huski

I agree Whereabouts are you located? I think your best bet would be enrolling him in some training classes. How much training and exercise does he get each day?

Lovely work Katie!!

I would build up to a full heel pattern more slowly. Teach her to focus for a step or two, then three then four, then ask her to focus for ten steps etc. Be more unpredictable, set her up to do a heel pattern and then break into a reward at the start post or after the first couple of steps so she learns the reward could come at any time. The problem I had was similar to yours, my dog learnt heel patterns were a time to get bored, switch off and lose interest in training which can be quite common with dogs who do a lot of paddock bashing in classes. Retraining heel work to be something super exciting was a very gradual process.

:p :p Soooooooo happy for you Nic!

Woohooo gooooooooo Nic and Ella!!

I'm not commenting directly on what happened with you and your dog, poochiemama, because I wasn't there to see what happens. I am talking about dogs generally, not yours specifically. The problem is that it is completely normal for a dog to tell another one off for being rude (again I'm not saying this is what happened to you). All too often I see what Suzanne Clothier described in her article play out: a dog blamed for being 'reactive' when it was simply telling a rude and inappropriate dog to back off. My youngest dog is pretty unreactive. The vast majority of the time she has little interest in other dogs and apart from the odd sniff will tend to completely ignore them. However, even she will snap at a dog that gets too in her face or tries to do something like hump her, would you class her as 'reactive' simply because she will respond to another dog's rude behaviour? I agree with you that far too many make excuses for their dogs bad behaviour, or at least they are too ignorant of canine body language to know how to read a situation clearly. I've seen dogs who snap at others grabbed and punished by their owners, when the snapping was totally warranted and the other dog was clearly the instigator. Sometimes it feels like unless and dog is being obviously aggressive (i.e. bites another dog) any other behaviour is classed as socially acceptable and 'just dogs being dogs' by their owners.

But what is your definition of a dog "coming up to say hello"? I have lost count of the number of owners whose "friendly" dogs are anything but.

Massive congrats Sas and Dante!!

Yes I have a plaited one, it's brilliant.

I am so excited for you Ishy, I can't wait to hear all about it

There is a HUGE difference between a dog politely approaching another one and sniffing it and a dog rushing up to another dog, getting in its face, completely disregarding the other dogs body language, and being plain rude. I see this with labs ALL the time, and no its not just restricted to that breed, but if I hear one more person with an over the top, rude dog who allows it to rush up and get in the face of whatever dog it pleases, tell me their dog is "just being friendly and saying hello" I will have to shoot someone

Because she said she's desperate for a job.. But she has a job? I'm just responding to the question asked in the OP. I personally couldn't do it. I can't see how someone so strongly against it could do it either, that's JMO.

I couldn't live with myself if I supported the sale of animals in pet shops by working there and selling puppies, it is so far removed from my code of ethics that I couldn't do it. I won't even buy things from pet stores that sell puppies and kittens. But everyone is different and what is ethical to one person is not to another. I don't get how you could be highly against it but would still consider working there and selling the puppies??

They aren't the cheapest place around because they are specialists, I usually pay around $80-$100 I think for a standard consult (incl. chiro work)... really depends on what you are going for and getting done. I try to take the poochies every six months, TOTALLY worth it - Rowan is amazing. I wouldn't take the dogs anywhere else (unless in an emergency - Animal Options is a good 40 minute drive for me).

I use Dr Rowan Kilmarten at Animal Options http://www.animaloptions.com.au/

Awww how sweet! Usually Daisy uses those moments to embarrass me but sometimes her manners and training shines through

Yeh - wrong list! The same list puts beagles as number 72 :p

LOL That list is really not worth the paper it's written on.

Beagle!

Scenting is classed as part of prey drive so I guess it would depend on your definition... I would say most beagles are relatively driven but I wouldn't class them as the highest of prey driven dogs. My Siberian is pretty prey driven too and will generally kill small animals that come in the yard like bats, possums etc but again I've still met working line breeds like Mals and GSDs and even BCs who are more prey driven. There can be so much variance within a breed too! I've met a few GSDs who have barely any prey drive and I've met some who are nuts for anything that move.

I agree with everything Staranais has said but to give another example... I have seen many fear aggressive dogs choose to exhibit aggression when they could just high tail it out of there. My own dog is one of these. He learnt that aggression is the appropriate and best reaction in a situation driven by fear... there are a huge range of reasons that can lead a dog toward thinking aggression is the way to win. Talk to any reputable security/PP/police dog trainer and they will tell you there is a HUGE difference between fear based aggression and the kind of confident aggression that you should see exhibited in a working dog. The two are poles apart and it quite honestly scares me to think you consider them the same thing

I'd imagine by careful observation from an experienced professional who takes a comprehensive history of the dog. Fear aggression is lack of social confidence. I'd imagine that the body language of the dog would be quite different in fearful dog than a dominant one. What might not differ is their reaction to a trigger to aggression. Stick your hand in the dog's face and either might bite. And if you ask any reputable behaviourist or trainer they will agree that it's only a very small percentage of aggressive dogs who are not fear aggressive... somewhere like 90% of aggression is fear based.

I am constantly worrying about my dog!! Just ask Jane next time you see her I am a basket case when it comes to nerves and worry LOL

Or you go to a behaviourist who is also a qualified law enforcement dog handler Loeka (sorry I missed you at training tonight BTW - I was too sick to make it ) the chances that your dog is reacting out of the type of 'civil aggression' malsrock is referring too would likely be quite slim. The vast majority of aggressive dogs are fear aggressive, this is not so much about what the aggression looks like but also what triggers the aggression. Fear aggressive dogs for example will aggress towards unknown people/dogs/etc but will generally be fine with people/dogs/things they know. ETA: The trainer/behaviourist you use also has a lot of experience with high drive working dogs so would definitely recognise the difference in types of aggression (although I am sure you know this! )

But, very VERY few instructors at clubs (talking generally) have had experience with aggressive dogs and know how to fix it properly. I would never give advice on an aggressive dog apart from - go see someone who is qualified to deal with it. It's far too dangerous an issue to stuff around with if you don't know what you are doing. And I have seen instructors who THINK they know what they are doing make a problem much worse.