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Elbie, Hoover, Dodge & Friends!


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kyliegirl - Mars is toy obsessed and would only stare at the toy, so we did some focus exercises with the toy first. Show the toy, remove it from field of sight, get his focus back, then reward. This just helped for us so I knew that I could get his attention even if the toy was in view eventually. As Wizzle said, different dogs work with different things, its just finding the right option for you guys. :o

dandybrush - Welcome back!!

Pic time! Only one though.. We got our doggy raincoats in the mail today!

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Those doggy raincoats are so cute - the dogs look soooooo happy!

At the end of the day, even though DOL makes it look like it's easy to be a dog owner sometimes, it can be a lot of hard work. There's no perfect dog. Kumaakita mentioned Elbie and his tricks - yup, he's so smart and trainable, very bright, very affectionate - but outside the house, he's hyperactive enough to power a small city. I look at the placidity of Kuma and sigh and wonder if I will ever get Elbie to the point where he isn't bouncing off walls like a ping pong ball :o I know OH looks at Satch's calmness and placidity with envy as well. We love Elbie a LOT but there are definitely things about him that drive us bonkers and that we continue to work to change. We know it's not his fault and we know that things take time - and it's a fun and funny trip along the way.

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Those pup's look too cute in their coats!

I just want to say woah - Wizzle - way to go with the articulating! I think you just described in part all of our journeys with our dogs! I love it!

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I just want to say woah - Wizzle - way to go with the articulating! I think you just described in part all of our journeys with our dogs! I love it!

Woof! It must be the shrink in me.... I knew all that time at uni would pay off eventually!!!!

I spent a while writing the post. I tried to put myself in Kylie's shoes... and to offer constructive points rather than advice so to speak. And I remember how hard it was in the early days with Genevieve. Hell, how hard it can be now. Sure, it has got easier in some regards. But at the same time each new day presents new challenges. And some how I think I am still yet to have the biggest one... We have no idea how she will cope with a baby in the house, or how we (I!!!) will cope having a dog and a baby to think about. But we will work it out as we come to it I guess.

I just hope KG doesn't take it the wrong way...

I was a good Mum this morning! I took G for a short walk to the park. I didn't let her off lead though... SHe was most disappointed! As I was by myself and there was no one else at the park, I really didn't want to risk her running off as I wouldn't have been able to go after her. Normally when we have her off lead at the park, there are heaps of dogs around and Hubby is there to chase after her if need be... I tried running after her the other day when she chased after a toddler and it seriously was not a good look!

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Clastic, your dogs looks so cute in their raincoats, and so happy! If I put Shandy's lovely red spotty raincoat on her, she get this really pathetic, downtrodden corgi look.

Kyliegirl, excellant advice going on here. You've achieved a lot with Echo, and he's a lovely, well adjusted pup. I think Dobes, like a lot of large breeds, are a fairly slow maturing breed, aren't they? So just keep holding on to Wizzle and KumaAkita's advice - he will get to where you want him to be in the end, and in the meantime, you really are doing pretty well!

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The raincoats are wearing if we're out training and its raining.

You should have seen them when they first put them on.. not happy at all. Pepper warmed to it pretty quickly, but Mars just stood there very still.. maybe because the strap was over his little mister...... I had to play a few games with them with the coats on so that they got used to it, thats why they look so happy in the other pic. :D

Unhappy Mars..

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Unhappy Pepper..

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Well Rumour's home and she's just everything I wanted!

When we got to the airport she was sitting in her crate so quietly, the whole car trip she just sat there taking in the world.

She has got so well with Diesel and he can't get enough of her. When we first put her in her crate last night she found her voice for a little while but then she slept for 6 hours straight! We then had a small play and toilet break and she went back to sleep for another three hours.

So far we have been practicing coming when her name is called and she's so good at it (she will do anything for a tummy rub). We've also done a small training session for sit and she's picking it up quickly. I have wasted so much of today just watching her.

I'll put photos up shortly

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We do currently train in drive, this is where my problem is lol, he is so driven by toys that he will ignore the clicker and me as all he cares about is the toy, which if we are too close trying to teach him something new and the toy is in reach, he WILL try to grab the toy.. He LOVES tug and he LOVES fetch and LOVES sqeaking toys.

Sorry to crash your thread, guys, but I saw this and had to put my two cents in :cheer:

Having a dog that has a high value for a reward is only one part of doing drive training. You have to train the dog how to think when they are in drive, how the game works etc. If he is always trying to snatch the toy from you, won't listen/hear you because he's too hyped up, then you have drive for the toy but aren't really training in drive properly because you are missing all the other elements (if that makes sense).

There's a discussion thread on training in drive here K9 Pro Discussion Threads if you want to ask some questions and Steve is also coming up to Brissy in September for a workshop, which I think would be really worthwhile if you are interested in how to use drive in training. It may even be worth shooting him an email to ask if he'd be doing any private consults.

/thread invasion

Edited by huski
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Hey guys!

Mindy is pretty spoilt but she is quite a high energy dog and really would probably be happiest on an acreage or something where she could run around all day. Sadly I only have a small yard at the moment so I really need to get her out a lot for her to be happy.

As for tricks, she knows quite a lot:

hi 5 and hi 10

speak

roll over

weave (through my legs)

spin

are you sleepy? (this is where she puts her head on the floor and closes her eyes- v. cute)

Are you shy? (finally! not perfect, I would like her paw to go further over her face, but she gets the basic gist of it now)

Take a bow

Where is your ball/toy?

bring the newspaper in

close the door

open the door (to open doors and draws. have banned her form doing this now as she kept getting into her food cupboard and into my room!)

Not sure if this classifies as a trick but most people think its pretty funny- quick quick (pee on command)

I now want to teach her to wipe her paws, to dig on command and to crawl (funnily enough we never learnt this even though it seems fairly simple). Eventually I want her to be able to get the telephone and TV remote :rofl: But I need to first figure out how to minimise the slobber :p

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Great advice Huski! I didn't even know there was a K9Pro Thread!! *sneaks off to glean some tips*

Thanks :p I hope KG doesn't think I am picking on her or anything, but I think it's an important distinction to make. Too much drive is never a bad thing but having a dog that doesn't have self control or understands how the game works will not only lead to a frustrated dog but a frustrated handler :rofl:

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Awww, shucks, KG, that's very nice of you to say, though I can assure you I would barely have more experience than yourself or anyone else in this thread :p I've mostly made lots of mistakes which means I've spent lots of time fixing them ;)

If you ever want a trainer to consult with in Brissy who knows their stuff when it comes to drive training, Jane Harper from Dogs on Track is always a great choice :rofl:

Edited by huski
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clastic those raincoats are awesome, can i ask where you got them from? also are they thick lined or light lined? could you walk in them in summer?

edited to add a couple of new pics:

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Edited by dandybrush
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That pic of Raz leaning on Willow is so cute!! :p Also in the other pic Raz is all sprawled out with the frog legs. :rofl:

clastic those raincoats are awesome, can i ask where you got them from? also are they thick lined or light lined? could you walk in them in summer?

itsmeg made them. ;) - They're pretty light, you can choose between flannelette or fleece for the lining. I don't see why you couldn't use them in the Summer, they aren't thick at all.

Can't wait to see pics of Rumour, Diesel&Ryder!

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Hey aussielover, are you interested in doing obedience trials with Mindy? Or perhaps DWD? Sounds like she would enjoy something like that!

I really missed agility this week because it wasn't on. I think I missed it more than Ava did :)

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