Weasels

ES - given "red" has colour variations from chocolate (dark brown) through to very red, is it possible the smokeys are just a dilute version of a chocolate (rather than a red which gives a more obvious fawn colour)?

JB - pretty sure Underdog training run agility, maybe give them another call :)

Thanks Erny! Interesting.

Erny - if it were a thyroid problem wouldn't the dog be agitated all the time? It was my understanding Roo was pretty 'normal' when JB is around? Sorry if I'm way off here JB - I've been following both threads, I think you are amazing and Roo sounds lovely

Does he take food in the car? In the front yard? At the neighbours place? Once you've found his threshold for food refusal you'll know where you need to work from :) Building up from there will have more success than teaching him the alphabet (at home) then asking him to read shakespeare (at the park).

Outsider question, but how hard is it to get a standard amended? Have there been many or any instances of this happening in recent decades (in any breed)?

I suspect that going to her mat works on Chess because most of her agitated behaviour is attention-seeking: once she realised no more attention is available, the work we have done on reinforcing calm kicks in and she settles. It doesn't work so well with Weez though because he only occasionally seeks attention, so his internal buzziness will carry on regardless (he'll just sit and bark). It has taken a long time to get him to enjoy pats and engage with us more, so using massage on him has been a recent development and possibly a side effect of teaching him to enjoy grooming. Works a treat though. So, different problems, different solutions. I certainly wouldn't assume an inability to settle was the owner's fault. Chess takes about 4-5 hours to stop being incredibly intense if we have guests over, it's just too much fun for her; I can imagine living with a dog who's like that 24/7 would be very stressful!

Ooh the nylon collars look really nice (http://www.dogids.com/product/personalized-buckle-nylon-dog-collars/)

I've been having good results with massage lately to settle Weez after zoomies, using little circular scritches. Doesn't work on Chess though, she does better with being sent to her bed or crate. Frozen kongs are my other stand-by to get them to stay put and focus on one thing.

Interesting! I've generally gone along with the natural-diet way of thinking based on biochemistry being quite slow to evolve (although in practice our dogs often get a bit of whatever we're having ). What a great study.

I just keep thinking about your partner going through the heartbreak of a separation without a dog to cry on

I don't know :laugh: Still waiting to find out what OH is doing job-wise before I know whether I'm driving or flying back. Should be by the 16th though, I'll hopefully know more next week!

I'm with you on the jealousy Piper, we were just out practicing walk-ups on galahs at the park to keep up some level of training Is the theory day early or late Feb?

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My boy dog has mastered the 'old man groan' when he settles in for a lie-down, he sounds like he's 2 going on 80 :laugh:

Ash1 do you have a good trainer nearby? Someone who can observe the early training sessions to make sure the collars are being used to best effect and with the right timing?

:cheer: Kenz!!

I am currently training my dogs to not eat lizards in the same way I taught them not to counter-surf, using a "leave-it" principle. Fortunately (for me) lizards don't move fast enough to get their prey juices really flowing so it is going well. Not sure I would ever trust an established killer unsupervised with prey though :/

:cheer: Excellent news :)

My youngest dog does this, except with whining instead of barking. If I tell him to hush he will stop whining but keep pacing, if I keep ignoring him he will relax after a while Probably more a result of general training to "settle" than any specific pool training, but to tackle the problem directly I'd go with Cricket's advice.

If it doesn't work out I'm sure we can find a plan B for Kenz :D

Sounds like you are doing great Skip, especially with such a young dog! I'm sure you will have many many happy years of a great dog and relationship for the work you are putting in now :)

This one is a classic > On Talking Terms With Dogs: Calming Signals Edit - I posted this video last year, but here's a link to an article and video on how to tell if a dog wants to be patted - http://eileenanddogs.com/2012/08/29/does-your-dog-really-want-to-be-petted/

:laugh: Poor girl, but you have to admire her optimism! :D

That happens here too :laugh: I am amazed at some of the things she comes back with - seed pods, cuttlefish, lemons, or anything vaguely round! With our ball-obsessed girl we started teaching "have a rest" in an environment with nothing else around (she isn't a stick-dog so this was ovals for us), and before she'd had her morning poop. I'll give a treat in exchange for the ball (had to work up to that) and she will go off and do her business then we extended the time before the ball came out again. I still can't get it to work as well if someone else is around because she manages to hypnotise people into throwing the ball for her and she knows it! So she has learnt that just because I say have a rest she still has a chance with everyone else :/ If it gets really annoying when someone's over, I just send her to her mat or crate. Environment plays a big part with us too - If we are somewhere with a strong history of ball-throwing activity like the beach, it will be a short time before she starts looking for her ball again. But at the oval where we normally only go to jog (with a bit of ball at the end) she is happy to just run around and sniff. I use the warm weather to my advantage too - she will want to go lie down in the shade before too long so letting her do that reinforces the advantages of putting the ball away. All this took ages tho! And just growing up a bit might have helped :)