The Spotted Devil

Stoopid headache has had me out of action all week....Mr TSD convinced me to take the dogs training this afternoon just for a short session. Em is now more relaxed which is one thing at least! We just did 2 birds and double falls....the former are easier of course as she has been doing them for longer plus Mr TSD's throwing arm seems to go KAPUT for double falls and he throws them right in her path! Super pleased with Em though - there were moments of confusion where she was unsure about which dummy to pick up but she took every stop, cast and "leave" that I gave her, even when she was sitting just about on top of the dummy. I learnt some important things about lining her up correctly for selection too. Slowly, slowly...

Thanks Tassie - I haven't had that much fun running him in ages :D Feral Spotted Devils are Fun :laugh: Goodness you have a busy time coming up!!!

I'd be surprised if she can't jump, sparkycat, although some dogs find clearing heights more difficult than others due to structure. Do you have a club near you? She needs to start on "bump jumps" which are nothing to do with height but everything to do with judging distance and getting the feel of it all. Had a great day out with Ziggy on Saturday - he was really revved up, handled beautifully and a little TOO well at times....took my extended arm a little too literally in Open and was taking the far, far jumps :laugh: I will need to adjust that for next time! Ended up with 4 lovely JDM passes. Every error was definitely mine. Em ran really well - fast and zippy so confidence is up, control is just too easy - drop a shoulder gets her where she needs to go. Still having problems with her judging distance on jumps so she is taking off a bit early and knocking bars. I suspect that the better her long distance marking gets in retrieving the worse her jumping has become as she is just not used to looking in front of her. I can see an improvement with the training, though, so will just keep on the same path....can't do well at everything!

You only need jump height for agility - it's probably a multi-entry form :) Once you get to Open and above you will need your dog's height at shoulder for retrieve over jumps etc. At CCD and Novice levels you don't need to worry. Have fun!

Sounds like a nice break rubyroo Had a super weekend...drove to the AA trial site on Friday afternoon, set up camp, heated up my meal and sat around the fire and chatted until late. Up at stupid o'clock on Saturday and drove nearly 2 hours to the agility trial. Zig was on fire - only errors were mine - I didn't stay for presentations but think he ended up with 4 quallies. Em ran fast and handled brilliantly but had a few dropped bars. Drove back to the trial site and had another nice meal/red wine/chat around the fire in the drizzling rain. It drizzled and rained most of Sunday and I spent all day on the thrower. I was well rugged up though and it was a great opportunity to watch the AA dogs run. First run was a long mark, reload, send, 2 bird, send and then a blind beyond the 2 bird up a hill. Second run was a short water mark, long water mark and blind. Send for long mark then blind then short mark. Final run was a long, very cheaty water mark plus a longer land blind with poison blind. Pick up the blind then the mark. The game was different to usual so I took the opportunity to show Em between runs - a minute of shaping had her picking up the smaller one. The blind game was HUGE. At least twice the size of Em's head, very heavy and most people didn't think she could pick it up let alone carry it! Same process of shaping with food and she quickly got the idea - the judge then hand threw it as a mark and she flew out, picked it up with confidence and delivered to hand. Wish I had a photo!!!! Don't think I'm going to Bill Hillman at this stage. Plan on stewarding at the National - not sure about the State - depends on how much time I have as I'll be entered the weekend before that. A lot of driving to Sale and back!

Congratulations RV and Zora

How exciting! Best wishes for healthy mum and puppies I'm only disappointed I won't get to have cuddles

I have met the president of SPCA LA (impressive individual and organisation) and they work closely with the LAPD and other agencies. I understand there are now 2 independent agency reviews of the incident underway and the Hawthorn PD is liasing with SPCA LA further.

