The Spotted Devil

Some 'rare' blue ones too I see.

DeltaCharlie - I tend to agree (including the cute bit!) It doesn't mean you can't do a lot of training but I prefer them learning concepts rather than very specific behaviours at that age....then there's socialising, exploring, new experiences etc. Whilst I aim for a balance of drive and control, too much control can dampen enthusiasm very quickly, particularly in young dogs. I like a bit of "crazy" mixed in there. Just as well really :D

Not a cat, just a dog with pointy fingers. :laugh: And opposable bloody thumbs

Play time...one guess who the instigator is!!! He is a MOST unusual cat :laugh: Sleep time... I need a bigger lap!!! Even so, I am missing one of the Burmese girls in this pic....usually I have 3 cats and a Springer.

One of mine is incredibly talented at dishing out just enough biffo to teach puppies some manners. Her judgement and timing are superb and I don't know how I'd teach the dogs respect without her! Her daughter just squeaks in protest and the foster failure plays rough and crazy so it's a rather mixed bunch. Pups and dogs here obey the house rules: 1. The cats rule 2. If in doubt refer to rule no. 1 No bullying from the cats allowed but I will back them to the hilt if pup is annoying them. No chasing - unless it's the foster failure because he loves and encourages it. Cats are fed up and away from the dogs, have high scratching posts to get away and a baby gate to leap over. It's not unusual to find dogs and cats sharing the central heating vent or a bed. The foster failure smooches the Dally, snuggles with the Springer and sees new puppies as another toy. It's a pretty harmonious multi pet household despite a fair dose of crazy.

Agree with working with LAT sheena. Other than that lots of impulse control games under high arousal (so intense tugging into outs, sit stays under intense arousal etc) away from equipment to begin with. I think the trick would be to go back a long way and not even attempt running agility at the mock trials until the dog can play LAT with the mock judge. Then add one jump at a time.

Yes, that's what I did - I bought enough uprights, jump cups and cross bars for a double box plus the screw in the ground weaving poles. The uprights can be used as a set of 6 weaves with some jumps instead. I bought the equipment bag also just so I can throw everything in the car. Perfect!

Backchaining is the key! Teach the last behaviour first ie drop ball into your hand. Google Shirly Chong retrieve. One of my dogs hated retrieving whilst the other adores it. I taught them a formal retrieve and deliver to hand the same way :)

So glad she's home!!! To answer your question regarding Em off leash...well it's a long story :laugh: Her drive to hunt is through the roof and off any measurable scale BUT she is perfectly fine if she has a job to do (eg retrieving, agility, obedience training and trialling) and then she will ignore everything else (except the one time she brought back a huge dead rabbit in a retrieving trial instead of the correct item of game Still living that one down ). She's not a dog that enjoys going for walks - she prefers to run flat out or sleep - so she gets most of her exercise in training (especially retrieving which is lots of hard running and swimming). Most of the grounds that I use for training are bordered by forest or roads so I am super careful when letting her burn off some steam after training. Even if there is water I am careful as she is just as likely to fetch me up some local bird life. Seriously. Like Rosie, once she goes into hunt mode her ears seal over. Training a loud whistle recall has been brilliant because it seems to pierce the "fog" like my voice can't. I also use a "steady" command before she goes into full on hunt mode, verbally reward her for staying below threshold and always make sure she remains clear of any cover. I have super food rewards for recalling quickly and also reward her for checking in voluntarily. One thing I've noticed with both dogs is that asking them to sit or drop at a distance is often more effective than a recall in an emergency. Whistle sits at a distance are part of Em's retrieving training and Zig is used to drop on recalls. Em is much much worse about a month before coming into season so it's something I'm better prepared for now. That said, I have never nor will I ever, let her off in the forest again no matter how much of a PITA she is to walk. At home we have about 1/4 acre of fenced steep bush so Mr TSD exercises her in there under supervision when I'm away. She gets the very well fenced chook yard (sans chooks) under supervision when she's in season. Little turd that she is :laugh:

Oh thank goodness!!!!!! Em did that to me once, RosieFT - took off into the forest after a rabbit at sunset After calling and calling I ran with Zig all the way home, grabbed my whistle and a torch and drove back out there. I kept to the same paths and just whistled and whistled. Finally I saw a little creature trotting down the path towards me - when I shined the torch on her and realised it was Em she spooked and went to turn tail. I crouched down, shone the torch on my face and called her quietly. Little bugger came racing up to me and I've never felt such a sense of relief!

I haven't been doing a lot of tricks lately....too busy training other stuff! Em has been working on spins both ways (front, left heel, right heel), crawling (especially between my feet) and stationary leg weaves. We started reversing through my legs but that has been neglected with all the retrieving trialling. Zig is not as body aware as Em although he is catching up a bit with spins etc. Perch work is fun for both of them :)

Certainly not something I've contemplated with a working gundog in the house...... It's enough to keep her mind off the (very well fenced) chooks.

