MrsD

O poop, there isn't a dancing day on Monday You can see Westies on just about any weekend at Durack when a champ show is on . Thanks MrsD, are Scottish Terriers on at the same day as Westies at Durack? and where would I find a Durack schedule, wouldn't mind seeing the Kelpies though, I used to breed them many years ago when we had the farm near Miva :D The kelpies are on Friday the 6th at the Ekka . Durack shows are just one day, they have a half a dozen or more rings running all at once. They are on most weekends but not all, I just checked the June Dogworld & there is a show on Sunday the 1st August & one on Sunday the 15th August if that's any help.

O poop, there isn't a dancing day on Monday You can see Westies on just about any weekend at Durack when a champ show is on .

You're welcome Kyliegirl, there is some very secretive planning going on so people can unveil new routines at the Ekka for the "wow" factor, can't say mine will be like that though I'll just be happy to get through without Jarrah doing his mexican jumping bean impersonation .

That's a pity Wizzle, keep in contact with them though as the more people get interested the more training days, clubs etc will pop up in different areas.

Boronia, according to the Dog Events Schedule the Westies are on Monday 9th. Barb & Kyliegirl, there are some of last year's routines up on Youtube Ekka Routines 2009 plus there are videos from other competitions on the DWDCQ Youtube channel here . We are buying a new video camera next weekend just to take this year, so they should be up not long after the event. Gamby, yes, Brisbane Royal, sorry I forget not everyone knows it's called the Ekka up here .

For those who have seen it before & for those who would like to see what it's all about, Dances with Dogs have a trial over 3 days at the Ekka this year. For those who don't know what it is, it's a sport where the dog & handler perform a choreographed routine to a piece of music & it's all about fun, teamwork, motivation & focus . The 2 divisions (Freestyle & Heelwork to Music) have been split up over the 3 days, I'm competing on the first Friday & will be spectating the other 2 days. FRIDAY 6th August DWD Trial at the ROYAL (Ekka) 3pm FREESTYLE - Starters and Intermediate TUESDAY 10th August DWD Trial at the ROYAL (Ekka) 3pm HTM - Starters, Novice and Advanced FRIDAY 13th August DWD Trial at the ROYAL (Ekka) 3pm FREESTYLE - Novice and Advanced HTM - Intermediate If anyone wants to know about training your dog to do DwD, meet some of the dogs & dancers or just find out more about the sport in general feel free to approach any of the competitors & ask questions, we will have some flyers to hand out about our DwD club & we love to get more people interested in the sport . Edited to change the title so interstate people know what I'm talking about .

No, it's not changed hands, but it is up for sale. We just got back last night from a dog training seminar down there, Camp Tailwaggers ROCKS! :)

Watch out or you will end up with Mr Magic Man's granddaughter's head as a spare to stuff all your info into :rofl: . Contact sport I still have no idea how I ended up dripping blood all over the floor , I'm sure that Jarrah didn't get me with his teeth, I think I sliced it on a metal bit on my treat bag because it's coming apart, it's the only thing sharp enough that could have cut me like that .

He runs the PowerPaws obedience in Sydney Erny, he comes up to Qld to Camp Tailwaggers at least once a year, but I don't know if he travels anywhere else. The only disappointment on the weekend was that he didn't bring any of his dogs with him, watching him work with his dogs & the precision in his heelwork is just amazing!

Steve was as funny & entertaining as always, he gave me some great help with Jarrah's problem, so hopefully he won't make a fool of me at the Ekka (cos I can make a fool of myself instead ) ;) . This is the 3rd (or 4th? can't remember now ) time I've been to his seminar & every one of them has been different & he's covered different stuff . at the Sharapova ;) obviously I'm no budding tennis star but I'm not much good at the crossing the arms & counting bricks in the wall either . The difference between Whisper this year & last year is amazing, just from following his training ideas, her (& Jarrah's) drive & focus are fantstic now . Looking forward to Steve's next visit & having my slightly loopy & very spoilt Jarrah back working at his best . ETA - nice to see you again Tilly & Mystiqview, also forgot to mention how bl00dy COLD it was, I was cold all weekend!

