Erny

What I'm suggesting is that, on the assumption the OP is organising to enlist the help of a trainer/behaviourist as soon as a trainer/behaviourist can make the appointment, is leave things be. Hopefully the trainer/behaviourist will not be unfamiliar with drive training.

No offence, Onsntillnflash and others who might have suggested it, but I wouldn't do this until the OP can start a new regime where s/he is able to provide mental stimulation through training. These can and should include obedience training, but also tricks; being able to go outside of the yard; and subject to improvement plus trainer/behaviourist recommendation, sports. But if the tennis balls are the most of what this dog has (from his pov) for entertainment at the moment, to remove them might only provoke him to manefesting mental boredom in some other undesirable hobby. One thing you can do now though, whilst you are waiting for your trainer/behaviourist appointment, is get your dog to do something for you before you throw ball for him. That will at least be a basic start in the right direction.

But first, with your current one . You'll need help from a trainer, but it sounds to me that you will very much be able to use your dog's ball obsession to assist you not only with training for obedience (which in part will assist with mental stimulation) but also with the issues you have in walking him outside of your home.

I agree.. up to a point. Guiding is limited to the dog being within arms reach. What happens when the dog gets further away? Hands on guiding is for early basic teaching phase, so you wouldn't have the dog/pup that far away from you? ... or perhaps I'm missing your thought/point?

I can often tell when a dog is taught in this fashion. I'm not against lure and positive reward approach, mind - I use it quite often, but that doesn't mean I don't use the hands on technique as well. It goes a long way to the dog learning to allow you to place him/her and that goes a long way for other things such as when the Vet needs to place him in a position for examination and so forth. I recently looked after my sister's dog. He's a lovely boy, but he's been brought up with the "hands off, if you won't do it there's no treat for you" technique. That was all well and good when he was younger - he's not a bad dog and is pretty laid back in terms of interaction amongst people and other dogs, and the world in general (great socialisation ). But now he's older, he needs more care and just one part of that is the administration of tablets. He went through a stage where (whilst he was in my care) he wasn't eating the tablet that I'd sprinkled on his food. So I had to administer it manually. That was a struggle and a half. I managed well enough, but what I didn't like was the stress he went through (even just being held/placed in readiness for me to pop a pill to him)because I actually 'handled' him. And before you ask - there was no way he would take the pill with ANY food and there was no way I could coax him into position with ANY food or toy. This is a 13yo dog who is predominantly deaf, so even use of voice didn't do anything. Also, getting up and down from the car. Picking him up is an absolute nightmare - he tends to leap like a bucking bronco and then swims once you have him. Why should he trust my arms around him with his ability to maneuver himself having been removed, when he's never been taught it in the first place? I like the "hands off" approach (assuming it works) to teach a dog what I want and how to get the reward. But I also like the "hands on" approach to teach a dog to trust my hands and let me guide him/her.

I am with PetPlan. We had a bit of a bumpy start with my first lot of claims, but admittedly my boy's health has been a bit checkered and some things were confused and a bit misunderstood, I think. Anyway, after a bit of too-ing and fro-ing the claims were honored and I have since found them to be very good.

That is a very nice, succint way of putting it, Corvus.

It's all in the training, Mrs RB. I tend to find people train their dogs according to what and how they need. People with smaller dogs (I'm speaking generally here) might not bother to train their boisterous OT little dogs to exhibit some self-control in amongst their "gee'd up'ness". People with bigger dogs need to. I train using drive. My dog can be fired up and in drive yet still exhibiting self-control. Depending on the OP's circumstances and of course whether her dog has the necessary drive, I would use drive training to "gee" him up and getting him to learn to be more responsive.

.... You never know - Zedley might have been the one to get up and call the police, before he ventured back to bed.

to DOL Schutzhund Training is an absolutely excellent discipline - for not only the dogs but for the handlers as well. Sadly and IMO VERY WRONGLY, the Schutzhund sport and discipline has been banned in Victoria. I'm not sure what the stance is for NSW - hopefully the folks up there aren't like a number of those down here who have poo-poo'd the training regime for their own personal and political reasons and have managed to persuade our Government to rule against it. Sucks that they did . Good luck - I hope you find a Schutzhund Club to go to. Congrats on your new pup - enjoy :D.

When using a Dremel on a dog who has a long coat and/or feathers surrounding their feet, you have to be extremely careful the hair does not become entangled. I believe people will generally poke their long coated/feathered dogs' feet through a sock or stocking, with the nails poking through, to keep the hair out of the way.

Dremel :D . Dober Dawn Click on the link at the left "How to Dremel Dog Nails".

I've fed my boy some foods for 7 months before he has reactions. Other times I might only feed once or twice, and then there are reactions. Mandela has been so up, down and inside out that there are times I'm not sure if it is merely a coincidence that he is reacting or whether it really is the food. So in my instance I will find it helpful to have something that verifies what I think might affect him and what might not. I wish it were so easy as a black and white "once a week" and back for two.

Only if eye-contact is something that you've taught your dog that a reliable stay is dependent upon. To me, eye-contact or no is something to proof for (or should I say against) just as you proof for turning your back; bobbing/laying down; running around and over; and so on. I'd rather that than know my dog would break if I made and/or held eye-contact with him. I like to work stays so that the message for the dog is as clear as it can be, that it is about waiting for the verbal command and/or waiting for the very definite visual signal.

