Jigsaw

Poor baby, I hope he bounces back and he has little or no further problem with his eyes. Poor bugger's been through enough already. Thank goodness he has you and his "carer" to look after him.

Aiden, that's interesting that your Golden didn't like it! The voices are very low and almost growly in parts, maybe that has something to do with it for your dog. It's multi tonal and chordal in parts and has some surprise percussion parts so it's not necessarily totally peaceful music to listen to I find! I was actually quite surprised to see my dog laid out on the floor, she didn't even hear me come through the baby gate, she usually jumps up as soon as she hears it opening. She actually woke with a startle so she must have been quite deep in meditation! There is obviously something in the saying "music soothes the savage beast". I might look into the music played on the some of the CD's on that Amazon site - see if I've got any of it at home!

I had the ipod on today while I was cleaning the house. It has a rather eclectic mix on it with rock, jazz, classical, new age, alternative and some meditations. Now my dog is not really worried by the vaccuum and is reasonably happy for me to vaccuum around her if she's sitting down, which doesn't happen often. When I went upstairs to clean I fully expected her to go outside which is what she normally does and run around chasing flies, but when I came downstairs here she is absolutely zonked out between the speakers of the stereo while the Gyoto Monks drone on with their chanting (it goes for at least 1/2hour in deep droning voices)! Now I don't know whether it was the weather, the shock of me cleaning, the music or the stars in my horoscope but she was pretty relaxed for the rest of the afternoon too! Maybe I've found the secret to calm her down I just need to meditate every day now. I know there have been some studies about music and dogs but now my interest is piqued!

If you can't find a ladder use some pieces of wood or pvc pipe laid out to walk over.

I have an above the knee length jacket I bought at a boat supply shop. Zipper only starts waist high so you have freedom for your legs. Velcro edges if you don't want to do the zipper up. It does the job, has a hood and keeps the rain out and I can wash muddy paws off it easily. Certainly not glamorous but not expensive!! I might look at a goretex one though next time!

Thanks for replying Nekhbet and Bellatrix. I know there are some things you can use past their useby date but it just didn't sit well with me to use these drops when they were so far out. You know when you know the right answer but you just want someone else to back you up?! This was one of those!! If they caused any irritation or harm I would have a hard time forgiving myself. We'll just keep barking at shadows for the moment!!

With the stealing a lot of it is unintentionally rewarded because the dog has learnt that if he takes something you will usually chase him and that's fun! Management is the best solution. You can choose not to chase him if he steals something. Or you can "shape" this behaviour by marking it (clicking) and rewarding him. I have a dog that absolutely loves the chase, more than anything, it was unfortunately rewarded as a pup by various family members when she stole items. She mostly just steals socks now which I ignore if she's got past me unseen and I just pick them up when she's finished with them or if I see her do it and I am close to her I mark the behaviour and reward her - she's like "what??", there's no fun in stealing then!

I have some eyedrops I use occasionally for my Paxy to dilate her pupils (for night training). I'm getting some more in a few weeks but the ones I have expired over 12 mths ago I've realised since speaking to the opthamologist (haven't used them for a while!!). I was told I could still use them but I didn't realise they were quite that old. They are in small sterile single use vials. Drops are Minims Phenylephrine Hydrochloride 2.5%. I don't have to use them right at this moment and certainly won't risk her sight as we already have problems there, so I can wait for the new ones. But it was something I was just wondering about whether they were still usable or not.

I understand that there is some research being carried out on mild infestations of hookworms in immune diseases such as asthma and coeliac disease to see if they suppress the immune system so reactions are less intense. I have my son on video shovelling handfuls of sand/dirt into his mouth when he was crawling! Unfortunately he is an allergy kid so it mustn't have been the good stuff! :rolleyes: And I certainly wasn't a clean freak in the house!

I haven't watched all of the DVD's because I was so put off by her sniffing, umming and erring. But she does read the dogs well and she has some great exercises. I was on a Control Unleashed Yahoo group for a while with Leslie on it - she said she was in the process of writing another book, the list was closed unfortunately as it became too large for Leslie to moderate and write a book at the same time.

Wiggle-bum dogs are so expressive with their joy and love for life. She sounds like a real character! There is nothing wrong for feeling deeply the loss of a pet. You have nutured, loved and guided that dog throughout it's life. We can feel safe and comforted in the love our dog reflects back to us. Some people who have not had such a relationship may not understand the depth of feeling you have. It's difficult to lose someone who has been your shadow, your confidant and your playmate. Find someone you can talk to so you can express your feelings, ask for advice on how to cope when you feel you are struggling. Never feel that you are walking alone, we are and have all walked that path.

I was going to suggest target training. If he needs to be in a specific place you could use targets for his hoofs and his head. Sounds like an interesting problem - maybe you'll have to video your training so we can all learn from your experiences!

