pie

It's a Chesapeake Bay Retriever. From Victoria, yay! You have a hard wait ahead of you though! 2 months?

Thanks for the replies He bobs, when I take the target away but only if I point to the ground, maybe I haven't been making it challenging enough/ haven't moved on to the next stage correctly? I haven't really used the clicker for training it, maybe if I use the clicker he will start to offer the 2o2o to me. I have an A Frame at home so I might try as you suggested DC and if he doesn't do it I'll crate him and get the puppy out, that should be huge motivation for him to get it! He'll do anything to keep the puppy locked away

I always back chained on the smaller ones, not so much on the larger ones, but I do pick him up / lure him up and make him do it again if his legs come off. You made me think though, if the target is at the AF he will touch it but not necessarily move into a 2o2o position, so maybe he doesn't fully understand? He will just head straight over it usually.

valleywa: Most pet stores I have been into lately have a good stock of Eagle Pack, I bought a big bag of the small puppy formula from Petstock in Cannington, but have seen a good amount of EP in City Farmers, BP & G etc so you should be able to find it easily enough in Perth. You could probably give them a call and they should tell you if they have it. What state is your puppy coming from?

Hi All ;) I have always trained Kyzer to do a 2o2o contact on both the A Frame and the Dog Walk, we are still using a plastic target because I have been slack in phasing it out. We're not trialling yet. The DW contact has always been perfectly fine. The AF contact however - he has always had a problem where when he is approaching the target he will hit it but he will do a bit of a hand stand and his back legs will fly off the AF due to approach speed. He was taught the 2o2o from an early age on very low puppy equipment, gradually increasing, it's only really at full height where he has the problem. I would always put him back on and make him do it 2o2o (he can do it if he is put back on the end of the AF, but not if he is actually going over it.) Because this seems to be failing, I'm wondering if I should change to a different method that he will be able to do easier. I would ideally like for him to do some kind of holding position so that I can catch up to him and figure out where to go next on a course I tried once to just make him run over it and do a running contact (because most small dogs seem to do them) to test if he would jump, and he did, still hit the contact though. So I am wondering the following: Should I change to 4 on the floor and make him drop after the AF (how do you even teach that clearly?) Should I leave him as he is because he is touching the contact, doesn't really matter that his legs fly off Should I change to a running contact - although again I would prefer to have a pause after the AF for bad handler reasons and because he is fairly fast and I'm not sure how to teach the RC. Any thoughts from Contact experts? Thanks in advance.

Do you have a shop Seita? Ptolomy - so I have to buy at least one, hey? Well I couldn't just buy one so I'd better get some other things while I am there...

Ahhh they look good..... uh oh.... *resists temptation*

Foam balls? Ahhh I think I saw one of those isqueaks at Ptolomy's place when I took the pup for a play.

Soooo.... anything you recommend? What are these isqueak things everyone is on about? Are they like a Cuz? (I know I shouldn't ask but I have to)

I'm already tempted by the dollar, and was being good, but the free shipping will just push me over the edge!

I hope they don't... purely for the sake of my bank balance

Hi Vickie, do you mind giving a summary of your three pole method? The videos are great - look at them go!

Wow - he sure is handsome! Great photos ruthless! Aww I think he looks like a big softy in the 'woe is me' chair shot

My dog has never gone through his doggy door with the flap on, it was hard and heavy and swung back quite violently and would hit him (despite the door being really small). We took the flap off and he used it then. In the new house I have bought a pig in mud door (not the patio one) and it has a soft plastic bendy flap, both dogs go through it no worries at all. It's a lot better.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!! So adorable!

RIP Savannah. Hugs to you MTD.

You don't need to wait until puppy school, try teaching her to sit, drop, start lead training, give her a toy and teach her to drop it by swapping it for a treat, buy a clicker and look up some puppy clicker games, there is loads to do! You will be amazed at how tired a puppy can get from mental stimulation.

All sorts of things cut up, I change it around: Sausage 4 Legs Black pudding Chicken breast cooked and cut up Raw sweet potato Natures Gift (I buy a bag of the kibble, it's just like their little treats used to be, dog loves it and it lasts for ages) Leftover roast meat Cheese Polony Ham That's all I can think of at the moment

My dog has never rushed a big dog in his life, yet last week alone he was aggressively charged at and chased by two dogs on separate occasions, a sibe and a BC, both at training. Both dogs were off lead but shouldn't have been because the owners clearly could not control them. It doesn't make me say ALL large dogs and their owners are out of control, just as not all small dogs and there owners are out of control. The small dogs in my neighbourhood are all very well behaved. Some of the large dogs are iffy but that is the owners fault for not containing them adequately.

Who says they're not allowed to react? They shouldn't have to tolerate aggression from any dog. However, when was the last time you saw a large breed dog confronted by another dog that weighed more than 10 times what it did? No dog should be forced to defend itself but the frequency that larger breeds feel the need to may be less than for small dogs. I personally believe that if every dog owner took responsibity for the control and safety of their dogs, we'd have a lot fewer of the "small dog vs big dog" threads we see here. They're all dogs and sometimes people need to remember that. I think PF has hit the nail on the head. Sometimes a simple thing like a playful wayward paw from a big dog can really hurt a small dog. Big dog owners (and small dog owners too) quite often can't understand this, and the fact that 'he's just playing' doesn't really make any difference. However, it is up tot he small dog owner to protect their dog from situations like this too, which is why my dog only plays with dogs I know, because he already has fear issues mainly resulting from being hurt by big dogs playing with him (thank you puppy school). That said I do think small dogs get away with a lot more and I don't necessarily think they should. All dogs should have manners.

Yes the Manchester Terrier was Nickel, he's from the same breeder as Trixie. That's good that she plays with toys, it will come in handy! A few people seem to use squeaky toys at training, I use one for weaving practice. I have one of those football things you speak of and mine is very loud, maybe a quieter squeaky like the ones in teddies would be better? Loud enough for her to hear but not loud enough to make every dog at training want to investigate

I just emailed someone from the club, I'll let you know what they say but I'd say it will be flat collars only.

Oooh will see you tomorrow then - I'll have the puppy with me No I didn't speak to you, just saw you between the rings, and Rosie had a tennis ball in her mouth didn't she? I'm pretty sure they only allow flat collars, they were checking dogs the other week, but I'm not sure on Martingales. Yep definitely bring a toy, does she tug?

Awwww, I'm so happy for you BB I wish you a long happy life together.

Hey I saw you there RosieFT! I was admiring a tan & white SFT with a tan front leg and thought it might've been Rosie and you! She is gorgeous by the way. I was stewarding. You should come down to training on Tuesdays, you can even just watch for the first night to see if it is something you want to do. The website is http://www.agilityclubwa.com/ for ACWA - they train on Tuesday nights on the same oval that the trial was on, not sure about other clubs though.