huski

I don't see fasting a dog for a meal or two or decreasing the amount in their food, so you can then feed them their meal through training, as a bad thing at all. It's normal and healthy for a dog to fast. I'd like to know how rewarding a dog with a walk is going to work when you're free shaping, or doing heel work, or really any number of obedience exercises? What if the dog is not motivated by toys? LOL - what do you mean? Have you ever had an insanely food driven dog who is always hungry? What an odd thing to say. I guess my dog is never "happy"

Very nice Huski. How does she go if you don't physically point to the dumbell? Thanks I tried this tonight - if I show it to her and put it on the ground without pointing to it she'll pick it up. She was a bit slower to start with than if I pointed to it, but after a couple of gos she will pick it up as soon as I show it to her and put it on the ground. The pointing is my bad habit

I've never seen a recipe for satin balls that looked any good to me. If I needed to fatten a dog up, i would be feeding things liked lamb, canned sardines or mackeral, yoghurt etc.

Ok I found a way to upload videos on the computer I'm using, so here's a short one of Daisy from this afternoon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nen2CNq4ZMw You can see how she nudges the dumbell with her nose in one shot, once I have her really reliably picking it up I'll work on only rewarding the times she picks it up without nudging it. She's probably not holding it far enough back in her mouth either (???) - lots to work on but considering yesterday was her first ever exposure to doing anything with the dumbell, I'm really pleased with how she's going.

Thanks guys! She is picking it up quite consistently now. She's very excited about it :D I'm so pleased that she's cottoned on to it so quickly! I think I might just go with 'fetch' for the command word as it will probably be the natural thing I say when I want her to get it ;) Seita I haven't asked Steve about it, will have a chat to him about training a nice retrieve next time I email him. I'd love to do a quick video to show you guys how she's picking it up, but I broke my laptop and I don't have film or editing software on the computer I'm using now Perhaps when I get my new laptop in a couple of weeks, she'll be closer to doing a more formal retrieve :D

Thanks RS First training session this morning and she was quite consistently picking it up and bringing it to me over a short distance. Drops it as soon as I mark it She couldn't spit it out fast enough when she knows food is coming! I meant to ask, what command word do people use for the retrieve? I'm not doing any more than pointing at the dumbell now, but I'm curious what command everyone uses?

Yes - that's right. Only illegal for use in Victoria. But I agree with Persephone that I wouldn't like to put a PPCollar in the hands of someone who doesn't know how to use it. Mind you, I wouldn't like to put a Head Collar in the hands of someone who doesn't know how to use that, either. Totally agree, Erny! I hate to think that any tool is in the hands of someone who is likely to use it incorrectly.

Those noses can be used for good and not evil, sometimes I think Daisy would really excel at tracking, I definitely want to give it a go with her but might focus on obedience for a while first.

Beagles are still used for scent work, either in dog sports like tracking or for real work like customs with AQIS. Sledding is a dog sport now but quite popular among Sibe owners and breeders

Actually chopping up some raw meat sounds like a great idea! I just chopped up some raw carrot and apple and she loved it. In fact she loved it so much that she actually picked the dumbell up off the ground and held it!!!! You could have picked my jaw up off the ground! Not only once but several times through out last training session. She picked it up off the ground once and I made a massive fuss over it, then she just kept doing it, like "Oh, so this is all you want me to do?" First day of dumbell training and third training session, she learns to pick it up off the ground, I couldn't be more chuffed! She isn't really holding it if I hand it to her, she still puts her mouth on it but without a proper grip. If I put it on the ground and point to it, she picks it up. So I'm not sure if I'm doing it right, but I'm glad she seems to be getting it! I think I've seen that one before - I need to find some raw sardines, they are an excellent idea for a big training session!!

Yes, it's hard to keep Daisy slim too She will gorge herself on any food she can get her paws on! She ate more than a kilo of cat food when she last managed to open the container I feed them on a raw diet so it's hard to use their daily meals as training treats when you are shaping something and only want to give them little bits. Thankfully I pretty much always train new things at home, so I don't need to use anything particularly high value as even a piece of lettuce is hugely exciting to Daisy in a low distraction environment! When we're doing drive training and are out and about in high levels of distraction I always use something soft and smelly, usually cooked meat of some description. She tends to get so excited that she'll swallow things without chewing, so using anything dried slows us down as she stops to cough it up. It's not so bad at home, because I try not to get her as excited when we're just learning new things or shaping. I always get torn though when it comes to using high value meat for training as it's hard to find something healthy - sausage, kabana, luncheon roll etc are all pretty fatty even when I feed them in tiny tiny pieces. Often I'll get lean beef pieces or chicken and boil it then chop them up to use as training treats as it's a bit lower in fat than processed food like sausage. I get worried about it as if you train multiple times a day, whatever food you use to reward really does become part of their daily diet!

