NaturallyWild

K9Kompany I help out there occasionally. Have heard Croydon good as well. I suggest you go along to any place your interested in an have a look at one or two sessions to see if the style of training and setup of environment suits you.

Some dogs are very big on Feng Shui.......i've seen some that desperately believe that a couch or their own bedding should not be where it is and ends up in pieces all over the house - a much more balanced result with chi flowing freely everywhere.

The only ones that i've seen in action are ones by silver eagle (http://www.silvereagleoutfitters.com.au/k9_cooling_vest.htm). They were used on a group of GSD's with various coat lengths, but they lasted for several hours with each soaking and this was on a 30oC day. Something i'm looking at getting with summer coming up soon. ps. to get the to wear them without chewing is to do it in lots of little spurts, with lots of treats if they leave them alone. Some dogs don't even bother worrying about coats and this process isn't needed - it tends to be stuff around the face that causes more fuss.

My basic feeding regime is the "whole animal" model - ie rmb's and organs. I do believe that there can be nutrients that are missing or low in many of the animals we farm for food due to those nutrients lacking in our Aussie soils as well as limited feed types given to that livestock. Because of this i think it is wise to occasionally add other nutrients as either blended veggies or mineral/vitamin powder (kelp, yeast, lecthin etc). If there are times of stress or illness then these are definitely added. I also regularly add fish oils when fish is not a part of the diet, garlic, vitC and some other various herbs (for worming and parasite protection). Although i think that these are not necessary for a dog that is eating raw whole animals (as they are less appealing to the pests), i do add them as a saftey net just incase they become run down from any stress and it won't do them any harm. I started feeding like this when my puppy at the time had salmonella and the constant "squirts". The vets gave various medicines and their prescription diets without any help. The moment i made the complete change to raw/barf he came good. I originally used to use minced meat and mix with oats, veggies and mineral/vitamin mix, but it was too much work and with further knowledge realised the whole animal was all that was really needed. I occasionally do a mix like this to store in the freezer as an emergency but rarely now. Oh - i also give some left over scraps of "human" meals.

K9 - you don't have proof of a lot of what you say - where's your scientific reports showing that physiologically there are no effects going on within the body - your proof is your word of observation and scientific testing that has been poorly done and not explored this side of things in enough depth. Like i said there needs to more research done in this field - something "i think" you don't believe is necessary. The fact that you need to make comment on my experience and try to belittle me by infering that i have imagined my response is a weak effort at trying to defend your precious tool...................................some people just get so pedantic. I'm not sure why you feel the need to get so defensive by trying to attack every point of thought that i make. I am hear just offerring points for people to think about.

K9: does it mean then for sure that it can cause these effects, or is it a theory? There is no getting away from the fact that actually using this tool for many hundreds of hours with zero negative effects is going to outrank a theory in my opinion. I always seem to find those who have ideas and theories about what could go wrong, to have have never or rarely used an e collar, as Lou said, most have never even seen one.. Just because a tool comes with a video doesn't mean that it will mean the owner will be capable of using it - i have seen plenty of people that have been instructed on the correct use of c/chains, halters etc to leave and return to their old bad ways. The post i put in repeatedly said they are points i have been thinking about and something that others should also think about. I know for a fact that these effects can occur, as they have occured on me - a single stim, lowest detectable level on my arm left it feeling mildly sore in the whole muscle that was contacted for a good 30min or so. You say that there have been zero negative effects with you many hundreds of hours - these are negative effects that you are aware of; you do not know what is going on within the whole body of the animal (mentally and physically); all you know is that the desired behaviour has changed successfully without any observable responses that appear to be "negative". I'm not saying that there definitely has been negative effects with your cases, just that you don't know. In my eyes there are negatives in all aspects of different styles of training (positive and negative), it is a case of your damned if you do, damned if you don't. There are also positives to the same styles. If we are having a discussion here then i believe all aspects can and should be explored. Once again, i will say i just believe that there is more than meets the eye and far more research should be conducted before hailing it as the best tool out there. They "can" be used as a highly effective tool but not necessarily the best, and definitely could be avoided with more skillful training through positive focus.

