dogdude

My old B.T was the victim of a humping once at Mount Gambier trial, and to his credit stayed put. Unfortunately 30 seconds later someones horse broke loose and done a zoomie, and the sound of its hooves made him stand up for a look. No other dog broke for that reason, and that trial was his only failure before I had to retire him due to a badly broken leg. I have never entered CCD under its curent format, so I imagine that there would be alot of people trialling dogs that are definately not ready as in the old "Encouragement Class" days. By the time they start trialling in Novice, most of the problem teams have been left behind.

I never feed my food driven dog the night before a trial. I have tended to give him just one little piece of cooked steak just before we bo into the ring to get his senses working. I will give my prey driven dog dinner as normal tonight (trialling tomorrow night.) Will not feed her till we get home.

She starts as soon as soon as it hits her mouth while static, but stops on command. I will go back to basics, and try to catch her quicker. Thanks for your thoughts Ptolomy. I will have plenty of time to work on it during the off season I suppose. There is only two trials left for us this year, and her title will have to wait till the Autumn anyway (all going well). I can still teach her open work over the break.

Well, we havn't trained around other dogs or great distractions for six months, but she is a bit of a dog snob, so I think she should be ok. If anything, I am a bit worried she may take off on the judges signal in the recall, as I train alone.

Yes, so there goes one of my theories I guess. --------------------

I would only give quiet feedback while standing still, and end the exercise with release/reward. I would also use an NRM.

When she presents. She holds it too loosely, and lets it slip back into the back of her mouth, then does this little "minnie chomp" thing. I was always careful of the point in which I released, so it doesn't seem to be an anticipation thing, like a food rewarded dog sometimes does. ETA: Sometimes I think that just trying to draw breath is causing it. I have got her going out pretty hard, and by the time she gets back, she is blowing pretty hard. Surely I can have speed and a good hold at the same time?

Oops! lol.

So who else entered? One more sleep.

Hi luvsablue You would have seen me last at the 2007 trial. Oscar got H.I.T that year. Brindle Stafford. I try to get there as often as I can, but always have something come up at the last minute. I also got H.I.T there at their inagural trial in 95 with my B.T

I actually use the drive item behind the dog to stop forward movement, and have just corrected that very thing. The problem I am having atm is dumbell mouthing. The problem arose in the teaching method in the first place like most problems do. She just would'nt hold the dumbell in the correct position in her mouth (just behind the canines). I tried everything I could think of before moving on and teaching her the rest (my biggest mistake). I tried to reinforce the pressure on the dumbell in the right postion (using resistance) which seemed to work. As soon as we chained everything together, the dumbell just kept slipping down towards the molars, causing more slight mouthing. Every other dog I have trained has always maintained pressure on the dumbell, but she seems to relax as soon as her bum hits the ground, even know she is still in drive. I have also tinkered with various drive levels, and reward sequences to se if that would change what she is doing, but it doesn't seem to make a difference. the mouthing is quite slight, but annoying to me, and not right.

I love the Portland trial, and try to get there every year, but had a wedding in Mount Gambier last weekend. Its a really nice town with plenty to do, and great beaches to run dogs on. (particulary Cape Bridgewater) Its one trial that I have always done very well at too. Portland things to see website

I would try aligning her beside a step or other low drop off, so she hasn't got a physical barrier in her periphial vision, and pattern train her until its default.

Dogs break stays all of the time in trials. Nobody in this thread has stated their dog was attacked during a stay. I have been on the trialling scene since 1995, and I have not witnessed an attack during a stay yet. There is very little to worry about,.....as I said, its a controlled enviroment.

I think most judges would react swiftly to one dog standing over another growling. I have never seen a situation such as this anyway. I think your dogs would have far more chance of getting stood over and growled at , at a dog park or on a daily walk. A trial is a sanctioned, controlled enviroment, not a game of Russian roulette. Don't worry about it.

Great round Ptolomy! Footage of both Ness's figure 8's show she must love them. Looked very good in both. Very nice heelwork Rubystar! Your dog has great focus and keeps positions nicely in the turns,... and you turn quite quickly. I have never recorded a round, because I normally go to trials on my own, but my wife will be at the FOO trial on Teusday night, so I will see if she will tape me.

My training sessions with Brydee typically last 15 to 20 minutes. After that time, she is panting so hard that she is almost exausted, so I never train past that point. Oscar is never trained past the 10 minute mark, as his drive starts to wain after that period. His training always focuses on just one exercise only, now matter how small. He seems to last the duration of a trial, but I would'nt want them to go any longer.

If your asking about technique, I create distance from it if I want calm, closer if I want more.

I will continue to work on the basics, and train Brydee for Open, and Oscar for UD. A big wish for me is to convert Oscar to train in drive. I will be doing lots of drive building for him. I want to get that soughted before I train him for UD.

Yes, can be a problem in hot weather. I don't cue anything. I just roll them onto their hip. They normally stay that way.

I filled in my entry,....just have to express post it.

The best thing that you could take with you is a solid weeks worth of training. Multiple short bursts every day, when the dog is at his hungriest. Concentrate on one or two exercises until each is learnt properly. It should'nt matter much with his learning if he misses a few club classes. They are mostly for your benefit. :D

Yes! No problem.

Plenty. Nowhere near as many as you see in CCD though. Most breaks in Open and above are just changes of position.