The Spotted Devil

I've done this with my Dally....a couple of things....don't ever pull the tug out at agility training unless your dog loves to tug. You put pressure on both agility training and the tug training and end up having issues with both. You also will tend to switch to food when your dog decides not to tug, thus reinforcing his decision not to tug. I use a LOT of cubed cheese in training as it's great to throw and easy to see on grass. Meanwhile, work on tug at home with a really awesome fluffy toy. I had a breakthrough with Zig after I'd been away for a few days...he was so excited to see me so instead of lying on the couch like I wanted to I grabbed his tug and played with him. Once I had him tugging at home I started tugging him out of the front yard (on leash). Then I started using slightly more boring tugs at home until he played enthusiastically with a rope tug. The fluffy tug was only used outside home. I would take him to a familiar park, play tug with the fluffy toy and then release him for a sniff and pee session (his favourite!) If he refused to play tug I would put him calmly back in the car and take him home. Too bad, so sad lol. Only when he could do this reliably did I produce the fluffy tug at training - but only when I was warming him up and not in class. I actually hid the toy in the bottom of my training bag and made a great pretence of trying to find it - Zig would get all excited and try to pinch things out of the bag - he'd spy the fluffy tug and triumphantly have a game with me. Then I'd put it away and go off to class and train with food. These games were super short and very intense. Gradually I increased the number of games and added simple commands before he got the tug and finally added it into training. In the beginning it was a warm up but finally developed into a reward. Trialling took a little longer and I approached it similarly. Now he tugs with real determination and will do so even if I have food in my hand. It's done wonders for his rear end strength, drive and most importantly it helped us overcome the "don't wanna, don't hafta" attitude as Susan Garrett puts it. When you choose times for tug training make sure the conditions are right for him - the dog should be bouncing out of his skin, minimal distractions, no food on you or used to train with that session or day and I never asked Zig to tug on a warm day as he quickly wilts. Another idea for a tug toy is a chicken wing in an old sock. Completely disgusting but it just might work!

It might be a combination of things....Em fell apart a month out from her first season. She's brilliant now with hormones flowing - just wish I could trial her she's that on fire. Her recall goes to sh!t about a month out though.

Yes, the new model does not look good! A friend of mine would have bought one to replace her current model but will be looking for something else now.

Yes my male Dally developed an unholy and inexplicable fear of Great Danes when he was around 9 months. His best mate at show training was a 96kg Mastiff and he hadn't had a scare with GDs - we had several at training. I didn't push him, just gave plenty of distance from them at training and kept him out of the show ring. It passed after a few weeks and he's been fine ever since.

Congratulations on such an innovative approach! If there's one thing my visits to shelters across several countries taught me that different circumstances require different and often novel approaches. Look forward to hearing more of your success.

I was thinking along the same lines - my Em completely fell off the training wagon when she was teething (happened all at once like I've never seen before!) and right before her first season. I just took things very slowly and let her tell me when she was ready to pick up where we left off.

Mine are also reinforced through tricks and play from a young age, thus they are always seeking eye contact. Em has worked out that those liquid brown eyes of hers are actually liquid GOLD....she has started staring other folk out at agility trials in particular when I'm just standing outside a ring. She will stare and drool whilst others are doing warm up tricks with their own dogs. It's hilarious because so many people fall for it and ask if they can give her a tidbit. She remembers who they are at the next trial and works them over again. It always makes me wonder...who's shaping who?

I agree SnT the steady feet game is a great way to teach a SFE and the dog very quickly learns the game. Sue Hogben is the guru for teaching this and has spread the method all over oz. Absolutely! SH is da bomb! I'll never forget the first time I saw her demonstrating this and it just made SO much sense. The principles are also applicable to so many other exercises. To save me typing on my iphone here's a link to a previous thread where I put in some notes I had made on it: http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/252474-moving-feet-during-stand-for-exam/page__fromsearch__1

My Dally has a Hurtta coat - it's beautiful and so toasty warm. He also has a couple of custom made coats that were prizes. I think I has him in a Weatherbeeter as a youngster. He has always loved wearing coats and has never tried to rip them. He noses it to remind me he's cold if I forget to put it on him. My ESS has a Weatherbeeter but she runs HOT so only wears it after freezing cold water training. I know a few GSPs who shred every coat they're given....good luck!

Thats awesome! I hear K9pro is doing a workshop in VIC this year maybe you could see if you could go along Ally? BTW I just wanted to say I'm totally impressed with what you've managed to achieve on your own with Bonnie. Great improvisation with equipment and as other have said Bonnie always looks very happy working with you. I think you could go really far, as you're very keen and enthusiastic and already a good handler. TBH I'd try another club, the one you're with doesn't seem overly helpful and quite set in their ways. In NSW you would not have these issues with most clubs. In fact, Bonnie almost looks ready to trial in novice jumping so it may be worth just entering her in some trials for fun. Many clubs are more accepting if you have some titles already.... I just moved to the ACT and whilst they are a bit more strict about entry into agility here, all that is required is a basic obedience test, seeing if your dog can work around distraction (like other dogs) and making sure they are not aggressive. I really hope you can find a good club to help you. Thank you! my name is Emily, Ally is my other dogs name haha :) I've got plans to start trialling in September. there's 4 or 5 trials we are hopefully competing in. hoping to earn our JD at the end of the year. I've been thinking about the K9 Pro workshop, but I need to look more into it. Let me know when you start trialling - I have the only Dalmatian running in agility in Vic so we are pretty easy to spot!!!

