dogdude

I think alot can be dependant on breed and nature. My experience is mainly with bull breeds, and if they were them, I would advise against it. I had a few bad learning experiences with different dogs, until I woke up. Some of them took over twelve months to show any problems, and would appear the best of mates in between trying to fight to the death. No experience with Mastiff types though.

Thanks guys, but today I had to cancel due to work anyway, so I think I am "done and dusted" trial wise, till next year.

I would presume that tugs are ok then.

Certainly hope not!! Next they will be banning food training for fear of your dog eating you!!!

Ohh.........I likey that site!

The problem in the first place was probably caused by the club style of training. When some dogs sit around idle too long (hour long class?), they can decide to entertain themselves. They become fixated on moving objects (namely other dogs), which is far more entertaining than block heeling and army style commands while trekking all over the park. Too much "doggy play" can cause the same thing. A combination of both can be worse. Have you looked into training using prey drive? What level of training do you want to achieve?

I basically use the same senario as Erny. "Gooooood" is used as feedback, mainly to let the dog know that what he is doing, is what I want him to continue to do, for exercises that require prolonged concentration like focus, and holding good heel position, stays etc. Its used lengthen these exercises. It wouldn't be used for getting the dog to do an exercise that has one quick mechanical action like sit or drop etc. "Yes" is used for this, and in both cases, "Ok" is used to release to reward. The timing you use "Yes" in those short,one action exercises can be used to improve the speed of your sits and drops etc in a motivated dog. Also, the "Good" communicator, is usually followed by the "Yes" marker, before release command "Ok".

Hi neitz Thanks for the offer, but its being home alone that I am worried about.

Does anybody have a great dog minder that they use in Melbourne (North or West)? Need someone to look after my Staffie girl Bridie, while I trial down in Portland ( not this weekend, but next, friday to Sunday evening.

Congrats everyone! Our year will finish off at the Portland double soon. Looking forward to next year when I can get the pup in the ring.

Congrats MSF! Perhaps you should look into training in drive, since your dog likes to tug. "Game" type breeds often respond well to these methods, and resist traditional ones. I once owned a BT that I completely gave up on regarding trialling. Thinking back all those years, he had a really high prey drive that I could have used to great effect, if only I knew then, what I do now.

Great news! No turning back now. You've been bitten by the obedience bug!

The way I train, is to end each session with the jackpot, but you can control the portions as Kavik suggested. I pick one part exercise, work for a short duration on that, then release. There is really no point in trying to concentrate on a chain of exercises while maintaining fantastic food drive. Make each session really stick in the memory bank. My dog doesn't get fed outside of training time. To make them work hard sometimes for their food, and not others, (in K9force's words) It can become "painfull". Read the TOT for ideas on how to promote food drive.

Hi Luke My advice is to teach your dog to run to a food target, after a release command. If you are interested in trialling, then you want your dog to be thinking about nothing but how to get the release. By having it in your hand/pouch, you are adding a visual element that creates a focus that is not true. Start off by running to a food bag with your dog after release, then slowly let him go get it himself.

Great news for you and your dogs! Handy living where you do too. Smack in the middle of the Melbourne dog scene. Perhaps we will see you down at F.O.O in the not too distant future?

Practicality is the main issue with dumbells. There is alot of crap on the market. Measure your dog accross the muzzle behind the canines, then try to find one that has a shaft length slightly wider, but as close to the measurement as you can. Be mindfull of the shaft width too. A thicker shaft will discourage mouthing more than a thin one. Make sure that there is plenty of ground clearance under the shaft, so your dog can pick it up with ease, and not scrape his under jaw, or be put off picking it up in longer grass. The height of the "bells" determine the clearance. A slight taper going away from the shaft on the inside of the bells also helps the dogs vision.

You need to go on a quest to find out what motivates your dog. Once you have done that, you can then decide if your dog is driven enough for trialling. Has nothing to do with the breed, but individuals can be either driven enough,....or not. I often hear people say that their dog isn't interested in food. Does your dog never eat? Its a survival instinct. Try fasting your dog, and use his meal in small parts in his training, as in TOT. Not interested............not hungry enough.

I have noticed that my pup does this "raised paw" thing at every sit while heeling in drive too.

I think that sometimes they can have a certain spark in the ring at a young age, that "CAN" be easily lost at the higher levels. I know this can be a training issue, but I feel sometimes its not. I think you should cash in when the times right, and not necessarily to a planned level of knowledge. Do you think your Ness showed a more enthusiastic focus while breezing through the lower levels? I find a 180 score in my own mind is about the equivelant to a judges 190 (generally speaking). P.S: Tuggie's in the mail.

I personally will not necessarily wait till my pup has completed UD, I don't see any reason to hold them back if the are consistently getting high 190 scores in training run throughs (in my own mind), and are of mature mind.

I think the more experience you get, the longer you leave it. If you seriously want to win a trial, you don't enjoy getting beaten by a point or two, with little things that could be easily fixed with time. I agree with Ness about training to UD, but I still find it hard to wait that long when the pup shows so much promise.

Are Yes!

Nice work. I found the Balabanov dvds inspiring. His dogs work like shadows.

What's the reason for her breaking? When you can work that out, you can proof for it. Much of the time at trials, its a focus issue. Retrain it with focus in mind for the CCD/Novice levels.

Congrats Reddii, I'm sure you will go well. Well, not sure if this should be in here or the disaster thread. Had hit a training hurdle this year with distance control in Open. We tried many ways of retraining with great success outside the ring, but not in it. I was confident that this trial would be different, and it was. Oscar sprang up to a sit in the distance control powerfully, showing no confusion whatsoever. I was over the moon about finally overcoming that hurdle, and was on par for a 192. The little bugger go lazy in the sun and dropped on the Out of sight sit stay didn't he!!!!!!!! I was only saying ty my wife the other day that it was some time ago that I had been to club to practice one, and was debating whether to go last Sunday, or take the kids to the Whittlesea Ag show. The kids won out and Oscar lost. Just goes to show that trial prep should never be taken for granted lol. Have got two more chances before the end of the year to get the runs on the board at the Portland double later this month. Anyone going?