Jigsaw

What is your dog like with cars moving slowly past it? My dog is only excited by fast moving cars - 60 plus - no barking just lunging. I am inclined to think the noise of the swooshing also excites her. It does make crossing a busy street difficult so I have started doing some distance work, so the cars are there in the background and she can see and hear them but we are not close enough for her to get overexcited and want to lunge at them (a park or service road is good). We will gradually work closer. A bit out of the square but I also now drive frequently with my windows down in the car as I realised that I usually drive with the radio on and aircon on and the dog is insulated from the noise of cars and trucks etc. She is usually dead to the world in the car but when I first started with the windows down she was up and watching and now after a few weeks she lays down and sleeps after about 5 mins of watching. BTW it's only cars she has a problem with, no problem with trucks, buses or bikes - both types. But if you can get to a trainer or behaviourist would be best.

My main problem however is crossing a bridge with her when the walkway is next to the road and when a car goes past on a bend and a dog barks suddenly (unseen) behind a fence - then she goes ballistic - she is very uncomfortable with being barked at. We'll work on the bridge later, I'm not sure how to go about the dogs barking though!! Maybe once the cars are better she'll react less to dogs barking!

I had to replace my first Black Dog bag earlier this year - left it at a training session . Second one is still going strong but had to replace the liner as the plastic started to break up. I do find the hinges need wiping with Vaseline regularly to keep them snappy.

And the noise of clippers and dryers and even the sensation can be quite distressing for some dogs too.

My toy poodle (now gone) ate one of those mini corn cobs that is often in Chinese food at one stage. After 24 hrs he was vomiting all food he ate after the corn cob. Fortunately he vomited up the corn cob (after deciding to starve him to try and figure out what was causing the vomiting) but he still had a trip to the vet to make sure everything was OK. He was lucky he was able to bring it up. Vet confirmed that the cob is just the right size to cause blockages. So NO corn cobs for free eating in this household now.

Does this mean Aspen is hitting the ring, Shelley!??!?!?!

Yep, and now I'm in a panic! His first show is 3 weeks away...

I recently met by chance a lady with a pup from the same breeder... so we decided we'd show them together! Now the hard part is pulling this bad boy into line!

He's a smart dog, but is kinda ditzy... wants to look & go & do everything that interests him, and it's impossible to keep him from being distracted.. I'm going to try some of the herbal calming drops on the market & see if they help, it might give him the chance to focus more so he can learn. It's really hard to teach a dog soemthing when he pays no attention! Then try some of the food suggestions & see what I can get him to eat. He's really fussy about his regular meals too.. takes forever to eat, and then only when he feels like it. sometimes he'll leave his chicken wing for several hours before eating it.. (after not having eaten since the day before, so he's hungry! ) His lead pulling is another issue that I don't know how to fix..

I would suggest that you remove whatever he hasn't eaten after 15 minutes maximum. If he's not eating bones when you give them to him, remove them. Leaving food out it just encouraging him to be fussy unfortunately.

It might also depend on the type of food you're using. Some dogs go for frozen peas or pieces of carrots - some go for roast chicken, some for cat food, sometimes they have weird tastes!lol Treat the food you're using as a lure as junk food - it's only small pieces you're wanting to use and should not be a major part of his diet but something really appetitive to the dog that he gets only on special occasions - like Maccas!

Watch him to see what sounds or movements really take his attention, it could be a squeaky toy or a moving ball or a towel dragging on a line. When you find what he likes the most you can use that as a motivator in training.

Paxy is having an echocardiagram and ultrasound tomorrow! When I spoke to the vet two weeks ago he said he wasn't worried too much about it but he was happy to refer me as it was the only way to find out exactly what was what. When she was stung by a bee the next day the vet treating her said to definitely do the ultrasound as she had been unconscious for over 10 minutes and her heart rate was much to slow after treatment and recovery in the surgery for a dog who had just been through major trauma.

Thanks for the replies! I will speak to the vet about what to do with regard to the next possible bee sting, it was fortunate I was home at the time and able to rush her to the vet. One thing though she has been avoiding the bush the bees were gathered on since then!

My dog is a tissue tearer, paper tearer and foam tearer but will only destuff toys if there is stuffing showing. When I mentioned something along these lines on another forum it was mentioned that it is possibly an instinct related to the ripping and tearing of prey. (WalandLibby where are you?) But it is annoying when you're blowing your nose and they're looking intently at you ready to snatch that tissue out of your hand. My other dog used to pinch them out of my pocket!

My dog was stung by a bee last Friday and had quite a severe reaction. I was told by someone (not a vet) that you can desensitise dogs via series of injections to bee stings. This is not something I have heard of before so was wondering if anyone else has heard of it or had it done??

Vaporub or Dencorub - haven't used them myself but have heard of people using them with success.

If you're finding it hard with the aggression give her some space from other younger dog, a respite so to speak. Make sure she has a separate sleeping area the pup can't get to so she can rest peacefully. She's old and if she's been doing it all her life she's not likely to get better but maybe even worse as her sight and hearing deteriorate.

I agree put her on leash and ask her to sit, if she learns that she will get a pat/treat/praise when she sits quietly she will more likely start to initiate the behaviour herself. But you must be consistent. You can also control how close you are to your visitor when she's on leash so she can't physically reach them to jump on them too.

You can do several three minute sessions throughout the day building up her knowledge of what you're training throug the day - too long and the pup loses interest, just like kids do!

