jesomil

Do you have a rotty? Is that the only experience of a breed you base your idea on? My rott got out once and went and sat on the front mat. Wouldnt say every dog would do that, thats for sure.

One night a friend had a laser light with them and my older Kelpie spent about 15 minutes chasing it. Since that one night about two years ago, she has been super sensitive to shadows and light movement. She sometimes stands there looking at the ground with her ears flicking around. It seems to have done damage to her.

Hi, I trialled my pembroke successfully in obedience trials. I taught her alot of the basics inside with no distractions sitting on the floor. I also taught her to watch me, to look up at my face. I initially trained her with treats as a puppy then moved onto a tug toy. I was able to reach down and treat her and would also throw a treat when she learnt to catch. I gave all hand signals at waist height. Because she had been so reinforced to looking up and watching me, it was no problem. The looking up at you is great but with everything else, it takes time and especially when just starting out at classes you may only get him to look at you for a split second. Also i would start reinforcing the right behaviour at home where there are less distractions so you dont have to constantly lean over to get the attention. It is much easier for a pup to learn at home. You should do most of the teaching at home in a non distracting environment but still go to the classes for guidance.

I have bought a big cork board that i pin them onto. They dont all fit but i just put up the best ones and the rest are under the bed in a plastic bag. I used to have some blue tacked around the dog room but they started falling down after a while so i find the board easier to keep them on.

oh dear, this could be embarrassing. But i have collected it and used it over a few years on a few different dogs including customers dogs, not just my own. But at the end of the day, i guess i am just an equipment junkie. I dont have a favourite place to buy from. My fav piece of equipment is my leather lead from Germany with the matching half check collar. Tailor made for my beloved Rotty who has now passed. I have about 30 leads. About 10 of them are kept in the car. Leather leads - thick and thin and adjustable Nylon leads - thick and thin in many colours chain lead 10m lunge lead Light/heavy show leads Medium sheepdog leads Snub leads for agility 2 fancy leads i had for the afghan a few fine puppy leads Collars - i have way too many of them. I think i would be too embarrassed to say how many exactly. I have normal collars made from leather (fav one is a prestige rolled leather one, oh and the weaver dear skin one my kelpie wears), nylon, plastic, webbing, one made from cow hide, a few sighthound collars many fancy ones. 8 check chains in various sizes (i dont use them on my dogs) 3 fur savers 3 prong collars 6 martingale collars 1 leather tracking harness 1 leather agitation harness 4 nylon harnesses 3 car harnesses 4 haltis 2 gentle leaders 6 different sized muzzles 8 dog coats I think that is all for now.

Here is another Victorian with a frisbee mad dog. I always hoped frisbee would come to Vic one day.

Yes, they do rock!! Amazing dogs who have amazing drives to do what they have been selectively bred for over many years. I love watching the lines of dogs who have been bred purely for working purposes, be it kelpies, collies, labs, GSD's, malinios, etc etc. Not always the prettiest of dogs but great at what they do and drives to die for. Lablover, i always find your threads interesting. You always seem to ask thought provoking, interesting questions that you have thought alot about.

I am really glad i am not the only one with excessive lead problems. I am going to have to check out K9's leads though. They sound pretty popular.

I wanted a high drive dog to compete and win in yard dog trials. I got a pup from the state champion who i thought was showing super drive at 6 weeks. He has been everything and more as far as doind what i wanted him for. He has very high drives and is a pain in the neck to live with sometimes. I had him out training with and without stock everyday from 7 weeks. I researched and spent alot of time building and channelling his drives. I believe i got what i wanted and probably more. I hope i answered the question.

I cant go past leather for general walking leads. I have several that are 3/4 inch thick with brass bits so you can change the length of them. They are light and soft. They are actually ex guide dog leads. They have outlasted anything else i have ever used. For training though, i use only light, thin webbed leads. I find thick or heavy leads get in the way when training. I have to shamefully admit i have about 30 leads. I love them and cant resist buying unique ones when i see them.

Hi Becks, No, we were never offered an operation to fix the shunt. Maybe it was because she was too sick and it was a rescue situation so they didnt think we would do it. I never planned to keep her, i just rescued her from a bad situation. The vet just said that she wouldnt make 6 months.

Mjk05, thanks for all the info. Hannahb, sounds like you have a great pup there. You will have much fun and learn heaps with him. I can relate with the sheep humping . Once we were filling a race and instead of jumping up along the sheeps backs as usual to encourage them to move along, he started humping the end one instead. How embarrassing. It didnt get them moving any faster :D Luckily he only did it the once.

Hi Mjk, What state are you from? Just wondering cause you said that trials can have some variation between states. Hannahb, Kelpies are great dogs. What type of working lines is yours from? Some are more 3 sheep and some are more yard types. My boy is definately a yard/utility type.

I have a 2 year old female Kelpie that was diagnosed with a liver shunt as a young pup. We have to be very careful with what she eats and she must'nt be vaccinated or have flea/ worming/ heartworm treatments. She has mild brain damage and is a very sickly dog sometimes. Vet didnt expect her to live to 6 months and she has also not grown properly. She used to have severe seizures and faint frequently. We dont know how long we will have her for. She goes up and down all the time. Its a really terrible thing and i sometimes think that maybe we should have let her go as a baby. The rest of her litter and parents are all fine. So sorry to hear about your loss. What a terrible shock.

Are Greyhounds allowed to participate in Lure coursing? Just wondering because of the off leash laws with them etc. Thanks

Can I just ask what a herding pre-trial is? What do you have to be able to do? Can any breed participate? I am involved in yard dog trials and so have no idea about the ANKC herding. Thanks heaps

So sorry to hear of the loss of your beloved boy. We are thinking of you at this painful time.

