khanu

Audience - Dog owning general public, would be local to me and need one to one training/behavioural advice (would look to start classes in future but not right now) Site say? - professional attitude, use modern non-coercive techniques, formal qualifications Why at site? - because they need help training their dog or have a dog with behavioural problems and have googled. Will look to get referrals from local vets also. Will have seen advert (flyers/cards) or word of mouth. wanted outcome? book a session with me! design? - I would want more control than just standard templates so I can have a recognisable branding domain name - no name in mind? - not yet, still need to think of a name - I am at very very early stages here. Given all I have going on in the next couple of months I'm looking to really kick off April/May time. I am applying for membership of APDT and the first assessment in my area isn't until the end of April so I'm really looking to have the website ready to rock and roll when I (hopefully) pass the assessment and get full membership. Would be fab to talk to you, thank you When would be most convenient for you?

I am looking into starting up a training/behaviour business. I would want to have a website to promote the business (and possibly attach an internet shop to). I have no experience in designing websites and have never had one before. I know there are a few people here with experience so I'm looking for some help. I would want a site that I can edit myself, but my html coding experience is pretty limited so one that was simple would be good. - If I would need software to do this that would be fine - recommendations for that too please I would probably want to have an online shop attached to the website also at some point so the website would need to be flexible enough to allow this (and be easy to use!) Also hosting the site - I would want something that wasn't too expensive, but also not so cheap that it would be crap. Help! Don't know where to start with this. I'm no technophobe but I won't have loads of time to dedicate to the upkeep so want something that would be easy to use, would allow me to have "nice" designs and be easy to navigate and look professional. Thank you:flowers:

That would seem a little over the top to me if he wasn't heating via electricity. We pay around £100 combined gas and electricity a month for 3 bed house with someone here practically everyday with heating, tv on, normally washing machine etc

:GroupHug: for Cozzie cat and Marion I can't decide what to dooooooo My insurance for training/behaviour work is due for renewal. I can't decide whether to renew or not. I got it as I was doing one to ones for my college work experience last year. I wasn't charging people and only really saw enough people to get my hours done, after that I didn't take on anymore. I've finished the foundation degree now, and i'm doing the BSc top up which in theory has a lower work load than the FdSc although I have to do a dissertation so maybe not. I can't decide whether to just go for it, or hold off some more. I keep thinking that if I don't do it soon I'll never do it, but on the other hand it's not like I'm not busy with everything else. But if I don't start I'll never be able to stop doing the work I'm doing now....... urgh

Definitely one to remember for parent's evening though - stupid bint. Glad Ceri is pleased though

Is it because he doesn't like the attention? Maybe he would prefer to do it alone/at home or at a private class? Is it art/drawing? Do you think he would appreciate going to an evening art class where he would get more constructive feedback rather than "you're great". (sorry I can't remember how old Ceri is, so that may be very inappropriate). I guess you need to find out what it is he doesn't like about the crowding and either find a perspective that he can understand and deal with, or find a way around it where it won't happen?

First day back at work and I nearly managed it - logged off around 6pm, which is way better than average. And I've switched my blackberry off until tomorrow morning

Brilliant

I have a long list for this year. 10K to do early Feb - I'll have to run/walk it as I've only just been able to start running again after injury but I'm determined not to pull out of it (I entered it before my injury) Then planning a 8miler in April, a duathlon and triathlon or two in the summer with a half marathon in Sept/Oct-ish. Agility with Breck - find a trainer for private lessons, hopefully win out of grade 1 this year (even better to get to grade 3!) Ignore current trainer when she advises to punish him for sniffing on course - she doesn't seem to understand that he does this as a stress thing, so I need to work on upping the reinforcement rate, increasing value for agility etc. Revisiting weaving as this is when he starts sniffing, so we need to go back and retrain it. Start TTouch training - first workshop booked in for March Stop leaving college and work stuff until the last minute all the time. Work on a new engineer training program for work, also look at mentoring program for chartership Learn to switch off PC at 5.30 and not answer emails in evenings, on holiday and days off or do support work over the weekend. Do more stuff for dogstar Do more clicker shaping sessions with all the dogs. Teach a group loose lead walking, they are all fine one on one but awful when not walked alone. Keep accurate training data for all training sessions with the dogs. I am really very bad at this and progress would be significantly quicker and more consistent if I kept records. Find a field to rent or at the very least sort the garden out so can train agility without lugging equipment to park etc. Do little and often cleaning of the house so I never again have to spend an entire weekend and evenings of the following week sorting it out before my parents come to stay over. Give up coke zero and Dr Pepper etc. - this is possibly the most difficult, I did manage for a bit in 2009 but started drinking them again when I attended college in Oct. Get dissertation project done with analysis complete by end of year so only write up left for early 2011. This is an absolute must. Decide what I'm doing with this 2nd degree and whether I want to start a training/behaviour business or not. If I do - bloody get on with it! Should probably prioritise this list really....

