huski

I am assuming a "spoodle" is a cocker spaniel x poodle? I am never sure what type of "spaniel" they use in that particular cross LOL. The dog did not know what he did wrong - he was following his instinct. My dog has a high prey drive, too, and he has caught bats and possums that have come into our yard. He is NEVER punished for this - chasing and grabbing a possum for him is NO different to chasing and grabbing a ball or squeaky toy I through for him. IMO punishing a dog in these circumstances is the wrong thing to do because you are punishing the dog for following its natural instinct. He does NOT know what he has done is wrong. He does not connect your yelling and tying him up after he killed the chicken with the actual act. As others have said, make sure the chicken pen is very secure and do not assume he won't try and kill them again (even with "punishment"). Despite the old wives tail he doesn't now have the "taste of blood" or anything and he is still the same gentle dog he was before. His instinct was the same then. Nothing has changed.

I wish I had considered this before the first time I cleaned her ears - I was following the vets direction of put a couple of drops in her ears and I didn't really consider an alternate way to do it. Now she won't even let me lift her ears up, and she has no interest in any food if she thinks I am going to clean her ears. I have been trying to "desensitise" her by touching her ears and lifting them when I am giving her a pat but she knows as soon as I have cleaning liquid in my hand (on a cotton ball or otherwise). The only table I could put her on she can jump down off - which I am sure she will do if I try and clean her ears efs

Hi everyone Daisy my beagle has very dirty ears. Naturally being a beagle or a breed with ears that hang over this is not uncommon. However, I have been given medicated ear cleaning solution from the vet and bought stuff from my pet supplies shop to clean her ears with.... the problem being she goes psycho at the slightest hint of solution in her ear. It has gotten so bad I can't even lift her ear up (have tried cleaning it with a cotton wool pad soaked in solution) without her running away or struggling. This has been happening since the first time I tried to put a drop of cleaning solution in her ear, as soon as it was in she ran around the house crying and wailing (it would literally have been a couple of drops). Is there another approach? I have tried getting her and forcing it in, getting her when she is calm and relaxed and giving her a treat for it. She won't even come near me if she sees the ear cleaning stuff - she actually chewed the bottle the other day!! As I said she won't even let me lift her ear up even if I don't have the ear cleaning bottle. Her ears are so dirty that they are even a bit smelly I don't want them to get infected - help!

A check chain, like any training tool, if used correctly will not do any damage to the dog. I have used checks when training my beagle and I have had no issues. IMO a check chain is safer and more preferable to use than a halti! ETA: My preference is for martginales.

When you get this problem sorted out - maybe investigate feeding BARF You don't even have to make it up yourself - a lot of places sell frozen BARF patties now.

The dog is not a freak of nature. It is a product of its environment. We are simply frustrated that you are not taking this seriously enough to consult a behaviourist like K9. We are concerned for you, your family and your dog. You would not get this passion and frustration through our posts if we thought it wasn't for a good reason. Your kids writing letters and poems are not going to stop this dog from biting again. ETA: Frank I don't feel as though you are taking this seriously. This is not an issue you can blame on breed, breeding or the dog itself, really. You need to take his warning as a serious message to you that the dog is not happy.

How is it that you know it is up to you and your family whether he bites or snaps again??????? A dog is NOT going to tell you when he/she bites or snaps............ And it is not necessarily going to give you lots of warning, or another "snaps" before turning around and doing some serious damage. ETA: "A growing issue" Come on frank - it is NOT NORMAL and it is NOT a sign of a happy, well adjusted dog to BITE its owner and draw blood. This dog is terrified of you and it is only going to get worse.

Frank, A normal, well balanced and well trained dog - regardless of breed - DOES NOT BITE THEIR OWNER. A dog that bites its owner DOES NOT HAVE ANY TRUST of that owner. You knew that the incident about Bailey biting you would get a reaction because YOU know it is NOT normal, if it was, you would not be concerned about our reaction. If you keep on the path you are on your poor pup will get worse and god knows what damage he will do. He is confused, scared and is lacking proper training. This is not us giving opinion, this is a warning. Please PLEASE take the advice you have been told here on board - go and see K9 Force, just to confirm that you think you are doing the right thing - honestly, what damage can it do?

I just uploaded a video of daisy doing some very basic obedience! We are still learning and are MAJOR amateurs. The rest of you will probably find this highly entertaining :rolleyes:

As CavNrott said :rolleyes: Frank needs to see a behaviourist and learn how to train his dog one on one. In house-training is not the only form of "intensive" treatment - a behaviourist like K9 Force would be more than able to help Frank and his family out in a session or two.

Why should I be familiar with his process? I do not see the benefit in training a dog without the owner there to watch the progress and understand the theory behind it. You said that Austin's staff help the owners - who trains the dog? Austin or his staff? Why would Austin's staff show the owner how to train the dog if they weren't the ones to train it in the first place? I have heard too many nightmare stories about places that you send your dog to to get trained that I could not be comfortable leaving my dog in the hands of the staff at these places because I cannot see what they are doing to get the results they promise. And as I said above - the dog could work well for a qualified behaviourist but it is transferring this handling knoweldge to the owner and making them capable to handle the dog that is difficult. Steve Austin may be able to train a dog in two weeks to do basic obedience but that does not guarentee it will work for the owner, if they haven't been taught how to achieve that obedience. A training session with a behaviourist should not take much time. I only needed one two hour session with the trainer I used to help me with my dogs dog-agro/dominance. The effort and time you will need to put in afterwards would be the same as getting Steve Austin to train your dog. He does need urgent help, as we have mentioned, he is also not too far away from Steve at K9 Force who has been in this thread giving Frank advice. ETA: I just want to clarify, I have nothing against Hanrob or Steve Austin I just don't believe in sending your dogs away for training, because it is about YOU being trained moreso than the dog.

