whatevah

Sorry Moses will not be running as his handler is walking around like an old woman after surgery. Got an email from the club to tell me that there is flyball training on friday. LOL I might come and have a look without the dogs, but have to be very careful that no dogs jump on me, would have to wear a space suit!!!! LOL

Kintala club train off lead from the very begging. Dogs are socialised and handlers are encouraged to call their dogs out of from socialisation, reward and then let the dogs socialise again. The pups are then taken for a one on one session with the instucter and handler and the pup is taught off lead.

Pick Pocket Dog Trick Equipment: clicker, treats (chicken chunkers from Coles work great, cheese, liver etc), tea towel (I use a red one), another person who is not scared of dogs, and is wearing clothing that has a pocket. Step 1 go to http://www.shirleychong.com/keepers/retrieve.html and follow steps 1 to 17, take your time and don't rush the dog, make sure you meet the criteria for a step before moving to the next step. Instead of a dumbell you are going to use a tea towel that has a simple granny knot near the end. This makes it easier for the dog to grab hold. Step 2 Get the towel and place it on the ground, send the dog out to retrieve it. Use the word "Achoo", then say "Fetch". We are teaching the dog a new cue word, which we do by saying the new word then the old word. Gradually phase out the fetch word, so you are simply saying "achoo". Start with the towel a short distance away, and inside away from distractions. Step 3 Now put the towel slightly off the ground, on a low table, or a chair. We are teaching the dog that the towel is not always going to be on the ground. Practice in different areas. Step 4 Now put the towel on the ground in front of your helper. Your helper should stand still and not say or do anything. We want the dog to concentrate on the task at hand. Step 5 Get the helper to place the towel in their pocket, so that it is easy for the dog to take it out. The towel will be hanging way down with the knot near the floor. Step 6 Gradually tuck the towel further and further into the pocket, so just a little bit is sticking out. Step 7 Delivery, I don't like the dog to sit in front and hold as looks too formal. So I throw the towel on the ground, when the dog comes back, I pat my stomach and say "up" as he already knows to jump up. So the dog fetches the towel and jumps up on me and puts it right in my hand. You may need to teach your dog the up command. Which is simply encouraging the dog to jump up on you and click and treat when he does, you would do this separate to the retrieving though and then put it all together. Advanced For a demo, you would choose a volunteer from the audience, send the dog out to them to get the towel, and then when the dog returns with the towel, you would put it up to your face and pretend to blow your nose. Also practice with different people and different distances. You could also down size and use a hanky instead, or a tissue. You could even put the tissue in a tissue box For a video of this trick go here http://www.youtube.com/?v=tAioZcDLzjI To see photos of this trick go here http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=56502 you can then click to enlarge the photos. [/font]

Moses knows the following words: 1. Moses 2. Right 3. Here 4. Come 5. Sit 6. Stay 7. Wait 8. Heel 9. Find it 10. Toilet 11. Go for a swim 12. Bring it here 13. Fetch 14. Tuggy Tuggy 15. Ready 16. Set 17. Go 18. Dump 19. High Ten 20. Paw 21. Punch 22. Over 23. Find "Juli" 24. Fetch 25. Weave 26. A Frame 27. Tunnel 28. Dog walk 29. Spin 30. Back 31. Turn 32. Ball 33. Get it 34. Drop 35. Stand 36. Give 37. Off 38. Leave it 39. Door 40. Drawer 41. Open 42. Through 43. Beg 44. High 45. Aye 46. Touch 47. Nuh 48. Yes 49. Bow 50. Crawl 51. Nothing for you and I cannot think of anymore at the moment. Great article.

It was funny, I had my husband taking Josh in and I took Moses in. Or rather the dogs took us in. Then the lady yells out, have your dogs done this before. LOL They were actually reversing the lure and hiding it under the tunnels for my dogs to keep them guessing, which was a little hard on Josh, as he stood in the middle like a stunned mullet, his not that good when the pressure is on, trying to sort out problems. But there was no fooling Moses. At the end of his run he was running into the blue tunnels and moving with them on his back. I made a couple of suggestion such as a small drinking bucket, and some paddle pools for the dogs when they are finished. Like they do at flyball.

I will be coming to lure coursing with both of my dogs, they love it.

There is no way I would run my dogs in that heat. I wouldn't be surprised if they called it off. I don't do flyball comps in the summer months. Retrievers have double coats, and I see them slowing down so I know it is too hot for them. I don't run my dogs if temperature is over 25 C. My dogs health comes first. A lot of clubs won't train if the temperature forecast is 30 C or more. My dogs do love running in the cold and the wet, they have webbed feat after all.

Did you know there is a new sub forum called DOL events, should move this thread there, then it won't get lost as it comes closer to the date.

My flatcoated retriever does this, I found that raising my hand so it was closer to his nose worked a bit better, and when he found he only had to nose my finger, he picked up on it. Your dog could be trying too hard.

