Elbie, Hoover, Dodge & Friends!

[Genabee]

That is such a pretty puppy!!!!

Wouldn't it be nice if they could stay like that, without the hypo behaviour?!!!

[Niques]

I almost forgot - I have success to share! I think we're finally getting somewhere with toiletting on command. Only took 9 months! I tried in vain for the first 4 months after he came home but after being greeted by one blank stare after another I gave up. Thought I'd give it another go a month or so ago and I think (hope) that the word now has some meaning for him.

Training James seems to be all about timing. I can put a lot of effort into one trick for several days with no results yet I try it again a couple of weeks later and he gets it in 5 minutes. Persistence, I believe, is vital.

While I'm on training, has anyone got a new trick under their belt to share, or something in progress? We're working on the obedience "finish" command which is going well.

[koalathebear]

I almost forgot - I have success to share! I think we're finally getting somewhere with toiletting on command. Only took 9 months! I tried in vain for the first 4 months after he came home but after being greeted by one blank stare after another I gave up. Thought I'd give it another go a month or so ago and I think (hope) that the word now has some meaning for him.

Training James seems to be all about timing. I can put a lot of effort into one trick for several days with no results yet I try it again a couple of weeks later and he gets it in 5 minutes. Persistence, I believe, is vital.

While I'm on training, has anyone got a new trick under their belt to share, or something in progress? We're working on the obedience "finish" command which is going well.

Fleeting flyby post from me! Will answer all posts tomorrow! Am doing last minute vacuum cleaner preparations. Congratulations about the toileting on command. That is a huge achievement. I hated the days when I would have to stand outside waiting for yonks for my puppy to go to the toilet. I would be thinking: "This is a strange life I am leading .." Someone at Dog School was a bit horrified when she was talking about how it was frustrating to wait for her dog to go and I said: "Doesn't your dog go to the toilet on command?" She looked at me and said: "**I** don't go to the toilet on command." Whoops.

Toileting on command and going to roughly the same spot in the yard are awesome. Elbie has a few Rebel Poos in the yard but not many - mostly he confines himself to Poo Corner.

As to new tricks ... regrettably, right now silver seems to be about fine-tuning existing skills so we are working hard on getting Elbie's 'stand' right. It's a bit all over the place right now - steps left, steps forward, steps backward. He doesn't have the simple straight up stand motion he's supposed to have. Once he gets that perfected, I want to go back to working with him on 'left and right' because we never 'finished' that lesson. I also want to finetune the 'in the box' command because I want him to learn to distinguish different objects so that we can tell him which objects he is supposed to put in the box ... Most of all, I want him to learn how to be a Calm Doggie

Edited October 12, 2010 by koalathebear

[Niques]

Most of all, I want him to learn how to be a Calm Doggie

You and me both!

The toiletting on command thing doesn't actually bother me so much now. He's very predictable these days, which is why I think he's picked it up so quickly now - I can get the command out when he's on the way to one of his two toilet spots and I know he'll go. But boy it would have been so good at about 6 months though, when the early puppyhood predictability went out the window so everytime he went to stand by the door I'd have to hurry him out...just in case!

...I am going to be most unhappy if there are photos of a Dyson here instead of a gorgeous puppy when I come home tomorrow

When you've the time, I'd be interested in hearing how you went about teaching left and right - are you teaching it in conjunction with other commands (as in, "fetch the left item") or just as a motion thing (reward for going to your right/left)?

[Primedogs]

Niques the newest trick Deakin is learning at the moment is going to a target and sitting down facing me, the reason we're learning it is we need it for our new obediance class where eventually I think the requirment is for me to send him 12? meters to a box. So far we have got to going to the target turning round and then staring at me. We are also once a I remember to buy a new clicker as I have managed to lose one again will be working on him retriving a dumbell.

with Watson like you and KTB just I am just attempting to have a calm puppy

A question do any of your dogs have a fall back trick for when they think you want them to do something but are not sure what, as if I am sitting on the ground trying to shape a behaviour with a clicker and deakin doesn't quite understand what I am asking I get punched in the face/kissed then stared at then kissed/punched again if the first one failed to elict a response this can be repeated a few times

vacuum cleaner preparations? KTB what does that involve? letting Elbie romp around in a muddle puddly then do zoomies inside? or is as some people suspect that vacume cleaner really is code for bundle of adorable puppy not normal average household appliance which doesn't actually require any preperations .

