Elbie, Hoover, Dodge & Friends!

[lilli_star]

Awwww. It's good to see Raz snuggling up to his little sister

Look forward to seeing pics of Rumour d&R

Those pics of Mars and Pepper prove just how unhappy they were! Glad they tolerate them now.

After months of pretty much ignoring it, then only having a little nibble on her deer antler bone, Ruby has recently decided that it's the best thing ever! She's nomming away on it right now. Has anyone bought a second one because their dogs have eaten the first one?

Edited April 29, 2011 by lilli_star

[Genabee]

Welcome Rumor!!!!!!!!

Loving the not-so-happy raincoat pics Clastic!!!!!

[aussielover]

We are starting agility. Her obedience is good but the club we sometimes go to is really boring for both of us and I find it hard to keep her enthusiasm for the whole hour. I prefer to practice in short sessions at the park.

What is DWD?

I am thinking of doing tracking with her as well, because she loves sniffing and ity is quite hard to get her attention once she is on a scent (even food will not work!)

Willow and Raz are sooo cute! I love their jumpers! Its funny how willow's ears are the same size as Razzles!!!

[Clastic]

Has anyone bought a second one because their dogs have eaten the first one?

Hooray for Roo!! Great to hear she has realised how yummy it is! We're onto our 4th one, soon to be buying more.

[lilli_star]

Has anyone bought a second one because their dogs have eaten the first one?

Hooray for Roo!! Great to hear she has realised how yummy it is! We're onto our 4th one, soon to be buying more.

Hey Clastic, do Mars and Pepper eat it completely?

[koalathebear]

I haven't been able to reply properly today because work blocks DOL as a cult-site but I have been pondering this today:

I made a thread a while ago and everyone seemed to be telling me to do more with echo, and now i am being told to do less. I just cannot seem to make sense of it all?

I was pondering this because I don't think that the advice is inconsistent. In the last thread, people were trying to tell you to do more with Echo i.e. find things that both of you enjoy doing so that things aren't a chore for either of you. People are still saying the same thing i.e. do less of things that you and Echo do not find interesting. If something is not working for Echo, put it away for the time being and work on something that you both enjoy, don't train when either is frustrated and bored. There have been so many tricks with our two where they didn't get it at first, we parked it, came back to it later and somehow it just seemed to click for them and they could do it.

Also, when people give lots and lots of suggestions on different things, the idea isn't to do them all and then be dispirited when they don't work - it's to work your way through the things that have a better chance of success with Echo and then working on those. Elbie took a few days to learn spin, Hoover learned almost immediately. Elbie took about 2-3 days to learn beg - Hoover took weeks and weeks! "Are you shy" took Elbie about a week, Hoover spent weeks with tape on his face. At the time, OH and I were perplexed because we had dogs of similar intelligence and yet they learned different things at such different speeds.

Also, not all dogs enjoy tricks. My two LOVE tricks - they are very keen to learn new ones, they like offering behaviours and it's something they enjoy. If they didn't enjoy the tricks, I probably wouldn't teach them tricks. I think you're still working your way through your relationship with Echo - eventually you'll find the quirky/funny/lovable/endearing traits that compensate for all the frustrations. wuffles once said that puppies were cute otherwise we'd probably want to kill them because they're frustrating it kind of applies as they get older - the lovable traits make us forgive them for the not so lovable traits. Anyone who knows Elbie knows that I've been working on calmness with him for SUCH a long time and we're still a long way off - but we make slow progress and I know he tries and we'll just keep working away at it ... Anyway, there was a lot of advice in the last lot of posts - I really hope that there was something in there that you can use and that's helpful for you.

[aussielover]

Awwww. It's good to see Raz snuggling up to his little sister

Look forward to seeing pics of Rumour d&R :p

Those pics of Mars and Pepper prove just how unhappy they were! Glad they tolerate them now.

After months of pretty much ignoring it, then only having a little nibble on her deer antler bone, Ruby has recently decided that it's the best thing ever! She's nomming away on it right now. Has anyone bought a second one because their dogs have eaten the first one?

I am glad to hear that Lillistar!

Mindy is still ignoring hers Sometimes she has a half hearted attempt at chewing it but doesn't make much headway on it. Perhaps I have gotten the wrong size? I think I got the 20cm?

Roo is welcome to have one of Mindy's (I got 2 just in case she loved them which doesn't seem to be the case) for free if you like.

