Vickie

In the learning stage, it is never good to put a command on something the dog doesn't know. I did a great job of teaching one of my dogs that "steady" actually means go faster on sheep. Everytime she was moving too quck I would say steady, so that's what she thought it meant! Doh! she doesn't speak English. Go to any offlead park & you will see a host of people calling "come" while their dogs run the other way. For a watch command, to pair the word with a cue, you are better off clicking your fingers (or something to get their attention) and then giving the command once they are giving the desired bahaviour. ETA, I don't ever want eye contact b/c it is detrimental to our agility, so your hand focus would suit me just fine

I was looking for you too...and like Skip, was looking for your blue boy to identify you. Hope you did well & had a great day.

Have you tried getting one of your other dogs who walks well on a lead & walking them side by side? Often a pup will just fall in with another dog that they are comfortable with.

Thanks Crisovar, we had full blood work done not long ago & it came back without any red flags. Good point about the cold, thanks, I think I will keep his coat on a bit longer in the mornings & put it on a little earlier in the afternoons.

Just wondering if anyone has any ideas to help me put/keep weight on Zeus. He is 13, a heavyset BC, & up until a few years ago, I would watch his diet like any of my other dogs. Lately it doesn't seem to matter how much I feed him, he is still gradually losing weight and I can't quite seem to get him back up to a good weight. He is not that active anymore, certainly nothing compared to what he was, but still enjoys a good romp with the other dogs. I don't want him fat, but am just worried that as he gets older, he probably needs more reserves than he has. Out of interest, does anyone know why they just suddenly get to the point where they are hard to keep weight on? thanks Vickie

RubyStar, have you ever taught her to jump off the DW? The lady who bred my girls taught me this & I will always do it now. Before we train it, we teach them to jump off it, so they know they can if they need to. Obviously from how high depends on the size & build of dog, but most dogs can do it from half way up the up ramp. The theory she gave me was that if you teach them to jump off, they loose the fear of falling off, since they know they can land without disaster happening. Despite me teaching both my girls this, they have never chosen to bail...other than a couple of times where they totally lost their footing & needed to. Just a theory & one I know works...

Agreed. We have tested a number of dogs at Hawkesbury over the last week who would be perfect for dog sports. None surrendered for behavioural problems, nor can we see any evidence of any serious issues.

Agility Dog of the year - 21 out of the top 40 are ANKC registered, 17 out of the top 40 are BC, kelpies or mixes of either Jumping Dog of the Year - 18 out of the top 40 are ANKC registered, 15 out of the top 40 are BC, kelpies or mixes of either

I am not sure the OP is looking for a champion...but just in case you think it is not generally done with a rescue: Some current results from the NSW Dog of the Year Cumulative Point Score after 8 rounds: Agility Dog of the Year 1st Rescue crossbreed 2nd crossbreed 3rd crossbreed 4th pure ANKC recognised breed 5th Rescue crossbreed Jumping Dog of the Year 1st Rescue crossbreed 2nd crossbreed 3rd pure but non ANKC recognised breed 4th crossbreed 5th Rescue crossbreed I have not sure whether the crosses listed above came from rescue or not, but do know that 1st & 5th in each comp definitely came via well known Sydney Rescues from the pound.

I have run a few small dogs. The hardest thing I find is not to bend over when I am running them. It's a bit embarrassing really as I am always telling my students to "stand up". Every time I run a small dog, I get humbled a bit more as I realise how hard it is to stay upright. I think it is odd to run another dog full stop, unless you have trained that dog, the dog is similar to yours or the handler has the same cues. The larger dogs I have run have had totally different timing & commitment points to mine. Some are willing to take me out if I get in their way. Some you have to be always pulling in as they are wider & others will take a 6 metre out command. Another thing I struggle with is barking, when you are not used to it, it can be totally off putting. Running other dogs is fun. I love it. My daughter is starting to run a few dogs for people & is really enjoying it. She seems to cope much better with change of size & speed than I do...but then again people are always telling me she is a better handler...I guess they are right. .

Thanks Helen, but that won't be necessary. There are 4 dogs in HP right that that would suit me perfectly (and that's just 4 of the ones we have tested so far). When the time comes for us to add another dog, I will have plenty to choose from & no need to go looking outside of my own pound.

PS sorry to opening poster for hijack.

Hmmm sounds like you have worked hard to fix issue that your rescue dogs came with. Well done. Since we are asking questions, can I ask how much time you have actually spent assessing temperaments of pound dogs? We are finding more and more that dogs are being surrendered for unrealistic breed expectations, owners moving house, owners unable to cope financially with dogs, puppies chewing, unwanted litters etc, the list of ridiculous reasons goes on & on. So many of the dogs we are seeing are in fact not there for behavioural issues at all. Of course some are, but I would not count them as the majority. I consider this off topic, but am happy to answer. I trial 2 dogs currently from the same breeder. One I planned & purchased, one I did not. I wanted the dog I planned for a few reasons, primarily b/c I had never seen a family of dogs I totally adored so much & wanted one. Other considerations, I wanted to do sheepwork & my older dogs are inappropriate, so I wanted a dog bred primarily to work. At this point I was not involved in rescue & I mistakenly assumed pound dogs to be mostly dogs with problems. My plans right now are that the next dog we add to our family as a competition dog for agility will be a rescue dog. The one after will probably, again, be bred for sheepwork. Hope that answers your question. Please don't think I don't know that some rescues don't have issues because they do. I just don't think they are in the majority and I see enough dogs from breeders with physical & temperament problems to know that there are no guarantees there either.

That is your opinion. There are no statistics to prove this & plenty would disagree with you based on experience. After 12 months volunteering at a local pound 1-2 times a week & having rehomed a number of pound dogs over the years for performance, I would be one to disagree. I am constantly astounded at how many solid temperaments there are in the pound each week. My first ever foster represented NSW at the National agility trial a few weeks ago. Sure...she had behavioural problems : she was too active as a 9 mth old BC pup to be stuck in a back yard.

No so for agility. There are many competitors who run very successful rescue dogs. Many people like the advantage of adopting a 12-18 mth old dog whose temperament & body is already developed & feel that this is safer than starting with a pup who may grow up with an unsuitable temperament or body.

I have seen a few Boxers in agility & if trained well, I think they make brilliant agility dogs. As a handler & trainer I think you need to keep a sense of humour, but WOW, when they get it right, they are amazing to watch. There ued to be a lady in NSW who ran a few boxers. I loved watching them, they were well trained & very competitive. There are only a couple that I can think of trialling at the moment. Boxers are on my "I want to get one one day for agility list"

I have been away & there are pages & pages added since I last posted. Would just like to clarify that I don't chase dogs either. I use a very similar method to the one SSM describes above. In addition, I do it when they are too young to be smart enough to try outrun me anyway and find it easier to start in a confined area. I have used this methods successfully on a number of horses when I was younger (who certainly DID have the ability to outrun if they chose). This is a mind game, not a physical one. While not positive, I don't believe it is cruel & have never had a bad relationship with either horse or dog because of it.

ditto re the boarding places mentioned, another recomendation for Pax from me (and from my dogs!)

I have been hesitant to enter this discussion...but now I have an ally , I will. I agree that I could never offer my dogs something more exciting than what they are after. I guess I use negative reinforcement as well (although have used positives too). I start the first time they ever ignore my call. I just simply go & get them grab their collar & pull them a little toward me, then let go & let them choose to follow, if they don't I repeat the process, and again & again, until they believe they have no choice. They learn early that they never have the option of not coming as I will go get them. Shine probably has the best recall I have ever had in a dog (so far it is 100% but I could not possibly test it against everything). She was taught to recall off sheep before she ever worked & she has never not responded to my "that'll do" command. She has recalled off dogs, people, flying ducks, cattle & just last week 3 very speedy kangaroos. I whistle & generally my dogs will about-turn in full stride on hearing the whistle. I very rarely reward them for coming back, but may give verbal praise sometimes. I have always felt that having a recall based purely on reward makes it optional for the dog. Flame me too .

Yep especially since the trial secretary is still driving home from WA. We'll be there. I saw you at Nowra staffy lover, but didn't meet you.

I don't use any of these things for training right now. I understand the theory behind it & many top competitors use these techniques in varying degrees with great success. Honestly I just can't imagine ever being competitive enough to do the above stringently with my current dogs for the sake of improved performance. I am lucky that all 4 dogs I have competed with love training & have always given me all they have. I do suggest some of my agility students use some forms of deprivation but not to the level that I know they are used by some. Maybe if my next dog was not giving me what my current dogs do, I would consider some basic deprivation.

I'm a fan of letting them grow up a bit before any serious training starts...I will always do lots of play with a pup, which some may consider as training I guess. I really think many dogs need a chance to grow up. At 6 months all Shine had was a lie down & a solid recall. LOL, I don't think she even knew how to sit. She didn't see sheep till 12 months & didn't start agility training until she was nearly 2. She just wasn't ready, physically nor mentally for any serious training. I took her everywhere with me & we played some games, but no training. At nearly 4 years now, I couldn't be happier with her. Once we did start training, she picked things up more quickly and her behaviours are more solid than dogs I have trained younger. She is my constant shadow & I feel that the bond I have with her is better than with any other dog I have owned. I have only just started to push her in agility over the last 6 months & she is responding beautifully & really hitting peak performance. I guess each dog is different, Trim was physically & mentally mature much earlier, so we started earlier (but not a lot). I am so glad I waited with Shine as it is really starting to pay off.

Here's a link to our current Dog of the Year pointscore: http://agilitynsw.com.au/doc/JumpingDogofY...0Pointscore.pdf lots of breeds represented & doing well.

In NSW, we have a variety of dogs sharing the podiums...poodles, papillons, staffy mixes, vizlas, GSP's, JRT's, Goldens, schnauzers, Cavs and a heap of mixed breed dogs.

I think in general it'd be hard to say each link provides a cue for the next...although you could argue that if a dog lands from jump & there is a tunnel right in front of them they will take it unless you tell them otherwise. Occasionally a Novice course will be so clear to a dog that they will almost do it correctly by themselves. Otherwise, the closest I could think for this is dogs that will continue to perform the obstacle in front of them until cued somewhere else by the handler. One of the last Masters jumping courses I ran with Shine, the last 8 or so obstacles were obvious to the dogs. I ended up getting way behind & she finished the course about 6 jumps ahead of me, purely based on me saying the words "go on" once. Even though I was way behind, I did not call her off the line she was on, so she continued on it. At the end, she went & got her lead & was waiting for me with it to tug on by the time I made it to the last jump. The first part of the course was much more complex & there is no way she could have done it without me. There are dogs who will perform their own course regardless of the handler...my Noah was one . At his worst, he used to do about 30 obstacles (on a 16 obstacle course), independent of me or what I actually wanted. He just kept running around like a maniac taking big loops of tunnels & jumps. So I think it is possible, but usually not desirable .