...I am going to be most unhappy if there are photos of a Dyson here instead of a gorgeous puppy when I come home tomorrow icon_smile_mad.gif laugh.gif

me too though I will probably have a bit of a laugh if it is just a vacume cleaner we are all in anticipation about. I wonder how many people will be lurking/reading this forum between the hours of 12-2 and onwards in an attempt to discover the answer to the whole mystery.

On another note here is a picture of puppy Deakin in all his incrediable cuteness, chewing the eyes off a octopus

and another a bit older trying to persuade me that the dirt on his nose and the hole in front of him was really was part of an elaborate framing attempt from the cat next door

and with that back to bed in an attempt to sleep, will probably edit this post in the morning to make sure it makes sense

[wuffles]

Well we just got soaked on our morning walk Now Ava is cleaning herself like a cat. I'm going to feel so guilty going to work and putting them outside, the rain came down so hard that our gutters have overflowed (must remember to clear out leaves next weekend, whoops) so the pergola is all wet and flooded. They will hopefully be able to find a little bit of dryness to lie in (although they'll probably just stand out in the rain anyway).

[dandybrush]

Don't worry too much about having Rubster desexed. Genevieve was fine the next day - and didn't have a cone! She didn't seem to want to eat/scratch/lick/play with her stiches either... Hubby declared she looked like she was 'a dog on smack' when he picked her up from the vet (and proceeded to phone me and I was at work feeling so guilty), but she was up with the tail wagging when I walked in the door that night!! I don't know what he was on about!! Such a Mummy's girl!! She was four months though, so I am not sure if they bounce back sooner when they are younger?

i had raz done at 4.5 months also, and he didnt need the cone either

[dandybrush]

I almost forgot - I have success to share! I think we're finally getting somewhere with toiletting on command. Only took 9 months! I tried in vain for the first 4 months after he came home but after being greeted by one blank stare after another I gave up. Thought I'd give it another go a month or so ago and I think (hope) that the word now has some meaning for him.

Training James seems to be all about timing. I can put a lot of effort into one trick for several days with no results yet I try it again a couple of weeks later and he gets it in 5 minutes. Persistence, I believe, is vital.

While I'm on training, has anyone got a new trick under their belt to share, or something in progress? We're working on the obedience "finish" command which is going well.

what is "finish"?

raz can sneeze on command, i have now taught him to wipe his nose on the ground so i can get him to sneeze then wipe his nose haha

Edited October 12, 2010 by dandybrush

[dandybrush]

Niques the newest trick Deakin is learning at the moment is going to a target and sitting down facing me, the reason we're learning it is we need it for our new obediance class where eventually I think the requirment is for me to send him 12? meters to a box. So far we have got to going to the target turning round and then staring at me. We are also once a I remember to buy a new clicker as I have managed to lose one again will be working on him retriving a dumbell.

with Watson like you and KTB just I am just attempting to have a calm puppy

A question do any of your dogs have a fall back trick for when they think you want them to do something but are not sure what, as if I am sitting on the ground trying to shape a behaviour with a clicker and deakin doesn't quite understand what I am asking I get punched in the face/kissed then stared at then kissed/punched again if the first one failed to elict a response this can be repeated a few times

vacuum cleaner preparations? KTB what does that involve? letting Elbie romp around in a muddle puddly then do zoomies inside? or is as some people suspect that vacume cleaner really is code for bundle of adorable puppy not normal average household appliance which doesn't actually require any preperations .

