Kelpie-i

Wow, that's a scary thought lovely dog BTW, always liked Mals

Here's my boy....you can DEFINITELY see he is in drive. Without a word of a lie, he ended up doing a full back flip. Very lucky he didn't hurt himself. He now gives me a 'flip' (not a full back flip) when you pretend to throw the frisbee...am trying to put this on cue.

What dog? I saw only saw 2 bicep puppies....they were so cute

Sorry, did someone say there was a dog in that clip? Couldn't see past the biceps

You know....dog enthusiastis don't only dwell near KCC park....there are some of us over the other side of the sticks who would like to partake in these seminars but find it waaaaaaaaay tooooooooooo far to travel. C'mon organisers...think of us North Westerner's whose umbilical cords don'tg stretch past the Bolte bridge..... :rofl: Stomps off in a huff and puff with arms folded and bottom lip to the ground

If you live near KCC park then Erny (ProK9) is your man....err woman

I've had my 4 dogs on VAN for approx 3 months and they are doing well on it. Initially, my 2 kelpies would eat everything else around it and leave all the grainy bits in the bowl . I started lacing it with either yoghurt, eggs or soaking the mix in water with a stock cube and they are now finally eating it without a problem. I did notice some coat dulling/skin drying from one of our kelpies at the start which I am not too sure wh,y but her shiny, beautiful coat has returned. Mine get roo or beef mixed in, sometimes chicken or salmon! With 4 dogs I am no-way playing "chef" but with an ageing GSD who is very arthritic, I wanted to give him the best diet possible so I decided to go a more natural diet...so all the others got the diet change as well.

I was trying to stay out of this debate but couldn't help myself.....I wish to add a small and probably worthless comment.... The 'good' trainers are those that can assess the situation as welll as the handler's skills and capabilities and put together a program that does not have a 'one size fits all' approach" and one that is not based on that trainer's preferred or able methods...

;) Another Hi-Five (in Borat accent) Let's start with motorbikes!

I'm with Monelite here. Often these people want the problem fixed yesterday! They don't have the skills, patience and sometimes the inclination to put all the learning theory and weeks/months of conditioning work into action to stop their dog from chasing and killing stock. We need to be realistic when it comes to the average Joe with their hobby farm full of chooks and ducks. They are not dog trainers and often cannot be bothered having to hear/do all the steps involved with purely positive training. It's just simply takes too much effort for them so sometimes a quick fix solution is the answer. I'm all for using positive methods for nearly all of my training and I always do, but for specific situations where it is difficult to control a dog's instinctive urge, I won't trust any method that does not deliver a consequence, and I don't just mean withdrawal of a treat. I believe there are variables to this ie, depending on how often the action has been reinforced (self reinforced), depending on whether the dog has successfully achieved full predatory drive sequence and/or whether it's just the thrill of the chase with no killing involved. It would be extremely difficult (albeit not impossible) to compete with a dog which has fulfilled the entire predatory drive sequence.

Our 'adopted' cat ended up losing her hair and ended up with a 5cm round sore at the spot where I applied Frontline. Needless to say I have not applied it since.

I believe that 'In theory' it might sound as though it could work, but once a dog achieves self reinforcement and satisfaction from chasing and more importantly, killing stock, the only good place for food treats, balls and other rewards is on the ground as you suddenly drop them to chase after the dog in an attempt to get him back. Sorry Aiden, but unless I actually see it being achieved with a dog who has killed stock, then I just cannot believe it, no matter how fancy the terminology sounds on paper. I have worked with stock chasers and have also once consulted with a client who had a 'serial' chicken killing GSD. This dog jumped through barbed wire (on 2 occasions) causing very deep lacerations all over his body...his desire to get to the chickens was so strong, nothing was going to hold him back. I suggested he seek the services of a trainer who was experienced in the use of e-collars but he could not afford it. I won't disclose how he decided to stop his dog from chasing and killing his chooks, but at least that dog is still alive today and so are the rest of this person's chickens.....AND they all co-exist in the same area minus the barbed wire. Not just the dog Cosmolo, but also the capabilities of the handler/owner and whether the situation is life threatening or not. There are many factors that need to be considered.

From the great Gottfried Dildeid (i think that's how you spell his name)....'If you can't control the dog whilst on the lead, how can you control the dog when you don't have a lead?'....(not verbatim). I agree with Aiden, impulse and stimulus control, as well as highly conditioned responses are the key to good management under every day distractions. Although in the case of stock chasing/killing animals, I strongly believe aversives need to come into play. When you say "compulsion', do you mean it as a positive punisher?

OT He he....that sounds like my 16 year old...only I hope he's not smoking, drinking and wagging school I ask him what he did at school and his answer, "Stuff!"

Healing thoughts and vibes for Grover.....

Really sad to hear that Grover isn't doing too well......sending healing thoughts your way Trisven

Great to hear BB....fingers crossed she gains more strength each day and will be back home in no time.

Have only just come across this thread. Poor puppy :D Any updates BB???

I was just advised by one of my clients that a product called Travelpetics has worked wonders for their dog with travel sickness. His dog was pretty bad but since using the product, the dog now sits in the back seat playing with his toy.....worth a try!!

Kateshep, I have a tracking lead that a friend of mine got for me from Germany. The leather is so soft (just as you describe) but I am not sure what type of leather it is....could very well be the same type of leather. Unfortunately I haven't had much luck in finding anything remotely similar here in Australia, not even at the leather merchants

My old GSD boy has lumps and bumps. I recently had a largish lump removed from his underside, not because it was life threatening, but because it had gown to quite a size and was very unsightly. The lump was tested when it was small and was found to be a lypoma (sp?), meaning fatty lump so there wasn't any immediate concern. Over the years, however, it grew slowly and started to "hang". Because of his age, there was a risk with putting him under the anaesthetic, but after some blood tests which came back all OK, I decided to have it removed. He still has some smallish lumps around his body but my vet told me that as long as they don't feel "connected" to tissue and don't grow at a fast rate, it would be safe to assume they are also fatty lumps. I regularly keep an eye on these though...just in case. Good luck with your baby...fingers crossed it is only a fatty lump like Buddy's.

Let us know how you go with it Megan. I was never a fan of 'guide show place' stands, in fact I am not a fan of any form of compulsion methods since this changes the dynamics of learning for a dog. Just remember that once you get to stage 2, you need to have the dog sitting so that he can learn the action of getting up into a stand. Keep your hand relatively close so that he doesn't creep forward.

I second George Schofield...what a brilliant person with dogs. Extremely cheap but he has magic hands as far as I'm concerned.

Teach him to target your hand first, then once he's got this down-pat, you can start moving it slightly away from him so that he has to stand to touch it. Once he's doing this realiably, you can then add the cue. This is by far the easiest way to teach it...well I think anyway. I have a few other techniques as well but best you try one thing first.

Hey bro...I placed my order for junglerockwheeler first, I need him coz I wanna do surity wif him. Where's me rockwheeler PF, I sent you money in unmarked bills money like u aksed me 2 ;) I'm gonna haf to get heavies on yoos