Ptolomy

Terrific news Wuffles - goodonya and congratulations Its tough doing 2 trials in the one day ! One of my kids was not the best around other dogs. I was prepared to bet my house on the fact that she wouldn't break a stay, but if another dog broke their stay and went up to her and stood over her, I couldn't guarantee she wouldn't eat them. For that reason I set a criteria that if she wasn't on at least 194 - then I didn't bother with the stays. Like Ness, there were also times when because of the dog she was next to, I gave stays a miss. One States Ch in open we were out of sight doing stays and we went back to the dogs and I found the GSD who was next to us had got up and gone and sat right next to my dog. Both were so focused on us, where we had gone and when we were coming back, that all was well - whew! My final word on stays........................... sit stays suck!!!!

I have pulled my kids out after a few steps in the heelwork too.....why, not because she wasn't going to win but because she was stressed to the max. Sometimes I would get indications as we walked into the ring - she would start looking behind her, wouldn't sit at the start post and I would attempt to play with her, make her comfortable, we would begin heelwork and there was just no point in continuing, she certainly wasn't enoying it, so I couldn't see the point in finishing the round. Other days this same dog - would come out and work like a trooper. One of my others I will pull out if I think he is sore, sometimes it is hard to see or tell outside the ring, but put him in a familiar situation (he has trialled for years) and it is easier for me to tell - so yep he will get pulled out too at some point in the round. Finally, my little allergy girl, - she often gets pulled out. Generally she is either brilliant or bloody awful (just like her mother) and yep if she is not working well - she gets pulled out - why because I don't want to reinforce crappy work, I not asking her to do something she can't do or hasn't been trained for - so depending on her attitude we may not stay long, or I may opt to go onto the next exercise, or pick an exercise I think she would do well, so I could jackpot. So there are three reasons why I may pull my kids out in the heework - take it from me, none of them are because I wouldn't win!!!! Good luck next weekend Sue and Cindy. Some of my best rounds, the ones I am happiest with are ones that I have failed. To me when you first start trialling, its not about winning, thats the icing on the cake, its about getting into the ring, then getting your first pass, then its about improving what you do, your handling and the dogs general work, and then its about moving through the classes and finally its about getting a second and third dog becaus you have learnt so much that you are keen to try it all over again.

OMG you know me too well I nearly called one of my kids Tonic - because I was into Gin at the time Jules P saving you a seat too

We will save you a seat at the pub OSoSwift

So ST do we have any news yet??????? Isn't today THE DAY???

I feel your pain as this was me a couple of weeks ago. Hey we could always go to the pub while in Sydney and tell everybody we couldn't find the show grounds

Posted to WA Click.... If you recall late last year when it was announced there would be no 2011 Western Classic Obedience Challenge, there was a great outcry from a lot of people. There will be a one and only meeting tonight at 7.30 at K9 to discuss what is going to happen on the 6th June. It will be more of a 'think tank' meeting as if we do not get some ideas to make it special, the 2011 Obedience Challenge will be just a run off. So please consider coming along tonight and putting forward some suggestions, which if feasible, could make this event a bit special. I'm not asking everyone to work on the day, but constructive ideas are crucial.

A lot of people change things after their first dog. I went the whole hog and changed foortwork + hand signals . I take my hat off to Lara who just went with the flow and 99% of the time got it right no matter what cues I gave her, she didn't even mind when I used to call her Blaize by mistake

Getting your heeling pace right is really difficult. You usually find most newbies walk too slow and then some oldies (no names mentioned) walk like they are on a mission and there is absoultely no connection between them and the dog. Something inbetweenies is what you need to aim for

Honestly - I think you have a real talent - I love what you have captured. BUT I think you are lacking some red dog subjects

Good to see you here and we want to hear how your training goes over the next few weeks - maybe we need a Sunday check in session to tell us about the week

Woo Hoo really nice heeling there - yep you should be tickled pink. OK - now for the picking, stop pussy footing when throwing the dumbbell. Your dog would love to go for a run and fetch it - so hurl the thing and see what she does. Thats your challenge for tomorow - we want to see video of what happens ;)

Last night I watched a very experienced trainer work with a 20 weeks old keplie puppy who would come bounding up to people and jump all over them. The trainer actively encouraged the puppy to jump up and of course the puppy obliged, but the puppy got very tired and so sat down - so the trainer threw food on the floor and told the pup to get it. Then when the pup had eaten the food - she then encouraged the pup to jump all over her again. This time the pup half heartedly jumped up, but it didn't last very long before he sat down again and once again the trainer threw food on the floor and told him to get it. The next time she tried to encourage the pup to jump up, he just sat there and no amount of encouraging could get him to jump - so she threw food on the ground and told him to get it. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I wouldn't have believed how well it worked and I have to say this method worked much better than trying to encourage the pup to sit when it approached somebody, which they tried earlier in the night. Just another way of achieving the end result.

196 - she lost 1 for heelfree, 1 for a slightly off present in the recall and 2 for sit stays.

I came home and watched my trial video last night - really happy with how my kids had gone. That was until I saw the video of Cider. Yes she was lovely, yes her attention was beautiful BUT I knew I had problems in the ring not while she was working but between exercises - she didn't want to hand touch, she wouldn't come close enough to be patted - so I ended up resorting to heeling between exercises. So tonight at training I taught her to hand touch. I rewarded her for being patted. I rewarded for me pushing her away and her coming back towards me - so it will be interesting to see how this affects her next trial outing. Stay tuned.......

Thanks Rubystar for the yummy treats at training tonight - we all put our diets on hold for at least 10 minutes

Rubystar where are the videos Its still makes me smile when yesterday you said......I am going to have to find a stand in handler for stays OMG. Judging by how they went yesterday - this wont be the last time PS - I am looking forward to cake at training tonight Well done to Xena98, TSD and Leopuppy - do you take cake to training to celebrate with your mates

Boy was it hot in Bunbury yesterday, really tough on the obedience kids and tougher on their handlers Hard to believe a lot of dogs were wearing cool coats in April!!!!

Rubystar - where are you????????

A small brag........ Scoota sat in the middle of the UDX cones during a trial twice today You would have to have been reading my FB page to appreciate what an achievement this really is Bless him he also won UD, but his round was a bit like pulling teeth using my teeth! The icing on the cake was Ciders 2nd novice obedience pass after 5 months out of the ring - she is something just a little bit special

It sounds like you had a great day - well done to you Gabby and Xena and good luck tomorrow. Lets hope they can both make it 2 sit stays from 2

I love the name

Are you able to tell me what date the obedience is please

I said I wouldn't go back this year BUT you never know - cheap airfares and my son is now living in Adelaide might be just the carrots I need

Argh another one coming out of the closet In WA if you enter and run into problems, you just don't turn up, you blow your money, but thats it. Do you know anybody else trialling that can babysit for you for 10 minutes? Do you have a friend who could be moral support for the morning and help you out? Good luck and as you have seen - this is the place to brag or bang your head on a brick wall depending on how you are going