[aussielover]

I haven't been able to reply properly today because work blocks DOL as a cult-site but I have been pondering this today:

Also, not all dogs enjoy tricks. My two LOVE tricks - they are very keen to learn new ones, they like offering behaviours and it's something they enjoy. If they didn't enjoy the tricks, I probably wouldn't teach them tricks. I think you're still working your way through your relationship with Echo - eventually you'll find the quirky/funny/lovable/endearing traits that compensate for all the frustrations. wuffles once said that puppies were cute otherwise we'd probably want to kill them because they're frustrating it kind of applies as they get older - the lovable traits make us forgive them for the not so lovable traits. Anyone who knows Elbie knows that I've been working on calmness with him for SUCH a long time and we're still a long way off - but we make slow progress and I know he tries and we'll just keep working away at it ... Anyway, there was a lot of advice in the last lot of posts - I really hope that there was something in there that you can use and that's helpful for you.

So true KTB!

My previous dog was not into doing tricks and offering new behaviours- she only ever knew one trick which was to shake hands. She didn't even know how to lie down on command she was still a great dog, and was challenged by other things like making a makeshift agility course in our yard, running alongside a bicycle, going for long walks etc.

Mindy would literally do anything for food and is way more toy/play motivated than my last dog and she appears to enjoy learning new tricks (or more accurately, getting rewarded for doing the right thing :p)

If we are learning a new trick, she generally starts off offering the behaviour of the last trick we trained for.

Free shaping is quite difficult for a lot of dogs to do and it does take practice. Luring is much easier.

Perhaps Echo would benefit from more structured activities such as tracking or schutzhund? He sounds like he might also be suitable for search and rescue type work?

[huski]

But Aussielover, to play the devils advocate, how much free shaping did you do with your previous dog? I do a lot of shaping with Daisy and she offers behaviours as fast and as frequently as she can but Micha on the other hand at 8 1/2 years old is a lot more reluctant. I never did any shaping with him (I was a young teenager when we bought him as a family) and I truly believe for my dogs it's purely difference between having one that has learnt how to learn and having one who hasn't and is far more reliant on luring etc to learn things and isn't used to offering behaviours.

[wuffles]

I have done a lot of shaping with Ava since a puppy and she's not brilliant at it... she gets anxious and once that happens, she tends to just drop and stare at me. I do try to shape things where possible but often give her a tiny bit of help to get her started.

She is much better than Satch (our rescue) though

[huski]

I have done a lot of shaping with Ava since a puppy and she's not brilliant at it... she gets anxious and once that happens, she tends to just drop and stare at me. I do try to shape things where possible but often give her a tiny bit of help to get her started.

I definitely think that shaping can be quite stressful for dogs, and "how good they are" at it really IMHO depends on their temperament, nerves etc. Not all dogs are naturally "good" at shaping. But I definitely believe that ALL dogs need to learn how to learn and it is always easier when you start the right way from puppyhood.

Edited April 29, 2011 by huski

[aussielover]

But Aussielover, to play the devils advocate, how much free shaping did you do with your previous dog? I do a lot of shaping with Daisy and she offers behaviours as fast and as frequently as she can but Micha on the other hand at 8 1/2 years old is a lot more reluctant. I never did any shaping with him (I was a young teenager when we bought him as a family) and I truly believe for my dogs it's purely difference between having one that has learnt how to learn and having one who hasn't and is far more reliant on luring etc to learn things and isn't used to offering behaviours.

Admittedly not much. I did not persist with her because I felt she wasn't really enjoying it, getting stressed panting, freezing etc.

I did not try it with her until she was older though (around 8 years I think) and I agree, having being stimulated to do these things as a young puppy makes a huge difference.

I think Mindy's eagerness to learn had a lot to do with the fact her serious training was started at 8 weeks old. She actually learnt most of those tricks I previously listed by the time she was 3 months old. She definitely had hi 5, hi 10, sit, drop, rollover and speak by 10 weeks.

I agree with you about dogs dogs needing to learn how to learn. I tried to teach a friends 18 month old dog some simple tricks and to my surprise the dog had no idea how to learn or what to do, where as with Mindy it all seemed so natural and easy. I'm sure it would have been possible to teach this dog with some time and effort though (but I only had 2 days!).

I think if dogs haven't learnt this sort of exercise/learning (free shaping ) as a reasonably young pup and if they have a natural tendency to prefer a more ordered approach, it can make it quite difficult for a novice trainer (like myself) to persist and to get the dog to feel comfortable in offering lots of new behaviours.

[wuffles]

I have done a lot of shaping with Ava since a puppy and she's not brilliant at it... she gets anxious and once that happens, she tends to just drop and stare at me. I do try to shape things where possible but often give her a tiny bit of help to get her started.

I definitely think that shaping can be quite stressful for dogs, and "how good they are" at it really IMHO depends on their temperament, nerves etc. Not all dogs are naturally "good" at shaping. But I definitely believe that ALL dogs need to learn how to learn and it is always easier when you start the right way from puppyhood.

