paddles

hot wires (electric fences) are banned here, but we jsut remove the unit, and then claim it's jsut a wire... never been called out on it yet... our unit is battery powered, so easy to remove, they get the idea fairly quickly. keeps the kids in too

she's liable for the bills, including any incurred by your dogs. your dogs are restrained. hers got out.. if your dogs got into her yard, different thing. Yes, my dogs have killed neighbours pets (2 ferrets and counting) I feel no guilt. I have rescued thier ferrets countless times from my dogs jaws.. other neighbour got a heafty vet bill from ferret bite to his furballs leg, was too scared to take the bill to the ferrets owner.

We have an English springer spaniel whom, when we first got him, I called minstral (because he sang all the time) after one too many people asked if I was suffering pms when I named him (think about it) we changed it to fred... (that's the biggest mistake name I've done)

we've also had cats called

snakebait

roadkill

dim and sim (2 stray kittens who did not stay with us too long)

now i stick to conventional names, we have fred, sophie (mnamed before we got her) and milo (again named before he came to us)

Hmmmm...maybe here in Victoria we could start giving treats to the rangers if they are good and well behaved! ;)

Hmmm, a good ranger... So far in the last 12 mths, I've been accused of backyard breeding (this is a real feat, because all my dogs are desexed) my dogs are barking and howling when we go away with the caravan for the weekend.. (they must have exceptional hearing, cause the dogs come with us) and roaming loose... ???? yet never picked up, and locked behind 6 foot hotwired fences (complete with padlocks)

Sorry I was being lazy Here's the link http://dogscouts.org/Dog_Activ-_Scent_Discrim.html A lot of the obedience people use this method for teaching scent discrimination We usually have multiple sets of scent articles and with my experienced kids I can use the articles every day without causing a problem. When I begin teaching the exercise I tend to keep using the same article over and over so it is really really heavily scented.

The wash cloths - I have probably 10 sets (10 cloths in each set) and I just keep rotating them and nope they have never been washed or unrolled Remember if you wash them you then have to roll them up again so they will all have your scent on them and I don't want this, also we all tend to use washing powder which is heavily scented which again I don't want to make it hard for the dog.

Just had a go... he grabbed my hand with his paws and forced the washcloth into my hand... (lol) then next round said, oh well if you don't want it I'll go shred it... gotta love those dogs

Hmmmm, trying to think how to say this... you know when you see the trainer drop a pile of objects on the floor, and the dog only picks up the ones that have a certain scent on them.. ie the trainers, or in more advanced cases another persons scent...? ok, with me so far? (doing better than me then) now I have read about the basics of training this behaviour, but would like to know, what can be used for training this? suggestions? ie thick dowel? I guess it woudl have to be something that can have the scent washed off??? anyone who can point me in the directions of any articles/you tube clips about this appreciated...

thank you.

In formal obedience competitions (UD - Utility Dog) we use metal, wood and leather articles (5 of each article) and the dog is taught to bring back the one with the handlers scent. In UDX we use face washes which have been rolled and the steward puts down 8 clothes with their scent on them and the judge handles 2 cloths and puts one in the pack and gives one to the handler for the dog to scent and the dog needs to bring back the judges scent. We also do a seekback with decoy where one of the UD articles has our scent on it and the other has another persons scent and the dog needs to find ours....... Clear as mud??? Check out the dog scout website for teaching scent

Thanks Ptolomy.... will check out the website... so once the facewashers have gone through teh wash, they should be relatively scent free? (is that dog scouts of america?)

what really got me with this story, is that they then touted buying from petstores... but not once mentioned going to registered breeders, through the breed club... I mean really... check out your breeders, see the parent (s) sometimes the stud isn't available, but you should at least be able to view an online profile..

get to know your breeder before hand, expect to WAIT for a pup.. if you can waltz up and purchase a pup, with no background checks... hmmmm... can we all say "puppy farmer?"

I'm currently waiting for a pup, I'm aware i'm going to be waiting till christmas at least (I've been waiting since last year) but to get the right dog... this is what you sometimes have to do... not wander into a pet store and go... isn't that cute.. how big will it grow (where the assistant then asks you how big would you like it to grow...) and tell you that a husky is an easy dog to train... rofl!

Hmmmm, trying to think how to say this... you know when you see the trainer drop a pile of objects on the floor, and the dog only picks up the ones that have a certain scent on them.. ie the trainers, or in more advanced cases another persons scent...? ok, with me so far? (doing better than me then) now I have read about the basics of training this behaviour, but would like to know, what can be used for training this? suggestions? ie thick dowel? I guess it woudl have to be something that can have the scent washed off??? anyone who can point me in the directions of any articles/you tube clips about this appreciated...

thank you.

I think a trainer or a dog club could show you in 10 minutes what you might never get from an article.

