Luke W

:cool: Barkly has started scratching quite a lot. I think it started about a week ago. He has also started reacting with the reflex kicking motion with very slight touching/rubbing on his chest and tummy. I'm not sure if the two are related. I'm not sure what's causing it. I recently bought some Artemis Maximus and had started to slowly introduce that into his diet...maybe that's it? He's also been fascinated by the ground in his toilet area recently - sniffing much more closely that he used to. He's also been 'air scenting' when I take him out to the toilet and I've had trouble getting him to go on command. I've cut out the Artemis and gone back to Eagle pack, but I'm not sure that's it. Any comments on the scratching and the reflex kicking? Arghhh...Dogs. End vent.

http://www.agilityclick.com/ is Australian and has a range of books and DVDs.

More books and DVDs than you can poke a stick at: http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm You start with 'foundation' work - then progress.

I saw a blue roan cocker!!! And a non-working one at that!

The standard is fantastic! I'm watching it on my TV via my Media Center Video and sound are perfect! BTW - if you'd prefer to watch it in Media Player... Just start Media Player, then File->Open URL-> http://tinopolis-crufts-live.wm.llnwd.net/...lis_crufts_live It'll give you better control over the size of the video.

Don't know... City Software has this: http://www.citysoftware.com.au/Browse/bc4d...ItemDetail.aspx But I don't know how good it is.

I use an airline style crate. I'm always slightly bemused by those that have blankets in their crates. Barkly just chucks his blankets out of the crate and sleeps on the plastic floor. The best he'll do is scrunch his blankets up to the front of the crate and use them as pillows for his head.I gave up on blankets.

You could check ou tthe options here: http://data-recovery-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

Thanks guys, my pleasure. It's nice to be appreciated! Cheers. Now I'm off to take some photos of Barkly - he's just back from the groomers! ETA - well - I'll wait a couple of hours so that light is better

I had a food type chew that didn't make it through customs once.

I've got that CR mag issue - it's very, very, very, very good!

Thanks Jules. I've actually got him tugging pretty enthusiastically inside and in a super-low distraction environment outside. It's just a matter of slowly, slowly, increasing the environment distractions I think. If I get stuck and can't progress - I'll buy him one of those food tugs! Thanks!

ooh that looks good Laffi! I could do with that one!

Susan Garrett isn't perfectly clear on this one. Tug = food --- yes, she says it can be done. Tug > food --- it seems counter-intuitive but maybe. Perhaps by gradual withdrawal of food as a reward, it takes on less importance to the dog? I'm not sure. You point about not training with tug is a very good one. Build the desire first (using premack) then introduce it into training in a very low distraction environment first. Never offer your dog tug as a reward unless you are sure he's going to take it. Because I want to train for agility and obedience, I guess I need to train a little differently to you. Have the dog run away from me is a requirement! You point about short distance fetch is a good one too. I tried thorwing the ball only a cople of meters away, I could have the ball back in my hand pretty quickly. BTW - free shaping can be fun - 101 things with a box is a good start. Thanks for Midol (and everyone!) for bouncing ideas around. BTW - I left training class early today - he was unfocused, I was getting frustrated, we weren't succeeding. I tried increasing the reinforcement rates but still struggled to keep him focused. Rather than continually fail, I called it quits and brought him home. He's in his crate now, thinking about what he's done

When free shaping, you tend to want to keep the reinforcement rate very high - that's one area where I guess food is particularly useful. I can't remember which book I read it in - Culture Clash, Don't Shoot the Dog..? They were talking about rapid fire rewards: more than 30 per minute - it's hard to get that frequency with Tug or fetch I guess. BTW Midol - I understand what you are saying but you do in some sense get to choose what the dog likes - it's possible over time to transfer value from one item to another. You teach the dog to like tug for example. That's what I'm trying to do with Barkly - transfer his love of diced steak to tug. And it's working.

While I use tennis balls as a reward for sure - the above reason is why I still try and motivate with a tug also combine both with a ball on a tug and you should get more interest.... if not - what is it about the tennis balls that he loves?! Can you incorporate that into another game (eg is it the chase etc) You know it's funny - he loves the chase, but he also loves the chewing factor of tennis balls as well. He often find old, damaged tennis balls, so maybe there's some destroying factor there as well. I play tug and chase with an orbee but it's not quite the same as a tennis ball for him. Maybe I should concentrate on building the tug drive (which has improved a lot - but isn't very strong under a distracting environment yet, only strong at home). A tennis ball on the other hand is a bit more motivating.

BTW - Rubber balls just don't seem to have the same appeal as tennis balls and I try not to let him chew them. He's nowhere near as keen for his Orbees as he is for a found tennis ball (he finds them at the park).

