SkySoaringMagpie

I have the same problem with the Salukis if the cats are silly enough to run. If the cats just sit there, no problem. Anyway, I figure it's a Saluki, it's hardwired to chase small furry things that run. So I fall back on management and physically pull her in close by her collar and keep her right at my knee while walking briskly until she forgets about the cat and then I slacken the lead back again as a reward. If I have timed it right, she doesn't look back. If I haven't, she shoots back to the end of the lead and we try again. One thing to watch - if you see a cat, don't give any indication that you have. I reckon half the time dogs pick up that there is a cat/dog/rabbit/roo because of our reactions, not because they've spotted it. Sometimes my dogs have sailed on past something they'd find very distracting because I've made an effort not to signal to them.

We should probably start an old wives tales thread! I haven't heard the spitting in the mouth one, but I have heard the spitting in the foodbowl one. The idea apparently is that in the wild top dogs eat first, and their saliva is all over the kill, so you should spit on your dog's food. Personally I think it's rubbish, and kindof disgusting to boot.

Well, to be fair, it's often not stupidity; it's ignorance, which is not the same thing. If no-one teaches them, and explains the reasons why, then it doesn't surprise me that they do it. Pet owners and newbie dog handlers often don't understand why a halti has the effect it does, they just know it's a magical device that people mention when they say they're having trouble with their dog pulling. So they go and buy one from a pet shop without getting it fitted and demonstrated by someone who understands the risks and benefits. While it makes me cringe to see any lead on a halti not attached to a collar, it doesn't make me angry until the point where the handler demonstrates they're not going to listen to and consider the reasons why it's not a good idea.

Absolutely. With retractable lead injuries I was thinking not just of that person who lost an eye from a cheap one flicking back and getting them in the face, but injuries to human shoulders and dog necks when the dog gets up a bit of speed. Perhaps that's more of an issue with my dogs, who are speedy. I earned myself a rotator cuff injury from being yoinked by my first saluki. Definitely my fault for not having her sufficiently leash trained, but the retractable also gave her a lot more scope to get up speed before hitting the end of the lead - something which was bad for her as well as me. And yeah, when I see them attached to haltis it makes me cringe, particularly when they are not attached to the collar.

When I rule the world I will make large bonfires of retractable leads! Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! OK, perhaps that is a bit extreme, but I really don't like them. To much scope for injury to dog and human. Also I don't really see the point. An appropriate relationship between the dog and the human should allow for sniffing and exploration with good manners on a normal lead. If you want the dog to have greater range of movement I can think of three other solutions: a) free run paddock b) get yourself a pair of running shoes and up the pace c) train your dog to have a bomb proof recall so you can walk them off leash. It's also not necessary for a dog to have the same range of movement on every walk, it doesn't hurt them to learn a bit of self-discipline.

I saw Houndee's name in this section on my DOL homepage and was completely shocked For what it's worth, Houndee's Neuter in Show win inspired me to list a Neuter Class for the ACT Hound Club show in December this year. We've never done a Neuter class before, but hearing about his win made me realise how important those classes are to many people. Run free Houndee

As far as I am aware there is not, I understand that the ridgie club used to run them a while back. The Hound Club of the ACT is trying to get lure coursing fun days up and running (I am the Secretary). A machine has been ordered from the USA, and we are trying to finalise a venue, rules of racing, insurance etc. The machine is expected to take 4-6 weeks to arrive, so it won't be happening next week. If you are interested in helping set it up, there is a mailing list which you can join from the Hound Club website: http://www.acthoundclub.org/events.html If you're just interested in participating then stay tuned, we'll announce on DOL and OzShow when we are ready to go. Breed wise, at this stage we are planning to run some just for sighthounds (inc longdogs and lurchers) but the majority of time will be for all breeds/mixed breeds.

Afghan coats vary quite a bit. What one person swears by might not work for your boy. Your local climate will have an impact too. The dryer it is, the more likely it is you'll need extra oomph from your grooming products to keep the coat matt and tangle free. So I agree with Sttrlvr, you'll need to experiment to find out what woks. I mix products all the time!! We've used PP and Laser Lites and been happy with both - they are quality products. I use them for different things. Applying them properly is half the trick, and a good hydrobath helps a great deal.

My theory on the differing opinions is that the internal state of the human warrants much more investigation than the internal state of the dog. Many people, including me, tend to rationalise what they have already decided, and what they have already decided is, as often as not, an emotional or ethical matter, not a scientific one. A person who has a heavy investment in thinking of themselves as perfectly rational is usually one of the most irrational of the lot. As someone else mentioned, people are often very unaware of what they are doing with dogs. Heaps of positive only people use correction but don't recognise it as correction because it is verbal for example. Then there are the pro-correction people who tell others they need to be "tougher with that dog" while letting their own dogs stomp all over non-enforced boundaries. I'd actually be interested in seeing a study along the lines of a myers-briggs survey - what personal human attributes translate into preferences for different training methods? Because that informs why a person insists on "rewarding" a dog by doing something the dog really dislikes, or "punishing" the dog by doing something the dog thinks is pretty good.

Some of those behaviours I would not bother trying to deal with through training. While changes to infrastructure can admittedly be expensive, a good secure kennel run where you have the ability to properly separate dogs deals with all but one of those behaviours without the risks associated with failures in training. Also, with fighting, I think that aversives can make the problem worse.

