Quickasyoucan

I'm looking for a tug too for drive training, I bought one from Katie's bumpers (something like that), but Jake can't get a firm grip because his canines are quite worn down from tennis balls and so are not pointy and I think it is too big for his mouth, it is something like 8cm wide but flat similar design to those Erny has pictured. He seems to slide off the surface... (he is a stafford x kelpie). I am looking for one that is more like a smaller piece of tough hose, Steve (K9 Force) normally has them but he is out of stock. Anyone who has done one of his seminars will know what I mean if I say the smaller tug?? What size are those Erny?

I can imagine it works well!!! When I did tracking in SES, the dogs were completely flummoxed by suicides. A dead person smells completely different from a live one . . . not to mention that it doesn't move. Cadaver dogs are an different specialty and require different training. I would assume the same is true of snakes, and I would be cautious about training snake avoidance with roadkill. That's interesting as I would have thought cadavers (of any kind) would have been easier to find. Don't know about you but my dog can find a dead fish (to roll in ), dead bird etc from far far and away. No training involved there unfortunately! Someone told me a tale (this is very definitely second hand info) about a body that washed up at North Curl Curl which has the off leash in the dunes next to it. Apparently what alerted people to the body was the stampede of dogs down the beach to investigate. I am a bit surprised people aren't more interested in snake proofing, but maybe like a typical pom I am overstating the risk, you know when we first arrive we think there are snakes hanging from the trees and funnel webs under every toilet seat, that sort of thing Still I would like to be able to enjoy taking my dog to off leash areas that might be snakey (long grass, water etc) with some degree of confidence that they wouldn't chase if they came across one. Obviously there is no guarantee they don't step on one by accident, but their senses are a darn sight better than ours. When people talk about water do they hang around in the water or in the weeds?

Not really. Mostly, I seem to find that no one has done much, and there's not much of a foundation for knowing how to do it. It would be easier in the US, where most of the poisonous snakes are rattle snakes . . . and pretty similar in look and behaviour. But I think it requires testing to see if dogs generalise correctly, and to learn how much it varies from dog to dog. I'd expect that small terriers, who were bred to go to ground, might have different tendencies than, say, sight hounds or gun dogs. I know of Rottis and one Labrador who have killed dugites [a very venomous WA snake] without themselves being harmed. Terriers seem to have the greatest talent for getting killed. Next step, I think, is to do some search of funding agencies and see if it might be possible to get a small grant from the Lotteries Council or some such to do the study required to set a foundation for doing it right. In WA the only snakes one can keep without a rather difficult-to-obtain license are pythons, so testing to see if dogs trained on a python are also trained off tiger snakes and dugites (the main problems in Perth) will require collaboration with a professional snake handler . . . who is probably going to want to be paid. . . . and to use the e-collar on my own dogs during the blue-tongue mating season. My crew are not very nice with blue tongues . . . they bark at them and lunge until I come out and give them hell and take the poor lizard away. That behaviour should be easy to fix with an e-collar. Yep I suppose by selecting breeding to encourage certain traits in dogs we have also maybe bred out natural caution. I have heard of more than one SBT who has died due to a snake bite and, maybe it's a terrier thing to pick up and shake, not the best thing when it is a poisonous snake. :D I had a read of Lou Castle's crittering article, he seems to say that dogs may generalise when talking about cats and other mammals of the same size, but as you say hard to test unless you can get in front of a snake in a controlled test. Also what I took away was timing is critical in getting it right as otherwise you can end up with the wrong result. Would be really interested to hear how you get on Sandgrubber, after all as I said before, surely snakeproofing is a win-win for the dog and the snake and the best way to go.

It is interesting that your corgi stays out of range as I guess that is what a primitive animal would have done. When I was watching the Cesar Millan snakeproofing he put dogs curiosity - he had a rattler in a cage and probably 60% of the dogs in his pack approached within strike range to sniff it - down to an instance of where domestication and perhaps selective breeding had overridden primal instinct. Funnily enough, I haven't personally seen that many snakes but have come across a fair few large lizards and I always get that sort of primal adrenaline rush (sorry hard to describe) even if I have spotted something out of the corner of my eye that it might be a snake. With blue tongues I know that my dog is pretty curious, I am pretty sure he would go within striking distance - not that I would give him the opportunity to hurt a bluey but when we have had them in the garden he very clearly goes into prey drive for small lizards and geckos. Have you got any further with your research Sandgrubber?