1st Question. My flatcoated retriever does flying leaps into the water. I always check the water depth before letting him do this. Was wondering if this hurts the dog when he lands in the water. About 3ft high bank is about the highest we do. I know if we do a bally wacker it hurts us. I also know that the dogs feet probably break the impact of the water. 2nd Question My toller loves toys, so much so that if someone reaches their arm up in the air with the toy, then starts daydreaming or starts talking, he will just leap up and snatch it out of their hand. At a dog club I go to, they stop now and then for a play session, he will be focused on every one elses toy but mine, so I try to make sure that my toy is more interesting, and squeaks louder. Now I don't want to destroy the toy drive, but in the last week I have been rewarding him with food to pay attention to me during the toy part of the lesson. Will this destroy his toy drive? People get upset when he suddenly charges off to play with their toys. I often play games with him such as two toys, also before he gets his food or his toy thrown, he has to do something for me such as sit, drop, bow, roll over, wave, walk backwards etc. This is also how I taught to weave in agility. 3rd Question I throw two balls into the lake, I have two dogs, the toller will swim over to both of the balls, and sit there treading water juggling balls. He wants both the balls so badly that he cannot leave one behind, even though his mouth can only fit one ball. Yesterday he even tried having one ball in his mouth and moving the other ball with his chest, and he ended up swimming around in circles, till my other dog, swam out and got the other ball. Is there some type of training I can do, to get him to realise that he can only get one toy. On land he will do the same thing, run with one ball, take it to the other ball, and lie down on the ground juggling. When I do the two squeakies game I have to take the item out of his mouth on the return. 4th Question In flyball he is more motivated for the ball then my motivator. We have tried every motivator on the market. I have tried calling him to me and trying to make my motivator more motivating but it doesn't work. But if no ball in site, he will play a good game of tug, or play with other toys. But ball seems to be number one. Have found in flyball he will cross to the other lane to try and get that ball out of the box if he thinks he can beat the other dog to it. Our club only trains with one lane, so it makes it very hard.

I recently bought a treat bag made by Aussie Dogs, I like these because they are easy to get your hand in. They fit my waist. The black dog ones are too big. They wash out really easily without putting a pouch or anything else inside them. [http://www.aussiedog.com.au/catalogue/c1/c7 They sell other things as well. http://www.aussiedog.com.au I got mine at the local dog club for cheaper than this web site.

Thanx for the tips, but to my dogs there is no other motivator more exciting than getting that tennis, we have tried everything and all sorts of differents toys. We also tried that method mentioned on the K9 drive thread, I saw this method on Susan Garratts site - how to create a motivating toy. He is motivating by toys that squeak, but they cannot be used in the ring. I asked the club why only one lane and they said they don't have the time to set up another lane. I think it is ridiculous too. But with racing Josh, he is like clock work, I never get nervous about racing him, because he is like a robot and always does it. He looks hilarious when he runs as lollops to the side, and his tail spins around like a helicopter. He has had a few rewards for the dog having the most fun. When racing Moses more exciting because you cannot predict what will happen. But as I said last comp only crossed the lane once. Josh actually spits the ball early in training but never in a comp.

I don't know if Finn will be there, only a maybe, but he was at Frankston's comp but not Euroa or Yarram.

Actually our club does not train using two lanes, so cannot do a thing to fix it. All our club does is runs up and down. For Moses the reward is getting the ball out of the box, he is a retriever after all. There is nothing that is more motivating than getting a ball. With the carding it can be very annoying especially if you travel 2 or more hours to get to a comp, your dog crosses twice, in the first heat, and you are out for the rest of the day. Moses only crossed once at the last comp, and none the comp before. He only does it if he thinks he can beat the dog in the other lane to his reward being the ball in the box. I don't like to let the team down. But we are giving flyball a break now probably until the cooler weather starts again. He does not cope well with the heat and feels it more than my flatcoated retriever who is black.

Switching Between Drives. I take my dogs to the local park and play ball with them, they love this. I have done a lot of premack with my dogs as well. At the park there is this noisy non stop barking dog. In the past I have taught Moses that if he barks he gets nothing. When he was a young pup, if he barked while i was preparing his food, I stopped preparing it and started again when he stopped barking. Okay this non stop barking dog is barking in my dogs ear hole, very annoying, so I don't throw the ball until it stops barking. My dog who is focussed on me gets sick of this barking in his ear hole, then suddenly turns around and barks in this other dogs face and chases him for a couple of paces away, then straight away runs back to me and focuses on my toy waiting for it to be thrown. Is this an example of switching drives? Does Moses think that the dog has to be quiet before I will throw the ball and is telling the dog to shoosh?