I'd like to throw around a few possibilities into this debate. While my preference of training is to utilise positive motivational methods, i do not deny that there could be the need for corrections in specific situations. I do believe though that if you setup your training correctly there would be no need for these. I preface the below stuff by saying i am not necessarily against e-collars but very cautious of their use. The difficult thing with utilising an e-collar is that there are basically 2 fields of trainers that use this tool. As a high level correction tool, or as a low level avoidance tool. The trouble with joe-public using an e-collar is that they probably don't have the skill or self control to know the best level to use when in a "situation" with thier dog. We all know of the abuse that can be given with check chains, prong collars and halters - because the person is untrained, unskilled and emotional about the situation - it is therefore laughable to say that the similar abuse could not occur with an e-collar. Just because someone has forked out a lot of money for one does not mean that they can think clearly in a pressure situation. The big issue i have been pondering recently is about the "damage" that could occur from an e-collar (both physically and emotionally). Obviously there is the potential for emotional damage through poor timing, to high stimulation, etc but people here seem to deny the fact that and e-collar can cause physical damage and there are also comparisons made to tens machines. Tens machines can cause damage - ever try turning one up high on your self, serious damage can occur to muscle fibres. Their effect is not always just local - if in the right position the signals can transmit through nerves to different areas of the body. I don't think people realise the potential for effect that could be cause even if it is just a localised stimulation. Who here has had acupuncture/acupressure done to them - the simple stimulation of a specific point can have huge effects on the rest of the body (muscles, organs, immune system, etc) - stimulating the wrong points can also have a negative effect, otherwise there would be any cause for concern if who was treating you wasn't qualified. Also like many people here have mentioned there are a lot of nerves around the dogs neck that can have effects on the rest of the body, just because its not a halti applying pressure causing a problem doesn't mean that a consitent pressure and stimulation from an e-collar cannot cause the same problems. Food for thought everyone.

There are even more "extremes" that are being currently investigated - more so in relation to human vaccinations, but the same applies to any other animals being vaccination. This is that vaccinating at all is causing more problems than it solves at the moment. The biggest issue being looked at currently is that the mercury that is used to preserve the vaccinations are causing developmental problems, in particular autism in humans (see website: http://autismmedia.org/media2.html). There is also other research that has looked at the comparison of vaccinations vs homeopathic vaccinations over 20yrs - very interesting stuff done by a Dr Isaac Golden over 20yrs (i'm still looking at this at the moment, but the basics were that no vaccinations were best if possible (resulted in less allergies, illness, etc) but did suggest limited vaccination depending on likelyhood of being exposed to diseases in combination with a homeopathic program to help with adverse effects from vaccinations). The thing with the 3yrs protocol is that is the vets "safe" time limit that they have come up with, but vaccinations are well known to last many years exceeding this depending on the type of disease it is dealing with (how often do we get vaccinated for the same disease? eg 10yrs tetinus). My personal thoughts (at the moment - and i know they will probably change somewhat with more knowledge and research) are that vaccination are partly dependant on the risks of the disease depending on where you live and the conditions that are being exposed to (ie kennels on a regular basis) and if the circumstances require vaccination then it would occur in the first 6month period of life and then preferably never again - the focus is more on providing the most healthy diet and lifestyle so that the body can fight off any diseases itself. Both vaccinations and titre tests (to check antibody levels) are not a 100% guarantee that a specific disease will not effect you or your dog, but i feel that there is a guarantee that there will be some negative effects from vaccinations that can be just as bad or worse than the disease itself. Overall its a balance that needs to be addressed depending on the risks.

Have you thought about having a vet check up, there can sometimes be medical related problems. Otherwise i would maybe look at doing a lot of short trips and rewarding the heck out of him when he wees after getting out of the car (whether you ask for it or not). Remember 14 weeks is still extremely young and can still developing bladder strength and control.

Found an online paper in regards to this - can't remember if this was it or whether there was more recent research done. http://www.mne.psu.edu/psgdl/cainebkchapter..pdf

Yes thats what i remember it being like. I think someone did this research about 2 or so years ago. Will have to have a look if i have a spare minute. I'm assuming that this would increase scenting ability because the air being expired would be directed away from the air being inspired directly in front of the nose.

As well as all that, i read or heard somewhere that someone did some airflow (windtunnel like) tests on the dogs nose. Apparently the shape of the nose allows air to move in and out through different parts. They don't "breath" as such when they are scenting, the air moves in through the front main holes then out through the side slits.

The TTouch and TTEAM (horse variation) techniques activate brainwave patterns that awaken the brain (all levels of brainwave activity at once) which allows increases focus and develop emotional and muscular balance through improved mind-body integration. The creator has done EEG testing on horses using an EEG tool and the assessment suggests whole brain activation with beta, alpha, theta and delta waves being active (ie accessing the conscious and subconscious at once). The really interesting thing is that these brainwaves tend to be mirrored from the healer giving the touch (more so when they have experience and intention). This effect seems to be very specific to the particular movements that ttouch uses. I was going to do a week long course when i was over in the USA, but the cancelled it at the last minute. I've been waiting for when a workshop is to be held in Aus.

Bowen works with bodies soft tissues using very gentle specific movements to help reset and rebalance the body (including the skeletal system). Chiro works with the skeletal system and tends to need a little more force/speed for the moves and can provide relief to the muscles as well. Sometimes there are things that need to be dealt with chiro to fix, but i personally find that bowen helps with a lot more situations and more deeply.

