Vickie

Was just thinking about this some more & it occured to me that most of the very high drive dogs I know in agility are also dogs with some fear issues. Many of them are sound sensitive and don't like dogs or people in their faces. All are trained/conditioned to overcome that fear in competition. I would put my Trim in that category. At one point during the trial last weekend, I noticed that she was worried about lightning flashes she could see in the distance. She is not dreadful in a storm but clearly uncomfortable & chooses to come inside & sit near me. I took her out to run her & wondered how she would run. Once she got to the start line, nothing else existed & she gave me the run of her life, seemingly totally oblivious to the storm that had worried her so much 5 minutes prior. Having said that, there may well be a heap of very high drive dogs who are only high drive when they are not worried, but I can't think of any off hand.

Just enjoy her & do the best you can. You are no different from the rest of us. We all want our next new up & coming dog to be as perfect as possible. The reality is that they are never as perfect as we dream them to be when we get them at 8 weeks. I am happy if I achieve/improve on things with my youngest dog that I got wrong with the one before but I know I will still make some mistakes. With each dog, we get new challenges, with each challenge we become a better trainer/handler.

yes, but does it matter whether it is relative? Relative to what? You have always seemed very pleased with the amount of drive she has & at a young age you have taught her complex behaviours that she does with enthusiasm. I saw her perform with enthusiasm in a confined room full of strangers. I think for a young dog with issues, she is doing very well. She doesn't need a quantified level of drive to prove this.

Why do you think it's genetic? Have you observed the same from other dogs with the same breeding? My first response when people talk about a dog's behaviour being different in public is to examine the handlers feelings in public/when being observed. I don't mean to be so blunt, but is there a possibility that you are uncomfortable playing with her in public & she is picking up on this? Do you make sure that people (strangers) don't make eye contact with her? I would be doing lots of getting people to walk past, deliver food without looking at her & keep walking. Will she play with any of your friends at all? I would also be testing whther she will play with your friends that she knows well in the company of strangers. It sounds like she has plenty of drive from everything you have ever said about her, I'm sure you will be able to work though it :D . I would definitely stick with the toys/play. I think dogs can reach a stage where they are so used to switching on for "the game" that they can learn to do this despite their surroundings.

not necessarily. My 4 dogs share bedding, affection, toys & eat (including bones) in close proximity. They all want & love these things, but there is never a challenge for them. Why? b/c I don't allow it! They know that if they challenge another dog for something, they have to deal with me. We often have an extra dog here for varying periods of time. I sometimes need to reset some boundaries for them each time an extra dog arrives but they seem to settle very quickly.

We ran a dusk till Dawn agility trial on Saturday night/Sunday morning. The weather was atrocious! There is nothing quite like running a course at 3am holding on to your pants b/c they are so heavy with mud they are falling down, while water is so deep it is splashing into yur face affecting your visibility :D . Our big brag is that my daughter ran Shine on Saturday night & qualified with her in Excellent Gamblers . It is her first ANKC qually with Shine...now she wants to run her all the time . We had some good runs, a couple of bars down which I think were weather related, but ended up 2nd in Open Agility with Shine, 3rd in Masters Gamblers & 1st in Masters Agility with Trim. Our last run of the night/(morning) was the best, despite the weather, it was one of the funnest courses I have ever run. Both dogs ran it beautifully but each had a bar down. It was a course built for Shine & she came in a full 2 seconds faster than Trim ;) . The morning ended badly when I couldn't get into my road as the water was covering all entrances. After no sleep, I had to sit at a petrol station for over an hour until it was light enough & the water had dropped enough to get through . It was worth it though .

I have a crate in the back of my car all the time. I also take a softcrate with me to trials. My 2 girls are always crated together at trials, either from the car if I can, or in the soft crate near the ring. If we are away for the weekend, I take an XPen, if I have to take more than 2 dogs, I take 2 Xpens & join them together. I also take a cover for the crates to put on while I am actually in the ring so the other dog can't see.

oops Gremlins

There are things that I find easier to lure in the beginning but I like the dogs to make the transition as quickly as possible into offering (not necessarily targetting) a behaviour. I think sometimes if you never move beyond a lure, the dog has not actually learnt anything. We see it with weaving in agility all the time. Dogs can be lured for a very long time & still have no concept of how to weave.

Stop is a funny one & yep it just seems to work even with dogs who don't know it. It seems to mean about 5 things to my dogs, but they seem to be able to put it in context each time. I wonder if it works b/c of the unconscious body language we tend to associate with the word? After watching some Caesar Milan I really like his claiming the space motion and use it all the time. It works with people too! I also use "Eh" a lot as an interrupter, again I think I got this off Caesar. I heard my husband say it last night & smiled to myself.

