Vickie

I am not saying they are all the same, I'm saying they all follow the same basic set of rules (and I'm talking dogs here, not rabbits & hares) This works. This doesn't. That was pleasant, I am more likely to do it again. That was unpleasant, I am less likely to do it again. That behaviour was accepted, this was not. Don't be sad for me. All I aim for is consistency with my dogs. I try to treat them in a consistent manner & I feel they are pretty consistent in return. I am not cruel to them, but I expect them to obey the commands I have taught them. I cannot imagine any of them biting me because of something I do to them as I will never force them to do something unpleasant just for the sake of it, but sometimes unpleasant things are a necessity. Believe it or not mine are all quite obedient and incredibly motivated to train with me...so please...don't be sad for me! You can't force a dog to be motivated & enjoy training. Motivation comes with consistency and a solid reward history. Black & white. This works, this doesn't. If you are happy with your relationship with your dogs & your ability to get the best out of them, then that is all that matters. I am sorry if I got the impression that you are struggling with your relationships sometimes.

OMG Jules, that pelican shot literally took my breath away. It is magnificent. I love your road tlc, each shot offers something different but they are all very appealing. I think the last is my favourite as you can really see the incline, rises & falls in the road.

Here are 3 fairly recent landscapes I am kind of happy with. This scene just caught my eye, I love the colours & reflections. As I was getting my camera out, the 2 cormorants landed. LOL, it was like Christmas, I remember being SO excited. I like this one b/c I remember thinking to get down really low for a different perspective. I think it works although can now see ways to improve it. and this one I took just last week in the paddock opposite my house. I got excited by the light & the rainbow and it was one of those, quick grab the camera moments. The background is kind of boring, but luckily the horses obliged by becoming a subject. Getting down low for this one would have been great but there was a fence in the way & I don't know the horses well enough yet to know if they would have appreciated me laying in their paddock .

Thank you so much Ashanali for contacting Tom & arranging this. That article was excellent, easy to read & so very inspiring. WOW, his galleries are amazing. I'm very excited about this challenge now.

Well I hate to say it but I'm not terribly surprised. I'm also willing to bet that if you solved this issue, the problem you are having with him in agility would disappear.

corvus, you scare me sometimes. I always get the feeling that you are trying to read human motivations & reasoning into dogs. I think generally speaking dogs are pretty black & white, not the multiple shades of grey you always seem to be discussing/arguing. Have you clipped his nails yet? Most puppies don't like this & I find the way people deal with this often paints a pretty accurate picture of how the relationship will go. Clipping their nails is be a great way to earn their trust. The message I want to send is "yes, I know you don't like this, but I am going to do it anyway. I will be patient & kind but I will not put up with any crap. In time you will learn that doing this will never hurt you, you will stand calmly while I do it & we will have a play when it's done. Nails are a good example of something that lots of people put off b/c their pups don't like it. A pup that won't let you clip it's nails is often a dog who will not let you do anything it is remotely uncomfortable with. These dogs will never usually bite their owner b/c the owner always backs down when the dog gives it's warning signal. God help the poor vet who has to treat them one day though, or the unsuspecting person who doesn't know Fido's warning system or doesn't realise that Fido doesn't like to be touched on the ear. I don't think you have to be cruel to a dog to get it to do things it doesn't like. Mostly I think it's more cruel to let them dictate what they will & won't do. They end up confused about the mixed signals they get & a confused dog is an unhappy dog. That to me is cruel.

I'm determined to have a go at this one now that we are moved & settled & I have some time. I suck at landscapes, I see them, just don't seem to be able to capture them. I do confess to never using a tripod, so I think that will help a lot. Some awesome shots so far.

I'm sure he's still making them. He may just be busy right now or hasn't seen your email yet. Alex doesn't seem to have stopped much with those two. I think he's already travelled to more trials than I have .

Eddy.

and if that tiny tongue didn't scare you...try this one It's evil...it has a mind of it's own!

Shine is looking forward to adding you to her "suckers I can lick" society

My girls are a bit like this, but only to people the know & love & to people who have encouraged & allowed this. They are not really rough & land quite gently, but they are still kind of jumping up. I decided recently that it was too much as a couple of our friends have recently been pregnant & then later holding babies, so now when their favourite people arrive, I put them in a stay on their couch outside & ask the people to ignore them. When I give them a calm release, they seem to be much calmer in their greeting. Problem is that most of their favourite people arrive with their favourite dogs, so it is a big test of their stay command while the other dogs bound up to them in greeting. It seems to be working though. I hate dogs licking me, so I don't allow it, but again, many of my friends are happy to sit there while my dogs (actually it is just Shine) lick them. I think it's gross, but so long as she doesn't lick everyone, just those special few, I'm OK with it.

yes but you still need to be able to reward with something...that is what I use tug for, not to rev them up, but to reward the performance I want in training. There are people who use tug to rev their dogs up before a run, but it is not just for getting them revved up. Most people I know who tug before a run do so to get the dog warmed up & focussed. Tug can settle a pyscho dog and get it thinking & in tune with the handler. Tug can be great for dogs who are a bit nervous of other dogs or for dogs who are stressed by the environment.

There are lots of amazing agility dogs who don't tug. I don't think it's the be all & end all, but I think you more types of rewards you have up your sleeve the better. One of my dogs would not take food as a reward for agility, she would simply turn her head away. She LOVES food & would normally take it anywhere, just not around equipment as it did not rate as highly for her as the course. I did a seminar a few years ago & the instructor recommended that I work on getting her to take food in training sessions. Her theory was that there will be some things we would work on where tug would be best, some where throwing something would be best & some where feeding from the hand would be best. It took a little while to get her to take the food, she even went through a period where she would take it but then spit it to the side , but we worked through it & now I have another way to reward my dog in agility training.

