The Spotted Devil

mollipop - some obedience and a retrieving drill on Em's video. I'm having so much fun with her! I hope you enjoy it FHRP - struggling to see the pics too - is there another link? I love camping with the dogs but I have a good set up (Oztent, heater etc) - I am soft, though - site must be powered at the very least and the last few times we've had an ensuite site as well which is the ONLY way to camp

Good luck to everyone trialling this weekend Came down with a migraine on Wednesday morning so dogs are going stark raving mad with lack of activity If I make it to our agility trial tomorrow our runs could be VERY interesting indeed wuffles - great to hear about the dumbbell....remember take it slow and steady!

I just love her - I'm so glad you all do too She's soft and sweet at the same time as being super enthusiastic and her tail never stops wagging!!! That's the first video we've taken of her heeling for ages so it was really good to see what I need to work on (for both of us ;) )

I posted a training video of Em in "her" thread and also had some fun with Ziggy in the same session - lots of fun and laughter with the class clown

Nik that's sensational - might need to build a new wall for all Annie's prizes Well done to everyone else on the weekend - may there be many more great results!

Norty

The Divine Miss Em is back ;) She's just turned one, we survived her first season and now we're back into training! Here's a snapshot of our training today - a bit of heeling, a bit of tug (which I said I'd never do ) and a single T drill to finish off with some handling. Lots more work to do before we enter our first obedience and retrieving trials but I'm in no hurry. Oh, and she's having a great time learning the skills of agility too! Turn the sound up and please enjoy our Little Em

If your dog is prone to destroying things I can highly recommend the Snooza D1000. My Dally has had one for 4 years and my young Springer has had hers since she came home. Not a mark on either of them I think they will last forever!!!

Thank goodness. I will raise a glass for you all tonight :D

Have a chat to your local retrieving club too as they are used to tie out dogs in the hide. I bought mine locally from a retrieving competitor.

Congratulations on your new puppy mason_gibbs :D There are so many ways you can train. Personally, with a high energy youngster I head down the path of self-control, with emphasis on making it the puppy's choice. I don't supress over the top behaviour (because it's a wonderful tool to train with!) but I allow the dog to learn how to earn the rewards with as little interference from me. So far I have found it to work very well - from a rock solid steady dog for retrieving (the ultimate reward!!!) to the beginnings of start line stays for agility to formal recalls and stays for obedience. I've never trained Em on lead either so it really does become her choice - however, I do set her up to succeed. I did have to restrain her slightly when she first started retrieving birdies though as she was off her tree with excitement and I wanted to capture that as it's a huge step up from dummies. I think Susan Garrett encapsulates some of the approaches I use but I don't take it to her extreme. I'm not a purist. If it works it works. That way I don't end up suffering from paralysis by analysis ;) One thing I really focus on is very specific "pictures" for the dog when they are training - it enables me to train for multiple disciplines simultaneously and without confusion. So far anyway ETA: Em doesn't have meal time technically - she receives food for training, gets a couple of Kongs of dry food in her crate when I go out. If necessary I'll give her another couple of Kongs in the evening but it doesn't take much to do some high reward training inside and go through half a cup of dry food. She ate out of a bowl for her first week whilst she settled in and during teething when I softened the food. Even Zig still has much of his food through training and rest in a Buster Cube. He only eats out of a bowl when we are away from home or on the odd occasion he's had an upset stomach.

We did another session of flat work today - dogs did great. I'm exhausted Both sides, inside, outside, accel, decel and front crosses. Will try a few things with a jump or 2 tomorrow. Or when I recover - lol - my back is not amused!!!! aussielover - I use food as rewards. It is much more valuable than tugging for Ziggy although I have transferred quite a lot of value to tug and use it in some situations. Much of it is in the timing and the choice of treats (eg if you are throwing food, cheese cubes are much better than anything else that crumbles or is hard to see). I can make a cheese cube last at least a minute by dividing it into 20 tiny pieces. Sometimes I release him to sprint to a bait plate which is HIGHLY rewarding. Soft food (4 legs) is great for fast delivery. I teach weaving with food as well. My youngster won't be tugging initially either - I'm a bit precious about her beautiful soft mouth for retrieving. Whilst I'm pretty sure she would understand the difference I'm not prepared to risk it.

wuffles - do you train duration as a separate exercise? That can really help. Also, since Zig and I have been running in agility trials his enthusiasm about obedience training/trialling has sky rocketed. A couple of reasons that I think this has happened....in agility he might do up to 8 runs a day, which is a lot of pressure and a very long day so he is more mentally fit and experienced; the agility ring is high adrenaline and he seems to take the same excitement into the obedience ring; I've been concentrating on swapping between tug and food and improving his confidence plus he does some prancing heel work before he enters the agility ring; and his physical fitness is much higher. Anyway, just a few of my thoughts as I'm not an experienced trialler.

