Quickasyoucan

Thanks. Well it is embarrassing thats true, but I can live with that. These days I'm 100% confident I can hold her, and that she will not get away. Im not sure if she would actually do damage, in all her altercations she has never drawn blood. Im not keen to test this though. At one point I was afraid of actually getting bitten myself as she initially began to show some redirected aggression but following my trainer's specific advice on this I dealt with this and consequently her behaviour improved- her outbursts have lessened and she is more mindful of me quicker now. Now that you have made me think, its a tough question . Ok, firstly its a very stressful way to walk, watching her alertness, waiting for that potential explosion and trying to avoid getting stressed myself. I would like to enjoy walking. Also, I feel that in her snarling and lungeing it expresses her fear and I am frustrated that despite my best efforts I cant seem to prevent this level of anxiety that she is feeling. Oh and another BIG reason is that I would like to be able to walk her with my kids and that is very difficult as my eldest daughter gets terrified when she sees another dog now in anticipation of our dog's behaviour. I think sometimes we become part of the problem, as we see the potential "issue" (in my case it was skateboards) coming down the street, tense up and add to the building of drive or whatever. I know from personal experience it is very hard to stop yourself doing this. One thing I have found helped (and I have a naturally anxious personality) is to try and stop thinking about anything when I am walking, I look straight ahead, try to keep the tension out of my shoulders etc. I find thinking about nothing seems to stop me constantly scanning for triggers. I know you need to be aware, but I think body language does play a big role. Deelee what happens if someone else walks her? ETA: spelling

Deelee I am sorry I have nothing to add from a behaviour/training point of view, but from an emotional perspective, it is an eye opener that you are unable to do the things that most of us take for granted. However, I highlighted the bit in the middle of the post. Try not to think she is missing out. I have a friend with a fearful rottie and he is always trying to force her to play with other dogs, she doesn't really want to and I really don't see how it would contribute to her happiness. I don't believe that it is necessary for your dog to have to interact with other dogs for its happiness. Offleash parks are a double edged sword anyway. It's great for people like me who don't have a large backyard to let the boy have a run, but you inevitably come across the loser who can't control his dog and makes your life miserable. Any dog can end up in a barney in a dog park simply for that reason. I don't consider Jake to have an aggression problem, but he has been jumped on a few times in dog parks and he certainly does know how to fight, and it's certainly not pleasant. I avoid the leash free at popular times for that reason. I really don't care if Jake never interacts with dogs, it's more about letting him have off leash time for me, the best walks I have are just him and me and I can tell he loves that too. I am glad that you say you are trying to enjoy her as part of the family too. Sometimes in life when there is something that is difficult for us it can obliterate all the positive things and I am sure there are many other things that are positive about Evie.

Judging by her eyes when the big red tug was brought out she would have liked to give that monster a go! BTW Jake is wondering where his little girlfriend has gone!

Yeah was a great day, my head was full when I left, still processing all that information. Great to see the changes in Rocko and Scout, they both looked like different dogs Thanks for another great day's training Bridget and Steve :rolleyes:

Just reading this Jake (6 years old and very much not a puppy) has been waking up in the night too these last couple of weeks. I actually put it down to the weather being so up and down and the humidity. His allergies have been playing up a bit as well. He usually goes to bed around 8.30 or 9.00 and doesn't stir until at least 5.30 or 6.00 am which is when we get up anyway. Does Henschke suffer from itching or anything like that?

Yeah, I'm with the loose lead theory too. Jake can walk in front so long as he doesn't pull. Though if I am somewhere crowded or with loads of dogs, makes sense to have a shorter lead so you don't inconvenience other people and can handle any difficult situations quickly like someones dog not being friendly and the like. Maybe Cesar does it that way when he is trying to correct behaviour.

I think you 100% did the right thing, from what I understand about malamutes they definitely need an experienced owner. Gosh she sounds more like the sort of person who would suit a much less challenging dog. Again you would have to question the breeder who would be prepared to sell to her, but maybe she painted a different pic to the breeder. It's not as if you said, don't get a dog, get a goldfish!!! You tried to direct her to a more suitable breed. You come across enough people in life with the wrong dog for them which only leads to heartbreak for the dog or the owner or both. Particularly if her parents aren't particularly pro-dog, that's a pretty big and shedding animal to front them with. I'm all for working up to owning a breed of dog anyway. If you don't have the experience or the personal circumstances get a dog more suitable for your present situation and then dream and plan for when you are able to get your ideal dog. You might even find along the way that the dog you choose as your starter turns out to be your dream dog anyway and much more suited to you and your situation. I love kelpies, I love their intelligence their look, their stamina, their inherent ability and need to work. But, unless I suddenly morph into a farmer, I am realistically never going to own one, as I could never do one justice. But I do hope one day when I have more space to own an HPR breed or two as well as my beloved SBT.

