Vickie

RIP little cuckoo ;) . Bloody cat from over the road got him this morning. I just found his feathers

Glad you all enjoyed Trim is probably the most fanatical about bringing it to you, but Shine is the one that always gets it, she is faster & more determined than Trim. Zeus LOVES the ball but he has no chance of getting it if the girls are around . Noah plays when he feels like it, but when he feel like it, he is pretty full on about it ;) .

Bugger! Hang on I'll get it out Hmmm, maybe the kid can help? Nope, looks like I have to do it Had to happen, didn't it! Got it OK, we're ready...careful where you throw it this time idiot! crappy pics I know...but it really was hilarious to watch. I think most of the dogs who have been here for a lesson or a visit have ended up in one of the ponds at some point. I thought it was a miracle that none of mine had...until now! But Trim thinks it was a very worthy cause

Sounds like they will be GREAT! Class sizes used to vary (and I'm sure they still do). 5-15 maybe?

It totally depends on you & your dog as to how long you spend in each class. When I was instructing at the club, I would promote some dogs after a week & others would be 6 weeks. It really helps if: you practice in between classes your dog is operant your dogs is food or toy motivated has a good recall your dog is not highly stimulated by other dogs A big club can be quite distracting for lots of dogs, so some take a few weeks just to settle & concentrate in a busy environment...others settle straight away. Yellow is often the hardest class to get out of because of the weaving. Again, weaving can take varying amount of time, depending on your method, your commitment & your dog. My best record so far is 0 to 12 poles in 3 days so it is possible to do it quickly but it is something most people seem to struggle with at a club.

I'm no longer a member, but can fill you in on structure. Beginners - learn basic handling & basic obstacles Green - start sequencing obstacles together & more advanced obstacles Yellow - more advanced sequencing & obstacles, need to be able to weave to move up. Blue - trial type seqences with an instructor Red - for trialling people, no instructor, everyone helps each other There are a few options for 2 dogs: start one and as they progress up, start the other one Divide training time equally between the 2 dogs Take each one alternate weeks (this will be slower progress unless you are training at home or somewhere else as well). hope this helps.

How old is your pup & how much time are you spending exercising his mind? The first thing I think of when I hear "destructive" is "bored". You have a very high energy breed & he will need quite a bit of mental & physical stimulation. BTW He is GORGEOUS!!!

I LOVE the site CBL!!! I have been using it for a few years now, and I have found it invaluable in identifying birds. I am not a member, maybe I will go & join now. One thing I would like to see is a couple more photos for each bird...as some species are so simlar that it is hard to ID from a single photo.

I voted other. I probably would have put him on lead & taken him for a run to burn off some energy & then started again. If he failed in one exercise, then I would work on that, rather than asking for 3 other things when he was unfocussed. So when he got distractred in the heelwork, then I would have pulled out some big rewards & worked on getting 10 nice steps. Have a play & then 15 nice steps.

thank you. It is definitely a Fan Tailed Cuckoo. I use the Birds in Backyards site all the time, but I must have searched incorrectly as this one didn't come up...but it is on there. ETA. I'm not so sure I like it now :rolleyes: "As with most other species of Australian cuckoos, the Fan-tailed Cuckoo is a brood parasite; laying its eggs in the nests of other species of birds. Host species include flycatchers, fairy-wrens, scrubwrens and thornbills, particularly the Brown Thornbill, Acanthiza pusilla. A single egg is laid in the nest and one of the host's eggs removed. The young cuckoo generally hatches earlier than the host's eggs and proceeds to eject the other eggs or hatchlings. The seemingly unaware foster parents then rear the cuckoo chick." although it is eating my hairy caterpillars

I'm sure this is a very common bird, but I can't seem to ID it. Does anyone know what it is? It lives in my front yard & is really quite tame.

