dogdayz

Have sent PM

So sorry

Gone are the days when we have to persuade Nat to turn up at Lure Coursing

Did you get my email?

have done so

well it backfired if that was her plan - i have stayed home to try and be there at the vital moments.

Shame she doesnt learn to clean up the mess Beck creates after such a binge - she has watched me enough today. Bear in mind he is currently crate/kitchen confined, has a digestive problem which means he cannot digest food without being given tablets, and he cannot digest dry food hardly at all - my floor has been subjected to an onslaught of bleach, i have two airfreshner plug ins going in there.

she learns by observation, doors, gate latches etc. This is the second occasion after the first i put a kiddy lock thing on the door, unfortunately they dont expect small children to use their teeth, when designing them.

will definitely be there for january as my two have finally started to grasp the concept

any places left?

i will be there with one or other dog. Hey YB can you teach skye NOT to open cupboards and allow Beck to self feed, he has rather sore tummy this morning

I sympathise, heidi, sometimes it has felt like my weim boy will never be healthy but we are getting there with the help of an excellent vet. From everything you have listed my opinion would be be patient a little longer, the vaginal problems appear to have started way back in august - fighting that for so long has probably had an impact on her whole immune system and maybe relates to the allergy and ear infections. My boy also got the lump near his vaccination site - it went slowly over about 8 weeks without treatment.

Probably not sunday - Beck is confined to a crate and Skye hates classes. Actually i may bring Skye not Beck to classes as i am restarting her from basics. Thers a challenge for you - every trainer has ended up not knowing whether to laugh or cry when trying to get her to work any discipline.

Count me in YB

As figure of eight is not done until advanced green, i guess only the novice class will do the new exercises. Think the retrieve will introduce a few issues of dogs running off with dumbbell Am going to start work on it with Alison, as Beck does not have much retrieving instinct.

Hi YB - just reading all this, and have no idea what has gone on. But for my view you are one of the most generous people with your time and advice i have met around the dog world - dont change a thing. As for being interested in high scores - what is wrong with aiming for excellence - Connor has the ability you would be selling him short if you did not. My one visit to an obedience trial was an eye opener - the scene needs more people like you.

Sounds like a good idea - might let people identify the faces who compete too.

My weim is allergic to chicken - note that this can include egg, so if you buy any pre-prepared foods look out for egg in them. Honestly its near impossible to avoid chicken/egg in commercial foods we had to switch to fully homemade to avoid them. Best of luck - the full elimination diet is daunting at first but worthwhile being very strict about it, to really know the allergies.

Not sure when Beck will be back out - leg injury of some sort. This was the second person to tell me the signal is unacceptable -the firat a few weeks ago in the practice ring, so i think its a widely held club belief - my dogs will probably never get out of white advance because we dont do a correct recall. ;) I know my signal is fine, i checked with another person (no name here but you know who) who has plenty of competition and judging experience, when it was first raised. Just gets frustrating when you are being told you are doing it wrong when you know you arent. May see you in a couple of weeks if i drag Skye around, though would like the advice with her, ready to try anything to raise her enthusiasm level.

Saw that... dont think Beck would enjoy all that ear pulling At least you hang around and talk to people if they ask questions.At the comp the other week, i got told that Beck isnt completely beyond hope and it would be worth continuing a while longer...and again got told in competition you must do the hands above head recall, anything else is a fail..this is were involvement frorm those that really know and compete would be helpful.

but the real trainer does not participate in the class activities any more than yourself - i think thats where it all falls down really that people who compete dont involve themselves with the rest more often than not. ill probably be viewed with suspicion myself these days - someone was not impressed i have another dog who does activites but never attends club. Similalry i dont report any acheivements to the club, as thus far they have been in activites outside of their training.

and Hastings?

My collie is a product of this system - admittedly her independent streak was always there, but the boredom/lack of incentive from her original dog school was in my opinion a big issue. I still see many of the dogs at school just going through the motions, no tail wagging and often slow responses which are from lack of attention rather than distraction (i differentiate the two). Things are changing slowly and i think that is largely due to a few people attending who do competitive obedience etc being more involved. Just a thought, but i cannot remember at any time in the last three years of attending a dog school (albeit intermittently of late) that anyone taught how to get and keep attention, that is something i have only learned outside of the school from variouus people who work with us in different disciplines. Rather it has all been about forcing compliance.

Erny - Tess is right toys are often not allowed, more so than food. To an extent i can see a squeaky can distract other dogs - but so can a million other things at dog clubs. On the otherhand i think if a dog can ignore a toy in someone elses hands then great its less likely to grab one off a child on the beach. I often have problems with unsupervised kids offering food and toys to 'Lassie' just to snatch it back at the last minute. Food is my dogs greatest motivator but she gets way too excited to concentrate and work for it - once she understands an exercise she tries to short cut e.g. bite the clicker to make it click, putting herself in the sheep pen without the sheep or jumping in the air to sight a tracklayer instead of following the scent She does fortunately value toys, she has always loved her private playtime with me away from other dogs, so hopefully this will work - i have 18 months to get her ready for the collie nationals which will likely be her only venture into the obedience ring (how do i get talked into these things ;) ). Just glad my weim is less capable of independent thought processes.

i noticed that