BC Crazy

I think its irresponsible and wrong to judge someone like that before you've even met someone or their dog. As I said above this is a different case to the original post, the dog has never EVER been agressive in the time I have known her, my dogs play with her all the time and she is a lovely dog. I really really really really really realise now I shouldnt have posted it here. I just figured they would have a similar training technique or suggestions. I'm not judgeing anyone !!! I am talking in general !!! IMO If a dog owner is aware they have an aggressive dog off leash towards other dogs or members of the public, don't unleash it until you have addressed & rectified the problem. If unable to themself, get professional help. Why put innocent dogs/people at risk. It is just common sense to me. I witnessed an horrific scene at our leash-free where a 'dog' aggressive dog was let off it's leash it made a b line for a 16 week old beautiful Mal leashed pup ( first day out by the way) & proceeded to rip the poor pup almost in half My OH jumped in & pulled the aggressive dog off the pup. The owner's then informed us it had attacked another dogs before. I rest my case. For the record $2OOO Vet bill but Mal cutie survived. Owners called to thank OH. Aggressive dog owner is being pursued through the court system.

Hmmm. I think it is wrong & very irresponsible for any dog owner to unleash a "knowingly" aggressive dog in a public place. Be it a park e.t.c leash-free area or not. It jepardizes poor, unaware members of the public & their much loved four legged companions who are out & about enjoying their day. IMO must be leashed at all times & under control of the owner.

She has a glance if loud cars/bikes go by as we are out walking but it is just a glance though, no barking or chasing. I haven't separated them to see if that has any bearing on her behaviour, interesting idea Ptolomy. I am going to try that one out of interest.

Yes, sure you don't want to come for a spin on the water My other boy goes off as they are about to start but then he is fine but my girl gets to a level that last alot longer. I don't know if it is the noise or the movement either. It is doing my head in. Before I even head out on our daily walk I'm all ears for anything that remotely sounds like a mower e.t.c. which isn't good cause I don't want to pass my anxiety on to her & make matters worse if that is possible.

Hi Everyone, Sorry but have another question regarding Stella. If she hears a lawn mower/ whipper snipper/ out board motor being used or even about to start she goes absolutely crazy. Barking & growling. Trying to chase & bite it. Doesn't matter if she is on lead or not, same response. I have tries to distract her with food or her favourite toy but she goes from zero to 100 in half a second. She is oblivious to me & anything else apart from the mower. As soon as it stops or we are lucky enough to make it past say the person mowing we are fine again. Very frustrating I'm sick of trying to avoid them & I want to be able to take her out on our boat next month on holidays. She would probably drown us ATM on the water with her commotion. Has anyone else had issues like this? Any help or advice would be very appreciated.

My girl who is now 11 months old has from day one took a dislike to a friend's 2 year old Boxer girl. Every chance Stella gets to run at her, growling & telling her off, she will. Nothing has caused this to happen No event or anything. Stella just won't tolerate her. It is the only dog she is like this with. I would love to know why. The boxer girl is very friendly & used to be Sonny's BF since puppy hood. Now I choose not to hang out with her cause it just cause Stella to get upset & I don't want her to think this behaviour is OK. Little miss cranky pants.

I got my 2nd dog when my first one was 2 & a bit. Sonny was very happy on his own I think but I wanted another dog & I got her cause I had space in my heart for 2. Our experience has been a wonderful transition. They get along famously well. I have to wake them up to walk them cause from the time I let them out in the morning all they do is play together & then they just conk out. Training the younger one is a bit of a challange ATM but we are getting there with the help I am receiving from fellow DOLER'S. No regrets at all though. I am loving it & so are my furry kids. Good luck with what ever you decide.

Yes Spotted Devil, I think I have been too soft on my boy not tethering/crateing him will I am doing stuff with Stella. Training sessions end up a circus with the 2 of them. He whines & carries on (tugs at my heart strings) so I haven't been confining him. Got to tuffen up though cause it is not fair on Stella. She is not getting the training she needs. Gee that would be a challange heeling one on each side. Good luck with it.

Corvus, I'm very impressed with your clip. Beautiful dogs by the way. I get the hand target thing now. It is always better for me to watch a method rather than it explained verbally. Your an expert at this training stuff. You make it look very easy & I know it isn't. Also you cope very well training 2 dogs which was going to be my next question as I have 2 & when I am trying to teach Stella, the older one Sonny seems to always interrupt for two reasons, to get some treats & to get some attention which makes it hard & I feel mean if I separate them but I might have to for now so Stella concentrates on me more & not on what Sonny is doing. Can I also ask where you got your treat bag from it looks a good one. Mine is too hard to excess quickly.

The exact same thing happened to my sons 2 dogs. They were playing together & one of them got his lower jaw teeth hooked on the other ones collar. He then started freaking out & it twisted round & round his jaw cutting off his air & in effect almost strangling him Lucky my son heard a strange noise outside & went to investigate, ran & got scissors & cut the collar off. 'Thumpa' collapsed onto the ground.A very close call.No more collars in their yard. My 2 are always naked at home. I have our side gate locked at all times. Collars are always on when we are out anywhere though with name tags attached.

