sas

LOL Can I have some of his enthusiasm!

No pass for us today, we managed to do our worst possible work and completely bomb *sigh*

Many puppies put the breaks on with the lead. You can get the dog more used to the lead and the resistance they feel on it by clipping on a light weight lesh anytime you are home and letting the puppy just drag it around. As for if the dog puts on the breaks outside of the home, it really depends on what training method you're looking at using, you could use food or toys to get the puppy to move forward and then praise as it does or you could just keep walking and effectively give the puppy no other choice but to move and praise the puppy the moment it starts moving forward.

Sorry to hear what's going on, it's great though that you're seeking help now, not 6 months down the track. Get in a Behaviourist in (preferably that is reccomended by word of mouth, maybe someone here can suggest someone) and they can take a better look at what is going on. If you can seperate the dog from other dogs whilst you wait for the Behaviourist that sounds like the best thing to do?

Yep! Dante is super sensitive to what I'm feeling and if I'm freaked out he behaves like a dog whose never been to obedience So for his sake and mine, I must keep my s*&^ together!

I can't watch those at work but will take a look tonight - thank you! Not sure at all on whether it is my signals. She's scoring perfectly for COP which I would've thought would show those kind of issues as well. I've had people come up and make a point of complimenting her DOR yet we're losing 2 to 4 points on it. She's coming in quick and taking action immediately on the signal, dropping as fast as she physically can at that speed. She doesn't fidget or move on leaving her at all - she's always been rock solid on that stuff. Her finishes are straight, it's just the front with a dumbell which are iffy but not all the time. I'd love to get a video, given the next trial is at my "home" club I might find someone who can record it for me. Silly question but can you ask a Judge at the end of the day?

Yep, freaking out more than the 1st time! I need to stop because the 1st time I stuffed Dante up so much by freaking out! I really need this pass now as he's about to go onto medication for the next 6 weeks that could make him woozy...but oh well, as they say....there's always another trial.

This is o/s, would this fit the bill? http://www.tug-ball.com/Tugball/Tugball-_T...f_War_game.html

I've had these before and they have lasted: http://dstore.com/item/1085362

I think that's a great that experienced Breeders will choose someones puppy for them as they probably know best. However I do believe that the family should meet the puppy because in the greater scheme of things they may see something in that pup that they don't like, the pup may not be interested in them and so forth. In many cases experiences Breeders make great decisions but they can't always be right.

I'll see you there, we can freak out together :D I'm #1 in CCD. Yay! Good luck to you! Jedi is #2 in Novice and Abby is #15 (I think) in CCD. So hopefully I'll get to watch you guys in CCD! Na, don't do that

If you're feeling emotions like that this is probably why you're having problems. Seperation anxiety is also usually caused by the owner due to mis-interpreted pack dynamics. I would probably reccomend you start learning and implenting Leadership before you start your training. Sorry Sas but I don't think this is always (or even usually) the case. Sometimes separation anxiety is caused by the dog being an anxious and frustrated dog. It is easy to try and lay the responsibility for separation anxiety on the handler, and I know this is a common conclusion that people draw, but I think it can be misleading and make people waste a lot of time on guilt. Some dogs are more anxious than others. As a handler, it is quite likely that you didn't cause this. You do need to know how to manage it, but Leadership is only a part of the equation. Knowing your dog's current limits is also an important part of the equation. Pushing them too hard can often increase their anxiety issues, so it's 'one step at a time' in my opinion. ETA: big fan of harnesses here too. Enjoy the beach and keep training loose leash walking in more controlled (calm) environments. Then gradually you can generalise loose leash walking to more exciting environments (like the beach) and situations (like when the other dog is also alongside). But to try to string all those things together at this stage of your training is just not going to work. In the meantime use a harness in these situations to keep things under control. It's ok, you don't have to be sorry ;) The majority of dogs I have worked with who have seperation anxiety have been due to problems with the dog mis-understanding its' place in home. Absolutely there are dogs that are more anxious than others, this can be helped to some extent by correctly managing them and treating them appropriately. I agree Seperation Anxiety to often diagnosed as the core problem when it's not, however I'm referring to true seperation anxiety and drawing on experiences I have had with a number of different dogs exhibiting it. Your experiences may be different and that's totally ok too.

I'll see you there, we can freak out together I'm #1 in CCD.

Love it!

That's the reason Dante does angled Sits and Drops sometimes - the angle matches where the threats come from. Perhaps you could try having a container with treats in it on a table and give the Marker word and then go get the treats from the table and that way the treats aren't on you?

She's smart then

Don't let him do that

Coat them in something yummy?

It's fairly early days so things could settle down. Both dogs are probably not used to living with another dog and need time to discover the boundaries and pecking order and so forth. It's a good idea to just have them together supervised until things settle down. Generaly you want to have dogs meet each other not on their own territory, take them for a walk together and then take them home. Are all the dogs desexed? Try not to step in a molly coddle the situation as it can make it worse but certainly correct any bad behaviour. If it doesn't work out you'll have to return the dog to your friend.

Master the basics - that's would I would do instead of having a dog that knows lot's of things but doesn't do them all really well. If it were me, I'd do the sit and drop, stay, heel position (long on-going work) and then the more complex things but would hit myself every time I tried to move on without it being mastered.

Start with small amounts of time with the pup outside with a bone and so they can see you is good and build up time, make sure you give them interesting things to do. I tend to ignoe dogs 15 before putting them out as well so it's no big fan fare. Don't give them the opportunity. Puppies explore with their mouths so you need to watch them all the time and then redirect them to a toy they're allowed to chew. Pups also go through teething so will source different textures to chew.

Sounds like they need a rather savvy owner too?

Bulldog x Boxer I think?

I wish Dante could steal some of her enthuasiam!

Go Jock! What a man!!!!!