The Spotted Devil

I've attached the best pic I've got - sorry it's not great.

LMSW - thank you! I'm not really sure to be honest as I'm don't know what you can do. We've tried blurring the background but I think it looks a bit odd - but we are real beginners as far as editing goes. It's not hugely hi-res because it's scanned so if it's not doable that's ok. Will just get back to my laptop...

Just wondering if someone could help edit a picture of my old dog, Dolly. The only picture my Mum could find was a hard copy of her with my Dad and a few other dogs but I'd like a photo of just Dolly to put on the timber urn I'm having made for her ashes. Many thanks - I've attached a small version...

Life is put on hold whilst I unpack Clean Run boxes! Mine is stuck in New York....not sure for how long with all the snow storms

I'm very happy with Vebo crates - not sure of shipping to WA but Melbourne is very reasonable.

OT - but LG I had a Catahoula in my puppy class recently. That's a whole lot of dog. I had no idea about DOL until Zig was at least a year old - was recommended to check it out by a UK forum friend! Fortunately I got lucky in terms of a word of mouth breeder recommendation - and waited 2 years for a pup because of a good gut feeling - but my last dog (purebred but associate no papers as was normal) lived for 17 years so I was completely out of the loop in terms of where to start looking. Of course once you have a good dog and trial them it's easier to make connections for the next dog and so on. The vast majority of puppy farm dogs that I see in classes have owners who really thought they were doing the right thing - the marketing is clever.

Have fun! Today we did the X marking drill again but at a much longer distance. The first short mark landed behind some longer cover and I knew it was going to throw her....yep, she overran it and was most confused although she didn't give up. A come in whistle and she got the message! The rest were fine although I suspect she fluked the other short one. Gave her a rest and did a bit of handling - angle backs are progressing well although I'm not going to test her too early. All the activity is paying off - she completely passed under my feet tonight whilst "poor" Zig languished in the crate for a few hours.

Bizarre! I'm surprised they don't give you an option when they are out of stock - I had a toy and some jump build stuff in blue refunded - I would have preferred just to order a different colour of the latter as I can't build my jumps without them...so now I have lots of blue end caps to line up on the shelf anyway!

I guess I have my own methods of training - lots of shaping, impulse control games - and I really don't see the need. My dogs know that sit means sit until you're told otherwise, delivery I shape (and am fussy) and handling is a tougher concept than we think, especially when you've got suction and cover to deal with. I try to split, not lump.

It's not something I use at all. Will be interested to see how you go.

I've been fortunate to not have to leave pups for longer than 3-4 hours due to the nature of our work hours but I have a few things I do: Alone time starts as soon as possible. Pups/adults taken out and left at home individually and together so this is seen as normal. I can now tell say "Zig, see you later. Em, come with me" or vice versa and there's no whining. Pup left at home has lots of play, training and free running before I leave (even if that means getting up at 5am) and is provided with stuffed Kongs or scattered food or RMB. I swear my pups breathe a sigh of relief when I leave the house as they finally get some sleep!

Zig is not so much a dope but an eternal optimist. Em is in season so we are rotating crates, outside and inside time. Em had some quiet time in her crate this evening with a few stuffed Kongs (after some intense training and several exercise sessions) and Zig keeps trying to flirt with her. He doesn't seem to realise that a) she's not interested, and b) she's trying to eat in peace so all the snarling from her in the world just makes him flirt harder. It's the only time Em ever gets cranky with him but he really thinks "no" means "yes" - our very own "Mr Collins" lol

Very cool Mim! Mine was shipped 24/5 so could be a while - huge order with friends too - will be like another Christmas!

My favourites have been Bright, Lakes Entrance and Mildura but we go outside of school holidays and often in the cooler months.

Today was an X marking drill - she judged them all very well except when she had to push through old hunting to pick up the far bumper. That's normally so easy for her - amazing how skills drop away after a break. Tried a double fall but Mr TSD couldn't help but distract her and she knew what was going on. So instead I hand threw the go to mark and the double fall so I could place them exactly where I wanted to and that worked much better. Meanwhile she's had several big hard running sessions in the chook yard, which tend to involve a lot of hunting...

Whoo hoo! When was it shipped? And what did you get???

Heh, heh - Zig can be a bit precious, bless him, but the "ladies" love him nonetheless. With a dog that is fearful I prefer to shape a behaviour rather than lure - mark and reward anything to do with water rather than trying to bribe him - it's a completely different mindset. Links so as not to go OT here and here :)

I keep the food in a train pouch on my right side. When I am treating her with food she still works well she just doesn't work when I wasn't allowed to give her treats while training but since I can see that not working I will just start making her work more to get her treats and see how we go Ah ha! I hide the treats in small sealed containers behind trees etc - ask for a very short heel pattern (even 5 steps to begin with), mark the correct behaviour and race them to the secret stash - make it so they never know where or when the next treat is coming from. Keep it fun and light - obedience trialling should be about how much fun you are to be with in your dog's eyes.

Also, where is the food? If it's on you or delivery is predictable your dog will understandably switch off if you don't carry food or you suddenly start to reward differently.

Hormones are amazing things....she is feral lol Did some good drills today in the pouring rain....started with 5 dummies in an angled line to practice lining, sending for the far one first. Really good stuff. Then did some walking baseball with a few extras.....3 dummies - worked on lefts and rights as they have been weak. On one of those, the last dummy I threw was over her head. I gave her a left and she took off back instead but instantly and before I could blow the whistle switched left. It was really interesting how she pre-empted the command and then corrected herself mid flight. Then set her up very close to dummies to her left and right but sent her back. Spot on. Mixed up a few happy bumpers with some two birds and she didn't miss a beat. I just couldn't trick her! Tomorrow I think will be angle backs and marking. Maybe.

TSD is Em the dally in your avatar? that's interesting about the duck - Hank barks at them sometimes when we're out walking near the water but never tries to chase after them. I wonder if I should just wait there next time and see if he's game enough to jump in? They're usually too far away for him to get to even if he was ballsy enough to swim :laugh: Ha - no! Em is the crazy field bred ESS puppy in my avatar working up the courage to say hello to her new friend! She went from this.... To this! Yes, she's supposed to have that in her mouth... Zig, on the other hand...

Em took to water when she saw her first duck - talk about instinct kicking in. Zig had never been a big fan but watching Em do water retrieves during training and being rewarded for it piqued his interest. He's no water baby - in fact he swims like a giraffe on roller skates - so I bought him a bouyency vest and now he loves it although if the retrieve is too hard and he's tired I have to send Em for it. She NEVER gets tired. Both of them hate the clam pool yet the ESS pup I looked after for a few months thought it was awesome.

I don't miss living Bayside for that very reason! Fortunately neither of my dogs are fussed by fireworks but I like to stay close to home in case some idiot starts a fire.

Gertrude139, you will need to prepare both yourself and the dog but it is not particularly taxing. I'm definitely biased but the Dally Club does a great ET :)

Beautiful.