ButerflyGirl

I'm just wondering if people use different collars for different types of walks, also when using a slip collar (choke chain, whatever they are refered to these days) is the normal collar taken off, so that the only collar is the slip collar? Boof has a leather collar which he wears all the time and has his council registration tag and his pet register tag on it, and I plan to take him to obedience classes once he has had all his injections. I noticed that at obedience classes all the dogs only had the slip collars on, no other collars. Now I understand that the slip collar is for training purposes only and shouldnt be worn at other times (I have used them years ago when we had dogs when I was living at home, but it has been a while now), but I have been walking Boof just with his leather collar, letting him wander and sniff as we walk along, but he is starting to get a bit forcefull on the lead, pulling and tending to head where he wants to go, and not listening when I tell him to sit (mostly only at roads), and I am starting to think I should turn our walks into more of a training walk and use the slip chain instead. Is having different types of walks confusing for the dog? Should it always be obedience type walks until they are well trained? (in which case they would be obedient anyway) Just a few questions that had been going through my head. Vanessa

Thank you so very much for this advice, I tried it this morning, I had the spray bottle on mist to start with (I use it for giving my cockatiels a shower) which did nothing but turned onto the stream, straight between the eyes he was down and wiping his face with his paws and then sitting looking at me as if to say "what was that for?"he only tried it once more and as soon as I reached for the bottle he was sitting nicely, almost as if I had a handfull of treats. From then on he came and sat at my feet and just looked up at me with big sad CALM puppy dog eyes, which I gave him lots of pats and "good boy"s, he even just layed down at my feet if he didn't get attention straight away. Secretly I was tessting him ;) I understand what you mean about that "bouncing puppy brain" when he is in that state he will not listen to anything, so frustrating!!!

;) already he is too big to be a lap dog, and he is only 3 months old, I dont think my lap is strong enough to put up with a full grown Boof, vet thinks he will grow to be around the 35-40kg mark

Boof who is 13 weeks old (had him now for about 4 weeks) is going good with learning things, and generally knows not to jump up, knows he needs to sit before his food, and before play (ie throwing a ball/toy, allowed to play tug with his rope - his favourite). We have just started working on the drop which after a day or two is starting to get the hang of it, he will sometimes do "shake hands" on comand. But the problem that we have is that we enjoy sitting outside of an afternoon/evening, and as soon as we sit down he comes and jumps all over us, and it doesnt matter how much play/training he has had beforehand, he can seem pooped and be lying on his bed, and as soon as we sit down he's up and being a ratbag again. We tried pushing him away but that was just seen as a game, I've tried calmly grabbing him by the shoulders and pushing him down and getting him to sit but then he is back at it again, ignoring him doesnt work because he just sits there or starts chewing on us, the only solution is to stand up (its not an issue while we are standing up), or to ignore him and go inside (our version of time out). At puppy preschool last week they talked about grabbing puppies by the muzzle or by the back of the neck like the mother would do when they went too far, but that seems like a game to him aswell. Is there anything else that we can try or do we just perservere with the standing up and ignoring him, and then as a last resort ignoring him and making "us" dissapear as punnishment? Vanessa

Well I got an email back from Purina and this is what they said: They also sent me the ingredients of both Now from what I have been able to work out, cereals and cereal by products are simply used as a filler, so seeing that the bonnie has this as the main ingredient, I am a bit confused as to why that one would be better than the suppercoat which has meat as the main ingredient. I'm not trying to be argumentative here just trying to learn as much as I can about this sort of thing.

Thanks everyone for the informative replies. At the moment it is really just forward planning, at the moment Boof is almost 12 weeks old, he is a Koolie x Rotti, and we have only had him for just over two weeks, so although he is learning things fairly quickly, this is not the sort of thing that we are planning on doing any time soon. As for Private property, I am a firm believer of always having the owners permission each and every time you go there, that to me is just common courtesy. The main places that I am thinking of is along the Oodnadatta Track, having worked up there on a few construction projects, there is signs on all the gates warning about 1080 baits being used, and I cant believe that they are guarenteed to stay on that property (like has been said with crows and foxes picking them up and dropping them somewhere else). It is something that DP and I would like to do as a holiday thing (not a work thing as I have done) but probably wont be for a while, a: untill Boof has grown up and is trained much better, and b: we are getting a new 4WD in the next few months, so when that is not so new because it definately wont be new after driving the Oodnadatta Track Thank you again for the information

Yes "leave it" is something I am very keen to start from an early age, but just thought I would put the question out there. I dont really hold much hope for it but you never know if you never ask.

