TerraNik

Ok, now that we're home....!!! We rocked up and got our dogs vetted. That meant handing in our vet certificate and having the vet or vet nurse take our dogs temp, heart rate and do a pad check. Then we had to do a willingness test which was: dog in heel position on left side, sitting. Walk forward on loose lead about 5 paces, about turn, walk back to original spot, about turn and halt. Sit your dog. Leave your dog to length of lead. Call your dog to you. If your dog didn't stay, they didn't care. They just wanted to see if the dog moved around with you and you had some control. Then we waited for the start. Each person had their own start peg along the road where you could dump your stuff (mat, water, drink for you, snacks, and treats). We started at 8am sharp.... Literally! They were saying "20 seconds to go!" We followed a pace rider. The person running with his dog was immediately behind the pace bike. Everyone else followed in single file. If your dog pooped, you had to catch up to the group and get back into place which meant riding at much faster speeds like 15km/hr. The rest of the ride was at 9-12km/hr (I had my bike computer on). Riding with the group were numerous stewards who helped you find the group again if you lagged behind. The judge rode with the group alongside. The course at Sale, VIC is very flat. It's around a lake so very pretty!! The surface was mostly packed dirt and concrete. There was also a little bit of grass, gravel and bitumen (a couple of metres each). Between legs, the dogs could not leave the start peg area. If you needed to go to the toilet, etc you just got someone to hold your dog. During the breaks you had to get your dog vetted again - same each time. And again at the end. After the last vetting, you repeated the willingness test. The working dogs breezed through the test. You should expect heart rates to drop throughout the test as they get into the groove. Milky's vet results:(kelpie) Vet certificate - heart rate 142!!! Temp 39.5 Pre test - hr 120, temp 39.3 First break - hr 80, temp 39.0 Second break - hr 92, temp 38.8 End of test - hr 80, temp 38.3 Jedi's results: Vet cert - hr 80, temp 38.4 Pre test - hr 68, temp 38.7 First break - hr 100, temp 39.2 Second break - hr 92, temp 38.8 End of test - hr 80, temp 38.4 And that's about it!!! Jedi struggled to find motivation and so I was continuously bribing him with promises of pigs ears and bones lol

Sure you can! It's 8km, 15 min break, 6km, 20 min break, 6km. It's at 10-12km/hr and that is super slow!!!!

She's still available...

You should come to one next year with us! I still have Ahsoka's to do.

You whimp! Lol

Have you been studying hard? I went out to the movies tonight, so no "study" for me. Rally looks like fun, but I am still in the minority that thinks "traditional" obedience is a hoot (edit: when it goes well ) I think obedience is fun to :D Me three!!!

You should give it a go! It's a lot of fun if you have a training partner and if you send your entries in together so you know you'll be next to each other in the test!!! Makes it much more interesting!

Hmm... Maybe I will have to eat my words... She tugs like CRAAAAAAAAAZY!! What a little ripper! I can't wait to see how she turns out! But I think I'm going to need to buy some ear plugs... She sure has some lungs on her!

Congrats Kavik and AD!

She's a feisty one, that's for sure! My OH LOVES dogs... He's never trained one before though, so Fable will suit him well! She's not as crazy as Miss Soaks!! He's doing TID with her, so she might end up that way though!

We were looking into getting a Mittel Spitz for my OH to train for flyball and agility and after speaking to some people about the breed we decided against it. So we were looking for an extra addition for him at some point and just fell in love with her when we went to visit. She is really outgoing, confident and had a good play with us when we visited! So a bit of a surprise but she has fitted in SO well already!

Look what WE found on our trip to Melbourne... It seems we will be heading back to Sydney with 6 dogs instead of 5!!!!!!! Her name is Fable and she is going to be my OH's first performance dog (agility and flyball). She'll hit the show ring soon, too.

Thats a BIG Brag Terranik - dare I ask how your backside is feeling????? Considering he used to be Mr Itchies!! I am still in shock that we did it!!!! I am so tired, it feels like it was a dream. My backside is feeling great compared to the fatigue!! We were up at 230am to get to the trial by 7am... SO worth it though! I'm so proud of my little guy!

WE DID IT!!!!!! Jedi and Milky both passed!!!! I'm so proud of my boy! I really didn't think we would get there!!!!

Jedi and Milky (kelpie) gained their ET title today!!!!! It was easy going for Milky but a little more challenging for Mr What's In It For Me?! Now we get to drive back to Sydney tomorrow!!

Do di doooo....

Oooh good luck!!!!

Anyone got trials coming up? I haven't been doing much training with my two lately. Soaks is out because of her pad injury though I will be able to start doing some gentle stuff like scent in a week. And Jedi is having a little break while we're on holidays. Abby the kelpie is doing really well though. Shes here with us in Melbourne and so I've had daily access to her!! Her SFE is alllllmost there!! Horrah!!!

'Blondie' - She loved doing radar ears when we made funny noises! Cute! 'Blue Girl' - she was really outgoing and confident, loved to tug and had really nice conformation

We had the opportunity of visiting these gorgeous pups the other day while we've been down in Victoria... 'Big Girl' - She will be kept by the breeder Big girl in the front, Evolving's (from DOL) girl in the back - these two looked like they were good buddies 'Small Girl' - She was a real sweetie and very outgoing! She's off to be a loved pet. We had a great time playing tug with her. Evolving's Girl

Either is acceptable. Just do whatever you are most comfortable with.

Yep - though usually I would just leave that particular exercise for a little while and train other things. I find when you come back to it everything seems to fall into place. I give them a break over summer though - they get a month or two off.

He's a clever boy! Good that he put it together early on, and that you didn't rely on it - which is what a lot of people are hoping for when they want to use bells to help with house-training. You still need to house-train. Oh absolutely!!!! Bell training is only a communication tool - they still need to understand toilet training to use it.

I never trim the hair. I find if you wipe it with witch hazel (available from supermarket), coat it in curash and then get the blow dryer (on cool setting) and dry it out a couple of times a day. I've never had a problem even with angry looking hot spots.

I disagree - I taught it while Jedi was learning toilet training. I would ring the bell every time we took him out. I never relied on him to let us know whn he wanted to go out but it sure helped him understand HOW to let us know once he had put the two together.