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Jazz progress report

The worst is the Taipan? Thats pretty freakin bad :laughing:

Does she have a high working level for the e collar when outdoors? I found that my past dog needed a huge amount of stim outdoors. Pretty much quadruple the amount. And yes, that was his "working level," just enough for an ear flick.
Her working level outdoors is still really low, 4 low, but when there are serious distractions I've had her up to 9 high and she can blow straight through that if she committed to a chase! My current e collar only has up to 100m range and 8 low/8 high levels. Pretty basic. At the moment I am really reinforcing things by a lot of leash work and obedience work, just using the ecollar as insurance and backup. Upgrading to a much more adequate e collar in a while!
 
Jazz is doing fantastic under your tutelage!! Awesome job.:thumbsup:
Thankyou! I am finding that the challenge of training a dog like this in this open country is a challenge, but is very rewarding when things come together!
A bit off topic, but I hope you, your work mate and your twins are all on the improve. :thumbsup2:
 
I can’t imagine doing all this training on my own but you’ve done a great job with her already. For the young Dober devil she is, just think about how great she will be as an adult dog :thumbsup2:
 
So, things are moving along. Jazz got rave reviews from her week in kennels. The handlers said she was polite and responsive and had really come into her own. They found that she is really well balanced and was one of those dogs that fit themselves into the pack without any dramas. I'm very proud of her! :love: I saw this in action when I took her to the markets and we were approached by a loose dog, no owner in sight, and Jazz just did the meet and greet then came along with me with only a token bounce when I moved off. I've found that it is impossible to stop interaction with a loose dog and it is better to let the greet happen and then move before play is initiated. Best of a bad deal. :sour: Then today there were two large dogs came in to home territory. Jazz seems to be a truly neutral dog and these two just came up quietly and there was wagging all around. Then I just held Jazz and sent the others on their way. Yep, it is tourist season and this will become common. :sour::sour::sour:

All her training is going very well, and we even have made some progress with the desensitizing to kangaroos. I feel disappointed with myself for buying an e collar that wasn't up to the job with the result that Jazz has learned that if she takes off like a rocket she can outrun the range. In fact I've given it some thought and she probably thinks that is what I WANT her to do as the stim ceases when she is up to speed and on the tail of the roo. I've spent a lot of time teaching her "leave it" and she will not go after even anything if I give this command now. We have had a LOT of leash time, and work on attention on me with mobs of roos around. That took a bit! This still leaves that same problem of the surprise animal running from under our noses.

Now I have invested in the Dogtra arc e collar, and am impressed, both with it and Jazz. I tested the collar on myself, as you do, and I could not detect anything even with wet fingers under level 22. Jazz responds at 10! I am taking my time to allow Jazz to find out about the range in a calm environment, and be rewarded for quick response. There is no rush. She can have more free time again in places where I have good line of sight and make sure I stay focused on her so I can be "right on the button"! So far, she is responding to voice and letting the mobs of roos go on their way, but she is still interested. One day the chase will happen, and I'll be ready. Being able to dial up the level while using constant means she will get the message very quickly! There is also the vibrate option, but I think I'll keep things simple to start with, then give her the option to avoid a stim.

You know, if we lived in a less privileged time or place the exact thing I'm training Jazz not to do would be her greatest talent! I know of at least one roo she has killed, and there have probably been more. The time she bolted away, had a scuffle and then came back with a kick injury to her side she had been gone for less than 2 minutes. She had no blood on her mouth either and I thought that was one to the roo, but a couple of days later there was that telltale stink on the air and when I went and tracked it down there was the dead roo not far from the scuffle marks in the dirt. It was almost as big as Jazz, and there was no marks on it at all, so she must have dispatched it with the lethal head shake! Even though I don't approve and won't allow it to go on, it has amazed me just how efficient she is at the predator thing! She would provide meat for a family, and their neighbours too probably.

Sorry about the long ramble. These things just sort of cross my mind sometimes. In a way I think it is a shame that I don't use her full potential. A bit like owning a corvette and using it to drive to the shops! :rofl:
 
Wait, she is actually able to capture and kill Kangaroos? That is pretty amazing. I’m guessing it’s the small ones then, because I thought they are pretty big and that’s why you were training her to avoid them.
 