...I am going to be most unhappy if there are photos of a Dyson here instead of a gorgeous puppy when I come home tomorrow icon_smile_mad.gif laugh.gif

me too though I will probably have a bit of a laugh if it is just a vacume cleaner we are all in anticipation about. I wonder how many people will be lurking/reading this forum between the hours of 12-2 and onwards in an attempt to discover the answer to the whole mystery.

thats a cool trick, i might see if i can teach raz to go to a point from a distance.

raz's fall back tricks when he isnt sure what im asking is No. 1 Sneeze No. 2 spin (turn left) or turn (turn right) 3. then he backs up and tries every other trick he knows

[KumaAkita]

Well we just got soaked on our morning walk Now Ava is cleaning herself like a cat. I'm going to feel so guilty going to work and putting them outside, the rain came down so hard that our gutters have overflowed (must remember to clear out leaves next weekend, whoops) so the pergola is all wet and flooded. They will hopefully be able to find a little bit of dryness to lie in (although they'll probably just stand out in the rain anyway).

Same here!!! We got home at 6ish, and Kuma did massive zoomies in the lounge room and then went sliding down the hall! Dingus. I put him outside for breakfast, but then he ran off before I could get him back inside. When I was leaving for work, he was looking forlornly at me at the back door.... "can I come in mum???" he'll be fine. I think he'll find a warm dry spot for the day. He's a smart boy.

I'm sure I've told the story before, but when we had Kuma "snipped" he was 4.5 months old. I was away at a work conference, so the OH dropped him in on the Friday morning, and picked him up after work that arvo. They had a pity party - beer, pizza and watched the footy. He was only quiet on the first day or so, and then was back to normal before I got home. (that was my evil plan ) Boys are easier than girls, less invasive I think...

So, before we get inundated with KTB's new vacuum cleaner... I thought I'd share a photo of mine:

:D :D ;) ;)

[Niques]

Niques the newest trick Deakin is learning at the moment is going to a target and sitting down facing me, the reason we're learning it is we need it for our new obediance class where eventually I think the requirment is for me to send him 12? meters to a box. So far we have got to going to the target turning round and then staring at me.

That sounds very nifty! I haven't heard of that before.

Deakin's puppy eyes just make me melt inside There really needs to be some form of puppy therapy where you're just locked in a room with little puppies!

Sneezing + Nose wipe is a brilliant idea Any chance of a video of that one?

"Finish" is basically a return to heel. So say if I've just recalled him and he's sitting in front of me, to finish, he has to walk around me and back to the heel position. He's tending to overshoot the mark lately and sits at a 90 degree angle to me, but he's getting it.

James tends to "back up" or offer his paw when he doesn't know what I want him to do. So he often ends up on the other side of the room because he won't stop going backwards!

Wuffles, I stopped feeling bad for leaving James out when it rained when he started dragging his nice, dry blankets out into the rain I hope they have fun in the rain!

[dandybrush]

i'll set up my camera and see if i can catch his trick of sneezing lol

[wuffles]

Wuffles, I stopped feeling bad for leaving James out when it rained when he started dragging his nice, dry blankets out into the rain I hope they have fun in the rain!

Mine don't get blankets for that reason! They have a kennel and a trampoline bed so that will have to do. I put their toys and Kongs in the pergola when I left for work but they dragged them straight into the muddy yard and rain to eat, so stuff 'em!

Ava's "backup" behaviour to offer is walking backwards. I can't do that trick too much with her because she'll do it of her own accord when she's bored - for example in the middle of class when the instructor is talking, she'll just keep walking backwards

Ava isn't booked in for desexing yet, but she will be soon. We are just waiting on some test results before she gets done. She will be done before she is 12 months old though

[koalathebear]

Its been a while since I've said something - but I've been reading everything I SWEAR! But I won't try replying to everything, but just pick up on the most recent......

I hope you're ok. I've been thinking about you and Puppy and hoping that you weren't toooooo sad. I guess you have Max to keep you cooing and laughing.

Those photos of Max ... *melts* His eyes are sooooooooooo cute and expressive. Very, very sweet-faced.

Not thinking of pursuing a dog-friendly career, although friends, family and colleagues think I'm a bit dog mad. I think I'm just dog-mad compared to non-dog people, compared to a lot of DOLers, I'm pretty moderate.

