khanu

Plenty I don't know and can't do, including putting out regular newsletters as you well know I've just lived with a couple of mechanics in my time and have had more than one knackered peugeot plus it could well be something other than the bypass valve, I just know that they are a known issue on pugs and I had one go myself. Have spent a lovely day (well half a day) at Brands Hatch watching the bike practise before this weekend's racing. Was nice to sit in the sun (well shade otherwise I burn to a crisp) watch some bikes, read a book, laze about generally knowing that I don't need to feel guilty about it as I've got time off work to do everything else that needs doing. We are doing a car boot sale on sunday. I've never done one before. I'm unconvinced that anyone will want to pay money for any of our crap but OH reckons they will. We are going to a place with a big field behind it so I'm taking a couple of dogs so that I can do some training if all else fails

Sounds like the air bypass valve, or possibly the bypass valve sensor. Unless you know someone who knows what they are doing and can take a look at the valve and clean it, or check the sensor you'll need to take it to a garage. Parts should be fairly cheap on an older car though, could probably pick up the unit for £40 or so from a scrappies or 2nd hand merchant.

I'm really annoyed that they are asking the wrong f****** question and that spineless clegg has yet again sold out. It should be "do you want voting reform?", and then we get to decide what (assuming most people don't want to keep the horrifically unfair first past the post system). Also really annoyed that the "no" brigade have been spreading propaganda like the BNP would get in if we used AV. Or having people trying to work out the outcome had we had AV in past elections - you can't possibly know because 1) people tend to vote tactically now as first past the post is so horrific, 2) you have no idea who would be people's 2nd or 3rd choice (or even if the one they voted for was actually their first choice). Will be voting yes I expect. With FPTP my vote becomes meaningless and that really really pisses me off.

Hello all, I've been sporadically reading and not posting as I've been all about college and getting dissertation done recently. I have finally finished it, got it printed and bound this morning and I'm just about to go and post it off to college. I can feel a whole load of weight lifting already. Only 3 more lectures to go, 1 essay, 1 practical and 1 viva to go and I'm all done. 5 years of college is nearly over.

My memory foam pillow has helped with my shoulder/neck pain

Been to Ipswich today to pick up foster dog, who is currently curled up next to OH on the sofa Please excuse my agility trainers in the foreground!

I actually find it pretty easy to handle change - once I've decided that something is the best course I can just get on and do it. It's uncertainty that I find difficult and trusting in my gut feeling that something is right. Normally I can back up my gut feel with some hard facts and so come up with a logical argument and then its all decided and I'm fine. Recently though my gut feel has not entirely matched with logical argument and so I've found some things tough to decide and end up deciding nothing. However after a number of people telling me to trust myself and go with things, I've taken a deep breath and done it. Still not sure how this new job will turn out, and there are some good arguments against me taking it, although there are some good arguments for it too. What's most scary about it is that I know I've taken a job that has a finite lifetime, I've taken it knowing it's not particularly a career move and I currenlty have every intention of quitting it in 2-3years time if I'm still doing the same thing. It could lead on to my dream engineering job, but probably unlikely. But I am now in a place where my dream engineering job doesn't have the pull that it once did. That is what freaks me out most I think, I've always had a sort of career plan and now I'm just not that interested in it anymore...... Anyway so my plan with dealing with change with accompanying uncertainty - go with the flow and trust my gut.

Finish my degree Organise my time so I can do the above and get a reasonable mark. Sort out Breckin's agility and get some one to ones done Start Talyn on some agility Do more shaping with all the dogs Get running properly again Find new places to walk the dogs, particularly ones on the route to work!