She doesn't care what size they are! If they bolt suddenly from right beside us she just launches instantly. They can be dangerous and she has been lucky I think with only the one injury. What astounds me is how swiftly she can do it. There is no long battle going on, and I had told myself that because she was back with me so promptly that she had just run herself out and returned. I now think that the quicker she is back the more likely it is that she has dispatched one! :shock: Luckily it hasn't been all that often, and I have been hyper vigilant since that last one to stop it happening again. We had hunting dogs when I was a kid that couldn't do what Jazz does so easily.

My main reason for being totally against chasing wildlife is the fact that she isn't under my control when it happens, and if it was some ones cat being chased and she killed it I would be devastated instead of just p'ed off.
 
Yes, I have come to recognize to stop it from happening before it happens. Problem is that one time I don’t see and catch it in time and he gets into that heightened mode- ECollar at 100 won’t stop him. Ragnar will go into down if ordered but he does not like that position at all so he has trained to sit on command even at a full run. It worked pretty well last week.

Little yippy dogs really like to antagonize him when I have him on leash. He HATES little white dogs!!! I am really fearful of him going after and hurting a little dog.

I really enjoy your stories and updates. It’s cool to imagine walking in your backyard and seeing a pack of Roos in the barren landscape.
 
Kaiser also hates little white dogs. I think it’s from his bigger puppy days when he was tethered and two little ones came in running in a straight line and yapping at him. He put his nose down to meet one and it snapped at him. He didn’t seem phased at all and we weren’t concerned either. It was laughable really and then the owners came running all freaked out. Many months later the neighbor was dog sitting a small fluffy white dog and Kaiser would bark through the fence at him. Only time he’s done that! There is just something about them. And Dobermans are famous (at least from the local crowd that go to dog parks) for finding each other in dog parks too, so there is something to that too!

We have noticed that Kaiser will chase deer when they are startled into running. Doesn’t happen often as they are usually very alert. But he only chases until the gap widens which doesn’t take long. Deer are super fast! So it seems all Roos aren’t dangerous, just if you get kicked or punched by one. If Jazz is faster, that’s pretty cool.
 
@Ddski5 That is impressive that you can get a sit from a full run! Would also love to see the sliding stop, it must be a bit mind boggling for bystanders, especially if he is running towards them. Change of undies time I reckon!!! :woot2: It is the fact that we can't always see a situation coming that is the worry, and why I am working on Jazz controlling her own impulse to chase. And isn't it funny those little dogs going ballistic at the huge Doberman. Happened at the markets last weekend and Jazz just pushed her side up to my leg and stood tall, looking on in amazement as the little dogs owner actually had to take the dog away!

@Kaiser2016 Kangaroos come in a pretty big variety of sizes, from the little Potteroos that are about the size of a cat, up to the really bigguns which are both the red and grey Kangaroos. A big male Red standing fully upright is about 7 ft tall and fiesty with it. Wallaroos are a bit smaller but are heavier built so still pack a punch if they are cornered. We have Reds, Wallaroos, serveral varieties of Wallabies which are the next size down and then the little hoppies. Jazz killed a female Wallaroo, about her own size, but heavier. She wouldn't catch a red, thank goodness, but if she ever bailed up a male Wallaroo it would get messy as they are a lot bigger and more muscular than the females.
 
All is well! The new e collar has changed things almost instantly, which just makes me more sure that with the last collar with limited range she had decided that what I was asking her to do was to chase the critter - as fast as she could! I'm afraid that the first chase she did I had set her up a bit so it happened in the open where I could see what she was doing and it took up to level 60 to stop her, then I called her back with the urgent voice so she bolted back to me so I could "save" her and show her how pleased I was she was back. Next time was a couple of days later and she took off after something in scrub. This time it only took level 30, and she came back so fast and hard she hurdled over a HUGE bank of fallen scrub to get to me. There was only one more try and she came back after traveling about 15ft, this time her baseline level 10 only, and that was a good 5 days ago now. She has had plenty of opportunities and things bolting from close and the most she has done is do a sort of body flinch before she remembers not to. She will wait for me if she sees roos, has stood and watched one race right across the road in front of us, will sit and look at me when I ask her to near where roos are and seems to be losing her interest in them and staying much more relaxed.

I was sorry to have to put her through that retraining as it was my mistake that caused the problem in the first place. Another lesson learned, by me!

