Mrs Rusty Bucket

http://www.agilitysa.com/ Has the rules which include what you need and spacings for setting up courses. Para Districts at Salisbury creek? (Friday nights - I forget), Agility SA (west beach) Thursday nights, SAODC at South Parklands near Victoria Park - Wednesday nights, Dovar Gardens at Mitchell Park on Sunday morning - beware abandoned pot / dog poison. Electrical conduit pipe is popular for making jumps - need to make sure the cross bars fall off if they're hit, And amateur cheap weave poles can be made out of bamboo put into holes made by giant tent peg, or making things out of conduit and / or broom poles with a spike for securing into the ground, or there are things that have flat metal base with places for pegging, and sockets for holding - electrical conduit. Might be best to visit some clubs and see what they've got. Most of it is "home" made. All of it looks slightly different from club to club so it's good to have a variety at home. Agility SA have a list of clubs around the state. There's one at Whyalla and one at Gawler. Para offer a discount for people who travel a long way to get there - country membership. Don't know if the other clubs offer this but wouldn't hurt to ask. When you're beginning, start with everything at low heights and work on getting the handling and signals going. Look up Susan Garrett on google and youtube.

My friend took my dog for a walk with my dog's best doggy friend, and complained that my dog pulled too much. She'd put the front attach harness on upside down so the clip was at the back between the shoulder blades, though she'd seen the harness in use many times before. Sigh. That would have been very hard work.

Our old family dog ended up getting the anal glands removed because she needed emptying every month. Same diet her whole life, but she was getting old and slow - so probably not as much exercise. She lived another couple of years after the op. My friends dog only last week was - after a strenuous play date with my dog - smelling a bit fishy and chewing at his tail, and falling asleep and then going again. He was so tired. I thought it was either the Anal glands or stress / ocd from being over tired. And being a BC - not quite able to quit and rest. He went to the vet next day and "his anal glands were very full" so that fixed that. And no problems after this week's play date. He gets lots of bones. That all have to be hidden from my dog so she can't eat them and get blockage problems. My dog gets the occasional fishy smell. I've got no idea how to inspect or express her glands. And would really rather not. I guess it's a bit like squeezing a pimple. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. So far - while she does occasionally do the tail spinny chew thing, it's not obsessive or linked with the fishy skunk smell. PS most vets and doctors I know have far too much work on to bother making more work for later. And that goes for most competent tradies I know too.

I get that kind of reaction to tetanus vax. Depends a bit on the skill of the needle worker. The most recent tetanus vax did not hurt as much for as long. It's like a bee sting or a bruise. Hopefully it will go away but if it doesn't or it gets worse or bothers the dog, go back for a check up.

Hi Erny Yeah I wouldn't know what would work best without trying both. I don't understand how my dog can play retrieve for fifteen minutes happily and perfectly bringing the toy right back on one night or for several nights, and the next night - it's like she's got no idea what she did before. I usually retrieve toy (with waterpistol or food distraction) and do game over if she stops fetching.

You can choose to put the line on the ball (ball on a string), or the dog. I think it would be more effective to use a ball you can reel in. Because that wouldn't stop the dog from making choices but would stop the ball being taken for a victory lap. I've got a short fat rope on my ball (everlast fun ball type), and my dog likes to use it to swing the ball around and hit herself with it like a monk doing penance. It's very funny but not always what I want. Then again if what I want is her to feel great about doing the weave poles, I let her.

