helen

Give it a go if you can Brooke, it is great fun. The tracking club of Vic workshop is great, I went this year and learnt so much. There were a few interstate people so you may even meet up with some NSW people you can train with. As I have found it is not easy to get started and finding but once you do it really is worth it. Like ROM said if you can get to some trials you may find people to help too, there is not much of the season left though.

There is a guy on the agility in motion DVDs that teaches obstacle names and can stand still and name the obstacle (side by side) he wants the dog to take

I think most of what you are saying is true, the body language needs to be right, vocals can't compensate for poor body language. Having said that I certainly use vocals, if nothing else it makes me feel better and gets the air out of the lungs LOL. I also think that vocals can help, I have done a practice session with no words, it is easier on a open course then a tight course. I have quite often called the wrong obstacle, including recently calling the tyre 'that thing over there' LOL - dog did go by body language.

$5.00 per year membership plus $15.00 per term per dog. This club has limited class sizes, the head instructor plus several other instructors are Delta certified and the classes are 1st class.

Just another suggestion Capanash - in the June Vic Dog they have advertised the Victorian Canine Association State Obedience Trial & Top Dog Final. This would be a good one to enter, or even if you do not enter just going to watch the Top Obedience Dog Final is worth it, the top dogs in the state compete against each other. Watch the handlers as much as you watch the dogs.

Hi and good luck with the trial. Remember not to stop too suddenly on halts etc, and remember to count three steps or whatever you do so the dog has a warning and doesn't miss a sit or drop.

I agree with your Training Methods And Philosophies. I have been to one seminar from an international presentor, Suzanne Clothier and learnt clicker training online with Karen Pryor which was priceless. This was great but there are Australians who are just as good. The VCA ran some seminars with Gina O'Keefe from WA a while back, she is amazing and works magic with the dogs regardless of breed, personality or size, would be great to see a re-visit. Lea Cogley from Victoria also has invaluable information to share. Helen Read who has Clever Canines and is head instructor of Bellarine Dog Activities Group is pretty amazing too and has taught me so much. BTW lab and poodle - you haven't tried a Brittany yet have you? :wink:

You poor thing. Thank goodness my dogs do not do this type of behaviour even though they have been bred to have plenty of drive. I nearly lost my hand once when the owner of a GSD with a high drive for leaves didn't warn me, we were all sitting down and I happened to pick up a leaf, not fun at all, I know exactly how you feel.

LOL. The real truth is that I am trying to take over Border Collies . Our partner is a Border Collie. I am also doing some training now with Wendy's dog Willow so I can run her in trials when Wendy can't. She is great to do agility with. I always said I would love to try agility with a Border Collie so now maybe I have a Claytons Border. They are nearly as good as a Brittany Anyway, the strategic pairs is an agility course, you have two dogs and two handlers in the team. The course is disjointed so one dog will start and do a few obstacles, then the next dog continues where the other dog stopped and so on until the end of the course. If a dog makes a fault the other dog has to continue from where the fault was. I can imagine if there are faults it would become easy to get a bit lost as you will not be running the course quite as you planned LOL. We have tried it in training, it is great fun.

I am eagerly awaiting the introduction of the new rules in Victoria - mainly looking forward to the agility games, especially strategic pairs. Have teed up a team with my instructor and her dog, should be great fun. There will be so many people walking that course on the day it will be worse than peak hour

Hi. If you are interested in clicker training the best resource is this site, it has loads of links - http://www.k9events.com Once the clicker is charged begin with a simply trick like this one - http://www.clickertraining.com/karen/artic...e&itemnumber=20 - My dog Bella is the Brittany on the beach. Karen Pryor taught people on line about clicker training and I was lucky enough to be participating (you don't get that chance every day). This exercise was great to teach the person and the dog about the clicker. You might start with the dog looking at the cup, then one step toward it etc building up to knocking the cup over etc.

Gillian, if your dog is too old for SAR why not try tracking, he is certainly not too old for that. This is the tracking club website for some more info on how to get started - http://www.trackingclubvic.org.au/

A flat collar, no collar or harness is best, anything else can get caught and be a safety issue

I think if you concentrate on making it fun that is the most important thing - also try and keep it simple. If you are doing obedience classes from the beginning get the dog used to walking on both sides (although at class they will probably insist your dog is on the left).

I agree with Sidoney on this. Firstly, not every club does block heeling. The exercises used in the trial ring are very useful in every day life. At the dog beach if there is a dog on lead or one I don't want Bella to approach I simply get her to do an off lead heel until we pass the dog. Stays are invaluable in every day life, as are recalls. My dog will do these excercises in a 'non stylised way'. Retrieving and jumping are fun for the dog. I used to think obedience was a bit boring myself I must admit, I think it is the general attitude that goes around and rubs off. I stopped after Bella's first novice pass. I picked up again a couple of years later. Went to a training seminar run by Gina O'Keefe from WA, she is a good one to show you how much fun it can actually be.

A bit off topic Bonzawani, but how do they pronounce Cesar?

Sparty - The photo of Bill & Meg is sensational

Would love to hear the results, especially how the Bellarine and Ballarat teams go. Good luck to everyone

Clipperworld seem to be much cheaper than some according to the posts here - http://www.clipperworld.com.au/

While I have a decent pair of thinning scissors my normal sissors, until recently, came from the newsagents (you know, the orange or white ones that sell for about $5). No judge every commented though that my dogs look like they had been hacked at I have also in the past used sewing scissors. I went to the pet expo this year with a purpose in mind - to shop - and stumbled across the clipperworld stand. I looked at a couple of brands, the Mars scissors were unbelievable but as I am grooming a Brittany rather than a poodle settled for a pair at about 1/2 the price and invested in a pair of Wahl scissors. Imagine what my dog's coats will look like now

On the other side of the coin I know of a dog doing agility with an injury only Barry was able to diagnose correctly and fix.

This link might be helpful too, it is for the Australian Veterinary Chiropractic Association, for qualified chiros - http://www.chirovet.com.au/vic.htm

Enjoy, I know a few people from there and they are great.

Thanks for the info. Annie - that is great news it helps you so much too. What product is it that you use?

Thanks for the replies. I know Flexicose is the one recommended by my vets which is how I ended up with that one. I am also trying it myself too as my knee creaks a bit going up stairs, I must say though it tastes disgusting - give it a taste test CavsRcute Nature Vet - what are the great Australian products?