Marble

that was hilarious!

that's awesome! i sort of know how you feel because i have dresden, an acd mix which is really unusual, at least where i am. i took her to the beach and everyone thought she was a lunatic psycho dog who was going to kill them, finally this lady came down the beach with an aussie shepherd and two border collie mixes, she was awesome and gave dresden a chance to play with her dogs and they all did great, i was so excited, it was great.

she is gorgeous. my parents had a weimeraner before i was born and i have always thought they were incredible dogs! i'd like to adopt one someday. your girl is really prettY!

what about shobermans? or sheimeraners, maybe shippets.......i'm picturing a really tall skinny dog with random large patches of thick shiba fur and a shiba face......very scary.......

wow cassie, that's a lot of big dogs! :) i was thinking about my two dogs, a total of probably 80-85 pounds eat.......i can't imagine feeding your group :) i would love to see pictures but i know the frustration of a slow computer.............

one american eskimo/? mix, and one doberman/australian cattle dog mix, both crazy :)

you should check this second guy out and at least get some information :) that is very ineresting timing and i would be VERY suspicious of the first breeders if they won't tell you how much their dogs are, they should not have anything to hide.

i have to laugh at dresden a lot because i have two big stainless steel dog bowls that her food and water are in, i feed her in her crate and they are right in front by the door. there is a bout ten inches between them but if i forget to take her food bowl out before i tell her to come out she looks at me like i'm torturing her and walks up to them, looks at them hesitates and looks very sheepish.........with encouragement she'll step over them and come out. it's really funny though because this is the same dog that leaps all over the place it the woods like a maniac when we go for our walks........they are some funny creatures :)

thanks for the encouragement bubblezzz- i was working with dresden again last night on coming from a down up into a sit, she did really well the first several times but then she got lazy and just laid there. i was like "oh no, now what do i do??", then i thought i'd just ignore her and see what happened. a minute or two later she (she'd been staring at me the whole time) sat up and as soon as she did i c+t'd. she did the same thing a total of two more times (being lazy) but each time she sat back up like she was supposed to faster and faster, the last time she was up almost right when i lifted the treat up (to get her back into a sitting position! it was awesome! let me know how it goes with cosmic too! :) and that nancy b, she's a smart one :)

[quote name='abker17']I'll make sure to keep everyone updated... :D[/quote] please do, i'm really curious to hear how it turns out too:)

i just wrote a whiny post about how long it is taking dresden and how i still have to keep the clicker in my pocket......and i now have to edit it because i just worked with her for a few minutes and saw some real progress. first, i had the clicker out of my pocket and she barely even jumped the first time i clicked it. second, she was watching the clicker and even was touching it to try to get me to click it so she could get her treat!!! third, i am teaching her sit, up and down, and also to show me her teeth and i think she's catching on!!!!!!!! she doesn't like to show me her teeth but i think she'll get it if i'm patient enough :) oh how sweet it is to be making some progress.

don't give up, he or she will show up when you're least expecting it :)

that's really good news! :) she is a very lucky dog to have you taking such good care of her.

dresden does that too, but only after she does her business.......she's my first dog ever to do it and it really makes me laugh.

i know this is a dumb question, and i came in on the end of this but what is a 'frenchie' other than gorgeous? just wondering, thanks for sharing all the picture roo, after dresden's all grown up and trained ( i guess like 6 years or so.... :roll: ) i am going to get another dog, maybe adopt a mastiff or greyhound or weimeraner or whippet.........

that's too funny, you write really well and i could just picture the whole scenario as i read your post :)

regarding her snapping when you push her into postion.......what if you used the treat/lure techniques where you slowly lift a treat just above their head to get them to sit or slowly draw it down to the floor for 'down' etc? maybe if you used a hands off technique like this it would help build her confidence ? it might be worth a try :)

[quote name='Malamum'] He really has grown soooo much, I just cant get over it. I remember the day I bought him home and he was so tiny and sooky now as I type he is standing next to me with his head just casually resting on the computer desk.[/quote] happy birthday to indy! how big is he now? he really is beautiful.

