dog thread

[Lady Fitzgerald]

3 hours ago, MEC-777 said:

Happy Halloween!

 

 

Leapin' lizards! Halloween has gone to the dogs and is now for the birds! Rats!

 

If looks could kill, Olivia looks like she could strike you dead. 

 

 

(Btw, if you know who was first known for saying "leapin' lizards", you've given your age away.)

 

[MEC-777]

49 minutes ago, paddy-stone said:

 

Lovely pics

 

I used to have a rat about 22 years ago, I called him Denzel... we used to let him run about in the living room, and he would try to steal peoples coffee. He was also very partial to chocolate, I remember him stealing a kitkat from near my sister and running off with it

Unfortunately he got tumours and only lived for a couple of years, I didn't have any pets after that for about 10 years Until we got our lovely Henry.

 

 

Thanks. It wasn't easy getting those photos. There are plenty of "blooper pics", lol.

 

Yeah, rats are amazing. They are basically micro-dogs. Super intelligent and affectionate. Olivia loves them too, had them for almost 2 years now (they were supposed to be feeders). They're so chill, they will just flake out on the chair with me and rest or take a nap while watching TV.

9 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

Leapin' lizards! Halloween has gone to the dogs and is now for the birds! Rats!

 

If looks could kill, Olivia looks like she could strike you dead. 

 

 

(Btw, if you know who was first known for saying "leapin' lizards", you've given your age away.)

 

Olivia never looks happy to dress up, lol. She is so gentle though.

 

Can't say I know where "Leapin Lizards" came from... Not off the top of my head at least, lol. 

[MEC-777]

Yeah, she's a little weird...

 

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

46 minutes ago, MEC-777 said:

Yeah, she's a little weird...

 

 

 

When she grows opposable thumbs, be afraid, be very afraid.

[MEC-777]

18 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

When she grows opposable thumbs, be afraid, be very afraid.

Yeah, no kidding. She sits like that on the couch quite often, while actually watching the TV. Like, legit interested in what's happening on the show, lol.

[xARACHN1D]

14 minutes ago, MEC-777 said:

Yeah, no kidding. She sits like that on the couch quite often, while actually watching the TV. Like, legit interested in what's happening on the show, lol.

She is a smart doggo.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

2 hours ago, MEC-777 said:

Yeah, no kidding. She sits like that on the couch quite often, while actually watching the TV. Like, legit interested in what's happening on the show, lol.

Based on that intent gaze, i would worry about what she may be learning while watching TV. My daughter learned to read on her own before she was three just from watching Sesame Street.

[TVwazhere]

On 10/31/2019 at 11:30 AM, Lady Fitzgerald said:

(Btw, if you know who was first known for saying "leapin' lizards", you've given your age away.)

This sounds like something 60's era Robin would would say from TV's Adam West version of Batman and Robin

[Lady Fitzgerald]

12 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

This sounds like something 60s era Robin would would say from TV's Adam West version of Batman and Robin

"Leapin' Lizards" goes way back before the '60s. It comes from the Little Orphan Annie newspaper comic strip (and yes, I'm old enough to have read those strips way before they went into reruns in '68).

[soldier_ph]

[xARACHN1D]

21 minutes ago, Pascal... said:

My dude, that is a cute doogo.

[MEC-777]

This is awesome. Dogs are much smarter than most people give them credit for.

 

https://people.com/pets/dog-learning-to-talk-by-using-a-custom-soundboard-to-speak-im-in-constant-amazement/?utm_source=facebook.com&xid=socialflow_facebook_peoplemag&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=peoplemag&fbclid=IwAR1aW5ujfCucQ-ayG-io5aeZSfW5VRi6b5qhFbm9MG7PTbx78OgYues1ymA

[xARACHN1D]

2 minutes ago, valdyrgramr said:

More of my hybrid.  He can never be Sirius when it comes to taking photos.

I love this soooo much. whats his name?

[paddy-stone]

16 hours ago, valdyrgramr said:

Sirius, my fiancee named him after Sirius Black.  He prefers Cyrus, and only responds to Cyrus.  XD. He is mostly wolf, but has some malamute mixed in.

He's a gorgeous dog. BTW dogs don't really KNOW their names, they just learn to respond to the sound as they get a reward sometimes. Except my dog that is, she won't come when called unless she can actually see that you have a treat or something else she wants

She is getting better though. It's hard when you have other "masters" that just say "here" or some other thing to try and get her attention instead of the proper name to instil the "command" to her.... it's taking a long time because of this I suspect.

she is however really good at hand "commands". I can get her to sit, lie down,stay, and here... all just with hand movements. She's also getting better at, leave, off,, this way (when I want her to move to the side), and wait. She knows quite a lot of things now, but still ignores her name being called if we don't have something she wants. I am trying to persevere with it, but I may have to change her name if she still doesn't get it soon, as it's starting to become the thing she ignores too much.