I am thankful I decided to start the TTouch practitioner training in 2010. Not only have I met some incredible people, and spent 12 of my most relaxed days ever at Tilley Farm, and discovered something that really resonates with me. I also got to meet Talyn - I will be forever grateful that Tina at Tilley Farm convinced me to volunteer to foster him, and I'm even more grateful that ESSW agreed to let me foster and then keep him. He has taught me so much this year. I am thankful that Syd is still with us and seems no worse for wear for his little episode in November. I really thought I wouldn't be bringing him home when we rushed to the vets that day. I am thankful that I have been able to spend time with some special people this year. A few in particular have shaken my world up a little and I'm trying hard to follow their advice. So much so my new job starts in a couple of days. It isn't a huge leap (still in same company) but when the opportunity came up I figured I should take it. I'm still not sure how it will all pan out, but I'm trying very hard to just go with the flow!

The date might help eh? 30th Jan 2011

Hello all, hope you had a good Christmas. Ours wasn't the best but wasn't terrible either. Have decided I'm not having everyone over next year though. Got a busy busy year coming up with my degree finishing, getting well into the swing of the TTouch practitioner training and I also start a new job on 4th Jan. I'm assisting at a TTouch workshop in Croydon in January in aid of Dogstar - posted in events here if you are at all interested and able to come, please do. Jacqui is a fab practitioner and a brilliant teacher, you'll learn a lot I promise.

A one day workshop to give you practical skills to help your own dog. Learn about the TTouch method including body work and ground work. All proceeds from this workshop go to Dogstar Foundation. From 10am to 4pm, 50 per attendee. Light refreshments including tea, coffee and biscuits will be available all day but attendees are asked to bring a packed lunch Venue: St Swithuns Church Hall, Grovelands Road, Purley, Surrey CR8 4LB Contact: Ring Jacqui Carter P2 on tel. 020 8668 4326 or m. 07731 634471. Email: [email protected]. For more information go to www.freewebs.com/jacquittouch/ To learn more about Dogstar Foundation go to www.dogstarfoundation.com

Sleep tight Grace Thinking of you all

We are getting post - well I am, all the stuff I've ordered recently has arrived. C is still waiting for a lot of his stuff! Dogstar calendar and cards arrived the day after you said you posted them - love them

I'm very proud of Talyn - he passed the assessment at our obedience classes last night and now moves up to intermediate. I really wasn't expecting him to since we have had so much trouble with waits and stays - he moves as soon as I even shift my weight. Well he did, after some work over the last couple of weeks he managed to sit and down for over 15 secs at a time with me also moving away from him. For a dog that basically finds it very hard to be still or do anything below warp speed I'm very pleased. He is also trying very hard with walking to heel, and will correct himself as he charges ahead, just a shame that it only takes 2 steps before he is ahead and having to correct himself. Still when we started he couldn't even manage to sit to the side of me and I couldn't take half a step without him being way out in front. He even manages to settle on his mat between exercises which is a really hard thing to do for many dogs not just him. He even manages it when other dogs are up and working around him. He tries so hard and is so focused. I just love that little man

Yay collars for xmas! Can I get these 2 please? How do you want me to pay? and what's the p&p please?

Double rainbows are caused by the double reflection of the sunlight in the water droplet. You can get triple rainbows too if it is bright enough and the angle is right

Not that it'll make you feel any better, but I'm in the same boat It appears that doing a 2nd degree is a complete waste of time apparently and one day I'll realise that sodding around with dogs is only good as a hobby. It seems that it doesn't really matter that I'm bored with engineering, it matters far more that they can tell people I'm an aero engineer working in CFD We get on better now we live 40-odd miles away and I've decided not to discuss work or "my hobby" anymore with them.

He uses the spray collar under a very specific set of circumstances - it isn't used for fear based aggression, it is used for predatory chasing and it is used only when the rest of the "programme" has been followed through and the dog is *still* chasing the target - even when/if you can call them off of other targets quite readily. The point of it is that the dog finds chasing the target in these circumstances internally reinforcing. He was very specific about how it should be used - when in the predatory chase sequence, how you use disgust rather than fear (through pain) to make the target unpalatable. He was also very clear that in no way is it necessary in the majority of cases.

