yogibear

next is getting a beer from the fridge lol

Yes theya re the ones the cheapie shop near me has them sometimes they look cute and are different to the iclick sound youve started something now with this targetting you'll have them opening and closing doors in no time

Thast great Bel well done I'll see if i can get you a frog clicker then you have different sounds for each dog which can be helpful yb

now that could come in handy

i wonder if now that herr is ivolved up at the rotty club whether that would be an acceppted place to do practicals

food like anything is a training tool its a great reward system and gets fast results never think of geting rid of the food just become more unpredictable in when and how often so they dont seeit as now i get nothing think of it like the poker machine people keep going because every now and then they win something if they never did they would give up and if they always did they would go but with less enthusiasm. also think of environmenta reward dog wants to go play ok first i want ten seconds of eye contact or a stay or heeling then releasae to play want out the door sit first also dont always go get the food then ask for the behaviour often ask then go to the fridge so they learn that just coz it aint on you doesnt mean you wont get it. we have pots of food around the house and im asking for things at any time and may go to the furthest pot to reward i may reward with access to something or a play with a toy shoemonster yes when they know damn well you have nothing expect less but reward big surprise them with something special you had tucked away in the fridge they will soon learn that even when it seems like mum has nothing she does. Also be aware of your body and voice ofetn when a person new to reward training frinds themselves with nothing to gve they worry and it shows in their demeanour you always have a rough and tumbe a kiss and cuddle or the oppurtunity to go find dad and jump all over him Use toys in the same fashion and try not to think of training using any method as a forward only thing for example my dog works very well in his familiar surrounds he is confident and at trial standard for open but last monday night we went to a new venus there were trains it was indoors and loud music new dogs now here i am not about to ask for trial level work or not have good rewards here we asked for glimpse of attention huge reward why because hin this environment he was nervour unsure so we went way back to basics now this week i will ask for a bit more and b the end of the six weeks he should be relaxed confident not feeling pressured etc Last thing even when you are aiming to use very little food for an exercise always reward those really good ones i see it as pay for a job wll done

i draw the line at spitting food havent neeeded it and still get great focus plus i wouldnt want my kids seeing me spit food lol yb

Ok well i have a highly intelligent dog that can be very spooky and this gets in the way of his ability to learn and remember things my not so bright but not nervy whippet learned faster lol. M dog is very compliant but is soft so when learning new things he will pick up the concept very quickly but it doesnt stick for ages so yeah agree of course the ultimate is a highly intelligent very compliant dog with great nerves Inpeople i know of thre children that were considered gifted and put in special programs in promary school for bright kids none of them have done well on vce its seemed that once they levelled a bit not having to work hard and learn to study affects them when it comes to the crunch whereas other less 'gifted' kids that want it more and know how to cope have down really well

If the vevent was run by the rotty club and they are affiliated with your governing body then yes they would not be allowed as its against the ankc rulings to allow them

Many years ago i started training using traditional methods you know correct and praise but i didnt fidn them terribly great and began to ook at what ese was around Over the years i have experimented tested and tried many different methods one thing i agre with LL on its all in the timing whther you use clicker or traditional timing matters these days i break things down into tiny parts set the dog up to succeed and use clicker and food toys if we hit a road block i go aaway and ask why and reset the exercise so we will be successful... I dont use phyisical corrections or verbal when teaching but i will say oihh if my dogsa about to eat the garbage or chase a cat oih means stop what your doing thats about as aversive as i get i see training as rolercaster you work up and down the exercise not just go full steam ahead you needd to build really strong foundations most people are to quick to move up the criteria training should be fun and rewarding and at the end of the day if the dog ist doing it im the one to blame as im the teacher and i have to find a way to get through to the dog what i want. Does that help or even make sense lol

Yup im with lablover there is a huge difference between food as motivation or bribe and fod as a reward and its where epople come unstuck the dog has to learn that to get the food they need to perform not just nag start simple making somethig you know you will get and go from there

Well i did decide tostay away but have to say something here first congratulation Heather and TRacey i knew you both had brilliant dogs if i can get it together half as well as you two i'll be happy Secondly just to point out these clubs worked really hard to pull together this comp each club hsa a diferent system for marking so its really hard for the judges of the lower classes and i know for a fact that right up till the last minute they were struggling to get enough judges for the day Its a fun day its not serious who cares if the judge boobooed and you mised out on a ribbon we all work really hard to train our dogs and mistakes happen judges are only human too I know most of the epople who were judging at the comp and they are all lovely epople who really try hard Ive been there at a trial the judge got the exercises mixed up and missed one and we had to go back and do it id already released my dog and was playing so when we did the exam he jumped up at the judge oh well thats life i didnt blame the judge it was a mistake big deal. sure judges should know the rules but at inter club the rules change i was asked to be one of the judges at the interclub and turned it down one because of my sight but also because i had no idea how they would mark certain exercises as it was a lower class i felt guilty leaving the clubs in the lurch but hey maybe it was a good ting i said no