I think you're probably sending mixed messages but it isn't to do with the squeaky. If something isn't working, stop doing it - whether it's food or corrections. All you're doing by attempting ineffective reinforcement is teaching the dog that you're an optional extra. Personally I'd backchain in this situation rather than making it a battle of wills. Slice up the tasks you're asking her to do into more managable bits so she can succeed, and let her know when she's done the right thing more often, or at least as often, as you tell her she's done the wrong thing. Re seasons, "the age" or "fear periods" or whatever - there are many excuses we create for ourselves to explain why our dog has suddenly and inexplicably become a pain in the arse. Usually it's the human element, not the dog. Either we've been frosty with our spouse, or working long hours, or stressed out about a family issue, or whatever. How you are affects how your dog is.

I like SirWJ's answer from the "What do you do" thread in general. :D

I've put two more in, hope that fixes it!

It's annoying, but sometimes I find myself doing stuff I know is wrong, and afterwards I think "boy, if I was watching someone else do that I'd think they were an idiot!" So, why is it that even tho' we know a better way, we sometimes forget to use it? Feel free to add other suggestions or say if you think some of the things I've listed aren't that bad.

I find it hard to work out fact from fiction with Parvo, and my question is about adult dogs. I was warned last night by a friend on the South Coast that Parvo is rife in Moruya (12 gone over the past week). There are two big sets of shows and trials on the South Coast in a few weeks time and we are entered at Bermie. Faxon's vaccination booster is due on 3 March. The trials are 3 weeks before that on 8-9 Feb. I was thinking of getting him done this week instead. Would that give enough time for the booster to work through his system? Also, we have two 20 month old dogs who are totally up to date and not due again for 6 months. How much protection does the vaccination give? A friend of mine said she lost an adult saluki to Parvo despite it having been vaccinated, but I guess it might have been one of the parvo-like illnesses that got it. I know I can't keep my dogs in a bubble, but I don't want to take unnecessary risks either...

Ooopsie. Well there's many things that can make them worse that a familiar route won't conquer, but I'm sure he will get better!

I've been working on getting the evil salukis to offer more behaviours when we're shaping, and with the boy, it's been slow. With my girl tho', she's a doggie genius. I dropped an empty Amazon cardboard box on the ground the other night, and she offered all this stuff in the space of five minutes. Nosed it, pawed it, flipped it on its side, flipped it over, stood one paw in it, stood two paws in it, shoved it along the ground. She was really quick at picking up that she should try something else and her attention in between behaviours was great. I was very proud of her, especially as the boy just eyeballed me and ignored the box (I shaped him into looking at it, but he was still "eh, what?") I do enjoy the no pressure "let's just see what you can do" sessions with them at home much more than the formal work. It's wonderful watching their little doggie minds in action (even if some are slower than others ) Of course, my boy who is not so blessed in the brain department is the biddable one, and my girl, who is a smart little minx, is not biddable. At least I know that when the boy does get something, it will stick fairly reliably and he will not push the envelope. My girl is much more likely to test if I'm going to insist on something.

Run free Angus.

RIP Jessie

Bingo. In my experience there is always a reason for dogs behaving the way they do. If he can see you, he can trust you to handle things. Sniffing is a stress behaviour for many dogs. More generally, my view is that walks are not just about walking on a loose lead, but are about environmental stimulation for the dog. I don't mind sniffing provided it is polite. If they are polite, then they mostly get to sniff (not always). If they lurch or lunge towards a tussock or a tree, I stop dead and wait until they look at me before they get to sniff. I see very little point in a walk where a dog doesn't get to explore. If you want to train better behaviour, I would try walking the same route for a few days - they tend to be calmer if the smells and the rest of the environment are extremely familiar (ie, mildly boring)

I have a white and black parti-coloured dog, and the method I use is one I picked up from the Chris Christensen site. That is, shampoo the white bits with a shampoo designed for white coats, and then do the black bits (carefully) with a shampoo designed for black coats. Then rinse the lot off and condition. I use a plush puppy shampoo for the white bits, and laser lites for the black bits (laser lites will custom do your shampoo to suit the colour of your dog.

God I hate that, in books particularly. Winterpaws is right, after a while they do all sound the same. I wouldn't mind if they started with "Fluffy was extremely nervous, and would pee every time hubby came home" and then went through step by step what they did with Fluffy and then said "Fluffy rarely pees inside now". It's one of those destructive things in dog training, people letting their egos get in front of communicating the necessary information.

I saw Clicker + clickers discussed on an American training board today. Anyone used one? I was thinking it might be handy to have a No Reward Marker as well as a click. I also like the idea of something that straps to your finger instead of hanging off a wrist band. (please let's just stick to the clicker technology and not have another sh*tfight about positive training or clicker training or whatever)

This is great advice, I put our skinny minnies on a working dog kibble for a while, and it helped. They are back on normal adult now. I second the suggestion to get your dog off the Giant formula. We also do the lamb flap, chicken frame thing and a side benefit is that their teeth are excellent.

I'll defer to the greyhound experts but personally I wouldn't worry. If he seems otherwise healthy, it's probably because of his age. Unless you have a specific reason to try and bulk him up, I would just let him go on as he is. We have a saluki boy who is still is a toaster rack to some extent - when he was younger he was even skinner. It didn't look too flash to an outsider, but his coat was shiny and he was full of beans, so I just made sure he had good food and let him get on with it. He is less skinny now, but still quite light. Of course, a European breeder might say he was just right! You might try giving your boy slices of lamb neck with his food, but I wouldn't overdo the fat because you risk pancreatitis, which is worse than him being a bit skinny.