huski

Micha gets Mr Moo, Mishy, Mish, Moo man, Moocher, Man dog and Micha the Man. Daisy gets Beaj, Beajle, Beagus, Daisy May, May May, Bitch Dog, and of course Evil Beagle. Wisdom gets Wiz, Wiz Bang, Bang, Bangbang, puppeeeee and MALINOOOISSSSSS

Congratulations gsdog2! :)

Riverstar if you get good quality leather collars the leather should be soft from day one. The "leather" collars from pet stores etc dont come close to what a quality leather collar is like IME

Thanks Sally! Competing is the plan, we'll see how we go, just having lots of fun at the moment :)

Ooops I killed the thread! Well an update anyway, I am having lots of fun with Wiz. Here's where her heel work is at the moment about three weeks in from when we started training it, lots of work to do but she's enjoying it :)

Hi Pauchel Her contact deets are here on her website :) http://dogsontrack.com.au/

I'd definitely look at a management plan for how you will manage having two pups in the house at the same time. I'd look at setting up two puppy pens if possible so you can give them time on their own, the last thing you want is them becoming too dependent on one another and developing a high value for each other than you. A good puppy pre school is definitely worth attending, but I'd be very selective about finding a reputable puppy school. A badly run puppy school will do far more harm than good.

I found it really difficult to bond with my beagle, there was a point where I just didn't like her and she wasn't at all affectionate and was just constant hard work. I'm sure she didn't like me either! Learning how to handle her differently to get the best out of her made the biggest different and now of course I love and adore her.

None of my dogs are lazy but I rarely walk them. I do lots of other things to make sure they are mentally and physically stimulated - walks wouldn't tire the pup out anyway!

I think a dog's behaviour is reliant on both nature and nurture however, overall temperament is something that is genetic and is there from the day a pup is born. If I had a dog that didn't have what I considered an ideal and desirable temperament for its breed there is no way I would breed it.

:laugh: re using another leash. I don't have that problem because I am a leash addict and I probably have more here than we do at work! LOL

Hi Snoopy, if you think the clasp could be faulty you can send it back to us to look at if if you want to :) just email me with the details [email protected] Thanks everyone for the lovely comments on our leather leashes and collars, we have made and sold 1000s of leashes and have never had one break. And although I am biased :laugh: I agree the leather is super soft from day one, we haven't found better quality leather anywhere else.

I am always planning my next dog :laugh:

That's true for distance learning, but we have lessons here each day for training in drive clients. :)

Hi Wobbly The wait time isn’t tooooo long and you can often bypass the wait time and bring it right down if you opt for an urgent appointment, but yes the standard wait is a few weeks. We have people travel from everywhere to see Steve and most get back home and want to rebook for soon as they can, he is pretty popular :laugh: I hope the seminar goes well but just thought I would comment that the training in drive program that Steve teaches is that of his own development, so you won’t find “his” version anywhere else, although I am sure that doesn’t mean that there is no one else that can help you, just that the TID program that you would have heard about is unique to Steve and K9Pro :)

You must be joking? I am really not sure I understand this. I presume Kelpies and Borders Collies love herding - where are the problems with this? I was talking in regards to the dumbell retrieve, but I also think it can be applied to a lot of other things too. Why would I want my dog to learn that the exercise is the reward, as opposed to the exercise is what you need to do to earn the reward from me?

Totally agree! Just because you use rewards like a tug or food to motivate a dog does not mean the dog doesn't understand the exercise it's being asked to perform. To be honest I find that line of thought a bit strange.

I wouldn't train a dog to see the dumbell as the reward. There are too many problems IMO that can arise from the dog seeing the exercise as the reward itself. I taught my beagle to retrieve a dumbell and she has literally no retrieving instinct. I shaped her picking it up and went from there. She has a very clean and enthusiastic retrieve now :) ETA: She always completes the retrieve in food drive.

Bec is Wisdom your dog? Steve still owns her, I train and handle her :)

Daisy likes eating, and Wisdom likes pretty much everything, especially biting things :laugh:

Removing a reward the dog values can be exceptionally aversive to the dog too. If the dog has a high value for the reward taking it away can add a lot of stress and frustration, it's how we can train behaviour extremely effectively without using physical corrections. The loss of the reward can be more aversive.

This made me laugh. :laugh: I can't say I have ever been able to "hide" treats from any of the dogs I've had. :D I was thinking the same thing :laugh: Doubly so for any labradors I've met! LOL or a beagle... sometimes she knows I have food on me when I don't even know it's there! (i.e. a piece of liver treat in my pocket I'd forgotten was there). I am happy to tell my dogs that I am giving them the opportunity to earn x y or z reward, but the key is making sure they know that the reward could come at any time and that the 'sequence' for gaining a reward doesn't involve certain triggers like the sight of the reward, or certain cues the dog can pick up from your body language.

Aww what a great thread! The smiliest puppy I know;

I would be especially hesitant using a head collar on a dog prone to lunging, the potential of neck damage etc is greater. I'm personally not a fan of the tool. If your dog is reactive on walks I would be inclined to suggest seeing a trainer if possible.

There are some things I would always produce a food or toy reward for, for example training obedience I will always work the dog in drive so they will always receive a food or prey reward depending on what the dog works best for. Outside of that there are times I expect my dogs to work for life rewards or praise once a behavior has been learnt. I don't carry food treats all the time.