Enabler :p Yes, that's how I taught Em a kick back stand. She offers behaviours so fast that I can't keep up :laugh: so tickling her into a stand was just so much easier. BTW, sheena, I too love using the clicker....I use a verbal marker when training a lot of things but the dogs' eyes light up when they see the clicker come out. I always train my dogs without a collar/lead so the toughest thing about juggling the clicker/treats is not spilling my wine :laugh:

GeorgieB - I would suggest you always ask for the nose target in training. In a trial, where excitement is high it gives you more room for error - behaviours can break down under pressure so you might lose the nose target but still get 2o/2o if that makes sense! I was chatting to someone at the agility trial yesterday and my Em learnt a new trick....give aforementioned person AMAZING focus, offer nose touches, spins, heel position and you'll get fed :laugh: Cheeky monkey!

Sounds great Tassie - feel free to share the knowledge :D Had a looong day out at agility today. I'm very pleased to say that I finally took a step towards attaining one of my 2013 goals....to throw caution to the wind, take risks, not babysit and trust my dogs. Ok, so that didn't end in a whole lot of quallies but both dogs ran hard all day and I enjoyed myself a lot more. It was kind of liberating :D Zig had some super runs but I was pushing us both so hard we missed out by a whisker with some tough obstacle discriminations or a dropped bar. Em started the day by winning Excellent Jumping (Q) and then grew in confidence on the next 2 runs. She ran so much harder than I expected in the 2nd run so I was constantly out of position and the bars tumbled. The 3rd run was my favourite even though she dropped a bar....she ran hard but thoughtfully, was driving forward but remained connected. Best idea ever to concentrate on just Jumping classes for a while

I start them on a phone book wrapped in gaffa tape. Maybe start with some free shaping (using a box) to get her to offer different behaviours?

I have a very suitable all purpose bike - thicker tyres as I prefer to stay off the road (too scary ) It's more of an upright position for me which is so much better for my back. We live in the hills so I put Zig in the car, bike on the carrier and head off to the Warburton trail.

I line my dog crates with thick newspaper to counter condensation - crates are indoors but we turn the heating down at night and it can get chilly and damp. You will be able to tell if that is the problem as the newspaper may be damp but the bedding will be dry.

The wonders of technology lol Sounds like a good home on offer :)

I bought a dozen of these for shelter research in the US and I still have access to them....am dying to put one on my Springer for a water retrieve :laugh:

I know Guide Dog puppies don't have the automatic access rights that accredited GD have. Puppy carers ask permission of individual stores etc o

Hi Tiffany Can I suggest you start a new thread in general discussion? Your post may get lost in here! Hope you're keeping well :) Cheers Sally.

Lovely day yesterday so I ventured out with the BB. Unfortunately I seem to be having trouble with the transmitter so it was a lot of lugging for no result. Did some maintenance on it today so it's looking good but need to find a helpful electronics store to work out the problem with recharging... Ended up doing some water handling - asked for quite a bit of effort from the girl so kept it super light and fun. She had a great time but it was cold so I let her run around to warm up. Next thing she was hunting in the reeds, soaked to the skin (head and all!) with teeth chattering. Bloody lunatic :laugh: Rubbed her dry, rugged her up and it was all I could do to convince her it really was time to go home. Agility today :)

Awesome job with your min pin The legs were really pumping and it was a gallop for the little mite the whole way. Appeared to do it with ease too!

Good to see some more interest in the RATG - welcome aussielover......you will have to change your DOL name to retrieverlover....... :D rubyroo - now that is one crazy training session :laugh: How old are Stinger and Rocket now? I can't see the pics at all RV Might be because I'm on a mobile device. Will check back later on the laptop. RS - yeh, it's a tough one and you're no Robinson Crusoe unfortunately. Relax and enjoy RATG - plenty to learn for all of you and you just never know! I've had a bit of a slack week with Em....gave her a day off, did a bit of agility and used her as my demo dog for the Puppy Games class (OT but I have THE cutest mini Schnozz puppy in my class RS!) I took her out yesterday for a brief session on the old heavily treed golf course - decided to keep it light so just set up 3 cold blinds (using yellow jump uprights to mark the spot for me). Lining from my leg was much more confident and whistle sits were snappy. First one was long and the line was kind of in the middle of nowhere - she wanted to follow the tree line so it took a couple of right overs to get her away from that. Took a couple of nice backs to the dummy. Threw a mark to mix things up a bit. Second blind was through the tree line/cover and beyond some fallen timber. Let her have a good run off my leg and she pulled hard right (because of the way I had lined her up but didn't want to hold her too long) so I had to stop and cast left for quite a way. She took that well - stop and cast right back was enough to get her in the area. Third one was a moderate distance and she was rewarded for running off my leg really well to pick this one up without a whistle. I let her have a good gallop as the sun set and called it a day. Today was ET for Ziggy so she's missed out again. She'll be fresh tomorrow