They hated me touching them didn't they ;) - have learnt another technique recently and will be doing another in a month or 2 so will have to have a practise of the new stuff soon.

It was a canine anatomy and physiology book i am after - not something to many people are interested in.

Oh Oh Oh - i'd love to jump in the mix with this - one i've been definitely been looking at getting at some point. Could i grab it after Lablover?? I have audio cds from various APDT conferences in the USA that i could possibly send or email if the files aren't too big (i'm sure your interested in these as well Lablover - there was one i was going to get you to listen too anyway - need my books back at some point too ). Possibly after a book from dogwise as well - will email shortly if not too late.................never mind found it cheaper elsewhere.

Sounds like what your doing is good - remember she is just a puppy and doesn't know what is expected of her - being consistant with what you expect, rewarding as much as you can when she does the things/behaviours you want her to do (even when its something you may not have asked for) and guiding her away from the behaviours you don't want. You become the pack leader when you are able to provide all of the things that she wants/needs (on your terms though) - its not so much about the discipline.

Sessions should be short - about 3min - you can then reasses where you are at for that session, figure out what the next session will be, play a couple of games, then start another session again. Remember to stick to the criteria you have for one seesion - don't up the anti during the session. Change in criteria for the following session occurs when you have at least 80% success rate. Doesn't matter whether you kneel or stand - it obviously depends on what you are trying to teach and how (ie free shaping, targeting/luring). Ideally you want to progress yourself not having to be kneeling (unless that is an actual part of what you are teaching) so you body position become a requirement to your dog. You get her to be able to listen all the time and get a solid recall by becoming one of the best things in the world for her to interact with - this comes with repetition of great things happening from you - a good trainer should be able to show you much of this. Your on the right track though. The socialisation classes should not be a free for all play session, but they do need them to learn how to interact without going over board - use it as a training envirionment with lots of distractions to work through (ie click and treat whenever you ask for attention but also when they choose to look at you on their own).

Tongue licking is most commonly attributed to "calming signals" (ie the work done by Turid Rugaas) but the issue is that many of the behaviours change depending on other body characteristics (eg wagging tail doesn't always mean happy). Could mean different things but what is already mentioned probably covered the most likely - eg pack acknowledgement or an associated response/anticipation for a reward (eg thinking about a nice frothy beer has me licking my lips ).

I would be worried too when there have been many occasions where he has been bitten - but you don't see this in the final product (or at least limited viewing). There are a lot of legal cases against him to due to animal abuse, etc. Always wary of peoples claims of being a fantastic trainer when all you see is the edited product - i've seen too many that are very different to what is shown on a show or video.

For many of the same reasons humans will get a massage. There are many physiological and psychological benefits that can be achieved from massage. Many people will have it done for different reasons - below is a short list of why some people have had it done. To spoil their dog - "feel good" Pre &/or post surgery (eg from knee reconstruction) Muscle tightness/soreness eg limping. Sporting dogs to improve and maintain flexibility and balance Behavioural problems eg fear/aggression Help with old injuries eg scar tissue thats causing movement issues. General health and fitness.

Have pm you

Most of them can be found on amazon at very good prices. Of the top of my head one by "Goody" (surname) is good but there are many others, just do a google search. kimjm,do you mind me asking if the course you had the bad experience with was a dog related course and who it was through. I'm thinking of starting up another dog wash business(i've just sold one as we moved)and was thinking of offering massaging as an extra service but finding it difficult to find canine massage courses locally I got done over by the same course and fortunately it is no longer available. I have done the NCTM course (not the intensive one though - but assume the same just over longer time) and found it quite good (particularly the instuctor - she was a wealth of knowledge). It is only a basic start, but gives a good foundation of skills for you to use. You get a canine anatomy book with this course if you do it ("Dog Anatomy - A coloring atlas"). If you do the NCTM course you would get the most out of it if you already know where all the muscles are (ie studying an anatomy book first).

I would be a little cautious of a correspondence course for a hands on therapy. My thoughts would be that it would be better to spend that money on more quality books than spending the fees that would probably cover largely admin costs. I think you would always learn more (i know i did) with a hands on course as you can actively try things out and get direct feedback from who is teaching you. It really does take a lot of hands on experience to develop your hands and their "feel". I think the same way about correspondance courses for dog training - there is so much that you miss unless you actually see it, then try it. My problem is that since i have started there are too many different courses, workshops, techniques that i now want to learn - don't think i will ever stop. Have heard many people suggest the previous mentioned book by Jean-Pierre as being a good book. If you are really interested in learning (whether a hands on course, correspondance or just books) you would be best getting a detailed canine anatomy book along with any others that cover the massage part.