The dog musing/vent thread
- Thread starter Laurelin
- Start date
Quick Crystal brag lol
We went to the beach about a week ago and Crystal's behavior was perfect. She was off leash in a foreign, unfenced area for only the 2nd time in her life, and her recall was perfect and she stayed near us, despite a dog that kept incessantly barking at us, and she actually swam. That might not sound like much of an accomplishment but the last time she went to the beach was about four-ish years ago and she was deathly afraid of the water, but this time she actually swam and enjoyed it. I'm so proud of her!
We went to the beach about a week ago and Crystal's behavior was perfect. She was off leash in a foreign, unfenced area for only the 2nd time in her life, and her recall was perfect and she stayed near us, despite a dog that kept incessantly barking at us, and she actually swam. That might not sound like much of an accomplishment but the last time she went to the beach was about four-ish years ago and she was deathly afraid of the water, but this time she actually swam and enjoyed it. I'm so proud of her!
I've been trying to take classes with my local training club all summer. First I wanted to do a rally class with Brisbane and was told one would be starting in a month or so. Two months later I finally got someone to tell me that the class never happened and nobody was currently teaching rally despite it being prominently advertised on the club website.
Now I'm trying to start agility with Sisci and was told at the beginning of August that a new session would begin mid-September. At the beginning of the month I asked if it was known which day/time it would be so I could let work know, since I can schedule around pretty much anything if I know about it a couple of weeks ahead of time.
No response. I went to an agility demo over the weekend and spoke to club members who assured me that class would be starting mid-September and all I needed to do was email the person who had been ignoring me for months. That was on the 13th. I finally emailed someone else in the club and was told class would be starting October 3rd, or maybe 4th, or possibly the 6th.
I guess I could take all three days off work and just show up with my dog and see if there's a class for me, but I'd rather not be quite that pathetic. This is supposed to be a really fabulous trainer and I'd really love to train with her, but I can't figure out how. I'm not sure whether to stop being polite about it or just give up and try to train with the group that meets an hour away from me.
Now I'm trying to start agility with Sisci and was told at the beginning of August that a new session would begin mid-September. At the beginning of the month I asked if it was known which day/time it would be so I could let work know, since I can schedule around pretty much anything if I know about it a couple of weeks ahead of time.
No response. I went to an agility demo over the weekend and spoke to club members who assured me that class would be starting mid-September and all I needed to do was email the person who had been ignoring me for months. That was on the 13th. I finally emailed someone else in the club and was told class would be starting October 3rd, or maybe 4th, or possibly the 6th.
I guess I could take all three days off work and just show up with my dog and see if there's a class for me, but I'd rather not be quite that pathetic. This is supposed to be a really fabulous trainer and I'd really love to train with her, but I can't figure out how. I'm not sure whether to stop being polite about it or just give up and try to train with the group that meets an hour away from me.
I always thought that Leo responded to "Wanna go to...." with whining and excitement, but the last few days I've been experimenting, and turns out he's a bit more sophisticated than I thought.
"Wanna go to the bank?"
"Wanna go to the grocery store?"
"Wanna go for a swim?"
etc. had zero reaction from him.
But he reacts to:
"(Wanna go)...to the park"
"...to the dog park"
"...to pickup"
"...for a run"
"...for a walk"
No idea though if he at all knows one from another, or if they all just mean something fun. Don't know how to test that, so I suppose we'll never know.
"Wanna go to the bank?"
"Wanna go to the grocery store?"
"Wanna go for a swim?"
etc. had zero reaction from him.
But he reacts to:
"(Wanna go)...to the park"
"...to the dog park"
"...to pickup"
"...for a run"
"...for a walk"
No idea though if he at all knows one from another, or if they all just mean something fun. Don't know how to test that, so I suppose we'll never know.
Training a Catahoula on sheep gets me side-eye because Catahoulas are supposed to be too header-y/rough/their instinct isn't real herding drive they really just want to kill things because hawg dawg so tuff/other things that haven't proven true so far. (The feedback we got today was that we're "almost there" in terms of usability as a chore dog so I'm taking that as a sign that I'm not totally delusional, especially considering we've only been to like 8-12 lessons with 1-2 week long gaps in between, and don't have stock other than ducks at home, and I'm a stock dog handling noob that he has to put up with.)
Mentioning that a dog's biases toward the known Catahoula working style (rather broadstroke and forceful by herding dog standards, really) means more work training for trials than might otherwise be true gets me side-eye.
There's a median perspective, I think? Like yes, trained in the standard style with a sufficiently dedicated and knowledgeable handler many Catahoulas undoubtedly have what it takes to make pretty decent herding dogs even for smaller stock. Most of the people I've met saying otherwise are either Catahoula people that know hog hunting but have relatively little serious herding experience or herding dog people attached to another breed to the point of elitism. And most of the people I know that have tried Catahoulas on sheep with concentrated sheep-oriented training methods have had noticeable success, not that I know too many at all...
