wuffles

I rank highest on that list of my dog in every regard. She's been allowed free play since she was a baby, even at dog parks (gasp). She was left with my older dog from 13 or 14 weeks old. I let her play before and after obedience/agility classes. If we're in a training session on the oval and another dog comes and wants to play, I break off the session and let her play. One minute she can have a game of bitey face with a dog outside the obedience ring and the next she can be in that ring, working. Then she can do out of sight stays next to that same dog. Neutralisation is very hard work no matter which way you choose to do it. I see neutralisation as "more work for myself" rather than letting the value build itself naturally. As you say, there is no right or wrong :) Edit: Obviously my dog is not neutralised :p Her value for me build naturally with time and training.

Personally I think that telling them about "health issues" (which may or may not exist) will not help at all. They can cross that bridge when (if) they come to it.

The trick is finding a way to encourage the right movement so you actually can get what you want. That's what I'm having trouble with, not the actual teaching part. Last night I tried the channel method quickly, but she didn't care if she was walking on the objects and almost thought that was the aim. Perhaps I could teach her to walk on a tightrope So I started trying to get her to move with my left leg backwards using static turns, which I think will work if I give it time

I don't think you have to worry about them being authentic. I buy mine from vetnpetdirect.com.au.

Thanks for that :) She can do left about turns, I haven't tried double. She does sometimes reset herself to heel position rather than moving with me completely so I definitely need to build her understanding that she needs to stay there the whole time, rather than just find it at the end. She will follow my leg forwards but not backwards (she sits). I'll play around with this tonight, I understand what you mean with planting the foot and the turns I think it's time to get the phone book out for some revision... Mrs Rusty Bucket, she can already walk backwards beside me if I ask her to, but not straight (swings out, not in).

I think we'd all be kidding ourselves if we thought our own dogs would never be capable of biting. IMO every dog is. Very sad situation for all involved

I taught this using guides on the ground like broom sticks or if you have a very exuberant dog like mine lengths of 2x4 or star pickets were a bit sturdier. Dog inside the channel you on the other side, keep the sticks really close together so if your dog starts to twist out they will stand on the guide which they won't want to do. And start really slowly, only look for a tiny bit of backwards movement to start with and gradually increase until you can get several full steps. Thanks Seita, sounds like a plan

Hi everyone :) Has anyone taught backwards heeling, and how did you do it? We need three steps for Rally Excellent. Ava will walk backwards but I cannot get her to go straight for the life of me :laugh: She's fine up against a wall but as soon as the barrier is gone she goes crooked again, and "resets" herself to heel position rather than staying there in the first place, if that makes sense. Has anyone taught this by getting them to target something with their rear feet? Her rear end awareness is good (moves her bum on turns), but not brilliant. Thanks :)

Look around re: price. I picked mine up on sale from Good Guys for $120 less than anywhere else!

I have the Panasonic, too. I haven't actually used it underwater but it came to Scandinavia with us and dealt with heavy snow pretty well :p

The Berners I've met have varied a LOT in energy levels. One of them that I know is even too much for my Aussie :) Edit: The only thing I'd worry about is that Aussies do NOT know when to stop, and it may be detrimental to a growing Berner pup to have such rough, constant play...

What Tassie said :) Basically the ones that don't make sense to do before the sign, are done after.

I grew up with one and he was perfectly healthy. Died at 10 of a brain tumour.

I have an Aussie and boy was she a livewire as a pup... I just wanted to reiterate what other people have said about teaching him to be calm and that we can't be on the go 24 hours a day :) At night time my girl was crated, and she certainly complained about it at 5am every morning, but eventually she learnt that it was time for sleep, not play (at first I was putting her outside when she whimpered early of a morning but I found that this just encouraged her to be destructive and noisy, so it changed to a toilet break then back in crate). Now she's free in the house at night and, although she still wakes early, she chills out until we get up. These days (she's now 2.5) she is content with a 45 minute walk of a morning and some interactive toys while we are at work. She does obedience and agility also, but is just as happy to curl up on the couch with me when I get home. We try not to pander to any demanding actions on her part, because she is smart enough to take advantage :) Some of the mental activities that helped us were platform work and rear end awareness (videos on Youtube) and transferring that to "find heel" then to heelwork turns and such, lots of tricks, scentwork. Also free play with other working breeds as they tend to just run a lot! You could think about some of the Rally Obedience moves, those are quite fun as well.

