WinGus

Hi percyk, thanks so much for your reply, it was really helpful! I will definitely try to catch his behaviour BEFORE he starts. I have been doing it whilst he is barking or even afterwards and then forgetting to treat him. I'll try both the water squirting (both my dogs actually hate water!!) and then the rocks in a can if the water doesn't work. I have a whistle too and might try that - hey, I'm willing to try anything at the moment! I've also tried the "speak" command when the older one is barking, but maybe I haven't timed it right as it's never worked out. I'll keep trying. Thanks again for your help!

Hi, I hope I can get some help or just some advice. I have two mini-foxies, a 11 month old and an 18 month old. The younger one has developed a really annoying habit of barking at the older dog whenever she has something he wants or if he wants to play. The older dog then whinges really loudly until I tell them to quiet. Unfortunately, I can tell them to shut up when I'm at home, but I'm sure they do it when I'm at work and it can go on for some time, annoying the neighbours no doubt. Can anyone give me any hints as to how to control this? Thanks in advance.

My little boy was just done over the weekend and it cost me $220, including removal of two baby teeth. It's gone up in a year I think as it was only $185 last year!!

Thanks everyone for your replies. At the moment I have only one crate and it's mainly Pepper's bed. She gets a bit cranky when I put Falcon in it. I had forgotten about how important it is to work and spend time with each of them separately. I'll definitely do this. Last night hubby took Pepper for a walk whilst I worked on Falcon. He seemed fine and focused and responded well to the clicker training. On the other hand, hubby told me that Pepper pulled to get back home. Hmm . . . will have to keep working on both of them. Thanks again for all your replies!!!

Thanks for all your replies. I do have a rubber mat at the bottom of the laundry tub. I guess I'll just have to keep going. I don't make a bit fuss. I get the bath stuff ready where she can't see me, then I go and just pick her up and do it. She does have sixth sense though and knows whenever I have a motive in mind as she cowers or runs and hides!!! Thanks Corvus for your suggestion. I might have to do a bit more reading up about that method. It sounds interesting, but I'm wary of trying anything I haven't researched in full.

Hi, I've just got a new four month old puppy who needs a lot of training, he hasn't had any basic training at all! I'm trying to use clicker training on him, but finding it very difficult due to him being distracted by my other dog!! If I put Pepper outside, the new puppy, Falcon, wants to go outside, and I can hear Pepper whinging, wanting to come inside. If I have them both inside and try to train Falcon, Pepper wants the treats too, especially when she hears the clicker. I've tried to get my hubby to train one of them, whilst I train the other one, but they are still both very distracted, wanting to go where the other dog is. How do you train two dogs, especially when they are at different levels? As it is only the third week we have had Falcon, do I just let them get used to each other before trying to train him?!? Thanks in advance.

Hi, how do you know when to reward a dog in a fearful situation? I don't want to reward my dog at the wrong time and confirm her fear. There are a few situations, but, for example when having a bath. I put her in the laundry tub and I know she's scared. I tried to distract her with high value treats and toys, but it hasn't worked. I've tried acting calm and acting excited, making it a game, but neither has worked. I've tried telling her off, but I think that doesn't work either. I'm really at a loss as what to do. I know my dog is afraid of a lot of things and I've been trying to slowly build her confidence, but sometimes I feel as though I'm walking one step forward and three steps back!! I hope I'm making sense!! Thanks in advance.

I have a big plastic crate (which she sleeps in too), takes up half the back seat when I put it in there, but I find it is the best way for my dog to travel. I brought a harness, but she's too small for it and it was definitely not a good way for her to travel as the harness meant she could still jump off the seat to the footwell, even when it was on it's shortest length!! The crate can be a hassle, but it's safe and she's got her big soft bed in there, plus Snuggle Puppie to keep her company.

Thanks Wylie and Ginger's Mum! Looks like I'll be getting some EPO Shampoo!!!

I found she had some good ideas, but a very confusing way of conveying those ideas. She waffles a lot and I had to think hard to try and figure out what exactly was the crux of what she was doing. As Amhailte said, I found her methods a lot like TOT and NLIF.

Wow! I've just read through the whole thread and found it very interesting! I did post another thread about my dog's itchy, red legs. I had been using Malaseb for a while, but recently it's become worse and Pepper has been licking quite badly. I went to the vet today to get a skin scraping and he said it wasn't mites and he couldn't see anything that would cause the redness and itchiness. Mind you, I've only been using the Malaseb weekly, so will have to try twice weekly. I am interested in this EPO Shampoo though. Just one question, is it detrimental to the dog's coat to wash so often? My breeder told me to bathe once a month or less, but I was wondering if it is different when you are treating a skin allergy? How do you know when to come off the twice weekly washings of EPO? I mean, I know that if the dog stops itching and doesn't look so red . . . can you then go back to your normal bathing routine?

My dog gets a mix of whatever I have leftover in the fridge as a vege mix, ie. various chinese choys, sweet potato, broccoli, carrots, beans, capsicums (not often), spinach (not often), etc. She LOVES soft fruits - nectarines, peaches, rockmelons, mangoes (her absolute favourite), bananas, berries, etc. Not keen on the harder fruits like apples though.

The park is a different territory to him, full of different scents and probably a much larger area to explore, and if there are other dogs, lots of other playmates (!), so of course he's going to be excited! I would not let him run around leash free until the recall is 100%. Use a long leash or rope (about 5-10m) to let him go, but reel him in if he doesn't respond to your call. Reward crazily if he responds. Try to do this when there are no distractions around, then you can try with other dogs/people in the park. When you say he plays tricks on you in the backyard, this suggests to me that his recall is not 100% in the backyard either. Do you give him treats or praise when he comes to you? There are lots of resources on the internet about training a good recall, do a search. Good luck!

