huski

What about something like an English Springer Spaniel?

I was thinking a Rotty too HW, though they are a bit bigger than what the OP is looking for.

Until I train loose leash walking I prefer to always have the pup on a harness, with the long line attached to the harness, if I need to use a leash. I still have my pup on a harness and long line every time I take her out. I also don't toilet pups overnight - I haven't found it necessary, but if I were to take them out overnight I would calmly take them outside and give the toileting command (I use 'go outside') then praise/reward when they do go. I have also found once you reward the pup for toileting on command that makes it so much easier. My pup at 4.5 months still toilets as soon as I put her outside and will go when I say 'go outside'.

Wiz came in for the first time at 14 months which is typical for her lines. She tends to have 8 months in between seasons. I don't think there is any real "normal" as every bitch can be different. :)

I agree :) This is one thing I love about training heel work, there can be all these little complexities you have to break down and train to get precision and accuracy.

I think if you're a pretty good handler the dog gets it anyway. The sides of the box don't change the height of the dog though, so they do still learn the correct muscle memory for a turn and flip finish. It's probably a bit pedantic, but I've seen many dogs that lose accuracy on a flip finish and sort of finish a bit on an angle, most often it's been trained on a raised platform so it could probably have been avoided

I don't use a perch/tub or any elevated platform for training heel pos and REA because the dog isn't elevated when they are actually doing the positions (such as a flip finish) so this can build the incorrect muscle memory. So we use a box that looks like its upside down, works the same but builds the right muscle memory :)

Wait till you see what I've done to mine ;)

REA is super important for turns as well not just finishes. Keep us updated!

I am training a flip finish to my puppy at the moment too. I was also going to suggest working on rear end awareness. I actually train the flip with a lure as well as REA work, example in this vid;

You've just described probably one of the most common training problems, from pet owners and competitors alike. I speak to a lot of people with many different breeds (including more "bidable" ones like BCs, GSDs, labs etc) who have exactly the same problem. There are three main reasons dogs will work nicely at home but not around distraction; 1) They have never been taught how to perform obedience under distraction, the behaviour isn't proofed 2) The dog believes they need to see reward to produce behaviour rather than thinking their behaviour produces reward. 3) The dog has more value for distraction than the rewards you have to offer. It definitely isn't about stubborness, more about training :)

I hope so!

I've never met a dog who doesn't ask "what's in it for me?". some dogs are more easy to motivate than others, which can make them seem more eager to please. people often comment to me that Mals have so much drive they must be so easy to train, but all that drive makes them easy to motivate not easy to train. And if it's channeled the wrong way, it can be a disaster. Some of the most "stubborn" dogs I have met have been breeds people class as easy to train, that have loads of drive directed in a way that isn't useful to the owner.

I'm not biased AT ALL, but she is super smart. Smarter than me for sure :p it's scary almost how she works things out so quickly. She is super observant.

Ha yeah, her brother was climbing out of his weeks ago... Luckily she likes being in there so hasn't attempted to climb out (yet).

I think that's true of every dog SM. every dog asks what's in it for me. Some dogs are just more easily motivated.

Dogs that can be called stubborn are often dogs who are highly motivated but have learnt to reward themselves by doing behaviour the owner doesn't like. For example a lo t of people call beagles stubborn because they won't stop scenting once they get stuck on a scent. But if the goal was teaching the dog tracking or scent work, would a beagle still be considered stubborn that it wouldn't come off a scent or would it be considered great at his job?

Yes they are still completely ridiculous :laugh:

If she is going to be the same size as her mumma, she is half way there. She looks skinny at the moment but she is quite tall Wiz didn't really mature until 2 which is when she bulked up and filled out, so we'll see how Blaze goes. I am hoping she stays dark too, she is getting some darker colouring on her back legs now which is cool. I can still pick her up for a cuddle though, lol (ETA: This pic was taken on the weekend, so not even a week ago. But she has since out grown the collar she was wearing!)

Puppy Blaze went to the vet this morning to have her 16 week vaccination, so I popped her on the scales while we were there. She is already 15.6kg what happened to my little baby puppy!

Sounds like a great set up. IMO it's not good for pups to have 24/7 access to their owners, they need to learn to self settle and relax on their own.

Changed my mind. :)

Shell from AP used to post here quite a lot back in the day! :)

Aww, sorry Bec - I know how hard these things are Don't be sorry I love seeing pics and videos of your boy. What lines is he from?

Awww this bought tears to my ears. I really miss our Sibe who passed away a couple of months ago. We would always call him a gentleman as he was such a sweet and gentle boy. Your boy reminds me of him so much!