Cheyenne_Fury

I've seen his picture here on DOL! No way is he ugly! He is as Haven says "handsome" .... the description fits him beautifully. Anne - you going to the ADT fun day on 18th Dec at Scoresby? Waiting for the roster to come down ... hoping I might get to be there. If I do, I'll be looking out for you. And if Murray comes for a holiday at Wellington Park ... let me know when - I'll specially look out for him. PS .... I THINK I might be at Berwick this Saturday - but I'll be working with NDTF students, not training ADT. If I'm there, I'll try to look out for you there too. Hi Erny :thumbsup: Yep we will be at training on Saturday. We have training from 10am onwards and socialisation after that. I have been getting there around 9.30am so will no doubt be around Yep will be heading to the fun day on the 18th so may see you there. :D Yeah was thinking of having Murray and Jake to Wellington Park when I go to K9's workshop.It is either that or for them to stay with my mum, but might be nice for them to have a little 5 star luxury and don't know if mum will be able to have them. I will ring in the morning and see if the weekend of the 18th of Feb has any vacancies for my boys... Look forward to meeting eventually and can't wait to meet your gorgeous girl either! Murray and I are almost ready to have some lovely social walking. He has improved so much and with another week or so I think he will be almost perfect :D (in my eyes anyway) Anne

Certainly don't mind the Hijack at all. Didn't even really consider it a hijack. I am talking about one of my favourite subjects at the moment and Erny will be able to vouch for how I go on and on about it as will Lablover1 I am sure that I bore them both to tears, but I am just so pleased that I have found ADT to be so great and for me it is worth every cent I will pay for my membership. Alison, I can understand the hesitation with the upfront fee but for me it wasn't really an issue because I just knew that ADT was the place for Murray and I to get the help and support that we both need. Haven - Really enjoyed meeting you and only recently put two and two together and realised that ADT customer feedback on the website about Loki the GSD was actually your dog. Derr I am a bit slow and my hair is blonde! What a great story and just one of the many success stories that have come out of ADT. Thanks for saying that Murray is handsome I certainly think so but my family keep telling me he is ugly and that only a mother could love him, well this mother certainly does! Can't wait to introduce Jake the dally to ADT in the New Year. wyvernblade - I am glad that you decided to join ADT Berwick. Look forward to meeting you in the new year. I am also attending one of K9's workshops, though I have opted to fo to the handlers workshop in Feb and will be going to NSW for the weekend. It is a workshop where you learn to properly handle and assess dogs etc. and they provide dogs for you to use so you don't need to take your dog/s with you. Poor old Murray and Jake wont like staying home. They will have to go and visit my mum for the weekend or might even try out Wellington Park and give them a bit of a holiday too Anne

Hey Tam Yep I am extremely proud of my naughty beagle boy Murray. You are right beagles are a very special breed and I have had people tell me that I won't have much luck training him, but so far so good. He is a typical beagle but we have a major motivator FOOD as if you couldn't guess and I am really pleased with his progress. I am not expecting miracles, just want to be able to enjoy my dog and for him to be happy and we are more than pleased with ADT if you couldn't guess from my previous posts. I'm down past Hastings and we go to Berwick which is about 1/2 hr or more drive, but it is well worth it and the money we paid to go to ADT. Anne

Hi Alison, ADT to have a cancellation policy if you are not happy with the level of training etc. within a certain time frame you recieve a certain amount of the fees back. I am not sure on the exact time frame and percentage refunded though. I am not sure if ADT is privately owned, but I think that it would be. I suppose that there is the potential risk for the company to be sold and the standards lowered, but I think that risk would be very minimal. The reason that ADT have the introductory information session and the reason people take their dogs to this as well as after all the information is given. A qualified trainer has a chat to you about what you want to achieve and about any problems etc. that you may be having with your dog. He "assesses" the dog taking into consideration the age of the dog, level of training you want to achieve, any behavioural problems and if the dog has had any previous training and then is given a score out of ten. My dog Murray got a 7 because we have a few issues that we need to work through. Then all this info is put together and everything taken into consideration and a price is given for the training that you want to achieve. $610 is a lot of money, but from what I can gather from the information given on this price this was to do advanced obedience (highest level with amazing results if the dog and handler put in the hard work) and the puppy was 8 weeks old, so I would imagine (without being able to be 100% sure) that this price would have included the puppy preschool classes for pups up to 18weeks, Novice obedience, Young Dogs (Basic Obedience), Control Obedience, Advanced Obedience and also socialisation. If you look at the life span of the dog say 10 years. (Hopefully much more than this but just using 10 as an example) $610 over 10 years is $61 per year spent on training with free access to behaviourists during that time and also no limit on the amount of training sessions attended during that time. $61 per year is pretty cheap in my opinion, but of course not for everyone. Just my opinion. Anne