Agree If I am good enough to click in tiny increments she does enjoy it more. It's probably more about me than her, as usual

[huski]

Aussielover, totally agree! Even Daisy was two or three years old when I really started doing a lot of shaping, luckily she has relatively hard temperament so it worked out ok and can withstand quite a bit of stress and pressure (important with such a novice handler like myself who pushes her too much) but I know she could have been an amazing dog had we started early when we got her (she was originally my mum's dog!!) at eight weeks.

Micha is quite a smart dog with lots of drive which makes him frustrating to train now because he had LOADS of potential but now with his age and health (he has arthritis) and lack of training (not that he's untrained - but compared to what I know now...) it makes it difficult especially compared to a dog like Daisy. I do really enjoy training him though and despite him being a softer dog than D he does enjoy learning.

Edited April 29, 2011 by huski

[Clastic]

Has anyone bought a second one because their dogs have eaten the first one?

Hooray for Roo!! :D Great to hear she has realised how yummy it is! We're onto our 4th one, soon to be buying more. :D

Hey Clastic, do Mars and Pepper eat it completely?

Yep, they sure do! They nom on it until there is nothing left. I got worried when there wasn't much left at all (small enough to swallow and possibly choke), but the dogs kept chewing until it broke apart into smaller pieces.

This antler was 20cm once upon a time..

Now for a pic I took today. We have a kennel ordered and waiting on delivery, but I also decided that in case the dogs don't want to share.. a trampoline bed might be nice. Lucky they share.. sometimes..

[dandybrush]

aww mars and pepper are cute together i caught raz and willow doing that today with a chewwy each, was very cute

[dandybrush]

hey guys i have a question

i took willow for a walk and i could hear raz barking all the way up the street...is there any thing i can do to stop this? or do we just ignore it? or should i get aaron to do something like time him out everytime he barks?

[Genabee]

Hello!

Dandybrush - I can't really answer your question as I only have one mutlet... I would ordinarily suggest ignoring him, but if that is going to drive your neighbours nuts, it might not be the best solution for everyone. Have you tried walking him first? Perhaps if he is a bit warn out, he will be quiet for long enough for you to be out with Willow.... Just a thought!

Aussie - DWD is dancing with the dogs. I am not sure if someone has answered your question or not!!

Hi Everyone else! Loving the pics Clastic.

Not much to report on my front. Genevieve and I went to visit my friend and her German Pointer pup on Saturday afternoon/evening. I found it very stressful. Jager (my friend's pup) is about 12 weeks old, twice Genevieve's size (hasn't been fixed and they aren't planning to) and all he wanted to do was jump on Genevieve. He was only playing and certainly wasn't trying to hurt her, but poor Genevieve just hated every minute of it. Every now and then she would turn around and swipe him and give him what for, but then she would just run off again - which of course Jager thought was all part of the game! G loves to say hello to another dog, but then she likes to bugger off too!!! She doesn't really like playing a whole lot with other dogs, certainly not for prolonged periods of time. We did separate them a couple of times, taking in turns in crating them, having one inside while the other was out etc. By the time I was leaving, she was giving me the saddest look "Take me home Mum! Puhlease!!!" I felt so sad and like I was letting her down. I didn't relax the whole time I was with my friend because I just felt so guilty. I won't be in a hurry to have them do that again.

I am not really sure how to approach this kind of behaviour. We have a great dog community at our local park and she loves running around with them - but always comes back to Mum and Dad. There are a couple of large dogs down there who intimidate her, but they usually don't hang around long enough for it to be problematic - or they end up picking on another dog closer to their own size. A few times G has run off to the other side of the park and just found herself a comfy spot and lied down - just to get away from all the dogs! While it looks really cute (and we sympathise - because Hubby and I are exactly the same with people!!!!! Maybe she is just too much like us!!??), I know it is not all that healthy for her. She rarely ever barks at other dogs and is always the first to submit (sometimes she will lie down about a couple of metres away from another dog, as they are approaching one another). How do we teach her to be more assertive with other dogs? She was like this as a puppy at puppy school and obedience too, she would always try to hide in between my legs (which I wouldn't let her do, I would always side step her or widen my legs way over her) or under chairs. We have had play dates with other dogs both at our house and theirs and it has always just been much of the same....

Any words of wisdom would be much appreciated!

[dandybrush]

thanx wizzle, i shall walk him first and see how we go

[kyliegirl]

just curious, do you think an aussie requires more exercise than a dobe? everyone says a dobe never stops having energy lol Echo seems to require more physical then mental exercise.