Hi Mjk Dunno weve only been herding twice and at present i feel very much like a duck out of water would have to see what my trainer though down the track when connor is getting better at it

Hi Hg did you get my pm cant come tomorrow lack of transposrt lol Can someone tell me what breeds are allowed to compete in yard trials we were talking about it last night but werent sure what restrictions there were

pauls running a training day at Drouin in may which should be excellent

if its not convenient then dont do it simple

Hi guys I think itys great that people are starting to give their dogs an oppurtunity to do what they were bred for In my experience this type of thing can only enhance the relationship between dog and handler and keep everyone just that bit more content. there is nothing more wonderful thatn watching dogs work in their field whether it be retrieving hunting or herding My only concern is there are a growing number of city dwellers getting hard working dogs to compete in agility and herding and they are outdogged a hard dog a real working dog is so impressive to watch but only a few handlers can manage a dog like that and though people think they will learn so much from a dog like that it doesnt always happen that way The softer dogs as HG describes are perfect for the city slickers who want to compete but live in surburbia

do you ahve the link to the snow heeling would like to see

I think all clubs schools have their good and bad sides great and not so great instructors its up to the individual to go along talk to poeple and see how they feel about the place. Theres not one place i melbourne i havent heard stories that are great and ones that make me cringe about whats going on goldy i'd put some time aside check out your options hav a good look at the classes at the clubs you choose to investigate and i mean a relly good look and listen to what the instructors are saying if any of it makes you feel uncomfortable then move on. unfortunately most poeple will only post the positives about clubs not their bad experiences and when you talk to memebers they are the ones happy with results not the ones that leave in disgust lol

i used to go to southern am going over there hopefully tonight to have a look how much things have changed It really depends on what you are looking for price accessability etc

we have instructors meetings where everyone brings their ideas to teh table and we discuss how they work and whether they are viable for the club having aid that this is a recent thing our club used to be very conservative before

When we took n our gsp at nine months we had the same problems even though she was inside and with another dog took a couple of weeks for her to settle get in a routine and get her training started training is great for mental stimuation gsps are nuts when they dot have a job to do even if you just do ten mins twice a day it will make a differnece as for the hunting issue my gsp was great but a stressy dog we live in surburbia it wasonly when i added retrieving training into her work that she really blossomed and everything fell into pace im a big believer in working dogs in something they were bred to do if you can it does make a huge difference my sheltie is herding and my whipet lure raced they need that natural outlet themat a walk just doesnt offer

well thast up to the members of the clubs to change and for volunteesr to be expected to spend thousands on gaining knowledge well thast also an individual thing. Clubs are doign the best they can with the resources they have available our club has just started sending at least one instructr to each seminar that becomes available and are taking time to watch videos etc to increase their knowledge these things take time its really up to the individual club to decide what responsibility they want to take if your unhapy with the way your local club runs then get in and change it or start one with a focus that you think is what epople need or maybe consult the local shelters to run pet classes a great way to raise funds for the shelter Its not a perfect world and belive me ive switched clubs so many times to find one that suits my needs it took a while but i found what i was looking for Are you an instructr at a club if not why not join the ranks and begin teaching the behaviours you feel are not covered in your classes and slowly encourage the club to adopt the same ideas

it can be nerveracking taking your first classes. Just take your tme and dont rush into it remember you have a lot oto offer and your passion and enthusiam for dog trianing will rub off on your class I still remember the first time took a class i felt likeeveryone was judging me they werent of course and after a few goes i began to relax and enjoy watching epople have success these days i love taking groups working with peopl that have a simialr interest to me You'll get there and im sure you could have a senior instructor come out with you so if you freeze up they will take over for a while until you relax again people are generally understanding and wat to see you succeeed as much as they want to train their dog yb

My point is all the exercise we teach at club would give a person a dog capable of cgc and that is a pretty good measure of a pet dog with good manners Its only a matter of looking at them slightly differently for example if a dog can do a stand for exam then it can do a sit for a pat.