God, I can't stop crying. I wish so much we could share your pain Serena. I guess we are, but I wish it could help you more. Rocco will live forever with all of us, your stunning photos & stories have made that a certainty. Thank you so much for sharing Rocco's life with us. The biggest hugs ever to you. Vickie

I don't tend to think in terms of Serps, PW, PT, 270's in terms of handling skills but rather what the dog is to do when I offer a position...how it applies to different layouts is dependent on timing. As an example, if I am running parallel to my dog, I expect it to be parallel. If my hand is close by my side, so should my dog be. If I raise my hand up, I expect my dog to move out (and back in when I bring my hand in) If I turn towards my dog, my dog should turn in to me. etc. Using these rules/positions, I can them apply them to each of the jump setups you have listed. Hope that makes sense, it's hard to explain.

I definitely do. The day I stop getting influenced is the day I stop learning. Ditto Don't you hate it when she yells at you :D she's kind of scary isn't she! They get rewarded all the time...the reward is the work they get to do.

I can't always tell the difference between BC's & Aussies & BC's & Coolies. There is such a variety in breeding that there is bound to be some overlap in appearance. There are lots of heavyset BC's around who look just like Aussies to me. I have also seen a few Coolies who look, act & work just like a BC. My girls always get mistaken for Aussies or Coolies . Even though they look nothing like Aussies in build, people see merle & assume. They don't look a lot like Australian (Show) BC's...I guess b/c they are not :D .

It probably would have, all I have to do is think it & they do it, so it would have been hard to demonstrate. I would NEVER correct for this...they don't know it so I don't correct it. Lack of reward is more than enough information for them. He's a good boy, if a bit of a pain in the butt at times always wanting to join in.

That's exactly what I was trying to describe (except you made it sound so much simpler, LOL). I prefer to reward from the hand rather than throw though. Here you go: I had to do it with Zeus, since the girls already know it & would just get it right every time. Bear in mind he is nearly 13 & hasn't done a RC (or any agility) for 5 years. When he goes the wrong way, I just reset him, he gets to play when he gets it right. He was a tad to excited to attempt a startline so I had to hold him.

Hmmm, I might have to dispute this. My dogs are like dairy cattle. If I do anything at the same time of day regularly, they notice & tell me when I change plans/timing.

Go to the gym, he'll be fine . The powerwalk with him sounds good too...maybe you could do both.

Start with your dog on your left on front of a jump (about a metre or 2 away). Have your reward in your right hand Send your over the jump, supporting it with your left hand As the dog takes the jump, move behind them and meet them with your right hand If the dog turns to the right, ignore & try again As soon as the dog turns to the left, reward heavily. after doing this a few times, swap sides so they understand that your body language means turn away Once they are consistently turning the right way, you can add a cue & extend distance /angles, try with different obstacles etc. I originally taught my RC's on the ground with no obstacles, but I like this way better. I'm not keen on teaching them to drive ahead, as most of the RC's we do now are very tight so I don't want them accelerating through the cross & blasting ahead when they are turning tight. Hope thsi helps, JMO.

BTW I saw you run Amber last night, she is lovely & looked great out there.

Depends how much of a budget & what you are looking to get. I found I can make pretty good jumps for around $20 each from Bunnings. Weave poles can also be made quite cheaply although if you want a proper set with bases it'll cost you at least $100. Tunnels are more expensive as there is no real cheap alternative. Contacts can be made if you have the knowhow & $ but a plank costs very little or even stairs are great for teaching & proofing position.

We had a bit of a mixed night. As it turns out, entering a trial when you haven't trained for 2 months is not the best idea . Our first runs were quite feral & we had no contacts at all it seemed (and I felt pretty rusty too). Luckily they settled a bit with out next runs & remembered their training & what they need to do on contacts. Shine had a beautiful Masters Jumping run with a dropped bar. The course was way too tight for her so I was pleased at how well she managed it. She also had a great RQH run, except her stupid Mum thought we had done the wrong course, so after a stop, pause & finish, she actually went clear with 4th place. Miss Trim was a touch feral all night, but I managed to get her round the RQH clear & we WON it (LOL, she's lucky I stuffed Shine up b/c I think it may have been close between them). Can't wait till next week & I have promised them some training in between!

Well done Lia. The two of you looked great out there & he was such a good boy. I would be very pleased with your RQH run. I was A LOT more complex than the Novice course & you did some really good stuff & he was right there for you. You looked a lot less stressed in the RQH & I thought you handled it really well. Now you are on your way, things will just get better & better & I think you will both do really well on the more complex courses.

That is fantastic news! Congratulations Sam . Qualifying in your first trial, with a dog you have had such a short time is quite an achievement!

that's hilarious! The same thing happens here (but's it's on props like beds/couches/clothing etc), there's bloody hair everywhere