huski

What does he do at night? Is he uncomfortable or frightened when out at a night trial? Or does he just loose focus? What kind of reward do you use for him - if it's food, does he get fed at night time or before/after a trial?

There are only two types of snacks or treats I feed; - Majority of the time I used cooked meat. Either left overs if we have any or I get cheap steak cuts from the supermarket for $3 or so and boil them, chop them into little pieces and use them as training treats. You can also use small pieces of cheese or kabana sausage. - Dried meat like liver treats, lamb puff, fish, etc etc - I don't get them from the supermarket but from pet supply shops. I get the natural dried treats or you can make your own. I'm not keen on things like schmackos, or any other processed dog treats.

Welcome to DOL! You have picked one of the best breeds out there Not that I am biased at all Like others I would suggest finding a good puppy pre school and taking your pup along. They cover all the basic things and it's a great opportunity to socialise your pup in a controlled environment. I would also have a read of the Puppy Development calendar, pinned at the top of this forum: http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=117592 Beagles can be very stubborn and head strong so you need to make sure you give your pup boundaries and lots of training. Finding an obedience club near you would be a great place to start - beagles as I'm sure you've discovered learn quickly, but can be easily distracted by their urge to scent and can be quite willful and stubborn if you let them get away with things. They will push the boundaries so you need to stick to your guns when it comes to training. Pop into the training forum and read the "Triangle of Temptation" training program that is pinned at the top, this is a great place to start and very useful for beagles who generally have a high food drive. In regards to biting your pup is still learning about bite inhibition, it is a behaviour you want to discourage or it will continue as she gets older. You need to teach her that it's not acceptable - if she nips you give a yelp and say 'no' - I found redirecting them to a toy they can nip instead was helpful too. If she persists with nipping get up and ignore her, do not give her any attention for nipping and reward her when she is calm. As others have said in regards to toilet training take her out a couple of times a night (you might find crate training will help with toilet training too) - in the next few weeks as she gets older she will be able to hold her bladder through the night so it won't be forever. Always reward her for toileting in the right spot and if you catch her in the act inside silently pick her up and put her outside. And last but not least we need lots of puppy pics! It's compulsory

This is probably completely wrong, but anyway... I had minimal luck teaching it from the heel position so I stood in front of Daisy and lured her into a stand that way. As soon as she stood, I would jackpot and give her a few treats as long as she stayed standing. I also sat on a chair with her facing me in a sit and started giving her the 'stand' voice command, encouraging her to stand etc. It probably took 20 minutes in total and the instant she started offering the behaviour it clicked in her brain and now she will stand on voice command Not 100% solid yet but at least she is getting there

Fingers crossed for Mandela Erny. I hope you get some more constructive advice on monday!

Total training novice here - is there something wrong with using food or toys as rewards? If you work to increase the dog's drive and focus using their primary drive (be it food or prey) you could get amazing heel work. I am yet to come across a 'better' way of getting great obedience out of a very food driven dog other than using food I don't think there is anything wrong with using what is most motivating for the dog - maybe I am just lazy because I am always inclined to use the best and most efficient method when it comes to training ETA: I will never phase out the food I use in training, I will just increase the time that the dog can work without getting a reward. I'm not silly - I know what best motivates my dog and I know she will never work as well purely for praise or whatever.

Do you mean it's a bit too cold? It's been 25 degrees each day in Brissy so it's not really cold here yet... To the OP - if I was able I would let her have outside access as well as inside. When Daisy was a pup I sectioned off part of the back deck for her so she had inside and outside access and she loved it.

Once again it goes back to risk, I believe it is up to me to protect my dogs not let my dogs try to protect themselves. So, she goes into avoidance, and is not always comfortable around other dogs, yet she's confident? From your posts it doesn't sound like she really enjoys socialising with other dogs and isn't interested in playing with them either. Why force her into situations where she has to interact with other dogs if all she wants to do is avoid them?

I dont think this is an issue. Why should you only trial if your dog has been training for a certain amount of time or is up to a certain standard? He can go around a course and thats all the matters. Is he ready to trial???....well is he ready to train? A trial for me will simply be a training day, in a different environment with a pen and paper. Im not looking for ribbons at the moment, im needing the experience in the ring and that in my opinion is alot more important. Trialing should simply be looked at as just another normal traning day for you and your dog. I have to agree with poodlefan here, I wouldn't rush my dog just because *I* want trialling experience despite my dog not being ready for the ring. I don't think it's about me at all, I wouldn't push my dog just for myself. I won't enter my dog in a trial until I know 110% that she is ready for it and she will perform to the best of her ability. I wouldn't trial and just hope to pass, I want to trial when I know we are ready and we're going to give it all we've got. Shouldn't our dog being ready be more important than what we want?

