BrigadoonRose

I've just realised this is the day of my daughters' dance concert so I'll have to give it a miss, as much as I'd rather be playing with puppies than curling hair

I had a super crazy idea I'm going to try and teach the horse Schutzhund He has a bad pelvis and ringbone in his front leg from racing which makes riding him difficult long term, so I'm figuiring why can't he do something like that ... He can already heel, back up, stop, pivot, bow etc without being on lead how hard could it possible be to get him to search a few blinds let's see the Victorian government kick up a stink about that one

Bahahaha :) You two do it all!

Great! Clown puppies it is :) I'll check the family schedule and see what I can wangle.

Nekhbet, good luck with that fancy dress costume X-)

So are spectators welcome? I'd love to learn some more about retrieving but my dog is only 7 mo.

Maybe try charging the battery & leaving it out of the camera for 24hrs then test its charge.

They passed off dogs as lions in China a few weeks ago, so why not a bear as a dog :)

I saw some in a $2 shop during the week. I don't know how much they were, but they'd be cheapies.

Yay! Hope to see some photos soon :)

Weekend kids' sport or even mid week training is good. The crowds for a lot of the junior games (we attend) tend to stick to one part of the ground so you can keep your distance but still experience all the busyness. You still need to keep your eye out for the occasional feral child but they don't appear that often.

That's a great image granger. The lighting creates real character.

Sounds like you did really well! You should have offered to crate the kids hahaha.

Bahahaha :)

What do you use for homemade?

Talcum powder is a passable substitute for human dry shampoo. I guess it would do a similar job for dogs.

They should open into the PS Raw editor. You can do quite a bit of tweaking there and then, if you still want, go on to more tweaking in Photoshop. Check that Photoshop has the latest Camera Raw update (Help > Updates).

I don't know how anyone could say 'non-shedding' is the easy option. I'd rather deal with Labrador dust bunnies any day to the extra grooming a non-shedder requires! I'm still haunted by the daily removal of burrs from our Mini Schnauzer (& carpet) nearly 20 years later :-P

Thanks Ness! And well done to you all. Sounds like you're going great guns!

Excuse the interruption from the blonde with a dumb question, but could someone please explain the difference between tracking and track & search? :-/

The point of a treat is it is a taste of something. Fresher food coats the mouth so you can use smaller bits, train for longer without filing the dog up/causing stomach ache, and is fast to be eaten so the dog doesn't have to sit there and chew.

The treat is only ever the intermediary between you and the dog anyway, it should not be massive hunking bits. It's really adding to you being the reward in a manner the dog understands, not the whole reward itself. It's why I use hotdog and Kabana, even the toothless old dogs can still get a treat without working too hard to chew it.

Yes, that makes sense. Zeus doesn't (seem to) chew his kibble if I use it for treats, just straight down the hatch so I'm sure there's not much of a flavour hit - it could just as well be cardboard :)

Little bits of hot dog have been working well. Doubly so because I've been able to convince the kids it's raw and they won't pinch it all, not like kabana :)

Last night I took Zeus to my daughter's netball training where I often get weird looks for having a pocket full of treats. I told one lady (self proclaimed dog know-it-all) I was giving him hotdogs & she was gobsmacked. She just kept repeating 'Hotdogs!' It was hilarious. I'll have to think of something to blow her mind for next week ;)

Lots of great suggestions, thanks! Some of these things I've never heard of, so a bit of investigating is in order :) I've been tending to mix it up, but probably should cut back on the kibble & add in something more yummy for the higher distraction stuff.

I have a large (1kg) bucket of treats that live in my car in the 'magical dog bucket of magicalness'.

It contains all sorts of different commercial treats as well as cat biscuits and a little bit of kibble. They never know what they are getting so it keeps them guessing.

I also use 'squishy treats' eg. Cheese, chicken, sausage, any left over meat really.

I have found that the BEST treats are always SOMEONE ELSE's! :p doesn't matter if I have cabanossi and they have normal dog biscuits, if its not theirs........... Sigh.

I have a 'magical coat pocket of magicalness'. Every time I put that particular coat on, it's all eyes on me :)

It shouldn't be about what treat your using it should be about the reward experience your dog is having....

My clumsily put question was more about the theory that the dog should work for it's dinner, I guess, rather than the actual reward. But isn't the reward experience going to be more "rewarding" if it's something he really likes?

My favourite to prepare at the moment and the dogs go nuts for is baked chicken hearts. $2 a pack from woolies and chucked in the oven for ten mins, then drained and the oven bumped right up and put them back in for another 5 - 10 mins. I cut them in half or thirds depending on how big they are.

Hmm. I tried cooking up some beef & kangaroo mince in the microwave. Don't know why, but it made me feel Stupid because I cook them both for human food

My dogs have such a strong reward history they'll just about work for cardboard :laugh: High distraction and/or early learning = awesome rewards (cooked/fresh meat, boiled egg, 4 legs etc). Low distraction or an advanced exercise with strong reward history = low value rewards which are now regarded as close to awesome by the dogs (e.g dry food, dry treats). Mix it up and keep them guessing! Em did some water work the other day in freezing pouring rain and I jackpotted her with a brisk towel down and a pig ear.

:)

In terms of trainers working other peoples dogs, majority of the time the dogs we see will work better for the trainer, after all that is why people invest in seeing a trainer because they are having trouble handling their dogs.

I saw this with my pup on the weekend. He even would snap to attention when our trainer was just telling me how to go about something. The expert vs the bumbler :)

Kids need sense, understanding, and respect, not fear. Fear doesn't produce intelligent responses.

Agree 100%

As I'm discovering with all things doggy, there's lots of differing opinions about what sort of food rewards to use.

I've read that some people provide most of the dog's daily food as hand fed rewards during the day (I assume this means kibble). Then, there's others that say only super tasty treats, like hotdogs, should be used for training.

So, what do you tend to use for training rewards (food-wise) and why?

A six year old attacked by dogs 7 times is extremely unusual in my experience. I have 3 kids 12 & under and none of them, their friends or my nieces & nephews have ever been attacked by dogs.

I have come across kids that have a fear of dogs for no apparent reason, especially toddlers & preschoolers. I think whether they "grow out of it" depends a lot on how the parents handle it.

It seems you are dealing with a father who is very protective of his daughter. Trying to change parenting style/attitudes is a bigger can of worms than dog training styles!

and some refused to actually touch some species, especially large animals as they were smelly, dirty, gross etc.

Maybe work experience at a country vet *before* starting the degree should be compulsory. For the most part they see a bit of everything (well, maybe not so many hamsters). Preg testing a cow would be a great reality check ;)

No words of wisdom from me except good luck & enjoy! And don't forget to come back and tell us how it all went :)

The fact that a local govt minister sees fit to consider that drivel is much more concerning.

That's what concerns me the most. A child has died, and people are in a frenzy to look like they're doing something productive about it. How many knee jerk reactions have happened about dogs in the past few years, more laws that don't get properly policed.

Agreed. It's treating the symptom & not the cause. Unfortunately, getting to the cause takes a lot more effort & resources - not something pollies are keen on investing. They want to be seen "taking action".

It's horrific every time anyone, let alone a child, is attacked. Yet statistically, compared to say car accidents, the incidence is quite small. When high profile people are quick to lay blame & come up with "solutions", the voice of reason is unfortunately lost.

I'm at a loss really. I never want to see another story about a child, or anyone, being attacked by a dog. But how do you fix the problem when:

• it's not being policed adequately
  
• people don't want to report issues (Wendy Harmer article)
  
• people seem ignorant about the benefits of training (themselves & their dog)