MrsD

If you'd put it in the social pages I wouldn't have found it - I never look in there . Has anyone got a 12 volt TV & DVD player that we could connect up at Lurecoursing? Dunno how we would get pizza delivered there though! :D

What time KK? And I'll have supreme please

WEIA, afraid so, we stuck Jonty in his breed class first thing Sunday morning & then bolted back down to Richard as soon as it was over . Never saw more than 1 or 2 other shelties in the ring the whole weekend :rolleyes: . CTD, yep, really enjoyed the videos of all the stuff he has done with Pogo, he is one hell of a dedicated man & definitely a bit of a perfectionist . I even got to put Jonty in the workshop on Sunday which as good fun & I particularly liked the brainstorming bits where we had to think up moves etc for characters & specific songs & the bits where we all had to get up & dance . It really was a great eyeopener, especially to someone like me who's completely new to the sport, we had a ball & learnt sooooo much, it was worth the 12 hr drive each way just to learn from him. Im hoping Mary Ray will be just as informative & interesting next week :rolleyes: .

We saw Richard (aka God in our household ) - what an absolutely FABULOUS workshop! We had only booked in for the Saturday as we had the Sheltie National to go to on the Sunday but we ended up scrapping the National & going back to his seminar it was that good!! We enjoyed every minute of it, I was gutted when he said he didnt know if/when he was coming back. We will be at Mary Ray as well, but only on the Friday for the dancing with dogs bit. Dunno how many other shelties will be there, but mine is only 6 months old, so smaller than a full grown one & a sable & Hesa's is a black & white.

I agree with the others brea, she looks like a BCx to me (& gorgeous with it ), don't see much maltese in there. Being a petshop I wonder if they just put "maltese cross" on everything cos that's the latest trend, similar to calling everything an "oodle"? ETA - just having a look at the pics again, does her tail curl up in those pics or is it just my eyesight? Shelties & BCs dont usually have a curly tail, but there are quite a few SWF's that do, the tail might be the maltese part .

:p

Cant wait ;) it sounds great . Don't bother about Sydney though - we cant even take our dogs, all the dog spots are taken, we can only go as spectators .

I know of about half a dozen who have .

CTD, how did day 2 go? We are (well I am ;) ) so excited about our day with him next weekend - & the Mary Ray one in a couple of weeks time ;) .

I agree with this - in our household Ebony's nickname is Houdini. Doesnt matter what you do, she will try to find a way out & she's done so since she was about 4 months old (in 2 different houses). Even when you are outside playing with her or doing stuff with her, if you turn your back on her, shes over at the fence trying it out. She has got better as she's got older (she's 3 now) & she has a run where she has to be kept while we are out or if we cant watch her all the time. We have a large yard (3 acres at the last house, 2.5 acres at this one), so its not because she needs more space - just that she wants to get out & see the world - there's always something "better" out there . In comparison, Jonty wont stray more than 10 or 15 metres from the house, he has certain places he likes to go to explore (around the back of the shed & up near the chook pen) but that's as far as he goes. Maybe that might change when he's older, but for now Im happy he hasnt picked up the wander-bug :cool: .

Thanx for all the ideas everyone, still havent quite decided what Im going to do yet, but there have been some great ideas . Caseykay :p :D dont have that many, I counted them & there are about 40 including a few club & confirmation ones .

Noooooooo don't drink alcohol & never had chocolate make me sick yet , Ive had some flu bug that's made me feel like crud all week, I was hoping none of the lurecoursing gang got it cos I came down with it on the way home from there .

kelpiechick - that sounds alot like how I used to display my smaller ones with all my trophies on my pine hutch, but I put the larger sashes up on the wall, I will dig the pic out & scan it. JAG - that dust is a killer TrustUs - why should we trust you or her? :rofl: I dont remember mine falling down alot with blutack, just thought there might have been a better way. I LOVE that ribbon holder that PF posted the URL for, very very compact , but I do like the lovely big sashes when they are put up across-wise rather than hanging down - they look so nice that way .

Yes Hesa although I have been too sick to really get very far through reading them or do much work with him. Today was the first day that I have felt even remotely human . BTW the video was great too and that liver he really does like it!

Ummmmm I've got a few - but not quite that many :D . Although thats a good point where's my rock, I havent come across my horsey ones yet, I hope they havent been lost . Boxagirl, I have an old pic somewhere of some of my old dogs ribbons & trophies, I'll see if I can drag it out & scan it. The new dogs are a disappointment so far in comparison but give them time .

