helen

We finally got our strategic pairs run today and passed :D Silvawillow's Kira was on fire, it was our dogs first run for the day and Kira did beautifully Luckily Bella was keen to go, as soon as I started moving my knee said no way so I hobbled around and worked Bella very much from a distance and managed to get it right, even a correct tunnel entry from 1/2 the course away (probably a fluke). Best trick of the day though was from Bella. On our way from point A to point B Kira was doing the weaving, the judge was watching from the far side of the dogwalk, leaning on the dog walk. Bella took the dog walk and started kissing the judge to distract him from Kira's weaving :D Didn't need to though as Kira weaved beautifully

I was considering this too but I figure with some dogs you need to get them happy with people before you can get them to stand still for people. Outgoing dogs want to approach people while doing stand for examination too and are taught not to so I reckon it is worth the risk and additional work.

Thanks for the info Ptolomy she does sound like your dog, will be lots of help. Luckily she is very good in the showring and stands like a statue so I have even been thinking of maybe gradually turning a show stack into a stand for examination too, what doe you think?

Tilly is very wary of people she doesn't know and will back away if they go to pat her over the head, she is Ok if they pat her chest. She improved a lot with people just feeding her, no clicker but it was always her choice to approach the person. I have just started obedience lessons with her and am finding she will back off when the instructor comes to do a stand for examination, even though she will stand like a statue in the show ring so I will probably use a clicker to teach stand for examination, splitting the excerise also.

It has been done very successfully with GSDs, in Australia too.

Remarkable good tast recommending a Brittany They are more of a medium size though. Out of the small breeds you mentioned Papillons and Poodles are my definate favorites. Looks like you will have to go and look at some breeds and see what you will be happiest with

Until you get a book this website has excellent information on anything dog - http://www.k9events.com A book I think is really great is Idiot's Guide To Positive Dog Training

WooHoo, finally got my Vicdog today. Didn't rush to read the article though (haven't read any since the 1st one to be honest)

I always have a UV filter attached as it protects the lens. Better to replace a scratched UV filter than a lens. I also have a polariser for landscape, but don't do what I once did and forget to take it off for other photos and they might not be so great with a polariser. Ripley, if you don't want to spend too much look at the 50mm Canon EF 1.8. It is under $200 and gets rave reviews, even though it is plastic. I got one recently, it is the first non kit lens I purchased and the step uup in quality is amazing. You could then spend the extra on a longer fixed focal lens.

At agility once I set up I walk my dogs as much as I can so their muscles are properly warmed up. Later in the day when they are warmed up enough I try and rest them a bit in the crate but will still take them out a while before their run to warm up again. If I am on early (which doesn;t happen often enough) I will warm them up a bit before I walk the course. Just before we go on I do a bit of heel work to get them into working mode. We also have a routine that they know they get a reward and the end of a run

I say find another trainer. There are plenty of Jack Russells doing things around Victoria like obedience, agility and tracking Maybe Ness on the forum can suggest somewhere, I think she is in SA.

Why change? Maybe because now we know there are better ways of doing things The person who wrote the response to the article has been breeding and training Rotties for over 30 years and keeps learning, trying new things and using what works best. Things would have been pretty much the same 30 years ago but made a choice and says positive training is better. The willingness to continue learning and adapting seems to be happening big time with agility instructors attending seminars and trying different ways of doing things and as a result agility has been taking leaps and bounds in Australia even in the short time I have been doing agility. Edited to add - people think that there has only been positive training in the last few years. When I had my first dog as a kid, probably about grade 5 or 6 (sadly a long time ago) neighbours who were good family friends taught me how to get the dog to do a few things like sit - all done positively with food reward (taught using her dinner) without laying a hand on the dog, we decided the cue was 'what do you say' and when the dog sat that was her way of saying please

Trish has been seeing a very good physio in Geelong, let me know if you want the details if you don't have her email.

I know the person who wrote it , probably would have written more for them but they have decided to go with the same old. I haven't received my october Vic dog yet, does everyone have theirs?

I hear you Helen, a dog that you can live with is the most important thing! I haven't seen the Manchester run, I'll have to keep my eye out. My girl Kira isn't everybody's cup of tea, she is always on the go and needs to be challenged mentally, not just physically. That's why I got a gundog next, however I'm finding her low drive just as challenging as Kira's high drive. My Aussie's are great, keen to work but then will switch off! I call him SuperSam. He is one great little dog. I love the Aussies, didn't know you had any, but you should just get yourself a Brittany next time LOL. Anyway good news, I have someone to run Bella at Ballarat if I am still injured

That must be where the slimmer build comes from. Was the best FTGH dog ever I think, she is just beautiful

Hands down the fastest dog I have seen around at the moment is a Manchester Terrier I know of a person who got a working Kelpie because it would be a super agility dog. Is driving the owner completely nuts and the owner is just not enjoying the dog at all. That is why I recommend getting a dog you can live with as the no 1 most important thing.

Yep that was me Got kicked of the comfort zone with that one... Darcy does distance quite naturally so working her close was completely different, and I was incredibly conscious of how close she was to shutting down on me Definitely something I'd like to work on in my own time at training. ........ Where did you get Darcy from? I was very impressed.

She does teach the basics the same but it is when there is a problem that she knows how to go a step further. When we did an obedience seminar with her quite some time ago she noticed Bella's inclination to switch on to other things while heeling and me getting her attention back and rewarding for that. She used Bella for a demo and simply stopped the moment her attention drifted and ended the game and her attention grew much better quickly. Dogdude, I found the 2 food game only a small part of what she teaches and she uses it as a tool to increase motivation. She does show how she achieved what she has achieved.

I love agility but would be very unlikely to get a working dog, not the sort of dog I want around the house. I think firstly you should pick something you will enjoy living with, then look at it's structure to see if it will be OK to jump, ie not too heavy etc.

I enjoyed it, I thought the low drive session was great as it is something people do not usually concentrate much on and there was so much for people to work on. Great to see Gina get a few dogs playing whose owners said they don't like to play. Beau had fun Not enough time in the high drive session, I did enjoy watching the black lab in the jumping sequence, I think the handler (and me) learnt a lot from that, not you was it feralpup? I was so glad I didn't actually have to run that, looked very hard to do but will try it one day. She also got me thinking about some training ideas I can practice with Tilly, even with a bung knee. Even managed to get Bella a new handler for Ballarat trial if I can't run Brought her down and put her to the test at lunch time and she was happy to work for another person as long as I was standing there

cool, will see you there. Was considering auditing for obedience too as she is just so good at it but now Bella is going to be used as a grooming demo dog for someone at the Pet Industry Assoc trade show so hopefully I will pick up soom good grooming tips

To be honest I haven't taken much notice. The first excellent pairs run we did we were only 5 seconds under the SCT. Both dogs would normally beat the SCT by much more than that on a standard excellent agility course, and that was a faultless run.

I had an agility working spot but got told no way by the physiotherapist tonight so will be switching with the auditor who was on top of the waiting list. I will be the one auditing and carrying a chair around as sitting is the position I am supposed to be in LOL

sorry, strategic pairs