The Spotted Devil

Love the Weatherbeeters! Zig really feels the cold so he sleeps in a soft crate (in our bedroom) with a Snooza D1000 and a big blanket to snuggle in. He is also a fan of central heating He won't snuggle with pup (she gets too hot and is way too annoying!!!) but is not averse to hanging out with Dizzy, the foster failure kitten...

My dog doesn't have breakfast so nothing during the day and very much a quiet, rest day. If it's a day trial, rest day is the day before and he has a lighter dinner than usual (he usually has 4-5 cups dry food for dinner or a couple of chicken frames so I just give him half his dry food ration). I make sure he has lots of exercise in the weeks leading up to the trial . He trials best when he is jumping out of his skin with energy - last night at agility training was a prime example

Ziggy was so over the top at training tonight - he was the best fun I tried to stop baby-ing him and run harder and he really surprised me. I should trust him more He blew me away with his independent weavers...so much so that I completely stuffed the serp into the next jump. Twice A huge night for serps and I really like them but had my arms all mixed up. So guess what we're practicing this week

I enjoyed your geek out Corvus I'm fascinated watching my pup's development - loves toys, chases butterflies and lizards, is retrieving dummies well but sees a bird and WOW! Everything changes in her world. We will have her retrieving birds very soon and I can't wait to see how that affects her training. She is just sensational with the cats too - chasey and wrestling with one willing participant/instigator and (mostly) very self-controlled with the others. And as for retrieving with a non-toy motivated dog, I agree with JulesP. If I can teach a Dally to retrieve with enthusiasm (not repeatedly mind you!) anyone can!

That's a classic :rofl: There's not too many videos on my You Tube site and nothing new since Em's retrieving video.

Awesome news huski

It's cold and wet today and I had a very hyperactive puppy (and a Dalmatian who wanted to snuggle up in his bed ) so I've just come back from a training and socialising tour. Firstly we went to a local sports ground and, with no helper, I decided to try something new. I threw one dummy for her just to get her thinking about retrieving and then I walked out with her and was very obvious about tossing 5 dummies in a pile. She was a bit excited, I gave her the command for blind, and then walked her back to the starting point (only several metres so she could clearly see them). I lined her up at heel, gave the command for blind and sent her and she went straight out and retrieved a dummy. We repeated that until the pile was empty, which Em thought was a great lark. Back into the car and to another sports ground, where we did some heel work, sits and downs (at heel and running free) plus a couple of formal fronts. Then it was off to our vet for a weigh-in and social visit, to the pretty village of Olinda for something different and then a free run at a third park on the way home. Yes, she is finally tired and snuggled up on my feet

I've just taken Em to 3 different parks, the vet (social visit) and 2 small shopping strips. We did retrieving, obedience, free run and meet 'n' greet. Wet and cold weekday and the parks were all deserted

Sensational Perhaps I could nominate my menagerie to run for local council.....a party ticket...

I think I'd get shot if I blind crossed my dog at training I get in trouble for plenty of other things though ;) One thing I always point out to people who are desperate to get their dog going over obstacles is that your dog spends the vast majority of an agility course running between obstacles. Best to get that right first. I'm going to take Little Em to one of our states top competitors for a couple of agility lessons. She's only 6 months but we do all our training off lead. This instructor is very good with youngsters and her dogs, I've been told, don't see a jump until they are 15 months old. Prior to that they are doing handling drills, grid work etc.

What amypie said ;) And again ;)

As others have said, I'm not necessarily "into" puppies, but I love being able to mould, shape and train from 8 weeks. Both my dogs came to me at that age. It took a little time to bond with my Dally because he was such hard work (and I was so stressed about getting it "right" I suspect!) but I just adore him now. Little Em has been a relatively easy pup, despite her very high energy levels, and I bonded with her very quickly. She has slotted into the household like she's always been there but I'm much more relaxed about her than I was with Ziggy. I have cats with very different personalities and it's great to be able to teach pup how to interact with each of them. One of my Burmese girls came to me as an adult (younger Burmese girl's mother) and we bonded with her very quickly. She is a gentle, special soul but rules the house with an iron paw ;) And as to the comment about keeping a door/heart open for the dog or pup that just comes along, the exact thing happened with my foster failure kitten: one eyed tabby boy, food stealer, dog/puppy wrestler, retriever and a complete PITA :rolleyes: There is no doubt that the older my lot get, the more I understand and adore them.

Damn, huski Hope she's back home and on the mend very, very soon!