Well said Erny :D The reason that I looked at ADT to take Murray to was that Murray is a 9 year old Beagle cross. That in itself was enough for me to think that we needed something a little bit more than your average obedience club, not that I have anything against obedience clubs, its just that I felt Murray and I needed some more specialist help as he and I had/have a few issues. Murray was a shelter dog that I adopted approx 12 months ago. He is a lovely dog, though a bit of a handful and quite aloof. I know that this is the case with some dogs, but I had been desperately tried to get him to warm to me and while I had had moderate success, I had not established myself as leader, and needed help in this area. This also coupled with behavourial issues of digging and escaping, showing some dominant behaviour and generally not paying any attention to anything that I said if I didn't have food in front of his nose pretty much decided for me that we needed to seek some help if we were to reach a happy medium. I also have another dog Jake and didn't want any issues with him either. We went along to the information session and found it fantastic. The trainers and behaviorists listened to what I had to say and were able to give me a realistic view of what I could achieve with Murray. I am happy to say that I have seen results immediately and that already Murray and I are so much happier and our house is more harmonious. We of couse have a long way to go and much work ahead of us, and it wasn't the cheapest option for me and I am most certainly not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but this has been the right decision for me. Of couse ADT might not be right for everyone for a number of reasons being cost, locations, etc. etc. but has been the right choice for Murray and I and I hope that people wont think that ADT is not for them just because it is more expensive than other clubs. Please check it out and make your own decisions as what works for some doesn't necessarily work for another and vise versa as we all know Just edited to add that I totally agree with YB and Staffords Rule Anne

No worries Allison :D The way that I joined ADT was: Went along to the free info session and the trainers explained all the services that ADT offer. They have group classes (which is what me and Murray do) which include puppy school, basic obedience, control obedience and advanced obedience and socialisation classes (both dog socialisation and socialisation to things such as food and toys, new surfaces etc and be able to have control of your dog with these distractions etc. and also improves the confidence of the dogs) ADT also offer boarding and training and private lessons. After all the services are explained one of the trainers assesses your dog and gives them a score out of ten. This takes into account any behavioural problems that you might be experiencing with the dog, if you have attended obedience classes before and what level of training you want to achieve with your dog. I chose control obedience with Murray which is covers quite a lot of areas and fitted in with what i most wanted to do with Murray which is to have him as a pet and companionfor myself and my other dog Jake and be able to have obedience with him and home and also out on walks etc. The price that you pay to do a particular course is determined on what rank your dog is given and of course the level of course you want to achieve. In this price you get life time membership with all the courses I believe except puppy preschool and just socialisation. There are two ways in which you can pay, one payment up front for which you are given a discount, or over three months. If you were to sign up for advanced for example which is what I plan to take my dog Jake to next year. You get within that course the basic obedience level, the control level and the advanced level for the one fee. Works in a similar way to going up classes at Hastings, it is based on what level of obedience you have achieved as to how quickly you and your dog escalate through the difference classes. Also part of the fee that you pay to attend the training you can attend any of the ADT centres across Melbourne and go as often or as little as you want. You also have free membership for the life of your dog and can return any time to any of the centres once you have achieved your desired level of training to maintain the level and also you get free access to the behavourists at ADT. Hope this wasn't too drawn out and explains a bit further. Anne