I meet two kinds of aggressive dogs. The fear aggressive ones make obvious signs of wanting to back off for as long as they can, they go around the other side of their owner and sometimes they curl up a bit and hunch. And then when they decide they can't get away or the perceived threat gets to close they lunge snapping and growling. And the transition can be very quick. But these dogs can usually be successfully introduced to my dog because they're not threatened by an upside down grovel dog. If they're scared of me, there might be nothing I can do. But what I try and usually works is let Frosty do her upside down thing. I crouch down too at a safe distance for the fear aggressive dog - ie it's still behind it's owner and hasn't gone into attack mode. If it then shows signs of interest instead of fear ie wants to come out (and we haven't come any closer), I encourage the owner to give it a bit of slack. And as long as me and Frosty stay still we're ok. But as long as that dog has some slack, it's first response has always been (in our experience) to nick back to it's position of safety behind the owner. If the owner doesn't give it slack, it may lunge on the end of the lead - basically because the owner told it to be afraid by keeping tension on the lead. But we often get a good sniff and sometimes an invitation by the fearful dog, to play! Then there is the other kind of dog. Just wants to attack and from the second it sees another dog, it is at the end of the lead, growling and barking, and anything that gets within reach - gets chomped, it doesn't let up at all if the other dog rolls over. This may still be a fear aggressive dog, but we have to leave it alone. Usually if the dog is barking and growling on the end of the lead - when we're far away, I won't let Frosty near it. And I get really mad at owners who think their barking growling attack mode dog will behave better off lead, because a lot of innocent dogs get bitten that way. I've also met a couple of sight hound type dogs who were not socialised with other dogs or people when they were small and manageable and now think any other dog and small child is prey. Not just the SWF - all dogs are prey to those dogs and they're really bad news.

I have no trouble feeding dog casserole on top of the kibble, apart from the problem of needing a bigger bowl now that I only feed once a day. If I've run out of casserole or we're travelling, I find tinned sardines and / or yogurt on top will get her to eat up. Or skipping a meal.

I will be at goodwood oval playing hockey - wave - It's a nice spot to walk a dog *after* the sport is finished. I don't like the oaklands road place. There was not enough shade and far too many dog bombs and owners who don't see their dogs crap and walk around it (and all the other crap). I pick up my own dog's crap and karma craps - ie ones that I'd step in if I don't pick them up and there were far too many karma craps for me to cope with. After three or four, and loads more in sight, I left and did not return. Most dog parks I go to all the owners pick up all the karma craps - so there just isn't so much to do. But at that place - nobody does. I like the beach much better. Most of that is self cleaning.

Did I write that. I meant "easier to train" or "or train better" ie given two dogs, one has a nice home environment (not the same as living at someone's home), and one has one with with nothing but the basics (clean? shelter?). The one that has a nice environment will be easier to train or train with better results or something. I might have to go find the book. Will see if I can find the research. I suppose one possible reason would be that a dog in a boring environment would probably sleep while not training where as the other might play a bit and get fitter. It would also have a more engaged brain, and spend more time thinking which would be good for training too. Free shaping - where you clicker train anything a dog does, is also good for getting the dog to think. I haven't done much of this so when I'm trying to get her to do something new, I get a lot of sits and drops and not much else.

I use kitten kibble for dog treats, they're small, and they're high fat/protein which makes them yummy. And the fishy aroma helps too. Vet at puppy preschool put us onto these. My dog likes kitten kibble better than cheese.

Hi Bub I've been given the same advice and conflicting advice... about withholding toys or limiting them and also limiting the favourite treats. I find a variation works - ie have a novelty toy/treat - that only comes out on special occasions. So while the dog might love roast chicken and you can use this all you want (waistlines permitting), bring out the chopped metwurst (or other favourite flavour) for special occasions. Same with toys. Have one special toy that only comes out for training sessions. Doesn't matter what the toy is, you make it special by how you play with it and how much you let the dog play with it. Paul McGreevy writes in a "modern dogs life" about how professional dog trainers - of police dogs or quarantine dogs etc will often remove all the fun things in a dog's environment including a couple of meals to up the drive, but Paul says there is research to say that dog that lives in an "enriched environment" does better at training. So there you go. Times are changing. Susan Garrett has an interesting video about upping the drive of a dog by being a "bad dog trainer" it's on her channel and quite funny to watch. Essentially the more (loud) excitement and energy you put into the play, the more the dog will fire up. Mellow dog - especially when you're not training is a great thing and would be why I chose a cattle dog cross over a kelpie or BC - cos they're reknown for being demanding not mellow all the time - where is the off switch when you want it? So I like to be able to switch between Mellow, and High Drive / Excitement when I want, though I don't mind being invited by my dog (some say this is bad), occasionally because I often get completely distracted/hypnotised by computer or some task or project and I need the interruption. But if I really really can't get what I want/need - I might try withholding everything for a while and see if it works.

