spoilt lab lives here

Sounds like a cutie and a smartie RS! Well our next trial is this Saturday and Im hoping the work Ive put in the last week and a the work we will put in over the next 6 days will show! We have been working on solid sits and neat turns amongst distractions. We seem to be coming along nicely I think. I changed leads from a long heavy leather lead to a smaller light cotton type lead which I find easier to use and it drags less on the check chain. ETA- Question- The new lead is 95cms, reading the rules it says a handler must be a minimum 750cms away from the dog with a loose lead. Should I be measuring to make sure this lead allows for that?

Vets said Parrafin oil for a few days see how it goes. I was wondering about giving him parrafin oil last night when I discovered he had gotten into it.

Just resurrecting this thread instead of starting a new one. While I was away this weekend my lab somehow got access to the kitty litter..(read dumbd partner left it out and accessible to the dogs) and so he has munched his way through most of the box. Its crystal litter. This morning he was straining a bit and did a small amount of mushy crystaly poo. Is it toxic? and should I be giving him anything to help it pass?

We finally made some headway with the dumbell today! I have him now holding it properly by the middle and not the end when fetching from a few steps away!!

How can we find out which vendors will be there selling dog stuff?

Oooo you are at the spring fair?!?!?! I hope I win! a mat Ill be there too,....Otherwise Ill be buying one lol

Sure can! Ill be there with the MIL to show her the sheepdog trials. Looking forward to it!

Good words Ness! It makes sense. Its all trial and error isnt it..Handler error most of the time

I probably am in reality. So short and sweet is the key? I try to keep it upbeat and as fun as I can and always finish on a good note.

We did some training tonight in a dimly lit park in the dark after the rain. He is getting used to the 'no sniff' command. Training wasnt too bad. Im making him watch me a lot more and I made it fun at the end with a game of fetch. His number 1 thing in the world! Question- How did you get solid automatic sits? What do you do in training to get that result? We have good sits for the first 5-10 mins of training then he goes a bit sloppy like he has had enough. I usually only do a few more sits/drops/stands and then we finish up when he gets like that.

Does anyone do mid-week obedience classes around the Central Coast, Newcaslte, Hunter valley? Im after a mid-week class because the trialling class I go to on Saturday mornings is about to have a break from September to mid October while the trainer goes for her judges licence. Midweek works much better for me as usually we have nothing on during the week.

He sure is! He made lots of friends at the twin servos on the f3 and made me laugh I was way too serious as usual and need to keep it fun outside the ring. Also I waited outside the ring for a while before we went in and I think thats where his boredom came from. Next time I might try a bit of a game before we go in and see how we go then. Mr." Ill only do it if theres something in it for me" showed me Im boring and need to keep him interested

Well today was downright embarrassing Walked into the ring, he was bored out of brain and just didnt do well. I stuffed up the recall by saying stay instead of wait and so he stayed right there. He wasnt going anywhere! So Ill put this all down to experience and keep on training!

The day is nearly here! I am so ready to get in that ring a give it our best shot! Im not as nervous right now as I thought I would be.

Ill be the one who comes up to you Xolo and will say "Can you please say the dogs breed out loud" I have tried to sound it out myself but just cannot get it right

Ill be there Sat and Sun.

I have no tips because we are just starting dumbell work. It seriously blows his mind! He is just so gung ho about it and will retrieve till the cows come home but he wont hold it, he will roll it in his mouth and spit it out and he wont touch the middle when its on the ground. He will only pick it up by the end. Hopefully training on Saturday will give us some tips as we are doing dumbell work.

Oh no worries I think Im going to leave the entry for our October trials to the last minute because I dont know what ring to enter in! We have a few between now and when some of them close so will see how we go.

Oh bugger Nik. If you need to I can look up the Gazette online now if you needed any info..Slow work day lol

Dogs..Great teachers! Ill be ready for anything a baby throws at me whenever that time comes 3rd time in the last few months of the runs from one end of the back room to the other! Love the smell of poo in the morning Off to the vet this morning for a quick once over because he was a bit off. Got some scourban and he will be right as rain by Friday.

I have the dyson dog attachment and when the shepherd is shedding heaps I give her a once over with it. She isnt a fan but will stay still when there is food involved.

How do you guys warm your dog up to go in the ring on the day? I dont want to over do it and get in the ring and he be bored. Also- Anyone else going to Brush Farm this Sunday?

Im baack from my trip away! Have had a good weekend of training time with Rams and must say I am pretty pleased with how well the break from training has gone for him. He stayed with my mum and young brothers and sisters and its done him the world of good! Picked up my gazebo yesterday..Now just need to confirm my partner has Sunday off so I have a buddy with me to video or time in the ring. I am a bundle of nerves just thinking about it lol

Thanks guys. Ill bee watching how we are going a few days before the trial and if we are ready we will go if not oh well our next trial is the weekend after so it wont matter. Just thinking about it makes me nervous Maybe the week off from training will do us both good and we will be fresh faced! :D Tell you what though- Gotta love a bank that is easy to deal with! I was a bit worried a cheque would be banked and bounce because I had forgotten to leave funds in the account. So went in today got the cheque book linked to a seperate account named - Dog cheques I swear people think Im nuts. My Bfs mates call Ramses the "robot dog" TBH Id prefer my robot dog over all their uncontrolable dogs any day Wuffles- Your vid helped with our figure of 8 They are so much better compared to before!

Oh man! This week has not been the best week training wise so far and its making me nervous! I seriously need to step back and tell myself its ok if we arent ready by 21st. It wont be the end of the world to miss this one Mum had a valid point this morning- She said 'Dont set him up to fail by rushing him especially when you are going away next week'. So true! I was sick in bed on the weekend so no training there. Monday was a half arsed training session. He was just too interested in the food and our walk was ruined by the fact that my bfs mum decided to drive to the park where we were training with bfs dog and she wouldnt leave us alone while I tried to train Yesterday I got home late and so took him for a quick walk. I stopped to do a bit of training in a lit up area but I kept messing up my feet and getting us both confused and frazzled so we finished on a good stand and went home. Todays plan- Have a decent, fun training session! Did anyone else get themself into a flap before their first trial?