Kelpie-i

A good friend of mine who has the sister of my boy is getting bloods tested by Dr Jean for suspected thyroid. I wait with baited breath for the results. Thanks for the links Aidan. Interesting stuff Erny...do fill us in once you've heard more.

Dogs are not these complicated beings with 2 brains, infact they are very simple creatures with equally simple thought processes...so simple that us humans complicate matters for them by trying to look too deeply into the "why" and "what". It's not rocket science SK, balance is the key for absolutely everything in life. Good luck with your boy!!

My OH no longer works for Petstock (he worked for Sunshine), I would have been able to find out. Why not ring and pretend to make enquiries about PPS??

.x 4

Sorry, never trained a goat....but I have trained a minature pot belly pig! Little buggers bite hard Wave some tree branches around and I'm sure you'll at least achieve recall with a goat

Our general rule when starting a puppy or dog with tug is to make the tug and game "yours" (human). The notion of "it's your toy and you are inviting the dog to play with it" seems to work well with humans and keeps owners from shoving the toy into the dog's face. Also keeping the toy low to the ground so that we arouse the natural drive to follow it or chase it helps entices curiosty. Oh and always let the dog win the toy, especially in the inital stages (but I'm sure you already know that). Tug is a "team sport", in fact you will sometimes see 2 dogs tugging at a toy together and when one loses grip, the other will bring the toy straight back to engage in the game. It's interactive and stimulating. If a dog doesn't play tug, it's usually because that drive has never been nurtered, therefore I agree with the others in that is has little to do with manners.

Working in drive is a good way of distracting a dog from that which they may be uncomfortable/fearful of. Could it be that he may be somewhat uncomfortable with either your hand motion or the toy when not in drive? I believe the behaviour you are seeing could very well be the result of some sort of experience with the fetch. Somewhere, somehow......

Have already sent an email!! Count me and most of my team in

Pro K9 (who is Erny on this forum) runs classes at All Breeds Kennels in Lydhurst on Sundays

THAT'S HUUUUUUUGE!!! Well done Huski and Daisy!! I know the feeling!!!!

Thanks Nekhbet and same here for travel into Sth East suburbs.

Iay ontday nowkay ithereay

Shullabut Erny.....Lollobot

Training in drive would probably be the go for your dog since she sounds as though she may have a good level of drive. I think K9Force is doing a workshop soon...might be worth checking this out.

Dogs don't normally eliminate in their sleeping area as this goes against their natural instincts. Those that do, do so due for various reasons.. I would recommend starting housetraining from the very start again...as you would a young pup. Dog's become accustomed to eliminating on certain surfaces so in this case, your mum must re-train on a different surface. However, since this is 8 months of self reinforced behaviour, it's not going to be easy.

Petmezz I so envy you...I would love to get into mushing one day...perhaps in my next life. I met Prof Ray Coppinger last year when I visited Wolf Park and he raced sled dogs for 14 years. He told many stories of his various dogs and races he had mushed (one of his lead dogs was a border collie!). He told of how, after 14 years, he was still learning and that it had taken him that long to finally perfect his team of dogs! If I remember correctly he 'ran' a few iditarods too. What sort of dogs are you racing? Have fun and let us know how you go with it...I am very much interested.

We have: 3 puppy sub-levels each with about 10 puppies each 4 basic sub-levels each with about 10-15 dogs each Intermediate with about 8 dogs Advanced with about 8 dogs These numbers vary weekly depending on how many people decide to come to class but these are average numbers. I love taking large classes, I can have them doing various things and using the numbers to my advantage, some of my other instructors prefer smaller classes. Like Cosmolo, no plans to change these numbers anytime soon, although the new year usually brings with it the Xmas puppy explosion and new year's "dog training' resolutions.

Really, really tall people, with really, really short dogs can use a table to establish focus when heeling without hurting their backs (just be careful you don't allow dog to fall off the end)..but if the dog can be taught to catch food, that makes life a lot easier. It's not impossible though!!!

Hey Erny, yes I figured this when I stated that one would have to take other environmental factors into account. I was referring to the established reinforcer. It would be much easier just to jump straight into an extinction procedure without all the hoo-haa, especially for Joe Public and his pet pooch.

Noice dog on the vid!! I feel your pain Vicki....my old boy is also losing his hearing and when we are out in the paddock and he wonders off, there is no way he can hear us. My OH can whistle through his mouth and this usually works but if I am out there on my own...I've got buckleys. Luckily he panics when he realises I am not there and comes looking...he knows where the gate is to come inside, so he'll make his way eventually.. Luckily the fences are pretty good around the paddocks.....I would not leave him off the lead in a public park these days! Silly old dogs...gotta love em!

Sorry to confuse you Corvus, what I meant was this... 1. You can use any word you wanted to really, as long as THAT word is conditioned 2. If you are going to condition the dog's name, then you must NOT use the dog's name generally (ie..just for every and home lovey dovey speak), you use (no teach) a nickname or something else instead to preserve the conditioned name. 3. The only reason I prefer to use the dog's name is because this is usually the first word that will come out of your mouth (subconsciously) if your dog is heading straight for the busy road. Yes the name recognition precedes the recall but both are taught separately. Nothing wrong with teaching an ER, provided you are very clear with the criterion for each type of recall.

I read in one of Lindsay's books that one way to avoid an extinction burst is to put the unwanted behaviour on a continuous schedule of reinforcement first (yes encourage it to happen!!) and then totally remove all reinforcement (extinction). If the behaviour is rewarded variably it is more resistant to extinction, therefore placing it on a continuous schedule can lessen the chance of any extinction bursts. I found this interesting and have never tried it. I guess it would need to be planned correctly and other environmental factors taken into account. Has anyone tried this?

You can use absolutely any word to get the dog's attention but it must be the same word and it MUST be conditioned and reinforced (continuously in the initial stages and then intermittently) having said that however, just like clicker training, where the food always follows the click, same should occur with Name Rec exercise. For those who use a clicker, you will notice the dog's eyes light up at the sound of the click, this is because the click sound is now classically conditioned. The aim with Nam Rec is to create a very similar conditioned response but with the dog's name. Therefore, I usually suggest using a nickname for the 'everyday' name and use the dog's real name for when you need the attention pronto. The reason I prefer to use the dog's name (and remember I teach companion dog training classes, not trial classes), is that the very first thing that comes out of the owner's mouths should the dog happen to shoot through the door is the dog's name. Others will most certainly have a different view to this but I find this works well and really helps the recall process. I use the Name Rec exercise for reactive dogs as well...helps interrupt the dog if he/she is about to eye lock onto another dog.

I read and watched Bill Campbell's version of the emergency recall and he would use a different word/cue for it and would teach it by throwing a very small pouch filled with chains (to make the rattle noise) used to interrupt the dog if he/she was distracted. He would pair this with the recall cue. To be honest with you, I cannot really understand why you wouldn't just teach a reliable recall each and every time. To come is to come, not matter what, where or how....but I suppose this might probably be the topic of another thread...sorry Corvus If off lead, reward profusely I say...the coins should fall out of the slot each time your dog recalls to you. I also add a highly conditioned Name Recognition to the equation which works brilliantly to ensure that dog responds to his/her name immediately and without hesitation. The recall follows on from that.