These two american sites will help you work out what to look for on the ingredients list. http://www.dogfoodproject.com/ http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/ I would love to know where HollyE got her rating info from. Australian RICE - anyone at the bottom end of the Murray like all South Australians would have to boycott on that alone. Nestles make Purina One and Supercoat and a bunch of other brands of dog food and I avoid their products - even Milo for ethical reasons. Hills Science diet - all you need to do to know it's wrong is read the ingredient list. I've shocked a few vet nurses by making them read it. Think I'll stick to boiled chicken and rice when my dog has an upset stomach not tinned science diet. My regular vet sells it but he doesn't recommend it. Hows that for twisted. I feed Nutro Natural Choice - it gets a zero rating too and it's expensive but it doesn't give my dog the runs. I also feed home made casserole for the dog. And she is doing well on that. If I got really hungry I could eat it too, but it would need a lot of tomato sauce for flavour. Artemis is a good dry dog food as far as ingredients go. But I haven't tried it yet. Innovo would be ok if it wasn't sold exclusively by a chain that supports puppy mills.

I got some guillotine type nail clippers and spent ages training my dog to sit still upside down in my lap so I could clip, but despite getting her used to the clicking noise, the actual clipping of the nail makes her jump. And that's when I found out that no matter how good your dog is, the damn things squeeze the nail and that hurts - whether you miss the quick or not. And my dog's claws are all black so really hard to tell where the quick is anyway. If you do a site search - the best way to shorten dogs nail is with a barrel / finger sander attached to a dremmel or ozito. I think the cordless would be easier to work, especially if you plan to trim outside. there's loads of threads in here.

koalathebear I don't like the idea of rolling a dog over and pinning it till it "submits". It violates the "play gentle" rule. Ie the rougher you are with your puppy, the rougher it may be with you. It seems like your dog would like a game of tug. The big excitement through to "beserker" are all levels of "drive", there's different kinds of drive but essentially the dog is excited and ready to go get whatever: food, prey, tug, play... and it can be great tool in training. I still haven't figured out exactly how to get there, but in theory, if you can get your dog excited before you start a training session and fire him up between steps with a game of tug, he learns better and he works harder. I'd try for "sit" or "drop" at the front door. I then try to get whomever is out there to back off so I can bring the dog out in case she has an excitement accident. I won't let her say hello or the guest approach for a pat unless my dog is calm and sitting nicely. I can get a fairly reliable and very fast drop from my dog even when she is very excited. We're working on getting it at a distance, but she's good up close and I can get it from any positition, I don't have to be next to her, she doesn't have to be sitting. Glad the cheese is working for the lead desensitization. You might try a horse rope lead instead of a webbing one. I find they make great tug toys as needed. But you need to train a solid give/out/thankyou/leggo and geddit to go with it. And favourite food treat helps here, but I also get dog to give by tickling under the chin or pushing a lip onto dog's own teeth (so pain is mutual if the dog clamps down on my finger). Usually the word is sufficient, because my dog knows she's likely to be rewarded with a fresh game of tug. Ie you train - geddit - tug tug - give - geddit - tug tug...

can you tell i've been going through the susan garrett youtubes... this one is how to get the retieve working better... http://www.youtube.com/clickerdogs#p/u/22/QVlAoihITXs if the dog doesn't bring the toy straight back - no tug game. The throw is a reward, the geddit is a reward the return gets a reward of new throw or game of tug and new throw - so differing value of rewards can be chosen to encourage better quality. All I can do if dog doesn't bring toy back is end the game (I leave), or remove toy from dog and use it to wind dog up to try again. Dog will usually trade food for toy but failing that is surprise and a badly aimed water pistol. I can't leave her with some toys, she would reduce them to kibble sized pieces. Frisbee not much good in tiny pieces.

