Sayreovi

I don't think they are worth it if you already have access to well behaved adult dogs (not your own) for the pup to socialise. My last pup I took to classes but she spent 99% of the time ignoring the other dogs even when it was one on one, instead spent all her time sitting and focusing on me, and I didn't agree with what the lady was saying (never feed raw bones, about toilet training and training in general) So for me it was a waste of time and money, next pup I won't be doing it. That said I think they are a great idea if you find a really good one and don't have any set ideas of how you want to raise the pup or wanted someone to bounce ideas.

Sorry to hear about your class Megan, I think they really need to do something about it especially that room in regards to reactive dogs and stupid owners. You wouldn't need to do any more obedience classes now though which is good! If you want to continue you can get assessed to see what level you go into, I did that with my girl as I didn't want to deal with people letting their big dog rush into my girls space in the lower classes. I am happy to have a word to someone about it if you don't want to?

He is adorable!

With my three it's gotten quicker and quicker! My old boy Nova was a pain in the butt growing up and it took me awhile to really fall in love with him, he is 10 now and is just an amazing boy. The problem was we just clashed, he was stubborn as hell and really intelligent so kept pushing buttons :laugh: My next boy I met when he was 6 weeks and I thought he was an adorable puppy, when I picked him up over the course of a week I had a closer relationship with him than I had with Nova. He is very sweet, gentle and a sook! Lastly was Jovi, my little girl, I think I fell in love the moment her breeder sent me day old photos I met her at 8 weeks and we just clicked, she is one of those heart dogs. I adore her and I like to think she feels the same and everyone does comment on how attached/focused she is on me.

Totally agree with the contacts! We went through this recently as she is a massive contact suck! I had to stop rewarding her contacts so much and start rewarding 'basic' obstacles like jumps and tunnels so not one object has such high value. It's working as I managed (with some fancy foot work too) a tunnel/aframe discrimination (yup in Novice!) at her last trial. Weavers are also a work in progress at trials, at training she is 100% spot on, nails her entries, under distractions, at speed. At trials she is just distracted going into the weavers and appears not to even be looking for them even though she is focused during everything else. I am not worried as it is something that will come in time so I just keep practicing and it will happen soon. I think maybe just trial her in jumping for awhile rather than both and continue with her training. Having a 'baby' green dog as well sometimes they do stuff at trials that is really random and things they don't do at training. Different environment etc etc She will get there :) Can't help with knocking bars, out of 4 trials my girl has only knocked one bar and that was after she came powering out a tunnel and took a corner too hard and misjudged it. It was funny seeing her WTF expression on her face when she heard it come down, poor girl probably didn't realise if you hit them they move! :laugh:

Another recommendation for Structure in Action. I always refer back to it so it's a very useful book to have, as there is no point having drive in a dog if it falls apart. It details why certain structural features are desired as well as unwanted in a sport dog. Basically you want a dog that is balanced and natural (I recall you are looking at Kelpies?)

Thanks for that! Can't buy at the moment otherwise would have snapped that trailer up, will keep my eye out ebay :D

Sorry no help from me, but I will be watching this with interest! I am yet to enter any of the games as I haven't had much of a chance to watch them being done so still find all of them confusing!

Thanks for the link! I also prefer having the dogs in the car rather than in a dog trailer, so would be buying a trailer for all my stuff for when I go for weekends away. These look like a great option and suitable for what I want! Did you email for the price or is it somewhere on their website that I can't find? I am curious to know what a 4x4 would be....

She is beautiful!!

Not really, you're best bet would be Horshams dog club and hope they do agility. There would be nothing in Nhill or Kaniva. Maybe once or twice a month make the trip to Adelaide to go to their agility clubs? Haha talking about these towns makes me a little homesick! I was born in Bordertown, my mum was born and raised in Kaniva and most still live there and my dad was Bordertown born and raised and all still live there :laugh:

Go Strauss, Cider and Beans!! Excellent day by the sounds of it!

Ohh come to Frankston! Our flyball team is great, everyone is really nice and I would love to see a WSS doing flyball! Beginners start at 11 and apart from having a good recall there is no formal level required :) I've been told flyball at Croydon is very hard to get into and it's that reason why (and politics, what else?) it's dwindled down to very few people when they were once the biggest club in Victoria.

Yay! Jovi got her JD title today with a 2nd place! We also got a 3rd place NQ in agility after an amazing run but silly handler didn't make sure she was committed to the tunnel before rear crossing and she stopped and didn't really know what I expected so got faulted bugger it. :laugh: She did do a beautiful call off from an Aframe into a tunnel which was right next to it and she is a massive contact suck so I was thilled with that, and later on allowed me to do a rear cross without turning around or questioning what I was doing! She maintained a nice speed all day, and in her first couple of runs she had on her crazy face where she looked like any second she was about to go zooming around :laugh:

No it wasn't. It's interesting as I don't think people really understand the amount of work it takes to train a dog properly and safely, we started off with 10 people and now only have about 5 a week. Maybe they thought that they would be on equipment quicker? (it was months before we went on contacts and only did up to 5 other obstacles at a time) Frankston is similar with their foundation but it's obviously shorter!

Interesting, thanks for that!

Just posting this in here in case people don't check OT I have for sale the TACT dvd, "training program for dogs that are fearful or reactive towards people" http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=2979&ParentCat=685 I've only watched the first dvd so it's in new condition otherwise. Asking $50 plus postage, please PM if interested as I don't check in here frequently.

