lovemesideways

Been thinking about doggy myths, and wondering what are some of the funniest, weirdest or just plain stupidest myths you've ever heard regarding dogs. A few I often hear is, "If a dog wags his tail, hes happy"

Me too ...... My idea of handling though is CUDDLES

Wow love the drive of your dogs guys! So how can I get my slow deliberate lab to be that hyped up and fast ? I have never seen him like that. I'll get a really intense focus, and a slow thinking movement. Hes very deliberate with what he does. What ways are there to build his drive? I want him to be calm and relaxed, but would like to be able to jump into training and for him to get excited and drivey!

I hadn't thought of that...

I know, but there could be some kind of park/lakey style are nearby! Or if a beach is within half hour drive? Something like that, Im hopeful!! I've had a look on google maps, but need to find somewhere Im allowed to bring a dog so thought people might have some opinions I just edited my post to show a fairly big looking reserve. Na no beaches half an hour drive either, it's very in-land. Some locals might be able to tell you about a creek for forestry or something like that. Maybe check the Council website for off leash areas too Hope you have a great day! Thanks for that !!!

I know, but there could be some kind of park/lakey style are nearby! Or if a beach is within half hour drive? Something like that, Im hopeful!! I've had a look on google maps, but need to find somewhere Im allowed to bring a dog so thought people might have some opinions

Going out with my friend tomorrow from Queensland, and looking for places to take her and my dog Riddick. Shes a photographer so wants some pretty places to photograph! And I need to be able to bring my boy along with me So, ideas, please?

Last time I went to borders I did exactly the same thing. They had some excellent books there also, but the elaborate tripe on puppy training and over priced mutts was quickly shoved amongst different sections.

he was with his breeder for longer due to the mum getting ill, and there is no way she was heavy handed with him. I think its more likely that he never ever had anyone so much as raise there voice in his presence till he came to my place. What ways would you suggest for continuing to build our relationship? And what sort of Collar grabbing game That's a good point. Rover my older boy is a huge fan of free shaping. He knows when its gonna happen and the tail starts wagging like mad! Thanks everyone for all the comments !!!!!!!

Oh yes...... My boy is VERY much like this, or at least he was until it was pointed out to me. Now he does what I tell him before getting to do anything else - I don't necessarily force him to do something, but we will keep at the task until I get something resembling it (an effort of some sort), then we move onto something really rewarding. Some dogs give you the finger by running off, others do it by being 'naughty', my boy did it by 'shutting down'. First thing I did (under the guidance of a very experienced trainer) was to look for any physical problems with my vet - we found low calcium was an issue - and then set about putting rules in place for him. Not rules to control him, rules to unleash him. He is ONLY rewarded for positive, happy and drivey behaviour, everything else is met with indifference. BUT he is not allowed to shut down. If he does we continue at the task at hand until I get something from him. BUT at the start of the project he spent a lot of time in his crate and only worked for VERY short periods before going away again. Now he will work for ages before even looking like quitting. The other thing is that you could spend a LOT of time reinforcing having his collar grabbed. I went from CK cowering when I did it to now being really revved up because it's often the start of a game. Something I found REALLY increased CK's confidence if free shaping. We started with something very simple like two feet in a box and have now moved to walking backwards up stairs. It has taught him that it is OK to fail and try again and if you do try again you get a nice big reward for your troubles. He isn't quite where I want him, but we are well on the way. To this: Thanks for this post, I found it really helpful! Just a question, what do you classify as happy, positive and drivey behaviour? I've been observing everything hes been doing and trying to watch for any kind of overly submissive action. The only thing I've see is when I was giving him a good rub, he was lying down in front of me, and he rolled onto his back, so I stopped patting, waited for him to get up again, and then continued patting. I'm really going to have to rethink the way I'm going to train my boy. I've never had a dog to train that needed this kind of touch They say "you don't get the dog you think you want, you get the dog you need" Definitely going to be starting on more freeshaping tomorrow. Thanks for this I'm naturally very calm and assertive. I don't have a problem with this. I think I'm going to have to learn to be more relaxed and less full on.

Kuma picked the darkest spot on our walk for his early morning crap - it was so dark I could see a thing! I was wildly grabbing - hope I got everything! ooohh... so gross! I always think that if I ever got attached on my walk (random thoughts at 5:30am!) that I'd have a handy weapon of warm mushy dog poo in my hand to bosh in someone's face! Then i'd run like blazes!!!! Thats a good thought...

I've done this, Shrugged and said "Oh well" nice even voice. Walked to the other end of the park. When I turned around he was staying in the position he was in, waiting for me to release him or call him or something. So I called him, and he came galloping up and sat in front of me..

So not a new situation for him, but he was heavily distracted and probably a bit disinterested? What does he do if you give him a NRM? I would say the distraction wasn't that high, nobody was nearby, so only the rain, and we have worked there at different times with no problem at all. But definitely a little disinterested. If I say his NRM his ears twitch back and he'll stop what hes doing. If you so much as raise your voice. He does the same pinned ears, tail tuck, "dear god you've beaten me" look. Edit to add, maybe I could have some clarification on a NRM? To make sure I'm thinking what you're thinking

I understand what you mean, and I don't believe I ever reward him for acting like that. Inadvertently or otherwise He get a pat when he greets people (which was another issue, he was afraid of people when I got him at 16 weeks), but that greeting is just a general submissive, head down, tail/body wag. He would roll on his back when I got him, and its never been rewarded so he no longer does it. The only time he actually acts like that seems to be when he gets "forced" to do something like this. Even though the force used is nothing at all. Its like he doesn't understand whats going on so he shuts down. Going into this extreme avoidance. What ways would you suggest for building drive? I'm thinking maybe I need to take a few steps back, and go back into proofing this at home. To make sure he 100% knows what down means.