To all you who can't read more than one sentence - I did say that it's the owners fault that a GR becomes obnoxious. I don't know any owners who would assume that a GSD is going to be well behaved and good with children without any training, but 9 out of 10 GR owners I've met act like they don't need to do anything to have a well behaved dog and are surpised or think there is something wrong with their GR if it isn't. Yes, there's something wrong with it - the owner. So I agree with you all about it's the owner's fault. I also think there is a connection between the kind of person that picks a GR and the way the GR gets trained (or rather not-trained). My dog likes (badly behaved) GRs a whole lot more than I do. She doesn't mind if they jump on her after they've rolled and dug in mud.

http://www.youtube.com/clickerdogs#p/a/u/1/yzqs54qMgQA That's Susan Garrett's version. Essentially you have to be really excited about the toy. A few other tips - repeats of what others have said here already - quit before the dog is ready to quit. don't let the dog play with anything else. Hide all the other toys (I hope your furniture / garden is up for this - or there must be a better way) have a trigger word, that you use to start the game. trigger, geddit, - tug tug tug - give trigger, geddit, tug tug tug - give and keep it short. My first tug session was three solid minutes and I was sore for days. And my dog only likes to play tug sometimes but when she likes to play - oh boy does she play. We're currently working on retrieve cos I can't do the 2x2 weave games - or most of the other garrett stuff unless she will chase and fetch and tug her toy. we've got chase and chew down.

How do you train it - the drive thing? Vaguely - get the dog excited with a tug toy or something she loves before you start any training. Specifically - ask Steve at K9Pro, he's the expert. We had the same problem at training this morning. Someone had dropped a treat bag full of yummy things that I usually use to reward my dog during training. I could get her past them with a "lure" ie a beef chip which she is very excited about and trumps those particular treats but if I didn't have that where she could see it - I couldn't get her off the treats. Sad. I've got a lot of work to do. We did do the basics for "food refusal" training after that. Which involves someone my dog doesn't normally get food from - offering her something, and me holding the lead so she couldn't have it and telling her to "leave it", count to three, and reward if her attention returns to me. Or for stopping trying to get the treats. Start with crappy treats for refusing and high value ones for reward and work up to really yummy treats for refusal (fritz/devon/roast chicken/possum poo). We do have a problem with large amounts of possum poo at that particular venue and I've been thinking about taking it home for lessons. Sheep poo and horse poo and dead things at the beach are also popular with my dog.

Hi Eza Seems like good choices to me. Interesting how we are polarised (pun?) about the tree pic. Love it or hate it.

I've got no idea how judges pick what they like. This is what I think about them. I've got zero training in photography, but a little bit in graphic design and visual art. I'd guess they'd pick something that stands out from the rest, so if nobody does dutch tilt - it would stand out. Whether they like it - I have no idea. It makes me feel vaguely sea sick. Some of the pictures have a fifty fifty split between the interesting bits (focus) and the flat boring bits, I'd reduce that to 1/3 boring bit 2/3 interesting bits approximately. But that's a general visual rule eg to have picture divided into nine equal boxes and the horizon on the bottom third line or top third and the vertical point of interest on the left or right line of third... but it's a rule and doing things a little bit differently will stand out. I get a little bit annoyed when I can't figure out what is going on in a picture. Thats a personal thing but the tree picture irritates me because I can't *see* anything / enough. It is a visual thing - I ought to be able to see. Judges might not agree. I like the OneSteel31of1.jpg a lot. I like the balance of light and dark. I like the natural diagonal lines with the horizontal ones though is it just me, are the horizontal slightly skew? Or is the background sloping (eg a hill, lights higher on the right) I also like the Whyalla ship one HMAS21of1.jpg I like the shadow of the anchor and the balance of light and dark. I think I'd like it slightly better if the pointy bit of the bow was brighter because that would give it more focus, and at the moment the focus isn't very clear or attractive, ie maybe the white vertical stripe before the W? And the stuff in the bottom left corner is distracting. I dunno if I'd make it lighter or more focussed or crop it out. The diagonal is good but it doesn't feel like it belongs. There's also a white spot in the bottom right corner. Which looks like a mistake but it could be a street light or something. PS one steel might buy one of those for their Annual Report if you show them. Annual and even interim reports and websites are always decorated with pretty photos of what they do.

