Weasels

Good idea :)

Thanks Pers, I had no idea. Is that the standard practice?

is factory farming a problem with cattle? Whenever I worked in pastoral areas of NSW all I saw was miles of cattle hanging out in paddocks. Seemed a pretty good life to me but I'm not clued in on these things so genuine question. I'd like to feed the dogs more roo, especially since we have a friend who goes shooting, but they just don't like it No hanging out in paddocks on a feedlot. Oh So what is the difference with the enterprises I was seeing? Which is more prevalent in Aust?

is factory farming a problem with cattle? Whenever I worked in pastoral areas of NSW all I saw was miles of cattle hanging out in paddocks. Seemed a pretty good life to me but I'm not clued in on these things so genuine question. I'd like to feed the dogs more roo, especially since we have a friend who goes shooting, but they just don't like it

He's a Stampy! (please 'scuse video quality!)

Weez tries for the face-lick, I compromise by letting him lick the end of my nose even though I don't really like it since he has trouble communicating with humans generally :/ He seems to be starting to be happy with an eskimo kiss instead which is good. Chess isn't much of a licker at least :)

Breathtaking CC :)

I use a sporn as a management tool rather than a training tool. Sometimes we just want to get from A to B without having a training session, and if the sporn works it allows that to happen without the dog practicing bad habits. One way it could be used as a training tool though is for shaping a LLW, because it would provide more opportunities to reinforce the loose leash which could later be generalised to other tools if needed.

A breeder friend of mine recommended The Paw House to me :) I haven't had cause to use it yet but have heard good things - http://www.thepawhouse.com.au/

It's not just behavioural issues that can get you wondering. Chess was not much more than a year old when we adopted her but she has completely flat canines. They've all eroded back below where the tooth would normally start to taper My best guess is having constant access to a tennis ball possibly in combination to a sandy area has caused it but it was something that made me curious when we first got her.

Awwww :) Love hedgehogs, thanks for sharing LT!

Absolutely - when I get asked "why should we save dingoes?" among other points I cite his papers and point out there's so much we can learn from them!

And a little bit scary :laugh: I for one welcome our new dingo overlords....

Thanks for the heads up Rev Jo :D +1! I was very interested in the 2 papers he put out in 2010 about dingo performance on locating things (plus the footage of one moving a table to get food! ) http://www.newscientist.com/video/1314673917001-dingo-moves-table-to-snag-treat.html

That trick has actually increased overall harmony in my house: now instead of OH getting annoyed at me for not closing the fridge properly, I just say I'm doing it deliberately to train the dogs ;) And yes bones the size of my forearm are the other option we use for bored kelpies :D

If you grab a couple of clam shell pools from bunnings or big W you could fill one with water (plus ice blocks with treats/toys as suggested) and the other with sand, but they will stack away & not leave a mess when/if you don't want them anymore :)

Hide and seek with a toy is a favourite with the foxdog on rainy days :) Is she clicker-savvy? Teaching handy household jobs like closing the fridge door for you or putting away toys is also fun!

Sorry, I don't really see the relevance. Are you saying sheepdog herders would do better if herding wasn't so intrinsically rewarding to the dogs? Sorry I was typing on my phone so that was a bit vague. I was just thinking it can be very handy to have a variety of reinforcers and not have one be extreme in value relative to the others. A herding dog is always going to love to work, but teaching them to recall away from stock, teaching "that'll do" and teaching them to be distracted/relax when it's not their turn are all made much easier when you have other reinforcers of similar value at hand. Also I don't always want them to have the 'herding switch' in their brain turned on when I'm trying to teach them stuff, so having them work for food around stock is also useful (for e.g. learning to heel past stock so the stock don't break their position)

You must be joking? I am really not sure I understand this. I presume Kelpies and Borders Collies love herding - where are the problems with this? Ever tried taking one to a trial? Where there's stock and other dogs working all day and they only get one or two 10 minute runs :/ Learning a bit of self-control and the value of other rewards in the presence of stock is merciful to everyone within earshot.

My associate reg. dogs compete in every trial they can get their paws on :) Hope you get it sorted KB, it's lots of fun!

I read a nice quote from Ian Dunbar once - roughly, "a dog doesn't care what quadrant you are in. He only cares whether life just got a bit better, or a bit worse, and what made that happen" :)

Ugh yes my husband is the worst for this! Fortunately the dogs have figured out which of us is consistent and which one isn't so it only affects him :laugh:

I know it's a hackneyed phrase but positive doesn't mean permissive! Sounds like you have some behavourist recommendations but if she wanted ongoing training - I was looking into classes in NE Adelaide recently and was recommended here - http://positivelydogs.com/ (under the FAQ they have contacts for home visits too)

This made me laugh. :laugh: I can't say I have ever been able to "hide" treats from any of the dogs I've had. :D I was thinking the same thing :laugh: Doubly so for any labradors I've met!

That's awesome news Snook, after all your work IMHO, the goal with extreme behaviour is to get the dog closer to neutral. So if the dog is already feeling badly about something, as in fear agression/reactivity, the liberal association of a 'good' thing will diminish that underlying emotional state. And if the dog is feeling a little tooo excited about something (e.g. prey drive) a correction can help take the shine off the target and diminish that. Adding further bad things to fear, or poorly timed reinforcement to something that's already reinforcing, is where the trouble comes in. Of course the trick is working out what you are dealing with, and an experienced and professional eye is perfect for that :)