes I would definitely be interested in joining an organisation such as this. Most of what I have read on their website is a common sense approach and is along the lines of what most trainers are thinking.

Paws4thought, do you see a pattern here? You keep taking the food bowl away. If someone did that to me, I would punch them one! Some dogs are more prone to resource guarding than others.....just like humans. Try putting down an empty bowl and keep dropping food into it (ie his daily meal ration) slowly. Keep replenishing and as your dog finishes the current morsel. Now your dog sees you as the person who "fills" the bowl, rather than the person who continuously "takes it away".

Monkeytrunks, I would be seeking the services of a qualified behavioural consultant asap. Advice given over the internet can be thwart with danger, especially when dealing with dog fights and aggression. Where are you located so that we may point you into the right direction? dak07, I would be extremely careful in giving this sort of information. "Dominance" is perceived within the situation, not the dog, although the 8 month old is suddenly discovering his hormones. This sounds more like resource guarding (not necessarily food) to me. Make sure your leadership skills are stepped up a few notches.

LM, what did you imagine she would look like?? Long nose, warts, brown stained teeth (with most missing) and a hump back :wink: Sorry Erny, I couldn't resist!!! Love you !!

Very well written Pippi. Corrections at this point are useless unless the behaviour is learned, which is the only time a correction may come into play. However, IMO, it is quite dangerous to assume that it is learned behaviour at this young age, therefore best to use techniques that will not create aversions and problems down the track. Dogs with reactivity issues are usually loaded and are not in a frame of mind TO learn anything. A calm state is when the learning process occurs so as Pippi stated, best to start slow and work at critical distance point and simply reward the calm behaviour. This teaches a new behaviour and one that the handler can call on when required. Each time this dog reacts, he is given the opportunity to reinforce his own actions and if you think this sort of behaviour cannot turn into aggression....think again!

KISS

We currently have a pup with similar issues...a gorgeous Scottish Terrier, that comes to school. We have given the owner lots of focus exercises to work with using a clicker. I find the clicker gives the person something to think about as opposed to just using a marker. They forget to watch the dog and forget to mark or mark at the wrong time, but as soon as you give them a clicker, it's like something sort of "clicks" (pardon the pun) and they watch their dog for slight changes in behaviour and work with it. Admittedly, this may take some practice initially, but it gives the owner a purpose and something to work with. The pup had never been out of the house until it was 4 months old (as per the vet's advice) and now he is extremely reactive to other dogs. The owner was in tears initially but is making some very good progress with both her timing and her dog's behaviour.

What a beautiful boy Kaos is!! Congrats Kavik.....don't stop now!!

We have become a society of drug-popping maniacs. So much so that we feel the need to prescribe drugs to all dogs who display behaviours that come quite naturally to them....sad I admit that there are certain situations where drugs can assist in the rehabilitation of a dog but these are not very common IMO. lilli, I totally agree with Tonymc's comments. Caveat Emptor!!

Set up a hot wire system around the fence. You can purchase a 12v fence unit, hot wire and small battery which should cost you under $200. Very effective and he'll only try to jump once! :D Go to Bunnings, they will have the equipment you need. You may need to go to Super Cheap Auto for the battery.

Hi Shmurps, welcome to DOL. Just a few queries regarding your post. Does this mean that she just goes into a full bark fest without giving a warning growl? This can mean any number of things, not necessarily friendly. This is a misconception. Maggie does not 'need' another friend, rather she will need training, exercise, guidance, leadership and a connection to YOU and coming from YOU. Another dog will be merely seen as company. It's not so much a case of never 'rewarding' bad behaviour, it's more a case of how you handle it when it shows as well as WHAT you are rewarding. Not sure what your previous trainer suggested, but you are best to seek the services of someone who has experience in dealing with dog aggression and follow a program of leadership, desensitisation, training and teaching of alternate behaviours. Where abouts are you Shmurps? We may be able to point you into the direction of someone who can help you. If you are in Melbourne (North West suburbs), please feel free to PM me.

