Cosmolo

Poochmad- the dog may well have had bite inhibition- bite inhibition just means the dog can inhibit their bite, not that they will. Sounds like prey drive to me- i feel sorry for both the boy and his parents and the dog owner.

I think it would be really beneficial to go to a few different obedience clubs and/ or obedience classes run by private trainers and see what would best suit you. If i had clients who did not want to teach a formal heel that would be fine- although all of my clients to date have taught loose lead walking as their main 'walk' (with dogs out in front but not pulling) and heel for specific times like crossing roads, busy places etc. I think you have the ultimate in flexibility if you have both. ETA What erny said!

Do you have a program bjpj?

You're kidding- he is speaking in Vic too!!?? Where and when? Is that open to everyone? We are both going and paying a fortune to do so And yes yes, i know 'it will be worth it' but it still hurts!! I have no idea who else is speaking- a program was meant to be out late Jan but has been delayed unfortunately.

What swayed us? The pup we chose was really playful, coming running when we squeaked a toy or moved one for him, he was happy to be away from his littermates- they tended to hang out together while he was playing with us and then he was more than happy to fall asleep on our laps. He was also really brave- climbing under and over different surfaces and objects etc. The other pup was also playful but not quite as much and was a bit more of a whinger- not as outgoing, although quite close. We were really pleased we both agreed too- would have been tricky if OH wanted one pup and i wanted a different one!!! I'm glad everyone likes the name- i know its a little obscure but considering the number of dogs we see, it'll be nice to have a name that has no connotations and doesn't remind us of XYZ dog! It doubles at the name of a St Kilda player and reminds me of a childhood cartoon- Philbert the frog- but now we have Gilbert the dog.

Thanks guys, we are very pleased not just with Gilbert but with the breeder as well- she is seriously fantastic! She sets the bar unbelievably high for any future breeders we look to get a dog from. I did joke with her the other day about continuing to come to her place every 2 weeks for lunch after we take Gilbert.. She has made us a great lunch every time we've seen her! Yes Clover- there were 3 roughs and one broken in the litter- i love his scruffiness Can't believe this thread was started back in June- little Gilbert is well worth the wait ;) I will have to add some photos of him being introduced to our dogs. I am sure they will welcome him with open paws

Donations!!! How dare they :rolleyes:

And the winner is.....

Yes we decided yesterday! I am waiting for the photos to download and will update with the big news when i get back from work tonight. We are very happy with our decision and SUPER excited!!

I understand that and respect that breeders can make individual choices. I am just very grateful and pleased with what we have been able to experience over the last 7 weeks since the pup we are getting was born.

I would prefer to see Mum with puppies but would understand if we met them separately especially to start with. We have been allowed to see our potential pup at 2, 4 and 6 weeks- with the breeder ensuring we are 'clean' and while i understand other breeders concerns, i would want to see a potential pup before 8 weeks of age (when i would be wanting to take puppy home)

In which case, i think another trainer would be a good option. When you get your next trainer, just let them know what was tried previously so they can advise whether their solution would be different. I have had a number of clients start the initial contact with an enquiry that pretty much asks if we can do anything different to the last trainer- its hard to say what exactly we'd do without seeing a dog BUT there are some instances where we can be pretty certain we'd be doing different things to what has been previously tried. Feel free to send me an email/ have a look on our website and we can see if we can help.

If they are not happy with the advice from the trainer- they should call them and say so first and give the trainer the opportunity to give them other solutions. Failing that, another professional as soon as they can manage it. Resource guarding is an issue that can start with one thing- bones for instance- and then carry over to other things once the dog realises it works well to keep things that they want. Although i rarely take bones from my dogs, i expect to be able to and work toward this when i first get them- through exchanges, additions and recalls/ out commands, more than removal of anything. ETA Hi BC girl- welcome to DOL. There are a number of things that can be done to combat resource guarding. I would seriously consider contacting another trainer if the first one cannot give you other reasonable options.

We run puppy pre school in South Melbourne and Ormond and (bias as i may be) i think we meet all of your criteria. You sound like you have had a bad experience- its great to see you seeking other options as its really sad when i talk to people who give up on training because of an unfortunate experience. The right trainer is well worth it- sometimes they just take a little while to find.

I would love to know everyone's thoughts on what you would expect in terms of individual tuition within either a group obedience class or a workshop of some kind. Do you expect any? Are a few words specific to each person okay? Do you expect a mini private session within the group for each person? Should the instructor look at every dog individually? All perspectives welcome

We use ABBA boarding kennels for our own dogs and clients dogs and find them excellent in every way!

http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsear...p;tm=1266151543

I agree Huski- i've found sibes generally very good to train in most areas, with a variety of techniques too.

Read this, particularly Sol's post- http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...=dog+aggression

WnH- what makes you think that reducing drive in a siberian would make them more trainable? More trainable than what? They're already far more trainable than some breeds and less trainable than others. I met two at a shelter yesterday that are there through no fault of their own and are LOVELY dogs. Surely there are enough breeds to select the traits you want in a dog? And if you want a cross breed, go to the shelter or pound- plenty there! I think the standards should reflect temperament ideals too- can those involved in breeds that don't have this detail in the stabdard do anything about it? Who decides to add things to the standard? I am going to try and find the stafford thread- it was really interesting

Why should we change dogs to compensate for some human issues? In changing drive you change other things too. I posted a thread on staffords once and got some very interesting replies when i posed the question about breeding away from dog aggression and 'gameness'. It was a great thread which gave good examples of how chaging one characteristic can accidentally change another that you do not want changed. Watered down working dogs are often NOT easier to train eitehr- that is complete fallacy. Water down the dogs drive and incidentally affect the dogs nerve and the resulting dog is going to have weaker nerves and lower drive not able to overcome such nerves. These dogs are not 'easier'.

It doesn't matter that he isn't possessive of his toys- in fact its perfect and thats why i'd use that as a first step to teaching give rather than the food he is already protecting.

The dogs distress at being groomed only indicates that the dog has either never been groomed before or that the dog is in pain- in this case both of these things would have been factors as well as a strange place, separation from dogs etc. I don't understand why they did not sedate the dog to carry out the grooming. Then showing a dog barking in a kennel with a camera crew present- many many dogs would do this. They then showed the dog quietly standing near the staff member. Under socialised and stressed- absolutely. Extreme fear- from the footage shown, no. The other dogs i refer to are the 15 that were pts on entry to the shelter because of their behaviour. I do think the socialisation message was great- lets hope people listened to that.

That poodle was far from a severe fear case from the footage shown. His transformation was fantastic- just a shame some of the other dogs didn't get that opportunity.