My DP and I like to go camping out in the bush, and would like to be able to take our Boof with us, but I know lots of farmers use 1080 baits (for feral foxes), so I would like for our Boof to be used to wearing a muzzle before he "needs" to wear one. Is there anything particular to do to get dogs used to wearing them, or is it just a little at a time with lots of fun stuff while it is on to distract them from it. Also I have seen wire ones and plastic ones, aswell as the nylon tube type ones which slips over their nose stopping their mouth from opening, what are the pros and cons of each? Vanessa

Is there a way of training to not eat things off the ground? I know that is going dead against the natural instinct of what dogs do, but I guess I am scared of him being baited or poisoned (I couldnt understand why any one would want to but there are some sick people around). Had a staffy x as a kid that died of being poisoned, dont know if it was a baited or some sort of snake/spider bite, but it definately wasnt a very nice thing to go through. Is there a way of teaching to only eat on comand, like using a "special" word, if that word is not used then they wont touch it. At 11 weeks old, I know their mouth is their hands to explore the world with, and it is a given that he will pick up/chew/eat what ever he can, and the best thing to do is keep the place puppy proofed, but just interested in seeing if this is a possibility and if so how to go about it. Vanessa

Just wondering, what peoples opinions were on these two? They are pretty much all that is available in the puppy variety at the local store and they seem to stock (sell) more of the Bonnie than the Supercoat. Is the Bonnie aimed more towards the farm type dogs (just looking at the packaging) and supercoat for more household pets? There isnt much difference in price, and I cant find the ingredients list for the Bonnie, but here is what I did find

We went for a walk around the block this morning, we started out with a very energetic bouncy walk which slowed to a nice gentle walk about half way round then once we got home, it was lots of energy again, maybe I should have made it two laps around the block!!! If I could bring myself to jog I would use that to wear him out a bit, he loved that on the weekend at a park we went to, but that was a team relay effort, DP did one lap, then I did a lap, then we'd swap again, but even then we were pooped. Nothing like a dog to get you fit!!!

What sort of things would you say are good to teach at 11.5 weeks old. I had been putting the lead on him and walking up and down the back verandah making him sit then walk, then sit, then walk, but sometimes I might as well be walking a kangaroo. Is it just a matter of ignoring it untill he finally gets the idea of what he is supposed to be doing, and it will slowly become less and less. I'm sure its just a puppy thing and I dont expect him to be perfectly behaved all the time (well at this age anyway ) but sometimes it would be nice to channel that "first thing" energy into something other than jumping and chewing on us. We do make him sit before he gets anything when he is in these moods, but then he's back to hyper-puppy

Well its been two weeks since getting Boof, and he is going well, but he is getting ever increasing energy, which he wants to use to jump and chew on us. (he is 11.5 weeks old, Koolie x Rottwieler) Now the jumping we are working on, by the turn the back and ignore him until he is sitting nicely thing, and similarly for the chewing, if he starts chewing on us then thats the end of pats (well for a couple of minutes anyway) In the mornings and in the afternoons when we come home from work we give him a play, but he is getting increassingly bored with "fetching" toys, even the ones with squeakers in them, after a couple of throws, he just looks up at you as if to say "well you threw it, if you want it then go and get it yourself!!" the little bugger!! , we have a knoted rope that we play tug of war with, complete with growls, and head shakes (not aggressive, just playfull), but just thought I would see if anyone else has any other ideas He has a bone and toys to play with through the day and, so far hasnt got himself into too much trouble when we arent around, but it would be nice to be able to get rid of a bit of that excess energy and be able to sit down and be quiet with him, he is quite placid when he doesnt have all that energy built up. I have found a toy that he really likes, it is a rope that is in a circle with a canvas center (so it can be a tug toy or a frizby) with a squeaker in it and he goes nuts over that one, so I have made that a special toy that he only gets when we are outside, not an all day toy.