Erny

I taught my boy to close cupboards (ie what I call the draws in the kitchen). Only thing is he loves doing it, which means every time a turn to put another plate/cup or whatever in the draw, it has been closed behind me. Doesn't matter to him if he gets a treat or not. In fact, there are days/times when he just isn't up to eating because of his digestive issues, but he still enjoys closing 'cupboards'. So, be careful what you wish and train for :).

:laugh: .... sometimes that's the hard part. Pair "shut up" with your dog being quiet, follow up with "yes" and a treat.

I'd randomise. Paint tin in view. "Speak". She barks. "Yes". Treat. Pain tin out of view. "Speak". She doesn't bark. "Oh dear ". No Treat. Also, when you are using the paint tin to assist, I'd work on the paint tin being moved further and further away. Mind you, I'm a bit reluctant to teach any dog to bark. How old is she? If she's very young, you might find the barking is yet to come. And I've been called out to quite a few Cavs where the problem related to excessive barking. ETA: And just because you're teaching her to bark on command, doesn't mean it will automatically carry over to alert barking, which I presume is what you are aiming for?

I'd say "good" as well, SL because even if it wasn't something that escalated, it doesn't help when they might be mixed with other more light-boned and sensitive dogs, if they think that's how 'play' is.

Perhaps also contact your insurance company and ask them if your premium will be reduced if you increase your security. No need to tell them what has instigated your intentions to do so.

Glad to 'see' you around this morning, SL :).

then he'll just press the 'edit' button ;) Then I'll ask a moderator to send him a 'warning'. :laugh:

I was going to post the exact same suggestion. Not silly, in my books. SL sounds pretty secure atm though. I expect they'll be fine for the time being.

Well .... stand by everyone. We worked hard to get a photo of Troy at the MDBA Awards this year. Troy is very elusive and generally wears a tin hat, so DOL hasn't been privileged before, at IDing Troy. But he forgot his tin hat this year, so we cornered him into having a promo photo shot done. Nyahahahaaaa . Waiting for the photos to be 'developed' by the photographer. Maybe we'll be able to post the photo up here when the photos are released, and that will solve the guess work of 'who is Troy, really?'.

What a lovely post, Perse :).

SL there are motion sensors that will give off a sound .... something along the lines of "your presence has been detected" or some such is one of the ones I first heard when I was entering a property (legally, I might add). It made me feel uncomfortable, I must admit. (I think they have ones of dogs barking too .... .) Having something give off sound would give me additional comfort as the lights are good (makes the person feel a bit exposed) but aren't going to wake you up if you are asleep. I agree with Pers - if not already too late, bag the hacksaw to preserve finger prints in case it might be needed at some later date. Hopefully it won't and you'll end up with a spare hacksaw for odd jobs around the place, but in the meantime ..... I don't want to freak you out more than you need to be either, but take this seriously. But by all means, be pissed off instead of frightened :).

Just Title the thread : "Not for your eyes Erny [or whoever you don't want reading]. Don't you dare come in here Erny. Don't you dare read". Once you changed the title of the thread about the quilt to that, I didn't peak ..... not even once :D . True dinks :D.

Seriously spooky, SL. Hacksaw in anticipation of padlocks? Feeding Ziggy to get friendly? Got disturbed so left. I'd be decking the house out with CCTV cameras and auto-lighting that will come on when gateways are breached without invitation. There are also gadgets which will sound an alarm when a gate/door is opened. I don't think they are terribly expensive. Alarm your home if it isn't already alarmed. I don't know the layout of your land/house. Where was the freezer? I am suspecting it was in a garage or carport and that Ziggy was outside at the time? Alert your neighbours and tell them what is happening. Ask them to keep a vigilant eye open and call you and/or the police if they see activity around the home that is unusual. Of course, if there is going to be any intentional activity on your part that is not common, alert your neighbours ahead of time so they can relax. Ask the cops if they'd put your home on the list to make their rounds as they do drive-bys in their cop cars, for the good while. Sheesh, SL .... that's really scarey. ETA: I was typing as the others posted. Yes - my thoughts exactly about this guy having too strong an interest in Ziggy.

Yep.

That's a critical difference that needs to be made clear to the Councils, IMO. What sort of things could possibly put one Council up higher than others, or should I say, worthy of an MDBA nomination in the Council category?

:chuckle: Sounds like Paddles' Council ain't gonna be nominated, either. Steve - can a copy of the nomination made for City of Wodonga be posted, or is it deemed confidential? Is the reason for their nomination relevant to what would be classed as "Most Dog Friendly Council" for the new category?

They'll be shown up then. Maybe even motivated. :)

That depends on the neighbours and the layout of the land. With my neighbours I just 'caught' them when I saw them outside in their yards. Wave over the fence and have a yarn. Or when others were outside the front of their homes. I had no problems with being able to do that but I guess if I didn't get to catch them, I'd be inclined to drop a friendly note in the letter box .

And if the board says yes, then perhaps emailing something to all the Councils alerting them to the MDBA Choice Award category would be helpful ?? Maybe something for publication on their own individual websites? Wonder if that goes outside their policies?? O.K. Its in Most Dog Friendly Local Council - nominations open soon. Fantastic, Steve (and other MDBA board). Is there/will there be a 'standard' explanation/informative flier (or similar) that you will have that we can send to the Councils? Maybe to give a check list of the sorts of things that might or can be identified as helpful? Or perhaps use a copy of a nomination given on behalf of a Council (removing Council name) that could give them some idea of what it would be about? Along with the suggestion that they put it up on their website so the people within (and without) their district can know about it and put their nominations in?

Congrats, Pets at Peace. Tough job .... nobody would ever be laughing when you arrive, yet you guys make it a bit nicer for the heart to bear. Well deserved win. :)

Oooooh ..... at the risk of turning this thread into a Erny hugging group thread, I have to say to you Helen. And where the heck were you on Sunday morning after the MDBA Awards night? I rang your room at around 8am and then just before check-out, a bit after 10am, but both times no answer. Had been hoping to catch you at breakfast!! ?? Either way, I know you would have had good reason, but I'm sorry that I missed you. I hope everything was ok when you got back home. Lol .... Now that I'm pretty much back to 'self' I don't cry outwardly that much anymore (well, that's what I'm back to telling people, lol), but I promise that my heart fills to overflowing when I think of every patch and every stitch that's gone into making that Quilt. I love it. Not just for what it is, but for the essence of spirit that it represents. Hugs to you too, Jules. You're a lovely person .

And IMO that comes back down to the owners - they should say "hi" to their neighbours when they get a dog and invite their neighbours to contact them should their dog prove a nuisance.

wtf? Why should being a foster make a difference? Is it excitement barking? Have you tried turning back to home THE MOMENT the barking starts? Build up a word association to "ah ah" so you can use this as your "whoops you did wrong" marker word. This will help you when you begin to be able to get further and further away from home. This needs more info - "WHY?" is what needs to be established before setting out on a "what to do". Eg. What does "MAD" mean? Barking in fear? Barking in excitement? And it may take a bit more than cyberspace stuff, as with that, we can only guess as what you mean. Word interpretation can vary a lot from one person to the next and can make a big difference to meaning.

Found this YouTube on scaling your dog's teeth at home.

Is this pertaining to the dogs general state of health? No - it's pertaining to temperature conditions being right for the heart worm to develop. Once the temperature drops to under 14 degrees, development of the heart worm, if it is present in your locality any way, stops and has to start again. It takes 2 weeks for the development to reach the stage of being infectious. So you want a climate that drops below 14 degrees in each fortnight cycle.