Max#1 and Clastic: Good luck to Max and Mars. When we went to get Elbie, the vet's was talking to another couple that were thinking about getting their dog desexed. "The day of the operation, your dog might be a little bit groggy and lethergic." Another vet's nurse was just letting Elbie out of a crate so that he could be wee'd and as soon as she popped Elbie on the ground, he stated hurtling around like a maniac. The first vet's nurse looked at Elbie, cleared his throat and said: "That pup has just been desexed - you can see he's fine." We sectioned off the stairs in the yard with fencing stuff, Elbie then decided to jump down from the deck onto the third stair down. ;) Fortunately he was fine but he did have a bad habit of licking his stitches - but not to the point he needed a Cone of Shame.

That would be BBQ chicken. James loves it. Except when it gets smeared on his nose because someone can't aim for his mouth I'm trying to imagine recalls with a live chicken I don't think I'd be able to shoo him away long enough to actually call him back!

It would be so funny standing in obedience class with the instructor and your classmates staring at you quizzically as you use a live chicken to lure and treat your dog.

That pound story is disgusting, KTB. And what that mother's teaching the poor child I don't understand how you can actually have a dog that long and not be attached to it.

It upset me a lot. People shouldn't regard dogs as disposable items but they do and the thought of dumping oldies when they know that no one else will want them instead of looking after them or at LEAST taking them to the vet themselves to have them PTS with a loved one beside them ... Sigh .. ;)

Who knew dog ownership came with so many decisions?!

Yeah ... and I hate how so many of the decisions are couched as: "The wrong decision will impair your poor dog's life for the rest of its life and cannot be rectified!"

When you've the time, I'd be interested in hearing how you went about teaching left and right - are you teaching it in conjunction with other commands (as in, "fetch the left item") or just as a motion thing (reward for going to your right/left)?

First of all, I taught him the touch command so that he touches things with his nose. Then I pop him in the middle of two items – I started with paper towels still wrapped in plastic and pointed to guide him. He went and touched his nose to the paper towels. One of the trainers here said I should switch to putting a towel on the ground but Elbie didn’t really like sitting on the towels, he just touched those with his nose. Then it was just pointing and guiding and then saying ‘left’ or ‘right’ as the case may be. Elbie’s 100% if I guide him – whether with a point, a jerk of the head etc but he isn’t so great at the word recognition yet. I think he’ll get there, though.

A question do any of your dogs have a fall back trick for when they think you want them to do something but are not sure what

Elbie’s default behaviour is “are you shy” or “wave”. He is very, very cute when he’s confused and will just keep delivering up those two tricks in the hope that they’re right. These days he is also hopping into the heel position and trying to look cute.

I wonder how many people will be lurking/reading this forum between the hours of 12-2 and onwards in an attempt to discover the answer to the whole mystery.

Gosh I hope that there aren’t that many people that lurk in this post – it would make me quite nervous. The first line of this post made me a bit apprehensive but then again we generally DO confine our discussions to matters dog-ly and the non-dogly stuff is incidental.

Deakin is soooooooooo cute. Lab eyes are so soulful and I love his dirty snout as well - he looks as unconscious of his guilty nose as Satch did.

Same here!!! We got home at 6ish, and Kuma did massive zoomies in the lounge room and then went sliding down the hall! Dingus. :D I put him outside for breakfast, but then he ran off before I could get him back inside. When I was leaving for work, he was looking forlornly at me at the back door.... "can I come in mum???" he'll be fine. I think he'll find a warm dry spot for the day. He's a smart boy.

I have a vision of you coming home to a water-logged Akita who has soaked up enough water to fill up a dam.

I am very impressed with the vacuum cleaner photo – I think everyone will be disappointed that our vacuum cleaner isn’t quite so high-tech or funky looking!!!

:D

dandybrush: I'd also love an instructional video of teaching the sneezing/nose wipe trick! We need more tricks that don't involve dancing/athletics from either OH or me.

Ava's "backup" behaviour to offer is walking backwards. I can't do that trick too much with her because she'll do it of her own accord when she's bored - for example in the middle of class when the instructor is talking, she'll just keep walking backwards

This is sooooooooooo cute. I wish I could have seen it

Tests ... is little Ava ok???

[wuffles]

This is sooooooooooo cute. I wish I could have seen it

Tests ... is little Ava ok???