No that would have probably been David who is Herding_Guy on this forum (albeit he doesn't have access to computer so only comes on every now and again). David runs herding clinics (one day'ers) accross the road from Kepala. Paul has never been to "this end" of the woods. Superminty, this couldn't possibly be done if you're doing the correct speed limit. I've followed you in a car and let's just say that I've had to put 'pedal to the metal' to keep up Not that I drive like an old.....well you know the saying!

Rhap, Welshpool is approx 3.5 hours from Melbourne down the South Gippy highway. You can stay at Welshpool or you can stay at the Toora Caravan Park which is about 5 mins from Welshpool. I absolutely, positively recommend you go and see Paul and do one of his workshops. He is the master when it comes to training a working dog and he's a very nice person too. Our female comes from Paul, Beloka Tasha. I'm sure she'll be happy to see Grandad one day soon. :cool:

Whoever told you this is telling you porkie pies. I too use a clicker for both of my kelpies and also my corgie x red heeler without a problem at all, in fact their eyes light up each time they see it.

Pupylv, can you advise who this person is and what kind of technique he uses? Is it correctional (ie. correction based to create avoidance in the dog) or is it more positive based (ie changes the dog's emotional status and teaches alternative behaviours). Have you used him before and if so, would you give us some details on this?

Cosmolo, no...I was just asking in general terms. I'm not sure I would use any "bomb proof" dog if this did go ahead. I would do it as Ian Dunbar did it, but probably on a much smaller scale. Thanks to those who are willing to volunteer their dogs. I'll discuss it further with a few others and see whether it would be a worthwhile exercise.

Is it the fear of the unknown??

Helen, it's not too dissimilar to the one on the clip, however he starts with the dogs on lead, walking around a circle formation. All dogs must have a very reliable recall and sit for his version of the program. After about 15 mins or so, the dogs come off the lead and the same occurs as per the clip, although from memory, if any of the dogs seemed uncomfortable, they were recalled to the owners immediately. There were probably around 7 dogs or so in total. It's on one of his videos "Aggression" or "Dog fights" or similar title. I'll have to dig it out and re-watch it. Erny this is for sure. Nothing ventured is nothing gained though.

Bosko, the aim of any work with a DA dog is to teach alternative behaviours to what the dog currently feels it needs to do. Each subsequent action any DA dog displays is learned by the dog himself ie. if he growls the threat goes away, therefore he keeps growling each time he sees a dog because this has worked so well for him in the past. It's been referred to as "distance increasing signals". Also, many of these behaviours are exasperated (sp?) by the owner being at the other end of the lead. This causes patterned situations to occur and to what some trainers call "lead aggression". Why this particular method intrigues me so much is that whilst you are inhibiting the dog's ability to bite (with the muzzle), you are placing the dog in a situation where you remove all the resources he has come to know and trust will work for him ie. dog lead, handler, being moved away, growling and in some cases, biting. Initially I think the dog will feel a little vulnerable and uncomfortable and may very well resort to the "old bag of tools" behaviours he currently knows, but I believe that a dog who is relatively stable nerved will develop new coping strategies quickly enough. Most of the dogs involved will commence to display displacement signals in an effort to calm and appease the other dogs... this is a natural occurrence in most dogs and is the essence of Pamela Dennison's teachings. Some will already know to do this, others won't and will learn it. Remember that dogs carry allelomimetic tendencies so they will start to copy what the others are doing. This, at the end of the day, is the final goal you wish to achieve. For the dogs to learn an alternative behaviour. The aim of this method is not to have your dog happily romping around with other dogs, but to teach the dog to teach himself new coping strategies and to also help build his confidence when around other dogs. I believe that most of the dogs will no longer feel they need to resort to aggression. It may not occur with just a single session..it may take a few sessions. If something like this was to go ahead, it would need to be well planned and prepared with emergency measures well in place. All dogs would need to be screened for the "type" of aggression and everyone will be very well briefed beforehand. It would be monitored by a number of trainers and documented. Erny, no, I most definitely would not pile all the dogs together like a minestrone soup and hope for the best. It would be done using the right type of dog and under the correct conditions. I'm still toying with this however, and am not in any position to do this anytime soon in case you're all wondering.