:D YB you will be meeting Jake and I soon for summer school though I may bring Murray one week, well just see how we go Jake is a lovely boy too and has had some basic training but we need some work and he thrives on it. Lablover is also coming down to KCC park with dodge I believe so we will all finally meet It is going to be a lot of fun, though Dodge and Jake will probably want to play with each other more than train, but we'll soon fix that Anne

Thanks guys for all the encouragement Murray and I are loving it and I am really loving getting out there and just meeting all the lovely trainers and other owners as well. Gets me out of the house :D I really think the one and one time that I am spending with Murray is really helping too we are bonding more than ever before. Jake will definately be becoming an ADT dog in the New Year once Murray's training is up and running though I may have to look at training Jake on Sunday morning at one of the other locations. Just have to see how we go for time etc. at Berwick cos I can't be in two classes at once with two dogs Anne

Hi Alison, you don't have to pay for a lifetime membership with ADT, this is the service that they offer. You pay a determined fee to achieve a certain level of obedience or socialisation or puppy school that you want to achieve and as part of this ADT offer lifetime "maintenance" which means that you can continue to train your dog to maintain the level of training for the rest of the dogs life at no extra charge. I am not saying that Hastings isn't a great club, I went there briefly a few years ago and found it fine, just one instructor that I could not agree with, but have found ADT to be brilliant and would recommend to anyone who wants to train there dog :D Anne

Another great training session with Murray today :D Murray and I were in Basic Obedience class for the first time today and did some lovely loose lead walking, perfect sits, worked a bit more on our stands and also completed some nice drops. We even did well in socialisation! I know I know I just can't say enough about how good the trainers are at ADT they are FANTASTIC. I was speaking to the trainer that took our class at Berwick today and she said that Murray and I were doing great and would probably only need another week or two in basic and then we would be ready to go up to the next level I am so proud of my naughty beagle boy I just had to share ;) He and Jake are alseep curled up on the couch at the moment Anne

Sorry Missey's mum I'm in Melbourne and am not familiar with trainers in sydney but there are heaps of people here that are from sydney. Maybe post a new topic asking for suggestions for good trainers/clubs in the Sydney area and also check out the RNSWCC pages, they should have a list of dog trainers and obedience clubs in that area. here's the web address for the RNSWCC www.rnswcc.org.au Hope everything goes well for you and your dog Anne

Until this situation has been sorted out it is best not to socalise her as it will just get worse and in the end will result in a serious dog fight whether it is your dog that gets hurt or someone elses. Socalisation is a very necessary tool to training, but until you can be one hundred percent sure that your girl will not be dominant to other dogs and potentially cause a fight then she shouldn't be socalised with other dogs. That is not to say that you shouldn't excercise her, just keep her on lead and away from other dogs. If other people ask if their dog can play with yours say no for now as this will just make the situation even worse. I would definately recommend you contact K9 and set up a private lesson with him where he can start helping you address the issues that you have. It will take a lot of work and training but it can be done. The only other option is for you to keep her away from other dogs permanently and this is not really practical and wont be much fun for you or her and also just avoiding the issue. If you do a search of NILIF (Nothing in life is free) on this forum and also have a look at K9's website and it will give you a few more ideas. By adopting the nothing in life is free method this is asserting your authority as leader of the pack (being the boss) and she will have no doubt who the leader is. The key to this as with any training is consistency. You can't let her get away with anything "sometimes" otherwise soon she will think that she can do whatever she wants. I know how it feels to have problems with your dogs, I have a 9 year old beagle that has some issues too but am going to a great training club (ADT in Melb) and we are slowly addressing these with great results so far. Anne

Missey's mum, I believe what k9 is saying is not that dogs shouldn't be socialised, but they should not be allowed to dominate other dogs to the point where a fight could break out. Meaning that you can not allow your girl to jump on other dogs. Before socalising your girl with any other dogs this issue needs to be addressed because there is potential for real damage to be done to dogs and/or humans Anne

