rdr71

thanks Insp rex, thanks for the advice

aus k9 it isnt actually her nose its the first bit of fur that comes after the nose stops heading towards the eyes. will look up the other Insp Rex thanks

Sasha is a 3 1/2 yr old golden retriever She has always had a black nose with what has looked like black skin and black hairs just after the nsoe that then turn into blond for the rest of her. anyway, just past the shiny nose part - what looks like pigment change has occurred - over the past few months there was a slight change adn then within the past 10 days or so it has gotten mroe and more and yesterday i looked at her and she has a spot the size of about 2/3 of a 5cent coin that is pink. should i be worried? is this something i should take her to the vet for?

great! thankyou guys!

Thankyou Benny123 - I will look them up.

as the title says, i was wondering if anyone could recommend a dog groomer for my golden retriever in the sutherland shire area? She is 3 and I havent had her groomed before, but thought she could do with some attention!!!

im in the sutherland shire area too, and have heard great things about Julian. I go to Como/sutherland vet clinics - Darren - he is great and since we have taken Sasha there since she was born I feel a loyalty to stay there plus I am happy with them. I have often thought of moving across to Julians just because of the things I have heard about the practice.

thanks for the advice dogdude - great help!

thanks dogdude - that all makes great sense. Thats what happened on the weekend at grading - one dog broke the sit stay and Sasha followed. Is the ultimate aim for the dog to be focused on ME during a stay - or just looking anywhere but awaiting my command?

thanks for all the replies - i need to sit down and have a think about what works best for me and Sasha. One question for dogdude - what do youmean in your last sentence - where you say if you dont keep adding new distractions each time you are just setting them up for failure?can u explain that a bit further? I have been doing sit stays when i feed her for a couple of months now - and have been extending that to drop stays since i posted this. It is hard for me to be consistent which will be my downfall but I just have to grab training opportunities wherever i can - admittedly it hasnt come to while i am on the loo yet!!! Thanks again i really appreciate having all this to think about! Ruth and Sasha

We are trying to grade out of our current grade at training, and keep failing the stability elements. Granted I do not have as much time as I would like or need to do this with Sasha (14mths goldie) as i have 2 little skin kids who need training more!!! BUT I am doing my best to practice stability with Sasha but what is the best thing to do when she gets up - do i start the process all over again - put her bum back down and repeat sit, stay - how do i get her to understand that she HAS to stay till i say so!? Thanks in advance Ruth and Sasha

thanks everyone. Some GREAT advice - thankyou so much. I have started making her sit before she comes in, i open the door and make her sit when she gets this side of the door, and then i make her settle. It hasnt gone too badly. She got it quite well. I can get her to stay lying down in a settle for about 8-10 seconds at this stage. And try and extend it all the time. I had a LONG chat with OH and yes i did get him to read this post. HE didnt like the way he was portrayed but I tihnk it was a heads up for him a bit. He is trying a little more with Sasha to be consistent. I am making her sit before nearly everything. I am giving her heaps of praise when she is in the house lying down or sitting quietly. She does seem to be a bit more controlled if I keep a heavy eye on her. I am playing more with her outside on my own - i wil leave the kids watching tv and spend 10 mins with her kicking a ball or something. Just so there is fun interaction for us too. And when i walk her - there is a small reserve where i say "playtime" and let her run (leash on) - but the rest of the walk is certianly heel, stay, sit practice. We went back to obedience (yes we still go, someone asked me that) today - havent been for about 3 weeks and she was great. I thnk she is clever but yes I tihnk we are not doing a good enough job on her. Peachie - this probably will be a dumb question - but when u say kong do u mean kong with food in it? She isnt really a chewy dog - unless it is our socks or something contraband! I also really liked the triangle of temptation from k9 - and will incororate that too. sorry - what al;ong post! i just wanted to say how much i appreciate all the advice and i am taking it well on board Cheers

Tigerjack thankyou so much for that lengthy and informative post about the down stay - that is exactly what i needed to hear. I will definitely try that. Is it a case of doing that EVERY time we let her in? and yes i know it is an uphill battle with my OH and training the dog. he has never had a dog before so he is like a kid with it - just wants to hang out with it, let it lick him all over, playbite, doesnt want to be "mean" etc.....i am constantly reminding him that we are looking at a lot more frustration down the track if he doesnt do it properly now. But he wants to take a big role with the dog because it has been his dream. So its a tricky one thats for sure! Thankyou to you guys who responded - this has been GREAT help Ruth