Yes she is perfectly fine! Aussies (and other breeds like collies) can carry a gene that makes them sensitive to certain drugs like Ivermectin so we are just getting her tested for that. Dogs with the mutation can be affected by the pre-anaesthetic drugs they use for desexing. The most she'll be is a carrier but carriers can also be sensitive to the drugs so we just want to be safe.

She loooooooooves the vet. She tried to eat the swab.

KTB: Why don't you try the "cross your paws" trick? I know haylz27 has a video of one of her dogs doing it on Youtube, it's soooo cute.

Edited October 12, 2010 by wuffles

[dandybrush]

Max#1 and Clastic: Good luck to Max and Mars. When we went to get Elbie, the vet's was talking to another couple that were thinking about getting their dog desexed. "The day of the operation, your dog might be a little bit groggy and lethergic." Another vet's nurse was just letting Elbie out of a crate so that he could be wee'd and as soon as she popped Elbie on the ground, he stated hurtling around like a maniac. The first vet's nurse looked at Elbie, cleared his throat and said: "That pup has just been desexed - you can see he's fine." We sectioned off the stairs in the yard with fencing stuff, Elbie then decided to jump down from the deck onto the third stair down. Fortunately he was fine but he did have a bad habit of licking his stitches - but not to the point he needed a Cone of Shame.

when we got raz home, we locked him in the garage with a makeshift chicken wire fence, with his cone on his head. when i got home after work, he had the cone off his head and was out of the garage i figured that was worse for his stitches than leaving him in the yard with no cone, so thats what he got, after a couple more days in the garage, but we managed to keep him in there too

Who knew dog ownership came with so many decisions?!

Yeah ... and I hate how so many of the decisions are couched as: "The wrong decision will impair your poor dog's life for the rest of its life and cannot be rectified!" :D

gosh it sure is hard knowing if you are making the right decisions and if you are not stuffing up your pup, i worry all the time about the impact my decisions have on my baby boy :D

dandybrush: I'd also love an instructional video of teaching the sneezing/nose wipe trick! We need more tricks that don't involve dancing/athletics from either OH or me.

the sneezing one is easy, you can do it 2 ways, hold onto a treat, and the dog will think about what to offer you to get the treat, after trying all their tricks they become stressed and will sneeze, click and reward. thats how i did it, i would reward heavily now its his first backup trick. sometimes ill be working on his heel and he will be trotting along beside me sneezing away trying to get that treat

the other way to get the sneeze is to spray something like hairspray, aerogard, windex (something they sneeze with) and then same thing click and reward

the wiping nose thing, i wanted him to use his paw on his nose, i did this by putting sticky tape on top of his nose when he would wipe at it i would reward heavily, when i stopped using the tape and i was asking for the trick he started wiping his nose along the ground, so i went with that, if thats what he is going to offer ill reward that.

[wuffles]

It's 12:15, where are our pictures? :confused:

[KumaAkita]

It's 12:15, where are our pictures? :confused:

I have been lurking for HOURS here KTB...

[Max#1]

Lurk Lurk.....

Max's fallback trick is a cross between a spin-around and a roll-over. So just generally an all over body wiggle with some turns and ducking. Then he barks. I think if I tried holding a treat and waiting for him to sneeze he'd bark the house down. He's quite adamant when we're not 'doing our bit' with the trick training.

KTB: re the crazy dog person comment and then the link to that thread. I think you have a point. I think I'd be considered a heathen! Meanwhile after showing my sister some of Max's tricks, she asked me pointedly 'do you ever JUST pat him??????'.....hehe

[KumaAkita]

We have no tricks. It's something I have to work on! I've been teaching Kuma how to do a figure 8 between my legs. If he grows any taller, I'm going to have to get longer legs!

I have just been looking at the Dogzonline home page - the one that has all the breed/show info. It seems 3 of Kuma's littermates are champion Akitas! They look a lot bigger than my boy, probably coz they're entire, and their coats are MUCH nicer than his. Guess that comes from really professional products and not being allowed to roll in the dirt! I like to keep an eye on my breeder's dogs to see how they are going.

I'm not quite at the crazy dog-lady phase yet. gimme time