We have an agility trial this weekend so retrieving is a bit light this week. Headed out to KCC Park today - pretty heavy cover (for a short dog!) out the back so set up 3 cold blinds. First one was across a creek and up on a hill. I stuffed up the run as I lost sight of her more quickly than I realised would happen and she popped up miles away. Took the stop/casts well though, especially considering the distance, and I was really pleased with her. Second one, I modified our start peg position so I could see her in the long cover and she did pretty well with that one too - probably need to start keeping her on a tighter line but don't want to risk popping. She was funny with the whistle sits too - shuffling into position so she could see me. Third blind was a bit easier - tossed the dummy I had to my pile of gear, then realised I'd need to give her a leave command! That was cool, sent her for the blind and just needed to give her a looong left over to get her there. She ran very hard on that cast so was well rewarded for it. Sent her for the short memory mark just for fun. Gave both dogs a good gallop and Em was straight in the cold dam...crazy girl! So I set her up on a cheaty call through...not only did I walk around the water but Zig galloped around. A come in whistle and she took the correct line through the water so happy with that.

Sounds like a lovely opportunity! Look forward to updates :D I looked after an ESS pup last year for a few months which was a nice way to see if I was ready for 3 dogs :laugh: In terms of house dynamics it was pretty good even though my Dally would have preferred a another girl :D My main issue is that my dogs are high energy and we compete in several sports so commitment to training is high. A youngster requires so much input...and my house/yard/car set up is not quite perfect....other than that it was a hoot!

Fantastic Sheena! Please pass on my congratulations to the owner for LISTENING to you AND working on the issues at hand SPD...she did cop some flack from others who saw her using the method, & tried to tell her that clicking & rewarding the dog for looking AWAY from you was all wrong, wrong, wrong. But when I used LAT on my dog I also copped heaps of almost abuse from others who "knew better", so I had warned her that it might happen. She is over the moon with the results & so am I. Oh yes, been there, got the t-shirt :D But the results speak for themselves....I always try to explain it to people in lay terms as best I can. I am getting a lot more "nodding" rather than frowning so maybe the point is getting across! Good on you for supporting her through a difficult period

Fantastic Sheena! Please pass on my congratulations to the owner for LISTENING to you AND working on the issues at hand

Em and I went to the Vic Gundog club field training day! Pretty cold but the rain stayed away and we did a fair bit of walking so I was quickly shedding layers. Practiced working Em in a fairly tight quartering pattern....reckon she knows much more about it than I do but there are a couple of things that are desirable in the way they quarter that I tried to work on. No game as such to work with - just as well Em's an optimist :D Finished the day with a long cold blind up the hill...Em took a nice line but slowed down to hunt at the first big tree (very inviting!) so I stopped and cast her right back - she took that really well and quickly picked up the dummy. More puppy cuddles and then homeward bound.

OMG that's awesome!

No collars at home (dogs indoors when we are out). Material martingale for walking. Collars off for training - except for obedience...but only because it's required in the ring.

:laugh: Will clear it tonight. Just heading home. Sounds fun!

Try this one....with both my cats and dogs I give a big sigh when I want them to relax and snuggle with me. No science but I swear it works :) ETA: they always follow my sigh with a big sigh of their own, then settle in. It's become a sign that I'm going to stay put for a while I suspect and is most effective when they are undecided. I repeat, NO science :laugh:

Much easier to do water work without all the pressure and excitement! Cheeky devil :D I've been stuck at the computer for the last few days so just took Em out and blew the cobwebs out of both of us in some swirling wind! Mr TSD helped us out.....started with double fall (short - just concept work) and that went pretty well followed by a couple of 2 birds at a much longer distance. Interesting to watch her develop a "style" - with the 2 bird she seems to take a much straighter line to the 2nd dummy down but with the double fall, she definitely follows the first line and then veers off at the point she saw it and picks it up no problem. Finished off with some work on relocation....kept the relocation mark landing in the same place and heeled her at different angles to fetch it up. The penny really dropped with that one today so I added in a go-bird to distract her a little further. She was rather wild and lots of fun....the young lass with a giant camera/lens taking some shots of the valley got more than she bargained for :laugh: She was snapping pics of Em running flat out...I hope she got some good ones!

