pie

Wait does that mean you don't have to do three reds and I've had it wrong this whole time? :laugh:

I think all dogs do use them, but I have a theory that sighthounds use them more. I've noticed some less athletic breeds nails grow more in a downwards direction, whereas whippets nails grow more horizontally, at least for a little bit, before they head downwards. Interesting you say that, my Manchester has strange nails that grow straight in front with a slight curve, I've never seen similar on other breeds. They don't wear down and are long even when cut back as far as possible. She can really dig in and accelerate much much faster than my other dog (Tenterfield Terrer). and can generally propel herslef around in any which way much more easily. Whippets were used in development of the Manchester.

MRB are you talking about Gamblers? With Gamblers you makes your own course for the opening sequence and then do the Gamble to close, which is a distance challenge?

:laugh: Yeah all fun and games until the wheels fall off and you have NFI what you are supposed to be doing :laugh:

Games hurt my head a lot - I couldn't do them with my older dog because my lack of confidence made him shut down, now I'm getting the hang of them and managed to get a snooker title with the younger one somehow :laugh: Basically - just go bar, obstacle/tyre/tunnel, bar, obstacle/tyre/tunnel, bar, obstacle/tyre/tunnel then do the closing sequence (2-7). You can't do the same bar twice, and if you knock a bar you have to do another one (if there are only 3 red bars then you are out if you knock one because there is no spare one to get) The obstacles in the closing sequence have numbers 2-7 which says how many points each is worth if you do them in the opening sequence. If you want to go for "Suicide 7s" which is for top score you will alternate a bar and the number seven obstacle and repeat three times (different bars obviously) (Number 7 is generally hard to get to, but not always) ETA: usually it all goes well but if something gets taken out of turn or messed up then everyone gets confused :laugh: Also read up on the rules Here: http://ankc.org.au/Rules.aspx

Forgot to say Welcome to WA Whitka Hope to see you at a trial sometime :)

There's no escaping them, aaaaaah

They changed it so all kids are free to the show any day now.

Welcome to WA :laugh:

Not necessarily better - but different. I got my second dog for me and me only and I know my first dog would actually prefer it if she buggered off and never came back :laugh: (though he does have his moments of liking her) they get along and don't need to be separated but aren't best friends and it's something to think about. I felt better leaving one dog while I worked full time than I did leaving two dogs, because the second one has separation issues, whereas the first one doesn't. Cons: Harder to manage if you get visitors and they are crazy Much noisier from play noise, also one barking can set the other off, etc Have to make more effort to train them - harder to wrangle two if they both want in on the treats Can have resource guarding issues which can mean if they are barking or being destructive it's harder to leave things like kongs out to entertain them Harder to find a house to rent Second dog can become too dependant / bonded with the first dog Pros: Different personalities can be good for different things / situations And all the other mushy stuff others said So would I go back to one dog - no way - but that is because my second dog is my "special" dog, I train agility so more than one dog is better for that and the first dog isn't as suitable for it as the second. BUT if my second dog was as independent, aloof and crazy as my first dog - then I would probably be thinking I should've stuck with one! On another note - the spacing is probably worth thinking about too so that you don't wind up with two elderly dogs at the same time.

I think your best bet is going to be making the trek to Perth unfortunately!

The only club I have heard of is Eastern Goldfields Kennel Club http://www.dogswest.com/dogswest/Clubs-Agility_Obedience__Training_Clubs-Eastern_Goldfields_Kennel_Club.htm but no idea if they hold shows or anything - I know there are no agility trials held in Kalgoorlie, others might know more :)

I have a pretty distinctive dog - the only Manchester Terrier most times! Black and tan and runs/walks funny

I saw a Blue Merle Aussie I didn't recognise on Sunday - was that your dog Tumbleweed? Sounds like everyone had a great weekend with their dogs! :D ETA And horsies :laugh:

The BCs and Kelpies certainly make up most agility clubs but don't let it put you off - you can do agility with your little guy as well :)

You can absolutely do agility with your small dog. They trial at the same trials as the bigger dogs, often on the same courses, they just change the heights. The standard jumping heights for ANKC agility are: 200 300 400 500 600 The 200 group includes Papillons, chis, small JRTs and other little dogs.

I just see a lot of dogs here that have emphasis on speed, and when they start out it is quite messy to say the least :laugh: , but after a bit they pull it all together and are fast and accurate, and very impressive! I think smaller dogs particularly need to be trained to run run run! The little dogs that just ran flat out around the courses really stood out to me at the nationals and made me think about how I would train my next dog.

I agree Shaping Success is a good place to start - the best thing I learned from this book was to teach each obstacle individually until I was happy with it, and then link them into sequences, so the dog understands each obstacle properly. ETA: Also - something I will do differently next time is change the criteria to more speed rather than more accuracy, I think the accuracy is easier to get in time - speed not so much. I was too focused on accuracy too soon and regret that now.

Yep that would've been Trick there were no other labs there like her, she is brilliant to watch isn't she. Her name is Boomermagic Trick or Treat

These threads always make me sad because my dogs don't spoon

Not NOR, but The Paw House accepts Titres and I was very happy with the service from them. http://www.thepawhouse.com.au

I have two dogs, one is a brilliant swimmer, he is fast and like a little speed boat! He also treads water. His tail is not like a rudder though - it curl upwards out of the water. He has little body fat but is less muscled compared to my other dog. Sinky dog has very very little body fat and is very muscley and has a very thin tail like a rat. She has finally got the hang of swimming and because of her structure has to do more of a breast stroke action than a doggy paddle (or her paws come out of the water and she sinks) but does still forget at times. I have bought her a life jacket to help her a bit. Here's a crappy video showing an example of her swimming, this is after about two years of practice, she used to be much worse :laugh: As you can see she splashes, then lifts her head back to get away from the splashing, which makes her splash more Funnily enough - the one who can swim brilliantly doesn't really like to, yet the one who is terrible at swimming is the first to leap off the edge and do bombies into the water :laugh:

My dogs like them enough without this treatment :laugh: But I use 4legs, not the VIP ones, the VIP ones have preservatives and always feel slimy and smell off very quickly, yuck

It took one of my dogs years to learn to swim properly - she's only just got it now - she was all crazy splashy legs and would go backwards and sink!

That would be handy :laugh: