The Spotted Devil

Leah you've gotta meet my very "un-standard" Spaniel :laugh: Bloody energiser bunny

Also remember that a lack of appropriate socialisation during critical periods can manifest as a strong fear or phobia :)

Agree - she is very knowledgable. As far as I am aware they are different in temperament to the minis.

Emmy does crawling - it's very funny - her favourite is crawling on her tummy between my feet as I walk forward.

CC - I can't help you with your specific issues but I will say that with softer retrieving dogs we never allow them to be in competition with another dog for a retrieve as it can really put them off.

Agree with BlackJaq re the GSPs I've met.....even my Springer would happily guide me under a bus if there was fur or feather in her sights! Labs that are bred for assistance/guide dog work have been specifically selected to remove a lot of the gundog prey drive. I know Dalmatians have been used as guide dogs in NZ but you would certainly need the "right" dog. Plus you'd have WAY too many people wanting to come and pat him!

From the very beginning, we teach pups and young dogs forward focus and obstacle independence so I would never train on leash or with any accoutrements - I would rather go away from equipment and work on engaging with me, motivation and self-control than work on leash. Dog is definitely restrained (crate, leash, etc) between exercises so they get a chance to relax.

My dogs always train and compete in agility and retrieving "naked". They learn early on that no collar equals AWESOME fun, treats, focus and play with me. I put a flat collar on them for obedience training only because it is required in the ring.

Oh my goodness but Elsie is adorable DD!!! Congratulations on all your success of late - you really deserve it after all the work you've put in :) We were very fortunate to have fine weather over the weekend for 2 days of jumping and agility in Darnum. I managed to set my tent up ringside so I could just get out of bed and walk the courses - brilliant!!! Em's in Masters Jumping now so much less running between rings - and I really like running 2 very different dogs....generally the course suits at least one of them. However, I've really neglected agility training over the last 6 weeks - Em has been training/competing heavily in retrieving and life has been a little hectic. Em ran really well for her first weekend in Masters - no passes but super fun, speedy and awesome steering. I pushed her off course in one run and she had a few dropped bars in the others due to not judging her take off point properly - I suspect all her retrieving training has taught her to a) look 100-150 m ahead and b) smash through everything in her path to get her reward. But she is much improved and there was no shutting down.....the last run of the day she was doing an amazing job but pulled up short of the tunnel when her nose got wind of the cows in the next paddock....although that was called a refusal she quickly engaged her brain again and kept running. Zig's steering certainly wasn't up to his normal standard and he was slower than usual - we have been running him off leash but he is not sprinting fit. He still managed 2 nice Masters Jumping passes, 1 Masters Agility pass and he WON Open Agility with a clear round to boot! I am still "wow" over that one :) We nearly had another pass in the bag for the last (really tough) run of the weekend but I slipped over causing Zig to check to see if I was ok and thus run past the correct jump - oops! There was an awesome raffle and I won a huge selection of dog treats courtesy of one of our trialler's small businesses: Aussie Agility - a very generous prize indeed. The dogs bounced out of bed this morning.....wish I could say the same for me! My camp....I could have stayed a week: My view:

I just couldn't do the phone thing. Why? because if I did I would have 2 border collies just sitting at my feet!! I have to keep moving for them to move around. Lazy little buggers. Very annoying if I feel sick and don't want to walk around! I couldn't do it because I'd have a Springer off hunting (with ears firmly glued down) or else one at my feet with a rabbit or a duck Lol. That would be handy if you were lost in the Canadian wilderness after a bear had eaten all your food! I KNEW there had to be an upside lol

I just couldn't do the phone thing. Why? because if I did I would have 2 border collies just sitting at my feet!! I have to keep moving for them to move around. Lazy little buggers. Very annoying if I feel sick and don't want to walk around! I couldn't do it because I'd have a Springer off hunting (with ears firmly glued down) or else one at my feet with a rabbit or a duck

I aim for daily....sometimes it's a burn off at the oval after training, for Zig it's a gallop in the forest but Em likes to take off hunting so I let her run hard on the back block - she does a lot of hard running when she's training though. I need them to be as running fit as possible for retrieving/agility trialling plus it's a great release for them after training.

