helen

I'm lucky because I belong to a club just like this, they also do flyball and have some more advanced classes for people trialling in obedience. The head instructor and several of the other instructors are accredited Delta people so certainly have plenty of knowledge, but they continue to learn from other sources. I wish more clubs were like this. Not only are the training methods used positive but so is the treatment of the human students. The only drawback is that class sizes are limited so there is always a waiting list. The training is not expensive either considering the quality of the classes, only $15 per school term

You may have more success doing something like this - http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogT...eInhibition.php http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/spt/SPT_Puppies.htm Attention: http://www.canismajor.com/dog/clk9904.html http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2001b/attention.htm

Congratulations, great job

I most definately have a break. The dogs really enjoy a holiday just like people do IMO

Can someone tell me if this is right? As far as I can figure you need to do 100 hours taking classes at a club during the 10 month course, on top of the theory and the 2 nine day blocks. Just doing the sums this means that you would need to be teaching classes for 2 hours per week for the entire course.

My dogs here have had a C5 every year since they were pups, I have had absolutely no problems and will continue to do so. The boarding kennel I have used insist in a C5 too

bummer, hopefully you will get in soon. Sounds like great fun. Hopefully now that the American Kennel Club offer trials and titles it will only be a matter of time before it becomes an official sport in Australia too.

Not sure of what direction from the city this is, but I believe this club does rally-o under the name of trains - http://users.bigpond.net.au/bankstownsfd/

I love the changes they did make this year. Like mentioned earlier, rally-O would be a great addition. Maybe now it is an official AKC sport it will open the door for something in future. UK system sounds great.

Wheres my rock obviously has learnt how to apply the theory of positive reinforcement in a manner that allows a reliable recall to happen, like so many people can and have done (myself included). Have you read the book Don't Shoot The Dog by Karen Pryor? Might answer some of your questions

There is also a great book called Kids & Dogs by Ruth Weston & Dr. Catriona Ross that may be helpful. I know my local book store has it, if you can't get hold of a copy you could get one here - http://www.kintala.com.au/ There is also some great information here - http://www.k9events.com/dogsandkids.htm

Looks like heaps of good results, here are mine: Bella (Ch Wameika Dentelle CD GD AD JD S-NCC O-NAC O-NJC) - She got about 12 agility qualies, 1 title (GD). I worked out she is sitting on about a 50% pass rate with some near misses so is doing extremely well. Next year will be aiming for 3 Xs (CDX, ADX, JDX) and starting tracking. Tilly - (Ch Riverreed Hearts Nmotion) - I entered her at the NADAC Nationals, her first agility trial - just to see how she will act at a trial as her training is limited. She qualified in 2 out of 3 events, novice jumpers and novice changes (distance challenge), I nearly fell over backwards. She also got a runner up in specialty show, the 2nd specialty champ show in australia. She now qualifys to train locally with her qualies so look out!!! Chazer - Ch Rivamist First Offence - Started tracking training at the end of May. around 2 months later he got his TQT handled by Brittanygirl. I handled her girl Morgan and passed TQT and test 1. We are patiently waiting for tracking season again. Edited to add - how could I forget, Bella made an appearance in the Puppys and Dogs annual magazine with this photo taken by Wendy Mitchell Photography

The fact I wanted to do obedience or agility did influence my choice, especially relating to size, I decided a medium size dog would be best. Most people thought I should get a working dog breed but I didn't want one as I don't believe they suit me. I looked at gundogs as that group contains my favorite breeds (especially Brittanys and springers). I love their nature and I like the fact that they can be very active when needed and a very settled house dog as well. Brittany was a natural choice for me and one I am glad I made.

Thanks for the great ideas. Have lots of things to try, very clever about the hill too.

My apologies. I know you will enjoy it. One of the people who I know has done it is from agility. She said she has learnt so much from the course.

I have just been experimenting and had a brainstorm. When she returned with the dumbell I just tried the old fashioned push on the rump and voila - she was sitting with the dumbell in her mouth. Would still like any other ideas you have to help along though.

What has it got to do with NDTF - well they are both places to study dog behaviour, not many places to do that so I thought it actually meant we had something in common that we are both considering studying. I do apologise that I have never heard of a waiting waiting brigade but I don't read every post here. I have met a few people who have done this course and they are quite nice people

Good luck. I am seriously considering the Delta course.

Country Joe - how would you go about teaching a dog to sit with a dumbell in it's mouth? The problem is the dog makes a concious effort to drop the item before sitting every time.

Sounds like a great place to start. If you want to try a couple of easy exercises to teach free shaping with a goal in mind try these. 1 - teach the dog to go to a plastic cup/bottle a distance away and knock it over. Typically the dog would start looking at the cup, take a step forward etc etc. - This one was learnt from Karen Pryor. A few years ago now she taught a group of us clicker training on line and this was our first excercise to teach the dog once the clicker was charged. It is a simple enough trick and teaches the theory of splitting behaviors down very well and demonstrates the importance of timing. For some of the dogs a little bit of luring was required by throwing food on the far side of the cup. This was free shaped and the idea was to be sitting down while the dog did all the work. 2 - go to your mat. A very useful one, taught in a similar way but at the end you might want your dog to sit or lay down.

My big effort was tracking training this year, training nearly every week out in the paddocks/bush for a few months and did a bit of article work inside. Agility - If we can do things without training we will - only train to fix any problems that crop up with Bella. Due to the need for equipment my youngsters train once per week during school terms. The training here depends on the experience of the dog and the standard already reached. Obedience - stated training for open at the beginning of the year and stopped due to tracking, am about to do some more training. The plan is to train a couple of times a week in short sessions. I have 1 thing though that will need some work as the trial season approaches next year. I think the training required depends a lot on the age of the dog.

I agree with Arby I must say. Find a vet who is more worried about the dog than the paperwork and ask for their opinion.

There are a few cavvies doing really well in Victoria at the moment, and one lovely one I train with who does a brilliant job, hardly ever puts a foot wrong.

Good luck with your puppy, I am sure you will enjoy everything as they are very happy dogs. Clicker training is perfect for food motivated dogs. The click marks the correct behaviour and means a reward (usually food) has been won. In my opinion it is a great way to train those gundogs who used to be called 'stubborn' but really just needed a more suitable method of training. Consider tracking as well, it is a great sport which particularly suits gundogs.

The poor thing, what terrible news