kelpiecuddles

As far as basic obedience and understanding dog behaviour (which sounds like it is really what he needs) I have found a nice little basic book called The Dog Whisperer really helpful. Not so much for the actual training part although it does go through this but more for understanding better ways to train than the smack approach and why these methods work. I have started using this method on Sascha and I saw a difference in the way she responded within a day or two.

I think all dogs do that!

YB that's why I like Beau's, the buckles give me lots of reassurance he used to break the haltis and gentle leaders very easily.

If you have trouble finding a small enough collar you can get the smallest you can find and take it to a shoe repairers and ask them to put a couple of extra holes in it and trim the length if necessary. I think in reality quality becomes less of a problem when you get down to things like Chi's, I mean it would be pretty unlikely for a chi to pull hard enough on a lead to break it. A light nylon puppy lead is probably your best bet, or one of the extendable leads as the cord on those is VERY thin and light weight (don't ever use one for a large dog though).

I have never seen a dog head collar with a buckle. However, Beau wears a miniature horse foal halter. It fits him perfectly and it has metal buckles rather than a plastic clip. He also finds it more comfortable and it only cost me $10.

Sorry no pics but maybe I can help explain. The ones that are the problem are the adjustable nylon ones with a plastic clip (you often get them at discount stores). The best thing to use is a collar (leather is better) with a buckle that goes through the little holes like a belt.

My dogs both have a nylon collar with a plastic clip but we NEVER use them as weight bearing (ie. they hold their ID and that is their only purpose) when we go out for walkies Beau wears his head halter and sascha wears a buckle collar. I personally can't stand chokers I don't think they work on many dogs anyway. My aunties step kids dog hung itself one their mums fence. The worst part was that it was him that found him (the kid was 8 at the time) no kid should have to find their dog dead, especially like that. The reason my dogs wear clip collars when they are in the yard is that I know that although he can't jump high enough Beau will have a go at jumping the fence and personally if his collar gets caught on the fence I want it to snap easily. Besides I know that if he does get out he is not hard to call back.

Well I was down at the stock feed place this arvo getting dog food. Those refilling water troughs are $45 and they are on legs about 8 inches tall so that the dog is less inclined to dig in them, also the legs are designed so that you can peg them to the grass so they can't carry them away. They look great! I might get one for my chooks...

Befoer I set up the clam shell I used to have one of the large square storage tubs (about 25 litre I think it was ) set up under the tap. It was pretty rare that it ever ran out and way to heavy for my big boy to pick up and carry around. Could be an idea for the time being.

Oh I just had a thought. A pet supply shop near here sells a never ending water bowl! It attaches to the hose and as the dog drinks it automatically refills itself. I don't know how much they are but I can find out if you are interested.

We had this problem too. We bought one of those kids plastic clam shell pools and that stays permanently filled. They splash in it and drink it but they have never emptied it yet :p

Am could you start teaching the dog to place rather than finish? By which I mean that instead of finishing around the back of your legs he statrs sitting in front of you and then on the command to place simply moves his rear end around to finish sitting at your left. We have started doing this with Sascha dn she finishes much straighter and neater.

Sascha has just completed an elimination diet so I will give you the low down. An elimination diet will only be successful if herbody has been allowed to cleanse itself first. Chicken is not recommended but you can use turkey, roo, horse :p and OCEAN fish. Roo is the most convenient they can also have potato and sweet potato and that's all. Sascha was on that diet for six weeks and that included no treats unless they adhered to the diet, not even chewable heartgard she had to have a tablet for that month. The diet is fairly low fat and they do tend to lose weight but in the opinion of my vet that is not a huge problem in the short term as it is more important to find the cause of the allergy. If after the six weeks she is still ithing it clearly isn't a food allergy. If she has stopped itching then you should reintroduce one food at a time for about 5-7 days before introducing the next food. It is also good to keep a diary to note any changes including the weather and whether she has spent lots of time outside that day.

He needs more training than the dogs. Also he's only good at training the positions that require him to a- Do no work and b- smooch the dogs at the same time

I was just speaking to OH and it seems that he has been giving her lots of belly rubs the last couple of days to the point that she now comes up to him and rolls over on his feet. I think we found the culprit people . So I guess I just need to keep reinforcing when she works properly so that she understands that rolling on back is not accepted during training. Thanks guys I think it was a false alarm tho. ;)

Hmmm.. I'll give it a try. It's most frustrating because she was doing great until a couple of days ago when this started. Didn't seem to be an obvious trigger ;) . The main problem is that sometimes she will just roll over like this when she actually heeling s o that I have to beckon her to come back into heel. She gets praised for being in heel so it is a bit strange. Wow it's difficult having a dog like this, my other dog is the type that sometimes you have to growl at him to wake him up and then he does what you were asking, so they are complete opposites when it comes to training methods .

When I take Sascha out to do our training she has started rolling over on her back every time we stop moving . I have never encouraged this behaviour and she does not get rewarded for it, so far I have ignored it and started moving again and then encouraged when she sits or stands properly. I think it might be a submissive gesture although I have never growled at her as I recognised very early on that she is obne of those dogs that really take things to heart, so we work on positive reinforcement around here. Any ideas?

Sasha's Blend is an excellent long term joint supplement. Not sure how big Dublin is but for a medium size dog it normally costs about $100 a year so it's not really that exspensive compared to 'medications' and it's all natural.

Miranda is right merlin. As heartbreaking as it might be to walk away from this adorable litter of pups hip dysplasia is not something you want to be dealing with in the future if you can help it. My aunties golden retriever developed this when she got old and had to be put down as she couldn't squat properly to pee, for 6 months they would go out with her and help hold her back end steady just so that she could go to the toilet, trust me when I say that seeing your dog like that in the future will be much more heart breaking than walking away from this litter and finding a breeder with hip scored parents (and probably for a similar price)

Hi Merlin, Regardless of whether you continue with the purchase of this pup I would find out first if the parents have had all the relevent health checks. Not sure what Mal's need but I would imagine hip/elbow scores would be right up there. Maybe a mal person could confirm what is recommended?

There is a morning after pill for dogs , I think if you got it first thing tomorrow it would be fine, but if you are getting her desexed in the next week or two any way it probably doesn't make much difference.

dachsund lover I am not feeding barf. Sascha is getting supercoat puppy but I was contemplating changing her onto Coprice Working dog and adding some other stuff to it to make it more like the puppy food as Coprice does not make a puppy formulation. I have tried this for the last couple of days and she seems all round much healthier and much less stinky.

Yes Rugerfly, a kelpie. I'm not keen on Bonnie myself. Also Dremen we have these problems too when they are on Supercoat (not good on a six hour drive with a farting puppy )

Christina have you tried some Nutrigel? We have a 17 year old cat that does the same thing. Nutrigel is an appetite stimulant and is also practically a complete food on it's own so they get lots of good stuff out if it if they are the type that doesn't eat much.

Well they are the same in fat content so no worries there. Maybe I will just give her the Coprice working formula plus some raw meat and an egg to increase the protien level and stick a squeeze of nutrigel on the top.