Reddii

I'm working through 'One Jump for Success' at the moment and Christine Zinc's 'Canine Athlete' and 'Get on the Ball'. All really good.

I can really recommend the Agility Dog Club of Queensland out at Tivoli. Not too far up the road if you are at Durack. We train on a Sunday night. Your pups could do the foundation work - starts off as obedience, but with an agility focus to it rather than classic heel on the left etc. Have also trained at the South Side Dog Obedience Club at Runcorn and found them to be pretty good as well. It's just that I'm not into obedience really, otherwise we'd still be there. Good luck in your quest. Cheers. Tony

you dont just get it from using a boarding kennel - they can get it by being near any other dogs, Kaos got it before and had never been near a kennel! My girl had not been near a Kennel for about 18 months and my boy has never even seen one. Any where that there is high dog traffic is a high risk. The fact that so many people blame Kennels could be more an indication that their dog rarely gets out and about than it is that the kennels are poorly run/unclean. Competition dogs are likely to be as much at risk as dogs in Kennels.

I don't think you can really blame the Kennels any more than you can blame a shopping centre for you getting the flu. It's simple maths and KC is really just a puppy cold. They need to know so they can take any possible precautions, but to suggest they are at fault is a bit harsh. I take every possible precaution with my two short of locking them in the house and not letting them go to training/competitions and yet they still ended up with it.

Agree with you 100%.

I haven't, but I'd be interested to hear your thoughts once you start putting them in to practice. I have a dog who is reactive in some circumstances and only in a limited fashion, but it's something I'm trying to stay on top of and not allow to escalate.

The other thing is MAKE IT FUN. My boy CK sounds a bit like Brock - very soft and hates to do the wrong thing. I don't pull him up when I make a mistake any more - we just keep giong full steam ahead and live with it. When I pull him up too many times he just shuts down and walks = BAD. To help develop drive we now practice weavers before meals instead of having to sit and wait for his meal. It's only once or twice through the weavers and it's only 3 or 5 weavers, but he is starting to get the idea that they are FUN. If he gets it wrong once we go back to an easier exercise for a couple of tries so he gets rewards and then build it back up. For me it's all about keeping his confidence high and not being too demanding on him at his young age. I've already made that mistake and am now fixing the problems it caused - he came along really quickly so I started to treat him like bomb proof Xena the nut bag (if I make 30 mistakes I can pull her up 30 times and her drive is only heightened and the telling off I get is worse) and he went backwards even quicker. I'm not at all sure this is what your problem is, but maybe this will stike a chord - hope it helps. Tony

TTT

I know of two very sad Border Collies in Brisbane who have had it and are going insane because they aren't allowed to go to training at the moment!! LOL. About six dogs came down with it after an agility comp the other week. It's been rife this year. A friend of ours who is a vet nurse said at one stage they were seeing up to 20 dogs a week with it - at a very small practice.

Can anyone recommend a mobile groomer who services the inner Eastern suburbs of Brisbane (Norman Park, Seven Hills, Morningside area). We've been getting our two washed/groomed at a great groomer, but the constant buzz of the driers REALLY upsets my girl. She is OK when she is being dried herself (doesn't like it, but tolerates it), but just hates the noise in the 'salon'. I thought it might be easier to get them done by someone in our own place, but didn't want to get a franchisee with no experience or ability with dogs to do more damage than good. They are 'only' BC's so not a great deal of grooming needed, but I still like to keep them looking good. Any help would be appreciated. Cheers.

WELL DONE!!!!! It feels so good when you have a moment like this doesn't it!

I know ADAA is 3 weeks after symptoms first occur. My girl has just about stopped 3 days after she started really hacking.

Bugga, bugga, bugga. Despite taking all the precautions I could we have Kennel Cough - well, not me, my dogs have it. Not too serious according to the vet, but enough to have me up for hours at a time cleaning up plegm and listening to that horrible noise. I haven't been through this before and obviously have the obligatory time out from training and competing, but am not sure how long to rest the dogs for. Once they have stopped coughing how long should I give them before beginning to slowly load them up again. (Guessing this is a bit like a human coming back from illness as well - need to avoid relapse and injury.) Thanks in advance. Tony

How about this Reddii - take them along and cover the crate with something, leaving a small opening. Leave a container of food and a note on top of the crate saying something like: "If I am quiet please feed me" A lot of people will be quite happy to give your girl some food if she is quiet! It works quite well... who wouldn't be quiet for a yummy treat :rolleyes: I'm not going this year, but Laffi tempted me with the schedule, so I'm really tempted to go next year!! LOL GREAT IDEA and it worked a treat with my boy. You have to meet Xena to believe her. She is soooooooooooooo focussed and wants to work soooooooooooooo much that nothing, but nothing except work will shut her up if she is in one of her 'moods'. She works really well and isn't psycho/hard to handle like some, but her sole purpose in life is to work. She will sit under the 'possum' tree in the back yard and just stare for 3 hours if that is how long I am out in the back yard and don't give her another job. She has decided it is her job to guard the tree. At least she doesn't bark obsessively for no reason I guess. The only things she will food guard now are pigs ears - I can give her one of those in her crate and she won't touch it. Even when we do get the volume down she will continue that soft, whingy, whining some dogs are so good at. It's painful, but she is improving and it only happens occasionally now days so fingers crossed.

I'm not sure about CCCQ titles, but you can definitely compete and get AFA titles in Queensland. Both my dogs are CCCQ registered, one Main Register, one AR, but I'm not really that interested in titles. I love achieving them, but won't go chasing to find out where I can get more - AFA, ADAA and ACDA are fine by me until I get off my butt and do some obedience. For me it's more about fun with the dogs so I haven't looked into the CCCQ flyball title side of things.

