Tassie

It was super to meet you and your lovely boys, and to see Chook's lovely routine. Well deserved first and lovely comments from judges. I was super pleased with my kids. Stoked to get 4 from 4 and 4 starters titles :-). Grateful for all the help, and such a lovely supportive environment. Mises your Starters either .... Was doing the quick change between dogs. I was especially happy with Rory placing first in HTM.

Dogs and I had a lovely night last night in Lockhart NSW in The Little Rose Cottage. Lovely old house - full of character, did inside and good size fenced yard ( though not safe for serious jumpers). Town has a lovely feel to it. Good option for a first night if you're travelling up the Newell from Melbourne or for an extended stay. The town has a big festival in October. Tonight is Dubbo Goode Times apartment -Dogs inside, high fenced yard. Also very comfortable and highly recommended.

Now that's what you call a great day at the office. Fantastic work!

It was produced in Queensland with locals demonstrating each station - from side back and front. ETA I tried to PM you bedazzledx2, but it wouldn't go through. Is your message box full? PM sent!

Too sweet. Do hope things are going well.

It was produced in Queensland with locals demonstrating each station - from side back and front. ETA I tried to PM you bedazzledx2, but it wouldn't go through. Is your message box full?

:laugh: had the problem with my agility BC girl, RubyBlue - still have it - and she's now 10 and a half and still thinks everything should be done at warp speed. :laugh: And having it harder, as in TSD - hmmm - hasn't really helped the problem - although it probably does make her work her nose a bit harder. It is important to try to get them to work at a steady pace - not only for the safety factors - my girlis only 15 kg, but I've still had rope burn from the lead if I haven;t been paying attention. More importantly, if they're going too fast, they can get a noseful of scent and then be a long way past a corner (but still looking like they're on track) before they realise they've run out of scent. Then, even if you haven't been called off, it's hard to work back to the corner. (Been there, done that ... ) I haven't found the solution with Kirra, although she does respond a bit to the word steady, and me putting the brakes on. I think I'd be inclined to try older but shorter tracks, and more turns maybe, and more frequent concealed articles (with treats hidden inside a fold or something, to make the dog work harder.

What a great set of posts. I'm another substantially GD wannabe handler - but mainly because as an older person who is also an unfit, unco klutz, it made more sense to me than what I could read of LM (also referred to as Awesome Paws I think), and I had the chance to take some lessons and attend GD workshops. (I think had I been in a position to attend Ronda Carter workshops or Daisy Peel, I might have a different view. I fugred if the system made sense to me, then I would be able to use it more effectively with the feral one, and that's been the case. What's true is that the GD system was not designed for agility games, so therefore might be less useful if you do a lot of games (as CFS points out). As Jess. has pointed out, GD (and probably others) is a set of guidelines. You can choose to do different things like layering or blind crosses or round the back finishes in ob or rally - all he points out is that it could weaken the effectiveness of cues - but it's always left to the handlers to make those choices. To me one of the nice things about the existence of handling systems, is that it makes handlers like me more aware of the need for consistency. :)

Congrats, murve - great effort for a tiny one. You could post over on the Phalene thread in the Breed sub-forumns.

for RS and the clever girls - and for xena98 and Gabby - great switch of disciplines there girls.

GREAT work xena98 and the fabulous Miss Gabby

Yay murve - go the littlies!! Great effort.

I think the advice is to wait 48 hours after putting it on before the dog swims or is bathed. Check the packet to be sure. (And don't forget Advantix is toxic to cats. (Just refreshing my knowledge as I'm heading off to tick country next weekend - ugh!)

:laugh: kathq. Rory had never tracked anyone but me when he started (well - once when he was just starting - a hot 50 m track - but he didn't even know that person very well.) So he got a big shock on his Test 1 when he got to the end of the track and found a body wrapped in a tarp lying on the ground - he hauled off and did his best Rottie imitation "Did you guys know there's a BODY here????". Luckily the tracklayer had met him briefly earlier in the day, did know his name, and had his reward ready. :laugh: He only ever tracks me in training - but I'm sure once they 'get' the sock finding game, it doesn't matter at all who's at the end of the track. Coco obviously 'gets' it, so may the nose be with you for her 4. :D

Well done to OH and Ziggy - and you of course BB!

:D Janba - I go back to the days before the box too. And although theoretically having the box makes it easier - it's amazing how dogs can miss it - to the side, behind ..... And now there's a substantial deduction for commanding the dog to sit - the box being there, dog is expected to turn and sit in the box on his own - in the old days, you used a verbal (and/or simulataneous signal to stop and sit you dog.) Erny, as padraic said, the rules specify one word verbal commands (with or without simultaneous signal) in English, unless prior approval has been gained from the judge. I'm pretty sure this would normally be given, but again, the commands must be one word (which is why some judges might be reluctant to give permission - if they weren't sure the commmands would be single word.) I don't believe you would have to give all the commands in the same language - after all, you can choose to use eg different left about turns in the same heel pattern, and can switch between verbal only, signal only or combination - (except of course in UD signals :laugh: ). And finally - you can always put a new cue on an old behaviour. I tend to try to get the behaviour first - then put the cue on. And as long as it's one word, the verbal (and signal) can be anything that makes sense to youi. As long as it's consistent, the dog won't care :laugh: .

Woohooo - way to go kathq and Coco. And how clever to finish with an Excellent! Walking on air still? You shouild be!

Well done with your lovely and clever girls, xena98. Glad you had a good time and you're home safe. Nice not to have to go straight back to work

Thanks Ptolomy - working on your suggestions with my lil big man. We are making headway - training opportunities with other trusted dogs and handlers are somewhat limited in the depths of winter, but we're doing our best. Working on the active stay on our own or with Kirra, to try to make sure he does really understand what 'stay' means in that context - and to keep him focused.

@ tollersowned - sorry - didn't see that before I posted - couldn;t agree more - as you can tell. :D

@ Elise+Hudson - as well as the Moe (yes I can't remember the spelling either - Stemfl maybe)) foundation ones, which I love - my other must have with a beginner dog is Susan Salo's foundation jumping. I love that the grid work helps the dog to learn the job of going over obstacles correctly, with or without handler motion or cues. It is so worth while doing these exercises first, IMHO - as not only is it great for agility (avoiding lots of issues with aving to say 'over' etc. all the time - but also translates beautifully to other disciplines - obedience and Rally. What the dog learns is - if there is a jump in front of you, and I haven't told you anything else, take that jump, in the middle and in either extension or collection depending on the space available and my speed. I think as well as from Clean rRun - both those sets are available in Oz from here.

I'm following this one with interest, wuffles. I'm in the same situation (though for different reasons) - and like you, limited opportunities to train with trusted dogs and handlers (which is the stage I'm at at the moment). I feel your pain about the staying a few metres ahead of the line. My first BC did that one day in a UD 10 minute down - there was a stand in Rottie next to him - nice dog, on lead, nice handler - but Sam couldn't cope with lying next to her - so he went a couple of metres forward of the line and did a 10 minute stand stay. Go figure - no idea why that felt better for him, but it obviously did.

Lovely run! She was having such a good time, and you kept your head together beautifully. (Loved the comments from the peanut gallery too :D . Great stuff!

I've said it before, but it's worth saying again - huge congratulations to you and Trixie. ; I loved following your journey from somewhat worried to national title - wooohoooooo!

:laugh: Way to go Charlie! Love the mental picture of him sitting meditating, too. :) You guys have done so well with Charlie