He howls later on in the day, usually around 3:30-4, just before I get home. I should go out and get a kong toy to stuff, rather than the ball, to see if he will be more interested in that. Haven't tried cream cheese, I used peanut butter because he liked it when I first gave him a little. He seems to love cheese when I drop it on the floor so you could be on to something!

If he's howling later in the day it could be from boredom/loneliness more than a separation anxiety. There could also be a trigger (someone else say with a noisy car, kids coming home nearby or a school bell or something) that he's responding to in the neighbourhood that he associates with you returning home soon and he's just letting everyone know he knows you're coming home. You know like the psychic dogs! You might need to change the routine by which you come home in that case ie mixing it up. Get your neighbours to keep a record (if they're friendly) of when and how often/long he howls for. This would be your best indicator as to what might be triggering it.

Perhaps if you hold the kong while he tries to get the stuffing out and interact positively with him a few times so he gets the idea he might have more interest in it! Make it an exciting thing for your pup! One method to gain their interest is to initially tease the dog - let them sniff and pull it away, let them sniff again and pull it away, then their interest should be piqued and they should show interest - we hope!

Do you know whether he is starting to howl as soon as you leave or later in the day? As june.andnovas said your dog needs to get used to being by himself. Mixing up how you leave, leaving for short bursts, calm exits and entrances will all help him learn to cope. He could be howling from separation anxiety or boredom. As well as the exercise some mental work - train him to touch your hand or foot, get him to stand on a box or in a box, simple tricks you can practice in short bursts will also wear him out mentally. What about freezing some chicken stock in an ice cream container with some chicken in it as well (or a chicken wing/frame/thigh) - he has to work at it for a while. I use the stuffed kong as something for the dog to work at to calm them rather than to chase - have you tried cream cheese?? My pup would rather this over peanut butter!! Hide treats under things or throw them around the garden.

My toy poodle used to do this, even when he was quite elderly!! I used to have to check if he had a "wet wick" and if he didn't it was outside again!

I have used the crunchy dried fish treats for cats. You can break them up into small pieces. When I really want her attention I use cooked chicken or raw meat!

Sounds like you've done a great job with her! Must be a great feeling of achievement and much less stressful for you both!

- I have a nearly 6 month old pup residing in the house at present and what can she do. Er she tugs, sits and drops and is a mad keen retriever and obsessed about chasing her ball. Nothing else in the world matters apart from her ball and she will do ANYTHING possible to get me to throw it. Suffice to say second time around I wasn't going to have a dog who wouldn't play. So from the time she was a baby my new girl has been taking to agility trials, obedience trials, out and about and yep we just play.

I have a nine month old koolie who is ball and toy obsessed. Tennis balls are banned in the house as they roll under furniture and have to be retrieved by a human NOW . She will pick anything up and carry it in her mouth - yesterday a full poo bag put aside by another dog owner for later retrieval (owner was standing nearby and was horrified!) and moments later a dead rat. She will play tug with any sock, toy, article if asked to "tug". She's not very good at "give" with balls, so we are working on it. She is however so toy driven that she will not wee if I am outside in the backyard with her (unless on leash in the backyard) as she wants to play. A pain in the neck late at night - I have to peek out to see if she's weeing otherwise if she sees me she will have a toy in her mouth and stand next to her large soccer ball (she likes to have two on the go). She waits to see if I'm going outside.

However she is also highly distracted when out of the house and is reactive to everything - as in her head and ears are permanently moving! I am reading "Control Unleashed" and it has some great ideas to build on. I am taking her to as many different locations as I can and just asking the basics with high reward rate in these new situations. I have practised since she was a small puppy putting her in a sit and then rubbing her chest in a circular motion and praising her for calm behaviour. Her eyes soften and may almost close and I can feel her relax. I think small steps in building up confidence - not asking too much under distraction and setting things up so the dog doesn't fail are important. And of course our own reaction to what we perceive as a fail by the dog.

Have just been thinking about this myself. My dog has white fur on her nose! Summer is coming!

What sunscreen has worked best for your dog and where did you get it from!

I haven't used this method but have read of people using a marker on the floor like electrical tape to designate a boundary say like a kitchen doorway. The dogs are trained not to cross this line. Not sure how you would enforce it if dog has run of the house at night though. I think I would be advocating using a crate and maybe moving on to a trampoline bed when they are more confident of the dog's training. Or perhaps using a pen around the trampoline bed intitially and removing it later.

So is a "flip" when they move from a sit directly in front of you to then sit in heel position without going behind you? So far behind in my training for all sorts of reasons. I'm still working on getting the heel position right! We'll get there one day!

Vet check to check for any trauma to the tail or dermatological problem or any problem in dog's rear end. How old is pup? Also very likely the more attention you give it the more you are reinforcing the behaviour. There was another thread about this a while ago. Maybe someone can find it - I'm a little short of time atm I'm sorry!

If he's also doing it in the backyard what about trying a long piece of string as a lead and just let pup drag it around for a day or so for short periods (under supervision of course), maybe with you picking it up a couple of times and then dropping it, but not making a big deal out of it, making it a normal boring thing to do. Change the weight to a heavier string/rope/lead over some days doing the same thing. You could also incorporate the idea of stopping and waiting if he still won't move using a light lead. Some dogs are lead smart and maybe at the moment your pup has developed a negative view of the current lead for some reason.