SkySoaringMagpie

I recall Susan Garrett banning "Uh Uh!" at the workshop I went to, she was much more about teaching the dog the rules than constantly nagging at it for getting things wrong. Plus I think she wanted us to be clear about what a correction was. A lot of positive people don't realise they actually correct like crazy - they just do it with their voice. It was a lightbulb moment for me, and I stopped saying "I don't use corrections" after that workshop because I've "uh uh'd" along with most of the rest of the world. In an ideal world, I would have trained my dog not to do whatever I'm "uh uh"ing over, so it's a goal of mine to reduce the number of voice corrections I use. I guess if I had to summarise my views on all this it would be that I prefer to use the lowest impact effective tool available for that particular dog for whatever I am faced with. Because my dogs are pretty good dogs and I have time to spare, I will take the longer route if it means a lower impact with the same result. I say "effective" because I'm conscious of the fact that if you correct too low for a dog and keep doing it, it becomes noise and they learn to ignore it. Another reason why one of my long term goals is to shut up It may be the breed I have too, it is usually a mental game with them, not a physical one and I get much more success by stopping and thinking than by using physical correction. The "is that the best you can come up with, infidel?" look of disdain reminds me to keep it smart, not physical.

With immense popularity comes immense scrutiny.

It's not allowed, also, unlike the cropping of some breeds' ears, I don't think it ever caught on in the west. EFP

It depends on the breed with dogs. Some breeds take them off as a matter of course, in other breeds you will be shot at dawn if you do. No doubt a DOL schnauzer expert can tell you what is the done thing with schnauzers.

I didn't realise Susan Garrett was on TV? Anyway, I love this clip from her, about bad dog trainers and building drive:

Oh yeah, in a real world I'd never do it either.

How about "dog swap", just like "wife swap"? Owner of hounds swaps with owner of working breeds. Owner of toy breeds swaps with owner of utility breeds. Providing everyone has a base level of dog skills it could be pretty amusing. Edit: FS

Cesar Milan teaches a pug to be polite at the door: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTzZDCtNZkM...feature=related

Stilwell teaching a dog to retrieve a slipper:

OK, Dunbar on distance sits, The theory: In action: There is a ton of video of him on YouTube

I went looking Barbara Woodhouse clips online and there are none on YouTube. This one crashed my browser and then my computer when I tried to download the plugin. http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/ilove/years/1980/tv1.shtml It's a BBC website tho', so perhaps Windows users might have better luck. Edited - curses, the clip of Dr Harry singing Alice Cooper's Department of Youth won't play on YouTube either darn it all

Dr Harry is really a vet but in his role on TV he showed people how to train dogs so I'm calling him a TV dog trainer for the purposes of my unscientific poll.

Inspired by something in the BSL thread, just a bit of fun.

I think you are on to something there...

I am not defending Stilwell, it just irritates me when people are characterised as having a training style that they do not have. No purpose is served by mischaracterising the training approaches of trainers you don't agree with (or just don't like).

We were talking about punishment, not tools. It is not fair to imply she does not use punishment. Plenty of people have strong views about training tools, including crates. Crates are deeply unpopular in some parts of the world and with some people. Perhaps because they have seen them misused often enough that they've lost their faith in people's ability to use them properly. I use crates, before anyone decides that I am a crate-hating tree hugging hippy

Isnt it marketed as 'it's me or the dog' *oh naughty naughty me back in your box Nekkers* She uses punishment and is not PP. If we're being naughty naughty, my view is that if she was a dominant sexy Mexican man rather than a toppy sexy British woman, female dog trainers would fall over themselves to support her methods.

Hi Nattylou, do you just add a teaspoon or so for every couple of litres or is there a specific dilution rate you use?

Poor snoopy, and poor you, what a horrible way to lose a family member. RIP snoopy.

Hotdoggy will you be at Bungendore? I know nothing about grooming schnauzers but should be able to suggest a terrier person to talk to. Pop around to the Hound ring and ask someone there to point me out. Sorry if you've covered this elsewhere, but where is the breeder of your dog? If local, they should be helping you with this. If they live interstate it would be great if they are prepared to host you for a night or two and let you practice on a retired dog under their supervision, that is what you really need. Even if you have to pay for a hotel room, it's worth it in saved "experiments" with tools and product. It's pretty hard to replace hands on practice under the supervision of a breed expert. Speaking generally (not about Schnauzer exhibitors, I'm sure they're all lovely people) there will be a limit to what your competitors will help you with.

Many poultry shops sell bags of chicken pet mince that are basically just all their leftovers minced up. If mrs tornsocks trusts the proprieter, I'd do that rather than mincing frames at home - the butchers have all the right equipment. Honestly tho', I've been feeding whole frames for years and never had a problem.

Don't know the answer to that one, only know that at the fun days I've been to in Sydney the emphasis has been on fun and no dog suffered anything more dire than a sprung toe. Perhaps one of the QLDers will add some words of wisdom. OH has a heap of different track designs from old sighthound magazines that are labeled as good, bad or indifferent with the explanations about why. Can't link to them unfortunately, as they are all hardcopy. Based on the reading I've done, I understand the breeds that are prone to injury from poor track design are whippets and greys because their recent breeding has been more for straight track racing than the twists and turns you get on a coursing field (lure or otherwise).

I don't know about "ripped up" but I have heard of dogs getting cut on the wire/nylon. Toe injuries are more common - like any dog sport, injuries are possible. If the track is not set up by someone who knows what they are doing and/or the dogs are not in appropriate condition some breeds can also suffer stress fracture injuries. And sometimes sh*t happens. A couple of links: http://www.bathbrunswickvet.com/library/kneeligament2.html http://www.dogsincanada.com/the-building-o...eat-lure-chaser Ultimately it's a personal decision. I am less likely to put just any of my dogs on just any track now but would put them on a public fun day track if they were over the age of 18 months and perfectly fit.

Are they outside without you supervising at any point because of work responsibilities etc? If so, I'd be inclined to double fence the problem fence area if you can. It depends on the layout of your backyard, but stopping the dogs getting nose to nose will help de-escalating the situation.

Hi everyone - hoping to pick the brains of NSW ET experts! I was going to enter Canberra but it wasn't held this year so I'm thinking of entering Sydney on 9 August. Do I just do a normal entry form and then submit the vet report later to the same address? Is there a format for the report I need to give the vet? Also, is the obedience segment just a bit of heeling and a recall before and after the gaiting? The rules say "on and off lead", does this mean offlead heeling? I notice the rules say you can't correct, can you use motivators (like food and toys)? TIA