Erny

So do I.

Could be something in your water. Both dogs' ears are the same, Either way, I think he looks cute.

Drink or rinse? Rinse, in this case.

Calendula Tea .

Me too .

Yeah, and I know that when I wanted to plant mine out with trees, I had to make sure that I only planted trees that were on the Council's "acceptable" list, and there were restrictions on where I could plant (eg distance from one to another). But they would have supplied the trees if I was happy enough for them to choose what tree and their choice depended upon which trees they had in stock at the time.

Yes it is possible to 'teach an old dog new tricks', so to speak. You need to teach the house training just as you would teach a new puppy. It is likely to take longer, but it is possible. Continue to use the lead (eg. don't take a chance .... use the lead straight away to lead him out from his crate and straight to the toilet area). It might also assist if you provide him with a "pee post" in the allocated toilet area. He is marking, by the sounds of things. Although that doesn't mean you have to accept this inside. Watch what you use to clean up after him (ensuring it is not ammonia based) and practice your leadership skills.

In suburban Victoria at least, it is the property owner's responsibility to maintain the nature strip.

Actually, I'm not sure I buy that. I don't know of any law or etc that means that only people with certain qualifications can describe themselves as a behaviourist. Please fill me in. +1

Thanks - that's who I was trying to think of. Mark Singer is a dog trainer and may be of great assistance, but he is not a qualified behaviourist. The most prominent "qualified" behaviourist in SA is Dr Susan Hazel I'd recommend Mark Singer too, from what I've read by and about him, he knows what he's doing. Another "Mark Singer" recommendation from here as well. To the OP .... this isn't something that you decide you'll tinker with via a "tell me what to do over the internet" instruction manual.

Yikes!! Miscalculation there!!

I can make this ..............

Unless you have a specific and real need for it, I don't think swimming vests for anything beyond immediate short term (eg. first couple of swims) is recommended. I'm not an expert but I think that it is something to do with the dog learning to rely on the vest and not learning to use his/her legs to propel. This might be why you're not seeing your dog use his/her hind legs so much as s/he doesn't need to do so, to keep afloat. Keep a lead on to help your dog where need be, but try without the vest, perhaps.

One can control where their dog will eliminate or not, when out on walks. I choose when the right time for toileting is, and where. I don't like my boy urinating on well maintained nature strips - some people care for their nature strips with a great deal of time and pride and I like to respect that wherever possible. I'd avoid your neighbour's nature strip in the interests of just being neighbourly and avoiding antagonism but I have never heard of there being a law that says dogs are not permitted to soil there.

A wooden box. Add a lid to it and it serves as a carry-all for the doggy things (eg ball; water vessel; etc.)

And what you're looking to build is a conditioned recall response - a response that becomes almost like a reflex reaction. Consequently it is quite important to not recall your pup unless (a) you are in a position to ensure that the recall WILL occur (eg have pup on a long line) or (b) you are absolutely certain that your pup WILL come to you. So as not to produce a failed recall experience, try using a distraction (eg. funny vocal noises from you) to get your pup's attention. When you are quite confident that your pup is going to come over to investigate anyway, then you can throw the recall command in. I have always made a big point of high reward after every successful recall. To achieve a reliable recall takes time, practice and consistency. If you're patient and dedicated to training it properly though, it will pay huge dividends later on.

Only just caught this thread - sorry to hear of Chester's elbow woes, Lollipup. All the best with the arthroscope - I hope you receive news of the best possible outcome from it.

I'm in Victoria and unfamiliar with dog training facilities/groups in NSW. But this will serve as a *bump* for your thread, as surely there are some groups in or around the area where it would make it possible for you to train with and I'm sure there will be someone here on DOL that might have some suggestion/s. In the meantime, photo's of you RR would be nice .

Wow!! That's certainly a dramatic way to make a stand!!

I found the "Bitter Lime" (natural) stop chew spray excellent when I was putting off my boy from chewing things when he was a little pup ..... BEFORE he developed a habit of chewing in the first place. What will be a bad taste to one may not be as bad a taste to another though. And the trick is to get in right at the start. I tend to find that stop chew sprays don't have a really high success rate when the dog has been left to establish chewing as a habit. The other thing that people tend to not do and which sets the situations up for failure is RE-LOAD ..... often, frequently and maybe even more times than one might think is necessary. The other amounts of time is about prevention and observation. IE Don't leave puppy unsupervised around and with the things that he has an interest or is likely to have an interest in chewing. Stick around and make sure the stop chew will and is doing the job very adequately.

If you're suggesting your dog WOULD do it if there was BBQ Chicken on offer, then you need to increase the chances of your dog getting BBQ Chicken for doing what you ask. That's one way and often a way that will work in the context of situations we are talking about here.

I can't remember the nitty gritty and proper techno speak but I do understand that human grade or not, it's safer to either cook, or deep freeze for 3 weeks and then thaw, first. They can't all the time guarantee there's no cysts/parasite thingies in the liver (even human grade) but we generally cook it for ourselves (if you're into liver, that is ) so I guess it wouldn't be too big a concern. But the dogs eat it raw and it is possible for these 'nasties' to transfer. I could look up notes to make the above sound a bit more sensible, but am in the midst of something else at the moment so I'm taking a lazy short cut .

And it is recommended that the liver be either cooked or, if fed raw, left in the deep freeze for 3 weeks and then allowed to defrost, before feeding.

Lol .... depends on who you want to believe. I will speak for dogs only as I haven't got a clue about cats. Vets will tell you (ie "sign off") on the "3 year" vaccination. They do and can because that's what the Manufacturers of the drugs label them for use for. IE Once every 3 years. These vaccinations are 'stronger', so to speak. Vets won't "sign off" on a 1 year vaccination being given every 3 years, because that is NOT what the Manufacturers of the drugs label these standard ones for. So for Vets, there is the legal responsibility as well as it being more lucrative for them to have people visit them once a year - so I'd suggest for some Vets that's why there is not a big push mounted for drug manufacturers to change their label. But all of this doesn't mean your dog doesn't have immunity. And s/he will either have immunity or not. A titre test might reveal this, but even a negative or low titre test result doesn't mean there is no immunity - it might mean that the immunity has gone to Cell Memory (which would trigger the necessary anti-bodies if triggered by the disease). So even though the Vets don't/won't/can't support the yearly vaccine being given once every 3 years, it doesn't mean you're not over-vaccinating your dog by agreeing to the drugs being administered every year. If it were me, I'd definitely be satisfied with a positive titre test result and prefer that idea rather than the idea of filling my dog's body with unnecessary drugs.

This is the same Vet that my friend mentioned (just received SMS). I rang them and spoke with the receptionist. They talk about the "3 yearly" vaccination (stronger - has more particles of whatever it is in the vaccine). She didn't know the consensus of opinion regards the normal vaccine once every 3 years. I need to speak with one of the Vets there (fair enough) but they are all too busy to ring me back at this time of the year. Sorry - not much help, I'm afraid. I think you'll find the Vets can't "sign off" on the normal vaccine being administered once every 3 years, because the drug manufacturers don't label the vaccine that way. Of course you don't have to have your dog vaccinated every year - that choice is yours. But no, you wouldn't have any recourse to a Vet if you're not using the vaccine according to label. And of course this wouldn't satisfy a kennel either.