Kristina

Thanks for pics. Is that mal JJ handled by Dane?

I agree, my last shep was like that. But she was also taught to think for herself and protect me if needed. She was great at that, knew exactly when to step in. My current one is still too much into play, she'd be good to trial as she's not serious still im hoping it will improve, she is 19mths now.....

I thought it might be, but still. When doing that i would at least be with the dog. I know for trails they don't get touched but have to be relaxed when walking amongst people and during the hand shake. Ah well, at the end of the day the owner needs to be happy with the dog and hopefully the dog be happy in the process. JMO

Watched the clip, you really have to be careful with this training. How old is the dog? And at the end there, that's not good at all to let the dog run with sleeve and no one holding lead. Not good training at all!! And at the end the dog goes to him for a pat?? So confusing for the dog. If you want a serious dog you won't achieve it this way. I have nothing against new trainers, but they need someone experienced to show them the way and that guy didn't look good. I personally wouldn't train my dogs there.

Whatever you do, DO NOT send your dog away to be trained for security. It won't do you any good. Security training is team work and the dog and you need to learn to work together. There's also a load of stupid security trainers out there claiming to know it all and sadly all they know is how to stuff the dog. A good decoy will know how to bring out the best in your dog. your dog should leave the training happy not stressed. It's so easy to stuff a dog in this training, i've seen it so many times and it's so sad. Please look around before deciding on one. A good decoy will have all the things needed, all you need is a good collar and lead and off you go. The training is on going, but once you've got the dog to knowing what's expected of it you won't need to do much, most of it will be do let the dog release the build up. All the dogs i've trained loved doing it. And when trained they know to pick if you need them to help you and when to sit back and relax. As for how long it takes, it starts to get serious once the dog matures, so that depends on the breed and their lines, and after that you should have a trained dog within 6mths if training wkly. That's the basic of switching them on and off. THen if you want to do the search command or any of the other, that will all depend on you and your dog, and of course the decoy.

In that case you should be able to get some time in the stays, but it won't be totally reliable, so keep that in mind. The way to start is to pick a 'mat' that you can carry around easily. Place the dog on it and give the command, which ever word u want to use, bed, mat, place, etc.... As the dog moves off, u could give an ah and then the command and place back on the mat. Keep doing this till the dog starts to realise it's not allowed to move off it. What position it's in doesn't matter as long as it stays on it. With repetition and time you'll get there. When the dog is showing u it is understanding u want it to stay there, move the mat to another spot and show it it's the mat not the place u want it to find and go to. Once you have it under control at home, don't think that when you go to another place it will be same, you will have to back track a little bit, and if there's heaps of distractions it will take longer. Key is patience and repetition. Once the dog gets to 10-11mths the stays should be getting pretty solid, it all depends on how soft you are with the dog.

How old is ur pup? You can't expect a very young to stay put for too long.

Haven't read all but i can give you my opinion on hastings one, i went there for a while and got sick of them in the end as they dont' have anyone there who really knows what they are doing. ( mind u this was few yrs back now) The most recent thing about a yr ago is one of their young instructors was doing a course on dog training and all of a sudden he was kicked out, turns out that rspca took his dogs, etc as he was doing some not doggy stuff to his dogs :shakehead: no idea if he is still there, his mum was very much in instructing too. Last time i looked on their site i saw his name there. But apart from that hastings isn't very good at all. God help ya if u have a behaviour problem with ur dog, don't even bother asking them how to fix it, they can make it worse tho :cool: Some of the other clubs, haven't heard much good either, like the berwick one. I guess in the end it's a matter of going down to the club and having a look. If you're close to berwick there is ADT :D No, not biased one bit....

I had the same problem, for a long time no fleas and this year it's got really bad. I also found that no amount of sprays, drops, shampoos, etc, worked whereas before it did. I think we're finally getting to the end of it all, i used lime on the soil and flead and washed everyone and everything and fingers crossed it works. Good luck, hope it's over soon for you.

I totally agree with it and it's not dangerous when done right. Like Haven said, there's bad and there's good. Also not all dogs are suited to it, the dog needs to be mentally strong to deal with certain pressure put on it. You dont' want a dog that will bark it's head off only to be confronted and then run away.... I do it with my shep and no way is he dangerous in public, i take him training with me and everyone is all over him and he loves it all, but at the same time, he also doesn't have the mental strength needed, hence why i'm not doing any more with him instead getting a working one, which was bred for it. Boxargirl, if you want to try it, look around at different clubs, which state are you in? Pm if in vic and i can give you some contacts. I dont' have any pics of my 'mutt', but it's awesome to watch and even better to be holding that lead. Doing anything like this with your dog, builds a big bond between the two and this sport also gives you high levels of control of your dog, you have to have it otherwise you will end up with problems. So choose the club wisely.

If she didn't get any outings till that age, no wonder she's like that. 10wks is very close to the closing age of their socialising period, and if her parents are nervous or lacking in good temp, then she needed to be taken out much earlier - by the breeder before going to you. And socialising shouldn't stop, especially when started so late, they need to keep going out, and i'm not saying you've stopped.

At what age did all this happen?

Is it??? How do you know it's genetic?? The vets can't agree on it, so if you know that is a fact then please present it to the vets, etc, so the rest of the world can find a cure. Megz, as you'll find, if you do start to breed, first good luck in finding a truly sound one, and when you do please get in touch with me. And as some have said, a lot of breeders don't know what to look for, so therefore can't sell you a pup saying it's fine, when they have no idea. I've stupidly asked the club and other breeders here about it all, and my friend tried to get some tests made voluntary so at least we could keep track of what's where, etc. But it all feel on deaf ears, and created a lot of fights. PL is a touchy subject, and i think it's because as breeders it's bloody frustrating, you can mate two sound dogs, and a pup will have it, also you can mate two low graded pups and get a sound one. No one knows exactly what causes it, or what's the best way to fix it. That's why if you have to operate, go to a specialist not the vet. X rays can not tell you if the pup has it or not, no matter what age. And you can't get an idea about it at a young age either, if you can, then that pup will be very bad within months. I tell my buyers about the history of parents, i don't try to predict what grade if any the pup will have, all i can do is make them aware of it, and i ask them to let me know about the dogs legs later on, so i can keep some records. I really think if we all got together and put our records together surely there'd be some clue as to how to beat it, but most are not intrested. As for your girl, sounds like she wasn't socialised well, with your next pup, get it out everywhere daily and get it used to the world, then you'll be able to show it. If you take her to shows now, just to watch, she might learn to accept it in time and then you could try showing her, mainly so you can learn about the show world. The only time i'd operate on any of my dogs is if they were in pain, no other reason. As for your breeders response, she sounds all over the place and worried that you might take it further. What exactly do you want from her? Doesn't sound like you'd want the dog replaced, so what's left? If your girl is nice and close to the standard, then i'd breed from her, just find a male that's lower grade then her.