Thanks Bedazzled, I'm hoping she continues to pick it up quickly, she was quite excited when I pulled it out for the second training session today! I'll have to be careful though as I'm rewarding her a lot at the moment (with tiny cat biscuits) and it's always surprising how quickly you go through food rewards when training something new I don't want a (fatter) beagle! I might switch to little bits of carrot or something to help keep the calories down

I realised that after I typed it, Bedazzled! I meant more that she'd touch it as soon as I presented the dumbell or if I pointed to it. I'm trying not to put any verbal cues on it just yet. Second training session with it this afternoon and she's putting her mouth on it now, not with any real grip, but it's not bad progress for one day! She seems to be cottoning on to it quite quickly. Hopefully it won't be too long before she actually picks it up! (the hardest stage to teach I'm sure!). I didn't think she'd put her mouth on it so soon but she did it suddenly so I eagerly marked it and rewarded rewarded rewarded!

oops double post

I bought out the dumbell today - I haven't done any work with Daisy with it and within five minutes she 'got' that I wanted her to touch it with her nose and she'll touch it on command now. I'm sure it will take ages before she actually mouths it or picks it up but so far so good I tried training her with it a bit about six months ago but I found it hard, as soon as she realised I had food she completely lost interest in the dumbell... she's definitely getting it now though (I've never taught her to touch anything before ) so I'm sure we'll get there eventually.

Very bad manners! I would never take my dogs to anyone's house without asking first.

Has anyone bought the t-shirts before? Are they good quality?

Damn you Tiggy! I've found tonnes of cool beagle shirts on there! There's one with a print that looks like Daisy and one that says "OBEY THE BEAGLE", hehe. Must have now

Spottychick - I know it's a moot point anyway, but I'm quite certain (happy to be corrected) that prongs are only illegal in Victoria.

Thanks, Rotty. I've had the metal ones before but I prefer the soft crates as they are easier to lug around for training/workshops/trials etc. I bought mine from ebay, it's the best quality crate I've ever had: http://myworld.ebay.com.au/aussiepetstuff/

I just have bedding in Daisy's crate. I put her food bowl in there for meals and take it out when she's finished. She puts the toys in there herself

So, by your definition, prey drive is only exhibited when a dog is intent on killing something; but a dog who chases, grabs and kills something is not always exhibiting prey drive? I don't think it's accidental that he's killed numerous possums and a couple of bats, his instinct to chase and grab things that are moving is pretty high. I'm certain that anyone who met him would see him going after a possum as an example of prey drive. Sorry, I'm not sure what this is in relation to? You asked me if I'd seen my dog kill anything and I was describing to you what it looks like and how it's not that different to him treating his toy. Why so snitchy?

I have some videos on my utube channel from when I was doing drive building with Daisy. I think Shoemonster has some of Ed in the early stages too. Mine aren't particularly good, but it might give you an idea of what it looks like. I've been doing the distance course with Steve and it's fantastic I have seen two of Daisy, non of Ed but would love to see them My headache is down to a dull roar and the temp outside is 42 so sitting infront of the computer sounds good to me! We're having terrible weather here, I really wanted to spend my week off doing loads of training but it's been storming non stop so it's hard to get out of the house! Will PM you some more videos so as not to further hijack the thread :D

I have some videos on my utube channel from when I was doing drive building with Daisy. I think Shoemonster has some of Ed in the early stages too. Mine aren't particularly good, but it might give you an idea of what it looks like. I've been doing the distance course with Steve and it's fantastic

I'm not quite sure on the specific reasons why they have a lower rate of HD, I would suggest it's probably a combination of things. I guess when breeding dogs for sledding those who were lame in anyway would not have been bred from, and this artificial selection based on the dog's workability probably contributed to the fact we still have a pretty healthy breed.