Great advice Rappie. I gave Brontë her wings with the philosophy of better a day too early than a day too late. I haven't had to make that choice in the past. It still hurts like hell but I have no regrets. Thinking of you kirty

Leah82, if she gets frustrated quickly you could always try what I did with my Dally.....one tiny piece of food for a repeated behaviour and a super jackpot of rapid fire rewards for a new behaviour. It really helped to teach Zig to keep trying :)

What a shame! You would have had fun Never mind, there is always next time......can you let Prue know please BR if you have registered as attending? Many thanks :)

I walk mine together but Mr TSD never walks Em but runs her on the back block because she is SUPER annoying on a walk......he can't let her off because she'll go hunting and on leash she spends the entire time quartering and trying to shoot off after anything with fur or feather. I train and trial them together and separately so they are very cool about being left at home alone. I will tell them: "Zig, see you later" and "Em, come with me" or vice versa or tell them both to come training. The one told "see you later" curls up on the couch and the one coming with me dances around like a lunatic.

My X-trail is perfect for trialling and camping. All our retrieving trials are held on private farming property and the terrain can be slippery - the X-trail copes with it really well. I'd get a diesel though. I will be moving to a Landcruiser down the track for the extra room. I like the Paj but for those bloody side opening doors! Very inconvenient.

Thanks fetchin' :) It has been a huge learning curve for the wildchild and me alright! I will miss Restricted but am looking forward to the challenges of AA.

citing studies as recent as 2008.Here's the report: Dangerous dogs – a sensible solution Similar to shelter stats that list "entire" males being a risk factor for being picked up as strays. The problem is these are correlations NOT causation - thus it might be that the person who neuters their dog may also be more likely to keep it confined and train it - so it becomes an indication of responsible pet ownership and owner education rather than a cause of aggression or roaming.

I may be wrong...but I didn't think dogs could eat cat food. Have you given much of this to him in the past....if so it may be part of his problem Dogs can eat cat/kitten food but not the other way around. However it does tend to be high in protein so I wouldn't make a habit of it, especially with a pup with an upset stomach. I agree with Pers....cooked chicken/rice and a vet visit.

