Cosmolo

I think with some dogs it can improve performance- i have one dog who would need to get everything she needs from me to reach her potential as a sports dog if i chose to go that way. I have another dog who could reach his potential as well as playing with other dogs, other people etc. Pity his joints are stuffed.. I don't have my dogs play with many strange dogs BUT they have 4 other dogs at home to interact with. They LOVE to engage with each other and i LOVE to watch it- its why i could never do pure neutralisation with a puppy. In saying that, i don't want or allow my dog to play with strange dogs who are rude and don't behave appropriately. If i had a single dog- i would want to ensure the dog had some regular dog to dog interaction- with the 5 i have, i don't seek it because i don't need to.

I can only hope this doesn't put people off taking their dogs to training- unprofessional conduct seems to not only relate to the actual training of dogs. We have had 2 complaints in the time we have been running and both were resolved to the satisfaction of all parties involved. In our case the complaints related to the wrong type of training being attempted (group instead of private for instance) and everyone was happy once this was resolved. There are ways to resolve complaints- even when you believe you have done nothing wrong- that ensure you remain professional, approachable and courteous.

Private trainer- now- would be the best thing to do. Please don't keep trying different equipment beforehand as if you are not using it correctly- you will only desensitise the dog further and make things more difficult when you hit on the right technique- a tool is NOTHING without technique and thats what you're lacking at the moment.

The horror that is experienced when you watch your dog being attacked and try to stop the attack is horendous. I would never wish it upon anyone and i think all owners need to start taking responsibility for their dogs actions. I was at the beach with my 4 dogs today and they were all playing fetch and swimming- completely focussed on us and each other. These 2 dogs came up and one on either side of my biggest dog while he was standing still waiting for the ball and started barking at him with very dominant body language. The owners thought nothing of it, we moved our dogs a little so they weren't so close and then watched the 2 dogs proceed down the beach barking and carrying on at every other dog. Owners need to learn what is within the bounds of acceptable behaviour!

Demographics play a big part- we get many purebreeds at some locations and many cross breeds at others and there are certain breeds we see very rarely.

Our next dog will be a rescue/ shelter/ pound Cattle Dog puppy. Not for a long time though!!

Its just so sad As a trainer there is nothing i like more than having dogs arrive at class that are thrilled to be there and some of them (where's smoothie girl.. ) thrilled to see me. I don't think these 'instructors' would ever get to see that. And this is the kind of thing that results in people hating 'corrections'- whats been described here is just abuse, not a correction..

I don't know about anyone else, but we always explain what we're going to do and then ask if we can use XYZ dog for such an example. That way no one is surprised when we demo the exercise a certain way. To be honest though- there are times when we then have to go around to other clients and explain a different way they should do it with their particular dog. This is where i think large classes make things tough- because you can't do that as easily or at all if there are 15- 20 dogs and one instructor.

I think its really sad that things like this may result in owners being unwillling to allow an instructor to handle their dog- i use dogs to help and demonstrate things to owners regularly- mainly to show people what their dogs are capable of and how to do it- its often easier to learn when watching than doing to start with. Sounds like some of these incidents were when owners still had hold of the dogs anyway. :D

Just wanted to add- these people are NOT professional dog trainers. Instructors who do these things should not be grouped with professional trainers. Not every dog club is like this either- even at a couple of clubs where i didn't agree with certain things, i would never have seen such incidents as have been described here. To everyone who has experienced such an event- did you report it? Put in a formal complaint?

That is seriously outrageous Have you gone to the club presidents?

You'll need to send it back to innotek- they should replace or fix it at no cost to you if you bought it from them.

Vouchers have now been sent. I have a few left if anyone would still like the remaining.

It is possible for a dog to understand faeces, presence of owner = bad. This comes from the dog being corrected with faeces in the room- but they do not connect that no they shouldn't have done that there and should have done it outside instead. They know you're upset and MAYBE know your upset when there is faeces present but they don't know why or how to avoid it! Agree with what the others said re the toilet training.

I would use Danois letter

You can correct on a front connecting harness, but as Aidan said- you may not need or want to. They're not suitable for every dog though and certainly not for resolving every issue.

Given DAS's rehoming rate- while i completely understand the frustration that there is no mention of the transferring of dogs- it doesn't seem there are that many rehomable dogs transferred from RSPCA to DAS that are pts? Personally, given my experiences with pounds, shelters and rescue groups in various states- i think Canberra does it better than anyone at the moment. Perfect? No- but better than other states for the most part.

Chicken wire flat and pegged, covered with mulch or if its turf they're digging in, the turf will just grow through the chicken wire. Very very effective- thats how we have been able to have a great garden in our backyard.

No real mischief- he is super confident though so i am sure we will get a little creative exploring from him. He has only had 2 accidents inside so far, one restless night in his crate and trying to chew a few things we'd left lying around. He is super smart- has started learning sit and drop and knows his name pretty well already. Clever little cookie :D

I wasn't berrating you corvus- i don't mean my post to come across as an attack on you, i am just trying to understand where you're coming from and the way you've currently explained it, i disagree with. Thats all. Gosh, i even used a smiley face at the end to try to convey tone :D I agree with you that the terms should not be used interchangably- i certainly don't mix them up like that and neither do the people i speak with. Who are the trainers that use them interchangably? I find the reward anticipation interesting- but don't really see how it fits in with dogs not being in prey drive unless a live animal is present?

Monelite's global definition plus- producing the same chemical rewards in the dog as chasing live prey. I have never heard anyone define prey drive as you have Corvus. What drive do you think herding dogs are in? If the result for the dog chemically and physiologically is the same- how can you argue that the dog is in a different drive? I still think level of prey drive, what is considered a prey object and threshold to prey drive are concepts that would answer all your questions corvus, rather than breaking down the drive into different ones because of differences in the above 3 things.

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DiggiddyDoggyDaycare in South Melbourne is very good.

The OP's Mum's dog is an adult

I agree with you nek- thanks for clarifying what you meant. I agree Sag- thats pretty much what i meant. These harnesses don't suit all dogs- but whenthey work, they work well!