Hmm, I vaguely remember someone saying (possibly Pauline?) that he was aiming the talk at a slightly different audience as it was being held at the college and many of the audience were students? I think it was very much aimed at an audience who knew what they were about really. When I spoke to him about the use of aversives in the break he said something along the lines of it wouldn't be necessary very often, and if client didn't require it (say, they were happy with the enclosed tennis court, or like me to keep them on lead around things they will chase) then he wouldn't go that far, but he "owed" it to the audience to explain what you can do - the reasons for using disgust over fear and how to do it as the audience should know how to do it properly - I got the impression that he believed he was basically talking to a bunch of behaviourists who would be treating similar cases. Certainly I assumed that the audience were basically students or practising behaviourists/trainers....... I don't like the video either. I'd perhaps give him the benefit of the doubt though as I think it was entirely rushed to get something made. I think at the end although the aggressive dog wasn't completely relaxed he was more relaxed than at the beginning, although I saw that he still needed to look over to the other dog, he couldn't give continual eye contact to the handler.......which is why I think the whole watch me thing isn't that great - I don't think you actually get what you want in the first place, I think the tendancy is to get a dog who swtiches between looking at you and the scary thing, which I actually don't have a problem with, my problem comes from "pressuring" the dog to look at me when actually he wants to keep an eye on scary thing too? I didn't get the impression he never sees the "sensitive" type dog, more that the majority of cases end up being a case of dog in home with owners who haven't done anything, when the basics are in place and "instinctive urges" are given a better outlet many (most?) cases are sorted. Since I'm not currently seeing any cases it's hard for me to say whether this is the case or not. I can maybe see that the kind of cases you end up seeing may be skewed depending on how you get referrals, maybe his net is wider? If there are less trainers in his area maybe he gets a lots of cases that actually would have been sorted by just some training classes. I think there may also be something about clicker trainers be more softy? And I mean those trainers that embrace the whole clicker method ethos, not those that just train with a clicker. maybe we spend so much time looking at behaviour in incremental steps that we treat behavioural modification in the same way? Or maybe since to be successful shaping you need to setup for success, that that rubs off when you look at other aspects. For instance in that video, if it had been me with the aggressive dog I wouldn't have been moving him towards the other dog so quickly and in such big steps, it would have been tiny steps and lots of moving away after success and I wonder whether that is just because I'm so used to doing the same when training normally. Personally I feel that way moves along just as quickly (probably more quickly) as the big leaps but with less stress and no need for no reward markers (or not) because the dog is pretty much always successful? I know that some stress is healthy and dogs should be acclimatised to it as life can be stressful at times, I'm just not convinced that stress (and I see pushing constantly as stressful) is helpful when you are first learning a behaviour. Once that behaviour is fluent, *then* you can start pushing and adding stressors. Also if you are trying to counter condition an emotional response I don't' see how stress is useful - surely it is counter productive, so the dog maybe is less "scared", but still uncomfortable in the presence of scary-thing, I'd rather that he was completely comfortable, then the step to happy and joyful is smaller and more easily made. Dunno probably talking crap.... I'm with you on the NRM thing, I just don't see the need for it really. Even when I do use "ah" it's normally because my brain has failed and I can't think quick enough to ask them to do something else or whatever. Again not practising so don't know really how I would do things, with aggression I just can't see how you could really go just once then come up with a plan and let the owners get on with it even if you do give support by phone/email. You'd need to help them out with stooges surely? Even if you went out only once more to show them the method? I do think maybe there are different view points and that perhaps his view is more the case of changing the owner just enough to allow a harmonious relationship between dog/owner and a decent quality of life. Whereas I can see me wanting to change the owner's beliefs(?) and get them to learn and understand the theory etc. and maybe that's going to be ok with some clients, but maybe there is something to be said for the "good enough" approach rather than the "ideal world" one? Don't know, but I did get annoyed with a couple of audience members when we were going over the case studies, who were saying things like they would want to take the dog away from that home, or that the dog was going to be wasted as it was an intelligent quick thinking dog. I don't think those kind of attitudes are helpful, and as he showed those dogs were able to live happy fulfilled lives with those owners with the changes that were implemented. I liked the seminar a lot. The predictive command and when in the sequence to intervene made a lot of sense. My method of training some of it would probably be a bit different but the overall method would be the same I think. Dont' know whether I would go to the final step or not. I'm going to test it out on me first I think. If it had been a pure fear based thing I don't think I'd even be thinking about it, but using a disgust response is interesting. However I'm also a believer of using a lead....... I was also really interested in his thoughts on how behavioral problems come about - taking it back to the sodding around we've done with the predatory hunt sequence is something I've never heard before. I also like his belief that if the behaviour is "instinctive" then the dog has to be allowed to display that behaviour somehow. His thoughts on search dogs was also interesting, using their coping mechanism to your own advantage and certainly has confirmed my thoughts that Breckin goes into sniff mode when he gets worried. Has certainly given me a lot to think about with my own dogs, but I'll shut up now since I've written an essay again.

