MrsD

Surely one of them could dance too?!?!?! :D ETA - ahhhh puppybreath ...

Having a house sitter would work out much cheaper for us when we go away overseas every couple of years but not many people are capable of or keen to look after 4 high drive working dogs . I make myself feel better by telling myself that in kennels at least they are safe & can't escape!

Thanks Tassie :) . Kallistar, I'm sure it will get recorded as our comps always are, I haven't even seen my last 2 trials yet, still waiting for a copy of the video.

My advanced freestyle routine is still on the back burner, have had too many things happening at home to even think about DWD lately. I have got as far as editing the music & working out some of the moves, but that's all I've got.

Don't forget, you can always change the BPM slightly, add bits, slow some bits down or quicken them up all with Audacity .

I know I've already congratulated you on Facebook BC4ME, but another huge congrats to you & all the others who qualified on the weekend . Dagboy & I are stewarding at Woolgoolba next month, see you then :) .

No, no you don't Yes, yes I do ;) . And that's why I can't have one - they grow too big for me to handle, I need one in pocket rocket size . One of my DWD friends has a little bitch who has grown not much bigger than my BC & kelpie - I keep telling her that she needs to give her to me cos it's the only way I'll ever get a Mal :sigh: . ETA - I meant to say, she's growing into a very cute young lady ;) .

Ooooh, she's so very very cute - I want one! *pout* Any more pics or videos?

What? Not a single person is aiming to even trial in DWD? Bunch of wusses :p . For us this year I am hoping for Jarrah's Advanced Freestyle title in DWD, we only got to 2 trials all year this year & managed his Intermediate Freestyle title at the last one, so hopefully next year there will be a bit more trialling. For Jonty & Whisper I really don't have any specific goals, if I can get either of them in a ring next year that would be good, but for now I would just be happy with DWDF.A title for Jarrah.

If you like John Farnham why not try You're the Voice? It's not too fast & has a fantastic beat to it. I think Burn for You would be wayyyyy too slow & I agree with Maree, using something with a good beat &/or catchy tune is definitely good for crowd interaction. I'm going to use How to Save a Life by The Fray for my HTM. Problem is I want to use it in the higher classes & have a routine half worked out already - but I haven't even entered my first starters trial yet . Other than that - well how long is a piece of string? There are literally millions & millions of songs out there to choose from, any other ideas of what you like other than John Farnham? Any specific type of music you dislike? Just remember that whatever you choose you are going to have to listen to it over & over & over again, so pick something you like! Three weeks to get a routine together should be plenty if you work at it everyday. I've entered Intermediate freestyle at a trial in 2 weeks time & I am doing a new routine for it (Viva La Vida by ColdPlay) & I only started choreographing it this week (the music is 3 mins 21 secs), so I think you should be able to do yours in time too . Edited because "someything" isn't a word!

Too funny! As for holding the paw there for longer, does he have a wait command? I taught Jarrah to wait, first just in general situations & then found I could apply it to tricks etc. In my last DWD routine the song I used was "I Will Survive" & at the beginning where the first line says "First I was afraid, I was petrified" both Jarrah & I put our hand/paw over our face & pretended to be scared :D .

Having a dog that doesn't have a high value for other dogs or having a dog you don't let play with every dog it comes across is not the same as having a dog that is not well socialised. Socialisation is about far more than letting your dog play with others. I personally see no benefit in having a dog that has a high value for others, but each to their own. Same here, none of my 3 dogs have a high value for other dogs & only Jonty has a high value for other people, it doesn't mean they haven't been well socialised though. Apart from herding, having a dog that has high value for anything you don't control makes training hard work! And I don't want hard work, I want the easy life ;) . Yes, all our 4 dogs will play together so plenty of social outlet. They also get to say hello to other dogs as long as I am happy that the other dog is suitable, but as soon as they have had a quick sniff or I speak to them they will simply ignore the other dog & focus back on me. It's funny because we were at a training day yesterday & the lady who was sitting next to us was a bit perplexed because she she had taught her dog that when it was in it's crate it just relaxed & didn't move again all day, so when she took the dog out of the crate to work, it wouldn't. She was astounded to see that my dogs were lounging in their crates one minute, on their feet at the door of their crate as soon as I got up out of my chair but lay back down again if I sat back down because they had been taught to relax in their crates, but if I got up & moved over to them it might be the beginning of the biggest & best play session ever . She was also amazed to see that I could send Jarrah to his crate from across the otherside of a playground & he raced over & threw himself in there & stood there quivering with excitement because to him, going to his crate means that sometime, somewhere in the future he'll be able to come back out of his crate again & play! :D My dogs have no value for playing with other dogs & that is exactly the way I want it.

