DogPaddle

Well on the upside they did take a website on JRTs and their behavs. and needs, there is also a link on the page for a JRT rescue. We had a breif talk about dogs and hopefully we will have more or they will opt for the JRT rescue option realizing this is not an animal they can adequately care for.

If you want a quick solution and don't have a cinderblock, try a tennis ball in a laundry hamper, Kavik worked at it for quite a while as a puppy. Once he figured it out we put the tennis ball on the ground and put the hamper over it. Kavik is crazy about balls as well so this worked out fine for him, just make sure Ben can see the tennis ball through the hamper.

As inconvienient as it may seem if you are concerned about the dog breaking or escaping your halti or gl I would use your secure collar with a second longer leash as well. This way if the dog does esacape the halti/gl it will only move forward till the second leash goes taught (be familiar with the lengths.) That being said, a properly adjusted halti has very little play in it and most dogs cannot remove it unless the sit down and use their paws and really work at it, you'll be there to tell the dog no. If your dog can [i]slip[/i] out of your halti it is way to loose, don't know about a gl though. It sounds like halti/gl would be a good option to try with you dogs. If they continue to lunge with the halti on you may have to discontinue use though as they may hurt their necks, most dogs do not continue to lunge. Kavik (my BC) can differentiate behaviour based on the device he is wearing, for instance: Wearing his regular collar - Leisure time. No special behaviour expected, will bark, pull, let his attention wander a moderate amount based on stimuli. Wearing his halti - Work time. We are obviously going to be doing some training - more focused, less barking, no pulling. Wearing his pack - Play/Adventure time. Sits absolutely still to have pack put on, stands when nec. and steps through loops in harness. Frisks, jumps, barks, very focused, some pulling until we get to the park or lake. Your dog will probably be able to determine what behaviours are expected in the halti vs the pulling harness.

This training method involves throwing chains at a dog?!

Unless you plan to actually show the dog I would strongly suggest getting a mixed breed from a shelter or rescue. There are virtually no health differneces but you will be saving a shelter animals life. Males and females have the same trainability but some males may be more dominent and thus more headstrong. BTW most of the Lassies were actually male dogs as the trainers found those paticular males easier to train. :niewiem: Adopting in early spring may make it easier to leash train and house train as the weather will be warmer so its nicer for you. But, you'll have to be out in the nasty weather eventually and it still rains in spring so if you find the right dog don't let the time of year stop you. One other word, be sure your husband is fully ready to accept the dog into the house. He doesn't have to be wildly crazy about the idea but if he plainly doesn't want the dog in the house it will almost certainly be a difficult process and quite possibly end badly for the dog. What resistances does your husband have to a dog? Your choices in age of dog, breed of dog, size of dog, etc may be able to address his concerns and make things easier.

Almost all the cages or runs at our local shelter have little this animal sponsered by tags.

Haltis and GLs are different. GLs are more adjustable so if you have a growing dog this may be better, however my personal experience with them is that they do not release the tension on the muzzle as easily as a halti but I could have just had a bum GL. As far as I know you can use a clicker with any other training method. Some of the dogs in my obedience class are on haltis but still require treats to not fall behind their owner on the heeling excercises so you could certainly use a clicker in that situation. Dog aggression is tricky and may require a dog behaviourists assistance but postive reinforcement/clicker training may be a good start. You will almost certainly want to work on your watch/look command (and of course have your NO command down perfectly) and then slowly socialize the dog more and more. As for crate training: Start the dog off slow. Feed them in their crates so the crate is a positive place. Make the crate available to the dog as much as possible, leave the door wide open and leave the dogs bedding in there if it has any, praise the dog if it enters the crate at any point for any reason. Ensure that the crate is only large enough for the dog to sit, lie down, stand up or turn around - this encourages them not to mess in the crate and also encourages them to sleep in the crate. After the dog thinks the crate is an ok thing start by putting the crate in the living room with you and put the dog in with a special treat like a kong stuffed with something and close the door, stay right beside the dog and only leave them in for 5 min to start, gradually work up the time till you are at about half an hour. Always remove the special treat when the dog is not in the crate and give it to him/her when he is in the crate. If possible never let the dog out of the crate while it is fussing - let it out when it is calm and good (even if there is only a few seconds of this if you have a fussy dog.) Do not praise the dog on letting it out, only when you put it in or while it is quiet in the crate. If the dog fusses the best method is too ignore it, however, if it continues to much for you to bear or if it is hurting itself or the crate you can correct by either smacking your hand on the crate to make a startling noise or if this is ineffective lift one end of the crate 1cm or so off the ground and drop - do not give verbal commands if possible, your dog may be attention seeking and you don't want to reward it. After the dog fusses very little while in the crate with you present start just leaving the room for a bit, maybe just long enough to get a drink from the kitchen or something then begin to gradually increase the amount of time the dog is crated and cannot see you, try not to return to the dogs view while its fussing if possible. If biting persists try bitter apple on the crate are a squirt gun of water in extreme cases - only apply when the dog is chewing/biting at the bars.

