Erny

Hey! The rabbit in that photo looks somewhat familiar. Doesn't 'belong' to a certain GSP does it?

Actually, I did. Except I had him working in the wrong quadrant. He found a tennis ball though, and looked somewhat pleased with himself .

is that something like "murual's wedding" ?

.... actually, K-i, I was beginning to think I sounded as though I was being neurotic and yes, I saw that move and know what you mean. It's a worry when I kind of agree with you!!! Thanks Cosmolo. Yeah .... it just bugged me that I had lost it. But all's well that ends well . Was worth being out in the VERY frosty cold (my hands hurt it was soooooo freezing - it reminded me of my childhood days when we used to risk frost-bite for the sake of mushrooming) earlier this morning .

Yay!! Found it!! It was laying in a spot where I don't even remember walking. No matter. Just pleased I found it . Thanks to those who responded. Now, the only thing that remains AWL is my Orbee Ball.

That can work too. All you're doing is "guide, show, place" (which is a gentle version of compulsion) and helps some dogs who aren't 'getting' what you're after, catch on. For other dogs, putting hands on can be a bit distracting and in some cases, a bit worrisome (which in itself means the dog needs more handling anyway). For a puppy, it might be more inclined to be distracting and bring his mind onto mouthing rather than on to the trick itself. But I agree, your method can work. I trained my adult avatar girl (since passed, bless her cotton socks) in that method as, whilst she enjoyed food, if I made her work too hard for it she'd give me a look and give up on it.

Might be difficult to explain or understand from the written word in the absence of demonstration : Draw the treat around to one side of him, so that he is turning and looking towards his hip. Then draw the treat a bit upwards towards his withers/back. Tip : Take note of how he is laying. It is easier if he has 'flipped' a hip (ie laying to one side). Use the treat so you can follow the direction he's already semi-started. Tip : If it's a bit difficult to begin with, reward him for "successive approximation". IOW, give him the treat for getting part way there and then only for each improvement towards your final goal. Tip : Don't worry about putting a command/cue to the exercise until you have him doing it regularly with the lure. When he is beginning to do it, start adding in the cue as he's doing it. Then you can begin to add in the cue earlier and earlier (during which time he should be getting better and better) until you're putting the cue in at the beginning.

Thanks PaulP. If there's been an Orbee Ball handed in (from a couple of months or so ago) would you mind keeping an ear/eye out for that too? . I doubt it somehow - I only hope whoever has it is putting it to the good use for which it was used to. Cheers Erny

As I said it was my friend who taught this so I can't know for sure, however she used a clicker to mark the wag of the tail. She then put a cue on it and the dog when given the cue wagged her tail. If not given the cue she looked like she had been kicked up the bum. I guess that her overall demeanour was happier so maybe the feeling was conditioned - not sure. When a timid person is taught to walk tall and proud, more often than not, over time, the person begins to feel less timid.

Yeah - although the footy field lights helped to a degree, they also created shadows and what I'd think might be the tug turned out to be mounds or tufts of grass. I brought Mandela back in with me after I'd already gone over both yards myself, hoping he'd somehow find it, but I think he was just a bit confused over what I was doing. It was a good socialisation experience for him though - the yelling of the spectators and the players on the footy field; some yahoo hooning on a motorbike (I presume) in the distance; and so on and so forth. So all was not lost. I felt a bit of a dill out there in the dark looking like I was wandering aimlessly though . I walked the path to the car about four times and shone my car lights on the carpark in case it had dropped there. And I've checked the inside of my car a couple of times already.

Ahhhh ... ok. Thanks. Perhaps I should email them. Ta.

I am sticking strongly to the "dogs don't lie" concept. There would be things such as pupil dilation; size of eye; amongst other things that would be different. Same with pilo erection, which is an involuntary action. IMO if you were getting any of those sorts of things then you'd have elicited an emotion in the dog that would reflect the action you are seeking, even if it was on cue. Consequently, I cannot see nor agree that a dog is capable of lying.

Hey Paulp. I think I saw that "half a tennis ball" . Thanks for reporting in though. I'm not sure what you mean by "bring it to the shop" . If by chance you mean that you might get to know about it, would you mind letting me know. It's going to bug me that our tug is out there somewhere (hhhmmm ... I think I'm obsessed! ). It was also a gift from someone for something I did.

What, PF? What do they train the dog to do? Are you saying that a dog so trained shows all the body languages of a dog truly in the emotional state of aggression without the dog feeling the emotion of aggression? After all, that's the only way it could be if the dog was "lying" as per the OP's first post. I am remaining a doubting Thomas as far as that is concerned.

That was the question in my mind, too. If it was because you wanted your dog to look scarey/protective to other people, I strongly urge you use caution and would suggest you seek professional training advice first. I help to rehabilitate avoidance motivated aggressive behaviours and one of the things I've always explained to my clients is that part of the rehabilitation process involves working to alter the dog's outward behaviour and that over time, its emotions to the things that bothers him/her will change to reflect its newly learnt outward behavior. I cannot see why or how the reverse could not occur if you are not careful and don't know what you are doing. Or is this just a hypothetical? IMO, you would not achieve an exact replica of an aggressive dog with all the body signals that go with it unless the dog was really feeling aggression.

