huski

Great! I have to say Laffi doesn't get the hand under the belly either lol LOL, I am still waiting for the connection to happen - if I take my hand away she won't always stay standing. damn automatic sits This way is at least easier than having my hand under her belly

LOL thanks LP, I felt a bit bad after saying that though as Daisy ended up behaving herself quite nicely at training last night I actually found a way to get her to stand without sitting again husky87, how do you do it? it turns out my dogs get very tired after standing for 3sec lol! Up until now I had her standing with my hand under her belly, but Daisy just didn't get it. I train with food, so I put a treat (I use chicken) in my hand, and after giving the signal to stand I close my hand into a fist, in front of Daisy's face. She stays standing to sniff/lick my hand. It's works well to get her to stay standing, because as soon as I would treat or praise her she would sit again LOL.

LOL thanks LP, I felt a bit bad after saying that though as Daisy ended up behaving herself quite nicely at training last night I actually found a way to get her to stand without sitting again

If you go to Metro make sure you come and say hello - I am usually there with daisy the tan and white beagle but occassionally I will take Micha my sibe (he is a BIG sibe) I'm the youngish girl with brown hair and I'm short :D

My minor brag (or more of a frustrating gripe, depending how you look at it :rolleyes: ) is when I took mish to obedience club for the first time as I normally only take Daisy and he got promoted to Daisy's class on the first night. He also has problems with other dogs and I am exceptionally proud of him when we can train in the class close to other dogs without his focus waning. It also makes me feel like less of a bad dog trainer when at least one of my dogs "gets" it, but at the same time it is frustrating because Daisy is much more difficult to handle

I go to Metro ( http://www.metrodogclub.com ) and it is brilliant. It offers puppy school, obedience and agility once your dog gets to a certain obedience level. It's right near Westfield Chermsie, on monday nights. All the info is on the website I have seen a few Weis there too :rolleyes:

Sooooooooo.... when are you going to start doing obedience trialling?? :rolleyes:

Ohhhhhhhhh I feel nervous just reading about trialling :D It will be at LEAST end of next year by the time Daisy is ready (if she is EVER ready ). Good luck Celeste for your trial, I hope you enjoy yourselves!!

I have used haltis/gentle leaders in the past but I'm not a fan. I've also used check chains and martingale collars. At the risk of repeating what others have said, the most successful "tool" I've used to stop my dogs pulling (and one of them is a husky so you can imagine pulling is a strong instinctive trait) is training. When my husky pulled on the lead, I would instantly change direction so he would have to catch up to me. I also have a beagle and I use food to reward the right behaviour. I also walk both of my dogs on a martingale collar so I can give them a correction if I need too - the martingale is my favourite training collar as it will adjust to fit behind the dogs ears and won't move, unlike a check chain which will slide down the dogs' neck, so it is very effective.

What is the reason? Do they drink their own pee or something? :D

This is the best I could find http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?s=&a...t&p=1829888 I hope one of us works out the way to get there I'm going to have a hard enough time getting to your house Erin :cool:

Hi Skuzy As you can probably tell I also have a sibey I had some behavioural issues with him and other dogs and contacted Steve at K9 Force to recommend a trainer for here in Brisbane. It was the best thing I've ever done When it comes to chosing a trainer Steve has a great article on his website about what to avoid: http://www.k9force.net/index.html?row2col2=choose.html

Yes I am happy with IAMS - but that is because my dog is doing well on it if that makes sense. IMO it is much better than what I was feeding him before (optimum). ETA: The dogs also get a meaty bone each most nights (usually a beef bone) so they have something to chew on instead of just chicken.

Not sure about the raw diet as I don't use it but this is what I feed my husky. One cup of IAMS in the morning - I usually add to the cup two chicken wings/some chicken necks and that's it for the day. I started him on IAMS whilst the other animals were on optimum. I have since switched the other two over to Royal canin and I have been considering changing Mish over to RC but I'm in no hurry as he does well on his current diet. He had his yearly check up a month ago and was 100% healthy so I'm happy. Sometimes we mix mince with vegies and pasta and feed it to the animals as a treat with their dried food but we don't do it that often.