Hi Hedds, That is my experience entirely. You say it so well. I must say, it is hard calmly counting to 10 and then starting over again especially when mentally i am thinking , as you said. I find the bond different with him too. I guess it is the sensitivness that makes them a bit different. He does try extremely hard to always be doing the right thing and he amazes me constantly with how intune to my emotions he is. Even though he is frustrating, i wouldnt change him, the little gem. Just lucky i have no big obedience competition desires right now. :rolleyes:

Hi Lablover, Nothing to worry about. I think i have come across wrong with my topic. My boy is perfect in my eyes. He is confident in alot of sitations and is excellent with stock. You could shoot a gun over his head when he is working sheep and he wouldnt flinch. We plan to start trialling him this year. I bought him purely as a yard dog and that is all i ever want from him. The other stuff is when we have been teaching harder exercises for fun. I dont plan to obedience trial him but was wondering from the perspective of whether people have had experience training dogs like that for obedience because i reckon it would be hard work and frustrating at times. The only issue we have is when teaching specific obedience bits and pieces or difficult tricks he can shut down alot easier than my other dogs. I am not talking sit, down, come, stay etc, I am talking about teaching stand so he is perfectly in line with my leg, or teaching crawl or reverse leg weaving etc. He will only take on so much then find the pressure too much. I guess the key with these types of dogs is to go slow, keep sessions short, sessions happy and lots of fun and be very aware of your body language and voice. If my young fella never excelled at anyting other then snuggling on the couch, i would still adore him just like i do now.

Would love to be involved as i learnt a huge amount from and loved the first seminar by Steve in Melbourne last year but have a baby due late April this year which will throw things out a bit for a while. Will definately be keen to come to the next one though.

Thanks for everyones feedback and experiences. By high level of training i mean striving for perfection and winning trials, not just basic obedience. My pup has sailed through advanced obedience and is obedient in every situation, he is not nervy but doesnt cope with much pressure. But my question has come through competing at high levels in several sports with a rottweiler who was solid and strong and it was quite easy to train and work with. The sky was the limit. We could aim for serious precision in heeling and advanced exercises were always fine. She could take whatever pressure i would throw at her. But this young fella will crumple easily. I guess it would be possible with alot of work to get to a certain standard but i guess the key to an awesome working dog is to start out with a solid temperament. I dont plan to do anything other than yard dog trails with my boy but was just wondering about the obedience stuff as i have found him quite frustrating when it comes to that. You have all given me interesting things to think about. Thanks.

I am interested to find out peoples experiences in training soft or weak nerved dogs in high levels of obedience. Is it possible? I have competed alot in obedience over the years with 2 breeds that are solid and bombproof and can cope with with the stress and pressures that can be placed upon them. I now have a 1yr old soft breed (Kelpie) who excells at what he was bred for but doesnt cope with much pressure when it comes to obedience training. He does all the basics just fine but we are striving for a very high level of heeling etc not just doing it ok. I use motivational methods. He is the sort of dog that if asked to make too many decisions he will shut down or roll over. And a loud noise will make him jump. (he has received heaps of socialising etc but is genetically soft.) Has anyone had any experience in high levels of training with soft dogs or are the top triallers made up of all solid temperamented dogs? By the way, i got him purely as a herding dog and he is all i could ever wish for in that respect and is the most wonderful loyal friend ever but i was just wondering if weak nerves is a determining factor in obedience. Or do the soft ones just need alot more time and patience (maybe even a better trainer ).

Hi, Are the training days just for beginners who have never seen sheep before? We are city slickers but have done a bit of work. I would love to have somewhere closer to play as we normally drive hours. We are definately not pro's but are confident with the basics. Thanks.

Hi Wally, I have 2 red and tan Kelpies. One 2 years old and one 8 months. I planned to do obedience and agility mainly and a bit of herding as we didnt have access to stock but as it turns out we have had access nearly every weekend to stock and we have become herding addicts. Obedience and agility dont even get a look in. We have a huge amount of fun with the dogs and they thrive on it. I have learnt that genetics play a huge part in the dogs ability and I searched through alot of breeders before buying the pup. He is from Gogetta and is the best decision i have ever made. I couldnt want more from a little sheepdog. I got him purely for competing in yard trials and hope to start next year. I told Joe exactly what we wanted and he gave us just that. At 6 weeks he told us what his strong points would be and the traits we would have to keep an eye out for and the pup has turned out just as he said. He knows his dogs and abilities very well and is also an awesome teacher. I started the pup at 7 weeks in the round yard with ducks. He learnt all the basics in the round yard and learnt alot of self control before going out of it. We use the ducks at home as we dont have sheep. We do sheep on the weekend. Ducks are fantastic as they dont get dog trained like sheep and are always flighty. Everything he has learned on the ducks transfers straight over to the sheep. Kate.

Hi, I was just wondering how Stewie was going? I found it comforting to read these posts as my beautiful precious girl was diagnosed yesterday with the same thing. At least there are others out there who know what we are going through. She is an almost 10 year old Rotty. She started limping in her left front leg a month ago. I also thought that it was arthritis. We had x-rays and they were all clear so i breathed a sigh of relief. Then suddenly yesterday i noticed this big lump had suddenly developed on her shoulder. X-rays confirmed the worst. This terrible cancer comes on so fast. I have chosen not to find out what the exact cancer is and i will not put her through amputation. It wouldnt be fair. It was great reading about others experiences and i called Robert McDowell today. I have the herbal supplements on the way. I am also feeding completely barf as well. Is there anything else i can do for her? The supplements wont be here till monday which feels like eternity, so till then i am giving vitamin E, C and the omegas. I really want to do all i can. I am quietly confident she will miraculously beat this as she is too loved to go anywhere and is still very happy so far. Any more ideas will be greatly appreciated. Thanks heaps.