:rolleyes: don't worry Bub...many of us are confused by these threads...they often go round & round in circles & I can only hope that some of these people make more sense to their own dogs than they do to me. If what you are doing is working, then keep doing it. If it's not working, then ask for advice. I train agility & herding & my dogs are generally well behaved. I don't do anything too complicated with them. Generally for sport training, I heavily reward behaviours I want & don't reward behaviours I don't want. If I use correction, it is for a behaviour that is totally unacceptable. I am not cruel, I am consistent & I don't hold a grudge about it.

I don't think being "balanced" is important for you right now Corvus. To date, you have done very limited training with a young low drive dog who came with a clean slate. His behaviour is not perfect but you seem basically happy with all that he does. That is all that matters right now, but I do think you need to be prepared that the future may bring you situations where your current approach is not the most effective...or even effective at all. Right now I have a number of tools in my toolbox and use them all as & when I need to. I have a pack of 4 dogs who I do tricks, agility & herding with. I have between 5-12 other dogs coming on to my property each week, some known, some unknown to my dogs. I can assure you my 4 dogs use a balanced approach with visiting dogs and following their example has served me well, we are yet to have a problem that we have been unable to sort out. I have also started volunteering at the pound each week, where I encounter all sorts of behaviours from all sorts of dogs...again I need to use a number of tools to deal with what these dogs are offering. I use a mix of training methods because I am yet to see someone who claims to be purely positive whose dogs I could live with. My training is mostly reward based, I don't hit dogs but I will interrupt dogs verbally or physically for anything I don't like or want. If I have 8-10 dogs here at once, I want to be right on top of what is going on. I just had a young dog here for 4 days. When she came, she was resource guarding food & people, she was movement reactive, had no recall & was willing to use her mouth to prevent anything she didn't want happening. With 6 dogs in my yard for 4 days, this was obviously not going to work. On day one, I kept my dogs out of it & started working on each of her issues. On day two, I allowed her limited access to my dogs. By day three, she had a basic recall, full access to my dogs, had stoppped all resource guarding & was less interested in the birds & ponies. By day four, she was just like any of my dogs. I used a balanced approach with her & it worked.

If she's running away with it & circling you, she is playing a game, this doesn't sound like boredom. Has anyone else ever played ball with her? My guess is that someone has chased her (in a fun, not nasty way) with it at some point & she has discovered that this is a fun game. What happens when she picks up something you don't want her to have around the house? I think there are a few reasons why naughty variations happen if the dog has full access to toys, they can become not as exciting if bringing the ball back is not earning high enough rewards or poor timing with rethrowing if someone has chased them & keep off become a fun game I try to get mine to do something to earn a ball as a reward, rather than just a game. Just a little thing..I often use it to practice positions for agility. I also build anticipation with restraining them & ready set go games. I won't throw it unless they deliver to the position I ask for, either in my hand, at my feet or in a bucket. If they drop it 2 foot away from me, I get them to bring it closer & closer, building more anticipation each time.

Some ideas I would try that I have used with each of mine at some point: throw the ball & then run the other way, encouraging her to follow you any time she ever brings it back, throw it again instantly so she learns bringing it back = more fun try the 2 ball game put her on a long line, so she can't take off with it it she takes off with it, just say oh well & walk away teach a formal retrieve in a small area with no distractions, starting with the pick up, hold and deliver.

The only piece of equipment that I'd really worry about is the weaves as it can make quite a difference to some dogs. I would also have a think about the AF, depending on the drive/build of your dog. I don't do ADAA so it's an easy choice for me.

That is great news! I can imagine how relieved you are. He is such a beautiful boy, best wishes for a quick recovery.

never mind.

I would probably separate them for a while each night. The age gap is about the same as with my girls. I do remember giving Trim a rest when Shine was annoying the hell out of her. Trim didn't correct her much so I felt I had to help out. Sometimes I put Shine somewhere & sometimes I put Trim somewhere, so they took turns. Mine are all happy in crates, so Trim was happy to escape in hers or I would put her on my bed for a while with the door closed. I often used the time I put Trim away as a one on one play or training for me & Shine. I have never seen 2 better mates than what they are now, but they are still each more bonded to me than each other...and Shine still annoys the hell out of Trim sometimes .

