huski

I have three of K9's leather leashes and they are the best!! I can't use anything else now, nothing is as nice and soft

You gave her away because she was a puppy that bit you?

My beagle has a habit of barking at meal time too, because she gets very excited. I found using the triangle of temptation when training was helpful as you put the dog on a tie out, and then go in and prepare their meal and you don't come back out until they are quite. Daisy knows she has to go through the process of sit, stay, look etc before getting her food and there is never any barking during that time as she knows she has to be focused. http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=64101

I think you are thinking of more prey drive than play drive, if you are wanting him to engage with a tug?

Well I found one tin of mackeral at woolies yesterday! It was the woolies home brand (from Nundah!). I shared it between all four animals (including the cat). I gave it to Micha and Daisy with their chicken wings. All the animals loved it and responded really well to it, no runny poos or upset tummies today so I might try buying a tin a week. I put sardines in my BARF mix but the dogs don't have it every day and I think the extra fish will be good for them. I will also keep my eye out for whole fresh sardines from the fish monger, will let you guys know how the dogs go if I find any Kat I've never given the dogs tinned salmon, but we eat it ourselves quite often It always seems more expensive than mackeral or sardines?

My dogs prefer raw, but up to them I guess - although raw mince with the sardines mixed in might be quite tempting! they could also try mixing the sardines into the dried food. Have they had her checked out by the vet?

When they take her food away, when do they next give it to her? A dog won't starve themselves. If there are no medical reasons for it, I wouldn't pander to her at all - I would put the food down, take it away after 15 minutes and give it to her at the next meal. Have they tried a little bit of human quality mince maybe mixed with some sardines?

What are they feeding her?

I am by no means an expert but in my limited experience with e-collars this sounds like an odd story... I've never seen a dog with a good quality e-collar on scream in reaction to it, I think you would be surprised if you put an e-collar on your arm and felt the stim it's really not as bad as people make it out to be. If I had pinpointed the cause of barking and found an anti-bark collar was a suitable solution, I would use an e-collar before any others - they have the highest rate of success and I would rather spend my money on a tool that has the highest chance of working rather than things like citronella collars or sonic sound machines as they are expensive but have a lot lower rate of success. I know nothing about poodles but I can't see any reason why you couldn't use an e-collar on her without affecting her coat :D What do they have to occupy them during the day? They sound like they could be a bit bored and under-stimulated... what sort of boredom busting toys do they have to play with? If it was me, I would set up a video camera and film the dogs over the course of a day or two. I would then watch it back to see if and when they barked, and try to pin point a reason for their barking and go from there. You might have one dog that sets the others off and this may be the only dog whose barking you need to tackle (as opposed to all five of them). ETA: In my experience it is not pleasant to live near a nuisance barker, never mind five! So if your dogs really are barking all day IMO your neighbours are completely justified in complaining. Of course some neighbours are more polite than others, and I can understand if the neighbours are unpleasant to deal with... but if it was me I would mention the barking too. At least they said something to you first as opposed to going directly to the council!

What Persephone said!! A dog that gets told off for coming when its called is not going to want to obey you. A dog that ignores you in favour of doing other things (i.e. running around the yard) is doing so because in their eyes, what you are offering is no where near as excited or high value as what they are doing. You can also teach your dog a bad habit by giving it a command you know it's not going to obey (i.e. calling them when you know they aren't going to come) - this sets them up to fail because they learn that they don't always have to obey you. I never punish my dogs for obeying a known command - I would also be doing a lot of focus work with your dogs as teaching them a command in a low distraction environment like your home or their backyard is very different to getting them to obey the command in an environment that is a lot more distracting. Ultimately - they are both still puppies and they are both still learning. Pups don't become 100% reliable with commands over night, it takes a lot of work, training, consistency etc to get them there and training is never really complete or finished.

Thanks Erny I agree with the above. I would only use an anti-bark collar if I had exhausted other possibilities for the dogs barking like boredom - and I wouldn't use one on a dog barking out of stress/anxiety. My bitch here who barks because she likes the sound of her own voice however... :D

I think there was a thread recently on them - I don't think they have a particularly high success rate. I think the electronic anti-bark collars and the AirJet anti-bark collars are the ones with the highest success rate. Is it all five dogs that bark? It could be expensive getting anti-bark collars for five dogs! What sort of mental and physical stimulation do they get each day?

I just did a quick search and here is a great thread that discusses Dodd's view on vaccinations: http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...=134887&hl=

Yes - thats from salmon from the Pacific Northwest of the USA The salmon we get here is fine Phew - that's what I thought when I read the article (that it was the US and not related to our salmon) but it's good to have confirmation

But shouldn't the instructor understand when the OP says they aren't comfortable with using it?