Barkly looooves tennis balls. I'm trying to transfer his love of food to tug and while it's slowly working - he'd much rather I just throw a ball for him. Anyone using a tennis ball as a reward during training? I've seen frisbees used occasionally but not tennis balls. Any downsides people can think of or practical problems I might run into?

umm.....am I too late? I've been browsing... Here's my wishlist: Foundation Jumping 4-DVD Set Author: Susan Salo 2x2 Weave Training 2-DVD Set Author: Susan Garrett Foundation Training for Agility 3-DVD Set Author: Moe Strenfel Control Unleashed: A Foundation Seminar 4-DVD Set Author: Leslie McDevitt, MLA, CDBC, CPDT In FOCUS Beginning Obstacle Skills DVD Author: Deborah Jones, Ph.D. & Judy Keller On Course to Excel Author: Greg Derrett

I would really only consider it for studio flash work. I've got a Minolta Flash Meter IV and I only use it for studio work. They were much more useful in the days of film and no histograms. If you wanted to get one, the Minolta Flash Meter IV is very good and a bargain on eBay.

I'm building tug drive in Barkly and he's slowly becoming more enthusiastic. I'm using the "Premack principle" and Susan Garrett's method for tranferring reward value. Sounds complicated? Nope. Does your dog have something that's a higher value reward than tug? Food for example? Only attempt to play tug when you are pretty sure your dog will want to. Play in short bursts in the beginning - 1 minute is too long. Try starting with 5 seconds. Try teasing him....moving the tug in an enticing manner and not letting him get at it for a few seconds, then let hium grab it and tug with him. As soon as he tugs for 5 seconds, give the 'out'/'leave it' command and immediately give him the higher value reward. Over time, the value of the higher value reward will transfer down to tug. Oh and don't let him have the toy - he should think that the toy is no fun without you. You should always have hold of the toy - at least for the moment.

I had a problem with this type of behavior too. I've pretty much extinguished it by using the same technique Wolfsong described above. My 'few seconds' was more like "ahhh (my no reward marker)...following by a brisk back turn and 5-10 seconds of time out" For full on barking, the timeouts get longer. Sometimes I've had to give a sharp 'ahh' and briskly walk him away from the training area. Note: Don't continue to give commands if the dog barks. If your dog enjoys training the next command is a secondary reinforcer and will cement the barking behavior. This is what you want to avoid: "Sit" Bark, sit. "Sit" Bark, sit. "Sit". Sit. "Click, treat" and remember, consistency is the key! No matter how good the behavior was, don't reward if he barks.

Consistency is the key! But yep, it can be damn hard. I guess when you absolutely have to get something from him, you have to make it as unlike a game as you can. Walk purposely, but not to quickly, and not stalking. Reach without snatching. Oh, I nearly forgot, when he does have something, you can try to get him to swap it for one of his chew toys (that should be lying on the floor). My dog went through a phase of chewing stuff. It started at about 8 weeks and went until, um, still going. He destroyed my Mastercard last week. He likes eating sponges out of the kitchen sink He's a pup right? To finish on a good note... It should get better ETA: Agree with both the posts above! Sometimes it's just easier to manage the environment (put the cushions away for year or so ). I have a baby gate across my bedroom door

Random ramblings... You have to be very thoughtful about what you are rewarding, what is self-rewarding for the dog and how to counter the undesired behavior. Does you dog understand 'off' or 'leave it'? If your dog considers you trying to get the item a game, you simply can't continue to try get the item the way you currently do. Ever. Remove the game nature from the dog. Let him have it. When he gets bored with it, take it back - no fuss, a sharp 'ahh' and take the item away - if he still thinks it's fun - change your approach. Walk sternly, don't creep, gruff voice. Try to prevent the dog from getting the item. Keep the item out of reach when you can't supervise. When you can supervise, try "leave it" (assuming the dog knows what it means) before he actually manages to get the item. Reward if he doesn't get the item. Even a sharp "ahh" as he starts to go for the item, then a 'good boy' when he turns to see what the fuss was about. Try to avoid rewarding him for giving the item back - you may inadvertantly teach a chained behavior sequence...get item, return item, reward.

Yep, it would allow closer focusing than your 18-135 It might be slow and hard to focus at the long end. What do you want another lens for? This one overlaps your current 18-135 by a large amount. If it's macro you want, you might consider extension tubes for your 50mm. If it's a longer zoom, you might consider something without quite such a large range. If you just want a single lens that can zoom from wide to reasonably long and are willing to sacrifice some performance (especially in lowish light) for convenience, this lens might be a good choice.