Prydenjoy

I agree, never seen a satin ball recipe I liked, so never used them. Sometimes dogs are just leaner than other times, it can be healthy for a dog to be quite lean anyway. It's interesting that you use turkey mince, I thought it was fairly lean? Wouldn't lamb mince be better? Pancratitis is caused by too much fat in the diet, it is more common in some breeds than others.

The Armidale show is on the first weekend in Feb and I'd like to show my new pup (it is impossible for me to travel at the moment so I only get 2 opportunities a year to show!). She'll be 15 weeks old then and I can organise her final vaccinations to be 10 days prior if necessary. Is there a minimum age that you can show dogs? Also, where do I get the entry forms from? It has been that long since I've shown I consider myself a newbie again, I never was much good at it anyway! So any tips?

Not sure, I assume not but I'd suggest just give it a go, it only costs a couple of dollars, just feed a bit in some mince for a few days as well as his usual food and if he gets the squits just leave it out when you make up the satin balls. Simple :D

I've always used a slicker brush on my Paps but read on a website the other day that they ruin their fur and you should use a pin and bristle brush instead. Does anyone else have a Papillon or breed with similar coat type, and what do you use? I find the pin brush catches a lot of knots but isn't as effective as the slicker brush at removing them. Is the bristle supposed to make their fur glossy or something? I always thought of it as something you just used on short coated breeds, or when teaching children how to brush their pet (we used to brush our rabbits and cats with bristle brushes when we were younger). Does it actually do any good on a long coat?

I love this dog, you can see where it just "gets it"

Thanks again K9. He doesn't get that worked up over food, but has a lot of drive for toys, could I try the same exercises revving him up with a tug game and then throwing the toy and getting to focus on me then??

What luvsdogs said

Thanks K9 So I tie him up, leave him waiting while I prepare his food, then put his bowl out and stand next to him and he sits and looks up at me (his default behavior at the food bowl). He's as patient as he has to be - But the reason I thought this tie out exercise would be so good for him is that he usually barks and whines when he is tied out at training etc, so I thought if he learns patience on lead it would help him deal with it at training. Well, he hasn't "learned patience" because when I snap him on the lead now he just sits there and waits patiently and quietly! He's such a quick learner, after the first session and he realised it meant he was going to get fed, he just acted like he'd been doing it for ages. Where do I go from here to generalise lead patience to other places? Dog training doesn't start back up until February, should I practice in other places in the meantime?

Tiggy, would you recommend that book? I'm always on the look out for good books. I usually add a verbal cue to shaped behaviors, but with lured behaviors the lure is often part of the cue, which means of course you will be teaching the visual cue along with the verbal. Pat Miller suggests saying the word slightly before showing the visual cue if you want them to learn to recognise the word alone. Berri caught onto this very quickly. I often think how confusing stand must be for a dog, beginning with the same sound as their most often requested behavior - sit. I often wonder whether I should just say "tand" or make up a different word altogether, does anyone else do this?

I thought so - I have been wondering whether it is best to use just a voice command, just a hand command, or both? Berri will do it to whichever, but I'm not sure which I should be doing for obedience, is one way preferable in trials?

Just another thought... Berri actually learnt to walk backwards when I was trying to shape the 2 on 2 off on a mat, I had been unsuccesful trying to lure him into walking backwards but when I tried shaping the 2 on 2 off he just started walking backwards (so I gave up on the 2O2O for now!). I think that is why he walks in such a crooked line, his back feet are doing what they were when they were searching for a mat. However, as your dogs will walk back in a straight line, perhaps you could train them to walk back until they reach a mat, then you can just put the mat further and further back until they are doing really far walks backwards, and then fade the mat. Just an idea, not sure how well it would work! Oh and then you could possibly (if you want) stop giving the continued cue, just get them to keep walking backwards until you give them a cue to stop (this would be the mat, until you begin fading it and replace it with a different cue). Good luck

Any in Armidale?? Nah didn't think so I would so love to go to a seminar, guess I'll just have to settle for buying the CD's afterwards

Why would we fast forward that gorgeous dog?? OMG that is the most adorable Rotty I've ever seen! So enthusiastic, and such great eye contact. I have to wonder, what is your drop command? I couldn't see any hand signals. Well done

I bring the clicker with me every time, but rarely use it. I generally use "yes" while at training, but if we have been working on a specific behaviour I'll bring out the clicker, eg we were practicing eye contact on right turns (as he was lagging), so I used to clicker at training when we were doing heel work. I'm the only one with a clicker, everyone else uses check chains, so I kind of do my own thing...

