vaporflowers

I just watched a video of a woman who is training a competition "heel" command on her deaf Akita. The dog is low energy, generally slow moving and hard to motivate. She is training with food, which she tosses to get some drive and momentum going, and that's working nicely. But as a jackpot, she actually gave the dog a magazine to shred. You could see the instant delight in the dog's face that she had PERMISSION to tear some paper up to her heart's content. Sometimes, you have to go with what works. As a jackpot, I occasionally give my BC a soft toy that I KNOW he will destroy in 0.2 se

If he isn't interested in running and chasing the ball, can you find another activity he does enjoy? If he likes to shred things, bring a puzzle toy stuffed with food (a Kong, an Everlasting treat ball, etc). He is still "participating" in exercise time, even if it's just lying down and working on getting the food or treats out. Feed him his meals out of Kongs. Once you've gotten engagement with the Kong or similar toy with food in it, try tossing it before he settles down to chew. Take a soft toy, like a braided rope or fleece, and see if he likes to tug. Or attach it to a string and

I second the over-drinking theory. I didn't know that this was a thing until I started working with retrievers regularly, but within the past year, 5 or 6 puppy raisers have had pups that urinated in their sleep. The pups were cleared for UTIs, and we figured out that several of them had a water obsession and tended to "tank up". I'd always raised dogs who had free access to water, but these pups actually had to be given frequent access to small amounts of water. One even had to have his water measured. In a couple of the pups, the urinating also seemed to get worse with stress. By "stress", I

When a dog is engaging in behaviors that I don't care for, I try REALLY hard to not assume that the dog "knows better". Often, they don't. Training is not just about saying "no", but rather showing the dog the right answer, over and over and over again. And you should expect regressions. All of these "bad behaviors" are VERY normal dog behaviors: - Charging up the stairs: dogs get excited and like to run, the stairs may signal a chance to go outside or eat supper or snuggle before bedtime. Stairs can also be slippery or at a steep pitch, so some dogs will rush them to get it over with. Som

I do think that, generally speaking, border collies are less tolerant of rude or overbearing dog behavior. They're quicker to tell a rude dog off, and they also don't generally like to wrestle with strange dogs. Many border collies won't play until they know a dog well, and many never really get into the frat-boy/bouncy/in-your-face wrestlefests that other breeds enjoy (retrievers).

The jump from two to three is much different I think than the jump from one to two. You're also talking about getting several dogs in a relatively short amount of time. My goal, as someone mentioned above, is to get my one dog trained to a level I'm comfortable with, because they'll teach habits as well as picking up "new dog" stuff. Border collies also tend towards some body sensitivity, and many (not all) don't like the frat-boy style of play that retrievers bring. When dogs mature at about 1.5 years (in my experience), their true personality and feelings towards other dogs sol

Julie also mentioned tethering. My terrier has been helped by the Thundershirt... it's not a miracle but it has taken the edge off. What gets him are the 3am storms with lots of lightning. He'll start pacing, climbing behind the television, or trying to get on top of things. He usually seeks us out for comfort for most storms, but the 3am ones get him riled and he doesn't want us touching him. Tethering him and preventing him from pacing/climbing/etc has been slowly helping. He got a bit worse before he got better, but by not being able to engage in his unsafe, panicked behavior, he

1. Like everyone else said, she's a babypup! I start training early with my guys, but it's at their own pace. If they just want to hang out and be a dog most of the time, then that's ok! At first I thought we were talking about an adolescent dog... at this age, I would put most of your focus onto socialization and exposures. Gradually introduce her to people, crowds, traffic, city environments, country environments, livestock, screaming children, unsteady surfaces, strange underfootings (metal grates, sewer lids, etc)... the key here being GRADUALLY. Make the big wide world a fun, relaxin

So. Much. Panting.

I LOVE the Easy Walk. It really simplifies teaching loose leash walking. Glad it worked out so well for Kelso!

Amazing score!!! Congratulations!

One thing I learned with the broad jump is to mix it up A LOT. I stand at various places all over, not just in front or to the left. I stand all "around the clock"... on the right, behind it, in front of it... I also run past it. I also vary what I throw be it treats, toys, or nothing, and at what point during the jump I throw it... but in a band-aid situation, I'm throwing crap all the time, hahaha. I RARELY work on the fronts now in conjunction with the broad jump in practice. Scorch did the same thing (at trials, ugh), missing the jump entirely when he normally loved it and come to

Hmm, I don't know if I'd want a "wooly" coat replacement hahaha. (If what you mean by "wooly" are those soft, fluffy, tangle-y hairs) But I do miss my boy's mane! Intact: 100_0391 by VaporFlowers, on Flickr Neutered: IMAG0210 by VaporFlowers, on Flickr He's been neutered for 2 years, and it doesn't appear to fluctuate much seasonally.

I would argue that the secondary sex characteristics of male dogs certainly get more "set" with later neutering. I've seen it repeated many times within the guide dog population at the school I work for. Intact males have larger heads, more muscle tone, larger "equipment", and in certain breeds (when we used Aussies, for example) more coat. Males neutered at 6 months or earlier had smaller heads and were less "thick" than their brothers who remained intact. Males neutered later would often lose some of the bulkiness to their muscle, and sometimes the excess coat would die down as well, but

HAHAHAHAHA! When you find that sugar daddy, be sure to share him!