poodlefan

You have to 'charge' the clicker and I'd be using really good treats - not just food she gets all the time. Try devon, cheese or roast chicken! Don't pause after the click either. Click and treat straight away.

You don't have to wait. You can lure and cue. You don't have to free shape behaviour and personally I don't as I know what I want to the dog to do and can illicit it. A clicker is a marker.. nothing more, nothing less. Its quick, has no tone and sounds the same every time you use it. That's why some folk prefer it to verbal markers. A clicker is used in training to mark desired behaviour but it is NOT a training method. Quality of clickers varies. I like the Blackdog clicker that has a button and a wrist strap. For those who have trouble juggling everything, put the treats and the clicker in the same hand.

Off to the vet when they open but a day or so won't make much difference to sorting it out. How old is Cooper? Older dogs tend to get a range of 'interesting' lumps that make your heart race when you find them. Most are benign.

If he's fit and healthy, my guess is he'll walk the legs of both of you.

What is the Murray River Retriever? Google Murray River Curly Coated Retriever - its a curly coated retriever! We have Smithfield Collies here but I think they are an English breed in origin.

To learn and talk about dogs!!

I have Andis 2 speeds. Would definitely buy again. No servicing is a big plus for them.

Ban, maditory desexing and no importing, of the idiot owners/breeders. We already have too many idiots. There goes any breed with prey drive.... which is many of them.

I'm sorry but this made me laugh so hard Pity I can't spell pageant. Oh and try it.. its true!

If you agree that as handlers we need to do more than simply expect our dogs to cope with our nerves, yep.

Me personally? No, because I'm not the same.

Go for it.

Not 100% of the time, but yes, I've seen it. There was one dog in particular at our club that LOVED to trial. I used to joke with his owner that Sam was a robot... he was perfect most of the time.

Yes. The Koko eye conditioner works pretty well. ETA: its the first product on this page

I see obedience as teamwork. I agree that you cannot completely control nerves but you can sure do a hell of a lot to enable your dog to work without being affected by your behaviour. I prefer to think that I can adapt my behaviour to a fair degree and that I shouldn't expect my dog to just deal with it. Two team members have to put some effort in, not one. That's why signals, footwork etc is important - because when we do better we enable the dog to perform better. I don't see other scenarios as the same because its only in the ring that you are deprived of other motivators for your dog.

I am soooooo guilty of this!!! My dog works relativelly ok in training, good enought to get a comfortable pass Id say. Yet all we get is a fail in a trial. I am super stressed, she walks 3 meters behind me in the ring!!! What do I do to fix ME in the scenario??? 1. Drink heavily Seriously, something like rescue remedy is good, for YOU 2. Change your goals. If showing your dog a good time in the ring is more important than a pass, it changes your attitude. 3. SMILE. Its actually impossible to tense your neck and shoulders when you're smiling. I'm sure a few judges wondered why I thought I was in a beauty pagent parade but it helped my dog. 4. Resist the urge to look left and down to check your dog's position.. doing it will almost inevitably push the dog off a close heel position. Get someone to watch you or heel so you can see the dog's shadow easily. 5. Up the fun factor in training. Heel work can be made into a modified game of chasey with the dog rewarded for holding that position as you mix up paces and direction. 6. As someone's said, be bright and bouncy. Normal pace should be brisk, not a funeral procession. Slow pace should be about normal walking pace (but with longer steps) and fast pace a good run. Mock trials are good if you can find them too but a good sports psychology book/trainer is probably as important as training the dog. You have to visualise success, not failure and work towards it.

Which drive?? Dogs have a whole bunch of drives. If you're talking about prey drive, its best to be specific but lets not kid ourselves that its the only drive than can be effectively harnessed to achieve great results in obedience competition.

I wouldn't if offlead control was to be a frequent requirement. Is this a dog you need to be athletic and up to a lot of offlead running with bikes? I'm finding it difficult to recommend a dog based on what we've got to work with. Will the dog attend any training? How would you describe your kids.. pretty knock about or more quiet and sensitive. Is getting on with other dogs or being able to be easily controlled offlead (with training) something you need in this dog? And most importantly, why didn't the Lab work out?? What was it about that dog that didn't work in your home?

Another thought: Noting that this dog is fine in training (very important qualifier) and only seems to have issues with competition, what's different (other than you)? Do you generally train with food or the other motivator on you? Suggestions about "training in drive" don't seem to note that in training conditions this dog is fine. The question to be answered is why is the dog different in competition.

Two meals a day would help.. so would switching to a "junior" or "perfomance" formuala with a higher fat content.

I think you get get yourself into self destructive loops too.. dog not heeling well.. we stress and over train it.. dog gets sour/picks up on competition nerves.. and fails.. so we stress more and train more. If you're expecting trouble in the ring, I think you often get it. Body language changes and we tense up.. dog starts to worry what we're freaking out about.. its certainly the best recipe for lagging I know of.. and I've done it. Lets not forget that there are two members of a team in competition obedience.. sorting out our half of the team is often a good place to start. Its not just about the dog.

Where did I say "it" was the dog??? "It" is whether an animal enjoys an activity or not. Way to quote me out of context. This is a thread about competition obedience with a dog. It is you that is out of context. Uh huh. Because how far a trainer goes to help a dog enjoy an activity has nothing at all to do with enthusiasm in the obedience ring. It's okay, you can say you misread what I wrote. It doesn't hurt. Maybe more focus on helping the OP and less theorising is called for. Threshold question to the OP - what's YOUR demeanour like.. Are you nervous? Have you got videos of yourself under competition conditions? Next question - how do you think your dog views heel work.. is it a game or drudgery?

On the "happy" issue. There are a lot of ways to make your dog happy. Feeding lasts a couple of minutes only. Start to think about other things your dog enjoys doing and do those. Even a massage lasts longer than a meal. If a meal is the highlight of your dog's day then you need to enrich its life in other ways. A dog carrying excess weight is at risk of range of health issues including earlier arthritis, ligament damage and pancreatitis. A fat dog won't be happy for long. Dogs eat to live. WE eat for other reasons. Stop seeing food as the centre of your dog's life and dieting them becomes far easier. Its cruel to make your dog fat, not to make it lean.

Listen to PF, she is wise. Sadly, if this stuff doesn't make the front page of the next Dog News, I'll be surprised. They seem to specialise in the Chicken Little (the sky is falling) style of reporting that will fuel breeders up to tilt with Mr Burke. I'm sure the cries of righteous indignation and the smelling salts being passed about are all over Ozshow as well. ;)

Sadly, quite a few pedigree dog breeders would respond in a manner that plays right into his hands. If anyone responds, it should be the ANKC. They should speak for all.