Kelpie-i

Okay now I'm stumped. Who took any of my comments on this thread as offensive?? I couldn't be bothered reading through the 7 pages of it but am very surprised it was taken this way (if it was).

NO DIFFERENCE (for the sake of your question Midol) Your fear of spiders would be the same if you saw one at home or if you saw one hanging off a tree branch in front of you at the park. A fear is a fear and your conditioned response would be the same regardless of where you are. Of course there are always variables but you don't want to hear those

Okay.....this thread has been hijacked enough....time for me to step in and bring it back to the beautiful, innocent thread it once was Boo (the Lab's name) went home with his owners last Monday.... Will I ever see him again? I thought about sabotaging the training plan but then soon came to my senses....drats. I did tell the owners that if they ever wanted to give him away, that they should contact me first. Farewell Boo.....I hope you have a great life!

Personally I don't mind the Sporn harness, only because it does eliminate about 30% of the dog's pulling capacity and in some cases that can be a great help for those who just want to walk their dog each day without all the 'hoo haa'. Those dogs who continue to pull on the sporn are doing so at a minimised capacity and not at their full potential, therefore it is not a bad tool if you can keep that aspect in mind. The Sporn is a much better tool than the head halter IMO as there is no risk of neck or head injury with it but can be a little fiddly to put on initially. Short term, I recommend spending the money on a Sporn to at least enable you to walk your dog with a little more control than you are currently experiencing. Long term, seek the services of a trainer who can show you a few techniques on stopping the pull.

Same Kavik, I've never really been "into" Labs...I like them but I have never considered owning one. But I just don't want any Lab....I want THIS boy! Nekhbet, our handover day is on Monday. On one hand I need to demonstrate to his owners that I have taught him something, on the other hand I want him to be the little shite he was when he first arrived. Maybe I'll put some "bad" behaviours on cue like "No" means jump and "stop it' means mouth hands very hard.....Oh it's soooo wrong!!

I just had to share with you guys. I am currently training (boarding/training) a Labrador whom I have fallen in love with Now don't get me wrong....I still love my Kelpies and GSD's, it's just that a Labrador has never stolen my heart like this one has. I have trained many dogs but none like this. He's an American style Lab, you know the longer legged, boxier head type. He's 7 months old, has the sweetest eyes and is a very swtiched on young buck. When I first started training him, he was absolutely out of control....jumping, pulling, mouthing and super boisterous. He's come along way in 7 days and it's as though we've totally bonded and become a team. This guy now heels like a champion, has the fastest drops, has focus to die for and we are even working on backwards and sideward heeling patterns. What a clever boy!. I so wish he was mine. Have any of you guys (trainers or the like) ever worked a dog that wasn't yours that you secretly fell in love with it...wishing you could take him/her home?? Just curious.

I can't see how any trainer can "cure" dog aggression within a short period of time without the use of heavy corrections to teach the dog to avoid. This sort of "training" is merely a short term fix and the dogs normally regress ten fold afterward. Alarm bells should be ringing!!!

No such thing as "naughty" behaviour, just behaviour that is reinforced whether inadvertently or purposely. From your post, it seems you spend much of your time "reacting" to Ralph's adventures, rather than Ralph reacting to yours. Time to turn the tables and as suggested, pay less attention to when he is being "naughty" or rather attention seking and more when he is doing what you like. If he grabs something you don't want him to have ie. socks, instead of chasing after him... simply leave the room. Watch him drop the sock (or whatever item he has) to come and see where you've gone. Once he finds you, you can ask him to sit and give him a treat or some sort of reward for sitting quietly. Also as Erny suggested, more stimulation in the form of training and exercise should also be put on the daily agenda. Leadership is not about punishing or reprimanding, rather it's providing your dogs with opportunities for reward and to teach and "shape" the behaviours you wish to occur more often. Perhaps get in touch with a good trainer in your area to show you the ropes.

Reallly sorry to hear that....please don't berrate yourself for the decision you made. It sounded like the best possible one under the circumstances. Hugs to you.

I am agreeing with Nekhbet wholeheartedly in that we are over-analysing and over-complicating dogs. Seriously, if only we could ask dogs what they thought....they'd probably say something like.... "Pfft, if I want it and there's an opportunity I can have it, then I'll take it. Once I have it, I will protect it and may feel the need to fight for it, but there are days when I might not want it, so I'll gladly give it away. If I'm scared of it, I will try to make it go away, if it works I will do it again, if it doesn't I will use another tactic. If I am used to having my way, I will demand it....what does this make me? Dominant, submissive, somewhere in-between... sometimes all of the above, but more accurately, OPPORTUNISTIC in every way!"

You can write whatever you like about me Nekhbet, as long as it's loving, wonderful, uplifting and inspirational Oh and I forgot to add moving, congratulatory, sentimental and heroic

I'll Whisper it to you Erny.....

Nekhbet, I'm as "balanced" as they come....(well when I haven't been drinking ) although I will usually use techniques leaning towards R+ first up before moving on to other methods if need be. Thanks Erny for clarifying that on my behalf I agree with everyone's recommendation to seek some vet checks first up as onset of aggressive behaviour in an older dog should always be cleared of any medical related problems.

Hmmmm, me thinks all these seminars and articles debunking the "dominance" word may be occurring for a reason.........

I attended the same seminar that Erny attended and it was nothing short of "hillarious" in some parts. When one of the speakers stated that she didn't even like the word "leadership", I had to wonder what she would call the act of being in control, guiding, educating and keeping the peace with dogs

I call them the 7 o'clock crazies as they usually happen in the evening. As others have said, very normal puppy behaviour. Best to just ignore it and let him get it out of his system.

Do with your pup as you wish to do when an adult.

What Poodlefan and Erny said

But have his response times to commands improved though ??? :D Or is he still not proofed under distractions? He still needs a lot of work Quick.....he anticipates the reward every time :rofl:

Sorry, just had to jump in and share my totally useless, yet funny (well to me!) story pertaining to my OH and e-collars. Mere male was trying out the e-collar one evening to see which level he would be able to "feel" anything. Thinking he had it on level 1, he presses the button and all of a sudden I hear this high pitch squeal followed by a thud. I look over to see him on the floor staring blankly at the remote in his hands. After I finally managed to stop laughing (which seemed like an eternity), he figures out that he had it set all the way to level 10 (which is the highest for this particular model)....no wonder he felt the world shake

Thanks everyone for the recommendations. I have passed on all names/numbers etc to the person and I hope that he will be in contact with some of them. Thanks again.

I know Erny......I know

He's a Professor of Ethology who specialises in canine behaviour.

Not coming to Melbourne for seminar unfortunately since the AVA want him exclusively in Sydney.

I have details of the Ray Coppinger seminar to be held in Sydney in August. For those of you who are interested in learning the scientific side of things, it's a "not to be missed" event. Please PM me your email address and I will send you the PDF flyer.