Heaps better, but he still looks out for them. I have more control now than I used to tho thanks to Steve. I should add that luckily for my dog handling skills, skateboard technology has moved on and the new skateboards which fold up don't have the same wheels (ie they don't make the same sound) and Jake is not interested in them. So with luck the problem may gradually phase itself out anyway despite my handling Gotta love progress. When I saw Steve he said Jake may have a touch of OCD as he does some obssessive things too. Jake is not looking too fine at the moment though as he has hurt his lip I think on the fence barking at next door's dog, he now has a pink dog equivalent of fat lip, I am hoping once it heals it will go black again otherwise I will be changing his name to scarface! So please don't think I have been beating him when you see him!

Yarp, I'll be bringing Desmo. I need help with not pulling on the lead, even with a prong collar I am getting nowhere so I'm obviously a simpleton with no brains to speak of and somebody needs to kick some sense into me Am looking forward to it, got some great tips last time Just hope he doesn't single us out as people who should know how to do loose leash walking, that will be embarrassing as no doubt Jake will show me up You'd better be careful Steve doesn't dog nap Desmo!! He may devise a cunning plan if he knows he is coming. ETA: what's the lick leg???? I actually read it first time as I want to see Steve lick Top's leg !!! I am definitely losing it.

I was talking to GDG Im coming too, will be like the Drive Training all over again. Are you bringing Darcy? Poocow. Who are you bringing PoW. - will you be bringing your shepherd that Steve was after last time? I only have one dog, so it will have to be Jake

No I don't think he knows what it means, you have explained exactly what happens, I think it is his default response when he thinks I want him to do something. He sits automatically for treats, to be let off the lead etc. I tried holding a treat in front of him and moving him forward on the lead gently but he still sits down. Sorry I don't want to hog the thread.

I find this interesting. Any advice for someone who is just starting out training at home. Even at home occasionally if I put Jake into a stay he will drop down, along the lines of it's more comfortable I think, I started saying to him sit up, and he will, but I guess if you are trialling you will be failed even if he sits back up :rolleyes: Sorry a bit off topic too, I can't get him to stand. He sits all the time, even if I so much as look at him! How do you teach stand???

Drontal is every 3 months, but it doesn't do heartworm, just intestinal worms. When Jake was having the proheart injection I used drontal with no probs.

Yeah I'd like a webcam to see what goes on. Jake gets the same sort of exercise Anita mentions in the morning and is picked up for a walk by a neighbour at 3 or 4 pm, we then do some training when I get home at 6-7 pm. He has not done any damage in the house since he was about 1.5 years old and even then it was only minor chewing once or twice. I am pretty convinced he sleeps all day. My lovely neighbour says she often has to wake him up when she gets there. Sorry it's not a helpful suggestion other than to say other friends I have who do not exercise their dogs before going to work have much greater problems with boredom. I don't leave Jake with anything, he's not into Kongs and wouldn't eat any food till I got back anyway. Same with our springers when we were young. If they were left with a chew it was still there when we got home.

I have just foregone the proheart injection having educated myself and am now using sentinel every month. I thought it covered all intestinal worms but now a friend has told me there are apparently 2 that are not covered. This worm thing is very confusing

Made me think when you said that Midol. On a rubber ball Jake is very drivey (thats what we use for drive training). On a tug he is drivey but slower to warm up (higher threshold?). On a pumped up football he is totally out of control (overdrive) and no use to anyone (oh yeah and skateboards light his candle big time too ) If I try to use a frisbee, dumbell or anything else to initiate drive he look at me as if to say WTF

I do a variation with him ie: he has to sit, stay and look at me for an extended period of time before he gets ok and can eat. I might download it and read again and try to implement it better. Can't hurt. Thank you. B has been a challenge and i think will be a challenge until his dying day. Boxers hey! ETA I don't know much about drive training. Is there somewhere i can go to read about it? You could do a search of the forum. Also you could have a look at K9 Force Website think its www.k9force.net, but don't hold me to that... I can second the value of drive training. My drivey stafford x kelpie has been much much improved since we have been doing it and the TOT. ETA: huski beat me to it and the correct address too! A couple of people here have done the distance learning packages too, Melbomb, if you are interested. Shoemonster is one, she has staffords. Have you also thought about a one on one consultation with a trainer just to set you on the right path, someone might be able to recommend someone in Adelaide?? Some clubs seem to be very archaic in their thinking, I have found that with a couple I have enquired of in my area.