We have one large crate, one med crate and now a large xpen. We have 3 dogs. When they were not quite so large we would crate them all together in one crate (there were no dog aggression problems to worry about.) For a while we had to split them between two crates and they were louder. Now we have the xpen - over 2 1/2 m in diameter - and the are back together with lots of room to play and they are fine again. All of my dogs have been crate trained since puppydom so that may contribute. Having them together helps Kavik who has a bit of seperation anxiety.

If you will be gone 8-9 hours see if a neighbour will come by halfway through the day to let her out, especially to start. (Do you walk her or use a doggie litterbox?) The benefits of the crate over the bathroom are: 1) The crate can be put in any room of the house so the dog can see the regular areas of its den and will not think its being shut out of the common traffic areas. Also may bark if in bathroom because may think you are home but in another room. 2) Crate allows dog to see more of the room it is in. 3) Dog may be able to listen to stereo or watch tv easier from a crate then from the bathroom. 4) If you visist or travel or go to the vets or have an emergency you pet is already crate trained and will have its safe place that can go anywhere thereby reducing its stress. You could also get a crate and an x-pen or perhaps just the xpen if you want to give your dog more space and still have all/some of the benefits of a crate. If you still want to use the bathroom as an area of containment make sure it is puppy proofed and try the radio trick in there. Best of Luck

Effects noticed when we got my mom's dog nuetered: Less aggressive. NO less energy. Less inclination to roam. Better abillity to focus on the tasks at hand. As sweet and as bright as ever - My Border Collie still isn't as smart or intuitive as Joe was.

Couple suggestions you could try. 1. Get a crate and slowly crate train her. This will save your furniture, carpeting and blinds and give her a secure feeling zone of her own. [Crate training methods can include feeding the dog in the crate, putting the dog in the crate starting with very short periods with you still there say while watching tv, slowly increase time in crate and begin leaving in crate for very short periods when your not there and work your way up, have a very special favourite treat she only gets when in the crate and if possible don't let her out while she is fussing only when she is calm, always praise her when she goes into the crate, do not use as a punishment, get a crate that is only big enough for the dog to sit, lie down, stand or turn around in - any larger and they mail mess in the crate.] 2. When you are out put her in the crate in a room that has carpeting and a fair amount of furniture and leave a radio on with classical music or the tv on an animal or wildlife channel - this masks some of her noise but more importantly gives her something to listen to or watch, don't forget the special treat. 3. As for the cowering - time will probably fix that, she needs lots of love. Do not use a bark collar as this problem occurs when you are not home and dogs should not be left in bark collars unattended. Good for you for adopting an adult dog. :D

Sterilization=Fixing=Spay/Nueter=Desexing, all the same thing. You may need to work at slowly accustomizing your dog to others in as relaxed and enjoyable a situation for your dog as possible, enlists any freinds with relaxed dogs you can. Praise all positive behaviours, use treats or toys or whatever she likes. Start slow. Also work on your watch or look command so even if your dog is not getting on with other dogs if she is focused on you she will not be acting aggressively towards other dogs.

Thanks so much everyone, I think we wil just leave Tyr as he is unless he starts experiencing difficulties with his dew claws.

Tyr hasn't caught his on anything yet.

Is Aqualaunch like water long jump for dogs? Last I heard only Newfs could compete in most water rescue competitions (I guess the thought is that other breeds don't stand a chance :wink: )

Anyone know how likely Tyr is to rip those little dew claws if I don't have them removed. If it's not very likely I'll probably leave them as they don't seem to bother him at all.

Is she fixed? Is the aggression directed at a paticular sex of dog?

This will probably not lessen without concerted effort and socialization. Pugs Lee apparently sees it as his role to protect you and your kids, other children may not be an issue because they are small and not a threat.

Tyr has wobbly rear dew claws that our ver suggested we have removed when we get him nuetered. Our other two boys don't seem to have any rear dew claws. I really don't know much about this so any help would be great.

Does anyone have any experience with SAR training? In paticular what ages, if any, are ideal to start training? There is a group 500km from here that advocates 18months to 2 years.

OK so I am tryiing to find a large list of sports or activities to try with my three guys to see what they might like/be good at. So far I know about a bit about: Agility Flyball Mushing Pulling Carting And of Course Tug and Fetch What other sports or activities do you people know of or participate in with your dogs?

Calm now Kiger. I'm sure you'll both do fine. Have you tried doing a mockup of a show with a stranger acting as judge? Might help but I'm sure there are more experienced people who will have great advice for you.

I just like to mention in regards to the photo - There are six dogs standing tethered, roughly in pairs, almost every single team is even numbered so the object in the photo cannot be a dog being dragged in its harness.

Kavik does not like Wellness, will only pick at it or eat it if very hungry. He will eat the Mmillenia which is beef based.

Does your puppy really enjoy playing fetch? If she does then the simplest solution is to not throw again until she returns it to where you want. The reward for the correct behaviour is the game [i]she[/i] wants to play. Don't do the work for her, don't go get the ball or kong, you may want to start with a couple balls or kongs so she has some chances. Try starting with a long rope formed into a 10m circle on the ground if she returns the ball or kong anywhere within your circle on the ground praise/treat and throw again. You can make it smaller later. It took Kavik about 6months to actually want to retrieve, now he won't stop. We kept trying to play fetch every once in a while, if he didn't show interest we played a different game. Once he decided he liked the game it didn't take him long to learn to return the thrown item to me.