Positively | Victoria Stilwell | Forum

We need a ton more information to be able to help: tell us all about your household - how many people, where are you in the family? - and your dog - age, gender, how long you have had him/her, where he came from and all you know of his background. What is it you want him to do, what does he do that ...

Hi Theo! Kelta is gorgeous - thank you so much for popping in and sharing these photos!

Ah, yes, maybe the deer was striking out for new territory. We've had hedgehogs in the garden before, but not since J was much younger - and not since we put up a new, more impregnable fence (mainly because of next-door's free-range chickens, though the chickens can't get to the bit at the end). I'm...

The were some heartfelt conversations in the middle of the partially sleepless night about whether we can do this :-( I've been there, I feel for you :( But yes, you can do this. What Nettle says - management is everything now. He needs to feel he's in a safe place when people come round, and he al...

We also spotted a hedgehog for the first time yestrday since getting the camera. So, finally, Mr R has agreed that we need a hedgehog tunnel in the fence

Wildlife camera highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTGrtCvmDvU&feature=youtu.be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HU9guSCyOE&feature=youtu.be (The dates on the vids are wrong, BTW - these were caught in the past week.) Yes, deer use the strip of rough council land at the end of the g...

Awesome

It sounds like you're all doing great :D I'll see if I can add anything to what Nettle has said. 2) "Lie down" is not going well, as Pedro's neck is pretty long and his legs are pretty short, so he doesn't need to squat down to get to treats placed on the floor in front of him. Any ideas? ...

I'm glad you sound more positive today Of course, you'll have bad days to come, both in terms of dealing with your grief and bonding with/training Zoey - no doubt it will be a rocky road. But remember there will always be people to support you and hold your hand, both online and in real life xx

It's still very early days. Be gentle with yourself. You know that none of this is Zoey's fault but it's very difficult not to direct your feelings at her. Do please keep writing... even if you decide not to post what you write, I'm sure it will help.

I'm so very sorry, Fundog - this must be an extremely hard time for you.

Or is everything prey until some things aren't? Or do we do dogs a disservice by imagining a same-level response when some like this and some prefer that? I get the impression that it's almost entirely genetically based - Jasper didn't 'learn' the difference between cats and rabbits, he already kne...

I like 'shimmering focus'! I just wondered if some dogs 'love' cats in the same way that they 'love' deer (as you said, aggression doesn't into it at all) - as opposed to the more common dog who 'hates' cats and is aggressive towards them. To be honest, I'm not at all sure that Jasper associates out...

Happily, Jasper's sighthound genes take precedence over his terrier ones when it comes to calming down after a chase. I was wondering yesterday whether I could compare the focus of prey drive to the focus of a top surgeon absolutely in their zone performing an operation that required all their skill...

I obviously have an old-fashioned pet dog then

Would 'proper' prey drive in, say, a JRT look very different from that in a sighthound? Or would a JRT shown a barnful of rats show the same sort of focus that Jasper does if he spots a deer?