helen

Here is another great place to get clickers http://www.blackdog.net.au/accessories.php - their service is great. The i-clicks are more popular these days as they are easier to click. A trick too is if you get one of the small girls towling hair ties you can attach it to your finger and click it easily without having to hold on to it. Skyhaven - The i-click is also great if you want to use it while show stacking as you can click it with your foot keeping your hands totally free

I believe there are few ways the clicker is better than using a word - firstly the dog perceives the sound better and there is no emotion to the sound and you know exactly how good or bad your timing is with the clicker, it is more clouded using the spoken bridge word Have a look at this article, very interesting http://www.clickertraining.com/node/226

Way to go Leo

It is magic when that happens. All of a sudden you are able to communicate to the dog properly and the dog really starts to love training and wants to please so much.

Bridgie cat- are you doing obedience or agility? Geelong has a double agility trial (4 trials) coming up on April 28th and 29th, can camp on the grounds or elsewhere, there is a barbeque on the Saturday night. Also 7th and 8th July will be a back to back obedience trial.

Well, we had our 2nd try at snooker yesterday and got a pass (made sure I read the rules again the night before). There was a bit of this :cool: on the home run as I lost obstacle #5 but finally found it LOL. A fellow compeitor gave me a fantastic surprise, he had put together some of our runs on DVD over time, it was fantastic to watch - some good runs and some bloopers (caused by me of course).

The A-frame and dog walk are definately Bella's favorites, I think she loves the climb and being up high. In one trial about a year ago I headed in one direction (away from all th contacts), she said cya and headed off to the dog walk The judge had come to give us locals a couple of agility lessons not long before hand so we were going to show off our new skill - he just laughed.

Good point Dagboy. I know I struggled much more at encouragement than when I started training for Open. Open training was a breeze in comparison. I had never trialled before so did not have the knowledge, had more nerves in the ring etc- I was simply not as good at handling.

true, but it is a great encouragement for the new dogs and owners too.

Normally it goes on straight points so CCD would not be in the running. If you were to average scores you would need to change the award name to best in trial or something similar because if a CCD dog wins it would not have the highest score in trial.

I have done this with Chazer as part of an agility foundation course. He also had little/no back end awareness, I think I can see some improvement though. The things the instructors said to me that helped were to lure him with his head low and not to go too fast.

Sounds like great fun, would love to hear how it all goes

Thanks Haven!!! That is what I was hoping to hear

A lot of people seem to think it makes the dogs calmer. Could I then expect if I switched my dogs to barf there agility/tracking performance would drop accordingly?

That's a bit of a shocker, surely the judge could have helped out a bit, especially in Novice? Did he give a briefing? Our judges on the weekend were great, especially in pairs helping people with where to go next. I guess you'll know next time, but it seems a tough way to learn. I think Snooker is going to be my favourite game. The judge was very good, it was the first games day and he did have a lot of patience. Unfortunately for me I ended up walking 3 courses at once - which were spread out due to being a large trial, so missed that briefing. I think he was probably wanting to put a bomb under me as the judge is great but I think it is a bit like when someone is lost on the course, they can't help. Maybe if I watched the spectators they may have said something, but I was just watching Bella, getting her to watch me so she didn't move until the bell went LOL

I love the games too, especially the gamblers and strategic pairs. Haven't quite got snooker worked out yet. Strategic pairs can be funny to watch. I love watching the gamblers as well, to see how well set up the teams will be when the bell rings and whether or not they make it in time. I was lucky enough to find a partner for strategic pairs that compliments Bella - Bella's weakest point is the weavers and her partner's weakest point is contacts so the one trial we have managed to get to the course was set perfectly for us, Bella got to do all the contacts and no weaving!!! Her partner came out of retirement for the pairs so we may not go past novice. I love the distance part of gamblers too, trying to nut out how to run the first part is a bit trickier. I found a nice circle to run at our last trial but Bella was running so quickly we did the circle 3 times instead of 2. luckily she still got enough points to quali and get her title. My 1 & only attempt at snooker was a bit of a fizzer. I thought I had the game all worked out. We did our three sets and had enough points. I then went to the closing sequence, got Bella to sit and stood waiting for the signal to tell us we could continue on. Once I got sick of waiting I turned to the judge and asked if I could finish yet. He said yes very casually and the bell sounded about 3/4 of the way through the closing sequence. I though we qualied until someone explained to me how it works LOL. Unfortunately it was the first games day and I was in the ring early so I was one that taught people how not to play snooker At least I will know next time.

Poodlefan & happy/grl have made some great suggestions. There is also a book called Kids and Dogs by Ruth Weston & Dr. Catriona Ross, you can order it off their website or bookshops sell it too - http://www.kintala.com.au/books.htm

I agree that the Cavalier King Charles Spaniels make a lovely family pet, pugs too. Maybe if you go to a show and talk to breeders with these and any other breeds you like it would be helpful. The dogzonline breed pages also show breeders, club information, breed information etc - http://www.dogzonline.com.au/breeds/list.asp

Ironic, isn't it. When Chazer was a pup I borrowed a book from the VCA library, about natural health care and feeding. Chazer ate the corner of the book. When I told the librarian she laughed at the irony of it all. Anyway, I replaced it with a brand new version of the same book. I suggest you go to to the bookshop and get a copy of Marley & Me by John Grogan. You will get a great laugh, if the dog doesn't eat it first

Give him time, he will get there eventually, I'm sure. have a look at the puppy training pages here, loads of great information - http://www.k9events.com

I won some Pro Plan for sensitive stomache/skin - it contains fish. My dogs really thrived on it and will definately buy more in the future. I also like advance. Try and add bones too. I have heard a couple of people who like Nutro but don't think it is even available for sale where I live

I have trained obedience, agility, flyball and tracking. For me novice obedience was definately the hardest, especially under the old rules with the 2 lots of heeling. I think the new rules are much better. Open obedience, although I have not done consistant training has probably been very easy in comparison as it is much more fun.

Hope poor Sam is doing better by now

Great stuff, he has come a long way from the terrified dog in the pound. Love the way he checked in with your other dog very quickly on the way back. French/American line Brittanys are the same breed everwhere except for with that 1 organisation, bought about because USA does not allow black in the standard. Some Brittanys do hate having their collars put on. Bella does so I use a clip collar and always put it on from under her muzzle rather than going over her head. Maybe just put it on for dinner time or something to start with. Ps - should I be removing the add for a little while?

Chazer yelps when I clip his nails (poor thing) so I bought a cheaper version of the dremmel. I was happy with it but it didn't last. I them bought a dremmel and the jump in quality is very obvious.