Positively | Victoria Stilwell | Forum

No question for me. Far less traumatic for the dog to be boarded in one place and less stressful for you too. You have the rest of her life to take her places and enjoy being with her, not dancing to someone else's tune and worrying.

Enjoy the wedding.

Wise, wise words.

Thank you so much for sharing those lovely pictures of your happy dog.

Sounds to me like a bridge too far - though kudos to you for thinking so hard about it. IMO - and be aware that I'm not on the spot so can only go by what you have said (and thank you so much for your detailed input) it isn't the time for play and increased interaction - it's time for back right off...

For question 1 - animals are not programmed to see danger from vehicles, though some learn. The deer have no notion of that place being safer than this place IF the dangers are man-made. This time of year, roe are dropping their young, so last year's kids have been driven away by the does with new f...

Of course you can see him through this. And what gems your parents are. Dogs make simple connections, and your dog has "background" too, where visitors upset his security applecart every time. When visitors come, shut him away until they have done the greetings and taken off coats and sat ...

Great that he is enjoying his classes and you have a trainer who knows what's what. If another dog eyeballs, reposition yourself to break its line of sight. That will make P feels more trusting in your ability to deflect trouble. Up to you, but I prefer visitors not to be associated with food or tou...

what lovely caring sensible owners you are- Pedro is lucky he came to you. I have to do this piecemeal because the board times out with long posts. In brief - so you can think over and ask questions: All this sit-stand-down training isn't actually necessary. All a pet dog needs is recall (probably t...

Fundog, this is so sad, and I wish you strength. We are all here for you any time.

Back to the cost/benefit analysis with the squirrel aspect. Or indeed the rabbit aspect. An experienced dog won't chase if there is no chance of a catch. The mental measurements of speed, trajectory, % chance of escape are made so fast, but people don't realise and call the dog "stupid" if...

It's a fascinating question. I suspect dogs 'grade' prey with a cost/benefit analysis eg more meat on a deer than a rabbit and no more work to catch it, cats can hurt and there isn't much meat on them, therefore do we only catch cats when there is nothing else? Or is everything prey until some thing...

It's one of those "it depends" things. Jas lives with a cat, finds him/her fascinating, knows he shouldn't get too involved - so when he sees/scents one outside, he's still fascinated, but knows to be wary. Dogs that have not been steadied to cats (I do this with all mine) or who have kill...

The dog reacts to the specific prey. So a lurcher would kill rats the same way as a JRT, and a JRT would run after a deer up to the point where it outpaced him/he couldn't see it. Then he would probably follow its scent or else metaphorically shrug his shoulders and come back. As for focus - it has ...

:evil: Relatively few people - even among professionals - know what "prey drive" means. A lot of trainers think it means chasing a ball (oh per- leeeeeze) . As for the RSPCA - grassroots staff are often very good: higher officials markedly less so. I wish animal rescues in general would wi...

It's lovely to watch, isn't it?

Even though you know what's coming with adolescence - you know once he's through that, the lessons you've taught him now will hold up in the future.