I certainly use them, but it seems to be about my tone rather than what I actually say. For a moving performance I tend to make a "psss" noise which means keep going fast For a stationery performance I use very soft soothing tones, like "that's a very good rest". I use the word good & the name of the behaviour. For me, the more defined & reliable my release is, the more likely I am to sucessfully use a bridge, so that if they are in a stationary position, they are not to move until I give my release word & I should be able to say whatever I want while they are in that position.

Both my males were between 4-5 years when I started trialling them in agility. Neither were ready & both took a while to title in Novice. Both my girls were just under 2 when I first trialled them. Trim was totally ready & titled in Novice agility & jumping with consecutive 1st places. I think she had done about 5 trials before she ever got her first fault. She won a couple of Regional qualifying events & a National final in her first year of trialling . Shine was not at all ready (I entered her as kind of a dare), in fact I taught her half the obstacles the week of her first trial. She still managed to qualify with a 2nd place in her first trial . Then I got sensible & did some training before I entered her again. Realistically she was 2 1/2 before she really reached physical or mental maturity. She has been trialling 18 months now & is half way through her Masters titles. She is regularly running neck & neck with Trim for time right now & I don't think it'll be long before she starts to beat her consistently.

Most young dogs behaving this way are actually showing a fear response, rather than actual aggression. The worst thing you can do is wait until he has already started carrying on & then start carrying on back at him. Has he been socialised? What is he like off lead with other dogs? If it were me, I would avoid situations like this until you get things under control in a less stimulating environment. Have you taught a "look at me" command? It is often effective to get his attention before the dog comes past as trying to get him to look at you once he is in a state will be very difficult. Have you got any friends with calm well behaved dogs that you can do some training with? Has he been to classes? What was his response to other dogs there? sorry lots of questions, but it's hard to get a picture of what is going on from your brief description.

;) that's b/c you know me...I knew you'd take it the right way, I just felt I sounded a bit harsh for anyone else reading. Definitely, you are doing a great job with him, he is a very powerful dog & that can certainly present challenges. you will probably find that both of you have more adrenalin at training which will help. Both my dogs still only ever go 3/4 speed at home, I am still working on closing the gap between training & trialling. I will probably never get the same but I am always aiming for closer. Michelle is an excellent trainer & handler, we can all learn a lot from her.

Trim has always had a crappy seesaw. She was hesitant right from the beginning & used to crawl along on her belly. She is a lot better than she was, it's more of a quick shuffle than a crawl. We still have work to do, she is striding at the start a lot more confidently and every now & then she nails the whole thing & we reward big time. The thing I hate about seesaws in Australia is that they are all different lengths & weights . It makes it so hard for your dog to develop a consistent stride on them & it is hard to keep their trust. Just last week she left a ss early in a trial, the bloody thing was so heavy it wouldn't tip...seemed like she was right on the end for over a second before it dropped. Then the next one will be so light that using the same stride she will only be 3/4 of the way along. Since she was screaming her head off while I ran Shine, I popped her on the SS as well this afternoon. you've got to love her, she tried so hard to keep her back feet on in the 2nd run.

:D Sometimes I am just so bloody analytical & have no tact whatsoever. Please tell everyone that I am really not that critical and that in real life I try to give constructive criticism. . I am still trying to train my perfect seesaw...certainly not there yet! That is certainly not unusual. It is a VERY VERY hard thing to train to get full drive forward when you stop on any contact obstacle. Putting your arms away will help, as will running forward & not turning in to him. I just did a quick video to show you what I mean with the tunnel. Shine has done a heap of training today so she was a bit buggered, but sending her through a tunnel before helps me to be running when she comes out & releasing her to obstacles helps too. As you can see I am nowhere near her & I don't stop running, so she is not reliant on my position to get hers. Stuff like this will also decrease their hesitation (providing it is not fear based) as they will be rushing to get to you.