laffi

Thanks heaps ness

I am specifically interested about flying with dogs. Do you own your own vari kennel? Where did you buy it? Do you have a preference about the airline? Are some airlines more dog friendly than others? thanks!

Combined means International or Regular (this is the type of registration you have). Now different classes are Elementary Starters Intermediate Open Advanced Elementary and Starters are identical for International and Regular registration, that's why you see Combined. What it means is that dogs that are registered with International will jump lower height than in the later classes that are not combined any more. So if you want to do elementary jumping you can register with either Regular or International and participate in Combined Elementary Jumping.

Sorry Kavik, DC is right Elementary classes do not have weave poles. http://www.adaa.com.au/regs/rulesandregs.htm Elementary - Simple course design; no weave poles, tyres, spread jumps or seesaw. Rate of travel in these events is 2 metres/sec. Dogs must be IP or RP registered. Sorry I just always enter elementary and starters and never really payed attention to the weave poles as both of mine dogs can weave Btw have you already registered with ADAA (as you will have to chose a program : international or regular). They are basically the same except at higher levels International jumps are higher but the times allowed are slightly longer.

Unfortunately we have weave poles in all of our classes (jumping and agility). In jumping we don't have contact equipment but we still have jumps, tunnels and weaves. Does it help? Let me know if you have any questions.

I go to this club on Tuesday nights. Tuesday night is very different from the Sat afternoon classes. I'm working towards my Open title at present and entered my first trial a week ago. We didn't pass, but we gave it a red hot go - thanks to support and instruction from Western Subs. A full panel Obedience Judge is an instructor. I guess it depends where you're going to live. I also go to Eastern Subs (Cent Park) on Sundays. Lots more dogs and people but they do have higher classes helping dogs and owners towards the trial ring. You would need to approach the desk and speak to a senior instructor re what level to start / assessment - but they are agreeable to that. They fit and supply check chains and are now including Black Dog halti's so they are open in that regard. One of their instructors too is an Obedience Judge and she can be a little loud and cranky at times - but overall people still come each week!! Other clubs would include Blacktown and Castle Hill. I've not been to either, but believe they too would be quite good for trial purposes. Good luck! Thank you so much for letting me know about Eastern Subs (Cent Park) club as this one is probably going to be even closer to where we might live. It's definitely very helpful when instructors are judges themselves And good luck with your Open title!

Stop weetbix. Stick to one type of dry food rather than mixing 3 of them. I would not feed my dogs pure meat (like steak). If you do want to add raw stuff to the diet add raw meaty bones so that you have the right ratio of calcium:potassium. It will teach her to chew things and also clean her teeth. I would recommend chicken wings/ frames, turkey necks/wings, lamb necks, roo tail. Do keep EasiYo yogurt and tuna/sardines.

That sounds great

That's actually very helpful! Thank you

We will be moving to Sydney soon and I am looking for an obedience club using positive methods (with trailing in mind). Would you recommend WESTERN SUBURBS DOG TRAINING CLUB? If not is there any other club you could recommend? Thanks!

Thanks heaps! I am sure they will appreciate it!

Dogdude, would you be interested in testing it on a crazy aussie and golden retriever? They would LOVE to try them out Btw the jump looks awesome

I definitely think two crates is a MUCH better option. This was you can track the progress of each of them and it's easier for them to learn (if one keeps on peeing /pooping the other one might join as well which is not what you want to encourage). I also think it's important that the dogs are independent of each other and crate training will also help with that. I am also not a fan of emergency mats. My dog was house trained within 2-3 weeks (she was about 90% reliable at 10 weeks and 100% reliable at 14 weeks). I always made sure she went before going to sleep and during the training I would wake up at 2-3AM (then later and later eventually didn't have to wake up anymore). The less accidents they have (which means a lot of vigilance) the faster they will be house trained.

That's great! A friend of mine likes using it because otherwise her dogs get constipated just on RMB. I think it's great that it works for her and for you as well. I would not use it as grains are really not meant to be a part of dog's diet, esp for dogs with sensitive skin like my one. Ultimately whatever works for you is good.

For me Vets All Natural Complete Mix looks like bird food: definitely not meant for carnivores. My dogs are on prey model diet (with a bit of veggies) and are doing amazing on it. I was given VAN as a sample once but I threw it out because I am huge believer that grains are just not meant for dogs. For people who use VAN: have you ever tried to just give your dogs the meat/RMBs without VAN and see how well they do on it? It could be that the dogs do well because of meat and not because of the stuff you add to it.

I think looking at these thread will definitely be helpful. Just to answer your questions briefly. I think toys are great to use in training (esp agility) :rolleyes: and not just food. I usually have a toy that my dogs love and I only use in training and they don't have access to it outside of training. I end the game and take the toy away but if you need to build up the drive for the toy you can let them run with it for a bit. I would only do it if a dog is a reluctant tugger and you need to build up their confidence. But you don't want to end up with a dog that just wants to run away from you with the toy, so I would insist more on the interactive part of tugging rather than the 'winning' part. That's why it helps to have a release word, like "give" where the dogs stops tugging and releases the toy. I use it a lot during training and just restart the game as soon as they let it go. This way they grow to like to give you the toy as soon as possible so the game can restart again.

Can't wait to move to Sydney and join your club

I totally agree. Btw if you do want to feed dry Orijen is rated 6/6 on http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/

I meant I never envisage a class of people doing the same excercises - like a standard clubs do. I see people getting their dog out and if need be all other dogs are locked up or selected dogs out and people helping each other, spoting, exchanging ideas. If some want to do group stays they do a group stay. But hey Ruthless is the president, she might have other ideas! ;) we are totally on the same page I hope Ruthless is too

What do you mean by "I naver had a class as such in mind"? Do you mean the obedience stuff I proposed? Coz I don't think we would need an instructor for that. Well at least I don't think we do LOL. I just thought everybody will work on what they want to work and we can team up if it's something similar or if we need some distraction work I would love to help as much as I can when not working with my dogs. Btw I would really really LOVE to do some tracking!

I can't say yet which days are good for me as I am not even there ;) But my guess is that I will be very flexible. I would like to do: obedience (in drive training, distraction work and some exercises for competitive obedience: fig 8, SFA, stays. I am not really interested in heeling exercises for an hour like in a normal obedience club) tracking maybe agility (I have 8 jumps, weaves, contact trainer, table) btw I would like to be able to use my clicker during training.

near Airport would work great for me

Excellent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and I wont be the secretary. Im a comittee member of 3 clubs already Im a sucker for punishment However when it comes to the idea perhaps you can search through my threads from the past..... I had this idea looong time ago. DOLers couldnt decide on the night nor on the area to train. But lets propose it again, Ill be up to it if its within 15-20 minutes drive from my place. Oh and all gear allowed :wink: I am moving to Sydney and would definitely be interested Btw I compete in agility and want to continue flyball and start competitive obedience.

BCs are double coated. Why do you want to clip him?

Today Midge got her Frisbee Dog Achievement (FDA) Title and came 2nd in the novice division at the Australian World Cup K9 Disc Classic