MrsD

Hi Kelpies rule just realised who you are (we have a trailer that used to be yours :p ). DeltaCharlie, I do obedience, frisbee, herding & canine freestyle with my kelpie & BC. Unfortunately as far as I know there is no frisbee club in Sydney or elsewhere, only Brisbane at this stage. You do however have a very keen & flourishing canine freestyle following in Sydney, if you want contact details let me know. We are also going to start agility this year, I think those 5 activities will keep us busy for quite a while to come .

Hi Kall, if you are interested Fidelis Border Collies on here has herding training at her place at Chambers Flat which we go to. She has all sorts of dogs from BC's to kelpies, Corgis & even our GSD & Sheltie are having lessons & competing in ANKC herding trials. Send her a PM & she will be able to tell you more. :rolleyes:

Just realised 2 things .... 1. We did our trailling goals for 2007 last year & I think Jarrah's were CCD & Novice back then as well. But we started in herding in April & got his HIC, HT & PT as well as his 2 legs in HSA this year instead of the obedience which is why the obedience is this year . 2. Jonty - one of my main aims for him is to teach him to catch a frisbee!!!!!!! Sick of taking him to frisbee competitions & getting 0 points .

Jonty - get his PT & hopefully start competing in HSA. Don't have to have the HSA title, just be competing in it would be good. Also for Jonty & Dagboy to get at least 1 qualifier in agility (whatever class they compete in). Jarrah - get his HSA title (only 1 leg to go) & his HIA title. CCD & Novice in obedience. Whisper - HIC & perhaps CCD. Anything else is a bonus.

Piper, if you can get Colin to give a clinic there I know that lots of people would benefit. Just don't steal him too much, we want him up here as well . In respect to clinics etc, anyone different who can throw different ideas & thoughts into the pot is a big help, it gives you other things to think about & different perspectives. I think that there are lots of good trainers out there who have heaps to offer, I hope you can get some to come & help . Jazz is a Bailey puppy isn't she? Whisper has shown heaps of style & eye on the other dogs but up until the weekend had just ignored the sheep in the paddock & the yard. On Sunday she still wasn't fully switched on but definitely showed the instincts (especially when I could get the sheep to move at more than a walk!) to head & balance. I am glad that it's the middle of summer now & that Colin's clinic is over because I managed to fall down a hole that Whisper had dug in our front lawn on Monday & have damaged the ligaments in my ankle & am likely to be out of action for the next 6 weeks or so .

Thanx everyone, hopefully she will do a bit more tomorrow as well . Cath & piper, the clinic is great, it's my 3rd of Colin's & I learn more & more from each one I go to ;) . Cath, I will pass on the message :p . Piper Im sure Jazz will do well when you get her out there again, she's such a cutie (not that that is a pre-requisite for working but it's always a bonus ;) ). I bet Anne will be pleased if she goes well. Janba, certainly is a great feeling - especially since up until now she has pretty much completely ignored the sheep . Jules - no pics, we didnt even take the camera, we did have the video but because it was such a shock when she started to work I didnt even think about sending Dagboy to get it .

Whisper has just turned 6 months old & has finally shown some instinct to herd & started working the sheep today. That's all - Im very excited ;) .

Nope, my dogs get nothing but their dry food & bones once a week or so & they look a million dollars .

Bella, what sort of camera have you got?

For HT he basically has to move the sheep from one end of the yard to the other & back again - you can do it along the fence (as he did) or you can do a figure of 8 around the cones. Doesnt matter as long as you change direction at the end & show that he can move them both ways. He has to do a controlled pause at the beginning (so he has to be able to stay until you send him, it doesnt have to be long), a stop & be called off the sheep (a recall) at the end of the run. He did all the required elements, I was very proud of him .

She certainly has the instinct & shows lovely style for a pup so young, I think she's going to do well in the future . (BTW, Eddie did the videoing that time )

Rachelle, try PMing kelpie-i or looking at 4 paws website as IIRC they do herding lessons & clinics in the Melbourne area. Not sure exactly where (I live in Brisbane) but even if they arent close to you Im sure they could point you in the right direction. Hope you enjoy yourself, we're happy herders here too .