I've used a method similar to Piper. I became very very boring. No reaching out, no eye contact. If I even look like I'm going to take it from my dog she averts her head or body. It has been slow progress but we've gone from a dog that would stand about 5m away and bark at you and if you moved as in bend your knee she'd run off, to now standing next to me and letting me touch her body while she has the toy in her mouth. It's a game for my dog, the chase is her biggest reward, she loves it! We've still got a way to go but she is so much better than she was. We've made sure that we're in control of the toys - although she still sneaks the socks, which I just ignore. :D Someone suggested the two toy game but it just doesn't work for my dog as she is able to put two toys in her mouth, she's faster than me getting back to the other one on the ground (and if I start to run it's game on) and if it's a ball she will have one in her mouth and play soccer with the other.

I've looked at these before, they are quite expensive and intensive, with texts to be purchased on top as well. But they still sound enticing because I like to learn! I don't know anyone who's done any of the courses though.

When you think about it when he has a ball in his mouth he's able to turn his head and look around and check out things. When he's tugging he's looking at you and may have his back to other dogs which might leave him feeling uncomfortable. Sometimes dogs are influenced by environmental pressure when tugging in a strange place, as it may leave them vulnerable to other dogs or people that may be nearby. It might be a case of building up your dog's confidence to tug in different places. Start by trying some distance away from other dogs, you might have to experiment to find out where he's most comfortable. Try when on a familiar walk or in a regularly used park and see if he'll tug there. Can you rev him up without using the tug at all in different environments?

I find this is where some people get frustrated, the "what happens if the dog doesn't do what I asked". Sounds like I might just have to order another book!! Have you read any of Kayce Cover's stuff? SATS

I think there's a club up near Maitland but I don't know their training schedules. Maybe someone else from up the Valley will know. Sorry not much help. List of Hunter area clubs HERE

Your doing the right thing by picking up any poo you see immediately! The other thing you can do is supervise her when you're on a walk and she's scavenging for poo. There is some suggestion I've read that dogs are supplementing their diet by sampling other creatures poo ie adding vitamins or roughage. Keep your worming up to date when she's eating the other animals poo too. I've also read the addition of a food additive (monosodium glutamate) to the other dog's food can stop it being so apetitive. If it's really bad you may need to fit a muzzle.

I love the greeting bow! It's lovely to see from a dog and I take it as a sign of respect and love! I usually get lots from my dog first thing in the morning when she gets out of her crate, we have greeting bows and then our special hugs. Occasionally I've even had one from other dogs I've just done a training session with!

Sticking out like the proverbial really! I really love that clip Erny!!

Thanks for the answers everyone. I think Poodlefan summed it up pretty succinctly! Alpha Bet - had never heard of the "prison walk" before reading your post and after I read your post I later caught up on another dog training group and here was the prison walk mentioned again! This poster explained that the handlers walked slowly and with a slouch and this was to calm everything down before the class for reactive dogs started. Although for this poster the classes hadn't worked as her dog was still reactive!

I would also suggest some massage and/or t-touch. I'd also be looking at learning more about the body language he's displaying towards you. Check out Turid Rugaas or Brenda Aloff, both use canine body language a lot in their training. Short Turid Rugaas vid Also think about your own body language and are you giving him hard eye contact while yelling at him? Dogs are very uncomfortable with hard eye contact and this discomfort would be increased if your dog perceives your body language as threatening and you're yelling at the same time. Try singing to him instead of raising your voice!

The barking and running around indicates the dog is in an aroused state and is probably under some stress because of this. I would be trying to get the dog to do some obedience work or work in drive to distract it (tugging, ball chasing). It might stop the barking giving the dog a job to do. I would think it's better than having a terrified dog though.

There was a bit of a tiff at training the other night during a heeling activity between two dogs (just noise, no contact) and I’ve been thinking on how the handlers reacted (one alpha rolled her dog, the other moved right away) and how the instructor reacted. Instructor asked the alpha roller to stop standing over the dog and put both dogs in a drop some metres apart and let them sit there a few minutes while the rest of us also did drops but away from the other dogs. It gave those involved time to settle and refocus and those of us not involved time to refocus our dogs (or at least that’s what I did!). Most of the reading, study I’ve done deals with methods of avoiding this sort of situation. We spend time analyzing why an interaction may happen and why one may have occurred and how to prevent future interactions but I don’t recall any information about what to do when it does happen. This incident got me to thinking about what is the best way to handle this sort of thing if it does happen. Of course avoidance is the best thing and I’m really just thinking of a situation of lots of noise and little contact rather than a full on fight where injury may occur, but if and when a tiff does happen what do you think is the best thing to do with the dogs involved immediately after this sort of interaction? And would you do the same thing for a tiff at training as for one at a park or at home?

Keith Mitchell - he's at Ourimbah. http://topdogtraining.com.au/ He certainly wouldn't be recommending the incense burning!! I've done some private obedience training with him. You just have to understand his Kiwi accent! I've also used K9 Force so recommend Steve too.