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Tonymc

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Everything posted by Tonymc

  1. I use luring much much more than shaping.As others have mentionedI feel the Dog gets and retains it much better when he is making a choice. The last Pup I got is an American Bulldog and has a good healthy level of Prey Drive.He responds very well to a Ball on String or Piece of Hose.I have not used any Food with him. I used a command right from the word go,but as Kelpie-I says,each to their own. I operated in this sequence.Lure,behaviour,command and reward. Tony
  2. Delkerabo,well well said!!!!Agree agree agree!!!!Testing should be widespread and standard practise!!!!Breed registeries in other Country"s will not allow a Dog into the Studbook till Tests have been passed. We are seeing more and more Dogs surfacing with Physcological issues that are genetic.The only way to start to turn the problem around is testing. I find breeding Dogs without testing to be totally ludicrous!!!!On the same principle how many People would buy a Car without a Test Drive?Not too many I would think!!!The Car might look like it will do our Job, but we do not rest on appearance only so we test it by Driving to make sure. Tony
  3. Katlek, please keep in mind that another poster may have a better option for your situation than mine. As to whether a Noise would do the Trick?There is only one way to find out and that is to try the Noise and then note the Dogs reaction.if the dog moves away from the lounge then its working.Timing is still esential though to create the negative association with the Lounge. Tony
  4. Katlek,its always best to not allow a Pup to right from the word go to do something you do not want,rather than to have to make a change and combat entrenched or partially entrenched behaviour. Katlek, its probably much simpler if your after a change in behaviour to simplfy things and set up the scene where the Lounge is out of bounds totally.Having the Lounge as ok sometimes and not ok at other times could due to possible Human inconsistency,be confusing to the Dogs. As you have Three Dogs any course of retraining would need to be carried out with each Dog.training a dog to go to a Mat or place is fine but not the total answer.Training a Dog to go to a Mat or place has taught them to go to a Mat or Place but has not lessened the Attraction to the Lounge.so it would work in one way.While you were there you could give the command for the Dogs to go to their place and they would,but when you were not there they would be on the Lounge again.I do not know but maybe that is ok to you? Dogs live in the moment and will repeat a behaviour if it feels good to them.So the basis of keeping the Dogs off the Lounge is to create a negative association with the lounge itself.Some People will stand near the object and roar,growl,tell the Dog off and so on and the Dog will keep off.But as soon as the Person leaves or moves away the Dog will go back to the object because in that example the negative to the Dog was the Owner not the Object.So the Owner leaves and the negative is gone so the Dog gets back on the Object. There are others ways then what I will suggest and this is only one option.This option will take effort,timing and consistency.Also the layout of your House will play a part as to how easy this option is to carry out. This would need to be carried out with each Dog as well.I would collar the Dog and then clip a long Rope or lead on.What we are wanting to do here is to let the dog have most of the length of the rope and we move to a position where we are basically out of sight to the Dog.We watch the Dog and as soon as he makes contact with the Lounge,we issue a correction on the rope.Timing is esential as the dog must make physical contact with the lounge and then immeditately recieve a correction as that way he forms a negative directly to the Lounge. Tony
  5. Daggles,you will find many good books on this Topic.Another one is "Natural Dog Training' By Kevin Behan. Tony
  6. quote from Nekhbet. I can see an uphill battle with Sch and other dogsports because a lot of breeders who have turned good working breeds to useless show ponies dont want to look stupid. They want their widdle doggies to just prance around a ring and then just exist to get more ribbons. How bad would some people look if the only way we could have great sport dogs for some breeds would be to import them - gee thats showing how well Australians have preserved the breeds isnt it. And frankly its just perpetuating the ignorant public image that big dogs are dangerous so dont train them! Careful that schutzhund trained dog will eat your children, so keep it barely trained and bored in your backyard people! I could not agree more with you Nekhbet!!!! tony
  7. No problem Rom.Yes it was a bit unsettling for some this Dog flying up on their bonnet. Tony
  8. Rom,I can give you a classic case of unintentional conditioning.Totally unintentional. A mate of mine a Farrier had Heelers.He had a blue Pup that came down from Mareeba.Nice type of pup from a long of good Dogs.This Mate unknowingly conditioned this Pup.Everytime someone would drive into his place,the Mate would pick up this Pup walk across to the Visitors Car and talk to them.Whilst talking to the Visitor the Mate would place the Pup on the Car Bonnet. When this Pup became an Adult,whenever a Car would pull in the now Adult Dog would race over and jump up on the Bonnet.The mate wondered why the Dog was behaving like this.I said to the Mate,well you taught it this behaviour. Tony
  9. Anita,I understand where your coming from as I have been guilty of a form of it myself. I get what your saying and how frustrating it would be to somebody new to the Game.Your right many a new person is looking for answers with some substance and relevance not just Fob-Offs. I was very guilty of the point you make.Growing up isolated in the Bush,we had many rank Dogs and Horses.The more you experience something, the more normal it becomes to you.As a Child I took it to be normal to have some fairly rank Horses and Dogs around.I got used to dealing with this type of Animal, as you just had to face whatever came your way and get on with it!!!! I got top the stage later on as an Adult where I had to do a re think.somebody would come along and ask about a problem with a Horse or Dog.I would ask,well describe the issue or show me.Many times then due to evaluating it against my own life experience,would see me discounting the Person"s Problem.Many times I thought"Thats not even a problem its so minor,so get over it and get on with it" I had to re think and see that, to that Person and where they were coming from,it was indeed a relevant issue or problem. The way I used to think and discount People"s problems helped nobody!!!! Tony
