TerraNik

Agreed... Plus the 50D is a great little body!

Me too

Yahooo! Well done Luke and Barkly!

Wow, what a cool competition! Congratulations!

Abby didn't get hers videoed - my video helper was busy with her own dog. And Jedi's well... You may be one of the lucky few to get to see that one It's certainly entertaining.

TSD do you mind clarifying for an agility noob what you mean when you say you can't set your dog up in an obedience stay? Are there rules about how you position your dog when you walk into the agility ring? She means in OB you can't physically set up your dog into position - no pulling on the collar, etc. In agility, it was my understanding that you had to be hands-off as well. But wasn't sure... I get Jedi to line up at heel for when we start an agility sequence - I agree, it helps me see what's in his line of sight.

Awww those eyes!!!!!!!!

WOOOHOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

We keep our guys fit by doing regular bike rides, runs and swimming. Also I guess the regular agility/flyball training helps to maintain their fitness. I totally agree with taking performance dogs to the chiro... You discover all sorts of things about your dog (including broken toes that you never knew about! ) and even though they don't appear lame, I always see improvements after a trip to the chiro. Soaks' most recent visit to the chiro improved her gait significantly even though there was nothing 'wrong' with her gait prior - her back was out. So they go every 3 months regardless.

I noticed that, too... I haven't trialled in agility yet, but I didn't think that sorta thing would be allowed. What are the rules about setting up your dog at the start in Australia?

Absolutely! I am THRILLED! It was a great night for my friend too - she managed to take the novice ring with a 196! So for all three dogs to get through was brilliant! The three of them together -

Meanwhile, I like to train with a friend or small group (3 of us). I do most of my stuff by myself though but meet with others 1-2 times per week. I also give Jedi a day off before a trial. I never thought about fitness for obedience... Our guys do agility and flyball so they have to be fit for that.

I think I need to rethink Jedi's warm up.... He needs a warm DOWN before we go in.... Last night we went into the ring and he looked like he was on speed! A new definition of feral! Even the judge called him crazy He was high as a kite! Where did my allergy boy go?!!! I'm not used to this! I reckon he could've done FOUR novice rounds and still been off his chops!

Congratulations Grumpette!!!!! One more to go!

Our show dogs are taught sit, drop and stand together. We've never had a problem with them sitting in the ring even though they are all obedience dogs and have a default sit. Dogs are smart - your body language in the show ring is very different to when doing obedience.

Wahoooo!! We broke the drought!!! Jedi just got his 2nd novice pass!!!! Abby also got her CCD title tonight!!!! I am over the moon!

Maybe a bond thing... Jedi is highly bonded to me. He's my shadow and he won't work for others because he'd rather just be with me regardless where the food is. Keeshonds are a very 1-person breed though, so obviously there's some breed-component. Pre-TID Soaks would work for anyone and wasn't particularly bonded to anyone. After starting TID, our bond has increased tremendously and she won't switch on for anyone else. But I have also done a fair bit of training getting her to realise that the goods come from me and nowhere else

I have given Jedi to a friend to 'hold' before we've gone into the ring (just to tease him a little)... but I have never and would never give my dogs to someone else to warm up. I have let others do some heelwork with Jedi but it's been very select people who I trust. He flat out refuses to work for anyone else in any discipline when I am around though, except for my OH and Shell. Ahsoka won't work with others in obedience, but she's a TID baby. I like it that way. She will do flyball for anyone though but she does all that on her own - you just need to release and catch.

I think it should've read like this...

Me too... I pull them out if they are flat - to me, it's unacceptable. If they are messy, I see it as a training problem so I blame myself and work on it.

Do you thik this is stress related???? I don't think so, she is not a stressy dog and has been the same since she was a puppy. On walks, she prefers to do 4 little wees rather than one big one. She doesn't have a UTI. To be honest she doesn't do it often while training and when she does, it's when she's been released. Any tips gladly accepted though Soaks is a triple pee-er If she does it when released, have you tried not releasing her between exercises? So when the judge says 'end of exercise', heeling her back to the start peg and continuing straight to the next exercise without releasing?

I wouldn't call my dogs 'experienced', but Jedi's routine hasn't changed or needed to change over time since we started trialling. But then again, I don't actually do much with him anyway. His warmup takes about 10 seconds. Maybe in our first couple of trials I did a little more than usual but I think it was for my benefit, not his!

So long as you send in proof that he is desexed and they change him from Main to Main-Neuter, yep you could show him.

We use them because they don't tend to wear down our the coats of our dogs. They are put on really loosely, too. Plus it's nice to just slip it over their head and be done!

I'm probably going to have a problem with this when we start trialling. We do have a verbal toilet cue, but it doesn't stop her squatting randomly in the middle of exercises You just gotta try and empty the tank