Tonymc

Yes I have to agree after seeing her website.If she was a horse, she would be considered a fairly good type. Tony

Lilli,using medication in my experience is not common or the right way to go. Lilli,not wanting to be a wet blanket but I would have some big concerns about your supposed experiment. Firstly I would query this Person's level of knowledge given them suggesting use of a Halti. Secondly has this Person got any idea at all about the breed characteristics of your Breed, or have they just handled quite old Hounds raised around the Kitchen? Lilli,I think your better having more faith in your own knowledge of your Breed which is a working breed and still carrying out its original purpose which to me is a breath of fresh air!!!! I have to agree wholeheartedly the supposed cause of being upset is hogwash!!!!! Tony

Spot on, Kelpie-I Tony

I much prefer the verbal. Tony

Lablover,in my experience the Dogs I saw all had varying degrees of drive and were not considered difficult as pups. The sad part about much dog breeding nowdays is that many lines or breeds have through breeding only for physical attributes,have lost much of their drive. The paradox is I have met some People who thought their Dogs had a high level of drive.Upon showing them a Dog I had who really did have high drive,these people thought my dog was abnormal.The truth is though that these People had continually had Dogs with low drive,so to them low drive was normal. I in my experience found of course the degree of prey drive present within a dog relates to how well he or she does their breed specific task or role. I now as an Adult understand why the old Grandfather used to say never ever use a dog in breeding program unless it has worked and is proven.Working and being proven before breeding insured that only dogs of decent or good drive level were bred,thus maintaining a high standard within the said breed. Sadly it is a huge fallacy nowdays that just because a dog meets his breed specific standard, he will automatically be able to carry out his breeds role. Tony

Rotty,Prey drive is the very essence of a Dog.Prey drive is instinctual. What does an Owner do with Prey Drive?Firstly make sure not to surpress it and use it to our greatest advantage by training the dog in drive.Training a dog in drive is totally natural to a dog, as a Dog lives to express drive and feels whole when drive is flowing. Prey Drive is more complex than many think.Many see prey drive as just the act of a dog chasing or grasping a prey item.Prey drive determines the dogs position in a pack.The less uninhibited a Dogs drive is the higher up the pack he will be. Prey drive is at the core of dogs behaviour in many ways and not just chasing a prey item.Behaviour such as being able to pick a Human who just does not seem right for example is the same aspect of Prey Drive that allows dogs to pick out a sick,injured or old Prey animal.Prey Drive allows a Dog to know when we are approaching home.Prey drive see's pups racing around the House with socks and clothing. Many who surpress a Dog when he goes to express drive,only teach him resistance and avoidance.A Dog who learns he must surpress drive, soon works out its not safe to express drive around the owner as he gets shut down.This teaches him that inorder to express drive he must get away from the owner. Having to surpress drive for a dog is stressful and the stress accumulates within the Dog,until the dog can express drive and reduce stress.Many Dogs mistakenly put down as having been physically abused are Dogs that have had to surpress Drive. Tony

Two things,I would have alook at your Human body language and it also sounds like the pup is dictating or taking control. Tony

Shedoqq, you mean you and the Pup were both on the lounge? Tony

Shedogg, what is body position of the Humans when the pup does this? Tony

Shedoqq, the dominance label is way over used.Dogs, pups are predators of course and feel whole when expressing prey drive.Pups explore and make sense of their world by biting,jumping.pouncing,wrestling,grabbing and so on. When a Pup is attracted to somebody or something whilst in drive, its natural for him or her to want to bite or mouth.Rather than teach the pup he has to stifle or surpress his drive,I would redirect him onto something else and praise him for changing attractions. Dogs will keep a behaviour going if it feels good and stop if it feels bad. Tony

Whitka,I would have a good look at my leadership.Be mindful that many people actually teach or force a dog to run away from them by surpressing a dogs drive.A dog feels whole when drive is flowing.But some dog owners surpress the dogs drive and the dog learns its not safe to express drive around the owner.Therefore when the dog gets into drive he feels he has to get away from the owner. Tony

Ours are trained to walk on either side.When walking one Dog I would have him on the left but two or so could be on both sides. Tony