But as proud of my dog as I am right now (I am), I really don't think the average working bred Catahoula and the average working bred BC, handled by the same expert handler, are probably going to be climbing through AKC/AHBA/whatever titles at the same pace. Trials have their values, which tend to make sense in the context of competition especially, and they favor dogs with a more precise and lighter touch in general. And on top of that they take place in venues that may put easily overstimulated or territorial dogs at a disadvantage in a way that doesn't apply on their own farm. It's not an insult to the breed to point those things out: the "cur way" of doing things has some benefits, they just aren't as likely to shine fully in an all-breed competition ring. It's also not a reason to cop out of compensatory training, just recognition of the extent and nature of the work ahead.
I dunno. Seems like you can't please anybody teaching a Catahoula to herd. Either you're giving the breed too much credit as a herding dog, or you're not giving them enough.
Mentioning that a dog's biases toward the known Catahoula working style (rather broadstroke and forceful by herding dog standards, really) means more work training for trials than might otherwise be true gets me side-eye.
There's a median perspective, I think? Like yes, trained in the standard style with a sufficiently dedicated and knowledgeable handler many Catahoulas undoubtedly have what it takes to make pretty decent herding dogs even for smaller stock. Most of the people I've met saying otherwise are either Catahoula people that know hog hunting but have relatively little serious herding experience or herding dog people attached to another breed to the point of elitism. And most of the people I know that have tried Catahoulas on sheep with concentrated sheep-oriented training methods have had noticeable success, not that I know too many at all...
But as proud of my dog as I am right now (I am), I really don't think the average working bred Catahoula and the average working bred BC, handled by the same expert handler, are probably going to be climbing through AKC/AHBA/whatever titles at the same pace. Trials have their values, which tend to make sense in the context of competition especially, and they favor dogs with a more precise and lighter touch in general. And on top of that they take place in venues that may put easily overstimulated or territorial dogs at a disadvantage in a way that doesn't apply on their own farm. It's not an insult to the breed to point those things out: the "cur way" of doing things has some benefits, they just aren't as likely to shine fully in an all-breed competition ring. It's also not a reason to cop out of compensatory training, just recognition of the extent and nature of the work ahead.
I dunno. Seems like you can't please anybody teaching a Catahoula to herd. Either you're giving the breed too much credit as a herding dog, or you're not giving them enough.
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Reading through an article about Search and Rescue dogs here, and this just made me laugh. Lancer obviously isn't perfectly cut out for doing SAR, if only for fear-related reasons, but this description right here...
"SAR dogs need to be motivated to work for long hours at a time. Throw a ball into the bushes for your dog. How long does he look for it? If he gives up within a few minutes, chances are, your dog won’t make the cut. Does he perseverate on it for hours afterward, scratching at the door to get back out to continue looking, or crashing through the bushes looking for it, destroying your garden and digging up all your good dirt in the process?"
LANCER PERFECT SAR DOG, YES PERFECT 100%
I have experienced numerous heart attack experiences with Lancer UNRELENTINGLY pursuing a ball into treacherous situations, because he doesn't give a single crap about spiky bushes and steep hills and his own safety. All he cares about is BALL. -____-
"SAR dogs need to be motivated to work for long hours at a time. Throw a ball into the bushes for your dog. How long does he look for it? If he gives up within a few minutes, chances are, your dog won’t make the cut. Does he perseverate on it for hours afterward, scratching at the door to get back out to continue looking, or crashing through the bushes looking for it, destroying your garden and digging up all your good dirt in the process?"
LANCER PERFECT SAR DOG, YES PERFECT 100%
I have experienced numerous heart attack experiences with Lancer UNRELENTINGLY pursuing a ball into treacherous situations, because he doesn't give a single crap about spiky bushes and steep hills and his own safety. All he cares about is BALL. -____-
Why do people expect 6 week old puppies to be housebroken???? Crate trained? Potty pad trained? They are *babies*. The fact that they keep their kennel clean and poop and pee in their litter is a good enough foundation. If you want a trained dog, get a *dog*, not a puppy. You are going to, you know. Crate train and house break a puppy when you bring it home at 7 weeks. They don't come with bladder control and an understanding of being alone.
They are *babies*. The fact that they keep their kennel clean and poop and pee in their litter is a good enough foundation. If you want a trained dog, get a *dog*, not a puppy. You are going to, you know. Crate train and house break a puppy when you bring it home at 7 weeks. They don't come with bladder control and an understanding of being alone.