I'm not sure that this is common as I have met (& owned) a lot of kelpies who love people, but Jarrah (kelpie) is like this & just completely ignores anyone except our immediate family. The only time he will have anything to do with someone else is if they have food or one of his toys eg frisbee, otherwise they may as well not exist . Whisper (BC) will let people pat her & will wag her tail at them but you can see she is thinking "Haven't we finished yet, can't I go & chase the ball/frisbee/Jarrah now?". Neither of them are particularly interested in other dogs either, most of the time they just ignore them. Jonty, my sheltie, is like that, he just loooooves people & throws himself at them wriggling & squirming all over the place. Doesn't matter who it is, family, visitors or complete strangers on the street - Jonty wants to be patted by them & made a fuss over. Not your average sheltie temperament .

Has someone stolen MrsD's user name????? OIY you!! Quiet up there in the peanut gallery :p .

I have a kelpie & a BC & do find them quite different in temperament. My kelpie is quite hard but can shut down if given a correction, but more along the lines of "well stuff you then, I'm not doing anything" rather than falling apart. He has a mind of his own when it comes to doing what he thinks he should be doing. He is very much a thinker, & incredibly fast to pick things up, he can work things out very quickly & can read me very easily (this is NOT always a good thing!). My BC is quite soft & extremely biddable & can be pulled into line by just saying her name in a gruff voice but she doesn't fall apart & bounces back immediately & tries harder. She's not an independant thinker like my kelpie & not quite as fast to pick things up but is still very easy to train & in some ways easier to train than my kelpie because she's not worrying about what she thinks she should be doing but more focused on what I'm asking for. He has an off switch but she doesn't really, while we are away camping/caravanning with them, he is happy to settle in the trailer & wait for some "doggy time" but she is always figeting & will destroy her bed within 2 minutes because she can't settle down & chill out. That's what I find with my 2 dogs, but others might find their dogs different, it does make a difference if you have owned or worked the different breeds, I've had a few kelpies over the years & I used to think my kelpie was fairly biddable until I got my BC .

Benshiva, OMG :love: :love: I didn't see this thread the first time around but I have to say I couldn't believe it took until post 201 for you girls to finally post a sheltie puppy pic . How could you resist this face?

Sooooooo excited & really looking forward to this, how embarrassing, I feel like a groupie :o . ETA - & now I feel like a groupie twice . Stupid double posts .

Sooooooo excited & really looking forward to this, how embarrassing, I feel like a groupie :o .

I agree with everything huski has said (no surprise there really is there huski ) Completely agree. If you are teaching your dog to heel with a collar & lead, you' re teaching it the wrong way ;) . Aussielover, IMO 2 of the best dog trainers in Australia live in Sydney, (I wish they lived up here in Qld!) if I were you I would look for other avenues to train your dog in obedience work other than your traditional obedience club .

The only time we ever used a coat for our sheltie was when he'd been clipped right back in August. We do live in Queensland & he sleeps inside at night but it does get down to single figures during the night even inside. Does your house any form of heating? ETA - we got a waterproof one like a horse rug for outdoors but most of the time he wore little polar fleece PJs that someone on DOL made for me, I don't even remember who it was that made them now!

Thanks CM, in all the excitement of the new forum I forgot I had posted in here, thank you for emailing me . I did email you back just to check it was 2 places (one for me, one for Dagboy). Hi Mrs D, We had notification that a few people had paid by cheque but then decided to cancel their bookings. The member handling the email address had gone away for the weekend and we had no way of knowing who had cancelled etc etc so we held off the cheques until confirmation could be attained. Now everything has been sorted. There are still spots available therefore you are definately in for the seminar. I look forward to seeing you at Metro. Thanks mavriksbt, really looking forward to the seminar!

I sent my paperwork & payment off almost a month ago now, I've had no indication whatever if it was all OK, whether I got a spot (2 spots actually) or if it was even received. The cheque hasn't been cashed, so I have no clue what is going on. :D

There's a booking form but no payment form on the link on the website. I printed off thebooking form & posted it Friday along with a cheque to the address on the form . <------- me dancing, without my dog ;) Mavriksbt, thanks for pointing us in the right direction.

I'm not sure anyone is going - I've sent & responded to emails 4 times now & still haven't been given any details of how to secure a place/pay etc . edited to say thank you to Cin, I will try the paper trail you have suggested instead

OK, I have tried [email protected] - hopefully that one will work.