Many thank's for your trouble. I will have a look at the clip.

I am glad I'm not the only chatterbox Corvus When you say you get your boy to target your fingers, why does that quicken the process? Not quite getting the concept

This is sounding way cool Corvus, I started Clicker training Stella when she was little then for what ever reason I stopped. I must admit I seem to have trouble juggling the treats & the clicker at one time. Not enough hands or something as silly as that sounds but she cottoned on to it really fast. Your not suppose to speak either are you(very hard for me LOL). I am always saying "good girl" e.t.c With more practice I might cope better.

Sorry to hear of your loss. What a grand old age Spud was. Still doesn't make it any easier for you. R.I.P. Spud run free old boy. Great to hear Jake is still on the improve.

Ditto with Onetree. Exactly what I have been told & I have mine on the exact same diet.

The free shaping sounds like really good thing for Stella to start Megan.It's the mental stimulation I think we are lacking in our routine.I will do some research into this & see how we go.Thanks.

Just wanted to add we don't have any clubs e.t.c. in our area. The only one is 1 hours drive away & due to the medication I am on am only allowed to drive 20 mins, at a time so that why all the questions, sorry. Was thinking I might enlist some guidence from K9 Pro. Not that I am having any problems with Stella I just feel she could be sooo much more if I had more direction.

I have to fit a lot of training into not much time so it has to be efficient and fun! Google Shirly Chong Retrieve to shape the retrieve so Stella will bring it back - I trained both my dogs using a similar method. Retrieving is a sport only for gun dogs e.g. labs, Golden Retrievers, GSPs, spaniels etc - but there's no reason why you could't have a play around with the basics. It's damn hard work for trainer and dog. Have a browse through the Retrieving thread in this training forum. Yell if you can't find it and I can find the link. Don't write off obedience - it's an excellent educator for the handler how to make something repetitive a huge amount of fun for the dog. Agility is brilliant fun - I compete with my Dally and Em will join us when she is ready. It is really hard to learn this sort of stuff online - having someone GOOD show you the ropes is much, much easier. A great book to start you off is "The Focussed Puppy" - it has been available free shipping from the Clean Run website but not sure if it still is. If you want to have a look at some retrieving training I have a few You Tubes of Em plus some of Ziggy doing obedience/agility: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheSpottedDevil I have the book 'the Focused Puppy' & I will look into that info you have so kindly given me. Stella just seems to really love retrieving so that is why I want to find out different things I can do with it to keep her stimulated. Some of her relations were excellent at Flyball. Maybe that might be her fortay.

The other option is to throw 'rollers' until they are old enough. I know in the US and other countries there are some insane manouvers, but we try and avoid that in the way it is taught here. 2 keys - teaching the dog to land safely and in a balanced manner and throwing low/well (practice). I know disc dogs who are 10+ and are still running just as hard as some of the pups. What do you mean by rollers? Agility dogs.

Wow !! The spotted devil, you certainly have a wonderful training program. If you could break some of these things down for me at the risk of sounding like a complete dummy Taking a line on the blind? stopping & casting? Happy bumper? E.t.c We don't attend any formal training club so I am doing this as I learn it from this site & what I read in books. Stella retrieves & brings what I throw back but she usually puts it about 3 feet away from me & that is it so I am looking forward to all this progress, makes our workout sound like romper room

Yes I guess you are right Ness. These two on their avro Zoomie run makes me cringe in fear of one of them getting hurt. Never thought of making Stella wait to retrieve. That would be interesting!! I am going to give it a try. I want to engage her mind alot more than what I have been doing, so that is a good start.

I would to do agility one day with her as I think she would love it bedazzledx2. She is extremely quick. Even when I throw the ball for her, I make her sit first & she sort of bounces, growling the whole time in anticipation of the ball being thrown growls while she retrieving it. It is like 'bring it on'. She is very cheeky though when I stop throwing it she barks right at me to throw it some more. Of course we only get the ball thrown when Stella is quiet. What does foundation agility include? Cause I think obedience would put her to sleep LOL

Frisbee into the water Ness sounds a safe option. I did think it was too much stress on her young body. Certainly don't want to jepardise her. I just was wanting to change things up a bit. She is very distructive with her toys so they are only played with under my supervision. We play tug in the afternoons, then the tug toys are put away at the end of the game. She thrives on that game too. She is much more motivated than my boy so I am trying to keep her stimulated & exercised on a daily basis. Hope I am doing the right thing. Never had a BC quite as driven as my girl. Sometimes you just come to a bit of a flat spot where you run out of ideas.

Hi everyone, Would like to start to add some variety to my 11 month old girl Stella's routine. She is very alert & prey driven. So ATM we walk 2 hours daily road/ along the beach where after one hour or so we play fetch & into the water which she loves. Was thinking of starting her on frisbee some days just for a change. Am concerned she may be a little young maybe not, don't want to do any joint e.t.c. harm but am at a bit of a loss for ideas. So I would love some help in starting her on some new stuff. I know she is more than ready. I just have to come up with some interesting new things. Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated.

OH WOW !!! That is awesome. Did you take that photo? Love it Just wonderful.