But once again (and apologies for repeating myself as I mentioned this in your other thread) some of us aren't comfortable with taking the risk that our dogs can diffuse a dangerous situation or risk thinking that very few dogs that display signs of aggression are actually going to aggress, and let our dogs approach them just to test that theory. I'm not going to muck around with dogs who display aggressive behaviour in the hope of 'habituating' my dog to their bad behaviour. You may not think that signs like posturing, hackles up, teeth bared, tail up and waving slowly etc are signs of aggression or a big danger signal but some of us do and will take serious action to avoid dogs displaying such body language. You mentioned that Kivi can 'read' dog language very well and if confronted by a dog showing signs dominance/aggression or whatever, that he will throw himself on the ground in a submissive position, and this diffuses the situation. If you let Kivi run up to a rank aggressive dog like Micha and throw himself on the ground in submission it would make Micha more likely to aggress. He's more inclined to grab a dog and scruff it that is being submissive then he is a dog that stands it's ground. What would you do then? If you don't think that dogs displaying signs of aggression are likely to aggress then what happens if you let your dog approach it to handle the situation himself and the dog does attack? I can guarantee you that Kivi lying in a submissive position would not save him if he encountered a dog that was rank aggressive. Again it goes back to the risk we are willing to take, I would never let my dog approach a strange dog that was showing signs of aggression and I wouldn't rely on my dog to diffuse the situation. That is the point some of us are trying to make - we don't believe the risk to our dogs is worth it.

Dairy is a generally a no with the exception of the things you listed above - I feed a raw diet and regularly feed natural yoghurt, it is really good for dogs and the 'good' bacteria in it can help with their digestion. I also feed tinned sardines and mackeral a few times a week.

Just bumping this up as it looks like I will be house sitting for my cousin for a few days over the next two weeks (she has two business trips to make) to look after little Harry. His cast has come off and he will be safely contained during the day when I'm at work, but I was wondering if anyone had any tips for mentally stimulating him to give him an outlet for his energy? He is a very energetic dog. Any tricks I could teach him that wouldn't put a lot of pressure on his leg? I think he knows all the basic commands, although I have been thinking I could teach him purely voice commands or hand signals if he doesn't know one or the other, and maybe do something like TOT with him? Any ideas? Any toys that are good to keep him occupied during the day apart from a kong?

LOL, well he has been training since he was like 5 years old and has been an instructor for the german shepherd dog cub...he thinks he knows alot more than me and tells me the dog needs rules. I've tried it the nice way now do it the harder way he thinks. He is a positive trainer but thinks there has to be some sort punishent in the 'getting mad at him' sense when he just wont listen.... i know this has worked in the past but its a risk IMO there is a time for corrections (even voice corrections) and with anything there is no point in using them it's not the clearest way to communicate to the dog. I would only correct a dog if they failed to comply with a known command, and I knew they were blowing me off (i.e. it wasn't for any other reason such a stress/too high a distraction level etc). Most times a simple 'Daisy!' or 'Look!' will get her back on track. I don't think simply being harder on the dog is the best route to take when it's an issue with focus. You can't force a dog to focus on you or see you as more exciting than the smell on the ground.

Have you looked at how you've proofed his commands/focus in distracting environments? I can't talk in regards to agility because I don't do it, but if I lose Daisy's focus I give her a quick 'ah' to get her focusing back on me. If it happens consistently I'd consider that I need to do more work to proof her commands under distraction etc.

I think the point some are trying to make Corvus is that you have said yourself that you don't always see a dog that is acting in an aggressive manner as aggressive (i.e. hackles up, snarling, posturing, chasing a smaller dog and trying to pin it down etc). Some of us would take action to avoid a dog like that and stop our dogs approaching it the instant we see signals from it that make us uncomfortable. There would be no 'jerking the dog out of its path at the last minute', we would be removing our dogs the instant we see it whether it is charging at us or not. You don't think that dogs that display aggressive signals are always going to attack, and you're happy to let your dogs approach them just to see what happens as you think they have the skills to diffuse an attack. I think the point some of us are trying to make is that we won't take that chance.

I think I know what you're getting at Jigsaw in regards to the difference between self control and calmness. I wouldn't train for calmness necessarily but focus and self control. I see drive training as putting the control back in and getting the dog to be able to have that self control/focus when their brain would normally go into that instinctive drive peak, where they aren't quite so capable of rational thought or able to use their brain constructively (in terms of learning/training). If that makes any sense

Ah, for Daisy 'working' is putting her nose on the ground scenting is a like a drug she is addicted to. Before I started drive training we would go to obedience club each week and she would do a sit/stay and would stretch her neck out to try and scent without breaking the stay! She would have moments of great focus but it wasn't consistent and what I could offer was not as high value as the smell that was on the ground. Because I was constantly competing with her urge to scent, she wouldn't learn as quickly, because the focus wasn't there enough... if that makes sense?

Of course you are not sure LOL, as I am trying desperately to think of the right questions to ask. Hopeless me. OK...I will try again. Do you find drive or clicker training easier to condition/teach CALMNESS? Ok well I'm a total novice when it comes to training so I am only speaking about my dog - but I would get better focus in training when training in drive. I think this better focus and increased eagerness to comply with my command helps Daisy learn better. If she's not training in drive it is much easier for her to get distracted and go into drive just by scenting so the ability to train well is decreased.

Not 100% sure what you are asking, LL but Daisy is a dog who goes into drive peak very easily, I know that I would never get the reliability or 'spark' I want if I don't train in drive. I would never hold her focus over a scent without drive training.

I think Roux might?

Me too... I have three and they are great

I am happy to just see how Daisy goes but I would ultimately love to enter her in a CCD trial this year. The big dream is a CCD title but I'm not in a hurry

Wow!! Congrats RubyStar. That's fantastic! Do you have a video?

Will PM you too Seita.

Tilly... I have done a take the lead puppy class. Will PM you :rolleyes: