The Spotted Devil

Fantastic! Great result - well done!!!

Sounds like a great weekend rubyroo and mollipop - thanks for posting your results. It's great to hear - well done

Yeah!! Even if you have to hear "great border collie!" a million times I was only telling LP just yesterday how beautifully her young tri-coloured Border Collie was working. Luckily she knows how much I enjoy stirring her up ;) some people are just so rude!! hehe - All I have to do is spell Dalmation wrong and that would send you into a flying rage.... (maybe....) :D Geez, you know how to push my buttons Although, according to a post I just read, a Springer looks just like a liver and white Border Collie

Yeah!! Even if you have to hear "great border collie!" a million times I was only telling LP just yesterday how beautifully her young tri-coloured Border Collie was working. Luckily she knows how much I enjoy stirring her up

Well done TN and Jedi - think you spend more time in the Training forum so a brag here is totally appropriate And wuffles :D Great start to Ava's trialling career!!!!

Well done RS! Confidence is SO important - in themselves and in you. Ziggy has taught me so much about that - when he is confident and understands his job he just floats on cloud 9. Keep distances small, only do a few retrieves at a time, let them have LOTS of wins and then relaxing cuddles in between I think the problem with retrieving is that it LOOKS easy - how many people tell you that their dog will retrieve all day!!! It's not until you really get into the training (or get to compete!) that you start to understand the mental and physical demands on the dog and the subtleties of the sport. GR - no they are not a breed for the faint hearted Quickasyoucan - I would shape the present with a clicker....google Shirly Chong clicker training. I also teach a really nice sit to "front" separately with clicker and food. Maintain your criteria and don't throw the ball unless he presents to front!

Oh, by the way, I did tell you they were completely nuts didn't I?

Best of luck for tomorrow! Terrific work

Nope! Nothing cute has been through this household...

Thanks Luke Hugs to Barkly - looking forward to seeing him back at training soon! Occasionally we manage to find it Lablover and I have just been dissecting the video too which is really helpful

I'd dropped him back to 2-3 cups a night but since Em has arrived I've had to up it again!

Hey, thanks Cos. We are both are a work in progress LOTS of trial and error to be honest. When he was going through the terrible teenager stage (which lasted from about 9 to 18 months) I started feeding all his food to him in training at home plus used great treats outside home. Definitely a little tough love there! I also cottoned on to his love of sniffing and marking so used that as a reward for training - started off with a few seconds focus, reinforce with food and release. He actually needs quite a bit of food to keep in good condition so he now gets 4-5 cups of Artemis dry in a treat ball/puzzle cube or a couple of frozen chicken frames for dinner. I train him with a variety of really good treats outside home in addition to that. The night before a trial (or occasionally before a training session e.g. in warmer weather) I'll just give him 2.5 cups of dry food.

Another bump, but this time for a quick of Ziggy and I training for obedience. This session was much more about me getting my footwork right and my shoulders relaxed than anything. I was also pleased with his recall as, after doing one formal drop on recall ever, he has started pre-empting me already! I was working Zig in shifts with Em (her video is in her retrieving thread) and it is like chalk and cheese I'm getting a little better at switching between 2 very different dogs but it is a work in progress. I switched off the background noise in the video as all you can hear is Em barking in the car in disgust at missing out On the upside, you can also hear Ziggy whining in impatience in Em's video, which is a great sign for him.

thanks. When/how did you introduce your release word? Sorry for asking the dumb questions, I just like to know the entire exercise and break it down before I start. I don't think they are dumb questions at all! I use the release word a lot - it's always part of everything I teach at every stage as I don't like my dogs to choose when to switch off. And my Dally likes to switch off

I'll leave it to the experts to say what you should do but I do a nose target on the floor - it's easier to get a weight shift forward and define the criteria i.e. 2 back paws on the plank, 2 front paws on the ground and nose to the ground. I only clicked to get strong/multiple nose touches (hand initially, then target in hand and then target on ground). Once he started offering the nose touch in position I reinforced in position - then also called off to a handling skill and rewarded. Some dogs get stuck on the contacts because they are so heavily rewarded.

She really is a doll - a little like The Nutcracker but a doll nonetheless!!!

