Janba

SOunding good Janba, well done. Jazz and Piper can both sympathise with the fool of a handler problem. My last 2 trials on ducks Piper has challenged me at times and I have come out saying "bloody dog" (with a laugh) and been told the dog is saying "Bloody handler!" And poor Jazz, her sides were sooo good and at training 1 day she kept taking them wrong. I would pull her up and resend her and she would try and go the wrong way. After several minutes I realised I hadmy commands around the wrong way and I now have a dog that hesitates and doubts me on side commands Idiot handler!! lol. I can sympothise with this. I have a video of Cole when he first started and have often gone back to look at it to check which commands I used for which flanks, particularly after a break from training.

I am on a high and do need to come back down to earth before I try to sleep There is nothing like watching your dog do a wide deep cast with the sheep 90 odd metres away and then obeying flank command at that distance to bring them down to you in a straight line in a controlled manner. And equally as good is watching your dog with no commands go to block a sheep trying to duck around the z shute and put it through while you are standing at the C cone. Herding must be one of the most rewarding sports if one of the hardest at the higher levels. Cole is my first real herding dog and he has taught me so much and continues to amaze me on what he is capable of. ETA I really hope that the ones who post in this thread who are doing started and PT go on to intermediate and advanced. It only gets better as you progress,

Congratulaations. You nust be over the moon, not just from the CCD but also from the way she behaved.

I have a relatively unigue command of "sorry I didn't mean that" and the poor dog is learning to do the opposite of the last command He is getting really good at just going quietly slightly to the direction I say and just changing the pressure on the sheep then is handicapped by a handler who can't tell left from right. The 30m drive in inter B in an open paddock is the hardest thing I have ever tried to teach a dog. I hate to think what it will be like to try to do advanced B with 2 30m drives and a shed. ETA I love this dog. He is so forgiving of my mistakes and a friend (who is competing at a higher level than me) said the other day that he really tries for me. ETA again. After I had done my last run they needed stock handlers for the tests. Someone offered to go down with a dog and the trial manager said "they needed an experienced dog to do the shedding of the sheep so they would prefer Cole. It made me very proud to think people see him this way

I didn't see you yesterday but I didn't arrive till just after lunch. I will come and say hi when I see you.

I have a couple of minor brags from a double trial today. I finally fronted up to the start peg for 2 Intermediate Bs. In the first trial he did an outstanding cast lift and fetch and only lost 1(out of 10) point on the lift and none on the cast(20) and the fetch to the handlers post (20). Then we fell to pieces on th drive to the first set of gates so I retired and helped him. In the second trial he only lost 1/2 a point on th cast for overshooting the top and 1 on the fetch to the handler peg. We then manage the drive to the first panels (losing 5) and the sheep landed up against the outside panel. I needed to send him clockwise to push them through the opening but some fool gave the command for anticlockwise and he pushed them past the panels and it all fell apart. If I had got them through the gap the rest is easy In the longer casts I have been having problems with him cutting in too close at the top and so I am so pleased with him doing to really good 90m casts. I also did 2 inter A courses but tried to do them as if I was doing advanced. He scored 75 in the first run with a very ugly cross drive where I did have to leave the hold pen and help from the inter positions. In the second he NQed on the crossdrive because we totally missed the centre line gate but he did some really lovely work and he is not anywhere near ready to compete advanced though I do now know he can do it well in trial situation till the hold pen. I've just got to master that bl**** cross drive. Seems strange to be bragging about 3 NQs and 1 low score qually. ETA One of the judges who I really respect knew I was practicing for advanced and wrote as a comment "Starting to look the goods"

Hawkesbury is closed to new members - they have too many. Sat at Erskine Park 9-3 run by the Sporting Commitee. Cost is $5 for the first dog and $3 for each additional dog. You need to be a DogsNSW member. Sun 9-4 at Erskine Park run by the Australian Stockdog Club. Cost is $3 for the first dog and $2 for each additional dog. You need to be a member of the club which costs about $30 a year. There is no training this coming Sun 13/9, Sun 27/9 and the Oct long weekend because trial are being held.

How long after the implant did the bitch come into season. Sperm can live in the tubes for up to 6 weeks.

Be very careful yourself while looking for it or leave it to the professionals.

He is a dalmatian and they DO eat anything and are brilliant at finding and stealing things to eat or chew. I had one that used to pick up used chewing gum very sneakily when being walked and walk along chewing it. Also at 4 months he is starting to teeth. They do improve as they mature. You need to make sure that anything dangerous in the house is above dalmatian height, shut doors - particularly laundry doors etc (ask his breeder about the dog she had who ate some clothing). The same with the garden. I also train them as pups to happily give up what they are eating by swapping it for a treat. I train this on something appropriate for them to chew and offer a higher value treat in return for letting me remove it from their mouth. I now have no problems removing things from dally mouths but I do give it back if it is all right for them to have. Empty soft dring bottles make good toys (just remove the lid and plastic ring around the neck. You can also put some treats in them. My girl at 8 still loves playing with them and finds them hard to chew bits off. Her other favourite toy is bras if she can steal them as they make great tug toys for playing with the other dogs.