I think you're right about him picking up on me feeling sorry. I just feel like a evil human being, He cowers! I've never had a dog cower from me before . How did you change the way you train? When He gets something right I'll mark it with "Yes!" or a clicker, and then a treat. Never lost my temper with him, I've gotten frustrated but whenever that happens I'll just end whatever I'm doing and walk away. and no yelling in our household. (no kids either!) We do clicker training but I also spend time just using my voice as a marker. We where out at the park in the rain. But he has done quite a bit of training in the park and also in the rain, so not a new situation for him. He wasn't really "into" the training. He would at that point have preferred being off lead for a romp around. And I yes I have NRM.

So my Labrador Riddick is about 5 and a 1/2 months, and hes just such a wuss! We where out today, and I was doing a bit of training, so I gave him the hand signal, and told him to "down". He just looked at me.. and did nothing. The way I've been taught is that, if you tell you dog to do something, and they don't do it, you make them. So I gently tugged his collar to put him in a down position. (and I do mean gently, like 1 finger pressure) And you would seriously think that I had just Screamed at him and beaten him the way he acts. He pins his ears back, tail tucks under, crouches down. So I released him and he slinks around, keeping a close eye on me. If I step towards him suddenly at this point and reach out like I'm going to grab his collar he Cowers. I tried to just ignored this, had a bit of play, then went back into training. His recall was good (though ears still pinned back), then I asked him to "down" again with hand signal. and he pins his ears back, tucks his tail under, and looks basically scared for his life. Hes just so "delicate". I don't know how I can correct him ignoring a command (he knows what down + hand signal means), if even a tiny tug makes him cower. I really have no idea. I wonder if its related to the fact that he greets everyone in the world the same way, except me. He runs up, super happy tail-body-wag, if its my mum he'll Race towards her. If I'm there, he'll trot up, maybe wag his tail a little bit. And thats it. He greets complete strangers with the whole body-wag, but to me, nothing. I don't know why. I'm the one doing all his training, he spend most of his time with me, I feed him at night and give him any treats he gets.

Regarding Cows. I have a friend who owns a farm, and all the farmers around him think hes a bit strange cause he's trained all his animals like dogs. So he goes out to the cows in the morning, walks into the field, holds out his arms and Whistles for them to come. They all come galloping up for lots of pats and treats

Jack Russell x Cattle dog?

Can I come to the spitz meet? Riddick can pretend to be a spitz..

It's not just me, it's OH as well. I want to go into academia and he is in the film industry. I don't want to leave Oz, but nor do I want to end up consulting again because I can't get a research position in Sydney or Melbourne. It's a long way in the future, but I'd rather think about it now so I can help myself as much as possible in networking and so forth and have some kind of "worst case scenario" plan. Easier said than done when you're in your early twenties. So, your priority is your career or your husband's career. So you want your research position more than you love your dog. Good on you. You picked the right thread to show your true colours. If the dog was really part of your family then the 'worst case scenario' is that you don't alter your lifestyle to exclude your dog. There are plenty of people in their early twenties that have made life decisions and plan to stick to them, it isn't an excuse for dumping a dog. Sometimes there are terribly desperate situations where people cannot keep their dog. That is tragic. Being desperately ambitious doesn't cut it. There is a big difference between responsibly rehoming a dog and dumping it. I agree, there's a huge difference between dumping a dog. And making the decision that the best thing for your dog is to be with someone else. I know Corvus and 100% she would never ever just give up her beloved pets cause she was "ambitious". Like I said earlier, you make a commitment to your pet for life, that doesn't mean the best thing for them is to be with you.

This is going OT but I just had to state that what you said above annoys me. You shouldn't condone everyone who has rehomed a animal because they where moving. Quite a few years ago our family rehomed our 2 german shepherds. The reason was because we where moving. We had a big house and a huge property, but due to unforeseen circumstances, we had to sell the house and move into a rental property. Mum spent 6 solid months searching for a house to rent where we could keep the 2 dogs and the cat, and found it impossible. We couldn't move out of the area or interstate due to needing to be close to my dads office. we also needed a specific size house because of the size of our family. Mum looked for ages and finally found an amazing home for the shepherds out in the country with a woman and her 2 kids. They have acres and acres of property to call their own and are completely loved and adored by the family. Even now, over 5 years later, we will hear from their new owner, a little update on how they're going. Sure you commit to a pet for life, but that doesn't necessarily mean the best thing for that animal is to be with you. I would much rather my dogs be happy and healthy. I think you might mean condemn, not condone. Woops! *quickly edits* Got no idea what you're talking about Says Condemn already!

This is going OT but I just had to state that what you said above annoys me. You shouldn't condemn everyone who has rehomed a animal because they where moving. Quite a few years ago our family rehomed our 2 german shepherds. The reason was because we where moving. We had a big house and a huge property, but due to unforeseen circumstances, we had to sell the house and move into a rental property. Mum spent 6 solid months searching for a house to rent where we could keep the 2 dogs and the cat, and found it impossible. We couldn't move out of the area or interstate due to needing to be close to my dads office. we also needed a specific size house because of the size of our family. Mum looked for ages and finally found an amazing home for the shepherds out in the country with a woman and her 2 kids. They have acres and acres of property to call their own and are completely loved and adored by the family. Even now, over 5 years later, we will hear from their new owner, a little update on how they're going. Sure you commit to a pet for life, but that doesn't necessarily mean the best thing for that animal is to be with you. I would much rather my dogs be happy and healthy.

:cheer: :cheer: Holy crap

I'm looking for stores in the Sydney area, if anyone has a list that would be great! Looking for actual stores, not just online based!

But on a cold day, you can carry the little baggy like a hand warmer