MrsD

We tried our GSD on it - she ended up loosing alot of weight (despite being fed the same amount as on Bonnie Working Dog) & her coat was terrible, dry, rough & very dull. We ended up changing her onto Optimum because our kelpie & sheltie were doing well on it & she looks lovely again now. If it were me & my dog was doing well on purina/proplan I would be sticking to it .

Congrats to them all - go team .

Thanx, you are right, I have learnt heaps & yes, you have made a difference . I knew I must have done OK in the test yesterday because when I came out, you smiled at me & said "great work" - it's not always easy to get a compliment like that off you . Im looking forward to next year as well, but most of all the State titles in September for my 1st run in Started with Jarrah, if I can get a qualifier there, I'll be over the moon .

Congratulations on your wins on the weekend Tracey, your dogs worked really well, especially Abigail on the ducks, it was lovely to watch. And I agree about the sheep, they tested the dogs but if the dogs did the right thing or you had enough control to put them in the right place, the sheep were exactly where you needed them to be. No point in getting a title using sheep that would follow you around the course whether you had a dog there or not , that doesnt prove your dog can "work" at all .

I love talking kelpies, I'll talk kelpies until the cows come home, but when I do I sort of get ignored so I tend not to bother now . But it's difficult, because we have 2 threads now, the one in the breed subforum which is the one with all the photos in & one here in the training forum, so Im never sure which one to post in :D I did get some video of him working yesterday, not quite as good as Monday's work but my handling was a bit better & I managed to stop him making a few mistakes which was good. When Dagboy has some time I will get him to load it onto the computer & put it on Youtube :p . Off herding agan this morning - yahoooo!

That is my wonderful Terra in the pic. Thats pretty good seeing the white on his chest in that tiny photo . Yes, he does have a strip of white on his chest. He is not the best looking Kelpie in the world but he is a brilliant worker and thats what its all about . He is all Kelpie from many generations back but that white has still snuck in somewhere . I was having a conversation with Tracey the other day about Jarrah & she said the white on his chest must have come from him being part BC. I told her that some working line kelpies have white on their chest & white feet & I had 2 kelpies years ago (brother & sister) that had white chests & feet like Jarrah but Im not sure that she believed me . And it doesnt matter if he's got moviestar good looks or if he's a bit of a plain Jane, as long as you love him that is all that matters .

So is that a technical term then?

Thanx jesomil, yep that's what I was like, I rambled on & poor Dagboy just had to put up with it - it's usually him that talks alot, now he knows what it feels like . Is that your kelpie in your avatar? Are my eyes deceiving me or does he have a white chest?

Yep ain't that the truth , Im glad I started Colin's method with Jarrah early before he got too many bad habits & I'll be using it on Jonty as well (stubborn toad he is ) .

Ahhhh sorry C&Z, Janba has explained it pretty well anyway, the idea is to work at a controlled pace & most dogs instinct (especially breeds like kelpies, BC's) is to gather the sheep & bring them back to you. Also as Janba said, some may take some time to switch on to sheep work & some may take to it instantly, but that doesnt mean that the dog will be working perfectly straight away, just that the instinct will be there, they still need alot of teaching & guidance before they can be considered to be working well .

Thanx Jesomil, I am still hyped up about it a day later, Dagboy was laughing at me last night cos he said I was still talking non-stop about it an hour after he got home, I was going over it in exact detail what we did & what I did wrong as a handler & how to correct it . And then rabitted on & on about how well Jarrah worked. :rofl: Obsessed ...... me? I so wish I had taken the video yesterday but I will take it tomorrow & see if I can get some video of him working - of course though knowing Murphy's law he will just stand there not doing a thing then . Tracey - the big smile is still there today ... see?