I like that she uses the kitten in her list of reinforcers, I sometimes use a kitten to reinforce Berri :D There's so much good, free info on the net, isn't there?

That pretty much sums up my life!! I'm always sharing things that I think are fascinating and oh so very important with people, they very very rarely ever listen. I guess most people are just set in their ways and not open to new things that could make their lives easier.... Ah well, like you said - their loss!

I've just started this one with Berri, he kind of zig zags all over the place across the room, we haven't perfected a straight line yet! Have you added a cue? I guess if they have a cue you could give them a little reminder when they are just about to reach their maximum distance to keep them going. Or, count their steps, do the variable reinforcement on the higher end of the number of steps you think they will take, and then just work it up one step at a time, if you work slowley enough they should catch on sooner or later. My biggest shaping problem is that I like to hurry things along to quickly, but patience is a virtue!

Thanks Huski. I guess I should be making the most of work being quiet at the moment and getting him started while Meika is napping (the rule about other members of the house eating first is something I could never stick to as I graze all day!). I just had "How To Be The Leader of the Pack" by Patricia McConnell arrive in the post not long ago, I found it very basic and all things I was doing anyway. I'd love to see this program in a little booklet, I know I could just print it out but it would be great if there was a book I could add to my "collection".

Same here woofenpup. I started practicing heeling without Berri tonight, and had the same problems I have when I heel with him!! On the left about I always over turn and almost trip over my own feet (not the mention the 3kg dog walking next to them!).

What if you can't do it every day? I usually get Berri to sit and wait at his bowl until he is released, sometimes I'll do some quick heel work and give him his bowl for a jackpot, but usually I'm out and back inside within about 30 seconds before my baby comes to follow me outside. I can probably do it in her nap some days, but as I work 4 days a week I'm not able to spare the time on those days. Will I get progress if I mix it up with what I have been doing so far? I also get him to wait before getting in the car etc, but nothing as structured as your program. Is there a way to incorporate my 17 month old baby into it so that he has more respect for her as well? He's very appeasing to me in general, but I'd like him to see her as more of an authority figure - It's hard, where I'm asking for sits for food, toys whatever, she's just handing them straight to him! Of course I supervise them etc but it would be nice to know whether there is a way to get a dog to see a child that is handing over every resource for nothing as someone to be respected.

Another thing I sometimes advise people is to start training it on a bed or somewhere really comfortable, then try increasingly more uncomfortable surfaces once the dog understands what the word actually means

That's what Berri does, he doesn't want to sit and do it either, he stands up and leans into it rather than just turning his head. I think the treats were too high quality though, I was using sausage and he was too excited to think lol

I captured drop with Montie - I just sat there and waited for him to lie down and clicked and treated. He has the fastest, most enthusiastic drop I've ever seen

If you have fridge troubles you could get one of those baby locks? They don't cost much.

I was wondering what dog behavioral/obedience course I should take if I'm going to take one (been considering it for a while). Is Delta the be all and end all or are there other good ones? What are the pros and cons of each? Also can anyone suggest some books? I'm busy at the moment reading Pat Millers Positive Perspectives 2, then I've got Kay Laurence's Learning Games, Turid Rugaas' Calming Signals, another text book style book on dog language, and Pat McConnell's Other End of the Leash and Jean Donaldsons The Culture Clash. I've read Don't Shoot The Dog and the introductory Clicker book by Karen Pryor, Family Dog Training by Patricia McConnell, and Click for Joy (can't remember the authors name).