ditto that . . . though it's past tense . . . the dependent one recently passed away. I got her at two years. She had mama-itis all her life. Nothing to do with training . . . she was house trained, but little more when I got her. I'll never know whether her early life made her dependent . . . I tend to think she was wired that way. Dependency may be related to responsiveness, but I don't think it's a close relationship. Perhaps I did not explain myself clearly and my title is a little misleading, I am thinking more of the methods we use to obtain the responsiveness rather than the actual responsiveness itself ie by building up our status through training up in the eyes of the dog to the exclusion of others is there a danger that in some dogs, those with a natural predisposition to dependency, might become over dependent upon us? If so how do you avoid that pitfall when training are there things that you can build into your training? Obviously with some dogs they are never going to become dependent I have a dog, who though his responsiveness has increased markedly through training and I like to think his respect for me, is happy in his own skin and always looks like he can't wait for me to get out the door in the morning so he can get his head down :D

I have been thinking about this a bit prompted by things people have commented on in various training threads. When we are training our dogs to be responsive to us, we work on excluding distractions, on building up our status as leader etc (I am generalising here but I am not talking about any training method in particular). However, is there a danger, depending on the dog's personality that the higher the level of responsiveness a dog has to us, the more dependent it becomes on us and that this could spill over into things like separation anxiety. To provide a basic example, I have a friend who has a rotty with fairly weak nerves. Obedience wise (without much training in fact) her recall is 100%, basic commands have been easily taught. But her responsiveness to me seems to be tied in with extreme dependence on her owner. If he leaves her with someone else she is extremely anxious, stresses constantly and cannot settle. When he has been away for some time she shows signs of separation anxiety. So my question is, given that some dogs obviously would have a predisposition to be more dependent, how do you strike a balance in training between achieving responsiveness and not letting this turn into an unhealthy relationship of dependence if the dog sees you as the centre of their universe?

Here you go Midol, a seminar done by Bob Eden in 2007 using “purely positive” dog training methods to train police service dogs. You will not find a lot of information on purely positive police dog training as it is an ineffective method of training for police service dogs. Many Departments have found out the hard way after hiring Bob Eden to train police service dogs for them. Nice dogs though, nice music! They did remind me of my staffy playing tug though running around with sleeves in their mouths, I could probably get him to do that, not sure he'd make a great police dog tho he'd want to lick all the crims to death!

And I have a friend whose husband needs zapping! Midol your OP comes across as very aggressive, I know it was 4.15 am, but if you post your question in a less pugilistic way maybe you will get some answers. I don't have very strong views on anything but to me it felt like you had your fist in my face.

My boy turns 6 this year and I am looking at definitely doing obedience and maybe agility. I would think the latter though would be dependent on the health of the dog ie arthritis, joints etc. Even if we don't get far for me everything would be an achievement.

Ruth did you try incorporating the ball into your drive training. Best of both worlds. I have stopped using the ball thrower with Jake, but instead use it as my prey item for drive training. I put it away out of sight when we are home, so he knows when to turn on and turn off - he soon learnt there is no point looking. Obviously it's easier for me as I am not dealing with a multi-dog household, but I have found the ball great for drive training, I use a rubber one not a tennis ball to save on teeth, and have found that it helps keep Jake focussed when we are out. I don't throw it far but just incorporate sit, stay, heel etc. Tires him out much more than straight running as someone said he is exercising his mind as well, also as he is getting older and given the heat I was concerned about him running to far and too fast. For the first time ever on a leash free dog beach at the weekend he didn't run off and go surfing and come back only when he wanted, as soon as I used my drive cue and mentioned the ball we were able to enjoy the water but on my terms.

The only thing that would worry me about that would be that it would be first step down the American path and that would eventually mean that people who can't afford it would have nowhere to exercise their dogs off leash. I would be more pro councils putting their money into owner education so that existing dog parks became less chaotic. A couple of councils here are getting on that band wagon, my boss has just had several weeks of free training classes with Hanrob instructors I think courtesy of Sydney City Council. Anita, anywhere we can find links to the sort of things you are talking about that were mentioned at his seminars, I know nothing about him at all? Cheers

But as an inexperienced person, I like discussion, I like to see different points of view (unless it obviously turns into personal insults), how else is a person supposed to pick up on ideas to go and explore themselves and form their own opinion?? What might seem old hat to the experts is new ground to lots of people. I am not particularly pro or con anything (that much is obvious since I haven't got off my butt to train my dog very much in the last 4 years). But the more I read, the more I realise I can do better by my relationship with this dog and even better hopefully with the next. And the more we learn and every tiny response I get from him that is better than before is a great experience for me. Nothing is really bad by the way he is a great dog despite his owner But we are learning to do things better, to iron out a coupe of rough spots, and it is discussion like this that stimulates ideas and a realisation that improvements can be made. I guess what I am saying, sorry OP off topic, is don't stop the discussion