I would also make the delivery of food more unpredictable. So, very short heel pattern, include a stand stay or SFE, return and reward like crazy. Then do a recall, return, short heel pattern, reward. I generally don't practice exercises in order as Zig will anticipate and I don't to kill off his hard earned enthusiasm by giving a NRM. I can't remember the last time I have followed a recall with a finish but the 'picture' is the same so they are perfect in trials. That's just me anyway. Hide the food as well so there is no visual cue.

Oh my isn't he gorgeous!!! And those legs Reminds me of myself as a tall unco teen :D

That's great buddy1 - well done Dogs don't tend to be great at generalising so a change in venue can really turn everything on it's head!!! I had a private agility lesson today.....Ziggy has been doing big wide turns in trials, costing us a lot of time and I was pretty confident that it was my fault. It turns out we have a whole new problem to deal with which is actually a great problem to have In the beginning I was "racing" Zig around the course to build his motivation as he can be a bit of a velcro dog. In the meantime I've been increasing his value for tug and toys as well as working on sending him forward and lots of confidence building. He's now put on that much speed and forward movement that I need to start indicating acceleration and decceleration (especially) more clearly and earlier as well as getting my shoulders pointing in the right direction. So lots more shadow handling practice this week and we'll see what happens at next weekend's trial :D Em also did some shadow handling and start line stays - A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E. is the conclusion both my instructor and I came to ;)

I had a private agility lesson this morning and Zig pounced on an old manky tennis ball that was lying around. I was going to reward with food for the training session but switched to the tennis ball and got some amazing enthusiasm. No idea if it's right or wrong but it bloody worked

Good on you Michelleva I just had a private agility lesson in what was, at times, POURING rain. Had a great time with both dogs though and can't really complain as I just arrived home and it started hailing

I'm pretty sure you could go flying in one of those at KCC. Mary Poppins style

Kavik, that is why I started by hiding the tug in my training bag - if he didn't make an effort to grab it I didn't shove it in his face and just used food that session. Looking back I'm astounded at how feral he can be with the tug now Last night at training I tugged before each agility run and rewarded with food at the end ie dropping the intermediate step of food before the start line. Might even try it at our next trial.

JoeK, I don't think it's very helpful for the OP to say "get a high prey, good nerve" dog. If you're talking about Schutzhund or military/police dogs - sure. But we're not. The OP is looking for ways to channel her pet dog's energy into something constructive. For the record I LOVE training and trialling my Dalmatian (in case anyone didn't know that already ;) ) - it is a joy to have him flying around the agility course or prancing at my side like a gangly colt. He drives like an old Jag - elegant and stylish but a little rough in the steering not to mention the L-plate driver on board. I also LOVE handling my young Springer and my friend's working Labs. It's like switching between a racing Mini Minor and a bloody great Mac Truck. Variety is the spice of life you know!

Well, someone let me know when they start breeding working line Dalmatians.....

Thats how the nerve is lost in the breed, disguise weak nerve in the training then breed the dog and make some more weak nerve so before long the bloodline is no good is what happens on the Shepherd Dogs,the Rottweiler and Dobermann. If you wanting to waste valuable training time getting the wrong dogs over problems the good dogs dont be suffering with is ok if you are liking to do that, but getting the right dog from proven lines makes training much more fun is my opninion. Joe Sure. But we're not necessarily talking about breeding stock. We're talking about owners of dogs that are primarily pets getting the best out of themselves and their companion whilst having the maximum amount of fun. Otherwise we'd all have high drive working Border Collies and Kelpies doing agility...I love watching these dogs run but they are not for me. I chose a non-traditional obedience/agility breed as a challenge. He has taught me more than any book, DVD or person and has made me a better trainer. I was better prepared for my working ESS but again, I didn't get the traditional (working Lab) retrieving dog. I really enjoy handling the working line Labs but I like living with a Springer.

dandybrush - and that is where tugging is great. Revs the dog up before you enter the ring and gets them focussed on you - if they can do that with other dogs standing around it's very useful. Doesn't matter if there is a pretty lady dog trying to catch his eye or a grumpy boy dog trying to pick a fight. Plus, once I enter the ring I give 100% focus to what my dog is doing and maintain that connection with him until we exit the ring - training habits are really important in this respect too. I never mentally turn my back on my dog in training or competition - lead goes on and release the dog verbally to relax whilst I get feedback from instructors, stock up on treats etc. I also use peeing as a reward after an agility/obedience round

Also make sure you are running at the right pace for the dog - outside of the show ring I've noticed that dogs run too slowly will pace as it's more efficient but up the speed slightly and it pushes them straight into a trot. I imagine a courtesy turn refers to a tight about turn used to get a dog's attention before you take off.