Tapferhund

You can use whatever word or signal you like to teach him to stop and wait before crossing with you...just remember to ALWAYS have a lead on him near any roads.

BaileyB , I know EXACTLY what you are going through as I have a boy who does the same, fidgets and shifts his bum just high enough (1cm sometimes) for the Judge to see enough daylight to fail him. Stupid stupid rule IMO to NQ dogs for something that really should be a point loss as it is nothing more than shuffling...but there is not much I/we can do about stupid rules. The adjusting mostly comes from the dog suffering from a bit of anxiety when you leave him. Try going back to basics and keep returning to praise/reward him. Each training session and providing he stays .....slowly start increasing the distance and time you are away from him. You could also try 'back tying' him to something like a post during his stays and when he moves he will feel the tug on the tie which will be self correcting ..so he learns that moving doesn't get him anywhere.

Cesar Millan is a well respected dog psychologist /trainer worldwide and in his book "Be The Pack Leader" he gives the Prong Collar ,as a training tool , the thumbs up and he explains how the collar is based on nature ,that it was designed to mimic "the bite of a mother dog or dominant dog. Erny have you read this book? It is on pages 100 to 102.......and could be useful for your report to the authorities (?) How is that going BTW?

The courses sound great but the prices . Much cheaper to stick to reading about it in her books. :wink:

Thanks Sardog ! Are you the group Rudi started ? Good to hear you and the dogs are much needed for such important work. So what happens when the dogs don't have a find? Do you set up 'a find' so the dogs have a success before finishing?

I am a bit surprized I haven't had an answer to my question yet but then maybe you and your organization are busy up in the hills looking for that lost person? Are they your Labradors we saw on the news tonight . A couple of nice looking dogs !

Very interesting read Peter , but have you ever been called out on actual rescue missions and succeeded in finding lost persons or cadavers ?

Yeahhh......look out you lot.........Open and UD by the end of the year!!!!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS Heather and Tess for a very well deserved Title !!!!!! :p Me xx

Yep I agree with Pax and this is how I train mine for a fast down....turn it in to a game and the quicker the dog goes down the bigger the reward from you.

I think it is disgusting that people are being ripped off big time over these '3 year' vaccinations which are exactly the same as the yearly vaccs. IMO this should be brought to the attention of everyone .

I know this has been discussed before and many will not agree but weekly bathing is WAY TOO MUCH so no wonder their skin is drying out and becoming flakey. A bath once every couple of months with good grooming in between to keep the coat clean....should be ample IMO.

Good luck Law !!! I finished last December but , as yet, haven't heard anything on how I did. I think I passed ........geeez they do take their time though

There is one at Wonthaggi........but it is not that good due to a VERY closed minded ex Shepherd club old guy who can't grasp newer more positive methods for training dogs. They did have one brilliant instructor , a person loved and respected by all , but old guy saw her gone as it showed him up for knowing nothing . Might be best to stick with Morwell...........or why not travel a bit and go to Frankston or Berwick?

Bit hard to answer those choices ! Providing the dog totally understands the "come" command, I would go and physically GET him for not coming..........but if he was in the learning or training phase, I would do everything in my power to encourage him to come.........excited voice, food, toy...and I would even lay on the ground.....anything to make him come to me and as soon as he did......I would lavish him with heaps of praise.

Bulldust, I read a Vet article some years ago on Bull T mums wanting to kill their pups and it was found that these bitches had some sort of calcium deficiency . Perhaps you could look in to this? It could be why your bitch is like this with her litters? I believe this breed needs more than other breeds do after whelping. I really feel you are going to have more problems than you already have with this pup due to it being single and being hand raised. Perhaps you should seek professional help from a behaviourist such as Dr.Robert Holmes in Victoria

Pax , what ARYA says here........... "I DID! I GET THE PRIZE YAY!!! Even get two dumbells and use them like the two food or two hose game. Make them toys. Treat them like sticks at the park or on the beach. This is actually a shortcut method. once the dog is reliably picking the dumbell up and running back to you" .......is exactly what we 'cruel forced method' trainers do .....once the dog reliably fetches/holds and gives the dumbell. ......and ohhh horror!! ....we use heaps of food and praise reward too ...during the "forced" part of teaching the exercise.

Check out my website Pax.........do any of my dogs look like they have been badly treated ? The "forced" methods you have seen on DVDs are not the methods I or others do . I am not going to go thru the entire process here (now) as it is nearing 11.30 and some of us have to get up to go to work........but I will tell you the very first lesson . Now this is VERY VERY cruel , so don't be too upset will you Have the collar and lead on the dog and have the dog sit next to you while you are sitting down. Wrap the lead around your leg so the dog can't walk off and you have control and a good tip is to sit the dog with it's back to a corner so he/she can't back away. Also have a bowl of food/rewards on a table near you. Take the dumbell in your right hand and place your left hand over the dogs muzzle gently squeezing the sides of the dogs mouth .....at the same time saying 'fetch' placing the dumbell in the mouth for a split second.......then tell the dog to 'give' and reward immediately with food treats. Do this three or four times only and make a huge fuss over the dog. nighty night !

Well bully for you Pax !

Geeez Pax, no need to carry on ! You don't know what's involved so why comment the way you have. You need to learn about the method and what is involved before canning it as cruel. The method is not cruel in any sense of the word ......and the ear pinch is not part of it. I have trained several dogs with this most reliable method and never used an ear pinch and nobody I know, who also use the 'forced' method, has ever had to pinch their dogs ears either.

Yes Casima...like 4leggedvariety ...I do the Forced method too but minus the ear pinch bit (LOL).....the method is the best way to teach dumbell IMO and dogs taught this way are 100% reliable when retrieving............oh and it doesn't take 20 months or 18 months or even 12 months. If done properly it should take no more than 4 to 6 weeks !

"Yes the kollenbergs have done well...." JJ only because they bred the dog but the dogs amazing owner Oenone H is the one who trained and trialed the dog to the success they have had. A really amazing Aussie team !!!!

YES I am for real......and I thought we were talking about "your friends" dog????? Or is the friend really you????? YOU might give YOUR dog plenty of time....but does your friend?....and BTW ..Thinking dog ,do dogs segregate from each other when they bed down at night????? NO they don't ! They curl up together or close to each other......as a pack!!! So....from your friends dogs perspective (human interpretation).........you/he/she IS mean shutting him out like that. Fix the howling at night? Easy Peasy........bring him in at night.

Here's a tip........tell your friend to not be so mean in leaving the poor dog outside alone and to bring the dog inside with them at night. Dogs are "pack" animals and yet most people EXPECT their poor dogs to go it alone for hours on end through the day AND at night.

I think to "invite" a dog up only to correct it is a damned mean thing to do IMO.....it reminds me of an idiot I knew years ago who would offer her own dog food and then whack him in the face for taking it . When I asked her why in the hell she would do that....she said 'because I didn't give him the command to take it'....... the dunce was trying to teach him food refusal.......IDIOT! I don't like the 'foot on the lead' thing either as I have seen this method abused when teaching? (forcing) dogs to drop. Very old archaic method used by bullies IMO.

Erny, from memory the VCA were pretty much kept out of any talks on this and other dog related issues. The RSPCA and AVA were the only organizations the Govt wanted to listen to,not only on the Prong Collar issue but other issues as well...like the Tail Docking debate......and look what happened there . ;)