Not a silly question at all. Spaniels in an Australian Field Trial are expected to hunt, flush and retrieve. I guess if I didn't do any training, Em would naturally hunt and chase (she is VERY birdy ) - but in competition, they must hunt close to the handler, flush immediately and then hold steady until sent to retrieve. So instinct is all well and good but training is essential. I don't know much about Welshies to be honest. Always enjoying a challenge, I decided to take on the wonderful Labs at their own game

Necessary? No. Useful? Maybe It can and is done, but not often. Sometimes it is advantageous to be able to heel and send your dog from your right, due to location of cover, best view etc. but I have seen it very rarely. With a smaller breed like the Working ESS it may be more useful where clumps of grass may hamper their view more than the larger breeds. Maybe it's done more commonly in other states? Agreed. You are unlikely to need it in Novice and perhaps it might come in handy in Restricted. However I think it would be useful in All Age where you might have a couple of very tight marks that have to be collected in order. I've seen some very tough runs in AA!!! Plus, I can't resist a challenge and it makes for a balanced dog for other sports such as agility.

A few answers for you... 1. You didn't see all the footage on the cutting room floor of me trying to get her straight on the right 2. Only because there are no trees GR is essentially correct but I suspect you may have to think a little laterally with an older dog with so much prior learning - a little like going from obedience to agility. For now I wouldn't worry about which way Ruby is turning - she will likely have a strong side and a weak side - let her gain some confidence on her strong side first. Have another look at the hand signal - hold your hands in close to your chest and your hand goes straight up so your arm touches your ear, NOT coming out in front like a salute or a drop signal. Perhaps stand in front of a mirror and make sure you can distinguish clearly between what both signals feel like first. I would get her REALLY razzed up about the dummy first before you try it. Stand quite close to her, toss the dummy over her head (nothing wrong if she turns her head or body to look), straighten her up again, I give a "good" for looking at me nice and square, then you might need to give her release/retrieve word THEN say "back" - keep your voice high pitched and really light (you can hear me say it on the 2 o'clock retrieve) - don't bark BACK! as the tone of voice can make them uncertain. Once she has the hang of back on one side, work on her other side as well. I walked right up to Em, placed a hand gently on her strong side to prevent her from turning and gave her an exaggerated back signal (leaning body out) with the other arm. As soon as she started to get it (watch the hip and shoulder start to drop as she anticipates) I started to refine the body signal. I also made it easy for her - 2 right backs, play time and cuddles and then do 2 left backs (I tend to still stand a little closer for these). She is getting that pattern now so I am mixing it up a little. When you toss the dummies, you can throw so they are just over the right or left shoulder so they turn their head that way. Still straighten up before you send though - otherwise you develop bad habits.

Enough get up and go for your needs huski?

so true LL when asked which pups they are keeping, sheepdog people often respond "whichever ones are left" LL's response when I asked how to pick my ESS pup? "As long as it doesn't have 2 heads or 5 legs you'll be fine"

I thought it time for an update and, at 7 months of age, I can see huge changes in the confidence level of this little pup. In , we are working on sighted blinds (in a real retrieving trial she won't know where the birds are but I will know), sending from my left and right and taking direction....stop, back (left and right) and over.By special request from RubyStar I've included how I've introduced the direction work - thanks to Lablover for all the suggestions and guidance You will notice that she now turns correctly for right and left back, although left back didn't come as easily to begin with. The video shows her doing a right over at one point - you will see her hesitate a little as that is only her 2nd time ever so the command is foreign but the instinct is there and I'm sure she'll soon be taking that direction smoothly. If I look very serious, it's only because I'm trying my hardest to get my body language right and not to stuff her up So sit back, turn up the volume and enjoy some ESS puppy madness

Bumping this up as I now have an added dilemma! For retrieving I am now teaching heel on both sides, a retrieve from both sides and thus a flip finish to both sides - Em is finding this to be quite a lark. However, I need to be able to differentiate between a flip finish to the right and a finish around the back ending up in the traditional left side heel position. I am teaching "heel" and "close" but I think a clear hand signal is essential.

But dont most non shedding breeds require more rather than less grooming? Exactly! I guess that's my point about unrealistic expectations.

It took me 12 months to shape my Dalmatian to retrieve the dumbbell.......seems even more bizarre now that I'm training a dog for retrieving trial