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Hi! Haven't been around for a while. Busy with dogs Just wanted to add this final part to this story as funny how life happens. Denise at Paws helped me rehome and concerning these dogs I had to contact them again. All good but I was looking for another kelpie and had considered 2 breeders. There was a sable rescue pup available at DAP but it looked a bit gsd. When i was told it was small! And wild ! And kelpie like and needed something other than a quiet life I went to have a look and of course love at first sight! Brought her home june last year and she is just amazing. Loud still and a challenge but an adventure. So pleased and grateful to rescue.

Have you tried those tuff balls that hang from the ceiling on a bungy cord. Saw them at dog show yesterday Mine won't tug alone but do play with toys. Specially food puzzles or stuffables. Some muscle dogs like those balls a lot? Regardless sounds like you are doing good for your dog.

I have 3 dogs and my choice to have no insirance was probably because first 2 rescues never had a problem. Then comes the 3rd from a breeder with hip D. Now have lost an older dog a while back so have a new rescue dog. Was thinking of an account with savings or insurance. Didn't realise so costly now. I have money saved nut wikl leave it offset in a morgage. Plus the thousands I will need eventually for the dog with bad hips. Saw SASH yesterday at the dog lovers show. Amazing what they can do but again its so costly for the high tech stuff.

Just to update ....both these dogs found fantastic homes! So grateful for the help from DAP. The dogs were not vaccinated ( even thou owner said they were no one checked) or heart wormed and needed teeth done. DENISE paid for all their work and we waited over Christmas. And then funnily enough they both went at the same time. I drove one to Cambelltown way and the other to Cammeray. Delivered both to fantastic homes. So relieved and lucky dogs. So interesting attempt at fostering. Something I surprisingly found ok. Thou one dog was a real ripper of a dog. So once again thanks to Denise at Paws and particularly Lisa who helped so much. And dogzonline for giving me access to such advice and help.

I've sent you an email. Be interested in your opinion once you have seen him. Lovely young dog.

Not going to the sniff and go but I was at that party !! In the morning. And your little one must be the chi Rosie mentioned tonight while explaining what a sniff and go is! Didn't realise you were local, great classes aren't they. I have a Kelpie doing intro to odour but planning on taking my chi next year. She'd love it and something she can play with instead of it always being the very enthusiastic Kelpie. Hope our paths might cross one day,

The breeder of my next puppy told me she kept a female that was litter mate to a lovely boy I met. For some reason this dog was not confident with strange dogs and could be aggressive to them. So she said she will never breed from this girl. A very responsible breeder.

I was a good tenant and so didn't have a problem renting in Wollongong when I moved. Just curious because I had to agree to a pest extermination on leaving for fleas. I did this but it was funny because we never had fleas anyway. Dogs were actually allowed inside which was good because turned out my landlord was a real estate agent who lived across the road looking down on my place. BTW, your place, your rules and saying no is fair.

I have a chi that when I give bones to the dogs she just looks at hers. Give the Kelpie a few minutes to rip all the best beef off one of hers.....swap the new chi's none for a Kelpie mangled one and the chi tucks in. Been this way for years. Maybe the chi know she has a better chance with an old bone. Tried separation but then chi won't touch a bone at all.has to be an old one in open.

Without looking at DNA results I would have picked Kelpie but as all the pups are cream and quite small something unknown that is smaller in there. The eyes don't look all Kelpie thou. Interesting. Will the pup be about 50cm at the shoulder fully grown? Nice pup thou.

Yes, the over excited jumping on head won't impress my Kelpie either. Greetings with her have to be quick unless I can be sure she likes the dog . Sounds like your dog is lucky to have you.

I put in one from bunnings myself and had one installed again recently. Very easy if you have a hole drill piece and jigsaw. I brought the nicer aluminium one from bunnings again as the heavy duty soft flap withstands the Kelpie flying thru. The plastic flap hardens and cracks eventually thou you can get replacements. Had to put a hole in my security screen with no door in place as WL but works OK as just the screen shut or both. I managed with a med for a Kelpie thou.

Clicker training is hard. The handlers often try to "help" the dog. The dog has to have that lightbulb moment where they get their actions can effect a reward. The dogs on YouTube may have learnt this concept already but for others you have to really break it down . I have just taught a shaping class one on one as the dogs owners try so hard but it is an older nervous aggressive BC. The dog was so fixated on just staring at the owner because all its life that is what it does.So I asked our best instructor to come look in. The dog was improving but it was slow. My dogs just get it as do many of the more trained dogs. So with a plank at first but any object really works tried to shape feet on. So how it came out is the BC sat and stared. With no movement from the owner at all! The BC eventually looked away. Clicked and reward. Did this half dozen times. Suddenly the dog had its light bulb moment and finally we got some behaviour. Dogs are great thou, the BC then began a jump on to the immovable owner, then feet on. So in just a few minutes, the BC was patterning jump on owner, look away or feet on plank equals reward. Bc's are so smart. So then we had to stop rewarding the first time on the plank if it immediately followed a jump up. Soon the pattern of jumping stopped and we got simple move onto plank. But no, shaping is not easy and it really helps to have someone help you. But shaping is a great game and using shaping really helps a nervous dog feel confident as they can make things happen. This probably doesn't help you but shaping is very interesting thou a skill indeed.

Mowgliandme. Its great that praise is rewarding to your dog. Normally I never shut up so my dog probably gets a lot of praise. Probably not so much pats as our training is always on the go. And my working dog wants to work do not really wanting to stop for a pat. My trainer just thinks shaping with a clicker or verbal marker is a time for the dog to be thinking, as long as its effective, more important to be fun. If your dog likes tugging a sock just pad a footy sock. Whatever turns the dog on. Mine loves palm fronds do a bit of twisted frond or bark drives her crazy. bit messy thou. Know someone in agility gives her dog a leaf. Slightly obsessive stalking this but just for after a run. How cheap! What breed of dog is yours? Sounds like u r doing great.

When I think of value transfer I always think of agility and tugging. Both become so rewarding hard to see what is reinforcing what. Did u read the post below on Premack vrs nilif. Just to comment when I clicker train with a clicker I never speak. If no clicker then you can mark verbally but I don't normally praise. i would try to control the environment so that no sniffing happens unless you heel, then release to sniff. Like my kelpie who likes to run, you heel really nice and I might let u run. I would use a release to sniff rather than treats if you can. Never owned a sniffing dog so hope someone can advise you. I would say most of what I do is Premack. I ask her to do all sorts of things so she can get what she wants. So walking off lead I make her drop or even put her paws on a fence then I count down to the release word. She loves this game of waiting so much she quivers. So in this case the waiting is half the game. She will run off crazy but return to do it all again. I had to watch it cause I realised she was shaping me .....coming next to me while I was putting runners on, then if I told her to go, bolting outside. She did it a few times till I caught on. So I refuse to play in this instance. Think this is an example of transfer of value too. Good luck