Penny,first cab off the rank I would check the dog"s bight and occlusion. Tony

Ncarter,a dog or horse can only pull if we give them something to pull against. An inconsistent approach also ensures we will get inconsistent behaviour from the dog.Any training with a dog or any animal is best put in a way the dog understands.We have to get out of our heads and into the dogs head.Think like a Dog. Much of the time we are simply making it easy for the dog to do what we want and hard for him to do what we do not want. I am a firm believer in simplicity and all the gear in the world is no subsitute for proper effective training, that imparts our request clearly to the dog.Many dogs behave in ways the owner does not want, due to the dog not understanding what is being asked. Allowing a dog to pull teaches the dog,if he or she wants to get somewhere that if they pull they will get there. I would simply equip yourself with a long lead say 6 ft at least.Before you leave your House get the dog in a calm state and do some basic exercises to reinforce leadership. Head off up the road.Give the dog slack.Now I assume the dog is on your left side.Have the lead in your right hand. Keep walking and if the dog surges ahead let him get close to the end of the lead and turn around yourself and head off in the opposite direction.Do not look back at the dog.The Dog will of course come to the end of the lead and recieve a jolt or correction.The dog will look up and around and will only see the back of you.This way the dog will not assosiate the correction with you,thus not encouraging any resistance. The dog will turn around and move to catch up with you as you move in the new direction.When the Dog catches up with you and moves into the position by your leg,immeditately mark the position by praising the dog greatly or giving food,depending on what the dogs values.The dog especially early on in this approach will again surge forward and again let him go.Again when he is close to the end of the lead,turn around and go the other direction and repeat the procedure. This will not be a quick fix and you will need to be consistent and also check your leadership.Leadership is the foundation required before going on to train the dog. Tony

Jake is this dog living in Surburbia?I suspect so.I would feel pretty safe in saying this is prey drive displacement.Prey drive in a Kelpie takes the form of herding. Take a working dog,put them in surburbia,give them no outlet to express and release drive and abnormal or unusual behaviours will surface. The Skateboard obsession is his way of expressing and releasing drive. I may have to change my thinking a little as I thought this dog was a straight Kelpie.But still I have seen many X bred Kelpies have the problem of a drive outlet as well. Either way the Dog here is expressing drive. Tony

Sparty,have a great time!!!I would love to see it myself, as there will be some real handy dogs there. Tony

Thank you for the link Morgan!!!!Greatly appreciated!!!!Very timely as only last week I was talking about TRE with my mate the Psychlogist.I put it to him that there must be the possibility of using TRE with Horses and Dogs.Along comes your post and link about EFT so indeed very interesting and very timely. I am off now to download the information and start reading.Thanks again. Tony

Erny very good post and very well said!!!! Tony

RotNBullies,contact Steve from K9force. Tony

Paul have you had this Dog around Sheep at all? Is this Dog kept by itself? Tony

Jealousy is a Human emotion.I have to agree its dominance.I would be having a look at my leadership as well. Tony

Blossom,whereabouts is the water situated? Tony

Not a problem Paganman and good to see you posting.Thanks Akita, your spot on. Tony

Paganman,the mate I am sure for a start was seen by his dogs to be a better leader.The Mates awareness of himself had improved greatly and so that lead to an improvement in many areas.His understanding of the dogs behaviour increased and his awareness of how to be more effective in communicating with the dogs increased.His awareness,analytical ability and observational skills were no longer being clouded by fear and rage. The dogs also experienced the mate projecting a much calmer energy and were more at ease with him. Tony

This thread may possibly seem a bit out there to some,but in reality is fairly normal. Many of our interests,perceptions,values,likes.dislikes,ethics,fears,dou ts,strengths,habits and so on have their origins in Childhood.Our Childhoods shaped us to a fair degree as to how we are as Adults. My own Childhood experiences,sent me down a track of learning,achieving and exploration of Psychology of Humans and Animals. Very interesting at times when situations arise where both Human and Animal Psychology are interacting and being played out in an enviroment. I had an interesting experience the other day with this combination. A mate of mine,who I had been supporting and helping through theraphy was really taken back by the difference in his dogs attitude towards him after having theraphy.The Mate was an Abuse victim and so had a lot of inner wounding and rage.He had always contained the rage,except towards older men.He had never vented his rage on his dogs. I had said to the Mate,that even though he had never vented his rage towards the dogs, they would be different towards him after he dealt with the rage.Understandably due to where he was coming from at the time,the mate told me I was full of it. Anyway after dealing with and releasing all the inner rage,the mate recalled our conversation about a change in his Dogs.The Mate rang me and was in a totally different place to where he used to be due to the theraphy.He was so happy and now free and he was saying,i never believed you at the time but your right about the Dogs and the change!!!!! The point was not about me being right, but it was again interesting on how dogs can pick up on such fine detail. Tony