K9Fran

Jo - in your stock do you have any Q-Tease toys? Bluebird and duck? They should do the trick - nice amount of weight, great textures, rope handle - what more could she ask for?

I use a ragger, sweep it around you on the floor in as large a circle as you can - try and keep your body at right angles to the dog, or they will see you as defending it and a shy dog just won't approach. Failing that, few dogs can resist a dried rabbit skin.........

He sounds like an excellent candidate for clicker training.

Crating for 8 hours a day seems excessive to me, and when you add to that the owners sleep time, time for other activities, the dog will actually spend very little 'quality time' with its owner - so what is the point in having a dog in the first place?

Tuna bread with garlic! OR Lidls bratwurst.....

Can you slip the lead under your foot while you're standing still to tether him a little?

I'd say make sure she NEVER gets food from anyone else, especially from their bum/treat bag. If this happens just once, she'll go into overdrive the next few times 'just in case'...

Have you tried training a 'leave it'command?

Some dogs do grind their teeth, but yes, it can also be stress related and you might expect it to stop when he's settled. The standing thing sounds as if he's listening for something, and often seen in dogs in kennels, as if they are listening for the other dogs. Just be careful the distraction doesn't teach him to turn it into an attention seeking behaviour.

Pacing and panting would indicate pain to me I'm afraid.

She must get quite a buzz out of this sort of behaviour, and each time she gets to 'practise' it she's reminded of how much fun it is - this is made doubly difficult by the fact that it can also happen in your own back garden I think you're doing the right thing by avoiding woods were it might happen. It is possible to teach a 'chase recall' - Lyndsay has taught her BSD to recall from deer and sheep in the New Forest, but she doesn't (to my knowledge) come across them very often...........

Maybe she's feeling a bit 'rushed' and needs to take her own time/make her own decisions - if somebody dragged me onto a roller coaster I'd feel like my opinions weren't being valued, and I'd probably put up and shut up, but it wouldn't make me like the roller coaster any more....... However, sit me next to Anthony Head, and I MIGHT change my mind........

Waaaaaaaay back in 1973'ish, a new law was brought in, called the Sex Discrimination law - so a bunch of us girlies all came to school in trousers/slacks in school colours - Maroon, Navy or grey, and we looked very smart. However, the ring leaders were sent home, and the rest of us warned not to do it again. But it seems our point was made, and the uniform was soon changed to allow girls to wear trousers to school (but the boys then couldn't wear skirts........) What I'm saying is 'yes, I agree with a school uniform, so long as it is 'reasonable', but if not, then there are ways of getting it changed....

Dust can make any electrical components over heat, and this can stop them working

I do mystery shopping and sometimes get involved in customer service calls which involved follow up mail being sent, this is often identified (for me) with a code such as xxx Ms Blah de blah, so maybe your letter was identified in such a way, but the wrong account number was entered which threw up this incorrect information?

The value of the reward has got to exceed the distrust of the camera - cheese? Hot dog sausage? Liver cake? Tuna bread?.........

I believe the best way to solve these sorts of problems is to get your head around *why* the dog is doing it, rather than try and prevent them physically - there is usually some need that the dog is trying to meet, wether it's a dietary deficiency or a need for stimulating excercise. Once you've found out what it is, and met that need in a more appropriate/acceptable way, the dog will cease the unwanted behaviour. Using a muzzle will probably mean your dog will work out a way to satisfyher need in some other, possibly even more unacceptable way.

The problem with SA is that you have to be consistent if retraining your dog to approach the situation differently - so you should only leave him alone for the shortest of periods which are totally under your control - and this may mean starting off by simply teaching him to stay relaxed on his bed........ Have you been told about a DAP defuser? This can be helpful in cases of SA, but may need to be part of a multi pronged approach.

You might want to look at her diet - it sounds to me as if she's getting waay too much protein - 4 lambs hearts is a lot, most average sized dogs would get one for a meal. Also, by feeding a commercial complete food and then adding meat you are defeating the object of feeding a complete meal, because it is just that - complete (and you might want to steer away from Pedigree and Butchers as well, up there with Bakers complete for feeding the nuttiest dogs I've had in puppy classes - changed to something far simpler, like Autarky, Nutro, or Burns and they were different dogs!)

Brilliant!!

Perhaps his abuse was closely linked to leads or maybe only happened out on walks?

If Bertie is grumbling and the pup isn't taking any notice, then I really think you need to be prepared to step in and remove the pup, as if Bertie decides to 'really tell' the puppy, he could do some serious damage. Do you use a crate at home? Could you train the puppy to spend time in that? Maybe sending Bertie and Annie off to day kennels isn't helping his view of the puppy either......

False, we have several, but the TV licence man seems to think we don't have a TV licence, 'cos OH bought the telly's but the licence is in my name............ The person below me has been to Florida

If you grate it and freeze it - try adding a dusting of cornflour - it helps stop it sticking together....... I bought two large pieces of stilton the other day, reduced from £3 to £1.50 each - I hate the stuff, but Dave and the kids love it!!!

We've got a memory foam topper - from Ebay, and it's brilliant, although the mattress under neath it is now giving out, the topper has retained it's shape. I'd dream of having a full mattress.....