I agree, I had a hard time getting Daisy's focus as a pup when she was at obedience club for that long too. Are there any other obedience clubs near you? Maybe you can start a new thread for some recommendations? If it makes you feel any better, the first time I took Daisy to obedience club I left in tears (literally) because she was SO badly behaved!! We were getting stares from everyone else, it was clear I was the worst owner there and Daisy was the devil dog But with perseverance, patience and time you get there in the end, I think it's important to recognise your breed and how different dogs learn things differently.

I think if you have them in the yard you will have them anyway. I've never heard of it being a problem, but I haven't had a sandpit in a while.

Nah it sounds like he just has what we call "zoomies"! Sudden bursts of energy where he just wants to be crazy and play You could try getting him one of those plastic kid's clam shells, you can get them pretty cheaply, and filling it with sand. You can bury treats and toys in there, and encourage him to dig there instead of in the yard.

Thanks Anita, will hunt around for some

I've never fed it before, but I have tried these: http://www.barfaustralia.com/products.php?pid=1 Whereabouts are you in Brissy? If you are northside, Pet Centro on Sandgate Rd in Clayfield stocks the BARF patties.

Tinned mackerel. You usually have to look on the very top or very bottom shelf, but it's cheap and contains lots of good stuff (and no chewy heads). I have been told about tinned mackeral!! My local Woolies doesn't appear to stock it, but I have seen one tin at Coles. They either must put it in a really tricky place to find or it is just that unpopular that they don't stock it. I would love to try it as something different to tinned sardines. I will look for the mackeral and the fresh sardines next time I am at the shopping centre!

Thanks for the tip annieK, I haven't seen them at any of the fish places near me but I will definitely ask next time I am there! Greytmate, I don't think it was that they didn't like it, but that they really struggled to eat it. I found it hard to cut through the skin even with my cleaver. I don't know if it was because the head is usually tough, or that it felt different to the meat the dogs normally eat and that was off putting for them. Daisy tried really hard to eat hers but just couldn't manage it. It wasn't too bad except for the slimy-ness! Raw meat doesn't normally bother me, but this was probably the most off putting of the meat I have given them.... especially when I tried to cut it into smaller bits with the cleaver, it is so tough and slimy and gross

I gave the dogs a salmon head each tonight, I was very excited to be giving them some fish other than tinned sardines. The dogs went wild for them but really struggled to eat much of the salmon. They still had the spine on, they were huge: Both dogs at the spine, daisy couldn't manage to eat any more which is really unusual for her. I think she found it too tough and just couldn't work out how to eat it. Micha ate the fins and some of the inside, but left most of the head. I cut a smaller piece off for Daisy and she was really eager to eat it but couldn't manage it. When I took it off her she followed me around while I was holding it, so it wasn't that she was uninterested. Is there any other kind of fish I can give them that's good for them, cheap and easier for them to eat?

A raw diet can be great, but dog food roll is not considered to be part of a raw/BARF diet. There is a great Dr Billinghurst book called "grow your pup with bones" that I would highly recommend reading. You don't have to feed dried if you want to do a raw diet, go for it, but it is best to leave out the dog food roll and read up on raw/BARF diets so you know how to feed the right balance. We use the guide of 80% raw meaty bones (chicken wings, necks, frames, lamb necks and shanks, beef bones, salmon heads etc) and 20% vegies, fruit and offal. I also make up a BARF mix that includes beef mince (human grade not pet mince), raw fruit, vegies, sardines, yoghurt and offal. It is important to get the right balance when feeding a pup. ETA: You can also buy pre-made Dr Billinghurst BARF patties online and in certain pet supply shops, which would be a good alternative if you don't want to make them your self.

Welcome to DOL! I personally don't like haltis, as I find they aren't a particularly effective tool for *teaching* loose leash walking, especially as often if you take it off the dog will still pull. There was a thread recently on haltis, you might like to read here: http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=159464 The problem with a dog that pulls, is that any time they are allowed to do it they are learning that strength gets them where they want to go. I used the technique of changing direction with my dogs as soon as they started pulling and this worked well for them as they learned they can't get any where they want to go by pulling. What sort of treats are you using? If I am using food to train I only use really high value treats like chicken, sausage, cheese etc. I never use dried treats - always something soft and smelly. She may not be that food driven - does she like toys? Maybe you can try using her ball or a tug toy as a reward instead of food? ETA: I agree with Cosmolo that it might be worthwhile for you to look at doing a couple of one on one lesson with a trainer, so they can show you the right techniques that are suitable for your dog