Triathlon training - Concentrating on running and cycling. Entering 10k Feb, looking at 8 miler in April, and maybe do the full 16mile of same course in Sept. Couple of duathlons in summer, and still searching for a sprint distance tri that's local as I won't be able to travel far to do one. College - don't leave everything to the last minute all the time Dogs - agility with Breckin, find a trainer for private lessons not too far away also. Start some scent detection training. Tracking with the sheps. Sort loose lead walking with multiple dogs. TTouch training, doing first course in March. Decide whether I'm going to do behaviourial/training work or not and if I am just do it! Find a field to rent or at the very least sort the garden out. Look at getting Breck to at least Grade 2 pref Grade 3. Work - learn to turn off the PC at 5.30, stop answering emails when on holiday/days off. Organise a mentoring/training program for new engineers, and another for chartership. Other - give up coke zero and dr pepper etc. (again). Do more work for Dogstar Foundation. Stop spending so much time on the internet or watching TV (or at least be training if I'm watching TV)

Billion shortbread baked. Other cookies waiting to be dipped in choc baked Biscotti baked Truffle mix in fridge cooling Nutty bar things baked waiting to be drizzled in choc Have run out of space to hide things from dogs whilst cooling, so I'm stopping now. Might as well wait up until C comes home now. Will be busy entertaining from tomorrow onwards so I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas Sam I have some ideas for emails/newsletter things. I'll write them down now so I don't forget and I'll try and jot them down in the forum tomorrow

Finished work, went shopping, managed to get everything except wrapping paper which is a bit of a problem. May resort to magazine and newpaper - it'll be more environmental I guess.... Currently baking for peoples hampers, should really be tidying and cleaning for parents arrival tomorrow but I hate cleaning so I'm putting it off. I'll do it tomorrow morning. Must remember to get the chutney and marmalade out of their storage place to put in hampers also. I wonder if I have time to make truffles tonight before I fall asleep...

So sorry

Declaring the day a walk free day today. Too much ice about to risk going somewhere out the way. Have to go somewhere out the way as Breckin had KC (just finished coughing this weekend) and Willow and Syd started coughing yesterday, the park has too many other dogs about at the weekends, fortunately its dead during the week. Just waiting to see if Khanu starts coughing. Willow and Syd seem to have much worse coughs than Breckin did too, Willow is particularly bad bless her. Serves me right thinking that the others had got away with it really....

Snow here. We've had a nice walk in Petworth Park. A couple of the hounds from the hunts kennels broke away from their group and came running over. I'm very proud of Khanu who went over, sniffed and then play bowed, and Willow who also went over to say hello nicely. Breckin seems to be over his kennel cough and none of the others seem to have started coughing so that's good too. C is on his first rest day today and I'm working from home as usual so no need to go out in vehicles, which is good as they have only gritted the major roads here, which is fine except for having to drive down ungritted roads to get to the main roads..... I really want to start cooking and baking but can't because it's too early yet and I don't want the stuff to go stale before everyone gets their hampers.

I can sort of see her point, or rather one of her points. That the charitable gift may be given to a charity that the "recipient" doesn't agree with, and that possibly the giver is doing it as a way to feel good or its easier than shopping or whatever. However having said that I don't really think that anyone buying one of these "gifts" is really doing it as a self-serving "aren't I great" act. And I'm sure that most people would buy a gift from a charity that they think the recipient would be glad to support. Would I be pissed at receiving a charitable donation gift - not at all. I have far too much crap as it is and would rather that people didn't buy me anything and spent the money on something more worthwhile which this would in fact achieve. Whilst she is entitled to donate to a charity of her choice, I do think she is a muppet for singling out individual charities saying they don't need the money. I'm kind of assuming if that was the case the charity wouldn't exist...let's hope she never has need of a woman's refuge or a lifeboat....

Cal was given Tardak. No experience either way but have heard not great things about Tardak (including Tracey and Cal's story) and have heard that the implant is better, but haven't seen any hard evidence.

Indeed but any behaviorist worth their salt would be working sub-threshold and not setting dogs up to fail like he does (I know you know this Ian by the way!) so I think his point is really moot. I can't decide whether he is ignorant or he does understand what he is doing and does it anyway I do know that almost everywhere I go I hear and see people hissing and jabbing their dogs. I suspect it is possibly going to be a good time to be a behaviourist/trainer from a business numbers point of view. I stopped doing one to ones last year so I could concentrate on other things, but I've had a few calls from people who have tried Millans methods and now have dogs whose behaviour is escalating out of control. Enough calls that I'm thinking of doing one to ones again.

I'm afraid the phenomenon has already hit And I was disappointed to hear some rescues will be going to his show

The reason I feed rmbs and meat every day was because of the poo watching. On days I only fed rmbs they had very crumbly poos and on more than one occasion I had dogs yelping as they passed stools. Now their poos are firm but don't shatter as they hit the ground! I don't try and get a "balanced" diet every day, but balance it out over the week. But I do try and offset a bony meal with a meat meal. I haven't really worked out what % of bone I actually feed. Some of the mince I use has bone in, and the rmbs vary in their meatiness but the dogs poos are pretty consistent regardless and they don't yelp anymore. Actually that's not true the GSDs do if I have given them a knuckle bone to gnaw, but this will be because they somehow manage to demolish them really quickly and end up eating an awful lot of bone in one go. They don't get them very often anymore.

I feed RMBs every day for the morning meal. They get meat based meal in the evening. I base their "menu" on around 40% RMBs through the week, and as I use fairly meaty RMBs they probably get around 25-30% bone in all, probably the lower end of the scale.

Thank you I think I'll do a hamper with many little things. The baby is due only a couple of weeks before her birthday so I'm not entirely sure she'll be up for going out anyway. Plus I live a fair distance from them so babysitting is not quite as simple as it otherwise would be, never mind the fact I don't have a clue about babies having never been around any. Still weird to think my little sister is going to be a Mum....

Yes a few years ago when I lived in the area. They are member of apdt. I believe the head trainer is an assessor for apdt in that area also. Pro clicker training, friendly and supportive. I would have no hesitation of going back to their classes if I was to live in the area again.

Capable Canines - linky

ooooh who's coming to join you