ok well thanks for the reality check on the stay thing Jen.....but can anyone just clue me in on the way to start the whole down stay thing for when Sashie is ready? i dont even know the best way to go about it. What to do when she gets up etc. What sort of tone to use....yknow all that sort of stuff. I find that very little really grabs her attention chew wise. Also we have a small problem with her getting diahrea when she has something different/more commercial. Does anyone know of any real winners when it comes to chewie things? She like pigs ears...but Im not sure how often she can get them at her age. We do have clints, will take a look next time i am near. I am trying to make her work for everything - she has to sit when i put her food down, she has to sit outside before i let her come in and i am trying to get her to sit at least when she first comes inbut not much success with that one , but then im not being consistent. Speaking of which - my OH doesnt make her sit everytime he feeds her and lets her in without getting her to sit. So the poor dog is getting mixed messages all the time. I just cant seem to get my OH to take these little things seriously. He doesnt get that she will be an out of control adult dog if we dont get it right NOW. (kind of like kids really...) Anyway am going to realy try and do some training with her every day. And Oh took her for a walk this morning. See, we do a 4km walk on alternate mornings snd that is too far for Sasha so we just ahve to try and squeeze in her walk as well somehow ...we talked about it this morning and will try and do it. She is compltely zonked out on her bed outside at the moment - so it certainly tired her out!!! Ruth

its interesting what u say about being above her in the pack. that is totally spot on. i tihnk she thinks she is the boss. i am having enough issues with my nearly 5 yr old that challenge me daily - so having Sasha jumping on the bandwagon is really pushing my limits. How do i even approach a 15 min down stay? and with the crate, what do i do when she barks in there - which let me tell u she will do for sure. thanks guys i am really really appreciating these responses because i am feeling really worried about this Ruth

well, not sure if i understand the context of crating in the question to be honest. She was crate trained for toilet training, and has a crate that she sleeps in at night (we have to bribe her in there with food every night)... how can i incorporate the crate into solving my problems? thanks

Ok, Sasha has just turned 9 mths. I took her to puppy school for 4 weeks at 11 weeks. Then at about 17 weeks i started obedience with her once a week. She heels with a check chain collar, she sits 98% of the time, she doesnt jump much any more, her biting (puppy play) is really only with my OH who just keeps roughplaying with her. I am home a fair bit, have 2 small kids (nearly 5 and just turned 2). I rarely find the time to practice training with her in the week **big no no I know**. We play outside most days at some stage , and she is usually in for a couple of hours all up in the day and most evenings. I cant handle her inside more than that bdecause with ther 2 kids it is like a 3 ring circus. I know that probably seems harsh but I just cant do it. I have a few things going on personally and i need to reduce my stress as much as possible. She gets a walk most days - every 2nd day at worst. I am posting because this dog is driving me insane: She barks at EVERY noise she hears in the garden. Boredom? I dont know. I cant really give her more time than I am right now. Maybe when my bigger kid goes to school next yr it will be better but thats a long way away for Sasha. WHen she is inside we cannot get her to stay sitting where we want her to. We want to get her used to being in the family room with us while we have dinner since when its winter it will probably happen more often. But she wont stay. I end up yelling at her which I hate. It doesnt help and exhuasts me. I dont know what to do.,i dont know how to make this work better. I knwo I need to spend more time with her but i just cant. I mean i probably can but it will be hard. I dont know the best way to teach her to stay in one spot inside - making that her spot. And it becomes a vicous cycle because i will bring her in - she causes havoc, i send her ou t and she goes off and barks....so i want to bring her in to get some peace!!! HELP!!!! i need good advice!!!!!!!!!! Ruth

Beautiful words for a beautiful dog. I am so sorry - Jenna was a one of a kind Ruth

i am so sorry for the heartache you are going through Ruth

If it was up to my husband I would imagine Sasha would be EATING at the table with us!! but no, I tihnk i have managed to ensure the Sasha is NEVER fed from the table. Unlike my other half I had a dog all through my childhood so I knew I didnt want that to start happening. With the water spray, Sashie loves water, so that might be one reason it might not work, but the other one is that I find it hard to spray the water right as she jumps because i am usually doing something else in the room! THats just a logistical problem i need to work out, but I am keen to perservere because I really want her to stop this! I try and keep the counters clean but I guess I could try harder. Thanks, this post has been really helpful Ruth

yeh...good point that I hadnt thought of. She learnt VERY quickly that the best place to go under the dining table was my 4 yr old's seat!!!!

no, I knew you werent being pointed in your comment - but it mustve taken you a while to find the topic/post - so appreciate it! Truly though, I can spend hours on DOL just on the search function!!! Will let you know how i go. must say not too hopeful...but hey...have to try! RUth

THat makes sense too Sidoney. good idea

Erny thank you so much for hunting that down. I do mostly use the search function - it is so useful and saves me posting about the same old topics....but on occasions I forget about it ETA: hadnt finished yet!!! Will look at those posts. Sasha does it when whether we are there or not. Doesnt seem to bother her if we are watching her. Still does it. RUth

oh goody! love seeing Chelsea pics!!! Will have to see what i can do about posting a new one of Sasha..keep an eye out over the next couple of days!! Ruth