huski

What Kavik said Go and watch a class before joining, that would never happen at the club I've trained at.

:D That's appalling. I would run a mile from this place ;) There are plenty of obedience clubs in Sydney and I'm sure DOLers can recommend some reputable ones.

Hey Neats Glad to hear you had a great consult with Jane, and that you have better understanding of the problems you've been having It always feels so good after having someone put it in perspective for you!

looking at her dog I doubt very much she will be tired Then what's the point exercising the dog if it's not going to make a difference? If I was going to have a consult with a trainer I would want them to see my dog when it's being it's normal self, not when it's puffed out from having a run around, it's when the dog is full of energy that I would imagine she is the hardest to control. No point having a consult with the trainer if they are only going to work with your dog when they are more worn out than usual. TBH I'd find it a PITA having to exercise my dog before every training session, just to make it easier for the trainer to teach us. ETA: I would want the trainer to see the dog in it's normal mode to start with because I know that's when I'd need assistance the most.

I don't like to exercise my dogs before training. I want lots of energy and I find if they are tired it's harder for them to stay interested and focused. I agree with Laffi that you want the trainer to see Tilly as her normal self not when she's tired. She's not tired when she normally pulls on the leash.

Yeah damn those lucky special group people We're just coming down for the Friday too

Yep just two weeks

I agree, Micha and Daisy love fruit and vegies. They'll eat apples, pear, lettuce, carrot, any of the root vegies etc and I ensure that raw pureed vegies is part of their diet. Just not the entire part

I don't feed my dogs "tinned scraps". I feed a complete raw diet. Even when they were on dried food they still never ate tinned food. I am not accusing you (or anyone in particular) of doing so. But it's a fairly common diet for a dog, would you agree? But that's not what we're talking about. It's not whether or not a vegetarian diet is better than canned food, it's whether or not a vegetarian diet is the best and most appropriate diet you could feed your dog.

I don't feed my dogs "tinned scraps". I feed a complete raw diet. Even when they were on dried food they still never ate tinned food.

Im feeding my kids Veganpet kibble. Google it and it will come up. Has all the nutritional info on the website, and a full analysis done by the Professor of Applied Nutrition at Murdoch University. My dogs preferentially eat the Veganpet over their old meat based kibble. People have a very closed mind when it comes to vegetarianism, Ive heard all the insults before. It becomes boring. We have thought very hard about our belief systems, and really it comes down to what you can live with and what lets you sleep at night. I know my dogs are healthy, happy, content and fulfilled and I am not contributing to the slaughter of millions of animals to get there. I don't care if people chose to be vegetarians. But I will not buy the argument that it's right to feed dogs a vego diet purely because of our own beliefs. Dogs have evolved to eat raw meat and bones, and if they were left to their own devices that's what they would do. I don't buy the argument that they will do just as well on a vegetarian diet as they would on a complete canine diet that includes raw meat and bones. Sure they could survive just as they can survive on a range of sub-standard diets. But is it the best thing for them?

I feed what my dogs do best on. For many dogs, sub-standard diets cause a range of problems. Sure dogs can survive on food like PAL or pedigree or even in some cases a "balanced" vegetarian diet. But that doesn't mean it's the best thing for them.

Ah, sorry, I thought you said desexing your dog resulted in dogs dying. My bad. Dogs still have natural instincts and I don't believe that 'most' dogs if wild enough for long enough would let themselves starve without having their instinct to hunt take over. Dogs have evolved to eat raw food including meat and bone, whilst they scavange they are still predators.

I don't understand how desexing results in an animal dying :D I think of animals like dogs eating meat as a natural process, if they were in the wild that's what they would do and that's what they evolved to do over centuries. That's cool

I get the gross factor with wet (canned) food too - IMO it's revolting and not terribly nutritious so I don't feed it at all. Except for tinned sardines and mackeral. If she did have a dog now or was planning to get one in the immediate future I would definitely use arguments like the above, but she's the kind of person who refused to be on the kitchen roster at work because she was a vegetarian and some people who used the kitchne ate meat. Even if I talked to her rationally, she's not the kind of person to change her mind (I'd still try though :D ). That they are omnivores still doesn't change the fact they evolved to eat raw meat and bone. I'm not sold on the idea that my dogs would do as well on a vego diet as they do on a complete raw diet. Sure they could survive but is it really the best thing for them nutritionally? And desexing your dog is not just a moral argument like it would be forcing your dog to be a vegetarian.

