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purple_mog

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Posts posted by purple_mog

  1. Please Welcome.........

    in Animal Chat

    Posted

    Absolutely nothing wrong with Snow (short for Snowball) it just seems rather unimaginative given her colouring :biggrin: I fostered a deaf white collie last year who had been named Polo (as in the white mint) which at least I could adapt to Marco Polo the adventurer :cool:

     

     

    Righty! On photobucket too since I failed to work the gallery :wacko:

     

    snow8.jpg

     

    snow1.jpg

     

    snow4.jpg

     

    snow6.jpg

     

    snow7.jpg

  4. Please Welcome.........

    in Animal Chat

    Posted

    the gorgeous girlie currently known as Snow but looking for a name of her own (possibly staying with the F theme!)

     

    We travelled down to Lizzies Barn at the weekend to meet the gorgeous Snow and were made so welcome by Fionna and all the doglets :) Sarah had suggested Snow to me a few weeks ago, she's a little dysfunctional as all the best dogs are (mostly deaf and one under developed eye) but still just as smart, quick and amazing as any collie :wub: She's been waiting with Fionna for a family of her own for over 2 years and will be 3 in January :biggrin:

     

    Pics below are kindly supplied by Fi and Sarah - Sam is the photographer for our family and he's had to go to work rather than take pics :angry: So far all is going better than expected despite Farah's tendency to be a queen bee around her people :cool:

     

    Pics being added asap

  7. November Rambling Mundane Fings

    in Non Animal Chat

    Posted

    morning all :wavey: The guineapiglets are loving their heat lamp, came down this morning to find them toasting themselves under it!

     

    Still short on sleep and struggling a bit to focus today - suspect caffeine may be called for as have day at work, quick shopping trip then Rally-O comp to set up and judge :ohmy:

     

    :ninja: there may be a very important visit to Wales to meet a possible doglet in the near future :ninja:

  9. November Rambling Mundane Fings

    in Non Animal Chat

    Posted

    ooooh be careful Merley one, I'm not convinced Timmy really will go and fetch help for you!

     

     

    It sounds as though someone who has come to classes lots, and talked about rescue dogs with me (has one from a breeder already) and had me to do a homecheck for her on behalf of a lovely rescue....has bought a puppy :( I totally accept its her right to decide etc, but she didn't adopt the rescue dog because she felt it would be too difficult to bond with him (after one short walk) :mellow: . On the plus side she may come to puppy class, on the down side I am pretty darn disappointed :(

  23. Dealing With People...

    in Non Animal Chat

    Posted · Edited by purple_mog

    I'm starting this thread for lack of anything else useful that I can do! Its not meant particularly to be ranty as such, just a place to unload and perhaps get some useful suggestions :)

     

    I know lots of people on here are massively experienced in the rescue world, and have dealt with the sharp end for some time. Its all fairly new to me in the sense that I've been involved with my own dogs, home-checking and occasional fostering for about 6 years. In the last year since setting up as a dog trainer and working as a behaviourist I am of course seeing more of the tough decisions that people have to make.

     

    Over half the dogs I see are rescues, majority of the rescues and bought as pups dogs that come to me have issues of one kind or another - just the kind of dog I attract! I work with my local RSPCA now which is an amazing opportunity to help dogs stay in their family rather than be handed in.

     

    But, I struggle with those people who have the money to adopt or buy a dog but then can't or won't pay for training or help. I give discounts whenever I can, and always ask if people are on benefits.

     

    For example: couple adopted a springer from RSPCA over a year ago, wife in particular is having problems with the dog barking persistently in the house, has gone for a couple of dogs when on lead and tried to bite the postman last week. From a chat to the husband it sounds as though it may be fairly straightforward to work through but clearly their dog is not particularly happy at the moment. They phoned the RSPCA for help and were given my contact details.

     

    Basically they can't make it to my hall or classes (which is by far the cheapest option) and live about 20 miles out of York so a home visit is a little more costly. When they said they couldn't afford it (£40 is about the cheapest I could make it) I asked if they were on benefits (I'm willing to go for little more than petrol money if the dog needs me) or had insurance as that might cover it. Answer is neither, and they still can't afford it.

     

    I don't think there is anything else I can do, and I'm not sure how committed the husband in particular is to the idea that the dog has some problems, he feels its only the wife that struggles. But I hate that there is a dog that needs help and isn't going to get it. Fundamentally £40 or less is easily the price of a routine vet visit!!!

     

    Anyway, if its ok with the mods I'd like to use this thread as a place where anyone can unload the challenges of working with people and dogs, keeping things anonymous obviously, and maybe others can make suggestions on how to work through these things.

     

    Currently I'm talking to the local RSPCA about running free pre-adoption seminars to help people understand the costs of taking on a new dog and what it can be like as it seems the adopters aren't always taking that information in from the homecheck :)

  24. Teaching 'down' To A Dog With A Long Neck

    in Behaviour and Training

    Posted

    ooooh one of my favourite challenges! I would take a step back and teach him to target to a target stick, or anything thats longish and has an obvious safe end to it (without a treat on it) then mark (click or word) plus reward. You can then use the target stick to teach him to bend his neck down - mark and reward each step (you're shaping the behaviour rather than expecting it to be completely right first time). Once he is reliable bending his neck to the floor following the target I'd hold it there and wait, look for any sign of bending or dipping at the front, mark and reward that and you should be well on your way to getting a down.

     

    One of the large labs in our basics class has done much better using a hand target but only when you sit on the floor with him to begin with....

     

    Lots of possible variations - I tend not to use treats in the hand just because dog quickly becomes fixated and often then refuses to do anything unless he knows there is a treat on offer :rolleyes:

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