Jigsaw

More info about the course My link

I'm not doing the course but have looked at some of the units within the course.

Love your little piggy! I was in Redfern, Sydney on Saturday night and a girl walked past with with a little pig in a harness just like yours.

I've met quite a few bull Arab type dogs, all rescues. All were lovely people dogs, not so sure about living with chickens and the like though. Keep looking. And I'm glad your GS is ok and will be with you for a while longer.

I found this referenceHERE

Does this make sense with reference to the article you were reading?

"3 – Stress resistance

The puppy needs to make major acquisitions with respect to “sensory homeostasis”, that is to say, the balance between the environment and himself. It must withstand the stimulation of the human environment with its smells, sounds of the city, its movements, different soils … This learning must be done as soon as possible before the age of 3 months must have been confronted in stimulation it will in adulthood, if he does not pay later. I used the puppy to school my experience to training future guide dogs for the blind, dogs for disabled dogs disaster.

It provides visual stimulation as the corridor where they must pass from which hang streamers, foam tubes, plastic bottles, etc.. Acoustic stimuli with various noises and sounds CD.

Tactile stimuli as different soils, and moving obstacles which they can move.

Olfactory stimuli consist of boxes that contain odors bones, fish, herbs, etc.. They may be attracted by them but can not be accessed by cons they may have the tiny tidbit is that his master, resulting in a trivialization of attractive odors. Later it will be useful not to scan for strong scents (fox dung, for example), when walking in the forest.

Thanks for the feedback. Will pass info on to the client.

Some dogs, particularly if they are a herding breed, may bark a lot when with other dogs. Sometimes this is an attempt to control the other dogs' movement, sometimes an attempt to get the other dogs to move, if they're not moving. It can also be a signal of frustration or anxiety. Maybe the other dog is not really interacting well with Lando, causing frustration on Lando's part. It is difficult to know what is happening over the net when you can't see the behaviour. How old are the two dogs and what breeds?

If Lando is a herding breed this is an interesting article to read from Kay Laurence SHEEPDOGS

Has anyone got any reports on these? Any success? Client wants to train dog to "go" in a certain spot, so I'm after anything to help success! :)

Flynn is a ham! Kelly is a very talented trainer as well as a very nice person!

I'd be looking at increasing my training with mental stimulation (training and tricks), impulse control (doggie zen) and environmental enrichment (bones, hidden caches of treats, food balls) as a start. I'd also be teaching the dog to find an "off switch" and learn to relax and settle down.

Hi Jigsaw

I would LOVE to work out the 'off switch' but i dont know how to train that,i have been told that the dogs are in a second 'naughty' stage between 9 - 14 months. I have just started to trian them using a clicker and it seems to be having good results so far, they are putting 2 and 2 together most of the time with it and realising that each click is praise. I have been praising the dogs when they are just sitting and being quiet, and when they are going a bit mental, i call them into a sit and stay position to try to calm them down.

The off switch for some dogs can take a while to turn on! I know my own dog (Koolie) was around 2 before she settled (I had to crate her to get her to stop) and wasn't quite as hyper. She still is a lot though. For some dogs it is harder to get them to stop, you can train them to go to their mat and stay there while activity happens around them. Depends on what level of calm and relaxed you want, what you train for. If you're training relaxation and calmness (eg Karen Overall's Relaxation Protocol on a mat) you generally don't use a clicker as the clicker stimulates arousal. It's one you can use just the first day of over and over until you feel you're dog is getting it before moving on. There are other ways as well, sometimes you've got to just find what works best for your dog!

LAT is great! It's from Controlled Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt.

For your dog that's a bit meh on food, incorporate her daily food ration into your treats, she doesn't have to eat out of a bowl. Have you tried raw food like steak or heart? Kibble soaked in roast juices, or sardine oil gets them more interested in dry food too. The dog might also be more interested in tugging or a ball if they're more movement oriented.

I would also suggest walking her on her own. Bells are a good idea to wear on wrist or ankle. Taking her on the same route allows her to build up familiarity and then confidence. The smells will be similar but different each day as with the sounds, as well as textures underfoot be predictable for her. Do you have any voice commands for, up, down, slow, stop? These will help her understand what she has to do when you come to a step up or down or she needs to take care and slow down in a particular area. Walking her on her own with you initially allows her to listen to you. She's still very much a pup so she's going to want to play!

Black Dog sell collar and lead covers with "I'm Blind" on them if you want to identify your dog. Sometimes it helps as it will help make people aware of the disability and hopefully they will modify their approach.

Have you got the book "Living with Blind Dogs" by Caroline Levin. It's a great resource.

Some general tips here too http://www.blinddogs.net/blind_dog_tips.html

Similar video with slightly larger dogs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjGc1OYRfrU&feature=g-like&context=G258bb0fALTwy_CAAeAA

that was great! After seeing that I think there's quite a market for dog jockstraps.

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who thought that :p I have to admit I cringed a few times.

Beautiful video with the whippets!

Wolfhounds - that was a little distracting at times!