I like eye contact. There's a difference (IMO) between eye-balling and eye-contact. Maybe it is a matter of interpretation, but to me "eye-balling" is a threatening glare whereas "eye-contact" is a shared mutual communication that does not involve threat. I do train so that 'my' dogs learn that just because eye-contact is broken it doesn't mean they shouldn't maintain focus nor that the 'stay' is no longer valid, but I still do like to use eye-contact to help the dog remain engaged.

Thanks for your reply Kirty- Sally is 2 and a half- yes, she is desexed. its so out of character for her. usually her and bert are the best of mates Also don't forget that she is maturing. Just because things were okay when the dog/s were younger doesn't mean that is going to be a static situation for the whole of their lives. It could just be the affects of the vaccination, or it could be the onset of maturation exacerbated by the affect of the vaccination, or just maturation pushing some buttons. I get a few people coming to me telling me how their two young dogs grew up with each other as pups and were never a problem (until now). Relationships change. We humans have a tendency to think they are set in concrete. Now is a good time for you to do an honest mental check of your heirarchy status as your dogs would see it.

You say that she rarely breaks the stay, which means that you worked with vigilance that enabled her to understand to not break her stays. Often, during the course of teaching/training, dog's fidgets in the stay are forgiven, when they should not have been. I also think that often, fidgets are the result of training that has moved too far too fast, without attention to this detail. I think you need to go back in your teaching of the stay, adopting the attitude of a fidget = break. Provide plenty of feedback to your dog to let her know when she's doing right and when she's not doing right. I like to food treat reward very frequently throughout in these 'early' stages of training. Avoid going too far too fast to best set up your dog to win (and understand what TO do). Do this and it helps to get in quickly that a (eg) sit without fidget will get the food treat and a "good". Reduce the load of the exercise by working in close whilst you are fixing the fidget. Only once you've really proofed against the fidget would I begin to work in distance. Also keep in mind whether anticipation of YOUR next move is causing the fidget. If it is, then you need to break down her belief system that she knows/can expect what you might do next (eg a recall; a release). ETA: Mind you, all this provided it is known that your girl is physically comfortable and that there is no skeletal nor muscular discomfort that would cause her to fidget.

I agree with Sandra777. I tried pig trotters for my (now proven, very sensitive) boy a long while back. It proved to be the absolute wrong thing to do. Suits me anyway. They give me the heebies. Mind you, so would tongue. <sigh> .... but we do what we do for dog's sake, don't we? Lol.

My avatar girl 'Kal' (bhcs) "nodded" - they were mini-seizure activities. It was a nod (as though saying "yes") but jutty in motion, as though a 'tic'. Sometimes the 'tic' would be like miniscule but sudden head tilts from one side angle to the other. I've heard/read of some others' dogs who have done this and the cause was a pinched nerve.

That's fantastic that you had such a good response, Rottifan. I tend to agree that seeing a good chiro can assist with other skeletal issues. Not to say the chiro can always fix those 'other' issues, but by helping the rest of the skeleton to be healthy, it has to aid in strengthening the ability to cope.

I'm pretty sure that's right, Staranais. I know I read something like that on it - it was a one sentence line at the end of one of the info sheets I've read, but now I can't find where I saw it. There's something about not only being able to tell you what your dog is sensitive to now, but also later .... or something like that. I sent it off today. Unfortunately I missed the last Fed-Ex run which means it won't leave Fed-Ex Melbourne until Monday. I don't know what the 'holding' period is before the saliva sample becomes nonviable. I hope it lasts long enough to arrive and be tested. I held the rope in his mouth for longer than the prescribed 2 minutes and waived a piece of cheese in front of his nose to promote the production of saliva, to make the rope nice and sloppy. So hopefully all is good . I gave the piece of cheese to him afterwards - how could I not??? Hopefully it won't cause an upset. All going well I should have the results inside 3 weeks (making allowance for 1 week of that being taken up in the delivery of the saliva sample to the USA).

I haven't tried tongues for my (very sensitive to just about everything) dog. I would imagine that if your dog is sensitive to "beef protein" (inconclusive, at this stage) then that would count for the offal/tongue as well? I'd love to feed the tongue as a "boneless bone". Because of digestive issues, I've been unable to feed him bone and I could with an extra hand in keeping his teeth clean. Is there an advantage (especially to sensitive tummies) between the beef or lamb tongues? Is one (in general) better than another? If I were to get a beef tongue, I think I'd be asking my butcher to cut it - don't think MY sensitive tummy would cope with doing it myself.

With Mandela, I will be surprised if ANY protein is okay for him. I've taken the sample and it's all packed up and ready to go. Will be dropping to the Fed-Ex drop off point this afternoon. It's only then a matter of waiting for the results.

Dr Jean's answer to my email (bless her - she never does take long to respond) : "As long as his mouth is rinsed clean (i.e. he drank water after eating), it doesn’t matter. " So, you guys were right, but I didn't chance it. I'll try to get it done tomorrow. Thanks for your help regardless . Erny

Thanks - I couldn't get an answer and ran out of time, so I didn't do it. I'll try to get it done tomorrow now (after I've come from the Dentist )