wheres my rock

I have the sddest news im crying as i write this morning we lost our little Loch he died at the vets after having a seizure. The vet says it was severe liver shunt we havent talked to him about it yet but our hearst are so empty this is the second time we've lost a dog s yung and suddenly in the last 12 months and its so hard to accept that it has happened

I have the sddest news im crying as i write this morning we lost our little Loch he died at the vets after having a seizure. The vet says it was severe liver shunt we havent talked to him about it yet but our hearst are so empty this is the second time we've lost a dog s yung and suddenly in the last 12 months and its so hard to accept that it has happened [/img] i dont understand

unfortunately thast the way it goes somtimes we have a couple of what would you know types at our club they scare people away im sure of it funny when i take a class i have people bailing me up for weeks telling me what they have done and how they have tried this and that and what do i think of this idea i love that but then i guess when i take a class i have the attitude one no one knows a persons dog betteer than they do and two i encourage all memebrs of the group to share their experiencesand try to try different things Last week i walked past a table of beginners they had had a class with my sister the week before and had been shown how to use food well they were sitting comparing foods and testing diferent ones It doesnt matter whther an instructor is qualified or highly experienced some epople are just better at working with people than others its a mindset i think

isnt it amazing the bond developed by working in areas that are instinctive I have always said doing things like herding and retrieving really enhance your relationship with your dog

Hi Pom Yes unfortunately the old block heeling can be counter productive we ar trying to implement more find your own space and station training but its hard when instructors have done it one way for many yaers I tnd to take individuals on that are struggling and work them away from the class. Really classes are there to show epoeple what htye need to do then go home and practise it we are lucky our class sizes are small most fo the time

Interesting that all so far who have responded have been members of yearly clubs and not the pay for the life of the dog type

first id be looking at retention rate past the first year of trianing what percentage stay on look at people who join the gym with good intntions its like 2% that stay on past th first year. I would have to look at the database but id say our club has around a twenty percent retention rate still though i will check those figures coz now im curious too

So if we are looking at the lifetime of one dog i probabaly do two years of club over the time im trialling but then there is a difference with mst of the epople here and an averge person mosy ehre are really keen dog poeple that spend a lot more time trianing and working with their dog than most. Over the past twenty years ive spent thousands on trianing seminars provate coaching etc etc but its worth it i lovemy hobby To get a real persective you need to as the person in the street

did they have the needle fr kc or the nasal spray

I tink ours is cheaper for a reneweal too but most people have achived a nice level of cotrol within the first 12 months so its only us diehards that keep coming back lol

so really your trying to compare an annual fee type cub to a lifetime of the dog thing thing is circumstances change and needs change so if i had paid for life time with my first dog i would have had to leave we went interstate and then pay to join again up there whereas with a yearly club you can move get sick of it what ever and you only lose a small fee My current dog goes to trianing every week we pay 25 a year plus out three dollars he will go to club until he retires from competition work but our focus is very different to those who are looking for good behaviour it doesnt take years to get a well behaved dog unless the dog has issues

YEs i have always trained in the corner luckiy our club never really worried about what was doing and apart from the odd comment it was fine. Mid you im pretty forward when i want my own way these days they have a different attitude they respeact what i have done wth my dogs and i have been asked to help out rewriting the manual running the instructor course and generally make changes its a slow process but we are getting there

We dont really attend formal obedience classes though we use the grounds and equipment i stopped doing classes about fifteen years ago as i have my own way of doign things

Ive been training at my club on and off for eighteen years by on and off i mean we moved interstate for a while etc other club we stayed for five

25 a ywear membershi and three dollars per training session i like the sound of helens though pity your on the otherside of the city WE have obedience agility and used to have flyball It really varies for example shoeys club owns their ground so have mre upkeep ours doesnt

my gsp came t us because the owners were told she was untrainable deaf ad aggressive lol twelve months later she was competing in ud agility and had her beginners retrieving under her belt She was a great dog very keen and willing very active she was a great dog to live with so long as she was worked and exercised

Yup and its those people that make going out on a freezing money with icicles hanging of the eye brows so worthwhile

good stats sad though but how do you get to eople before they get the dog after all this is where the problem begins I agree Hr laziness is a killer though you meet enough relaly keen people along the way to make it all worthwhile

Hi DAve glad to here you guys ae on the mend I agree with K( get him out working again first and i know its hard but try and be relaxed its so easy to show tension when you see anoter dog afetr an attack you know the drill Im sure you'd hve no probs finding some suitable dogs to have hanging around down the track but keep the focus on you and him and working the other dogs are just there

i dont think its the expense of trianing a dog as much as getting results people who et the results they are after and are comfortable n the trianing environment keep coming back al lot of epople who give up are honestly trying and not finding themselves moving forward Many epople get a dog ith the right intentions but just arent made aware of how much commitment is needed maybe clubs and breeders should start running pre pupy purchases sessions discussing different requirements of breeds how much a puppy relaly costa and offer sessions to decide on whats rigt for the individual then advertise these sessions the rspca is doing something like that but i only stumbled across the ad when looking at dogs in the pound . this is something the vCA should think about taking on board talk about an oppurtunty to promoter responsible breeding and dog ownership. On the odd occasion i take a class i often think if put you with you and that one there they would be so much better suited to each other Unfortunatl people want to see results fast they need twice as much reinforcement as th dogs sometimes lol

i hate the yeah but yeah but pple they always have an excuse yeah but i work long hours yeah but the dog isnt cclean in the house we have a small group that meets to train and unless someone is really ill or the weather s totally feral no one misses a week usually the problem is getting away and going home lol

yes thats a good one really through the whole thing just take you time if the judge calls left turn and you are right to do it take a few steps then turn try not to rush into moves because you were told to a good way to practise is to tape calls and then play them while heeling and make sure you dont do the call for a coumt of three after it

i love that idea nothing worse than having a dog harrass your dog when your on a pass and they arent same goes if you dog has poor stays and likes o disrupt other dogs dont trial until you have them solid I pull from stays if im not on a pass and also have been known to pull from stays when on a pass because of a known trouble maker being in the same set.

and dont do tonnes of heeling before you go in i see so many teams do their best work outside the ring

hey sprong dog sowdo we so im assuming we are at the same club are you the lady with the lovely spronger boy that is doign the instructor course mymsister was telling me about how enthusiastic you are im the one who did ninety percent of the rewriting of it lol