  10. Steph,for your benefit go ask one of the other trainers for an opinion of your Dog.Also perhaps see if you can work with other Trainers separate to the one your having an issue with. Tony
  11. Thank you every single one of you for the articulate and interesting replies.Great to read all your views and opinions on this area.I was right in saying in here I was going to get rational and objective replies as you have all proven that. Tony
  12. My thoughts are that once again any Aid or Tool is only as good as the Operator.As other People have mentioned above, some people using a Clicker do not seem to be aware of the small time frame to mark behaviour. tony
  13. Firstly,I posted this in here as I will get more objectivity,rationality,awareness and sense rather than out in the general section. Breed Standards,are they the holy grail or tin foil?I am surprised how so many think a Breed Standard is the complete picture and the solution to everything!!!I find some of the views and perceptions attatched to breed standards to be superficial and in some cases downright stupid!!!! One of the most ignorant statements I have heard is inregard to Breed Standards, is concerning the original purpose of specific Breeds.The statement I find stupid is that because a Dog meets his Breed"s Standard then he will automatically be able to carry out the Breeds original purpose.talk about stupid and ignorant!!!! I look back to the Heeler for an example of Breed standards at work and actually carrying some weight and credibility.People back in Australian History had a need for a Dog to work Cattle.Different People had different ideas and thoughts on the matter of course,so tried different Dogs,different mixes and crosses.Undoubtedly some mixes did not work out,some were to some degree effective and eventually some Dogs emerged as being very good at the intended Job.Once People took note of Dogs that were suitable and doing the job,they of course pursued that line of Breeding. So we had a situation where through trial and error People eventually bred a Dog for a purpose.When they hit on what they saw as good Dogs for the job, they kept going down that track.These Dogs became more widespread and were out working. Years later a group of People got together with the view of establishing a breed Registery for these Dogs.These People put their Heads together and drew up a Breed Standard.The big Difference though was the Breed Standard was drawn up based on Dogs that were out working and achieving the intended purpose.So back then the Standard actually had credibility!!!!! Much time passes by till we reach the present day.We still have the Heeler but many People have bred these Dogs.many have come along and due to ego and other factors,figure "well we reckon the Heeler would look better with shorter legs or different colour or whatever "So People start to concentrate breeding for certain Physical Traits they think would make the Dog "Better".they forget or are unaware that concentrating on one aspect may bring undesirable aspects to the dog or may cause the loss of positive aspects. So in some cases we end up with Dogs that have suffered at the hands of Human whims,fads and egos.These People then if asked about their Dogs say,well they meet the Breed Standard"I think well so what!!!I am afraid Breed standards do not measure in any way or show Nerve levels,prey drive or any of the Psychological aspects of a Dog. Some will say, but a Dog has more chance of being ok if they meet the breed standard and that is true to some degree but nowhere near the whole picture. The only way I would give any Breed standard 100% credibility was if it was a relatively new Breed and the standard was drawn up on Dogs effectively carrying out their purpose. Tony
  14. I have to agree with Sidoney here as it seems very much a case of a Dog not having spent much time on a Lead. Tony
  15. Riley,I would check your Leadership of this Pup firstly.This Pup does not hate the Car as you have figured out.As you said he is quite happy to sit in the Car when it is motionless.He only starts to get active when the Car is in motion. Dogs as you know are Predators and going for a walk or drive in a Car are going on a Hunt to a Dog.When your car begins to move,your Pup see"s the hunt beginning!!!!So immeditately he is ready.His howling is frustration as he wants to be upfront connecting with the Pack{The pack being you in this case}and to lead the hunt!!!! Tony
  16. Problems within Dogs that have a genetic origin is one of the reasons why I am against soley breeding Dogs based on aapearance only.Testing Dogs before any Breeding was done could start to turn some of these Genetic based problems around. I know some European groups test Dogs before they are allowed in their respective Breed registeries.The sooner its done here the better. Tony
  17. Shy Dogs, yes as others have said can be Genetic or Enviromental. Tony
  18. Deltron,your using the Coke can to break a pattern of behaviour which is fine.I would just be using the Can in a manner so the Pup associates the Noise with the behaviour and not you.Your wanting the Dog to learn he or she does not feel that good when behaving in that manner.One has to be jut a little careful that the Pup does not associate the Noise with you,as that could start to build resistance towards you. Tony
  19. Bridgie, you will understand this much better looking at it from the inside of the Dog rather than from a Human perspective. Firstly I would say the most straightforward option is to make the Chook house and yard more Dog proof. Your attributing Human traits to this Dog,which to a dog mean nothing.Your seeing the Dog as guilty, but the Dog does not see himself as guilty at all.The Dog is responding to his very essence which is Prey Drive.Dogs do not grow out of Prey Drive. He is not making his own rules, as to do that he would have to have the power to intellectualise.When your Mum is around her presence blocks the Dogs flow of drive which to the Dog is a negative.When your Mum is not around the Chooks move,cluck,sqwark whatever triggering his Prey Drive and as there is nobody around supplying resistance to his drive it flows. Tony
  20. kelpie-I yes I have seen some already using a version.Silly as it sounds some Fruitcakes out will take this seriously and will take it that Dogs understand the English Language. Tony
  21. GreyChicken, no matter what area of Life whether it be Dogs,Business,Health whatever often trying to get a point/s through to those close to us can be fraught with difficulty as you are experiencing. Quite often People will listen more to somebody not connected to them better.One option would be to firstly,yourself have a talk to a Dog trainer and explain your situation and what your worried about.When the Dog Trainer is aware of your situation,then get him or her to have a talk to your OH. Tony
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