Luke W

In your RAW processor (I assume Adobe Camera RAW) - just crop the image how you want it (using the crop tool).

I'm not super familiar with KCC park but it's pretty big isn't it? Any particular area we are going to meet?

bahahaha My 7mo has had apomorphine to induce vomiting twice. Once for a human medicine capsule he found and was chomping on, the other time for a mosquito coil (lit and smoking) he'd decided to eat.

So it takes photos but they are underexposed (completely black) ? Does this occur in full sun? What shutter speed, aperture and exposure program are you using (or is the camera selecting)? Have you tried to manually pop-up the flash (via the little button) ?

It's a marketing term! It means whatever they want it to mean! IMO - It means at the lower end (price and features) of similar cameras. Entry level dSLR - lower end (price and features) of dSLRs Entry level digital camera - lower end of (price and features) digital cameras... It's a step or two below "Enthusiast"

I haven't taken a moment to check the link out yet, but yes, I believe there is a "pretend/deceive" element that our animals learn. Although I think often-times it is not pretence necessarily .... I think it is that it is their perception that they have been rewarded for that very action. After all, wouldn't we be likely to act very quickly when we see any of our animals 'about' to chew on a (eg) power cord? Just the same as my 4 mo pup has worked out that he gets a reward for toileting outside. He occasionally tries it on for showing the 'posture' position of a toilet squat without needing to empty anything. There is a current thread in puppy forum which shows this is not uncommon. Although I'm obviously not in puppy's head to know his precise thoughts, I do not believe it is about 'deception' but about his belief in the possibility that maybe he will get a reward for the posturing alone. Perhaps I've even inadvertently rewarded him on one ocassion for it .... thinking he'd gone to the toilet or perhaps offering the reward too early. Yes, it's always going to be difficult to separate 'deception' from 'behavior that's been rewarded in the past' Re toilet posture...Does the pup know it's getting rewarded foir actually toileting or simply assuming the position? Does he assume the position for the reward and then thinks, well, while I'm assuming the position for my reward, I may as well have a piss...) The pup wouldn't even need to be rewarded for assuming the position without actually going, the key is...has the pup NOT been rewarded for assuming the position without actually going? Because that might be what adds the extra bit of information to the pup (shaping if you like). Not only do I need to assume the position, I actually need to piss. I think it's possible to design experiments to see whether animals can deceive by carefully removing the possibility of previously rewarded behavior (I think!)

re 'deceiving, faking, feigning' An interesting thing to think about. I guess it comes down to being able to judge what the animal is thinking about. I'm no qualified animal behaviorist so I did a google search ... It seems animals do 'pretend/deceive'... Here's a link about chimps: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/01/24/d...=20070124123000 Fascinating stuff.

It's all conditioning. The use of the word 'pretend' is problematic... Behavior that is rewarded is more likely to be repeated. So... The first time the hare chews on the cord, hare gets chased (reward). The next time the hare chews on the cord, hare gets chased (reward). The behavior is more likely to be repeated. No different than the way my dog runs to his mat the second he hears me heading toward the lounge room. Was he 'pretending' he was lying on his mat? No - it's simply that he's been conditioned that lying on his mat is likely to get a reward. He can't help it.

.oops

Not suite sure what you mean. Regarding the last sentence, how did you get 2-5 meters away...by walking yes? And he stayed? Then you just need to build on distance - slowly. Or was he already 2-5 meters away and you sat or downed him at a distance? As for expecting too much - depends what you've trained and proofed for I guess. My 7mo is pretty reliable at letting me walk 10m away and he'll stay in his sit/stand/down (30s/60s/15s)

say what?????????? Scary stuff .......... haha - you jumped right to the end - course it's going to be scary These skills are for such tasks as replacing backgrounds or changing just a part of an image. The pen tool in particular can be very tricky to learn, but is very, very useful for creating straight/curved hard edged selections (a car, a lamp post, etc).

I would start by learning how to crop, resize, sharpen and save JPGs. Then move on to adjustment layers. Start with curves. Then understand masks, brushes, opacity. Then the pen to create paths and turn them into selections. Then the other selection tools.