I did with Weez :) Worked great for him specifically. Ok, there are always exceptions. maybe "cannot" was too generalised. I will change to " it would be very unusual if you could" I did try it once as a joke...I was working Fly, (who is about as ball obsessed as a dog can get) and I said "where's your ball?".I wish I'd videoed it. She flipped, gave me the wild eyes, looked at the ball, then looked at me in disgust & went back to her sheep. That's funny! The first time I had game and food side by side Em spat the food out :laugh: I did teach her to accept whichever I chose but I'm not sure it would work on live game. In terms of other behaviours around retrieving I work on conditioned responses away from the activity using dummies and food - deliveries, sit stays, recalls, whistle sits, distance handling etc. Then I add game (which sends her over the top and works as both a fabulous temptation and a brilliant reward), followed by the excitement of a trial.

Always happy to recommend Cottage Kennels in Plenty - my dogs aren't kennelled a lot and I am a worry wort. Last visit, the dogs were there for 3 weeks and poor Zig had a nasty anal sac abscess lanced 48 hours before I dropped him off. I was going overseas for a conference so couldn't exactly delay my departure but was confident they were in good hands...I asked for pics to be sent mid-trip and I was so pleased to see the condition they were in. As much as possible I board them during off-peak which means they spend a lot of the day in the exercise yards provided the weather is good. The facilities are very secure, the staff are lovely and I like the way my dogs are fed separately and the pen is cleaned without them in it. I send a special diet for the Dally and Em has whatever they have on offer. My Springer is quite shy with strangers so I was pleased to see her looking so relaxed: And Zig looked so fit and well... http://www.cottagekennels.com.au

Fantastic Sway - thanks for posting. Will be in touch re a seminar :)

Sounds like he is coming along well - different dogs mature at different rates too :) I had a very productive day out yesterday at different grounds. Very open so it was a good opportunity to stretch her on distance and work on concepts. Started with 3 cold blinds. Picked them up from right to left. First one in the reeds on the edge of a small body of water - set up so tackling the water wasn't part of the equation. About 100m, this went pretty well - she was as fresh as a daisy after a relatively quiet Saturday so momentum was high and control was not quite as tight - whistle stops were a bit slow. A nice warm up for the next one which was looong for us - about 150m up on a slope near a tree. She took a super line for about 80m before the contours started to kick her off to the right. It was hard work getting her to take a straight back up the hill so that's now on my To Do list! As it was such a long blind I walked after her so as not to lump. Eventually she got it but it took quite a few casts - very pleased though as her attitude was great and she didn't give up at any point. Third blind was about 80m and, whilst I didn't send her on a very good line, she picked it up with a couple of casts. All in all, she was challenged, I stayed relaxed and I think we both felt pretty good about it! After a good rest we did a bit of pile work to check on 2 birds and introduce the double fall. Funny little thing is so used to doing cold blinds that pile work confused her all over again :laugh: Didn't do too much - will concentrate on that and relocations another day. The sun came out (for a change) so I finished off with some angle water entries. That is tough for her so I kept it super simple seeing as it was on a different pond. Dried her off, gave her a good run around, threw a coat on her and gave her a pig's ear....I reckon that made it all worth doing :D Had a lovely lunch and then cuddled some puppies - Em less than impressed with the latter....except when she got to clean out their dinner bowls :D

Hi rubyroo - it's a tough call in a trial. There have been times when I've handled to keep Em in the water and other times when I've realised the situation was beyond what I've trained for and just taken the points hit. The last trial made me realise we hadn't done much on angle entries - didn't worry about it at the time but now I'm training for it. You don't want to put pressure on them in a trial when they don't understand what you're asking. There's a chance you will end up with a dog that mouthes the game too. It's bloody cold now so it's a big ask for a youngster to choose the more difficult correct line. You want to make training sessions in this situation super short, clear and rewarding. I think it's a judgement call you have to make - you know the dog and understand where his training is at. After each trial I think about the things we did really well (keep revising and stretching her on these eg longer, quicker, cover, distractions), the things that weren't that great (break these down into their smallest parts and build up) and the things we weren't asked to do (breathe a sigh of relief and double check we know them). Fisticuffs with another dog is not good but, personally, I would never send Em as pick up unless the other dog was under control. Just too much room for error.

Would it be possible for her to keep them and bequeathe them to a rescue with a donation if she is unable to care for them?

Also wanted to add that traits that make a good working dog might not equal a good competition dog and vice versa.