LOL My vizsla is an expert in getting her tongue down your throat! Poor tradesmen when they come to the house!! First she looks like she'lll rip their throat out, then when their guard is down, she slips the tongue in! It's a breed trait.. Tash is an expert, and Bundy has started too, she's taught him yuckky habits Don't mind a lick on the cheek every now and then (or even a forehead wash if i'm going to the shower) but ugh.. if he slips in the tongue I go off to gargle :nahnah: That's exactly what Jarrah does! He springs up straight in front of you & when he gets to your head height he slips the tongue in . We have had so many people come to visit & when they walk through the gate they make the mistake of opening their mouth to speak & he's there to slip the tongue in before they can get a word out. Don't know how many times he's done it to us too, you'd think we'd learn that you need to walk through the gate, clamp your lips shut & shuffle as fast as you can with your face in the air so that he can't get to your mouth, but he still manages to get the french kissing thing going on a regular basis . If you tell him "kisses" he just goes crazy trying to get up to lick you all over the face - including up your nose (never worked out how a dog's tongue could get up a human's nose - but it can!) & inside your mouth . Bertie, don't laugh at the image of a chubby middle aged woman lying on the floor being mauled by a kelpie's tongue you meanie! Brooke, awwww that is sooooooo cute!

Same here but with a rhodesian ridgeback. ;) :D I thought it was just a kelpie thing, but maybe not . Have you tried the "turn your back & ignore" ? It worked for me with a friend's jumping Staffy, took about 2 weeks though You've never met Jarrah & I have you? Lets just say that going around & around in circles turning my back on him would only end in tears as I ended up flat on my face on the floor with him writhing in ecstasy on top of me because you can lick a whole heap longer & faster when your target is on the ground .

Holly would be fine in the situation above as long as she got lots of balls thrown for her, but she is really a chilled out, easy (and somewhat 'simpler' ;) ) Aussie. I don't know any other Aussies who would cope well. And I think Holly would only cope with the family's situation if she wasn't an only dog. The RIGHT Aussie or BC might be suitable but it would be difficult to find the one in a puppy. What she said - so much more eloquently than I did :p .

I doubt a kelpie would suit, my kelpie boy makes my BC girl look like a couch potato! And since they said they like BCs, if they thought they would be able to have one, they wouldn't be asking the question. Sure, most working breeds will be high energy and a lot of work. But there are also a lot of individual dogs that aren't like that. I have met quite a few young working breeds who are calm and laidback. I've met BCs that are happier lying around the house than being out and about. I've also met BCs who spin and bark and carry on if they're not given hours of stimulation every day. A lot of people think that every working breed dog is GO GO GO which isn't the case. Every working breed is not like that, but BC's & kelpies would be at the top of the list for breeds that are! Yep, you may get a couch potato BC or kelpie, but being realistic the chances of getting what these people want in a BC or Kelpie puppy are slim. If they were prepared to look at adult dogs then there would be a better chance of success. I can't speak for Aussies cos I haven't ever owned one. Based on those 2 comments given by the people themselves there is no way I would recommend a kelpie to them. Or a BC for that matter. There are heaps of other great breeds out there that they could go with. Why try to put a dog in a home where the people themselves have said they don't think they are the right owners for that breed? ;) I would have suggested a sheltie, but they may be a bit small for them & they definitely leave a lot of hair everywhere when they shed :p .

I doubt a kelpie would suit, my kelpie boy makes my BC girl look like a couch potato! And since they said they like BCs, if they thought they would be able to have one, they wouldn't be asking the question.

Jarrah is a compulsive face licker, he will bounce up & down in front of you to you head height trying to lick your face & trying to get his tongue in your mouth. It's not really a submissive lick, more a "Oh my god, I can't believe it, I'm so excited" lick, he has started doing it in DwD trials (super excited to be out there dancing & just can't control himself I think), so if anyone has any great ideas other than whacking him on the head, or kneeing him as he jumps up (neither of them are a good look in front of the judge ) please let me know!

I'm arriving Saturday morning, I'm actually staying with Ann on Saturday night so I don't have to drive home & drive back again Sunday morning. Seita, bugger, it's a pity you can't come . It was nice to see you (& Mack) last Saturday .

Me, me, me, me, ME!!! Steve Steve Steve Steve Steve :D

@ kelpies being a little bit special. That's what we say about Ebony, Dagboy's GSD - but she's "special school" special . Well no further dramas with Jarrah, he's as happy as larry with the bed in the corner again now. Just weird. NM, that's the problem, isn't it? It's like Dagboy said, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink, unless you're going to crate them, you can't make them sleep where you want them to . As you said, maybe she will want to come in again when it gets colder, earlier in the week it wasn't that cold at night (although last night was a bit colder), maybe she thought it was better outside - who knows?

