Nekhbet

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I wouldnt use prozac until you can definitively pinpoint what the problem is. Masking the behavior wont help and there is a period of adjustment which for some owners is worst. I would get the dogs eyes tested properly, hearing and make sure there really is no pain. Erny's recommended blood test too. Dogs don't suddenly hate you that badly for no reason at all, and it's NOT a normal developmental stage particularly to the point of defensive posturing. You can then either put it down to poor genetics, particularly if there's heavy dane component in the mix, or a physical health problem that needs proper management or decision making about.

That is a thing with BB, it's not consistent. Some people HAD good basis of knowledge and joined a franchise for the fact of the marketing provided for them, whereas many had little to no experience before. Just like any of the Jims franchise, some were tradies before, some were not.

Oh bless is the franchise trying to cash in on the positive fashion now is it? Because I know of bb clients who were on chains no worries.

They're a franchise where the franchisee does a short few weeks course to cover how to train a dog, no prior experience required. Then they're unleashed on the world with a no refund policy. I've had a client stung $800 from them to have their dog put in a crate and stuff thrown at it to shut up (fast track crate training apparently) then prescribed medication on top. Then when said BS doesnt work dog is called a write off and BB never answers phone again. That's what you get for your money. They follow linear procedure and if that doesnt work majority of their franchisees dont have the experience or real knowledge to fix it.

Also there is Mark Singer in SA http://www.caninetraining.com.au/ give him a bell

NEVER DO THIS - get yourself someone with real behavioral experience to teach you how to be the controller of the resources and how to accept this. Alpha rolling the older while the younger eats is going to end in catastrophe down the track or you will cop it from the dog yourself when it reaches boiling point. Youre doing the equivalent of putting an arachnaphobe in a room full of spiders then when they flip out from stress you pin them by the throat and tell them to get over it. Not really a long term fixing of the problem is it. You're creating stress and a reason to fight so remove it. Feed them separately until the stress decreases and they understand food comes from you. It is given from you, it is yours to control and you are 'allowing' them to eat it. When they are finished that is all, no scrounging. Then you start reintroduction with a good distance and a physical barrier, gradually moving closer. That is how you get long term results. You're aiming for massive vet bills when the dogs decide to control something else in the house and fight over it. I have 6 dogs, 4 working dogs and two little terrors (frenchie and a pug) no one dares control, guard or grumble over anything. They can be fed together, if I call a name and hand over a meaty bone they go to their respective corners and finish it. Because it's ultimately in their heads that's mine, NOT theirs. Imagine if I had to alpha roll 4 Belgian Malinois in a fight ... there's the road to permanent disfigurement. If a dog cannot even be around prepared food then there is an issue with 1) knowing what the rules of behavior are in general a lot of the time and 2) they have not learned self control of their emotional state. Yes there is excitement towards food but grabbing another dog is unacceptable, that's escalation to the extreme which means there is a kink in the emotional process. Somewhere the dog has learned and been rewarded (read that not necessarily a conscious rewarding by the owner) for behaving like this. When there is one dog, fine we don't notice. Introduce excitement and now competition ... BOOM.

Vets All Natural Health Booster if you want to make sure the diet is balanced as that is what it was invented for.

If you have problems give me a tingle. Frenchies can be classed as 'untrainable' by some but I find them actually the opposite. They're just tough little units who need firmness and consistency, remember they're a bulldog.

I can imagine the advice you can get is freely available everywhere on the internet. If you need that much help you should spend that money on a good trainer so they can pick up your mistakes. Reading is one thing, being shown is another. Of course it's positive, pop word of the 21st century.

Only for $115 O_o dogs need to be out learning practically and so do their owners. A generation of internet pooches is developing too now.

My Frenchie is similar and I have to keep her under the thumb because of it when interacting with other dogs. I calll her away if she starts to bully. He can be retrained no problems but you have to be firm with him and keep him on lead. Focus work and don't give and inch or he'll go back to old habits. Socialisation is not about letting the dog off lead to work it out for himself, it's about you showing him how to behave in situations. If he cant behave he can't go off lead, simple.

I cant even watch that 'wild dog video'. Who tethers a semi feral dog like that and torments it to the point of defecation? You're right he has NO idea what he's doing. I've had a dog that unsocialised before given to me, but I let it loose in the back yard and just walked around for ages ignoring it. We finally managed to sit down together by choice not force.

bland down the diet a bit. Fish oils are only useful if balanced with Vitamin E. Sprinter Gold Energy E oil is a better alternative. Put him on maxi adult or lower protein and decrease the mince/veg ratio down to 1/3 protein total. I wouldnt be cooking the mince his body is getting way too much 'processed' food which might not be helping as it's so 'digestible' if you know what I mean. Give him raw mince but cut it down and balance it out. Vets ALl Natural make a wonderful Health Booster powder you can add to a home made diet to balance it out.