It depends on the DVD.. http://www.dogwise.com http://www.caninetrainingsystems.com http://airdogs.com.au http://agilityclick.com

Mornings suit me best - any time but preferably after 9.30am (it's an hour drive)

I bought mine from http://www.caninetrainingsystems.com/products.php I couldnt find it on the website http://www.caninetrainingsystems.com/cgi-b...V-SCH-BAL-SET-1 I assume these are the DVDs referred to by DogDude: Obedience without Conflict Video 1 and Video 2 Set Obedience without Conflict Tape 1: Clear Communication Obedience without Conflict Tape 2: The Game

Yep!! I've been going for 4 weeks. I'm in the last 2 of weeks of Basic 1 (I got thrown into week 7 of Basic 1after an asssessment). I have an assessment over the next 2 weeks - hopefully I'll progress to Basic 2 (although I'm not too confident!). Just keep an eye out for a blue roan cocker spaniel and a large guy with a green hat

Yup. Reminder: I'm a very raw newby (and so is my dog)

I bought mine from http://www.caninetrainingsystems.com/products.php

You could watch it on your computer if it doesn't work on your DVD player (assuming your computer has a DVD drive).

Thanks TSD I'm really looking forward to our get together - I'd really like some opinions on how he's going from people who've got experience in trialling....Maybe a quick look at his stand Yes, still a youngster - 7mo.

Sniffing the ground :p He likes food (chicken breast and steak mostly). I can also get him revved up with tug - but it takes about 30s of tugging to get him eager and excited. He's more interested in the environment (mostly sniffing, other dogs, other people) than I'd like him to be. He's not one of those BCs that can stare at their owners for hours on end just hoping for a 2s tug or a chase of a ball! BTW - he's only 7mo - I think he's going through a stage I must make time to watch the Balabanov DVDs. Have you ever thought of using the premark principle?! I think you said you read CU?! How about playing a game of - guess what you tug with me and i'll release you to sniff.... over time the desire to sniff will diminish and the desire to be with you will increase (sorry, this is a terrible explanation, but what else can you do when your head is blocked!!! LOL!) It's very hard with a gundog to try and over-ride their desire to sniff - that's instinct... so try to work with it and see I'm still reading CU - only up to night 2! I've been trying a couple of things... Transferring the value of chicken to tug...tug for a bit...then treat chicken. Trying to build on his tug desire. Building some chase (retreive) drive I should work more on premack for sniffing. Problem is he gets to satisfy that all by his self whenever we go for a walk! So much to learn and do, so little time. I'm struggling to find the time and motivation at the moment.. On my list of DVDs to watch NOW... Crate Games Choose to Heel Balabanov plus to read: Control Unleashed Plus I've got Basic 1 tests at Croydon over the next 2 weeks so I'm practicing for those. ...being an inexperienced trainer and a perfectionist, I'm pretty sure my expectations are way out there but my dog is pretty good for his age and breed.

haha - missed the resurectgion of this thread... Still slowly working on the stand...he'll follow my fist around and stand from a sit or a down. Not perfectly, he'll still shuffle a little bit and mouth or touch my first - but it's much closer to what I want than it used to be. He'll also stop in a stand position while healing (with a first in front of his nose)... What I really want is to get the perfect kick-back stand from a sit or a down, or a stop-stand while healing - all with a verbal cue 'stand' or a hand signal (closed fist, waist high, outside line of body), without mouthing or nosing or shuffling... I'll get there eventually.

Sniffing the ground :p He likes food (chicken breast and steak mostly). I can also get him revved up with tug - but it takes about 30s of tugging to get him eager and excited. He's more interested in the environment (mostly sniffing, other dogs, other people) than I'd like him to be. He's not one of those BCs that can stare at their owners for hours on end just hoping for a 2s tug or a chase of a ball! BTW - he's only 7mo - I think he's going through a stage I must make time to watch the Balabanov DVDs.

Hi DogDude Any hints on achieving 2 ?

A healthy dose of common sense is all that you need to see that naturally occuring behaviours will occur whether or not you put them on cue. If you want to extinguish them except in the presence of the stimulus, then you're going to have to use aversives or control what stimulates the behaviour completely (that's "management") Dogs will do more of what they find rewarding and less of what they find you don't. For puppies, they tend to offer behaviours they know you will reward. That's why you'd be getting a spike in barking I reckon. Of course you could simply have a barky dog. I don't generally encourage my dogs to bark.. I spend enough time and energy discouraging them from doing it in the first place. Lily will do bark to the cue word "cows". That's because she'll do it when she sees Herefords (only Herefords make her bark.. long story) and I added the cue. She'd do it whether or not I gave the cue though. Mine 'demand barks' during training - it's nearly extinguished though. I also made a mistake of using the cue 'bark' for a dog who's name is 'barkly' D'OH !!!!