It's not the dog's fault you find it disgusting If given the choice between vegies and raw meat I'm sure they'd chose the latter. I find puree-ing raw liver disgusting, but I know my dogs need it as part of their diet, so I put aside my own feelings to do what is best for them. I totally understand feeding a vego diet if it is for medical reasons but I just don't understand doing it to force your beliefs onto your dogs. Dogs evolved to eat raw food, they were designed to eat other animals. If my dogs were in the wild they'd kill other animals to eat. The thing that worried me most about this woman at work was that she thought that a balanced canine diet was the same as a balanced human diet, without understanding the differences between the two. Sure, a dog may be able to survive on a vego diet but will it do as well as it would when it's eating raw meat and bones too? Or fish, or egg, etc?

Nah, not worth it with this woman :D I just found it frustrating!

There's a lady at my work who is a vegetarian (practically vegan - she doesn't eat eggs or anything that 'has a mother'). She doesn't own a dog at the moment but is adamant that any animal she owns in the future will be a pure vegetarian too. She's had dogs in the past who she fed a home cooked 100% vego diet to. I don't think she really understands the difference in a human's dietary requirement vs a dog's, because from what she was telling me she'd basically feed the dog what she'd feed herself as a complete vegetarian diet including fake meat (i.e. I-can't-believe-it's-not-bacon). She wouldn't feed anything like fish or egg. I've seen vegetarian dried dog food before, I always assumed it was for dogs with allergies and that it would be a complete canine diet. I feed my dogs a raw diet, and I know this woman was quite horrified at the idea I feed them raw meat/meat. IMO it's really important for dogs to eat meat and raw bones (unless they can't for medical reasons). I don't think it's right to feed your animals a vegetarian diet just because you are vegetarian too - what does everyone else think?

Not really Just back from a Saturday night out and feeling a bit thpethal, so not tired yet

Well good for you for having a different word to help Daisy know the difference, and a word the family can't flatten. That's part of the reason I have a different word in the first place So my family can't "taint" it by using it wrongly

I don't think that's funny, just shows where the value for your 'here' is. If you put the reward value into a word/command and don't flatten it by not rewarding, it is a valuable command, as it should be. Dogs don't understand words, only value for particular words after multiple repetitions of the word paired with reward. Yes, absolutely, but I meant funny more from a family perspective - considering that my family have no real clue when it comes to training, they don't "get" why Daisy isn't as enthusiastic when they recall her compared to when I recall her. It's sort of the same when my sister feeds the dogs in the morning and tells Daisy "go get it" or something to that effect instead of "ok" which is the release command I taught her - and then doesn't understand why Daisy doesn't race over to her food there are mornings when I've woken up because my sister has been yelling "go get it!! I said you can have it!" and is perplexed as to why Daisy is maintaining her stay :)

I'm the opposite - I use 'here' for drive work (obedience) and everyone else in my family uses 'come' - quite funny as now Daisy won't come properly to 'come' but speeds over as soon as I say 'here'

SC Dog Obedience Club link is HERE You could also try: http://www.caboolturedogobedience.com.au/ If Caboolture is any where near you

I was lucky last year with Micha as I bought Daisy's large crate down with us. He'd never been crated before in his life (he was six years old at the time) but he was an angel and loved it. I didn't hear a peep out of him. Daisy on the other hand loves her crate unless she wants to get out because there's tonnes of interesting things going on I am dreading her barking, I don't like my chances of getting her to sit still for the day :)

Hi Mish From memory Camp Tailwaggers have crates there that you might be able to borrow. You don't have to crate your dog but it does make it easier especially if he is not friendly to other dogs, as it gives him somewhere to feel secure. You don't need to worry about other dogs running up to him, as the space is quite big and we all keep our dogs on leash or crated. If you know he'd be comfortbale in (reasonably) close proximity to other dogs on leash then don't worry about crating him ETA: Just three weeks to go!