Mornir

OH MY GOD! Thank god I have desexed boys is all I have to say. Ricky dominance and air humps, and that is enough! He began his air humping "Mr Bean dance" at around 16 weeks old when he met his first girl dog! Maria's cat is the funniest so far! I was in hysterics over that! ETA: Ricky was desexed at 6weeks old!

Oh my gosh! I am so sorry that I did not see this earlier! I am sorry to hear the news Rajacadoo. I am crying after having read the things that the kids have written! Bless them. I am so sorry for your loss, I hope the hurt is staring to ease a little. Sorry I don't really know what else to say, I'm not always good with words in these situatiosn. I hope you understand what I am trying to say. Hugs to you and the family. I hope to see you around soon.

I taught James not to coffee table surf when he was just 9 weeks old. I taught him to sit and then scattered a little kibble on the coffee table toward the centre so he couldn't quite reach it. I asked for a sit and then rewarded him with a piece. I did this repeatedly over a few days until I had the entire coffee table covered in kibble and he did not even try to take it, he just planted his butt and looked at me. That trick that I taught him in one week when he was a pup has definitely had lasting effects, he ALWAYS plants his butt at food time and he has not coffee table surfed again, nor has he ever counter surfed. Hope that helps a bit Alternatively, I have heard of people putting a sheet of cardboard on the counter so that it overhangs a bit, then when dog put his front paws on it it is unstable and bends a bit, giving him a bit of a spook. I haven't tried this and am not sure how effective it is. Good luck.

My James is a destroyer too. Such a shocker! We think he is rotty cross, about 11 months old. He's a naughty boy. He also is at his peak at about 5am. I take him for a walk and a play in the park each night now (now that the sun is out longer! WooHoo!) and that seems to tire him out and keep him in bed a little longer in the morning. Then as soon as I get up in the morning he has a morning trot on the treadmill, that sorts some of his energy out! LOL

Rosi, dogs should only EVER eat raw bones. Cooked bones can kill her.

Yep, I have heard grapes too. And obviously sultanas!

oh phew! I was just about to ask if Oranges are ok. James just pinched one out of my handbag and he and Ricky are fighting over it! James will happily hold it in his mouth, but Ricky's mouth is smaller, so everytime he bites into the rind it squirts rind juice into his mouth, so he spits the orange back out again. He is content pushing it around the floor with his nose! LOL

Should also note that this has been discussed previously because I found it on the weekend and it helped me to make the decision about changing products! Here is the old topic, perhaps it can be useful again? http://forums.dogzonline.com.au/index.php?...=58332&st=0

Woollies sell Glucosamine tablets and they are the same size as a normal capsule. I started taking it, but probably like you, I have problems with tablets. Sorry missed this earlier But thanks to Hounder I have now read it I get the the Nutralife one from Natures Works. It is in powdered form and comes in orange flavoured or plain. You can mix it in a drink or mix it up in food

I am currently using Nutralife but have since worked out that while it seems heaps cheaper than Joint Guard ($68 per kg compared to $65 per 400g) I need to use 4 times as much of the nutralife compared to the Joint guard to provide the same dose of Gluc, chondroitin and MSM. Once this tub has run out I will be switching to Joint Guard. I have worked out that the 400g tub of joint guard will last me 60 days longer than a 1kg tub of Nutralife.

oh, would like to add that you really don't have to spend much time with it. I work on the sit, stand or drop stay twice a day and it takes me less than a minute for both dogs. I have dog on left hand side, ask for a sit, tell the dog stay. Move off on right foot, take a few paces forward and put their food bowl down. Return to the dog and then release the dog from the stay :D DOg dashes forward to eat his breakfast/tea! Initially it might take a bit longer because the dog will no doubt break the stay. But as long as he already has a fair idea of what is expected of him (ie. what you do in class), then I bet he will cotton on really quick. My two have. I have even stepped up to doing my recalls this way. I know, I'm a mean mummy

hehehehe beat me too it Shekky. And this is the little bunny that got told off for returning to her dog and setting him up again oops!

mybestfriend Now THAT is a movie I wanna see on youtube! My dog sits on his butt on the floorboards and slides backwards but also walks his front feet backwards at the same time. Idiot!

I saw an episode of Harry's practice were a little dog was scared of walking on floorboards. They were too slippery for him. So Dr Harry put down some little floor runners and the pup was happy.

Caroline Scott also runs classes online. google her

Ah yes, norty me. Remind me to bring the bike pump on Sunday for you ;)

Mornir, if your dog is taking it correctly from your hands in front his face, but not from the floor, why dont you progressivly lower your hands towards the floor getting him to take it correctly all the way down & then put your hands on it on the floor & then take your hands away? (hope that made sense ). So hold both ends in front of face, takes correctly - click. Hold one end at face level, takes it correctly - click. Lower dumbell 2 inches, hold with both hands, takes correctly - click. Hold dumbell with one hand a same height, takes correctly - click. Hold with 2 hands, lower 2 more inches etc etc, down until you have both hands on it on the floor, then one hand & finally take the hands off it altogether. Sounds like you are just going too fast - to the dog, a dumbell on the floor may be a totally different thing to what he takes out of your hands. Just because he will take it from your hands the right way doesnt mean he automatically knows that taking it from the floor should be done the same way. Go back to basics & show him . Absolute Genius! That's why I love hashing these things out with people, always great perspectives. Ah thank you very much! I will give that a shot tonight. I'll let you know how it goes.

Kavik WEll I got them to reliably grab the bit successfully 20times. I started off with holding a bell in each hand so that only the bit was exposed (I have an i-click so that isn't a problem, I just held that in my hand as well -between my palm and the bell- and when the dog grabbed the bit I just applied a little more pressure to my hold which got me a click ) I did 10 of those, and then I did another 10 successfully where i just held one bell and the dog grabbed the bit. But as soon as I put the dumbell on the floor he went straight for the bell and picked it up with it kind of dangling out of his mouth. So I went back a step and he 'got it' so we progressed, only with no success. Dunno. Maybe I am pushing too hard. We have put it away for tonight and I will try again tomorrow night. Thanks for your help.

well I stepped up to the dumbell tonight because I felt a little more confident. Unfortunately, by usingf the bit of wood I seem to have taught them to grab the end. SO they are grabbing the bell and not the bit. I can't seem to get them to grab the bit reliably. They seemed to have it, but once I put it on the floor they picked it up by the bell again! So I tried not reinforcing that and only reinforcing when the took it by the bit, but after a few goes of taking it by the bell they just gave up. Argh! I have a headache now. Perhaps I am just moving too fast and need to slow it down. I tried rubbbing peanut butter over the bit and I praised and clicked when they licked it off the bit. But that didn't really seem to achieve anything. Any advice would be appreciated.

I have a question regarding this actually. What weight dumb bells should be used? Is there a standard? My dogs are 20kg and 10kg (just to give you an idea of their size and what they may be capable of ) Our instructor has given us pieces of thick dowel to use (I guess like a broom handle?) to train the dog the retrieve. But I would prefer to start off with a dumb bell straight away as I have a handy collection of them here at home anyway. Any advice regarding the weight i should use?

You could try rubbing a bit of peanut butter on it to to make it taste good too!