So, the runs... Saturday: Run 1: An "eye opener" as the judge put it.....a double mark in short to moderate cover. The first (shorter) mark landed left to right beyond a track and I understand that threw a few dogs. The second (long) mark was fairly straightforward, right to left. Pick up the last bird down first. Em nailed both marks - I thought she had misjudged the memory mark but it turns out the wind had picked it up and it didn't land as far out as I expected. She clearly knew where it was as she pulled up right on top of it. Very pleased with this run. Run 2: A few delays here as the wind was playing havoc with the marks. Long-ish mark landing behind some small scrubby bushes and a 2 bird on the way back. Em saw the long mark well and quickly disappeared into the scrub. I couldn't see her but she was quick to reappear again with the bird so I assume she marked it well. The 2 bird went up, I fired and I could have sworn Em didn't see it. However, I took delivery of the first bird, lined her up for the 2 bird and the little devil knew exactly where it was! She used to sit when I fired at the 2 bird but it now appears she uses her peripheral vision as she didn't even turn her head. Another good run. Run 3: Fairly simple in water retrieve and a blind up on the hill. Heel to the tree/post. Leave dog. Walk up to blind firing point. Fire at blind. Relocate to mark firing point (close to dog). Call dog to heel. Fire at mark. Send for mark. Take delivery. Relocate to blind firing point and send for blind. Water mark was smooth and it was nice not to be picking prickles and grass seeds out of her after the run! She took a nice line to the blind and then started pulling to the right (following contours and tracks probably). I stopped her and cast left back and I swear she ran straight over the top of the blind - it was stuck in a ditch so difficult to scent. She is still quick and I am slow so it took me a few handles to get her back to it. She really wanted to keep running! Not too bad but room for improvement. 170 points, 1st place and RRD title. Sunday: Ran non-competing (for those who aren't aware, once you have your 3rd win you must go up to the next stake or run non-competing. There was no All Age trial so I had no choice). Run 1: Heel dog to firing point. Fire 2 shots at the mark. Send dog. Relocate to 2nd firing point (closer to starting pegs). Take delivery and send for double rise. Now, the mark was thrown from left to right high up on a hill. Em was lined up and focussed but I suspect her small stature meant she was staring straight at the hill rather than at it's peak - based on her run, there is no way she saw the mark. She lined off my leg at a bit of an odd angle (at which point I knew she hadn't seen it) but used her head and her nose and picked up the mark relatively quickly. Sent her back for the double rise and that was much easier for her. Run 2: This was held on the same water as Run 3 from Saturday AND the next run - which is very difficult because dogs have such good memories for that sort of thing! We were right down at the water's edge. Double mark - short mark coming right at us followed by long mark, which was essentially a long channel swim. The body of water was very wide. We could pick up in any order. Whilst everyone wanted the long (last) mark down first it was very hard for the dogs as they had to swim very close to the short mark - super, super tempting especially for relatively inexperienced dogs. Some handlers elected the short mark first but it made the long mark much tougher as it was landing in lots of water lilies and weeds. I decided it was essentially a training opportunity so decided to test Em on the long mark first. I took my time before sending her - made sure she was confident about which bird I wanted - she took a super, confident line towards the last bird down but as she swam past the first mark it was just too tempting! Whistle stop. Leave. Cast left back. She took that nicely but then spun onto the tempting mark again. Whistle stop. Leave. Cast left over. She took that beautifully and I thought I was going to have to send her back again before she reached the shoreline but she got the message, adjusted her line and swam furiously towards the long mark. I called out "good girl!" when she picked it up just to reinforce the message. The whole swim back she was glancing at the memory mark so that was an absolute doddle. Absolutely thrilled to bits with this difficult run. Run 3: As mentioned, held on the same body of water so a tough ask. The firing pegs were on top of the steep incline down to the water. Double blind, both across water so 2 big swims. Heel dog to tree. Leave dog. Walk to firing point. Fire at blind across water. Reload. Call dog. Send for blind. As dog reaches the lily pads (about half way) fire at second blind. Em desperately wanted to do another channel swim, bless her, so it took several backs to keep her moving across to the other side. She got out of the water and was about to start hunting so I stopped her and cast back. She took that beautifully, ran hard and spied the bird without another command. She powered back to me and I lined her up for the 2nd blind which was located to the right but out on a point. A couple of handles to keep her on line and in the water (rather than hitting the land and running across) and she picked that one up fairly easily. Another powerful swim back, delivered to hand and she was most disappointed when I didn't send her for another one. I had to call her away from the firing pegs as she was sitting there wagging her tail furiously in anticipation of another one. Not sure how closely we were judged as we were non-competing but the judge said we were within half a point of the winning dog. I was absolutely delighted with her effort to be honest as they were tough runs. She was just so keen and so willing at every step, not to mention heaps of fun :D

Wow...that's neat. Do they slide off though or are they fixed on in some way You feed each ribbon through - they don't slide out when a number are fed through the same slot.

I use Ribbon Mate too.

There are photos of my Dally with tourists from all over the world - he is an absolute magnet! I often set the dogs up in sit/drop stays around tourist attractions for our own photos as a means of documenting our holiday....that always draws some notice although it's Ziggy they fall for. I always take the opportunity to point out that they're not BORN this obedient.....

Yes, it was cold and windy although enough sun to burn my nose and bring out a few black snakes I was so pleased with Em yesterday as well - running non-competing on some tough retrieves, I treated it as a training run (so a few extra verbal cues) and she was within half a point of the winning dog. I'll get to the runs when I have time but here's a fun pic of Em after I let her roll in the dirt as a reward for a super double mark in water....