LurcherGirl

I always mix play and training... it's the only way I can get my lurchers motivated to do anything! Training for my dogs is just playing with very specific rules, that's all! No, "good" (used as a clicker word in the example I have given) doesn't mean to my dog now to put a paw on the container! It means that what he just did was the correct thing... just as it would with a clicker. The cue for putting the paw on the container is added at a later stage and can be whatever word I want it to be, but it won't be "good". "Good" or a click simply means to the dog that what they have done is correct, which has earned them a reward and yes, that the exercise is finished now! But as my dogs know that it is likely that more training is to come, they only tend to go off and do their own thing when I actually tell them to because they are way too keen to get more treats and fun when training. As mentioned above, training as well as playing are fun times and get mixed here all the time! Training really should be not much more than sophisticated playing... After all, I also want my dogs to listen to me when they are playing (or doing anything else), not just when I am training! I do not want to offend you at all and fully accept your view , but these are comments that I often hear from people that don't really understand clicker training and how it works. My dogs know within seconds if I use a word instead of a clicker and that word can be anything, though it is usually short and sort of sharp like "good", "yes", "click", "yip" etc. They know the clicker training principles, they know a click is always followed by a treat, they know that a click means that they have done the right thing and they know that the click finishes the exercise. It just takes a couple of repetitions to make them link a word to a treat and realise that the word works the same as the clicker! Praise and treats are fine, but often general praise and treats (particularly treats) don't get to the dog quick enough and it is harder for them to figure out what they actually get rewarded for. Yes, I use praise (and treats if necessary) as well in everyday life, but for formal stuff or more specific problems, clicker training wins hands down every time.

Yep, our ginger dog (Flash) is also the nuttiest in the pack.

Fiona's story and others like hers are exactely the reason why I will not take Jesse to a groomers. American Cocker Spaniels need a lot of grooming as they need to be clipped and bathed frequently. I have therefore decided to invest into my own grooming equipment and now clip Jesse every two weeks myself. I think my job (after a bit of practice) on his coat is as good as anyone's! When Troy needed a bath, he was done after hydrotherapy and we were there to watch. That was ok. But I would never leave a dog in a grooming parlour. I have heard too many bad stories and also seen things with my own eyes that I would not want any of my dogs subjected to (e.g. left wet and shivering in the bath tub for over an hour before grooming and again, left on the grooming tables for way too long without actually working on the dog...). Vera

Dylan's always got injuries... He's had stitches about 8 times (half of which intentional attacks, half of which accidents) and if other dogs don't injure him, then bushes do... He had a thorn operated out of his side last year and has a swelling on his hock at the moment where there is possibly entered a foreign body... Flash however rarely gets injured. He seems to have a different skin. Vera

Hey... me too... they want to see both Dylan and Flash... Might see you in Hyde Park as well then.

You can use a "clicker word" instead of the actual clicker when training; something I do when I can't find a clicker or can't be bothered to use one. But the clicker is better because it is a neutral sound... it is not totally vital for clicker training though... (Just last night I quickly taught my puppy to put one paw on a container, I just said "good" instead of using a clicker, but used clicker training principles... it took maybe about 7 or 8 minutes until he repeatedly put his paw on the container without problems.) I do think though proper clicker training is different to training with a clicker. The key to clicker training is not just to mark the right behaviour instead of saying "good boy", it means training is done in small steps, it means that those small steps are repeated often until the dog understands it and executes them without hesitation, it means that exercises are taken apart and the individual steps are being practiced rather than the full exercise... etc. Many people just use a clicker instead of saying "good boy" and that's how many people justify also why they are not using a clicker "I can just as well use verbal praise"... but that's not necessarily proper clicker training though! Not sure whether that makes sense...

I can see a boxer jawline there. See

My thoughts too... does look lurchery to me...

Three or four years on from now, and we would have been very interested... That's one of the options for us when we are going to leave London in about three years...