When I first got Pepper, the first night was great, as she was scared and tired from the long trip home from the breeder. However, the subsequent nights were sleepless! She cried and whinged quite loudly the whole night. We were quite strong though and didn't check on her at all from the time we put her in the laundry until morning. This went on for two nights, but from the fourth night with us, she eventually got the message and slept through the whole night! I think it just takes patience and some sleepless nights on your behalf. You could tell her to "quiet" once in a while through the door, but I would say generally ignore her. She'll eventually get the message. Just remember to not go into the laundry when she's still whining, otherwise she will think that her whining will get her the attention she seeks. Tell her to be quiet and when she is quiet for at least three seconds, you can then go in and praise her/give her attention. The other thing I found really helpful was a soft toy or blanket and/or ticking clock to imitate litter mates. I got a SnugglePuppie that had a heatpad and ticking heart inside it, which sort of helped. This gives the pup something to snuggle up against as helps the pup not feel so lonely because it doesn't have it's litter mates anymore. Good luck!

I'm starting clicker training at the moment as opposed to traditional training. I have to say it definitely is more difficult muddling my way through it by myself. I got the Karen Pryor clicker and book from her website and will read Don't Shoot the Dog (which I also got from her) shortly. She's having a sale on all her books at the moment and the shipping isn't too bad! www.clickertraining.com I have the clicker hanging on one of those retractable ID card holders that hang off your waistband. I find it much more convenient than having it on a lanyard (too high to reach quickly) or on the wrist (always in the way when I want to do something else). ETA: If you want to borrow Don't Shoot The Dog, see this thread: http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=123000.

Thanks Tony. I have tried giving her a treat, but she just snaps at the treat and then goes back to grab the object. She's a fast one!! I'll try the two ball trick.

I'm interested in the replies to this thread too as I can't get Pepper to drop a fetch object either. She tends to hang on to it, not run away, and continues to chew it even if she places it in my hand. Is it a good idea to use a number of toys to play fetch with or just the one? I know her all time favourite is a tennis ball, and this is only out when we want to play, but sometimes we will throw her other toys around for her to "fetch".

Haha! Good to know! She is going through adolescence at the moment, not that I think dog adolescence has anything to do with dog pimples, but it was a funny coincidence!

Found a small red lump on my puppy's neck about a week ago. Didn't look too bad, hubby thought it was a pimple. It could also have been an ant bite, but I'm not sure. At any rate, the lump has disappeared now, but I'm still curious!! Do dogs get pimples?!?!

I've been using it on my Mini-foxie and it works a treat! Can't believe how much hair I can pull off her when she doesn't look like she has a lot of hair to begin with!!!!

Thanks! I got it off a dog quotes site. Can't remember which one now!

I think she looks fine. I was just looking at my Mini-foxie this morning thinking she was a bit skinny, but like Missy, she's healthy and no ribs showing. Missy might just have finer bones making her look finer. She's gorgeous though!!! :D

My puppy does this when she's tired and trying to find a comfortable spot on her pillow/bed. Thankfully she hasn't ripped either up yet! :D We noticed that sometimes she would go into this wild frenzy in her crate digging away at her bed, with her head on the bed, and forepaws digging away furiously. It was the most hilarious sight!! The bewildered look on her face when she stopped to look at us was priceless!! She hasn't done this for a while now though.

Wow! That looks great! Will have to print that out and read through it. I'm having trouble with training at the moment in that I can't get Pepper to do things willingly. I always have to lure her or worse, bribe her before she will do anything. I think I'm the one that needs training more than her. Probably doing everything wrong!

Welcome Shamad! 1) You may need to restrict the areas that she has access to until she's fully toilet trained. That would make it easier for you to watch her. You can take her to different parts of the house at different times to let her explore, but let her know that she has boundaries. I was lucky in that Pepper was a very nervous dog and didn't venture much away from the sofa area, not even to the other side of the room where the dining table was!! With some work, she is a lot more confident now and has free run of the house because she's fully toilet trained. 2) Train her to only chew toys. Give her a range of chew toys to play with. I found a stuffed kong great for that. Again, because I had a nervous dog, she only chewed items that I gave her, namely toys. We have electrical cords all over the house, but she doesn't go for them or the furniture. When she did look like she was going to mouth something, we "growled" at her (deep "uh uh") and she would back off. Her reward was a toy that she was ALLOWED to chew. Always give the puppy an alternative to show the behaviour that you want, not just the behaviours that you don't want. 3) What Rugerfly said!! No dog is ever too young for TOT!! The earlier the better!! I wish I had started with Pepper at 8 weeks! It was more like 6mo by the time I did it with her. But the results are pretty good. If you want more on leadership, read some books that will help you, ie. The Dog Listener by Jan Fennell and Before And After Getting Your Puppy by Ian Dunbar. Some other ones are The Other End Of The Leash by Patricia McConnell and Don't Shoot The Dog by Karen Pryor. I'm yet to read the latter two, but am on a waiting list to get them!! Don't expect too much of your dog in terms of obedience. Go at her pace. If she's learning fast, that's great, but it's to her deteriment if you expect too much. I do out of my dog, and it just gets frustrating for me, not her!! Good luck with your new baby! Any photos?