Kynan

Yes I am very excited and counting down the days! KHM did you get the money I transferred for lunch?

Thank you and special thanks to your MIL for making the slice vegetarian. I will transfer you the money tomorrow.

Zucchini slice sounds great! Is it too late for me to change my mind and join in the shared lunch?

Thanks for organising this guys but is it alright if I bring my own lunch?

We did 8kms this morning

Is it "Feisty Fido: Help for the Leash Aggressive Dog" by Patricia McConnell and Karen London?

Yep we change direction every 5 mins. I get more bored than dizzy going one way

Hi SmoothieGirl Here is some great info about the ET (Preparing Your Dog for an Endurance Test) It's great that you are thinking of doing the ET in the future. I went along last year and just watched to get an idea of what it was all about and spoke to some of the people doing it to get some tips. If you can get along to watch one near you I would highly recommend it. About 6 months ago Kynan couldn't even walk 10 mins without limping due to a leg injury. We started training really slowly so I could determine whether he was going to be able to cope with running long distances. Also I hadn't ridden a bike since I was a kid and suffer from arthritis so wasn't even sure if I would be able to cope with it either. We have followed the Couch to 5k program (which is available on the internet) but started at Week 3 as I knew he was capable of running for more than 1 min. With the program you still exercise for 30 mins but alternate running and walking and each week increasing the amount of running and decreasing the amount of walking until the dog is running 30mins continuously (took us 6 weeks to get up to that). As TerraNik said the slower you build the dog up the less chance of injury and/or long term damage. We are doing most of our training on an oval with bare minimum on hard surfaces (just enough to toughen his pads) and I found it quite difficult at first to ride on grass and I was hurting after 3 mins. Also it is a lot for the dog to get used to riding next to the bike in the correct position and learning left and right turns so it does tire them out mentally too at the start. ETA we finish each session with a 200 meter sprint which we normally do at about 20kms but one day we did get up to 25kms when the grass had just been cut

That's great TerraNik Love the cross training idea! We did 6kms today for the first time! Yay that is one leg of the ET, only two to go :D I have been keeping a training diary and it is great to see how we are progressing. Seven weeks ago when we first started we were only doing 3 mins at a time running beside the bike and then walking for 5 mins. Now we can do 36 mins which I would never have thought possible. Also Kynan must be getting fitter as his heart rate was the lowest it has ever been immediately post exercise.

All this talk about scent discrimination inspired me to dust off the box of articles and do some work with Kynan this afternoon. It's been about 6 months since we last did any article work. He did great and is now picking up metals! Silly boy did get a bit confused at times with his Tracking training and dropped to indicate the articles a few times instead of picking them up!

Yep I could do that! We'll do a swap! I get Kenz her ET title and you get Kynan his CD

Well we have just completed the first 6 weeks of our training program and Kynan can now run 30 mins continuously beside the bike We have been training 4 times a week and have only missed one day. We even got up at 7am this morning and drove to the oval and then rode in the rain. Only 13 weeks to go. How is everyone else going?

I-squeaks arrived today! Perfect colour choices too! Got a beautiful heeling routine before I could even get the envelope open! Did a bit more work and finally threw one for Kynan and he chased it and picked it up and promptly spat it out as it must have tasted funny :D Gave it a rinse and now all good. According to Kynan the way the game is played is that you have a large sized one in your mouth and squeak it while you push a medium one around with your nose herding it around the back yard Will take some photos tonight. Thanks Ptolomy very much appreciated! eta photos

Is this it? Dogs Vic Championship/Award Application

Entries for the Adelaide Endurance Test are now open. Schedule is in the March DogsSA Magazine bottom of page 28 and on their website (see link below). It is to be held at the German Shepherd Dog Club of SA (Pedigree Park, West Beach Road, West Beach) on Saturday 26th June 2010 commencing at 0830. Entries cost $12 and close 18th June 2010. Adelaide Endurance Test Schedule

OMG I am so sorry to hear this Carlibud. You have been through so much. Big hugs to you and your family. I have followed Brydee's life in the German Shepherd thread since she was a little puppy and had enjoyed all the photos and updates. I am so sad for you. Run free beautiful Brydee

Get in quick Adelaide DOLers and secure your ticket(s) so you don't miss out on this once in a lifetime opportunity. Tickets are limited and are selling fast. Ask around at your local obedience club because if you can get together a group of 5 or more people you can save 10% off the ticket price

Steve has just sent everyone who is on the mailing list an email with full details and a link!

double post

:D Hi Bully I met you and Pele today! Did you get to do a track? I had to leave at 1030. ETA we currently have a Black Dog Tracking Harness and it is good but I have just ordered a leather one from overseas.

We have just completed Week 3 of our training and things are going well. We can now run/ride 20 minutes continuously. Only 16 weeks to go Kynan seems to be coping better than me! I have found a really good place to train only a 5 min walk away that is grass and dirt with a path going down the side so we can practise on three different sufaces. Went out last night to train and boy is it so much harder to train at the end of the day after a long week at work! Got up early this morning and went out again and it was so much easier. It is good now that the weather is cooling down as Kynan doesn't cope well with running when it is over 20 degrees. Not looking forward to training in the rain and mud though!

"toilet" and "do poos"

Happy Birthday beautiful girl!

We had our first accident this morning Kynan decided to add cat chasing to his training program! No real harm done, just grazed my knee and scratched the bike pedal. Could have been a disaster!

Thanks Julie! I have managed to borrow Vol 3 and started reading it last night. It is quite heavy but very interesting. I think it will take me all year to get through it and that is only one volume!