Using positive methods, you may not have to 'correct' the dog at all.

trainers in short supply around here... just me...

Hi, I'm looking for an article on how to teach a fast walking dog to slow down and stay at heel. we have not quite mastered loose lead walking, and it has been suggested that I need to put more work into the very basic obediance side of things, ie, heeling, sitting, dropping etc. the main problem is that my dog walks considerably faster than I do, and I'm told that I should correct him back to my speed. I seem to be correcting every stride. I think I need to go back to extreme basics with him.

thank you

For those interested in sledding in vic.. now is the time to be finding out about the training days!!

I have 2 english springer spaniels that I need to get fit, I am teaching them to run on a treadmill, I walk them daily (on lead) I used to run them beside a bike to get them fit, but this is not an option this year.

So, the question comes, how long/how fast on a treadmill, how many times a week???

Thank you

all other suggestions welcomed!!

Heat and floodwaters are preventing my ussual training regime!

I got my dogs first, saw sledding on tv, thought why not ( abit more than that went on, but you get the idea) now I live for sledding (come last every race but htat is another thing) and My English Springer Spaniels love it!

Feed him in a separate room...don't give him the need to defend.

Same with toys. If he is alone- he has his toys.

.. how long do you have this dog for?

Until I get the weight off, he is unsuitable for rehomeing until he is a more suitable weight. Temperment wise he's beautiful

Thank you for your help....

I currently have care of a 4 yr old, freshly neutered boy, who is extreamly food/toy territorial. I can, remove the food, myself, but if one of the other dogs even comes remotely near, he will growl etc. whilst defending his food/ toy is to some degree acceptable (well he is a dog) I would like to?? temper? his behaviour if I can. any suggestions/ideas appreciated.

Hi, I have just recieved foster dog (lovely nature) but seriously overweight, he will stay with me until his weight is significantly reduced before he can be rehomed. now, aside of the obvious, (not too much food, more exercise etc) does anybody have any weight loss tips they could share? for instance, i'm used to walking my dogs, 40 minutes once a day, would this be a good idea for such an overweight dog, or would I be better to break it up into several shorter walks??? I am giving him 2 small meals a day, of a diet recommended food. my main thoughts is how I might incorperate more exercise into his day.

I'd just watch overnight, and if fine in the morning, well, alls good, if acting sick? vet?

I don't think this will help you much, but I'll post it anyway. I do sled dog racing, and to teach the dogs to turn, I am walking them at heal, with lots of sharp rightangle turns, calling the turn each time (we use Haw and Gee) haw is left) eventually the dog begins to anticipate the turn when you call it, you praise and treat like mad when they do.

The sledding season has just finished in vic, The cup was last weekend. as it gets warmer, it is not so easy to run the dogs (they can overheat really easily) generally the rule is, that you only run the dogs if it is under 15 degrees.

however it is a fun sport, and planing ahead a little is not a bad idea...

Hi, I do dryland dog sledding, and one of the things that the dogs can learn, is to "line out" this is where they walk forward in front of the handler until the gangline (the line between the dog and scooter) is straight. I am doing basic obediance to teach the turns etc, and one of the things that I have been doing some serious work on is stand stays. One of my dogs is not food orientated leading to my current problem. I am attempting to teach line out, by tossing a treat out in front of them, saying "line out" using a specific arm movement, and encouraging them to walk forward to the treat. however one of my dogs is refusing to walk forward, I let her sniff the treat, say "line out" and toss it approx 1 1/2 ft in front of her. (this is showing some results in my other dog) however she is refusing to break the stand, unless I step forward first. She was shown before I got her, so presumably was trained to stand???

Any suggestions welcomed!!!!

Disown the friend!

I have to agree with that!

I agree, I had a friend like this, it's not worth the agro.... either stand back and say nothing, or disown the friend (my choice was to end the friendship (that sounds a bit severe, what I actually did is just stopped visiting/calling her, and being lazy she also allowed the friendship to lapse, I actually realised that I had been the one doing all the work to maintain the friendship) I can see a husky looking for a new home very early in life....

I often carry a short piece of rope, about a mtr in length, it is handy if you see a loose dog (i'm big for grabbing and calling the ranger) and if you end up losing it, it's not the endo of the world, (leashes are expensive) it's easy enough to tie a loop in the end for a handle etc. but coiled up neatly fits in a pocket or training bag... I've also found it handy with my own dogs on occasion....

A shetland sheepdog.... I had them when the kids were younger, happy to go for a walk, small enough that if not walked can run around backyard, happy to be with family, chase ball ect... and contrary to popular belief, they don't shed THAT much, (i now have English Springers and they Shed WAY more!!!!)

Why get a big dog for a first dog????

brown... colour seems normalish, we've been having strange poos since, some quite dark, some quite light in colour...