Teaching your dog to bark on command doesn't necessarily translate to not barking when you are not there. The dog is telling you something by its behaviour of barking at birds, shadows etc. It's your job to figure out the "why" and try to help the dog stop barking. The dog is possibly overstimulated by the environment or it may be bored and is relieving its boredom by barking at all the stuff happening outside. There may be other reasons as well. I'd be looking at increasing my training with mental stimulation (training and tricks), impulse control (doggie zen) and environmental enrichment (bones, hidden caches of treats, food balls) as a start. I'd also be teaching the dog to find an "off switch" and learn to relax and settle down.

Check out the local sporting areas, parks and ovals without your dog. You can find out how well used they are at particular times of the day and if they are quiet you can use these for physical exercise. They usually give you plenty of room to move away from other dogs too if you encounter any (hopefully on leash). Bush walking can be good however can be tricky if you encounter another dog on the path. Industrial areas can be good after hours as they are usually not residential so you don't get many other dogs being walked.

However you need to have contingencies in place so you know what to do when encountering other dogs. This is where advice from your behaviourist is invaluable.

Paper by Konok et al "The behavior of the domestic dog (Canis familiaris) during separation from and reunion with the owner: A questionaire and an experimental study".

http://familydogproject.elte.hu/Pdf/publikaciok/2011/KonokDM2011.pdf

Full paper should be available.

My dog generally steals something from the room or starts barking outside because she's bored. It's usually the cat that more often tells me to get off the computer, sitting on the keyboard, biting or head butting my face continuously. Usually means she wants food.

Dxenion! Danni has helped me out when I was enquiring about accrediting owner trained assistance dogs. She knows more than any of the government agencies I came in contact with! Her knowledge is impressive as is her tenacity and desire to change things!

Very cute! Wonderful to see her having fun! Good luck with the tracking, I'm sure she'll be a hit at it!

Shirley Chong method breaks it down nicely. I'd try other objects first before introducing the dumbbell. You could try a piece of dowel or toilet roll, cardboard tube or even a soft toy. Sometimes dogs will not go after an item unless it moves, so sometimes you're better offering the dumbbell from your hand initially. Make sure it's at a height that is comfortable for the dog so it doesn't have to stretch it's neck up. You can use a line on a toy to introduce movement so the dog gains interest and will chase and pick up if this may interest the dog. Some dogs also have the chase or run out but not the retrieve, they'll go out after the toy/dumbbell but not bring it back. But it does sound like you have an owner who is not willing to listen. Might be time to give them a bit of a talking to about achieving goals.

Your Zamba looks a dear old thing. I have a soft spot for the poodles! At 12 your girl is possibly stiffening up and may be experiencing some pain from arthritis and her vision and hearing may also be deteriorating. As she has previously shown not a lot of tolerance for other dogs, she probably has less now she's a bit older. She needs to feel safe and protected. You've done the right thing taking the other dog back. Keeping two dogs separate permanently can be hard work and wearing at times. You may have to wait a little longer to get another dog. Can you borrow a friend's dog to train?

Geez, all these speakers could've spaced it out a little better!! Roger Abrantes, Bob Bailey and Ian Dunbar all within a few weeks of each other!

They are absolutely adorable!

Wonderful! So now where are the pics of your pup?? :D

My plan is to put a big board along one side of the stairs. They are corner stairs and I have noticed that when she is on the deck, she hugs the rails. But there are no rails on the stairs. So I am hoping that if I put a board along the side, she can hug that as she goes down.

I really need to increase her motivation for going down them too. Because she can do it now, but why should she when its so much easier to poop and pee on the deck?!

The board sounds like a great idea. Have you tried using a repellant spray? I know it may mix up her scent trail but you might need to use it as a temporary measure until she gets the idea of where to poop and pee. Other than that try carrying her straight to the grass and after she's pooped (with lots of praise for doing the right thing in the right place) carry her back up to the decking and then do the step training.

LINK Sarah Kalnajs has a great DVD on body language. You can see a trailer if you click on the link on the website. It's a really good one!! :thumbs:

Some great ideas here! My two cents worth -easily accessible switch - no wet hands on power switches and accessible plug - not fishing around in murky water for the plug! Home use would definitely need portability so wheels would be the go. I like the idea of hinged doors as I find the sliding doors difficult to manage when you have a determined escaper. A tie point would also be good and also a flexible hose that allows for movement around dogs and that also has a generous length on it so you don't feel like you're at the end of the hose with large dogs. Also a flexible head/nozzle for tight manoeuvring when you've got a large dog in the tub.

Woo! We are making progress! She came down the stairs by herself twice tonight while I carried on at the bottom to encourage her. She was so proud of herself! I have a new idea to try as well to help her feel more confident. Unfortunately a ramp wouldn't really work due to the shape and location of the stairs, but hopefully my new plan will work!

that's good news! The more confidence she gains obviously the more comfortable she will be in using the stairs. Just make sure you're ready to steady her so she doesn't get a fright if she missteps and starts to fall. What's your plan?