Thanks Steve that's really interesting, I was talking to another beagle owner and thought it could be part of prey drive - there is hope for beagles yet

K9: http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...5&hl=drives Ta steve K9: It sounds like your dog has already found a way to gain drive satisfaction, scenting, this means as you try & interupt that, you become part of the problem not part of the solution (drive satisfaction), yeah? I like to teach dogs that "scent work is the way you earn your rewards" not that it is rewarding all on its own... Does that make sense? (or scents? lol) LOL yes it does make sense How can I teach her this when we are working, for example, in class setting? Or is that a complicated question? ETA: I guess what confuses me in this situation is I understand how to work in drive with a prey driven dog - my sibe is one - but I can't see how to apply the same theory to a scent hound... if that makes "scents"

If he hasn't got the time for it, then why have a dog? Behaviourial problems cannot be fixed by a quick visit to a dog trainer, you need to have consistency in the dogs home and with the dogs pack. In most cases it is about teaching the owner, not the dog. A trainer like Steve Austin may be able to handle problem dogs easily himself but that does not mean that Frank will be able to unless he is taught how to do so. Sending the dog away will be useless if Frank isn't going to continue the training at home. A quick example - my beagle will walk on a loose lead for me but not for my sister because my sister does not do any training with her and does not know how to control the dog or how to get her to walk on a loose lead. I would never let my dog be trained by someone without knowing exactly how they are planning to do so and how they plan to achieve any results. I would want to be there the whole time so that I can learn how to handle my dog too. ETA: Frank's problem is the dogs interactions with his children. How will sending the dog away to be trained by a stranger fix this?

Personally I would never recommend sending the dog away to be trained - firstly, you have no idea what training methods are being used or how the results are being achieved. I am very wary of places that do this. Secondly, if Frank is unwilling to change the way he treats the puppy and to learn how to train it more appropriately then it doesn't matter if this dog gets all the training from a behaviourist possible - if it isn't continued at home then the dog will revert back to its old habits. For any improvement it needs to come from the owners willingness to commit to training IMO.

Hi Everyone I have been reading about drive training and understanding drive. I am curious - I wouldn't say Daisy has a high prey drive, play drive or food drive - she is driven by scent. At training I use food as a reward, but even if the food is high value it won't work every time - for example if we are in a new place, she is still driven by the urge to smell rather than any interest in food. From memory there is a drive training thread but I have searched for it and can't find it How can I train her in drive? I really want to get her focus improved, as whilst it is ok at obed training it is not great all the time and it certainly isn't there when we go to new places. I hope this makes sense.

I have (happily) used Scotty's and VIP pet food rolls in the past.

ME! I would LOVE to!!!!! I will be the first to put my hand up, Rom

I think i need to meet these trainers.. Rotty - Jane is the trainer I recommended to you. Even if she can't help you she is worth meeting, she is a great lady and very knowledgable!

Steve is near the Blue Mountains in Kurrajong Heights, NSW. Approx 45 minutes to an hour from Parramatta according to his website. I think to drive down it takes about 16 hours? AFAIK Steve can cater from people coming from other states and can organise accomodation for you, I'd email him and have a chat

Rachelle - I am so jealous! The workshop sounds like an amazing experience. Jane is wonderful, she helped me with Micha's dominance/aggression issues and even helped me with difficult Daisy. She is fantastic

If the trainer recommended something drastic I would be getting a second opinion before making a decision. I can re-PM you those trainers details if you need them. She has rehabilitated a lot of very aggressive dogs. Thanks Husky, i'm not making any quick decisions on this. I still have the details of the one you sent through before. Good luck with it RL :D Training an agro dog can be very difficult but it is possible. Do not take this trainers word as final

Don't be fooled by their noses, beagles can and do make good obedience dogs if you put in the time and effort. The most basic command and one of the most important is to teach them to get their noses off the ground - I use the "look" command for my beagle Daisy if her nose is on the ground. Also as most beagles are quite highly food driven find a treat that you use only for training and one that is of high value to the dog. i.e. - the standard liver treats don't cut it when we are training, I use steamed chicken and/or kabana as treats when training instead. In standard obedience you might not be able to put her nose to "good use" but you can put that drive and determination into another outlet :D My beagle thrives with obed training. ETA: A lot of beagles owners are put off obedience because they don't see it as something their dog can be good at. I know a few beagles with obedience titles, it can be done and the dogs really enjoy it

The part of your quote I have bolded has me confused. You stalk and catch her without calling herand then smack her for not coming when called. How so? You said you didn't call her. If you mean you called her before the stalking and catching, why are you smacking her after the event? I second CavNrott - can you please explain the above bolded quote? No abuse - I just don't undestand what you are doing here.

If the trainer recommended something drastic I would be getting a second opinion before making a decision. I can re-PM you those trainers details if you need them. She has rehabilitated a lot of very aggressive dogs.