I Love You!

[Mad Aussie]

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/marly%20christmas%2009/_MG_0081.jpg


Marko ... have a look at his front legs and feet. They look like they are turned outwards because they are. I'm not sure if this is something to worry about. I'm going to mention it to the owners when they get back in about 3 weeks and see if the vet has mentioned anything about it to them. Maybe it's nothing seeing as he's only 8 mths old but then again ...


Also visible here is his new Check Chain. I bought this today as well because this little mutt is impossible to walk properly on a regular lead and collar. He chokes himself silly!
I stuck the Check Chain (shouldn't be called Choker Chains because they do the exact opposite) on today and spent time with him (he's wearing it in the photo as part of my strategy to get him used to it before I walked him) and tonight we walked around the block with a much better behaved little fella on the lead ... and no choking noises either.
I think it's also helping to establish who's the boss around here too as he's following other commands a bit better also. With luck, when his owners return I'll hand back a nicer puppy to have around. He's a ton of fun but badly behaved, I intend to change that ... 3 weeks or not. A week ago I wasn't going to bother but I've decided it's necessary.

[Bambi]

I wouldn't worry about the toes, it could be the way he's sitting. Either way it's his conformation and there's nothing that can be done. The only worry is if it's impacting on his shoulder joint as he grows. That can be expensive to fix.

Congratulations on taking his training in hand! I am very proud of you. :) It is important to have a well behaved dog and I hate it when I see dogs out of control (especially if they are mine). A really good collar is a martingale collar: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Color-BrownPinkDots_MED.jpg/180px-Color-BrownPinkDots_MED.jpg

they release much better then a standard choke chain which can get caught. Another thing to do is never let the dog pull you even if it means that you turn and go in the opposite direction. It can make you look a bit nutty for someone watching to see you take so many changes of directions but it teaches the dog to pay attention to you.

[Mad Aussie]

His bones are definitely not formed right in his lower front legs but he's in no pain and certainly can jump and run etc without issue.

Never seen one of those collars although I did check that the Check Chain I bought glided smoothly.

I learnt from Australasia's best dog trainer ... a man who trained drug dogs, RAAF (airforce) dogs, Police and security dogs in both Australia and NZ. I bought his book at the time and re-read it yesterday to refresh myself but had remembered most things ... including exactly what you just said about the turning around to stop the pulling.

We'll see how I go ... and whether the owners are willing to keep the regrime up ... sometimes training the family that owns the dog can be harder than training the mutt :)

[casil403]

I like his feet...they add character to him....as long as it doesn't bother him then not to worry.

I had some friends visit from South Africa a couple of years ago who train guard, drug and police dogs for a living in Johannessburg.
The had Chase trained in about 5 minutes using a correction collar. Same thing...as soon as he got ahead of them they turned the other way. They also taught him a bit of scent and sniffing tactics and said he had a really good nose!
It was awesome to watch and learn!

When I get m new dog next year I am going to contact them for training over the internet. :)

[Mad Aussie]

They sound just like Ross Allan, the guy I'm talking about over here. He has his book on the net ... it's really good and easy to understand.

[Bambi]

We'll see how I go ... and whether the owners are willing to keep the regrime up ... sometimes training the family that owns the dog can be harder than training the mutt :)

now that's the truth!!!

I always say that you can trust a dog completely---to behave like a dog. It's when you expect them to be human that you run into trouble.

[Mad Aussie]

Yep!!!