Heartful

It is possible that there is another problem but impossible to know without the diagnostics that you will likely have recommended at the referral practice. The history of on again off again lameness and “lazy”sit go hand in hand with cruciate disease, but there has been more discussion of popliteal muscle injury in BC recently, as a possible imposter to cruciate disease. Hopefully they offer x-ray and soft tissue ultrasound! There can also be lameness associated with ilipsoas muscle strain, but I usually find that these dogs have no issues with a correct sit. Bunny hopping is typically associated with hip disease such as dysplasia. But again, with hip disease sitting is not generally a problem unless there is a problem in the pelvis/sacrum/low back as well. Panosteitis is generally limited to growing puppies, so not as likely for your kiddo. Good Luck!!! Make sure they take comparison X-ray views of the other leg!!!

I was wondering about that. He has very good engagement for the most part and I could care less about his love or lack there of of strange dogs, as long as he is comfortable around them. Thanks for the reply

I have a young neutered male dog (just turned 2yrs) that Ive raised since birth. He was a singleton puppy, therefore I believe has some missing pieces as far as dog to dog socialization. Generally speaking he could care less about other dogs. However, recently, he was rushed by 2 puppies in a group class and did not take kindly to it. He recovered well, worked very well (agility) but I could definitely see that he was keeping his eyes on at least one of the puppies. Easily distracted with some behaviors and engagement. I have also noted that, if he feels slighted or put into what he considers a stressful or surprising situation from another dogs pressure, he holds quite a grudge. I am looking for ways to help him feel more confident in situations that are out of his control. I will not be going back to this class because I do not want to risk him developing behavior problems or reactivity that result from people who cant control their dogs. I absolutely do not use any aversives in training and, as I said, he has never really been overly concerned with any dogs in the past...this seems to have developed over the past 2-3 months. Could age be an issue or is it just that he has started stacking triggers over time and now he is developing an actual issue? Thanks!

I have started to audit Anne's foundation course and look forward to learning a new game. How do you feel your dog's understanding has evolved?

There must also be a gene for the opposite behavior. One that makes people (or dogs), well...unfriendly.

Can anyone tell me if there have been any new findings on epilepsy since this thread was originally shared?

Definitely shorten the distance and probably the duration that the game is being played - end the game when you have had one or two successes, well before she chooses to end the game. My young dog is finally starting to reliably bring me his toy. I stopped picking up the toys at all - if he wants to play he gets to bring me the toy. I also use another toy in my hand, as I throw one toy, when he grabs it, I make the toy in my hand "alive" - sometimes out of excitement he will drop the toy he has but he is driving back to me quickly, which I want. He will now retrieve his less favorite toy, knowing that when he brings it back, I will play with him with his favorite toy. When my dogs are tired or hot, they will definitely stop bringing me the toy right away, so I know if I have to ask them to bring a toy, they are probably done with the game. I try my best not to let it get to that point. Also, I initially train in a really small area, like a hallway in the house..Be really, really consistent and don't put a timeline on it. Too many people seem to think that every dog should learn a specific "trick" within a certain amount of time. I know of dogs that it has taken a year to get a reliable retrieve... Have fun

ohhh - stepping into my dog's space is a good one!!! will have to try!

At my last agility class my instructor was talking about proofing her dogs in the weaves with a tunnel entrance pointed in her dog's face about 3-4 feet off of the weave poles. She asked her students if they thought their dogs could do the challenge... Proofing is so much fun!!! Here's the result that we had What kinds of proofing do you do for your equipment???

Agreed. Dogs do have a brilliant way of generalizing behaviors. My agility dogs do not go into herding mode when i am doing agility, nor do they go into agility mode when they are working sheep. My young dog, in fact, has much more patience and even thoughtfulness on sheep than he does in the agility ring. This is just my personal experience...I am no professional trainer or competitor and my dogs are not "finished" in either venue.

haha!!! Very narrow escape!!!

Enjoy your month off! It's not easy but well worth it for everyone!

My primary reason for teaching them separately is because I really feel that the target plate with sustained nose touch helps teach the dog to drive to position, as well as makes it VERY easy to mark the correct behavior, so that there is no question from the dog. By teaching a nose touch to a target plate on the ground, I can easily get the behavior without a ton of failures ON agility equipment. I never want my dog to associate equipment with failure or too many lack of reward repetitions.... I want it to be easy and to progress quickly once on equipment. I can work foot placement, stay, toy proofing, speed, motion proofing all on the ground without introducing agility equipment. I do work it on a lot of other equipment - balance equipment, stairs, etc...before getting to the agility equipment. By the time they get to work on equipment, they basically already understand the behavior... I teach 2o2o without the target plate so that the dog can learn how to use his body - rear limb awareness and driving the rear legs back into position as the front feet come off. I think putting a target plate out to early puts all of the focus on the front end. Those rear legs should "Stick" and that requires strength and awareness work. The dog does not likely see them as one behavior if they are both used in training...they likely see it as two - I run to the end and put two feet off, then touch the ground with my nose (or target). It also makes it easier (IMO) to revisit in the future...

- video 1 video 2 video 3 This is my approach to 2o2o, I teach the 2o2o position and the target separately. Then I put them together. I don't add agility equipment until my dog can drive across my equipment at work. I do a LOT of short sessions over the course of my young dog's early training, teaching to target the plate on the ground without moving his feet around was very challenging but I think will be VERY helpful when we get to actual equipment. The video listed is the third videoed session. I moved along too quickly which is obvious in the first video. Video 2, I use a step to help him with an exaggerated position. Video 3, things start to come together. But I will still start the exercise with a target plate on the ground with no equipment (OR in my hand). I am not a professional, but this has worked well for me so far

The timing must be a challenge to get down...I have thought about teaching a running a-frame, but I'm worried that I wouldn't be fast enough for a RDW...