It's frustrating isn't it? This tug was a fav and I was really disappointed at what is obviously my own stupidity. If I ever come across your kong frisbees, I'll let you know, GayleK .

.... I can't find Mandela's tug. I had it. And put it in my jacket pocket. When I got to the car, I sorted Mandela out first with his car harness and got him in, and just as I was about to drive away I did a check on my equipment. And his tug was missing! It's our favourite one and we'd really like it back. It could be in either the first or the second yard, or anywhere from the exit of the 1st yard to the car park. I've just spent the last hour searching for it. Unfortunately, I only got to take him out late and we were already packing up just on dark, so I lost daylight quickly and didn't have a torch on me. I know it could be picked up by anyone but I'm hoping that perhaps someone here on DOL might go there and keep a look out and let me know if they find it? Please . I'd be very appreciative :p. I can purchase another, but I've spent so much money on Mandela's special diet and health care of late, I'm trying to reduce my expenses and I'm kicking myself for the unnecessary ones I cause to occur. I'll pop back there first up tomorrow morning if I can. Just might need to juggle an appointment around a little bit, if I can. It has a green loop-handle on it. The body of it is made from a material that is woven, is grey, but has a fleck through it. Thanks in advance ETA: Maybe it is with his Orbee Ball. I have lost that down there as well, a couple of months or so ago . Don't know what it is about the place .

My boy went up from a small size crate and then to the next size and then, when he outgrew that one he went to sleeping on his cushion bed beside my bed (ie not in a crate) but what I did was used the outgrown crate to block him in (my room set up allowed this). He was a bit 'lost' to begin with, without the feeling of a crate over the top of him, but as he wasn't able to walk around he soon settled to it. Being blocked in also prevented the wanders and toileting to which I would have otherwise been oblivious through the night. It might all go fine for you, but if it were me I'd try for the next size crate up - only to ensure that the toilet training, which I think you said is going quite well, doesn't take a backward slide, or at the very least, make it so he doesn't have the run of the whole laundry but just sufficient space for his bed.

Personally, given that you don't know what the problem is nor where it might lead, I wouldn't be satisfied with a "don't know" answer from the Vets. I'd be at either a specialist Vet or someone such as Dr. Bruce Syme in Castlemaine VIC who is expert in understanding the digestive systems of dogs. For a dog to be expressing so much discomfort, something (IMO) is definitely amiss. I'm not comfortable with the fact that you are reporting symptoms which are not her usual nature and they are shrugging it off. I still can't help thinking "blockage" of some sort. Maybe not even as low down in the gastric tract. Perhaps higher up and perhaps only partial, but enough to cause discomfort. Know that YOU know your dog better than anyone.

I agree. "Over-use" is different to giving the recall command when you're in a position to enforce (and reinforce it) and I do much of this in the teaching/training phase. And right again, IMO. Over time, dogs begin to learn what their owner is going to ask of them. Commonly it is the "sit" ..... and so they begin to come up to their owner and auto-sit. And their owner gives them a treat. And they do this over and over. I usually suggest to people to regard that activity as a demand from their dog to give them a treat; a pat; praise; whatever and to ask for something different, like a drop ... or ignore the dog's expectation of reward.

Oh wow. So sorry to hear. These things can just happen so quickly and it is all the more disturbing when we don't know what it is so we don't know what or how to treat it. The only thing I could think of was the possibility of blockage in the intestinal tract. Best wishes for her speedy recovery. I hope all proves to be well and that whatever it is that ails her passes without ado.

.... The serious side of me doesn't agree, of course - but the funny side of me can SOooooo relate to the "Arabian Horses" bit!

Off topic, but I don't see the point in an emergency recall. Every recall command I give is an "emergency" recall ..... that's the way I train for it. I agree with Persephone ..... sounds to me as though your wonderful lad's hormones are well and truly kicking in now (probably have been for a little while) and he's pushing boundaries. Around this time is the period where the dog's perception of its relationship with you shows up more obviously to our eyes. Take a leadership check and know that he is in his adolescence phase. I also agree with Huski that the NILIF program is a good one for you to follow. Dogs love it too. They love 'jobs' . Think in terms of "your terms" not the dog's. Have a look for the "Triangle of Temptation" ("TOT") which is a sticky at the top of this forum, and follow that. It too is an excellent program to follow religiously and was kindly put up there by K9 Force (Steve Courtney) for all to use.

Some dogs are worse than others though Corvus. The point being that one doesn't really know when their pup is a pup, whether this is likely to grow into a bigger problem later or not. Some dogs use it as an avoidance method, where they seem to be able to remove the control of the owner. So yes - you definitely do not encourage it, but you also work to discourage it. What you do and how depends on the age of the dog and the dog itself.

That's great to hear, JulesP. Hope her improved behaviour proves to be a reliably consistent and general one. Not sure what you mean by the above.