dogdude

Hi ness Do you train out of Melbourne? Noticed in your video clip you have grass, (green, real life grass). Found some this morning at a footy ground not too far away. What a luxury I always took for granted!!

I use a short lead, hooked around my thumb, tucked up just under my left breast. But I am also a bloke, and I would imagine you would have to position the lead a bit to the left, or a bit lower, lol! Maybe thats why my lead does'nt get in the way! I found Ness's comments in her initial post good reading, agreed with all of it. Good post Ness!! I will post some more Stafford clips up soon over the comming weeks to get some feedback so we will have plenty of time to fix ourselves up to be competitive. I just bought another dumbell yesterday as I lost it in November some time. His first session this morning with it was faultless, was really pleased. Dont know what went on at the footy ground last night, but there was old snags on the ground everywhere! Good distraction for a greedy little Stafford. As soon as he was released from the first exercise, he made like a vaccuum cleaner!

Depends how you are using it I guess.

Hi Shoey I would have to disagree with Ness in that I personally would do less off lead training at this stage, but at the same time, build his drive with bigger rewards to acheive the enthusiasm required. Both you and Ness use different training methods to teach the individual exercises initially, and to acheive the mindset of ness's dog, I feel you would have to start from scratch. From an outsiders understanding, Ness seems to be leaning to more of a positive approach, and you a mixture? Not sure if I am correct in assumming that, but at Ed's level, I would still want my lead on for educational purposes. I still do most of my training onlead. At trialling level, I find it a waste of time by not testing my dog out with some distraction. Not sure if you noticed the noise in my clip, but there were workman in the park hammering in steel posts just out of camera shot. I would be interested in Ness's thoughts on this too.

Hi Shoey. Comming along nicely. My little bit of advice would be to do some work on his "On/Off" switch. (hard to be critical of one off routine) but this is what I noticed on first viewing. Probably because you were thinking of the video. Do you normally rev him up with a ball after each exercise in your regular training? I remember from reading other posts of yours that he is a ball freak? If so, I would. Good work! Hope to bump into you on the trial circuit soon!!

Thanks for your comments MrsD. Have taken them on board. One of the problems developed over the break is a slight forging problem. Should be an easy fix. What does worry me is his habit of sitting and dropping slightly wide, occasionally on a slight angle with the sits. Its annoying because of the fact the problem is slight, but there. I think the problem is a result of his antisipation of reward in the learning process, and something that is a work in progress at the moment. During the learning of the heeling process, I rewarded with my left hand with dog in perfect heel position. I think his mindset may have changed when taught to retreive and recall with dog being rewarded while out in front initially. I did not remember a problem before this, so I will experiment a little to try and change things. I also think the slight forging is an extension of this problem. I am happy that this is more of a sign of over exuberance than a negative one though.

Thanks for the positive feedback everybody! Also hoping for some negative as I have not trialled for some time! It is so much easier to see what's happening with a video clip. I noticed I was being very lazy with my hand signals, good thing the dog was on the job! SAS: Yes, I am hoping to debut him in novice as soon as the hot weather passes, maybe April some time. I still need to get him neutered and VCA registered under the associate banner as he was given to me by someone who bought him off a backyard breeder.

Having a three year old daughter allows me to legally watch playschool. The other day there was a lady who appeared with a lab that was supposed to integrate her dog in with a childrens story. The dog did not want to play the game unfortunately, ;) I felt sorry for her owner/trainer, just a bit embarrasing. At least you wont be on national T. V!! :rolleyes:

Oscar Heelwork clip: In training for novice level. Oscar 16 Feb 2007

Sorry bout that! Have fixed the original link. :rolleyes:

I have been very lazy regarding training since December and finally got motivated yesterday to give Oscar a short workout with a view to debut him as a trialling dog early this year. It was 38 degree heat, and he appears to have lost his balance a bit since the break. But all things considered, I was more than happy with his work. A little more polish on both of us and we should be right. :rolleyes: Oscar 16 Feb 2007

Most obedience clubs carry a good supply of entry forms. Ask yours.

Congrats Shoey!! What trial do you have in mind? I need to debut Oscar soon. Still have to get him neutered though.

Almost every bull breed I have owned have been total couch potatoes. Thats why they do not make fantastic guard dogs. Most dogs, as they fully mature develop their natural protective instincts. Most young dogs I have owned will barley raise an eyelid if someone enters the yard. Much safer to own a couch potatoe than a dangerous dog.