Koolietas, I know what you mean, this handler lets the dogs down all the time too. But as long as they are having a good time it's all good . Tracey - . EFS

Actually my sits are shocking cos I can't get down on the ground fast enough, but the dog's are pretty good :D . I will see if I can get a short video of Jarrah's heeling & automatic sits, we went to obedience training for the first time last night since April (we've been concentrating on herding) & his sits & drops were so fast it was unbelievable :) . Jonty's sits are also really fast, I have to be careful on the left about turns with him cos occasionally if Im not quite fast enough to step out of the turn he has already sat (ie when he comes around behind into the heel position). My GSDs were always slower than my current dogs, but still fairly fast. Not sure if it's the footwork or something else? I absolutely totally agree with Arya, USE the drive that he is showing to your advantage, I have always done that with my dogs & it has worked well for me. When he's jumping up & being silly encourage him to heel along beside you for a few paces & then heaps & heaps of praise & let him jump around when you do, he will soon learn that heeling is the best fun cos he gets a great game with you . You just ned to direct it, make your heeling sharp & fast & short & he will start working well. I would much rather have a dog that jumps around like a loon to train than a dead slug .

Will get Eddie to do it tonight Tracey, not sure why it came out dark, the original is fine . ETA - I had a lightbulb moment about his biting the other night, I will chat to you about it when I see you next. Won't be down tonight, will see you next week.

Hiya Levi , I had to check if it was the Levi & I see it is , nice to see you again! You wouldn't have recognised her but you know the person who was handling him in the video, she used to train & trial with us at LABDOC :D . I wish we had had stuff like herding etc back then too, Im sure lots of dogs would have enjoyed it .

Yep, he's definitely speedy, I can't keep up .

I stop with my left foot first ie left foot stops & right foot comes up to it. Always have, don't know why the chief instructor at my old club was a footwork Nazi & drilled stuff into us so I have pretty good footwork (pity I have no sense of balance anymore & can't walk staight anymore ), but that's the way I do my halts. Also rather than taking a large last step I take a smaller step, lets the dog know that something (& not fast pace :D ) is coming. But seriously, I think the most important thing is consistency, not just what foot you stop on .

Thought I would put up a short video of Jonty herding, this is his second HT - he didn't pass, but he worked quite well & I thought I would post it here as I know there are a lot of people who have never seen a sheltie herd & aren't sure what they are like when they are working. Sorry it's a little bit dark at the beginning, not sure why as the original isn't dark, only now it's been put on Youtube . And for anyone who's wondering that's not me handling him, I got someone else to do it for this run (I was still recovering from Saturday's episode ).

Hey Quobba, I just worked out who you were, I forgot I had told you to look out for us (bit slow me! ) Was great to meet you (even if I didnt realise you were from DOL!). Spirit certainly did well, she is a gorgeous girl & she looked really good out there - those are great pics .

To get an idea of how many problems Dagboy has been having with Ebony & what an achievement HT is for them, up until about 3 weeks ago Ebony wouldnt even work at all, everytime he took her in the ring she would shut down as soon as he told her to stop or tried to get her to change direction & would go & sit at the gate, so to get 2 passes & 2 Highly Commended awards as well in one weekend is a great achievement for him (& her) . Im very proud of him!

Silvawillow, was that with Colin Webster (aka God in this house )?

What Dagboy didnt mention was the "commendation" was in the form of a trophy for the most Highly Commended dog :D . Getting it from both judges was a great achievement . Jonty managed 1 pass, he would have passed on Sunday as well except the judge took exception to him nipping at the sheep.

It was nice to meet you too , I thought I might have a chance with the drop sit stand one on Friday but he suddenly decided that he didnt know what sit from a drop meant . The secret to that one if you do it with your back turned, is to do the signals with your opposite arm that you normally use, so it looks exactly the same to the dog from where hes sitting . Bad things about the camp hmmmm. Apart from the cost :) , nothing really, as I already mentioned it was fairly similar in content to last years , but for me at least it didn't matter because Jarrah got to be involved alot. It was nice having my friend Anne with Delta there too as we train doggy dancing together so we got to bounce ideas off each other & Im sure it will help when we start doing routines, especially when we do one together (which we keep talking about but haven't done yet!). It was nice to see some of the people I have met at other seminars as well, like Tassie & MrsDog & Tony - living a long way apart means you don't always catch up that often. Tassie was there for the whole week last year & this year, I wonder what she thought about the similarities & good bits & bad bits? She should be home by now, wonder where she is? Hope Tony enjoyed his stop on the way back at Mylestom, that reminds me I must send hom an email & see how he got on.

Tony, try Val Bonney out at The Gap, just do a google on her, they are very highly recommended, I have a friend who instructs there. ETA - now Im thinking Im not sure where Keppera is, apart from northside, Metro club may be closer, look in your dog worl for their details, they train at Chermside.