Well done everyone! Good to hear of all the positive progress being made.

Went on another walk with Anton and the OH on Sunday. Anton has now figured out that behaving nicely (sitting calmly, heeling) around the OH gets him good treats - so Anton spent about 90% of his offlead walk doing almost competition standard heelwork next to the OH and basically ignoring me!

So, outdoors, we're really making positive progress - the real challenge will be for Anton to totally accept him inside the house (at the moment, he will lay down and not move until released, but watches the OH like a hawk - we really want relaxed behaviour from him), so that will be what we really focus on next.

On another note, we also came across a couple of frogs on our walk, which I'm pleased to say, Anton did not eat, despite a lot of interest.

Awww, I'm glad Anton and your partner are still getting on well Could he perhaps give Anton a nice stuffed Kong to have on his bed? That might give Anton something else to focus on and relax? Or maybe your OH could do some clicker training with him or play ball in the house/garden, or would that be too overwhelming for Anton? Sounds like you've made huge progress though How are you doing so well? Share your secrets.....

Thanks!

Ohh, good suggestions! Think I'll try those next time he comes over.

I think our success at the moment is down to two things: 1) harnessing Anton's intense love of food, especially Nature's Menu treats. As long as the stranger is giving him yummy food, he is a happy dog. And 2) the fact that Anton likes being told what to do. If we'd realised how important 2 is to Anton earlier, I think a lot of mistakes could have been avoided - Anton really likes being told in no uncertain terms what he is supposed to do. If he isn't given direction, that's when he starts to take things into his own paws...

Seems so simple, but we didn't have the lightbulb moment until we saw how he behaved for Attila, who was giving simple instructions and getting a great response!

That's really interesting. I think Cain is quite smilar in many ways, especially about needing direction (problem being sometimes when he gets so freaked out that he's fixated and goes "deaf", can't offer much guidance then!). You are so lucky you had Atilla to visit, he sounds great, I wish he was close enough for us to get to!

Oh well done Cain-wish I could lose as much!

Izzy went for her cyst removal and teeth clean-up today at her old vets and he weighed her and she was 13.35 kg so she's actually lost just 2/3 of a kilo but I'm still pleased-just the same amount of weight loss to go and she'll be just right. She looks fine now though -much better!
I thought the scales at "Pets at Home" were wrong as Parker was lighter than he normally is but never mind-she's still heading in the right direction.

That's great it's really hard to get dogs to lose weight! Especially on kibble. I think it was easier with Cain because he is raw fed. Perhaps it's coming off Izzy so nicely because of your nutritious home cooking?

I am completely and utterly over the moon with Cain tonight! I had a friend come over to walk with us. I was nervous as he's been a bit funny lately. He does sort of know he but normally her husky is with us, but today she came over alone. I was nervous But it went very well.

I stuck up the babygate and got her to toss Fishy Bites (the Worlds BEST treats according to Cain ) at him. He looked happy and relaxed so I let him out. Following on from Kiing's approach with Anton, I wanted to give him clear instructions on how to behave so I got him to sit nicely while she fed him treats. Then we grabbed the lead and headed out.

I decided to keep the interactions positive by getting her to train him so Cain knew what he had to do. When he was on his flexi, I got her to recall him a few times. We got the park empty so let him off lead. I got her to throw his favourite squeaky ball for him (we had two so we could rotate without her having to take it off of him) although her throwing was a bit weak then when he bought the ball back, she asked him to sit before throwing it. Then she asked for a few sits/downs/recalls for treats. He was really keen and did everything she asked He did watch her a bit bit we noticed it was when she went in her bag, he was waiting for more treats I think giving him positive training worked well as it told him how to act, gave him focus and lots of treats.

But the BEST bit was when, by chance, my wonderful dog trainer Dave walked past the fence with his own two dogs. Dave's GSD is quite reactive and Cain flew over to the fence and Kai started to bark. Cain had a look but then actually CAME BACK when called even though Kai was kicking off. I then stood about 10 foot back from the fence and had a chat with Dave (Kai calmed down) holding Cain's collar. I realised Cain wasn't pulling so I let go of his collar, put him in a Sit and asked him to Watch Me, which he did Dave then suggested that I took him for a walk so I did. Cain actually did off lead heelwork when other dogs were just a few feet away on the other side of the fence! I was amazes and Dave was very impressed (Cain tends to be a bit of a git to other dogs through fences). I felt so proud of him, what self control!

Anyway, Im waffling as usual! I'm just very happy. He accepted my friend, did loads of training for both of us and behaved impeccably around other dogs. He was focused and did everything asked of him. See, he can be good, from time to time

Well done!

WOW - well done with Cain!

That's brilliant! Well done you and well done Cain!

I think that's really amazing how Cain was behaving with other dogs barking at him the other side of the fence.

Parker is very well-behaved but would take exception to this-brilliant-well done.

I think Izzy is losing weight quickly because I am feeding her based on what she should weigh so she gets 80& of Parker's rations and they get home-cooked food. She is also getting a lot of exercise -about one and a half to two hours per day.

As she was in kennels before (probably not exercised much?) and being fed Pedigree Chum to put weight on her (!) I think it is a doddle really but she definitely looks nicer now she has a waist and clean teeth. I'm off to brush her teeth now as I need to keep them sparkly clean.