SALTWOOD

Try putting a brick in the water bowl. If a whole brick wont fit then halve it. It takes a lot of the fun out of digging the water out and even if they do dig it, there is usually still some water left in the bottom of the dish that they just can't dig out - so at least they won't die of thirst.

Be Calm - from your vet.

I imported a dog with dew claws, the dog caught it when playing and half ripped it off. We had months of trouble with that until it healed as the vet didn't want to remove it using a general anaesthetic as he said older dogs often chew at the stitches and it can get much worse. After that, I recommend all dew claws be removed as pups.

Phenyl is cheaper and works just as well as Dettol.......there is no easy answer, that is why they are such a pest and such a threat to dogs and also certain native frogs and fish. Northern Territory are setting traps for them as they have migrated into there and are having some success but I don't think they will ever totally get rid of them.

Use Malaseb as the other members have recommended - it really works!!!!!!!!

I wash my dogs to suit myself and our lifestyle. If they are not stinky I don't wash them but there is no way I will have a dog in the house and on my lounge if they stink! I have one that loves to roll in anything the wildlife has left overnight - she gets the spray "instant" shampoo immediately after she does that, to remove any traces of that lovely doggy perfume she has just rolled on. Also, I prepare my dogs before showing them and that includes washing them beforehand.

Dogs that try to put their head over the area you are grooming. Dogs with sensitive feet.

Aren't dogs funny - mine would sell their souls for raw chicken necks but they won't touch raw chicken wings. Go figure!!!

Have had pups that will use them but majority only wanted to rip them up!! :D Depends on how your pup reacts to them and how effective your training techniques are - they don't just work because you put them down, you do have to train the pup too! ;)

Just a suggestion, how about advertising for someone in the RNSW Monthly Dog Journal for someone to do it for you. Perhaps there is someone out there who needs some handstripping "therapy" and would like to be paid for it????

Thanks PGM sounds good - can't wait until I get that book!! KateH, have been trying the immoveable object approach for a while now and yes it does work to a degree but nowhere near what I want. It works best at home with no distractions albiet slow going but when I go to class aggghhh disaster - the pup definitely develops selective hearing and only wants to play with the other dogs!!! :rolleyes: This Koehler method sounds promising though - I hope it is the solution!! Will let you know how I get on!!

PMG - Perhaps the instructor tells people years so that they don't keep bugging him??? KateH - Yes I agree, everything else they teach ie, sit, stand, touch, etc. seems to work almost immediately but the pulling thing seems to be very difficult to stop. Anyway, the miracle Koehler method sounds like it is just what we need - where can I get a copy??? :rolleyes: PMG - Whilst I am locating this book can you give a bit of a clue about what it explains to do to stop the dog pulling please??

I have a 4-5mth old pup at the moment and you can probably look back a few weeks where I have posted the exact same problems you are experiencing. I have found that there is light at the end of the tunnel but it can be a very long tunnel. However, I have found that with concentrating on other aspects of training comes a reduction in unwanted behaviours in the more difficult areas ie. pulling. Organised weekly dog obedience classes do help but it is a slow process because there are so many distractions, we are going through that at the moment. To achieve a dog walking properly beside you, I have been told by our instructors, can take years for a dog to master. That means you have to continue the training for years!!! Instructor said one of his dogs took 18 months of one step forward and two steps back until the one step forward could be rewarded for being done correctly. Now that must have taken a lot of patience!! Train daily for 10 minutes at a time. As a breeder, I have dogs that have never pulled, dogs that pull like there is no tomorrow and ones inbetween. I have come to the realisation that I must be persistant and consistant to get what I want out of my furry friends. The pup and I now practice all manner of things ie. tricks, hide and seek, waiting, show training, the whole gambit - one day it will all pay off!! :rolleyes:

Totally agree Amstaff.WS!! I am wondering if the "positive training methods" is not being a tad "overdone"??? I am almost afraid to say NO these days!! Are we going the same way as kids that were raised over the last 10-20 years where it was frowned upon to actually discipline them so they would know right from wrong?? People are just now realising that children actually benefit from knowing their boundaries. I am all for rewarding good behaviour but does it really have to mean we never correct??

We have used the citronella collars with very mixed results. One dog was not a problem barker except when a bitch was in season - he hated the citronella spray and his lips would be sealed whenever we put it on him which was mainly at night and only (as I mentioned) when we had a bitch in season. After a while we didn't even have to fill it. So that would be the perfect senario and result for the citronella collar. However, some dogs we tried it on learned very quickly exactly how loud they could bark without setting the collar off. Other dogs would bark right through the sprays and found it didn't worry them - it became very costly to constantly refill the collar not to mention tedious as they don't hold much. Not only that, the maintenance on the collar was very demanding as it was constantly getting blocked and had to be sent away regularly. Overall I would say that the citronella collar was not worth the money or the hassle. The electronic collars on the other hand were very effective and as long as you spent the time to do the initial training they really do work. The result was the dog learnt not to bark and if they didn't bark then they didn't get zapped! Correctly used I do not think they are cruel. I do think that what should be understood is that some breeds of dog do bark more than others and that all the training in the world is not going to help if you are not there and the dog can play by his own rules and some of them find barking just so much fun. In order to comply with council regulations dogs must be contained and the very fact that they are contained in your own backyard is sometimes enought to make a dog a nuisance barker. If you have a dog that is a nuisance barker for whatever reason and training and citronella collars don't work and you can't use an electronic collar then de-barking is the next step. I don't like having to debark a dog but if it comes down to de-barking or PTS then I would choose the former.

I have housetrained a lot of dogs as I have been breeding and showing for many years now and I have developed a bit of a routine which suits our family and lifestyle so I thought I would share it. All my dogs get to come in the house of an evening. They get a lead on and tied to separate chairs in the family room when I am training a pup so everyone is getting the same treatment and no jealousy can occur. Also we get to eat our dinners without having the dogs wanting to climb up on the table to join us. I give them chew toys to amuse themselves with when they are restrained. The pup gets used to not being able to go whereever he wants to go whilst he is "untrustworthy" and I get to monitor him. Every 1/2 hour or hour I untie him and take him outside to "wee". I tell him to "wee" and praise him when he does it. After I get an idea on how far between "wees" the dog can last I will let him off to play in the loungeroom with the toys or cuddle on my lap but every 1/2 hour or whatever I will put the lead on him and take him outside. The occasional accident will happen but rarely, because if I forget to take the pup out, I have to clean up the mess so I tend not to forget. The finished product is a dog that doesn't mind being restrained inside, is clean in the house because he hasn't learned to soil inside plus a dog that will "wee" on command!!

Have you ever considered that perhaps they don't have the knowledge you require in order to be helpful?? I am not a professional groomer but I have always attended any grooming seminars that I could find over the years to try to increase my knowledge. I do not have poodles but I do have a groomed breed and my knowledge has been gained over many years by constant observations and also asking questions of many different and supposedly knowledgeable people, considering their advice and then trying it myself if I think it may be worth trying!! I have learned the hard way by experimentation because I found no one was going to make it easy for me to be a better groomer than they were, which makes sense if you think of it, as that is the norm with show people. As you have found, you will not always agree with the advice that is given to you and eventually, if you persevere, you will develop your own techniques to achieve your goals.