 

I am booking her in for her neutering soon

 

[MEC-777]

2 hours ago, paddy-stone said:

He's a gorgeous dog. BTW dogs don't really KNOW their names, they just learn to respond to the sound as they get a reward sometimes. Except my dog that is, she won't come when called unless she can actually see that you have a treat or something else she wants

She is getting better though. It's hard when you have other "masters" that just say "here" or some other thing to try and get her attention instead of the proper name to instil the "command" to her.... it's taking a long time because of this I suspect.

she is however really good at hand "commands". I can get her to sit, lie down,stay, and here... all just with hand movements. She's also getting better at, leave, off,, this way (when I want her to move to the side), and wait. She knows quite a lot of things now, but still ignores her name being called if we don't have something she wants. I am trying to persevere with it, but I may have to change her name if she still doesn't get it soon, as it's starting to become the thing she ignores too much.

 

I am booking her in for her neutering soon

 

Training recall is one of the more difficult commands to teach, as you know.

 

Here's how I train recall:

 

You'll need:

-6ft leash (better if it's longer ~20ft, but a 6ft will do).

-High quality remote collar (e-collar ET-300, HIGHLY recommended).

-Treats.

 

First off, find the dog's "working level" on the e-collar. Start at 1 and tap the stim. Go to 2 and again, stim. Do this (1 level at a time) until you see the first sign of reaction that the dog is feeling the stim. You might see the dog's head move a bit, they may scratch at their neck or you may only see the neck muscles move slightly. Whatever the number is, that's your dog's working level. It's a very low-level stim - most people can't even feel their dog's working level on their own skin.

 

Next you need to teach the dog what the stim means. It's basically "pressure on" "pressure off", like applying and releasing leash pressure. Use continuous mode, so you can control how long the stim is given.

 

Have your hand at the end of the leash. Move away from the dog. Press and hold the stim, along with guiding with very slight leash pressure towards you at the same time. The moment the dog turns and moves towards you, release the stim and leash pressure, mark with a "yes" and give a reward. You don't need to speak the command at this point.

 

Repeat about 20-50 times and slowly move further away from the dog. The dog should get it within 10 or so reps, but this is to reinforce and pattern the response to the stim and acclimate the dog to the e-collar. After about 20-30 reps, you should then be able to stim and have the dog turn and come to you without leash guidance and from 10-20ft or more (this is where a longer leash can help).

 

At this point you can now start adding in the command. Say the command, apply and hold the stim. Mark with a yes and give reward for compliance. Again, repeat this ~30-50 times.

 

Now you can try just verbal command only, with no stim. You can give a momentary stim as a reminder if the dog isn't responding, or gets distracted.

 

If you're on an off-leash walk and you give the command to come, you can use a higher-level stim for punishment for non-compliance. At that point, the dog knows the command, you're helping it to make the right decision. By higher-level stim, I'm talking level ~20 or higher on the ET-300, depending on the dog's level of arousal towards the distraction.

 

The e-collar is a training and daily-use tool for communicating with your dog extremely effectively over great distances. It will make training and living with your dog SOOOO much easier. It's been a literal life-saver for countless owners. If you want to train solid, reliable recall, that tool is a must.

 

I generally recommend against luring with treats to train recall, because the treats only hold so much value to the dog. If their interest in something else is of higher value, they won't care about the treats. Instead, teach them the command and what it means, then make it really suck if they don't comply. This will teach them that deciding to comply with that command is the right choice.

 

The specific command/word, doesn't matter as much, so long as the dog knows what the intent of your command is. For example, I can say 'here', 'come', whistle, or call Olivia's name, and she'll come to me, regardless. So at this point, it sounds like Dinky doesn't yet know what the command means and/or the consequence/punishment for non-compliance is either non-existent or isn't enough to guide her towards making the right choice. But don't punish her for non-compliance if she doesn't yet know the command. 

 

If you want to train recall without the e-collar, you would need a long-leash line (50+ ft) and a properly fitted prong collar. Instead of a higher-level stim for non-compliance, you would use a firm leash-pop. This can become more difficult over longer distances though and may require more repetitions to achieve the same results. Also, keep in mind; without an e-collar, you have no way of communicating with your dog to correct them effectively when they decide not to listen and make the wrong choice while off-leash. This is why I praise the e-collar so much.

 

Hope this helps.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

It will vary from dog to dog but they can learn their names (heck even cats can do that; getting them to respond is another story but even that will vary from cat to cat). My son had a lab mix that just wasn't the brightest crayon in the box (to put it politely ). My ex had a poodle that not only had a large vocabulary it understood, it even learned to recognize words that were spelled (mostly one associated with walks and food). Most dogs I had would look at me when just casually mentioning their names with an expression that looked like, "You talkin' to me?" 

[soldier_ph]

[soldier_ph]

Also just took a group photo of them:

[Lady Fitzgerald]

5 minutes ago, Pascal... said:

Also just took a group photo of them:

You really should get them more toys.

[MEC-777]

24 minutes ago, Pascal... said:

.

Oh man, too cute!

[soldier_ph]

11 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

You really should get them more toys.

This is their collection right now:

 

And they also have a series of "think" / "smart" toys:

 

Btw, I actually made that green pillow back in middle school for Jessie to rest her head on while she is sleeping.