Just one thing to watch with running a green (new dog) is distractions. When Moses was coming back over the second jump this was in his 2nd comp, someone outside the ring near the fence, had a squeaky toy and was squeking it to motivate their own dog, and it distracted him big time and he ran around the jumps to check out the squeaky. Also another person in another team just left their tennis balls all around the ground and it made think oh there are balls all over the ground i will go over to the other team and check them out. Also another team start loading balls in the box during the warm up for, their dog to practice on just as I was trying to do a recall with Moses from the box, and he ran straight to that box twice before the race started he knew then that he could get balls from the other lane, so I pulled him out of that race, because I knew he would cross lanes. What I should have done is watched the other team and not done a warm up. He is also a lane crosser because my club only practices with one lane up. What I find frustrating is that your dog can get carded and be out of the comp after two races for crossing over. He is non agressive just wants the balls out of each box. He is also competition wise, and will run perfect in training but stuff up at comps, because he knows if the dog in the other lane is not fast enough he can get that ball out of their box, and no one will stop him. You will find at the end of the day when the dogs are the most tired they do the most stuff ups. When I run two of my dogs, I may let one dog run 3 races in one heat and the other dog run two. Just watch those distractions. There is another toller in Keilor Finn that may be running.

Both of my dogs ran perfect at their first comp. They were so intent on the ball in the box and the job they had to do, that they tuned the other dogs barking out. My dogs don't bark in flyball. I won't be at Dandenong as I volunteered to sit out, because we don't have enough dogs for another team. Would have loved to see another toller run.

I am planning on trialling next year with the new rules in place. I am going to go in the class before Novice.

Found this site http://www.aboutdogtraining.com that makes the click and pay squid that I mentioned earlier. They sell them at Mega Pets, Maroondah Hwy, Ringwood

Okay thanx heaps for that I live in Upwey. The pet shop at Boronia is that the one near Natures Creatures? I saw a guy today playing with his dog at the Lilydale fun day. He had a toy connected to some fishing line, connected to a fishing rod. The dog was enjoying it. I gave my dogs a go at it, and they loved it, they thought it was like lure coursing. There is no hook on the end of the fishing line. He said just to buy an el cheapo fishing rod. I like this thread. I have mad retrievers as well. I keep all toys hidden away but occaisonally my husband plays with tennis balls and does not put them away. I want the tennis balls away as they can wear down dogs teeth. I love playing retrieving games that involve a river or creek. I throw the ball or toy to the other side. So the dog has to jump in the river swim to the other side, get out look for the toy on the other side, get the toy jump back in the river then get back out to bring it to me. Lab Lover was there another weekend retrieving workshop this year? Loved the last one.

Where did you buy the orka from?

My dogs favourite toys are the ones that bounce in unpredicable patterns, like Kongs, and I also bought a Mango toy from Cranbourne for $2.00 bargain. Where did you buy your orka Jack, from I think my dogs would like this. I have heard that there is another toy I saw at Frankston but was not for sale, is long and rubber and has a clicker inside it, you click and then throw.

You need to break it down into little tiny steps, and stand near the pole. When he "flukes" it big jackpot and reward. By jackpotting, you give one food treat, and then another separately. I am now instructing trick classes at Lilydale, if anybody wants to know further, email me privately. - [email protected]

It is a hard trick, so don't expect your dog to learn it in one session, many many sessions of a couple of minutes each. Build up slowly. Once your dog has mastered this trick, it is easier to teach him other tricks such as putting a tennis ball into a rubbish bin that has a flip lid, and putting toys away, similar concept.

This is a hard trick, since I have covered most of the simple tricks, time to move on. For this trick you need a dog who is really clicker saavy. To find out about clicker go to http://www.k9events.com Australian based site. Equipment : clicker, treats (chicken chunkers from Coles work great, cheese, liver etc) Set of Quoit (can be purchased from toy stores) If your dog is size of border collie or larger, you may need to put a hole in the plastic part, and fill with sand so the dog does not knock it over. Step 1 go to http://www.shirleychong.com/keepers/retrieve.html and follow steps 1 to 17, take your time and don't rush the dog, make sure you meet the criteria for a step before moving to the next step. Instead of a dumbell you are going to use a coloured plastic quoit. Step 2 You will be kneeling down next to the pole, You are going to click and treat the dog for raising the quoit to the height of the pole, keep on doing this step until the dog gets it right 10 times. Step 3 You are now going to click and treat for the hoop being placed near the top of the pole, so the dog may not get the hoop on the pole but will get it very close. keep on doing this step until the dog gets it right 10 times. Step 4 You are now going to wait for the dog to get the hoop on the pole, keep on doing this step until the dog gets it right 10 times. Big jackpot of food when the dog gets it right. Now add the command. I use the word "dump" because he is dumping the hoop onto the pole. Advanced You are now working on distance, gradually moving further away from the pole, my dog kept wanting to give the hoop to me. Once you get distance, you may want to throw the hoop further away from the pole, once you get this you may throw multiple hoops, and reward the dog when he puts two or three hoops on the pole. My dog took a while to get this, and I actually took a break from it for about a month and came back to it and he got it. Moses actually developed a technique for this. It is quite hard for the dog and takes concentration, he has to work out how to handle the hoop in his mouth, how to line up with the pole and how to drop it on the pole. To see pictures and video of this trick goto http://www.dogtrick.741.com/moses_put_a_hoop_on_a_stick.htm or My Webpage http://www.dogtrick.741.com/hoop5.jpg[/img]