[quote name='Foster']My suggestion: RUN, RUN far far away... [i]sometimes i think that would be a REALLY good idea :)[/i] She learned things quickly and wanted to please but she had her moments. [i]see, that's what i keep hearing from ACD owners, they learn fast.......i also get frustrated because i always read these dog training books and they always say something about how "your dog should catch on very quickly" or, "most dogs learn this with just a few sessions of work", and dresden never [b]looks[/b] like she's learning anything......... We still have a dominance struggle every 6 months or so. [i]we have those constantly, i am always reminding her that no, she can't climb on me every time i sit down, no she will not be petted until she sits, no she will not shove in front of me in doorways.......etc etc [/i] I would insist on Dresden listening the first time, period. If you give a command twice then they won't do it until the second time you say it. Then they will push it to you saying it 3 times etc....Never allow Dresden to get away with not listening...they seem to learn exactly what not to do and that is what they want. [i]i really try to do this, i know sometimes i mess up but usually i'm pretty good about this. [/i] So I guess I am saying never let them get away with a darn thing...these stubborn beasts will try and take control. I would suggest joining the MSN cattledog boards. They are nice folks and can answer many many questions. [i]i'll check that out :) sounds good.[/i] Thanks for the compliments on Foster...she is a good dog most of the time. I was glad when she became 2...she really became more laid back.[/quote] [i]it sounds like i'm mostly doing the right things and maybe the key i'm looking for is waiting till she's two (only another 10-11 months......:)) to really see a lot of improvement and do serious training, until then i guess i'll keep on top of her manners and basic stuff, and meanwhile i'll learn to be patient :) thank you for the help, foster and courtnek. i really appreciate it, i always thought these comments on how crazy smart cattledogs were must be exaggerated but since i got the crazy mutt i really know it's true...[/i]

i vote for the kong, and nylabones, although dresden was not interested in her kong when she was younger so i put it away for a while. i just now brought it back out again and now of course it's her favorite thing, it's the only toy she'll play with for more than thirty seconds...........she's crazy. like bk's blitz, she's usually not much for toys unless it's something forbidden. tonight she was in my room rooting around, so i checked to see what she had......she looked so innocent and there was nothing in her mouth, well i went out to the other room like two seconds later and she had this long piece of cardboard she was about to start working on.... which reminds me, milk jugs are something to try too, clean them out though with water and never leave your dog unsupervised though as they like to tear them into little pieces and could potentially eat them. dresden never ate any she just liked all the noise and being allowed to tear something up :)

i am so glad to hear he's doing better, if it makes you feel any better lady has gotten sprayed but skunks like three times in the last several months, you'd think she'd learn, but no........:)

by the way foster, i looked at your website and it looks really good, of course i like your foster and think she's gorgeous.........was she crazy when she was younger? like really crazy?

some of mine don't sound that nice but i always use them as terms of endearment. little lady dog, mutt dog, fruitcake, silly, crackhead (mostly dresden :) ), spazz, punk, sweetness (mostly lady), smarty pants, muttgirl, nutcase, monster.......there are a lot more but i can't think of that many right now.....:)

I know I've asked for advice for training Dresden a lot of times but I'm just wondering if anyone here, Foster, Bk or anyone else, knows of anything you really need to be careful about when training ACDS or of any ways to help them learn things more effectively. I guess what I'm asking is if there is something specific to the breed that I should know about training her. She's making progress but for a dog as stinking smart as she is it's very slow progress. I've just started clicker training Dresden, we're still at the very beginning so I can't really say how it's going......Thanks for any help you can give :)

that stinks! don't give up though, your dog is out there. one idea would be to check (you may have already) rescue groups in your area, they might be more patient with your schedule.......just a thought :)