Sorry Missey's mum wanted to add, that your girl is definately trying to be dominant and by standing on the other dog she is telling them that she is the boss. If the other dog is a submissive dog then no problem, but if the other dog is also dominant that is where the problems will start. Just a question, what is she like with you? From what you are describing she seems like she is trying to assert her status as leader over the other dog/s. Anne

Hi Missy, A trainer could definately help with your problem. There are a lotl great trainers and clubs out there. If you are in NSW I would recommend K9 force, he quite often posts on this board, seems to have a mountain of knowledge about these things and I have signed up to do one of his workshops early in the new year. A lot of people will tell you how wonderful he is and the success stories they have had using him. Check out the website www.k9force.net If you are in Melbourne you can't go past ADT (Australian Dog Training) they are fantastic and I take my older dog Murray, a 9 year old Beagle cross there. We have only been going a few weeks and already I can see the difference. They also have behaviourists available to help with problems too and offer a range of services. the website for them is www.australiandogtraining.com.au Good luck with your girl. I am sure with the help of a good trainer you can get the results you are after, though of course it will take time and hard work on both your parts. Anne Edited to add: Just realised you are in Sydney... Missed that bit when I read your post the first time. K9 is probably your best bet i would think

Yep Erny exactly what I meant Jake does need to loose a little bit of weight that he put on over winter, though only a little bit, but I want to get him fit for starting agility next year and also really want to have a go at the lure coursing and it will help get me motivated too :rolleyes: Thanks Anne

Ok people, just a question slightly off topic, what is a good way to get your dog fitter? Apart from walking and all that? Anne

Jake will love it, though Murray would be like yeah whatever :rolleyes: Sounds like heaps of fun Anne

Excellent! I would love to come along, even if it was just to have a look and watch everyone else. Jake my dalmatian would love to come just to be around all the other dogs and people Anne

Thanks Erny I am enjoying it. Thanks to you and Haven for recommending it Met Haven on Saturday, was really nice to be able to meet in person I'm sure we will meet one of these days Anne

I'll be the first to admit that Jake is a bit pudgy, though not too bad, between now and Jan gives us a chance to both loose a few kilos and get fitter Anne

Just a question, do you have to have a "herding" dog to give it a go? Eg. Kelpie Border Collie etc? Just wondering... Anne

Thought it was time for another update. After attending the information day and signing up for ADT Murray and I took ourselves off to Berwick on Saturday morning for Novice Obedience class. Murray was really well behaved and the trainers were lovely and everything made sense. The class was like an introduction to obedience training and was really informative. Murray was a star and was so well behaved. He is already pulling less on the lead and we are getting better everyday. I am learning just as much, if not more than he is I especially liked the socilation aspects of the class, and we have our first full own socialisation class after our basic obedience class this coming Saturday. Everyone was made to sit their dogs and then hold them so they couldn't break the sit while the trainer brought out some distractions, a squeaky toy, a tennis ball, and a dog biscuit. It was funny watching all the other people with their dogs getting excited with the squeaky toy and the tennis ball. Murray didn't even flinch. He isn't interested in toys or balls at all. I knew that if I had of had Jake my dalmatian there is would have been a completely difference story as he loves balls and anything that makes a noise. His favourite toy at the moment is a little soft reindeer that sings Santa Claus is coming to town. He found it when i was getting my christmas decorations out and he just LOVES it! When the trainer bought the food out, I knew this would be the first real test. The first time he went around, he held the food at quite a distance and Murray didn't even really look at it. He came closure the second time and Murray smelt it and pricked his ears (as much as a beagle can ) and followed the food with his eyes, but did not try to get up and follow it which I was soooo pleased with because food is a BIG thing to Murray. He did break from his sit by laying down, but at least he didn't try to grab the food!!! Can't wait until this weeks training!!! And it has done wonders for me and Murray to spend some one on one time without Jake. Murray is much more confident and affectionate already.!!! Just had to share, sorry if this is boring for anyone Anne

Erny : Will do Jake loves to chase balls and toys and stuff so maybe he will go ok Anne

Thanks Nat Might give this a go with Jake Anne