MrsD

Sticky tape on the face as WADT has already mentioned or a loop of lead or rope around muzzle works similarly as well, click & treat when the paw touches & gradually phase out the lead/rope.

Sorry to hear about Suki, for you Suki's Mum.

I fed Jonty on it for ages as he didnt like Nutro, Advance or Supercoat (which the breeder had him on) very much. Small firm poos & he looked good - the reason that I changed was because I got some 4kg bags of Optimum given to us at a trial & I tried Jarrah on it & he looked fab!! So when we went away on holidays I decided to only take 1 type of food for Jonty & Jarrah & swapped Jonty over & kept him on it - they look a million dollars . I had no problems with RC & would feed it again if I for some reason couldnt get Optimum for my boys .

tentalover, where abouts are you?

You saying this makes me think even more that its as you said - for her, you are her security, as long as she can look at your face she feels safe & feels that, as the leader you will be able to show her guidance & boundaries that she so obviously needs, when you look away she loses her lifeline & goes to pieces. Have you tried out of sight stays in a group situation with her & if so, what did she do?

This is why I got into agility.. a wonderful way to build teamwork and confidence. Arya - poodlefan's idea is a very good one!

Definitely wont be on now, they are allergic to water down there I think my old club used to train rain, hail or shine, but Redlands pike out if there's even so much as a shower . I'll find out about next week & let you know.

I think the most important thing to teach him is that he can be as turned on as he wants *between* exercises as long as he does what you ask him when you ask it. I would be using lots of *hands-on* with him to calm him down, slow stroking, & gentle encouragement to show him what you want & then lots of praise when he does it & if he goes silly afterwards, then it's OK. He will settle down, it's just a question of time . I agree with Erny, it's hard over the internet to even begin & Im not sure if Im making any sense, but I can tell you that I would rather have an over-enthusiastic dog any day over one that you have to gee up all the time. Dogs that are full of life & enthusiasm rock!

You just want to show off your web design abilities .

No, doubt if it will be on unless it stops before lunchtime, they always get alot more rain down there than us - I saw on the BOM site that Ormiston got 102mm or about 4 inches . Also being a sporting oval the area is very flat & water pools on the surface after only a little rain, so it looks like it will be next week now.

Ain't that the truth , IMO having a difficult dog can teach you more than reading 100 books on training can, getting experience with different breeds & different personalities of dogs can give you a very open mind about how to go about solving problems. There is lots of good advice in this thread already, IMO (& without seeing the dog myself) I think you & poodlefan have probably hit the nail on the head, It is you (or rather "was" you, you just didnt realise it) to me it sounds like she has connected you being nervous with the ring & has shut down because of it, is this the dog that you once said had huge issues if you couldnt look at her & have eye contact with her? (forgive me if Im wrong & I have the dogs or people mixed up ) You need to stop her from shutting down, I would be taking her to every trial I could get to & be working along the ring ropes making the work fun - but correct if necessary. And don't forget - baby steps. Good luck with her.

It's first night, so you get an introductory talk by one of the trainers, I forgot about that, so you may want to leave Lucy at home as you wont actually be doing any training. Of course you can bring her if you like, there isnt anything to say you can't, some people bring their dogs for the socialisation, but sometimes it's easier to listen to the person if you arent having to watch your dog all the time :D . When you get to the club (you enter from the end of Bailey Rd, NOT off Old Cleveland Rd East like it says on their website) you drive in the driveway & you will see a large clubhouse (Redlands Sporting Club I think) on the right hand side. Keep going & you will see a small tin shed on the left on the edge of the field, that's the clubhouse for dog obedience. Just park & go up to the window that faces the field (no dogs at window) & tell them that it's your first night & you want to join etc. There will be plenty of new people there, so they'll be expecting people that arent sure whats going on or what to do . You'll see a circle of stools that they put out for the newbie's talk just over near the rings that are set up, thats where you should head after you've seen them at the window. If you are having problems getting there or getting home & want to come, give us a yell & we'll see if we can organise a lift - you'll just have to wait around afterwards as we dont finish until about 8.30pm.

OK carebear, watch out for me too, I'll try to get there a little early so Im hanging around when your class finishes. I'm not sure if the kids or Eddie will be with me - is state of origin on this Wednesday or next? Anyway if it's on, they wont be there . And just as an aside, we went to frisbee on Sunday, the dogs & the kids had a ball - what a fun sport! Bordercollies4me, were you there?

Just a warning about the neighbours getting friendly with or feeding the dogs treats - it backfired with us, the neighbours loved Ebony so used to come up to the fence to give her a pat & talk to her, only problem was that she then started to bark everytime they set foot outside of their house to get their attention . It was like "woof, woof, woof, woof - come over here, I can see you, I want some attention, come here!". It probably wouldnt end up like that with most dogs, but Ebony is such a sh*t & vocalises all the time that I (& the neighbours!) wish we'd never done it .

Jarrah is an experienced collar slipper (from before I owned him), first time I found out was one day at herding & he decided he knew where he wanted to be & I was left holding an empty flat collar & lead & he was sitting at the paddock gate waiting to be let in with the sheep . He now wears a martingale at herding & still tries to slip it often, but no luck now .

The thing that makes me laugh is people saying how great their dry food is as it has improved their dogs coat so much - and then they tell you that they feed sardines & eggs & oils & tuna & every other thing under the sun you can imagine. Of course its the dry food that's improved the dogs coat . Can't really help you with your question though, I feed only dry food with the occasional bone for their teeth .

Jarrah is about 17kgs & gets a 1 pint measuring jug (think that's about 2.5 cups) once a day. Jonty is about 5 kgs & gets 1 cup. Both are extremely active & on Optimum Medium Breed dry food. ETA - neither get anything else added to their food normally, only some treats when obedience training & their dry food is cut back accordingly.

If you want high fat try some of those Ziwipeak dried treats - I couldnt believe when I checked the packet - they are almost 30%fat :D .

To clarify, I dont make my dog heel everywhere when we are just out walking, but if I told him to heel, I would expect the same position in the ring or on the street. I do use it sometimes outside of the trial ring, but certainly not all the time.

Not sure what you are asking, but for me, heel is heel, if I ask my dog to heel I expect it to be in the same position whether I am in the trial ring or walking down the street .

Im with Erny & DogDude & gsdog2 & the other "old timers" ( ) who like their dogs to be "normal" or "natural" when they heel :D .

NFI??? Never fully interested? Not found info? Not financially included? Not friends w instructor? Try No F*****g Idea .

Wow, yep WMR is correct, to get into judges training you only have to have achieved one pass in Novice - all the rest are based on judging the class 3 times & stewarding etc then you can go up.

After reading this thread I remember now why I would rather spend my time with my dogs .......

Qld judges have to have titled their dogs in at least Open, don't they have to do that in Vic?