Let us know how you go. I have worked through this with a couple of people now. We started by them sending video to me, then video online, then 1 on 1 in person with a someone they know, then 1 on 1 with someone they didn't know, then a small group, then a large group. It seemed to help a lot. I think we all have degrees of this, the difference is that some dogs pick up on it more than others. The other thing is that tugging techniques can vary quite a lot. All my dogs tug pretty well but I am not ashamed to admit that there are a couple of people they tug harder & better with than me. Those people have perfected the art of tugging, not an easy thing for everyone to do. Also be aware that as far as tugging for motivation, things can kind of go in a circle...the more they enjoy the tug, the more motivated they are to get it, but it can go the other way too. The more motivated they are for an activity, the more likely they are to accept a tug as a reward. LOL, hard to explain, not sure if that makes sense.

Mym, is there any chance you are a little more self conscious at training? I know a few dogs who will tug (and do agility) with heaps of motivation at home, but not out in public. Sometimes it is the dog reacting to the environment, but often it is the handler who is unable to let loose in public as they can at home. The dog is often responding to a different energy from the handler. A way to test this is to have a game of tug with your dog at home as you normally would. Then do it again, but this time video it, with the intention of putting it on the internet for others to see. Just an idea, I may be on the wrong track, but it is something I have seen a lot in agility.

Sounds like you are a glutton for punishment Di . There is Parramatta on Friday nights or Paws for Fun on Sundays (but would clash with obed.). Manly on Saturday mornings. Hawkesbury on Wednesday nights. What class are you in at Castle Hill? I haven't trained there for over 12 mths so not sure what the structure is there now, but they used to run 2 separate time sessions...7.30 for Beg, green & Yellow & 8.30 for blue & red. Is that still the way it works? How close is you dog to blue? Could you train one in the first session & the other in the 2nd session?

Thanks all LOL, I wish she had one now then I could have my dogs back! If anyone has a spare dog they want to do agility...feel free to bring it over for Chloe to train . We are not in a position to get her a dog right now, having 4 already. When the time comes, it will be good for her to train her own dog & be able to start in Novice rather than being thrown in the deep end at trials. you have been a great role model for Chloe Sam. You weren't a whole lot older than Chloe when we first met you & look how far you have come ! .

Thanks guys I haven't put it up yet...it's still on my video camera. eta...You must have watched an old one, I think there are 3 on YT taken in our old backyard. now we have room to set up a full course though so the new ones will be better.

I guess not. oh well. Then I guess it's easier to give up, but at least acknowlege that there is a possibility that it is the method you are using rather than the dog. For anyone else reading, even dogs who are hard to teach, can learn a trick in a few short sessions, using the right methods.

I am not sure if I have posted this before or not, but wanted to share. Chloe my 10 yo daughter has started running Trim in one run each trial we go to. I usually pick Open Jumping as Masters is often too complex for her & I want to run her in agility to maintain her contact criteria. Chloe is improving as a handler all the time, she has a really nice feel for when she needs to push & when she needs to hesitate. It helps that Trim is trained of course, but she is not the easiest dog in the world to run, apart from her speed, she is very tuned in to handler movements so your timing has to be pretty good to run her. In May this year, we went off to Goulburn to trial. This was Chloe & Trim's run: Clear and 2nd place!!! The hesitation before the weaves was my fault, I told Chloe to call her really hard as I thought she would take the jump on the other side. Luckily Chloe thought quickly to turn her again & lucky Trim has good weave entries! excuse the bad videoing, LOL, I got very shaky with excitement towards the end. I took some video of them training together in the backyard this week as well which I will load later.

Put your toys away. Jump into a box. Paw at face. Target.

Sounds like you are resigned to what he is Clare & that is fine...he is your dog, if you are determined that he cannot be fixed & can live with the way he is then there is really no point in people continuing to argue the point. You are wrong here though. I have yet to see a dog who cannot be tired/settled down by mental stimulation & tricks will certainly achieve this, both general tricks & agility tricks. Many people think a dog with lots of energy just needs to run & run. Doing this can actually have the adverse effect to what you are after. I can guarantee that if you are prepared to spend some time with him each day & follow advice on here with step by step instructions, we can turn him into a happy stimulated dog who is eager to learn...just by teaching him a few simple tricks. Are you prepared to accept the challenge?

FWIW Clare, I would NEVER do any obstacles with a dog & especially not a puppy on lead. Not only is it teaching them the wrong body language, it is almost impossible not to accidently correct them with the leash at some point for taking obstacles. not fun at all. If you are doing things at home, leave your lead off, please...

Is it possible to do agility with a poorly trained dog? Yes, but it is generally not fun for the handler, the dog or the other people & dogs you are training with. Is it possible to take a poorly trained dog and teach it to focus & enjoy agility? Absolutely, but it takes a lot of time, patience & a willingness for the person to learn. Agility is much more than just running over obstacles for a reward. I would say it would be quite difficult for a person with a poorly trained dog to effectively teach agility in their own backyard. I don't mean this to sound rude, but some of the skills needed for agility are much more complex than basic manners, so it is unlikely that someone whose dog does not have basic manners will be able to teach them agility without some help. Where are you located? Maybe a small group or one on one training situation would be more suitable than a large club situation before you start agility? Agility is fun, both for the dog and handler, but it certainly requires some homework between classes. I sometimes get people who want lessons with a dog who is not yet operant. That's what we work on first, and depending how much time they put in between lessons, it can be weeks before they ever see an obstacle. Some work hard & progress quickly, others just leave as they just want to run over obstacles. I think it is possible to take a poorly trained dog & turn it into a fantastic dog who loves agility, it just depends on how much you want it & how much effort you are prepared to put in to achieve it.