I agree with the others - make sure you know whether they are fighting or playing, sometimes there is not a lot of difference to a non-dog person. I know we were on our neighbours deck watching my two play in the back yard and one of their friends passed a comment, "Oh my God, they are savage aren't they, they're really going for it". I had to laugh, they weren't even playing roughly - if it ever got serious!! We have had a few spats over time, but they are now sorted in their own pack order. I don't think it is your job to try and determine the order, you are the boss, threat them that way and let them sort out the order for themselves. As someone said under no circumstances should you leave high value toys or treats with them when they are unsupervised - just asking for trouble. I think I might have read on here - you don't speak dog so don't try and tell them what to do wrt pack order. It will just prolong the problem if you pick it the wrong way.

I know this is the best way to go. I just get upset about Xena's carry on in the crate while CK is working. If he works for an hour she will sometimes cry for an hour. It is improving - I guess I'll just have to keep working with her and hope for tolerance from those around us.......crate covers coming this weekend!

We'll be there. I'm just trying to work out whether to take both dogs both days and swap them event for event or whether to take one dog each day (easier option). I'm really looking forward to two whole days of agility - I just hope so much of it doesn't fry CK's brain.

With the level we are at now I seperate them, except when I am trying to work them at the same time. (Think both on a stay, recalling only onel - we are getting there slowly......) When I first got CK, Xena was already at a really good level of obedience (general, not trial) and if we were working she would not run off to play. (food motivated!! ) That way I could train the two of them side by side and CK could learn from what Xena did (sits, drops etc). I also taught CK his stays largely with him tethered to Xena (on their split lead we walk on) for the same reason. I would always finish CK's session on his own to reinforce what we had learned though. It is really important to seperate them as well, not just for training, but also for general 'livability'. On the other hand it is a great motivator for one to be crated watching while the other works - we 'fixed' my girl's frisbee problems by doing this - it makes them ultra keen. That said we 'banned' Xena from obedience when OH and I tried to take one dog each. Xena would actually escape during an on lead class and come and find me! Now we can work them both in the same class, even walking them by one another without a problem. It has taken a bit of work to get them to work independently of each other, but it is well worth the effort.

Yep we use this but go a little further with it. Send the dog to the box (no ball) from about 10 - 15 away. As the dog turns on the box throw the toy away from him (straight back towards where jumps should be... dont have any in the way for a little bit) then you race the dog to the toy. Be competition for the toy and have a great game of tug when you both get it. Gradually backchain it by over one jump, turn on box back over 4 and throw the toy again, then over 2 and back over 4 again.. throw the toy.... Soon the dogs expectation will be to push off quickly to get that damn toy and beat you to it!!!! Of course you cant throw the toy in competitions but you can at training and playing in the backyard racing the dog for it... thus increasing drive for the toy. As BC4ME has said it is also important to jump high on the box. Creates a much better turn. Something to think about when he "stalls" on the box.... is he doing it is because he has his reward... the ball... then thinks ok now I will go back... if so this exercise will help with that also because it increases drive for the toy. Thanks WB. He doesnt 'stall' on the box as such, the reward is definitely getting back to me, combined with racing the dog in the other lane - very competitive is our boy. It's more that his turns are slower than other dogs running as quickly as he does. It could be a combination of making sure he gets the ball (not the most coordinated BC in the world) and technique so we'll work as you have suggested. I like the idea of driving for the toy - same technique we use in agility!

Thanks. Always wondered what the jump in front of the box was for when I have seen others use it. T

I was wondering if anyone had any idea on this. CK is a quick boy - he's 18 months old and is running 5.1 seconds over 14 inches. I was waching him against another dog yesterday and he was consistently beating this sub 5 second dog to the box and was as quick over the hurdles on the way back, but was slower on his turn. His technique is pretty good (swimmers turn), but he seems slow coming off the box, almost like he is not strong enough to push himself off fully. Does anyone have any ideas on how to encourage him to hurry up a little or do you think it will come with time and a bit more strengh (he is strong now and already has the 'back end of a bus', but wil obviously develop a little more). Would appreciate your thoughts. cheers. Tony

:D The Fanatic Flyballers won division one at the Million Paws flyball comp in Brisbane yesterday. Narrowly beat Awesome Pawsome in a count back on the most wins on the day. All the dogs ran brilliantly all day over either 13 or 14 inches (big hurdles). In his second comp Mr CK managed a 5.1 second run over 13 inches - his previous best was the same time over 9 inches so a BIG improvement there. Xena running over 14 inches ran all day between 5.3 and 5.6 seconds. Her previous best was 5.8 seconds!! All our starts were fantastic too. We had heaps of .0xx starts with Xena's being the best at .002 seconds!! The team made 3 mistakes all day (doggy mistakes, handlers made a few more ). CK made one of them when he missed the ball and knocked it wide, and he came back over the last 3 hurdles instead of all 4 - pretty good for a young dog, but still outiside the rules. We just had 1 freak out moment when a dog from the other team ran over towards CK who stopped, though better of it and kept going. My heart was in my mouth - I know Xena would just drop the ball and come straight back to me if the dog got too close, but I'm not sure what CK would do so I'm very proud of him for keeping his mind on the job. I think everyone had a great day and we had heaps of comments and enquiries from the public about getting involved

Thanks everyone for all your responses. I'll be putting a bit of it into practice. Another thing I've just found out is that my boy is actually in the same height class as my girl after we have re-measured him. For the minute (at least the next trial) they'll be running in the same class so I'll have at least 2 goes at each course!! Just hope the 'right' dog for the course ends up first. LOL.

I love Whisper, she is a beautiful girl - well done. :cool: @ Jarrah. Someone has to keep you on your toes! At least he doesn't try to eat sheep! Hope you are feeling better soon. cheers.