Just a quick update to let those who are interested know I got around to taking Micha to training this week. A wonderful DOLer who works as a trainer at the club offered to put micha in her class so I coud do some desensitisation training with him. She has knows the behaviourist I've used and has done workshops with Steve from K9 Force and was very helpful! Before going I talked to our behaviourist and she agreed that as long as I could train micha at the right pace and distance for him that it would be beneficial taking him to class. I was so surprised at how well behaved micha was throughout the class. As it was a level one class there were a lot of young dogs and puppies which Micha always wants to dominate. However, I was able to get him as close as a couple of metres or so away from the other dogs without any lunging, or his focus being poor! He was very good during the sit/stays as he was next to a rotti which I thought he might feel intimidated by, however he was very focused on me the whole time. He didn't lunge or even raise his hackles once. This is enormous progess for him to be this comfortable around other dogs. His focus was much better than I expected especially considering that it was a new environment for him. I tried really hard to make it a very positive experience, he got lots of roast chicken treats I never expected him to be able to get so close to other dogs with no problems. Obviously, I didn't want to rush him in getting him closer to other dogs but his focus surprised me and improved greatly as the class went on. He even heeled quite nicely (for a sibe anyway ) I am glad that I've found a good place to take him for socialisation, where I can trust that the other dogs will be leashed etc and that he is comfortable there. I am thinking I'll take him once a month or so, and take daisy the rest of the time as she is the one that needs the most work :D I am just so proud of my boy right now!! :p efs

Midol you should try contacting the behaviourist I used, she will be able to show you the best techniques for handling Axle in these situations. Are there any dog obedience clubs on the sunshine coast near you where you could take him? As erny suggested a controlled environment would be ideal to work on desensitisation techniques, then you won't get dogs rushing at Axle but you can work with him around smaller dogs that are leashed. I have found training micha in controlled environments really helpful for more difficult situations as I've "proofed" him in similar environments.

Erin you can get samples of most brands of high quality dog food for free. I got a free sample of ziwipeak food the other day from the Pet Cafe Royal canin also give free samples, we got a heap at the redcliffe pet expo even though we already feed it So that might be the way to go as you can test what food they like the best. To feed ziwipeak as regular food is VERY expensive. I do what Hesa suggested which is just add a sprinkle on top of their regular dried food as it lasts longer. Although I've not had any probs getting mine to eat royal canin on their own, they really like it so you may find whatever food you change the girls to they will eat without any extras thrown in. Although being beagles they aren't usually terribly fussy anyway

I train at a club on the northside, but a lot of people at my obedience club use head haltis. It's not my training tool of choice (I prefer checks/martingale collars) but it is quite popular. You don't have to have a training collar to do obedience, you can use a harness or flat collar - I need the extra assistance with my dog though That and some steamed/roast chicken!!

I agree 100%. The dog has not been "blooded"...how ridiculous! The poor pup isn't going to turn into some hot blooded aggressive killing machine now he's innocently got a chicken. It wasn't a "calculated" killing...he was following his prey drive and just being a dog. I have a husky and the breed can be "killers" as they have very high prey drive. He has lived happily with 2 kittens and a cat. He also lives with two smaller dogs, one is only 5 kg and the other we got as a pup. He hasn't so much as raised paw with them.... any birds, possums, bats or mice etc that come into the yard are a different story. His prey drive is so strong he will follow the chase and bite till the poor thing dies. He's not calculated or blooded. He's following his instinct. He doesn't even know what to do with something once he's caught it. He sits it next to him, puts it on his bed and picks it up to show it to me when I see him in the morning He doesn't eat it or even damage it. To me you also have seemed to make it a breed thing... it's not, really, it's a dog thing. Some have higher prey drives than others. Maybe you should rehome the dog if you are going to live in fear of it but that is YOUR reason and has nothing to do with the dog.

Ours is like this but majority of trainers favour check chains and not many use clickers, although they are available. I am happy as long as they respect that various training methods are available and that no one thing works for every dog. Personally I use a check chain on Daisy (only at obedience, we walk on a martingale) but use food rewards too. I rarely check her collar, it is there mainly so she knows there is a difference between her walking collar and her "school" collar. She associates the check chain with going to school.

RIP Barker There is nothing else I can add to what has been said Kristie, may your beautiful boy RIP

I was just about to post I prefer Scotty's over VIP too. Micha's breeders were very strict about diet, and only feeding natural food etc, but said if you are going to feed brand name/supermarket meat Scotty's is great and VIP is ok if you can't get Scotty's. We used to feed Scotty's to my dogs all the time... we've cut back now and prefer to just feed dry food and bones (chicken wings etc). Reading this thread has made me feel like getting some for them now

So glad to hear Sally is doing ok

There are some excellent dog trainers/behaviorists here on DOL and there a some based in Melbourne. From memory Erny is a trainer in melbourne, she gives some excellent advice here: http://www.prok9.com.au/ I also think Cosmolo works in melbourne, this is her website: http://underdogtraining.com.au/ (Hope you guys don't mind me supplying your websites btw )

I feed RC to two of the dogs, they love it and do exceptionally well on it. I much prefer it to what they were on before (Optimum). Even our cat tries to eat the dog's food Cherry our littlely refused to eat dry food for 8 years - we tried her on Nutro, Optimum and others and RC is the only one she will eat... fussy little bugger! ;)