I haven't got the foggiest idea what I am - my parents (in Switzerland) were certainly both very working class background, but due to my dad's good career are now middleclass... I don't know what I would class myself... working, middleclass... who cares! I know who I am and that's all I need to know. Vera

Flash gets that sometimes after a walk in the country park. I have never found out what it was, though I suspect that it is a certain plant or something in the water. Allergy testing showed up nothing. When Flash goes mad like this after a walk, I give him antihistamines to calm him down as it otherwise takes ages for the itching to disappear. Vera

If you check their newsletter, you will find that all artificial preservatives (BHA and BHT) have now been taken out from all the foods bar one range. I think if you contact Ceri from CSJ you will find that the ingredient lists on the website might not be 100% up-to-date at the moment. Vera

All of ours (bar one which is vegan) are on CSJ CP (18 and 21). They do very well on it and have done for years. If money was an issue, I'd have no problem feeding them the CSJ foods in the cheaper price range. Vera

When do they lose them needle like baby teeth? - Starting at about 4 months... my 17 week old puppy lost his first teeth last week. When will his bits drop? - We could feel them at 8 weeks old when we picked him up. When will he stop growing? - 10 months to about 2 years old, depending on breed and individual dog. When will he stop digging holes in the garden and pulling what little plants I have left up? - Never...

I don't know the food, but what does it say on the ingredients label?

A step in the right direction, I hope it will be law for ALL labels soon, not just over 10 kg... I too always inform dog owners (particularly also in our classes) about dog foods like Bakers, Pedigree etc. Many take the advice and change their dog's food, but I always find it sad to meet people again later on and their dogs are still (or again) on rubbish food... Vera

Wow, just my kind of dog... love his facial expression! (But no, 4 dogs, 2 of which lurchers, is quite enough for now!).

Even if it was real, it looks more like a Neapolitan Mastiff anyway, not an English one...

I don't understand what the fun is in having a dog if it can't be taken for a walk (of course, it's different if they are injured or too old)? When we first got Jesse, I was desperate for time to pass until I could start taking him out for walks... even now, he is 15 weeks old, I can't wait until he is old enough to take him for long proper walk in the parks and woods... Nothing better than to see the dogs run and enjoy themselves!

I always wondered this how people can say that a choke chain works without hurting the dog, because the dog reacts on the noise of the chain... but at some point, the dog must have learnt that the noise means that pain is to follow. So at some point the dog must have been choked by the chain at least once or twice to learn that... How else would he know to stop pulling when he hears the chain noise? No-one's ever been able to answer me that question so far... Vera

Definitely not expecting too much. When we brought our puppy Jesse home at 8 1/2 WEEKS old, I used the word "toilet" immediately whenever he went outside. Within TWO DAYS, he connected the word and went immediately when asked to go "toilet". He is now 15 weeks old and is still the same. I open the back door, ask him to go "toilet", he will do a wee or poo and if I ask again, he will do the same again if he needs to go still. I let Jesse out for toiletting in the morning during the week at 6.30 am (before I take the big boys for a walk) and at week-ends whenever he whines, which is usually around 8 or 9 am. I then put him straight back in his crate (which is in our bedroom) and he goes back to sleep. So, 9 months old is definitely not too young to teach to toilet on command and expect her to go back to bed after the morning toilet break. Luckily, Jesse basically gets up with the rest of them and lets us lay in without problems... I guess he just copied the rest of them and got used to it. Vera

I used various things... mostly the same as for our adult dogs: cheese, frankfurters, sausages, meat etc. Just cut them in really small pieces and watch the poos to make sure that he is fine with the different foods. Vera

Flash often rolls in the grass to cool down...

Ours just wait until they get fed, so is not an issue for them. However, when the clocks go forward, it shouldn't really be an issue anyway, as they get fed earlier if you stick to the same times... when changing to wintertime, they get fed later... Vera

Jesse is a sable American Cocker Spaniel.