Vickie

Agree 100%. If the breeding is what I want then it won't matter which pup, as they will be fairly consistent across the litter. Both my girls came from very consistent litters. I would have been happy to have any of the pups. Looking at them now as adults & knowing most of their siblings, they are all very similar in terms of structure & temperament & drive, even taking into account environmental factors. If you ask 10 sheepdog people which pup they choose, 9 will tell you "whichever one is left".

You may find you don't have to develop it, many BC's just come with it (I don't know much about Aussies). My girls would literally keel over & die in exhaustion if I kept asking them to perform for too long. But if I am not asking them, they are not doing. They came with an off switch, it is how they are bred. I could have created monsters by giving them attention when they demanded it, but maintaining the way they already came has kept the on/off switch they were bred with.

I just looked at the courses. The JWW looks interesting, lots of off courses if you weren't in the right spot or gave the wrong line. I might try to set it up & try to run it. I would love to see some of the weave entries in it, I bet some were spectacular.

Mine often go without & get fed in the morning instead, not because I forget, but b/c it suits me better. I don't like to feed late at night & then shut them in the hosue all night (especially the old boys), so if I am late, I usually wait till the morning. If we have an evening trial, I will feed them mid morning, so they are not running on a full tummy. If they have a particularly large meal, I will sometimes fast them the next day. They seem to cope just fine.

I'm watching results, but not the live feed. I have a friend running 2 dogs, she is doing well so far. Also one of Shine's brothers is running, he is doing well too

I haven't had a perfect dog yet...probably never will. The best I can hope for is to improve issues I don't like, while maintaining what I do like, in each subsequent dog. Each dog is different...just when you think you are on top of everything, the next dog brings you a whole new thing to work on. It's what makes it fun and it's what makes us better dog trainers. No good can ever come from letting a dog call the shots, it can never lead to a good relationship.

you've got to love them for trying occasionally, don't you! Mine are the same, their eyes light up, just in case, . Keisha, I would also add that it is definitely possible to have a high drive, willing dog who only plays on your terms. In fact I would say dogs that understand this tend to have better drives than those who don't. I know lots of people who are worried about losing enthusiasm if they don't play whenever the dogs want, but I don't feel it works that way..at least not with mine & plenty of others I know.

Keisha, when they are demanding that you play with them are you giving them any attention? My dogs are on when I want them & not when I don't. They know that they will only be rewarded for behaviours I ask for. I have a "that'll do" command. It means we're done. If they are thrusting a toy at me when I don't want it, I put the toy away, tell them that'll do & then ignore them. Most dogs will work this out very quickly. I have a number of visitors who come over & get the same behaviour from my dogs that your dogs are giving you. That is because the people always give attention (even if it is them saying "no I don't want to play")...these same people always give in & the dogs know this. If you want them to lie quietly while you watch TV...either teach them to lay on a mat or totally ignore them. Dogs will only keep trying what works. Once you stop responding, they will give up.

Me too. I saw a few that I know & had the pleasure of meeting a few more. We arrived right before everyone was seated so didn't get to mingle at the beginning & had to get Chloe home at the end before she fell asleep standing up . We had no idea who would be on our table, but we got the biggest & best surprise ever . 3 of the amazing staff members at Hawkesbury Pound had secretly purchased tickets and came along to support Nic B in her nomination for the work she does at HP. It was such an amazing gesture for them to show their appreciation to Nic. Not only did the night start with a brilliant surprise but it continued with good company.

OMG, she is AMAZING! She is a better handler than most of the adults I know. The subtleties in her body language are brilliant. Watch out world! Thank you so much for sharing.

My question was rhetorical. I believe that breeding should be about improvement and I do not believe that you can improve working ability (other than an occasional, (probably recessive) fluke) by using an inferior working parent. I am happy for you to disagree with me. . I am no expert & do not breed, but the successful formula that most working breeders use makes perfect sense to me.

True, the offspring may work. But is very unlikely that they would be better working dogs than than the bitch. Isn't that what breeding is all about? improving the quality of what you already have?

I think it is wrong, wrong, wrong and the person does not have the best interests of the breed at heart. and that this is a total disgrace! I bet if coolies were not mostly merle, they would not, like so many other breeds, be slowly but surely losing their working ability. If there were a shortage of nice coolies to breed from (which I sincerely doubt), they would be much better off choosing a well bred BC or kelpie to inject into their breeding program.

Huge congratulations to all the nominees and winners . What a great night & it was fantastic to meet so many people that I have only ever know by doggy names before :D . Enormous thank you to the MDBA for making one small girl very, very happy. She is still carrying her award & trophy around this morning and can't wait to take them in to school to show her friends. Thank you to Julie for taking time out of a very busy night to make Chloe feel special and of course to our wonderful friends Nic & Lisa, you guys are THE BEST!

I think I worked out why she was so good...I used a tug for reward. Bring out the tennis ball & her sit stays don't exist again. She doesn't break...she just drops. She has been dropping for a tennis ball for 6 years, it's going to be a hard habit to break in a couple of weeks.

199 - 1st place - OK??? No wonder your dogs are so bloody fantastic...you are the ultimate perfectionist

I don't think anyone is going to flame you. What a crap situation to be in . What will you do if the meeting is called & the body corporate says No to having both/either dog?

She must have read this thread over night. Her sit stays were perfect this morning...for as long as I wanted .

Hmm, am reading this with interest. Trim has always dropped for a stay, regardless of which position she is left in. On sheep, she will stop by herself or on command, always in a drop. In agility, I tried & tried to get her to sit, but she always went into a drop in anticipation. An international trainer once told me not to bother with sit for her, she is too "BC" and it would take an enormous amount of work to get her to stay in a sit without doing the BC drop. Of course she does sit, but is like a wound up coil/spring ready to explode at any minute. Now I am in a situation where she HAS to have a sit stay for something. So training starts tomorrow . I have never had a dog before that would not stay in a sit and it has never bothered me that she doesn't...until now .

I think they are gorgeous too! They would look great as a series on your wall.

Great video Amypie . He's a little rocket! I love how willing he is.

Glad you are going to take Charlie again & sorry those people camped so close. I totally understand not wanting to move, LOL, it is a massive job to set up. We take 4 dogs away every year for 3 weeks and create a large run for them by joining 2 Xpens & a trailer. It works well & suits us much more than tethering. One thing that no-one has mentioned yet is the importance of exercise. Our dogs go for long walks on the beach morning & night as well as 10 min toilet break walks throughout the day. The younger dogs also have little training session, just tricks & things to keep them stimulated. I find this leaves them totally exhausted, so they are more than happy to lay around all day.

That's how I feel. I am happy for my dogs to play, but if I wanted to train & they chose play with another dog over play with me then that would concern me.

I never go looking for dogs for mine to play with. Having 5 in the yard gives them more than enough opportunity to play & they all play in various configurations regularly. I also have plenty of other dogs at my house coming & going. I never allow dogs to play with each other when they are training (and mine don't seem to want to anyway), but they regularly play with other dogs we know, both here and when we are out & about.

How FAST are these little dogs!!!