It's interesting you say you dont' get much of a response. Coming from a non-snake country (well apart from adders) to a snake one it is something I think about a lot when walking my dog, we have some pretty snakey bushland around here by all accounts. I would love to have my dog competently snake proofed. After all its a win-win situation there for both the snake and the dog. You only have to do a quick scan of this forum alone to see how many dogs do suffer snake bites. One vet program (I think it might have been the SASH segment on Bondi vet) said about 8,000 dogs per year suffer snake bites in Australia, but those would only be the reported ones that made it to a vet. The Cesar segment I saw said 150,000 in America with 10-15% fatal. My only thought would be whether a dog would actually act the same way if it came across a snake when its owner was not around ie in the garden when the owner at work. That is my greatest fear to come home to a dead dog. I guess with the e-collar the advantage is that the dog does not associate the negative (the stim) with the owner, although on the snake proofing episode I saw it was, approach, stim at the moment the dog starts to trigger and then turn and walk away with dog (on leash) presumably to teach flight as the best method to deal with snakes. Sorry I can't help with the type of snake question, but I will be interested in anything you come across sandgrubber. ETA: I wouldn't actually care if my dog feared hoses, as being prey driven he attacks those too!! Anyway better to be fearful than dead.!

I disagree with you, there are plenty of people on this forum who feed diets based on meat and bones and their dogs and puppies are perfectly healthy. Feeding a commercial diet is certainly not the only way to feed, dogs have a carnivore's digestive system and a lot of dry foods contain far too many cereals and fillers which is why some dogs produce high volumes of faecal matter when eating them, they just cannot digest the excess carbohydrates. Also if you're going to feed a commercial food some puppies may do better on the adult version of the food as the puppy varieties can be too rich in protein and nutrients and cause rapid growth. I feed a combination of super premium dry food, meat, offal, raw eggs, fish, yoghurt, bones and leftovers. Dogs are scavengers and don't need every meal to be balanced, as long as they receive all necessary vitamins and minerals over a week or so they'll be fine. I have nothing against those that choose to feed a commercial diet as long as their dog does well on it, but to suggest that commercial dog foods are the ONLY way to feed your dog a correct and balanced diet just isn't true. My apologies to the OP for going OT. Great post :p Always wondered what was wrong with my eyebrows Actually I don't think I have a balanced diet at all, dog eats better thant I do. Have to agree with the post above too

thanks will go and have a look

Just because he is isn't tracking your footsteps doesn't mean he is isn't following your scent. He could be airscenting in a search mode or following your traill rather than your track- scent moves off the exact course you took and trailers will follow the dispersed scent, footstep trackers are following not just the person's scent but crushed vegetation etc. Different techniques with different but overlapping applications. He loves it whatever. He is very diligent even if sometimes he takes a while to find something if I hide it from view under fallen leaves or something. He always wags his tail while looking, I suppose may be an indicator he is in some sort of drive! Interesting that scent moves off course that explains why sometimes he seems to head off in the wrong direction! He's no bloodhound, but the pleasure is in the game. I do find the dog's scenting abilities fascinating.

Thanks very much Jessca. Another question, where is the best place to source books like these? Amazon?

Very stupid question here but does it blacken them? Or just make the coat shiny? And does it cover greys! No I am serious about the first 2 questions

Just wondering if anyone can point me in the direction of articles, links or even books etc on how dogs use their scenting abilities. Jake and I play very easy find it games and I note that he often zig-zags or holds his nose in the air. Rarely does he seem to follow my scent to where an item is. I just want to understand the whole process, also do breeds known for say mantracking ability ie bloodhounds do things the same way or is there variation between breeds? I know this is probably a stupid question as all dogs can use scent, but I am very interested to understand how the whole process works. Cheers

I would have thought exercise lead to endorphin release, calmer dog. I guess also it depends on what is behind the "anxiety", after all there can be many causative factors. What form did the anxiety take?

Weird, I'm not a dog, but I do suffer from anxiety. Exercise is one of the best ways of reducing anxiety. Anyway over to the dog behaviourists...! ETA: thinking about are they talking about over stimulating the dog, ie getting it too excited, that could heighten anxiety? Maybe it is certain types of exercise...

Interesting thread folks, despite the barbs. In Ray Coppingers Dogs book (not all of which I agreed with) there was an interesting chapter about what he called, I think, "functional conformation". He specifically referred to herding dogs and that they had to not just look like for example a border collie but also show the correction functional conformation for example eye-stalk. It is a difficult argument though, there are breeds of dogs that we love and would hate to see become extinct, but the world as we have it now does not allow them to fulfill their genetic heritage. For example the borzois and the afghans as mentioned above. On the other side of the coin and referring specifically to the GSD and the herding dogs, BC and kelpie discussed above, I don't think believe you should have the sock without the shoe, by that I mean, a kelpie without drive or the ability to work isn't truly a kelpie for me, a GSD who is not capable of working and by this I mean undertaking active athletic work be it protection, security or police work surely can't been seen as a true fulfilment of their breed?? I didn't get the impression btw that purebred dogs were being denigrated BTW more the growing divide between purebred working and show lines was of concern.

