luvsdogs

That's so cute, I'll have to give it a go with Tilba.

That's great, I found that shake led to high 5 which led to wave.

I saw most of it, only missed the start. If you check her website they may have put it on there, they do some stories.

Would love to see a pic. I've had a go at making a few things over the years.

Some of the experienced triallers won't do it but I think all beginners would, I know I will.

To get him over his car phobia I would take him to a road with a park alongside & walk him far enough away from the traffic that he doesn't react to it. If he only looks at the cars & doesn't lunge tell him he's a good boy & give him a food treat. Over time you would gradually get closer to the traffic & reward for not reacting. If he does you've gone too quickly & need to back up. It may take several weeks to be able to walk him near cars.

Here's one of many links about spay/neutering. I decided to let my border have one heat & she was spayed 3 weeks ago at 14 mths. http://www.littleriverlabs.com/neuter.htm I would get rid of the prong collar & please don't use a shock collar. A border is a soft dog & will fall apart with harsh training methods. I was also going to suggest you get in touch with APDT to find a trainer in WA. http://www.apdt.com.au/trainers/directory.html#wa Have you considered clicker training? There are examples on youtube.

When's the closing date for Sutherland?

We get the members from beginners class on to touch their dogs all over with emphasis on ears, teeth & feet. We also get them to do a vet hold. And we only use positive methods.

Ditto. How do you get such focus?

This may also help. http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/puppy-biting

I didn't have any trouble with April or Sooty when they came to live with us & I didn't use a crate for either of them. When I got Tilba a year ago I used a crate. She was older than the other 2 & used to being in a crate. She was good for the 1st couple of weeks but then she starteed to muck up. If it was up to me I would have let her go which I did for a couple of nights but oh & son were annoyed with her disturbing their their sleep when they had to work early. I eventually let her sleep where the other 2 sleep/slept & she's been good ever since, well almost. So the moral of the story is, don't go to him, ignore, ignore, ignore.

Thanks for that, its something to think about. When's the cut off to register? I quickly mentioned it to oh but he wasn't paying much attention.

You said you were following Ian Dunbar. But he says to have a short term (crate, soft bed & chew toys) & long term confinement (crate with door open in puppy pen with toilet & chew toys) areas. Tilbas the 1st put I've used a crate with. She was in it at night, when I went out & in the car. She doesn't sleep in it any more bit I still use it in the car. If I ever happen to have the crate door open, its in her room, she will get in it herself for a nap.

Poor, poor, puppy. Another child bitten by a dog, & dog pts waiting to happen. He'll wonder why the pup does his business behind the lounge & be too afraid to do it in sight of bil.

I haven't tried any of those with Tilba. She's been itchy since I got her but there's not much to show for it. I'd read in a couple of places on the forum & net about apple cider vinegar & how wonderful it was for dogs. I started using it in Tilba's food about 3 mths ago but I'm afraid with her it hasn't done much good. Although I noticed a couple of weeks ago that she was licking her front paws a lot & when I looked it was a bit red between the claws. I wiped it with 50% acv & water & it was cleared up the next day. Here's the link to a site about acv. http://www.earthclinic.com/Pets/acvfordogs.html It may help your dogs.

What's involved in a herding clinic? I have been thinking of taking my 14 1/2 m/o bc to herding training but as yet have done nothing about it.

An old time instructor at my obedience club used to say it was easier to train a dumber dog than a smart dog. The dumb dog would do it as many times as you asked it to while the smart dog would only do it a couple of times because it didn't see the point in repeating something it had already done.

It was drummed into us at my obedience club to not stand with your feet close together when doing a recall. Have them slightly apart so if the dog comes in a little off centre it's not so obvious. Another thing I noticed a few ppl doing was looking down while heeling. We were taught to keep our heads up & look ahead. Great videos everyone. I hope to get there one day.

That sounds exciting, shame I don't live in the area. We travelled through & stayed the night at Uralla on the way to a Qld wedding in April a couple of years ago. The days were sunny but even at that time of year is was rather fresh once the sun went down.

My dog Tilba has been scratching & biting at her sides since I got her. She did have a few fleas at the time but even when we got rid of them she still scratched. I read on the forums about apple cider vinegar being good for that sort of thing & she's been having it for a few mths now but with her it's not done any good. May work on your pup though.

Where do you get them?

I thought so too. Never competed but an agility watching addict. When I used to take April to training many, many moons ago we were told they had to touch all contacts.

That's amazing. I'll have to try it with Tilba who's afraid of umbrellas. I don't know where it came from. We had a long dry spell & when it started raining & the umbrella came out she ran off scared.

I imagine you'd fill out 2 entry forms from the same book as they are for different events.