Hi Wolf82 You have a very young dog that has not matured. Dont think your problem is about to go away any time soon. I have been keeping multiple bull breeds together for over 15 years and they do much better without having to compete with other pets for your attention. Cant understand why you "dont" want a "chilled out dog"?? Not sure what you mean by that? Neutering wont change his temperment in general.

Best solution is to build a run and alternate them. Bull breeds are such loyal dogs that they wont want to share you with any other pet. In my experience they are best kept without competition for your attention. Dos'nt really matter which dog is at fault. At the end of the day, I dont think neutering will prevent a dead Husky

Dogs of that age need regular marrow bones to chew, and anything chewable in the yard kept out of reach until they mature (around 2-3 years for most dogs). I buy marrow bones from the butcher, then get him to halve, then quarter them so the dog will tend to chew up the smaller bone rather than bury the larger ones. The best way to stop the washing problem is to fence that part of the yard off with temperary fencing. I have heard of people that tie water filled balloons to there washing line to deter the dog with suprise. That may cause a choking hazard though. My dog often pulls off washing if there is a problem with his bedding. Has she got a comfy warm place to sleep?

The trick is to thoroughly proof each exercise as part of your dog fully understanding each exercise. Once the dog has learnt what is expected, you would proof new locations before you move on. Obedience clubs seem to avoid the level of proofing required at trial level, but that is what sets a trialling dog appart from a regular club dog. As an unimformed newby years ago, I made the same mistake, but got around it by training in a new location every night for 3 months before my first trial. I even took him to the local footy game to do healing patterns in a crowd. When you have that level of attention, you are ready to trial. (But not before IMO) I will always return to home base to teach a new exercise, but my regular training is never in one place these days.

Hi Beaglenewb Just remember that whatever dog obedience club, or training method that you agree with, that dog obedience clubs are a great economical way to trian your dog, but the instructors are volunteers who thankfully donate their time for free, but have varying degrees of experience, and some can be "one trick ponys". Not to put them down in general (I'm one), but just be aware to use what you agree with, and be open minded as you can always learn something from everybody. Most clubs are also good social places. If you are really interested in dog sports like obedience, agility, tracking etc, my advice is to use as much reading material as you can handle, in order to learn as much about all training techniques as possible. A great book to start with that will cover great check chain (and some positive) techniques, is Beyond Basic Dog Training (Diane L Bauman). It also covers trial training in detail. Oldie but a goodie, and available from A&Robertson by ordering, or VCA library.

I have not got much experience in other dog sports other than obedience trialling and confirmation shows. I think it is very hard to train an outright trial winner (not talking about class winner) in obedience. I was very lucky enough to win my first "best in trial" with my first attempt at novice level. From "novice" up, you are competing against everyone except the ccd grade dogs.

Hi Akitaowner My advice is to start to train with an experienced trialler. It takes many months of training to get a dog at a competitive trialling level, even for the most experienced handler or trialler. You will only be wasting your time and money entering if your dog is not at a competitive level. Do you have a bullet proof retrieve and recall? You are better off as a newby to enter ccd before novice. Ccd is all on lead other than stays. There is a vast difference in a dog that is at a competitive trialling level as opposed to a dog school dog. You need to be able to perform more advanced heeling patterns in order for the dog to fully understand what is required at trialling level. Good luck!

Agility seems to keep popping up as a subject of disappointment, and I can see why. The trouble with obedience clubs is that by the time they finish teaching the various classes, there is usually very little time left to concentrate on agility. Remember that as they are mainly volunteer instructors, they have lives of their own, and also want to train their own dogs. I think what is needed, is like a "club" run within a "club" to fix this. The trouble is a lack of agility instructors with enough knowledge. If you think that there is not enough instructors for obedience, try finding a good agilty one, or infact any! The two "clubs" would compliment each other nicely.

Poodlefan: Yes, I think I would have to agree. It sounds like your club is trying to cater for everyone. I think that sought of thing should be some type of elective subject, to those that are interested. Those type of exercises wont keep dogs out of pounds! I think that should be a clubs main focus.

]Hi Roxy's mum I think that sought of thing comes down to the method of training, and also club training format. Some clubs I know introduce off lead around class 3, some class 4. Positive reinforcment trainers tend to go off lead early, where as aversive trainers are better off going off lead as little as possible. These are the pro's and cons of the different training styles. (IMO)

Hi Poodlefan I'd love to change the curriculum at our club... too much focus on the "nice to have" exercises and not enough emphasis on the need to have stuff at the lower levels IMHO. However my opinion is not the majority one. Not too sure what you mean? Can you expand?