FHRP

No, never do. I have the same 'why bother' attitude. I also think on the complete off chance that my dog interefered with a passing dog that I would never forgive myself. I have no reason to think they ever would, if I had real doubts I wouldn't do stays, whether we were passing or not. There are judges here too that will split stays to passing and non-passing. There are also judges who will only allow passing dogs to do the stays (usually when letting the others means more than 10, so two stays, and time is tight).

I couldn't agree more!! I hate the sit stays.

Congrats Kavik :D

This will depend on your dog. You can line up either side, having the dog between the peg and yourself can encouagre a faster straight & close sit However, if you've got a boy dog likely to pee, then definitely line up the other side! Practice having a starting peg before you go in the ring! Also, practice doing stays next to markers!! I chucked my middle Vizsla in an encouragement class when he was young and realised he'd never seen markers! In both stays he picked them up

I never do the down stay if my dog drops in the sit. You aren't going to qually anyway and I never do the stays unless we are qualifying. Is the dropping in the sit stay unusual for the dog? Or is it common trial thing, just not during training? If it's an unusual occurance, I wouldn't worry too much, I'd just reinforce them again in training, get someone to act as judge and reinforce the dog for staying maybe. Is there an 'obvious' reason the dog dropped? Hotter than usual, dog was tired? Like squeak said, I"d try and recreate the same conditions in training.

Sounds fine to me! As pointed out, don't wear anything that will interfere with your dog, but also wear something comfortable. If I wore dress pants and a blouse, I would feel terribly uncomfortable!

My youngest dog has been taught this way too, however as my own back up I will give a verbal sit or stand as I leave the dog in a trial. I asked on the OzObedience list before our first trial about this, if giving the verbal position cue again was OK. Apart from being made to feel a fool and told to read the rule book, the answer was no, you won't get pinged and I never have been

Some common ones: Don't look back at your dog in heeling. That will drop your shoulder and encourage lagging. Don't take big steps straight off the start peg or out of about turns, give the dog a chance to be with you. Don't be abrupt on your halts, step into them (within reason). You do not have to halt at the exact moment the judge says it. If you turn the wrong way, keep going, the judge will adjust you. If you try to correct, you usually confuse your dog. If you are not ready when the judge asks are you ready, say so! Learn to reposition your dog into the heel position at the start peg quickly, judges get annoyed if you're forever doing circles and lining the dog up.

If Hera is phsically able and enjoys it, go for it! Is Hera registered with the CCCQ? She will need to be registered as an associate. You can then enter her in trials as you would any other CCCQ registered dog. You might want to check with other QLDers if there's an issue with registering her after you've already got a pedigree dog registered. I know they limit the number of associates you can register on your membership to 2, and they must be done at the same time if you want 2 and after that you can only register predigree dogs on your membership. Hopefully you can stil register the assocaite after you've got a pedigree dog though...

That's exactly the thing - once Holly had gotten away with it the first time with me saying nothing, she did it another three or four times in the ring thinking it wasn't a problem. Next time I will be bloody telling her to sit if she doesn't do it automatically! I agree, I will also give a second command (or verbal in the case of a sit) if my dog misses a position in the trial ring, as I am then much more likely to get the position on the first go next time. Local judges here will let you know that you will lose points etc. but don't seem to mind, however sometimes judges from other states will really come down on you for doing it and really don't like it. LP, isn't UD fun Although I didn't trial Flynn much in UD, he did manage to get a negative score for an exerise once! I'm just starting scent work with Rogan now, and just when I think he's got it he brings me back down to earth

Dogs definitely get tendonitis. My older Vizsla was diagnosed with bicipital tendonitis when he was about 4 years old. Thankfully after the initial symptoms he rarely had a flare up.

My dogs regularly eat lamb neck rosettes and whole lamb necks, bones and all, without problem. Lamb bones are young and easy for a dog to eat.

My first thought was of couse I do! I have heaps of pictures of my dogs printed and framed! Then I realised they are mainly agility and retrieving photo's, none of which I actually take myself 'cause I'm running the dog A friend gives me pics from trials of my boys and I give her pics of her dogs. I did recently frame in one of those 3 photo's frames with these three pics. And I have a poorly framed copy of this I have a few drawings and paintings of my dogs in my lounge room that my father did. Here's a couple.