We had a Kamal Fernandez workshop last weekend, and I asked about teaching the sendaway. He had us using a target (we were using a platform, as Ava will already readily target that from rear end awareness games) then shaping a sit on the target, then shaping a straight sit in front of me on the target. From there we would restrain her slightly and release only when she was looking at the platform, so that she understood to pinpoint the spot and drive to it. Then obviously we'd have to build distance and fade the platform/target. Shaping gets a really nice response from her.

Ava did this once too, for a few days. She had something in her schnoz (possibly a bit of grass) which was dislodged by the vet blowing up her nostril

I would say yes :) I am the opposite, leashes annoy me so I have invested a lot of my training into off-leash reliability. I reward passive attention, "checking-in" with me, uncued heeling, I randomly pull out toys if they are near to me, basically put in a lot of ground-work to make being near me super-rewarding for minimal effort of my dogs' part (As well as recall training etc.). And in as many different locations as it is safe and allowed to let them off. I've also built up a "go-sniff" cue so they get a chance to explore their environment but only as a reward for doing something else first :) Just a few little things which might help, I sure others will have lots more suggestions :thumbsup: It sounds like she has learnt that the leash coming off is a "release" cue. My competition dog sees the leash coming off as a chance to do work and get rewards! I take the leash off and she bounces around me, offers heelwork and generally annoys me until I tell her "free" which is her cue to go explore/sniff. Like Weasels says I did (and still do) a lot of attention games, rewarding check-ins, lots of off leash play, etc. A long line can also be a good place to start :)

Wow, that does sound daunting! Our beginners are pretty much just expected to be able to demonstrate that they can train their dogs, not really having to perform specific behaviours (they're assessed in class). Regarding the meeting another dog, do they actually have to meet, nose to nose? In our (higher levels) assessment we give the choice of whether the dogs actually meet or not. Many people choose simply to stop a metre or two away from the other person/dog, them move on. Surely your club can't expect every dog to do a meet and greet? Also I don't like the sound of rolling a dog onto their back, I would never be able to do that with one of mine, ever. But if it's what you've got to work with, you could try teaching something like a "play dead", making it fun (I lured this) and use that...

I use salt water to work the dry bits away from the skin. It's easier if you can do this at least 2x day to stop the crusties forming in the first place. Then make sure you dry the area as thoroughly as possible. A steroid ointment from the vet for a few days makes a big difference here.

Mine is 2.5 and still hasn't grown out of it. The 7 year old doesn't mind a bit of tug o war with the takings, either. Good luck :)

I've been using "box" - as "go" means take a jump in agility and she is likely to go to the jump instead of the box. The less I need to use my brain, the better, and box makes the most sense

My dog's chiro does it for $10 on top of his consult We found that it made a big difference (along with the chiro treatments, unsure which caused the change) to my 7 year old's stiff hips. He is quite noticeably less stiff and HAPPY - never knew this much happiness could come from this dog.

Congrats! I saw some of the Canberra pics and went "ooooh, Aussies" and realised they were yours :) We wanted to do this year, but I was too slack in prep. Maybe next time.

A gentle guide is punishment for my girl But they are all different :) Eye contact is all well and good until you get to out of sight stays :laugh: Once I'm out of sight she's generally ok - it's while I'm in sight that I have issues.

It might make it easier if I mention what I think has caused the issue. In practicing stays in a group, other people have raised their voices or told expressed displeasure in their dogs breaking. My girl is so incredibly sensitive to that kind of thing that she is now confused about whether she is doing the right thing. I do not think that she is nervous about the other dogs at all, simply whether she is doing the right or wrong thing and if someone is going to come and yell at her! The only other theory I have is that she has become more nervous in the ring in general - and it may be that at the start of stays she is so worried that she is not really processing my command and what she is meant to be doing... when her brain catches up, she moves... then realises what the exercise actually is and stays the rest of the time :) sheena I release her rather than repositioning straight away because firstly I believe it helps her understanding (that exercise is finished - you didn't get a reward - try again and I will make it a bit easier for you to get it right) and secondly because I could never reposition her using a collar grab - that would be a huge punishment for her and she would most likely shut down. All she wants to do is please, bless her. We didn't have this problem until recently (the last month or so) and have two lovely Open passes up our sleeve - she never had any problems with stays until now. And of course now I am nervous about it which isn't helping ;)