I wish I could go again this year, have been the last 2 years & Steve is absolutely fantastic. I've learnt so much from him, it's only really because of him & Maree Field that I've gotten so far with Jarrah .

Bugger the sage smudge stick, I have told MrsD that we need to get some Old Spice. Look at your dog, look at me, look at your dog, look at me ... I am on a horse Yeah well it worked for you to get Mrs D onto your side of the bed didn't it? :D :mad Well last night we tried tdierikx's suggestion of getting the bed he slept on while we were away & putting it in the corner. At first he was a bit iffy about it, but he finally settled down & when I woke up this morning he was curled up on his bed happily snoring away . I will wash the other bed & bedding & give the corner the once over as well & then see how we go with the original bed again, the other bed usually stays in the caravan but if I have to I will leave that one in the bedroom, I don't really care what bed he sleeps on, as long as he's warm & comfy .

Absolutely, I look like this dancing instead of like this & Jarrah & I still managed to qualify & get a title .

Too many Old Spice ads "I'm on a boat ... I'm on a horse ..." .

BC4Me - yeah he just hates me ;) , we went away for a week in thecaravan last week & he was crated for most of the time, he got home Friday afternoon & he sat on the verandah with his nose pressed against the glass peering in at me while the other dogs ran around like idiots wearing off their energy . ;) at contacting Angie - "who ya gonna call? GHOSTBUSTERS!" . Poodlefan & wuffles, none of the other dogs are really allowed inside & certainly none of them have been up in the bedroom. I thought that maybe the bedding was the problem but when I took the bed & bedding away he would happily sleep on it when I moved it to a different part of the room, but still wouldn't set foot in that corner where it had been. He was definitely giving off stress & avoidance signals ie lowered head, lowered tail, offering behaviours etc, he is undoubtably King in the doggy heirachy here & he is not the sort of dog to be finicky about anything like that which is why I am stumped . I will wash the bed & bedding & the corner & see if that makes a difference, thanks for the suggestion.

A little bit of background .... Jarrah my kelpie is incredibly intelligent & loyal, where ever I am, he wants to be. He has been sleeping in our bedroom next to my side of the bed for about 2 years now, he knows that is his "spot", it's nice & warm with a bed & blankets, he takes himself off to bed, loves sleeping in & staying in his bed in the mornings etc & has been as happy as a pig in mud that he can be close to me since the day he started sleeping inside. Until last Friday ... We came home from a week away with the dogs on Friday & when it was time for bed he took himself over to the other side of the room (next to the door) & lay down on the bare floor (we have a highset house with polished wooden floors = cold in winter). I didn't really think much of it because it wasn't a particularly cold night & I was only slightly more concerned when he did it again Saturday night but last night was quite a bit colder & when he dumped himself down on the other side of the room I started to get a bit more worried about it, so I called him over to get him on his bed. He walked over to the side of his bed, put his head down & sniffed the bedding he always sleeps on & backed away. I called him over again & tried to get him to get on the bedding again & he started offering behaviours & put his feet up on me which is what he does when he really really doesn't want to do anything . I tried a few more times & he wouldn't go any closer than the edge of the bedding (his bed is about 2 feet by 3 feet), I took the bed & bedding away, he still wouldn't go & lie down where it was although he would lie on his bed if I put it at the end of our bed instead of in the corner beside our bed. When we got into bed last night he went & lay down by the door again but at some point through the night he did move back onto his bed which was at the end of our bed (close to the door). I am absolutely at a loss as to why he is now refusing to sleep in that corner, when he goes & sleeps near the door he's not agitated like he wants to go out or anything (he's only just come in from being outside all night anyway), it's just almost like it's the furthest he can get from the corner where his bed was. When you call him over to the corner he doesn't like, he's not agitated, but he is slightly stressed ie he does the offering behaviours as an avoidance issue so he doesn't have to lie down there. ;) Apart from the not wanting to sleep in the corner issue he is his usual happy, crazy self, he'll spend his entire day either running around the yard or stalking me, he's had no change of food, no change in anything else about his world, we just went away on holiday for a week & when he came home, he wouldn't sleep where he's been sleeping for the last 2 years ;) :confused: :confused: I have no idea why, Dagboy threw in some suggestions like there being a snake under the house in that spot or termites or something like that but I went & looked today & can't see anything strange or different about the area from below, so I'm still none the wiser . Any ideas?