I don't think intelligence of the breeds was ever the focus of this thread. I certainly don't link intelligence entirely with trainability. I know you don't FHRP but some people think less trainable dogs are dumb and I wanted to make sure people understood that wasn't my belief. OK, just didn't see that happening in this thread and as you'd stated it after directly quoting me, thought I'd point out I never thought it either

I don't think intelligence of the breeds was ever the focus of this thread. I certainly don't link intelligence entirely with trainability.

I'd rate a gundog far higher for trainability than a sibe. I'd also rate a gundog far better looking

Yes, my dogs are treated differently. My old boy is definitely spoiled more and although all my dogs will get treats for no reason sometimes, Flynn more often than the others. He also sleeps on the bed, gets fed first etc. My younger boy has more rules applied than any of the other dogs for self control. He must wait for his meal, must wait to go through doors etc. The other dogs don't as they naturally show more manners ;) Dogs are individuals and should be treated as such IMO. I don't feel it necessary to apply everything my young guy needs to all dogs, partyl 'cause I'm lazy

Two of my gundogs compete in gundog Retrieving trials and been exposesd to duck hunting, and the GSP has done some quail hunting introduction. Both have highish prey drives and my younger boy (GSP) has over the top drive for retrieving, he goes absolutely nuts for the sport. I can imagine in inexperienced hands (not that I rate myself as terribly experienced) this drive could have been very hard to control and been his downfall, however it's this very drive that has made him the highly trainable and competitive dog he is, in retrieving and obedience. I must admit most of his first lessons in life were all about self control and he has certain rules applied to him that my other boys do not. I hate sweeping statements made as excuses for training certain breeds. Knowing their original purpose can help understand why they do certain things and either determine how to train them, or accept that some things just aren't going to be possible. When instructing an obedience class, I certainly expect any gundog in the class capabale of being trained to a high degree, remebering that any dog is an individual anyway and can present it's own unique 'issues' Yes, they can be slow to mature and have the attention span of a gnat, but so can many of the kelpie/poodle/etc puppies!

I don't know the thread that the original post is referring to, but I would rate gundogs as one of the more trainable groups of dogs! I find my boys easy and reliable to train. Gundogs were bred to work with man, not on their own and an uncontrolable prey drive is highly undesirable in a working gundog IMO.

My Whippet had three teeth out today and he had 4legs for dinner. The vet said soft food for a week, so no bones for him for a while. He scoffed his dinner tonight

OK, can Santa please bring: POLO Obedience - CDX title would be nice please. Retrieving - RRD title would be luverly, but I'll settle for looking like he should be there, and maybe a win or two Agility - I'm not really sure here. I'd like to get him into Novice in 2009, but as Ptolomy said, you get what you train, so I think I need to train Oh I know, to decide on weave and contact strategies and train them. A novice title by the end of the year would be good. ROGAN Obedience - be ready to compete in UD by the end of the year. Retrieving - That last bl**dy restricted win for his RRD!!!! He will retire at the end of this season regardless. Agility - Maintain his consistency. An SPDM which is achieveable. That ellusive GDM would be nice to finish off the M's. I think this is the 3rd year I've wish for a GDM I HATE Masters Gamblers!! Definite handler malfunction there. FLYNN To enjoy retirement HERBIE Maintain his couch potato and cheer squad status

I am one of the 'odd ones' without loyalty My film SLR was a Nikon. It came down to Canon and Nikon and the decider was my Dad had Nikon. Camera was great but I did wonder how the Canon would have been. When getting my DSLR again it came down to Canon or Nikon. Showing no loyalty I went with the Canon, the decider being megapixels in the models I was looking at. So, having had both, have loved both... and I'm now looking at a Nikon DSLR! Does that help?? Nope! However I agree with what Vickie says, and for 'beginner' photogrpahy it isn't going to be the camera that limit the pics I am very much in that category.....

I currently run a friends Belgain Shepherd (Groenendael) in Strategic Pairs agility while her owner runs her Briard as the pair. I have also run a Tervueren in agility a couple of times. If I was to ever get a working breed, a Belgian Shepherd would definitely be my choice, I just love running them.

I'd love to trial an Italian Spinone in Retrieving or/and Field trials.

My vote is for gazebo. In windy conditions big pegs and guy ropes (I think that's the correct spelling). The Oztrail you posted is very popular here, however for windy conditions I prefer my coolaroo which although a bit more involved in putting up, doesn't bend into the tanlged mess the quick up accordian style ones can.