Actually there are 5 agility dedicated clubs in Victoria - BAD (at Bulla) train on a Monday night at Bulla's Dogs Victoria grounds. There is also Mitchell Agility Dogs but I think they train on Sundays at Wandong so probably not suitable. (But I believe currently the only agility club with no waiting list) Oops sorry, I knew about BAD but for some reason it didn't click when typing and I've never heard of Mitchell agility dogs so learnt something new!

Starts 8/9, next week there is no training as everyone is at the state trial :) Thanks a lot! WIll look into that too, sounds perfect. Thank you! Hope to see you there (well if my girl isn't in season :p) I am the only one with Tollers, the foundation is actually very good and the trainers know their stuff :) It compliments Action dogs very well I've found. Croydon would be the same I think, but I've never been so can't comment personally. You can't go wrong with Geraldine, she is one of the states top triallers/trainers :) I had been on the wait list for K9 for years......there is a real need for more agility clubs down here

Starts 8/9, next week there is no training as everyone is at the state trial :)

I will do the ones I know :) Agility AD - Agility dog 3 passes ADX - Agility dog excellent 5 passes ADM - Agility dog master 7 passes ADO - Agility dog open 5 passes (has a distance exercise) Jumping JD - Jumping dog 3 passes JDX - Jumping dog excellent 5 passes JDM - Jumping dog master 7 passes JDO - Jumping dog open 5 passes (has a distance exercise) AG.CH - Agility champ (old version) AG. CH 400 - Agility champ 400, the 400 is the height of jump so there is 200, 300, 400, 500 and 600 titles (new version) Obedience CCD - Community companion dog CD - Companion dog CDX - Companion dog excellent UD - Utility dog UDX - Utility dog excellent O.Ch - Obedience champion Gr. O Ch - Grand obedience champion Rally RN - Rally novice RA - Rally advance RE - Rally excellent RAE - Rally advance excellent Flyball FD - flyball dog - 5 points FDX - Flyball dog excellent - 20 points FDCH - flyball dog champion - 50 points AFCH - australian flyball champion - 150 points FM - flyball master - 400 points FMX - flyball master excellent - 700 points FMCH - flyball master champion - 1000 points Onyx - onyx - 1300 points FDGCH - flyball dog grand champ - 2000 points Jeddah - jeddah - 3000 points Ezri - ezri - 4000 points Endurance test ET - Endurance test Showing Aust Ch or just Ch is Australian champion Aust Gr Ch - Australian grand champ Sup - supreme champion Tracking TD - Tracking dog TDX - Tracking dog excellent T Ch - Tracking champion (There is now a few new titles for track and search, I don't know those) Retrieving ability NRA - Novice retrieving ability ORA - open retrieving ability Hope that helps a bit, there is still alot of titles/sports I haven't listed like, retrieving/field trials, dancing with dogs, herding, earthdog, ADAA agility titles and a few others :)

There are three agility dedicated clubs in Victoria that train on a weekday. Action Dogs (Doveton) - Wednesday nights, just had an intake for foundation so won't be another one till next year. K9 Agility (KCC) - Thursday nights, closed wait list. Agility Dog Club of Vic (Altona) - Friday nights, don't know what their wait list is like :) There is also a few people who do private lessons or you can just book to use their equipment. I've been out to Awesome Paws in Cranbourne ran by Geraldine, it's $20 an hour for either a lesson or do it yourself. Being new to agility though I definately recommend doing a foundation class rather than just winging it and hoping for the best :D Other than that, the only other place is another club that does a foundation/beginner class without being so strict on the level of obedience. Where abouts are you?

I've had alot of people comment on my boys age, though I have the opposite problem, no one can guess his age because he still acts (and looks) like a moronic puppy most of the time and he turns 10 in October!! It's only been recently that I've noticed him going white around the muzzle so it was a bit of a shock seeing it

This one! It is such an interesting read and I always go back to it to try and further my knowledge and strengthen my 'eye' :)

Nova: Actually do a tracking trial!! Do more shows for his neuter title, there aren't enough shows for his title next year! Haven't gotten around to a tracking trial but he is only about 30 points from his neuter title, won't get that till next year due to extremely limited local shows offering it! Darcy: ADX JDX FM CD None of these are likely this year He got another pass in agility but that was it, and only has 250 points of the 400 point flyball master title. Next year :p Jovi: ADX JDX AFCH CD CH If we have time do a little bit of retrieving training Again none of these but working towards most :D Agility - debuted recently and has 2 JD passes so far after two trials :) Should get them, as all her other runs have all been one fault (by handler! ) Flyball - Surpassed all my expectations and is a National champ :D, has had 4 comps and was first place in all, pretty sure she has her AFCH now. Missing one comps points and only needed about 30 to get it so should be OK. If not still extremely happy with that and will get by the end of the year! Obedience - Had a couple of trials but need to work on her heeling in trial conditions, full marks in everything else though. Showing - 10 points off her championship, need to enter a couple of shows to get them, will have by the end of the year. Retrieving - Did a RATG, bit too hard for her given she hasn't been trained to a very difficult level yet. Will focus on it more next year as showing and flyball become less of a priority. Me: Stop procrastinating and do some trialling! Don't be so nervous Did pretty well for me, I entered a fair few things :) Was pretty good trialling Jovi and Darcy in everything bar obedience......obedience trials freak me out and I don't know why!