What a beautiful obituary for a much loved member of the family. I am sorry for your loss. Jamie sounds like he had a very full, successful and happy life

Is it any bull breed looking dog with these features as otherwise that would include as someone said above: GSPs Labs (no doubt no 1 breed in UK). Curly coated retrievers Flat coated retrievers Standard Poodles Greyhounds (come in brindle) Boxers (brindle) etc etc. Also is it an 16 inches and 20kg or 16 inches or 20kg?? By that I mean what about a dog weighing 19.5kg who was black and over 16 inches would that be okay whilst an identical dog of 21kg would not? I am a bit confused is this a new take on old legislation ie a new way of looking at it or a new amendment to the legislation? I thought GB was reviewing its BSL laws?

There's a few fat staffords around the Northern Beaches I reckon would be over 20kg! I know we are talking about UK here though.

Well done Trish and Marie! It would be great to see a dual titled rarer breed. I met Crispin the Hungarian Wire Haired Vizsla at the weekend who is the first HWV with an obedience title and he also has show titles. Great way to showcase the versatility a less common breed. Funny you should mention stand, Huski as I have problems with it too, Jake just sits down. I have over trained sit, basically he thinks that is what he has to do for treats etc. It's like a reflex. If I try and get him to heel off lead and stop, he sits down. I have been trying to teach it again with mixed results this week.

Not dipping into the subject of the repeal of BSL but on the subject of enforcement of other parts of the NSW CAA, I wish that there was more widespread enforcement of the requirement to chip AND register. For one thing, that would make it much easier to identify all the poor dogs who make their way into the pounds. Not saying that some ratbag owners would necessarily go and collect them, but at least it would make someone accountable and might help reunite a fair few pets with their owners before it is too late for them. I was picking up a dog from Wollongong Pound the other day and there was a woman in there who was trying to convince the employee she had no idea a dog had to be both chipped AND registered. I wonder how far public education has really got with Joe Public. Her dog was chipped but it is as good as useless if there is no registration. I for one would be happy with a dog permit system for all dogs, including a cooling off period after you obtained your permit to let you think about the rights and responsibilities of dog ownership. Might stop a few impulse buys from pet shops. Buying a dog (and getting rid of one) is just too easy IMO and the dogs are the ones who suffer. ETA: I know you still wouldn't capture everyone, but it might mean the crims had to work just that bit harder to hide illegal activities.

Ruth, I would think it would depend on both the level of aggression in the dog and more importantly the owner's ability to be under effective control. I would imagine clubs would also be thinking about their public liability policies. I will give you an example from the opposite side of the coin if you like. One of my colleagues has adopted 2 small dogs and has worked really hard with one of them who is very fearful of other large dogs and has a tendency to bark, mild fear aggression or go totally into shutdown. She has been taking them to free obedience classes offered through their local council by Hanrob and things have been going well. However, at that class a man (who I am sure has the best intentions) has also been attending with a dog aggressive rottweiler. Unfortunately, the man has a bad leg, the dog is strong and, according to my colleague, he does not have effective control. Result has been that on 3 separate occasions the dog has lunged at, pinned other dogs in the class. My colleague who has worked hard to build up her dog's confidence, has now seen her dog take huge steps backward after being pinned by the rottweiler. The upshot is that the owner of the rottie has been advised that they should have one on one lessions and has been told they cannot attend the class. It is very hard because at least that person has been trying to something with his rottie which is commendable but on the other hand you do have to think about the club, their public liability insurance and above all the comfort and safety of the other members of the group. Please don't think I am for an instant suggesting you don't have effective control, but this may be a reason why some clubs might be wary of dog aggressive dogs (depending on the level of aggression).

Looks like pup has bumped her scone at some point. Hope its been checked out tho, just in case. Cute pup, she looks like a girl (ie no mistakking what sex) :D

What is that lump though? Aren't you worried about it?

Staffyluv, I am sorry to hear that your old friend is in hospital. Every now and then I check in to see how he is going as you are both such an inspiration. I can't begin to imagine all the hurdles you have crossed to come this far. Jake and I had a scare with a lump on his foot late last year which turned out to be a benign histiocytoma, but even going through a couple of days of uncertainty was hell. Not to mention the fact that Jake went into a staffy sook for several weeks after the op! Sending you healing and pain free thoughts for Ollie from a fellow staffy lover. Jess and Jake the dog.

My dog is prey not food driven. Toys work better However it's a moot point for me as I won't be doing agility with Jake anyway can't risk his HD ETA: when i enquired of Manly they told me I had to use food.

Roo on Northern Beaches there is one group trains at Deep Creek, Narrabeen, then Northern Suburbs Dog Club at St Ives Showground. I think Poocow goes to the Narrabeen one, it is Manly Warringah Dog Training or the like. She could probably tell you. I enquired of them but the lady said you have to use food rewards, which is not my thing. I think also depends on the health of your dog doing agility. Jake has mild HD so I thought best not in the end.