huski

So we were sitting on a first place and 91 today and Daisy broke her down stay AGAIN second quallie in two days we've blown on that last bloody exercise! Back to the drawing board but very happy with her work today, it proves to me she really is capable of bringing home those high scores we still placed third and got highest scoring Metro member so lots of positives to take home

OMG it was bloody freezing wasn't it!! I felt bad because I didn't bring Daisy's coat but she didn't seem to mind, no shivering, I was amazed

Definitely worth a go especially if you pop him on the tie out and completely ignore him for 10-15 minutes.

Putting Daisy back on a stake out for 'bad' things (i.e. barking during stays etc) works really well for us - why not put the stake close to where the class is (if possible)? You could even see if you could borrow someone else's dog to train and play with while he is on the tie out (in front of him). ETA: Meant to add at least there was absolutely no barking during stays today Good girl Daisy

Thanks Tiggy :D Thanks Sandi Will have to watch the video back to really get a good idea, but she hit the end of the leash and ran into me on a turn and that is normally enough to jolt her off the scent and make her go 'hey - wait we're working!' It's not normally a problem we have so it is hard to train for, normally sitting waiting at the start post makes her frustrated (not a bad thing for Daisy) and even more keen and ready to work. I did get her attention and focus back on me before we heeled off but I knew it wasn't quite enough for what I needed. Sure enough she had her nose down a few steps in but at least I got her back! When she's on she's really on and when I got her back she was giving me some lovely work and didn't miss a beat so that is definitely a positive! LOL Thanks Amps, I hope so, we have the home ground advantage at least She's a feisty one, that's for sure! My OH LOVES dogs... He's never trained one before though, so Fable will suit him well! She's not as crazy as Miss Soaks!! :D He's doing TID with her, so she might end up that way though! Can't wait to see how she goes Nik - she is just so lovely

Well we had our second obedience trial today and it was a HUGE improvement on the first one - my nerves were way better Daisy dropped out of drive just as we were walking into the ring, so we lost a few points at the start of our heel pattern as she had her nose to the ground but she bought it back and didn't miss a beat after the first bit. Scored an 8/10 for her SFE and 19/20 for her recall and 20/20 for her sit stay... sitting on 85 which is pretty average but you know, still a passing score... then sat up with 30 seconds to go on her down stay - But I am so pleased with her as it was a massive improvement on both our parts compared to our first trial, I am feeling more and more confident we are capable of pulling it together under pressure for the next one

Mine too! I think it really encapsulates everything that Dr Chris Brown is. Douche-douche-doucheydouchedouche (reminds me of that South Park episode about John Edwards).

I've always thought he was a total douche, but this has only cemented that even further.

A lot of the obedience clubs are much the same, I have a friend who trains at SDOC (Seita on this forum) and it doesn't sound too different to Metro.

Yes indeed I am Cool - you should come to a DOL meet! We have a few in Brissy Which obedience club are you thinking of joining? I have been going to Metro at Chermside for a few years now

He's so cute! Sorry to be nosy alexandrite, are you in Brissy?

What Shell said

Cider is so lovely I am going to try doing some duration heelwork after this weekend.

Here's one article about it, if you are interested http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm

I wouldn't go 'hard' on her - you can be firm but fair. It's not fair to come down hard before she knows the rules, but that doesn't mean you have to be soft. Have you ever heard of nothing in life is free (NILIF)? Any time she wants something make her 'pay' for it first - pats, attention, food, toys etc by asking her to sit (for eg). If you google NILIF you'll find some good articles. I don't hope my dogs pick stuff up - I set them up to win, not fail, so I teach them the behaviours I want to see.

Photos are a must :D

There are loads of things! I do obedience, so my training sessions have an obedience focus. We'll play games to find heel position, practice straight fronts, heel work, stays, recalls, drop on recall, stays; we'll play games to get her sitting/standing/downing as quickly as possible etc. I trained Daisy to pick up a wooden dumbell and bring it to me using this method; http://www.shirleychong.com/keepers/retrieve.html I'll also train things like scent discrimination; http://dogscouts.org/Dog_Activ-_Scent_Disc...#Scent_Articles

Depends how you do it! It's how I trained the off command, I phased out the treats pretty quickly and would also reward her for getting in her crate. It's not just about rewarding the dog, but teaching them what 'off' means. I haven't rewarded it with more than verbal praise for years now and Daisy still responds to it well. Physically moving her off the couch wasn't working as she would growl and if I vocally corrected her, she'd escalate the behaviour and would retaliate with more growling/biting (yes... Daisy was a difficult adolscent LOL). I can now pick her up and move her off any piece of furniture without any growling or challenging from her side.

Why do you want him to learn to play with the ball specifically? My beagle is way more food driven than toy driven (and she quite likes to tug and play with toys). Her prey drive is something I could develop if I wanted to dedicate loads of time to it, but I don't see the point when she has so much food drive I can use instead! He is telling you he thinks food is way better than toys, so why not use that to your advantage and play some training games and do some training sessions to tire him out mentally. There are loads of ways we can play with our dogs that involve food and doesn't need to involve toys. In fact I rarely use toys in my training sessions with Daisy. ETA: I shaped the formal retrieve for obedience and Daisy loves doing it, although I still use food as a reward at the end of the exercise

I agree with Kavik! Things that worked for me were: - Giving her a crate/bed/mat that she could lie on instead. So instead of just telling her to get off the furniture I was showing her where she could sit instead. - Teaching the off command instead of just saying it or getting cross with her. Beags are stubborn and Daisy would take my up on my challenge if I growled at her or directly confronted her. They are also 'what's in it for me' dogs and won't do anything unless they see a point... so I would be teaching the off command and rewarding with a treat, or you could teach an 'in your crate' or 'on your bed' command and reward the dog for lying on it's bed or getting in it's crate. So when she's on the couch you can say 'in your crate' or 'on your bed' instead of off.

PS we have been going to see her for years and she's just lovely and knowledgable and no fuss. I travel 45 minutes to see my other vet Rowan Kilmarten at Animal Options for chiro stuff and titre testing etc but it's great having such a good local vet you can trust too.

You can still use them! A good way to do something positive and bonding with your puppy is a couple of short (i.e. 5 minutes max) training sessions each day, just teach him the basics like sit etc. It's fun, something positive for you to do with him and teaching them something new can feel really rewarding. It took me ages to bond with my youngest dog, she was a very difficult puppy and adolescent but now we have a great bond

oops forgot about this thread! Thanks Ams - sounds like Susan is still the best option

Love the shots Serena! PMSL at the snuggie being Cindy's... hehe.

I agree that there is nothing wrong with using tools, but you should know how to use them, and they should never be used as a bandaid or replacement for training. That may be true, but what happens when their dog learns to pull on the $20 harness? And then on the next tool they try? By which time the dog is bigger, stronger and the behaviour is more ingrained and harder to break.