In all other areas she is progressing really well, and we both got a compliment at the vets when they all commented on how well I handled her. We had a long wait and she got bored just laying by my feet so I had taken her for a quick run around their grass area with sits, drops and direction changes. No stays or waits there with all the animals around. She must have looked good with her attention on me and the laughing face! And she had her temperature taken with no trouble, even a couple of little tail wags there when she was told how good she was. Good dog! Should add that I decided to do away with the prong collar on this day as she has been doing all her training in the flat collar at home for ages.

Still inclined to get overexcited in new situations and around new people, but that will settle with more age and experience.

I do wish we had some dog activities around here to be involved in. After seeing her in that full out run chasing critters I'd dearly love to take her lure coursing. The closest club I can find is about 1000km away, but I might look into doing a trip in that direction one day. Has anyone done lure coursing with their Dobe? One thing I can already see happening is a lot of corner cutting. Jazz will ambush her flirt lure rather than chase it for the full distance. :rofl:
 
Lure coursing - I think Greyhounds do that, no? Could there be a greyhound club closer than 1000km, lol.

Sounds like she is doing really well with the new collar.

Was the vet visit just a checkup? It’s so good when they can handle those and not treat it like a negative place. Is her Kangaroo wound all healed up? I had to wonder if white hairs would show up along it, I was even thinking to ask you in the ‘white hair’ thread.
 
Lure coursing - I think Greyhounds do that, no? Could there be a greyhound club closer than 1000km, lol.

Sounds like she is doing really well with the new collar.

Was the vet visit just a checkup? It’s so good when they can handle those and not treat it like a negative place. Is her Kangaroo wound all healed up? I had to wonder if white hairs would show up along it, I was even thinking to ask you in the ‘white hair’ thread.
Greyhound racing in Qld is nearly non existant except for the major cities. It fell out of favour after some nasty training practices came to light. There are some lure coursing clubs around though and I think it is the sort of thing you can sign up for a trial day so I might try to get Jazz a fun day when I'm traveling. They run the lures over a course that changes direction, not the track they use for Greyhounds.

Her trip to the vet was just the standard checkup. She suffers from spay incontinence but this is controlled by a very light dose of hormones. I take Jazz in for a health check when I get her repeat medications. And her war wound has healed but I think there will be a hairless scar there. No white hairs and I am hoping there will be a bit more hair growth yet, but at least her skin is dark and it isn't a bright white scar!
 
So happy with Jazz. You are such a great dobermom!! The take down and dispatching of the Roos has a lot to do with the combination of being a ridgeback and dobe. Ridgebacks are great hunters. I absolutely love hearing your updates!!
Lure coursing is fantastic for dogs with a high prey drive. I have gone to the mainland several times and Bogie is a speed demon with the lure coursing. He stretches out low, long and super fast on the lure. The hardest part for me was holding him back before his release. He gets so amped up with the whining and dancing wanting to cut loose. Just seeing him run like that gives me chill bumps to watch. It is magical.
I know Jazz would do extremely well with it and love it. Can’t wait to hear how she likes it if you get a chance to take her!
 
Lure coursing is fantastic for dogs with a high prey drive. I have gone to the mainland several times and Bogie is a speed demon with the lure coursing. He stretches out low, long and super fast on the lure. The hardest part for me was holding him back before his release. He gets so amped up with the whining and dancing wanting to cut loose. Just seeing him run like that gives me chill bumps to watch. It is magical.
Yes! An outlet for that prey drive that is safe and fun! I can just see Bogie revving up to go!!!!! :sonic: I also have to admit to getting those chill bumps and a tear in the eye seeing Jazz in maximum chase mode, even though I was cranky with her for doing it. Just so amazing to watch and when you have seen it you just know that all the games we usually play just don't tap their potential at all! Does Bacall not enjoy lure coursing?
 
Does Bacall not enjoy lure coursing?
Not like Bogie. Bacall will run like a bullet to a distance of 150’ then stop, look back at me then comes blazing the ground back to me. She has a lot of drive but Bogie’s drive is over the top. Plus she is much more mature and obedient than Bogie. He can be a handful at times but he really is a big goofy sweetheart with a LOT of energy. Think super-ball energy!
:D
 
I have found this video of a Dobe doing the job with glee! Have to laugh about the corner cutting! And he is fast but to my mind not as consistently fast as Jazz is on the tail of a roo! You can feel the joy of the run though. :thumbsup:www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0bi3YPkcGk
That Dobie was slow. Lol
Bogie learned to cut corners early on because he tried to make a turn at full speed and wiped out. :D
 

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