What the ....???? :D Well the club is a vca obedience club and vca rules prohibit taking a treat bag into the trial ring - so the rule makes sense. We are perfectly allowed to use treats when training at home. Kismet, all my dogs have been trained at the same sort of clubs (ie affiliated with the state body) & my dogs I've trained there have gone on to trial. I totally understand about training with food when you are trialling etc & can understand weaning dogs off food asap & encouraging handlers to find other ways to motivate their dogs (which is what I have always done, but almost all dogs benefit from some form of food motivation in the early classes - but to actually have a rule against using food is just weird . And to be able to train at home using treats but not at the club is just doubly weird!

What the ....???? Bikle, Im in your boat as well :D , everyone else has given good ideas.

Thanx guys .

Thanx guys . Jesomil, I will most definitely be putting any I keep in storage in a plastic bag next time, I was shocked at how filthy they had got just sitting in a box . PF, were they advertised in the NSW journal? I dont get that anymore, but I will keep an eye out in the CCCQ Dog World in case they advertise them as well. Since neither my old dog or bitch are with us anymore :D what I thought I might do is perhaps put a photo of them up in the hallway (I have a couple that I had blown up years ago that would be nice) & display their respective ribbons with the photo. That's how I had them when they were alive & I had them on display in my old house. Then I would put Jonty's & Ebony's just along a bit further. ETA - where's my rock, thats a nice idea too - much better than just a coathanger or similar which is sometimes used .

How does everyone display their ribbons that their dogs have won? Going through the shed the other day I found a box with all the ribbons from my previous dogs & I have washed them all carefully & hung them up to dry & would like to put them back up on the wall with the ones from current dogs, but how do people do it? The old ones were stuck up with blutac the new ones are stuck up with coloured pins (like you use on a cork board) along our picture rail, but Im not sure I like them like that (hanging down rather than across) & I dont like the coloured pins sticking out everywhere . Does anyone else have different ways that they display theirs?

Yes I like to have some sort of long term plan in place when I start so that I don't have so many mistakes to fix as I go cheers M-J Good thinking .

No it isn't too long but I would also watch your body language at a guess you are bending over to give both cues or you move your hand down before you twirl your finger I'm assuming he is seeing a similarity in your body language at the start of the cue, it is a good idea to video yourself to see what the dog is watching it is much easier to watch a video than work it out while you are working the dog. Another thing about the roll over cue If you plan on trialling him??? you will probably use the word "over" during some part of your training, open and UD, so maybe just "roll" if this is the case. hth cheers M-J THANK YOU M-J!! That's exactly the sort of advice I need - hadn't even thought of over already being used, I'll just use roll as you suggested (yes, am most definitely going to trial him ). With regard to the body language, when I was teaching him this afternoon I was telling him to drop, then "lie down" to get him on his side & then roll over, I think it was just possibly anticipating the further commands more than anything else cos I dont even have him onlead when we are doing tricks. Must phase the drop out asap & just start using the "lie down" command (which I may shorten to just lie or lay as judges usually use "down" when giving commands in obedience trials, thanks, now you've got me thinking about stuff like that ). The video is a great idea anyway, wish our video camera was working though .

We went to obedience training tonight & he worked incredibly well especially considering I haven't done any obedience work with him since last week . I did some tricks with him afterwards & he was so excited to be there & do the work. I have taught him the high 5 (paw same side) & to shake (opposite paw), just perfecting it now. I've also started the targetting which he does fairly well as long as I dont expect a great distance yet. He even did some bows & shaking hands while we were at lurecoursing the other day, which I thought was a major achievement considering how much distraction there is there. What commands & signals do people give for some of the tricks that you teach? I started teaching the rollover today - he picks things up soooo bl**dy fast, when we were at obedience & I asked him for the first drop he went straight over onto his side & went to roll over until I stopped him - but I dont really know what command to use? Im using a twirling finger in front of his face as a signal, but should I use roll over as the command or is that too long?

Yep, sounds like me, I choke on ordinary panadol - not much good for someone who has to take so many tablets a day that sometimes I think I rattle when I walk :D .

Thanx Cavnrott & Mornir I will check it out. Hounder the ones I have are the Blackmores 1500mg ones & they are HUGE! Most of the others I have seen suggest taking 3 x 500mg /day but clever me thought I would kill 2 birds with one stone & buy the 1500mg one/day tablets - only problem is that they are 3 times the size of a normal capsule . That's why I thought the powdered form might be better for me. Edited - sorry I got the wrong brand my glucosamine are Blackmores not Natures Own, Im getting my tablets mixed up :D .