One of the things glossed over by a lot of people in these topics is that there are people out there who want a tough looking dog to back up their tough image and they do call them by tough names. It is unfortunate because they do reflect badly on dog ownership and on the breeds they decide to own. And I do agree - any dog can bite and often the smaller and cuter the dog the more they get away with. By the way I used to have a bull terrier x called Puddle :D

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so you think a dogs behavior is decided by its name...? I never do but I do think that the choice of a dogs name can say a lot about the owners.

Well done Dova

When Moss had a canine removed (it was growing parrallel with the roof of his mouth) the vet told me they had to burr away a lot of bone to be able to extract it so not a simple pull the tooth out and he had a row of stitches in the gum as where they had had to cut it to get to the bone. He was given a long acting pain killing injection and I was given additional pain relief to give him if needed. He was fine and didn't require the extra pain killers and he has a low pain thresh hold. He was also castrated at the same time. I suspect Osca is milking it for what its worth especially if you are giving him extra attention and some tasty soft foods.

Good luck but remember not to stand as the sheep go through the obstacle but to keep moving to act as a draw for the sheep.

These days I only train and compete in herding and I do it because I love it and my dog lives to work. I do collect titles along the way but somehow they aren't as important as being able to complete a course in good style at the level I am competing and training at. My main aim is to work at a standard to eventually get the perfect 100

I can remember one of my dogs picking up kennel cough when it was still considered a new disease. At that stage there were no vaccinations and she had a very bad cough for abpout 6 weeks, bringing up a lot of phlem and was really sick. That was about 26 years ago. I think that it was a lot more severe in the early days because our dogs had no immunity to it.

With started A you can stand anywhere on the centre line between the A (nearest the sheep) and the B (where the dog has to start from). When starting I would send her with you standing near the A cone so you are in a position to send her wider and help her with the lift. You shouldn't have to be that far from the dog and sheep at any point in started. If the sheep are at the fence (and they shouldn't be in a trial) stop her before she reaches the sheep the recommand her to got quietly between them and the fence. You can also practice going quietly between the sheep and the fence anywhere on the fenceline in training. The best turn at 4 for the crossdrive happens when you can get the dog to go quietly between the fence and the sheep and stop at about 4.

Glad to hear everyone is enjoying their clinics. I would love to do another with God :rolleyes: but haven't managed to get to his place. Though he did give me some good advice on the intermediate cross drive today after our trial run Well we had a mixed day trialling today. Did started B as we still haven't fixed the top of the cast. Llost a few on the cast, outrun and fetch as the judge was standing right behind the start peg and the sheep drew to the judge and scribe rather tham me. I should have sent him round to block them earlier but got them back and lost none to the pen. Penned them cleanly and as I was shutting the gate one sheep ducked round the side. Reoenned and the same sheep ducked out again so shut the pen on 4. No points lost to the shed ring. He still scorded 86 so can't complain. In inter A we had problems with the drive from C to the Y shute and the the silly handler did not think that the draw for the sheep would be from the Y shute to marker 3 as that was near where the are penned now. We lost the sheep so I left the handlers zone to help him DQing myself) and then resumed from the z shute and did a nice round from there - cross drive was a bit untidy. I was pleased with his run.4 Then we had the best afternoon being the stock handling dog for the tests and doing "real" work.

I am really sorry to hear this Chewy.

Spectators ae always welcome. Come and watch the trial levels as well as the tests but no laughing from the gallery. The next trial in NSW is at Erskine Park 25 and 26th of July. ETA after Pipers post. We have an area for spectators for both A and B courses. In the B course area you will find dogs , usually the ones waiting to go in, as it is a long walk back to the cars. In the A course and PT areas no dogs allowed except the next dog in but it is right near the cars. You will find the viewing gallery easily by the people in sitting in chairs. It is a good idea to bring your nown chair.

Are you expecting too much too quickly? 25 secs is a long wait for a 14 week old pup who will still have a short attention span. Keeping him onlead and expecting him to stay still or quiet is also asking a lot - better to put him in a crate if you want him inside and contained. If you are only bringing him inside to train maybe go back to training outside and offlead and make the training a game. Do things like pupy push ups (sit, drop sit etc) short bits of heeling - 5-10 steps - with lots of reward for being beside you and not pulling. You need to make him want and enjoy the training not because it is a regime. The fact that you are having to escalate his corrections shows he is not enjoying what he is doing. I wouldn't be doing strong leash corrections on a 14 week old pups neck as the bones etc are still soft and you may do permanent damage.

I had a border collie that was like that - whinged all the time as a pup. I really think he didn't know he was doing it and that it was just a subconcious habit. I stopped him by whining at him every time he started. That seemed to break his train of thought and eventually he grew out of it.