[soldier_ph]

My Brother took these pics of her with his OnePlus 5T:

 

 

[paddy-stone]

22 hours ago, MEC-777 said:

Training recall is one of the more difficult commands to teach, as you know.

 

Here's how I train recall:

 

You'll need:

-6ft leash (better if it's longer ~20ft, but a 6ft will do).

-High quality remote collar (e-collar ET-300, HIGHLY recommended).

-Treats.

 

First off, find the dog's "working level" on the e-collar. Start at 1 and tap the stim. Go to 2 and again, stim. Do this (1 level at a time) until you see the first sign of reaction that the dog is feeling the stim. You might see the dog's head move a bit, they may scratch at their neck or you may only see the neck muscles move slightly. Whatever the number is, that's your dog's working level. It's a very low-level stim - most people can't even feel their dog's working level on their own skin.

 

Next you need to teach the dog what the stim means. It's basically "pressure on" "pressure off", like applying and releasing leash pressure. Use continuous mode, so you can control how long the stim is given.

 

Have your hand at the end of the leash. Move away from the dog. Press and hold the stim, along with guiding with very slight leash pressure towards you at the same time. The moment the dog turns and moves towards you, release the stim and leash pressure, mark with a "yes" and give a reward. You don't need to speak the command at this point.

 

Repeat about 20-50 times and slowly move further away from the dog. The dog should get it within 10 or so reps, but this is to reinforce and pattern the response to the stim and acclimate the dog to the e-collar. After about 20-30 reps, you should then be able to stim and have the dog turn and come to you without leash guidance and from 10-20ft or more (this is where a longer leash can help).

 

At this point you can now start adding in the command. Say the command, apply and hold the stim. Mark with a yes and give reward for compliance. Again, repeat this ~30-50 times.

 

Now you can try just verbal command only, with no stim. You can give a momentary stim as a reminder if the dog isn't responding, or gets distracted.

 

If you're on an off-leash walk and you give the command to come, you can use a higher-level stim for punishment for non-compliance. At that point, the dog knows the command, you're helping it to make the right decision. By higher-level stim, I'm talking level ~20 or higher on the ET-300, depending on the dog's level of arousal towards the distraction.

 

The e-collar is a training and daily-use tool for communicating with your dog extremely effectively over great distances. It will make training and living with your dog SOOOO much easier. It's been a literal life-saver for countless owners. If you want to train solid, reliable recall, that tool is a must.

 

I generally recommend against luring with treats to train recall, because the treats only hold so much value to the dog. If their interest in something else is of higher value, they won't care about the treats. Instead, teach them the command and what it means, then make it really suck if they don't comply. This will teach them that deciding to comply with that command is the right choice.

 

The specific command/word, doesn't matter as much, so long as the dog knows what the intent of your command is. For example, I can say 'here', 'come', whistle, or call Olivia's name, and she'll come to me, regardless. So at this point, it sounds like Dinky doesn't yet know what the command means and/or the consequence/punishment for non-compliance is either non-existent or isn't enough to guide her towards making the right choice. But don't punish her for non-compliance if she doesn't yet know the command. 

 

If you want to train recall without the e-collar, you would need a long-leash line (50+ ft) and a properly fitted prong collar. Instead of a higher-level stim for non-compliance, you would use a firm leash-pop. This can become more difficult over longer distances though and may require more repetitions to achieve the same results. Also, keep in mind; without an e-collar, you have no way of communicating with your dog to correct them effectively when they decide not to listen and make the wrong choice while off-leash. This is why I praise the e-collar so much.

 

Hope this helps.

Sorry it took so long to get back to you on this. I really DO appreciate the advice

 

Yeah, with the recall I am considering going with a shock collar, especially as she is a flight risk when off lead (leash). So might just use it for help training if I need to, and put the shock collar on for outdoor activities,

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

3 hours ago, paddy-stone said:

Sorry it took so long to get back to you on this. I really DO appreciate the advice

 

Yeah, with the recall I am considering going with a shock collar, especially as she is a flight risk when off lead (leash). So might just use it for help training if I need to, and put the shock collar on for outdoor activities,

 

I was lucky enough to have a large yard to train dogs in so I didn't have to worry about the dog going AWOL before the training "took". I still kept the dogs on a leash when walking them (unless we were in a wide open or confined area where a runaway dog wouldn't be a problem) mostly because it's the law but also because dogs can be impulsive, like little children and might dart into traffic, etc. (they also can get spooked but, then again, so can I).

 

When I would walk my ex's walkaholic little poodle, he stayed on a leash until we were well onto a canal service road where backyard fences lined one side of the road and the canal itself would reasonably corral the dog and he could sniff and explore to his heart's content for almost a mile before the leash went back on. If he got too far away from me, all I had to do was call him and he would dash back to me. I would be afraid to do that now because of urban coyotes, which hadn't been a problem in the area back then.

[paddy-stone]

Man I fucking hate this site sometimes, just wrote tons of text, added a couple pics... posted it and the text all disappeared