Kowai - obedience trials/competitions are run by state controlling body which oversees the registratin of purebred dogs. The way they do it is by ensuring that any dogs entered in them is registered with them, either as registered purebred or as an associate register dog which covers any dogs not registered by a breeder with them, crossbred or otherwise. As such they are entitled to impose whatever restrictions they like on then I guess, it's like joining any other club or association, you wouldnt expect to be able to just go & compete in competitions without joining up. I don't have any problem whatsoever with the CCCQ (or equivilent state association) requiring you to register your dog with them to be able to compete in their events, only that the CCCQ for many years wouldnt allow an associate register. But now they do, I see no problem . Oceanaussi - signals are allowed, the only stipulation is that they must be a single movement of the arms &/or hands only which must be prompty returned to their normal position & they must be inaudible & not touch the dog.

In what way?

Colin is God IMO , but Im not sure if this clinic is suitable for a beginner dog - you can ask Tracey & she will let you know. Tracey also holds lessons down at her place at Chambers Flat, so if you are interested send her a PM. 7 months is fine to start, if you train with Tracey she'll teach you using Colin Webster's method which is really great for the dogs, very calm & positive, no dogs out of control, no running around yelling & smacking the ground with sticks etc. And I agree with Janba - very very addictive .

Quite probably .

FGM where are you located? There are other clubs that may suit & be closer.

Not right MrsD The titles at the beginning of the dogs names are Championship titles Aust CH - Confirmation HCH - Herding OC - Obedience not sure what the abbreviations are for the other Championchips but they should be at the front of the dogs name Tracey Yep, sorry, you're right they are championship titles but not necessarily conformation, I should have remembered the OC at least!

I'd just like to say a thank you to Tracey from Fidelis who has worked really hard with my kelpie Jarrah & myself over the last couple of months. With lots of patience (which I sometimes lack!) & perseverence he seems to have gotten past a few problems he had & I am proud to say he did his first Started A course run today while we were at Durack &, apart from a few mainly handler errors, worked brilliantly. The course had a pen instead of the panel runway & he even managed to pen the sheep & went into the pen to push them out after the hold. Anyway once again a big thank you to Tracey especially as she has given up her time this week to make sure that people are able to use the sheep at Durack before this weekends trial. I cant wait for the next Colin Webster clinic in a couple of weeks .

Hope that heaps of people come along Noels, Im sure lots of people don't realise what fun it is & how much the dogs enjoy it . We'll be away in Darwin that weekend, but good luck with it, when are we going to see your 1st routine?

The associate register came into being in Qld 2 years ago from memory, so yes, fairly recent. Sorry to hear that your doggie isnt able to get out there anymore :D . As for commands you can use whatever words you want as long as it's a single word, most commonly people use heel, stand, drop, stay, wait, come etc. If you want to read the rules for obedience, you can find them HERE . Hope that helps .

In general you will find that titles in front of the dogs name are usually conformation titles & ones after the dogs name are working titles.

As everyone else has said, the rules state that all commands must be in English unless approved by the judge, however I know of one person currently trialling here in Qld who uses german commands for his dog & has had no problems. ETA - he isnt german, the dog wasn't trained in german by someone else originally or anything like that, he just likes to use german commands, so there's no compelling reason that he uses german it's just his choice & he hasnt had a problem. Also as Molasseslass mentioned, you are able to trial your crossbred now, so get in there & have a go if you feel like it :D

Sorry ruthless, but I agree - you're not interesting enough :D .

Don't know what everyone else does, but I have had 2 dogs at the same standard a couple of times now - I either chose to train 1 in the lower class first (after all, by the time you get to the top classes it's not so much about the instructor if you know what you are doing :D or simply take one into the top class at the beginning & then swap dogs half way through. However if your instructor does a similar workout each week (eg heeling, recall, stand for exam, fig 8's, more heeling) make sure you swap the dog around so that a different one works first each week. I was doing this with Jarrah & Jonty for a couple of months & then went into a ring runout with Jarrah & realised that he had never done a figure of 8 because that was always when I swapped them over .

You will get DQ if your dog attacks a person or another dog or for continual barking. As the handler, you can also be DQed for a correction - however most times if the correction is only minor you'll be given a warning & get points taken off. I think they put it under deductions for "guidance with the lead" . Any harsh correction will probably get you a DQ though. ETA - I forgot that taking food, toys, training aids etc into the ring is also penalized by disqualification.