Yes, perhaps it's physical shape and how they move?

I suspect they recognise their own breed and also other familiar breeds. Playing style seems to be important. I've seen a young, bold Border Collie go from rumble tumble with bigger, older BCs and other herding breeds to being completely freaked out by Em's submissive Spaniel play. Ziggy has always been a flirt but goes completely silly with other Dallies. Lots of standing on hind legs and wrestling. Em is a funny one - she certainly appears to prefer running with other spaniels but also dragged me across an oval at the Agility Nationals to meet one of the only other Dalmatians present. It had a coat on so I'm not sure what she recognised. She must have thought it was Zig as she pulled up in a real hurry when she realised it wasn't! My old ACD was a bit fearful of other dogs but would sniff out and try to play with the nearest Beagle if prompted. She grew up with one. When my dogs play together they adopt each other's playing styles - Zig does more play bowing and low down wrestling (especially when Em was a baby puppy) whilst Em bites and wrestles on her hind legs more. I could watch them all day.

So I assume this is new because when I phoned RSPCA about a rescue that never walked the dogs after I documented how often the dogs got our over a few week period and they said they had no rules on how often a caged dog needed to be walked. Firstly, it's Vic only. Secondly, it's a breeders CoP. Shelters have a separate CoP.

CoP are state based so Vic only and only for breeders with 3 or more fertile bitches or 10 or more if registered with ANKC or GCCFV/FCCV (cat equivalent).

So sorry j. No matter how long and well they've lived the "goodbye" never gets any easier Lots of beautiful memories in those photos xxx

Just precious! I want a puppy dammit lol

Yep - absolutely it's a tough place to be in - been there, done that as a teen and it's frustrating. I also lack space, time and equipment too and it's only having a car that's allowed me to tap into some of the great local trainers (I know you're a bit younger than the rest of us!) I am learning Susan Garett handling system at the moment. It's great and my youngster is gaining more confidence than ever. Shame you're not closer as I'd be happy to help you train sometimes.

I can't afford classes at Bulla. Bonnie and I are past the foundation level, and foundation is mandatory at Bulla. I'd rather not waste over $100 going to classes that will teach me what I already know. I'm sure there's a few things I can learn there, but I'm wanting to go straight into real agility, with full sized equipment and all. So I have to dispel that little myth! It's really important to have a clear handling system to be successful in modern agility trials - as handlers we learn that and teach that to our dogs away from equipment and maybe just over one or two jumps. My dogs and I are learning a new handling system at the moment and have done little else but 1 jump work on low height for several weeks. And they both run in Masters! You can never do too much foundation. Do you follow a handling system at all? I'm not sure what Bulla teach.

Oh how darling Law! Where from, may I ask? I know a few Aussie breeders.

That's also part of the learning curve for all of us - staying calm and upbeat in the face of everything going pear shaped! You would be surprised how much dogs pick up body language too - when mine make a mistake I try to keep it really light....laugh even! Ha! Gotcha! Try again! Even dropped shoulders can shut them down.

In our earlier years I corrected and punished her a fair bit. Not that I physically hurt her, more so pulling on the lead, verbal punishment ect. but that seems to of scared her enough. I think that could be a big part of it. Now she just seems a little on edge in class. I don't use any punishment on her right now, I think that would make everything worse. Thanks for the help! I will definitely try to give her a lot of breaks during class They have looong memories! Drop the obedience aspect and just have FUN in class!

Depending how serious it is I normally starve them for 24 hours or feed lean, cooked chicken and brown rice. If they are bright and happy that is. It tends to self resolve.

Dogs are very good at performing situation specific behaviours and it sounds like class + obedience = drudge. Especially if she is fine elsewhere and happy being around other dogs....is it possible she has a bad experience as a youngster? If you can rule all that out I would (after discussing with your instructor) just play with her in class. Food games, toy games and play with you for just a few minutes then step out of class and give her some quiet time. Preferably in a crate. Rinse and repeat. Then start asking for a basic behaviour, play intensely and back in the crate. Rinse and repeat, gradually building up the complexity of the behaviours and time spent training. Stop BEFORE she's had enough. This is a great challenge for you to learn to overcome - you will learn heaps!!!

So much depends on the individual dog of course...my Springer is ridiculously active and fit - I ask a lot of her in training and competition. She lives on the smell of an oily rag - currently a cup a day of whatever (decent quality) food the dogs have won (or a chicken frame or lamb neck) plus training treats (lots of cheese at the moment). My Dally is fed Artemis (the regular one) - in his early days he was tough to keep weight on and, if it wasn't for the Dalmatian propensity for stone forming I would have tried the Artemis Power - just didn't want to risk the high protein (even though the type of protein is probably more important).

I don't come in here much but just wanted to say Happy Birthday to my favourite FCR and ROFL @ poor Brooke