I feed frames etc frozen, which teaches them to gnaw rather than gulp. Lamb necks (fat cut off) are great too. I also leave pup to eat in peace which means removing one of my cats from the room - he puts his paw through the crate and tries to steal food which makes for an anxious pup if let be.

ABC radio reported this afternoon that the owner surrendered the dogs last night and they were PTS today. The owner is facing charges but they didn't elaborate.

Don't be confused and worried - that just wastes valuable time you could be spending with your pup I did exactly that with Ziggy - it had been a long time since I had competed and he was a very slow to mature as a youngster (physically AND mentally ) so I stuck with obedience and showing until I had a bit more confidence in him and myself. Now, no matter what the breed I will always train multiple disciplines from the start simply because I feel that the sports often complement each other. Many of the skills overlap and I find it takes the pressure off. If you hit a brick wall with one sport you can take a break and come back to it later while you nut out what you're going to do. Just an example, I have trained a nice formal front for Em (suits obedience and retrieving) but when she is zooming around the park I turn my back and recall her to either hand (which contains food), which is an agility skill. I try to incorporate some of the exercises into everyday life. ETA: Relax and enjoy the journey, ons

Agree with ness that dogs learn context. Even though I train at the park for both, Mr TSD is only around for retrieving and he has dummies in his hand etc. At the moment I'm only in the early stages of training so I cue "heel" for position, "sit" for sit and stay (she is already sitting so it emphasises being steady), then "watch" and point my hand in the direction of the retrieve above her head. The thrower calls "hey, hey, hey!" to get pup's attention, throws the dummy and pup is released to retrieve. In a few sessions I've dropped the "sit" and just use "watch" as she's put it all together. In terms of commands, "OK" for my Dally is the release word. At the park, it means run and sniff and do as you please; in obedience, it means relax after an exercise and in agility it's his start line release. I was going to find a new word so as not to confuse him but he's smarter than I am

Done x 2

I wow Sway I hope you don't mind if I copy your photo & holiday voucher idea, I love it, great ideas!!! Go for it, now to find myself a breeder who will do the same for me. Last year I had one stay for 6 weeks and another for 2. I have a few booked in to stay this year already, I love them coming back home again. Last year it took my husband 2 weeks to notice the black bitch walking around was not Sway :D Cr@p that's funny That would happen here too. I'm always sending photos, videos, brags and updates to my breeders - I do warn them when I purchase a pup though

Basically, they need to learn how to learn if that makes sense. I like using a variety of methods when they are puppies - luring, clicker training, shaping (i.e. for a purpose, such as sit), free shaping (e.g. any interaction with an object such as a box), food, toys, praise, pat, voice. You don't want them shutting down when they can't work out what you want them to do - you want them to relax, keep trying and not get too frustrated. They should be offering behaviours with no fear that they will get corrected for trying. When the dogs see me prepare treats, or put my training bag on or pack my trial bag they go ballistic - training/competing = enthusiasm and FUN.

Thanks Vickie She is way too clever for her own good sometimes :D I don't think I had Little Em with me when we met last year. As to returning the item to the throwing person - it's not uncommon because that's where all the fun comes from. However, once the dog is reinforced for returning to the handler (food) and then rewarded with another retrieve (and the thrower ignores them), they work it out very quickly.

Biased much Yo is first in my heart though, so poor pup would have a LOT to live up to That might be her next one :D One day, perhaps

To not steal dishcloths and tea towels from the bench - FAIL!!! I'm training Em for multiple sports so she learns an informal recall, a recall to front and a recall to hand. Ziggy has learnt the same. For heeling she has to look to me for obedience and look forward for retrieving. Obviously agility handling will be different again. One thing I've worked on a lot with Em is the sit stay - she needs to be steady for retrieving and it's also very handy for obedience and agility start lines. I do like the idea of toys and food as rewards but for my Dally, toys are only good when he's very fresh and then they become an aversive. Same with contact/play whilst training but Em just loves it. After training a Dally, the very top of my list is "Find out what makes THIS individual dog tick". Em is a classic - wasn't interested in swimming at all until she saw a real live duck on lake. Now she is unstoppable and we are working on recalls in the water :D This one I'm not really bothered about: Zig will not work for anyone else, not even in the show ring (not 100% sure why) and, although probably handy and good to have, it's not something I'd make a priority. Great list, Vickie

Thanks SG - isn't she hilarious! Little Em does her best to make me look good To be honest, there are so many subtle aspects about the sport of retrieving (not to mention the training!!!) that I am trying to get a handle on - I am definitely a novice handler. I've already picked the video to pieces in terms of my handling

Good question! But I haven't got an answer as friends have stores in their freezers....Em hasn't retrieved a bird yet - can't wait!