Was great to finally meet you too! I'm in awe of the heels you can walk in too...... By the way I've been thinking about the non-reward marking and keep going thing. I'm wondering whether he finds it useful because he isn't a clicker trainer? I find that the absence of the click is enough feedback when I'm teaching something new, and so don't feel the need for a NRM or keep going signal. However he said that he isn't good with the clicker and doesn't use it, so maybe if your feedback isn't as precise as with the clicker giving extra feedback is useful? Is it that most owners just don't give feedback unless its of the "stop it" variety and he has found that to get them to give the postive feedback he has to allow them to have something for the negative? To get them on board and compliant? I've also been thinking that maybe I do use an NRM of sorts - not when training particularly (as in clicker sessions, teaching new behaviour etc) but in general everyday, I do use "ah" as an interrupter of sorts, meaning whatever it is you are doing, stop it and look at me and be redirected (if you see what I mean) . Not quite the same as an NRM but not a million miles away either I guess. I'm still not convinced that a watch me behaviour is ideal for fear aggression, but can see it being better for frustration. But my ideal is for a relaxed walk past the scary thing, I don't want to keep stopping and doing a watch me really, I'm happy for a dog to do a relaxed watch of whatever it is - as long as it really is a relaxed watch and not a freaked out stare! Maybe though a sit and watch me is an easier behaviour for most owners to get, would the majority of owners be able to recognise the relaxation you would want? - is it easier to get it in a sit and watch by default? Dunno.....

Thank you

I'm underway with my BSc dissertation in Canine Behaviour & Training. My dissertation is on injuries in agility dogs. If you have a dog that takes part in agility (even if you don't compete) can you please fill in my survey - it will take 5mins max. Please fill in one survey per dog, you can fill in as many as you like. http://www.kwiksurveys.com/online-survey.php?surveyID=HKHHMN_8970b18f Please feel free to pass the link around as I need as many data points as possible. It doesn't matter if your dog has never competed, or never had an injury - it's all important information. Many thanks!

Well done I've done bugger all recently. Had some virus thing that has sucked all energy out of me, not helped by being unable to take sick leave due to no one else in the world being able to cover for me apparently as all of europe goes on holiday in august it seems. Still feeling a lot better now, and have a new plan to get into a better habit - exercising everyday. I'm going to start going running everyday even if it is only for 10mins. I read an article recently saying it is much harder to build a habit when you only do something 3/4 times a week that it would be easier if you did it everyday. So that's the new plan. Already going to be scuppered this weekend as I'm up at Yorkshire again, although I will take some running gear as if I can sleep on site in the college car park I might be able to grab a shower in one of the blocks...... ETA: Then once I have the habit of running each day and it's not such hard work I can add in the cycling and swimming and really get going again.