Vickie

Have you got the Clean Run Jumping issue? There is an article in there that stopped Noah (chronic bar knocker extraordinaire) pretty much overnight. Let me know if you have it...otherwise I will email you the article.

;) ;) WAY TO GO! That is so exciting, Ness is on FIRE. Good Luck for next weekend! We want full reports...oh and video if possible ;) .

Poodles are great agility dogs, not sure about Flyball I'm a tad biased :p but you can't go past the Border Collie...for anything

and once it is over it is over. This is where people can make mistakes, they put emotion into it & hold on to it. A pup will not understand 10 minutes later why you are still unhappy. They have already forgotten the incident. It's hard for us to do that.

Shine was watching...this is what she thought of my handling:

Here is the course that Maverick & Mai did so well on & I completely stuffed up :D Trim Masters Jumping Trim is such a good girl, she did exactly what I asked...I just asked the wrong thing! You can clearly see where both times she took the tunnel, I sent her there...she was so sure that she had to do the second one a few times . The Jumping courses were extremely hard, there were so many options for the dogs and your handling had to be spot on every second. The agility courses were nice & I thought very fair. :D I somehow managed to make them more complicated than they were. We had a good trial. Trim did some very nice sends & distance work which is not our forte, so I was very happy with her...just not with myself .

Congratulations on breeding these 2. They are fantastic agility dogs & Susan is a great handler, especially since she has only been doing it a short time. Here is a pic I took of Portia

It was an awesome run! One of the hardest courses I have ever seen (and hopefully will ever see) & you made it look easy. WELL DONE!

Mokey, The trial tomorrow is at Carrawood Park, Quest Ave, Carramar. Judging starts at 8am & should finish by 4 or 5. Come & say Hi if you come.

, I love the way he goes & has a look at the end. Now you'll have to go buy him another one to play with...maybe plastic this time :D ?Otherwise he'll just keep getting upset that his toy is gone

Damn, I was going to let you pick on me ! It seems to be fixed now, not sure why it wasn't playing?

yep, I can imagine that would slow things down a bit . He sounds like such a character, your Ed.

Thanks Sam, we'll try our best Sorry you're not well, I hope you get better very soon.

I am pretty firm with this one. I don't let puppies bite me from Day One & they learn really quickly. My first option is to scream "ouch" & be upset. This will shock most pups, it's pretty similar to what puppies do to each other. But if the pup is already in a habit of biting it may not be as effective. If that doesn't work, I push my hand into their mouth when they bite. Not hard & I don't hurt them, but it is unpleasant & makes them think twice about it the next time. I would do this a number of times before I would move to the next stage. If that doesn't work, I scruff them, look into their eyes & say NO! I have only ever done it to one pup who was extremely persistent. This is about the harshest I would get with anything but I am consistent & they do learn quickly. I can't afford to have pups biting with children around...and I don't like it much either. Pups that bite can turn into dogs that bite.

Trim Agility Training and Baby Shine too:

Steve, It may be worth checking Ebay for fencing. Sometimes you can be lucky & find something like pool fencing that requires little adaption to make a run at a reasonable price.

I always set Trim up so that she can see as many obstacles in the opening sequence as possible. In your run, Ness does actually take that first jump at a slight angle...the wrong way. I would have still set her up behind the jump, but where as you set her up on the right hand side, I would have set up on the left hand side. When you think about it, she takes jumps at angles all the time...that's what a sepentine is (or should be)...so really she already knows it, you just need to practice it on the first jump as well. It's hard to see in the clip. You are executing your FC while she is over the jump...that will always risk a bar coming down. Can you set up a pinwheel & video some front crosses where you cross at different places on the 3rd jump? D. taught me to hold Trim out in a pinwheel while I crossed. It took me ages to get it right but has improved my handling out of sight & now I use that skill all the time.

LOL, none of the things you mentioned. It was something very simple & maybe you had a reason for it I don't understand the way you set her up to start in the PM Open Jumping? To me that was a straight line...I would have set up on the other side of the jump, so that she could see the 2nd (& 3rd jumps). She started a bit flat & I think it was due to the unneccessary turn you put in at the beginning. You tricked her by making her think she was going one way & then asked her to turn while she was over the jump.

Don't worry that run will be etched in my mind forever, LOL. I keep replaying it over & over again. Remember I told you someone took some pics with my camera? They are very blurry & I nearly deleted them until I had a look at the time stamps on them. I stitched the 4 she took together: That all happened in less than one second Oh...are you leaving him at home? That's not fair, Shine will be devastated without her boyfriend

Well Done to Sandasm, Tadpole & Helen on your successes Sounds liek everyone is having a good month...let's hope it continues & we can be all back here bragging for the rest of the month. Well I only really saw one thing that made me frown :D (but I am very picky as you know :cool: )...I think they were great runs! You are looking a lot more confident & so is she, he weaving is dramatically faster & in general she looks like she is driving much better through the course. Nationals here you come!

:D I'd like a holiday... Have you booked in ffor the Rob Michalski seminar at the end of July? It is well worth going either as a working spot or an auditor. He is an excellent dog (and people) trainer, he's VERY patient, breaks everything down & will give you a million ideas of things to work on.

I saw agility at the Easter Show when Zeus & Noah were about 4YO. We joined a club the next week & have never stopped. I tried herding with them as well, but they didn't have any instinct, so we didn't pursue it. I had no plans to get another dog when I met Trim's breeder & family, but knew straight away when I saw them that she would be (and is)everything that I wanted in a dog...for anything I could ever want to do. I also had no plans for another dog when I started looking after Shine, but just couldn't part with her when the time came to give her back. I was very career focussed before dog sports, I always had dogs spent hours at the park each day, but didn't do any formal training. :D If only I could make a career out of dog training...nowdays I try to fit work around training I can't imagine myself with another breed, although there are plenty that I like. I will always get working bred BC's from now on, I think the characteristics they require for herding make them suitable for sports and pets as well.

WOW :D YOU SURE DID! I've only watched half the runs so far, but had to stop & come back & comment. You & Ness are looking fantastic! Especially your front crosses! They are 100% on the last lot of videos I watched. You must have been working hard! WELL DONE! Good on you for the leadouts too! You won't know yourself once you don't have to think about them. She is flying through those weave poles too. I am so impressed and happy for you. Now gotta go watch the rest...

WOW, you got through Ex. quick! I remember holding my breath for his last pass in Novice a few times. Congratulations! Sounds like an awesome run. Well Done :D

We had a great day yesterday at the Border Collie Club trial. Trim came 2nd in Excellenty Agility & had an AWESOME run in Masters Jumping to WIN the ring. I think it was the only run I have ever done where I could find nothing we could have improved. Shine made about 20 more friends & got to sneak away to the sheep (shh don't tell Trim) :D . A birdy told me there are some more brags from the weekend... Ness? Sandrasm? C'mon guys, when you get it, flaunt it! Anyone else?