a long long time ago in a place far far away, I trained a big cattle dog not to pull by reefing on his flat collar if he started pulling, hard enough to turn him round and probably cause him pain. Did stop him pulling, but what I should have realised was I risked breaking his neck doing that. A lot of the neck and head collars include that risk - depending on how they get used, and how freaked out the dog gets about anything that happens on the walk. My dog does a perfect off lead heel in the dog parks, even at the beach but she's bonkers on the footpaths. The gentle leader head harness worked but she clearly hated it. The front attach harness worked just as well but she doesn't hate it. Stop and or turn - did not work because she would pull even if we were stopped, and turning - she was just as keen to pull in whatever direction we were facing. She wasn't keen to get somewhere, she just wanted to go flat out in any direction because she was freaked out scared of walking on the footpaths. I've never figured out why though she doesn't like cars much. So try a bunch of methods. If you get a front attach harness, try it in combination with the stop and turn method. While stop and turn didn't work when my dog was little, now she's a bit more mature, it is starting to have an effect. I actually do stop and recall rather than turn, since direction of travel doesn't matter to her and we could use more recall practice.

I would pick the GSD. I have met so many obnoxious, rough, clumsy, food obsessed, toy stealing GRs, and it's hard to imagine any dog but a Saint Bernard shedding more than a retriever. Anyway the problem is that owners rely on the good well meaning nature of a GR and ignore all the faults and fail to put any effort into training. There's one at our local park, a puppy, but big enough to knock adults down and does frequently, loves to roll in the mud - the sticky black stuff in the cricket pitch, and steals other dogs toys (can hold three tennis balls in his mouth at once), and won't let go of my lead (tug toy) when I'm trying to take my dog home. He's got no recall at all and if there is any food or food like substances left at the oval after the footy - you can't peel him away. And the owner is quite happy to have him like that. Well actually maybe she's not. He's getting some special training from a police dog trainer for the recall, which has been delayed after he ate a large amount of persian rug and was sick because of that for a week. Don't seem to encounter problems like that with GSD - because the owners make more effort to train those. And I find them easy to train at the park too for basic stuff like we're going home now, leave us alone. If I had small children I think I'd actually choose a dog that was not as tall as them and easy to train. I do like the finnish lappie that I met recently. It was full on (boisterous) but had less (crash tackle) momentum than a GR and seemed much less clumsy/accident prone.

I have problems walking my dog - she freaks out when there's bad traffic (ie two or more cars on the road at once). So crossing a "busy" road can be exciting. I use the harness too. I also use the go-stop-go-stop thing. Ie I stop until she's settled - after crossing the road and freaking out. I also practice recalling her to me while she's on the lead - which gives her something else to think about besides freaking out. If there is something exciting she wants to chase or bark at (horses on the beach). I make her sit and block her view and when she looks at me - I give her a yummy treat or make a happy fuss of her. I also do the walk away from exciting thing then re-approach then turn and walk away and return, the turns based on improving (approach) or worsening (retreat) behaviour.

http://crl.ucsd.edu/~ahorowit/dogresearch http://crl.ucsd.edu/~ahorowit/HorowitzEncycl.doc A Great Dane, at its shoulders the height of a small horse, spots his target across the lawn: a six-pound Chihuahua almost hidden in the high grasses. With one languorous leap, his ears perked, the Dane arrives in front of the trembling Chihuahua. He lowers his head and bows to the little dog, raising his rear end up in the air, and wagging his tail. Instead of fleeing, the Chihuahua mirrors this pose in return, and she leaps onto the head of the Dane, embracing his nose with her tiny paws. They begin to play. How does a small dog learn this if the owner *always* picks it up.