He regularly hangs, hits and even punches dogs including in the face. And he TRAINS OTHER PEOPLE How such an abusive prick ever got his own show is beyond me

yes hang and smack a dog on the face because it doesnt know better... what a hero

There is a video on youtube of his screaming at a client at his group lessons in front of everyone else. The owners look as whipped as their dogs. All she did was question why he did what he did and he went into a tirade of how crap her dog was and how good his was so how dare she question him. I get OH to watch it and then quiz him on what he thinks is wrong with it :laugh: only value in it

We don't do rubble we do out in park/bushland. The only reason I'd go near the city is to practice hard surface. We started dogs in a combined parkland/industrial estate too which worked great, some really funky air movement to cope with :) Kris' book is good, he's got a tracking seminar late in the year, if anyone's interested go to his FB page.

Kris Kotsopolous has written a book on tracking, Von Forrel kennels down here in Vic. Theres also http://leerburg.com/noseworkbooks.htm Competition tracking and trailing are two very different things. Contact some search and rescue orgs too about what reading material is valuable as you can teach a dog to track, trail, or combo of both. SAR dogs I train are taught to do both and problem solve, so even with the wind behind them they can find the person.

freezing and freeze drying are two different things. Freeze drying means you decrease the pressure to pull the water out in low temps. Air is your enemy more then temperature. You're better off getting a vacuum sealer and bagging it up with that as oxygen makes the fats go rancid. Just store it somewhere like under the bed where the temp is fairly cool comparably. You can go 6 months past used by if you have to if stored properly.

half a carcass for a rottie pup is not too big at all. For a chihuahua maybe ;)

See I don't like it's your choice because it's rewarding the dog for focus on food. Food doesn't command the dog, it can't give cues etc so why is the dog staring at it. It should get its guidance and cues from you NOT the food. All the dog learns is patience and not to snap at your hand, not to respect you as a resource provider more. I get green puppies looking at their owners eyes instead of food on one lesson it's not hard to teach. Just because a dog is not frothing at the mouth over you doesn't mean you're not getting what you want. Calm and in control does not equate to no drive, it helps the dog focus and learn the process and think for itself to increase the frequency of good performance. Dogs understand food, they can sustain training longer and with a lot of people it can help with positioning before introducing prey toys (if they don't have the experience with shaping positions with prey toys etc) Again I start quite a few dogs and owners with food and then when they have it solid in their minds what they do in the exercise we bring the toy in for those dogs who need it. Exercises like the object guard in ringsports, tracking, etc can start with food despite being what people expect to be a 'drive' exercise.

'staffys' or anything resembling, BC/Kelpie/Labs and their various mixes, and german shepherds everywhere. THe oodles have fallen out of favour too really I have noticed. The private school mummies still love their oodlies but everyone else apparently needs a staffy *head-desk*

You're waiting way too long. Why are you sticking to a standard 2 seconds before marking the behavior? You give her a chance to fail then you get frustrated, she gets more erratic because she wants that damn treat and you're not telling her what to do to get it then ... As described in said .jpeg ... Her brain is fast so YOU be fast. Give her a command ... SIT - focus - YES!!!! food, turn 90 degrees, COME! SIT! focus - YES!, take 2 steps back repeat, turn 180 repeat etc. You don't have to do horrible complicated things, you need your basics in order. If the dog stuffs up a quick UH UH in a happy voice (I have one client that uses, try again - OK fine, works for her because NO became shut down territory from previous training) NOT as a punishment but as a 'oops, try again!' for the dog. It means the dog will NOT want to move away from focussing on you because your value stays high, you're not the nagging monster you're now the awesome leader helping out. The second she looks at you mark it. It sounds dumb but hold your treat hand near your face or at your chest so the food comes from YOU and is not the total reward. YOU are the reward, not the food, you give the dog food to help it understand what you want. Everything your dog is doing is a learned response in previous training. I see it in majority dogs that I train because there's no focus inbuilt. DONT use the word 'watch' either, that word sends me spare. The dog should always be watching no matter what command you have given and especially on it's own name otherwise the behavior becomes provisional - you separate it from your general obedience so hence it can fail on you. If you reward focus with everything you train you can't go wrong. Don't be disheartened. Give it time, you're working against a bad habit but big deal. Hey in 2 weeks a wound up shepherd actually enjoys holding a dumbbell and can focus under distraction (and also not just at the hand) so you can do it too. Does Aunty Nekhbet need to make you an instructional video :laugh:

2 chicken necks, give him half a carcass ;) Depends how much mince you're feeding. If just meat mince is the major proportion of the diet then yes, add a BALANCED puppy supplement like Vets All Natural Health Booster to it or Sprinter Gold Whelp n Grow. Just calcium is quite useless unless you're making up your own home made diet and you need to be a little more precise with your ratios. If in doubt, follow the breeders sheet and call them.