Tassie

Was going to say that. If I ever have a giant breed, it would be a Bernese . All the ones I know are just the most gorgeous dogs - and up for anything you want to do with them (well - maybe not agility ). Don't know about shedding, but I'd think they'd be similar to Border Collies - relatively low maintenance as long as you get them started early.

That is sad - but I'm sure you've made the right decision - and hopefully there'll be a less active home just waiting for her - and that your future agility partner is just round the corner.

Well done on your title CleoJ - seems like DWD is buzzing in Canberra now too.

That's wonderful TN - what great news. for your daughter, Ptolomy - hope there'll be a brag on here.

One of the important things IMHO is to make sure that everyone is clear on what the house rules are. Sometimes people forget that this is 'training' as well as the more formal stuff - so consistency is important here too. Things like - where is the dog allowed to be, on furniture or not, what if anything does the dog have to do before a treat or biscuit or whatever is given, treats/titbits when you're having a meal or not. It doesn't matter too much formost pups what the actual answers are in a particular household, as long as everyone in the household is consistent. And yes, a family membership for a training class is a great thing - the other members of the family can watch and absorb - saves you having to pass the information on. It might be good too if your wife does the feeding, so that she becomes another very significant person in the pup's life. Of course, if she's used to being obeyed then she'll probably be able to carry that consistency through into dealings with the pup. ;)

Wow, that's a huge brag - for both your dogs (and you) but especially for your little girl. You must be thrilled!

If you find where to get the free lawnmower man can you let me know so I can get one too. Weekend of agility trialling and no grass attacked in the middle of a warm damp spring - aaaaargh. And I have a big yard, but only a small bit of flat ground. You can do some good weave entry practice with just 4 poles. Is it just me, or do other people find the new weave rules a bit confusing? I still can't get my head around them - cost me a fault at the weekend - Kirra popped out in between 2 and 3 (bigmouth me ), but hadn't passed the 3rd pole - I just kept running, but the judge pointed out later that because she hadn't passed the 3rd pole, I could have put her back in between 2 and 3 and kept going with no penalty - if of course I could have got her in cleanly - a big if.

Basically what the others have said. I know two dogs down here who had broken bones as youngsters - one is a manic boy who has heaps of fun competing, but is not the dog he could have been, although he suits his handler. The other one again never developed to what was probably her full potential.

RS - that run of Millie's didn't look too bad to me - but then, although I'm an experienced handler, I still give crappy signals, and get lost . As far as the weave entry goes, remember that the entry to the weaves is usually a collection entry - I think especially when it's a straight on entry. The distance from the previous obstacle looked fairly short, and it looked like she didn't really see them. So, you may have to sacrifice a little time, slow down yourself to give her a little decel cue, and then when she looks as though she's seen the ples, send her in. (Practising straight on entries is good too - often we woerk so hard on sifficult angled entries, that we forget the straight on - which is actually quite hard.)

They sure were nice runs. And the dogs were enjoying themselves :D

What a weekend of brags!! Xena - so glad the UDX fairy found you and Gabby today - super well done. And JDX for Ruby - yay!! - up with the big kids now. Amypie it sounds like you had a fantastic trial - that's so exciting and satisfying. Love it when the pups are on fire. And good job with the gamblers. TSD "admiring the pretty dog" - we've all been guilty of that Nice runs are always great to have, even if they don't all result in a Q. Miss Kirra was a good girl again today - could have been better without her idiot m other's 'help' - but we did finish up with a 2nd place Q in JDM, and a 1st (and only Q) in Masters Agility. And she hit all her contacts all weekend. Weavers - not so good - my queen of the weaves has lost the knck a bit - or more likely, I have. But she had great fun running, pulled up healthy and happy.

Woohoooo - Fantastic news bedazzled and Brookie UDX - how good does that sound!! And nice one RS and Millie. A little agility brag from us - my Kirra, who will be 10 at the end of February - gave me a Masters Jumping pass today - and we had some lovely runs - mostly DQ (stupid handler :D ) but lovely stuff in between. And one Open Agility nice run with one fault. I love that we can still get out there and have fun. Another 8 runs coming up tomorrow - what was I thinking .

12.5 weeks is still a baby - just keep reminding her. She may appear to know something, but doesn't really - and they do forget sometimes. Also, they often don't generalise very well - just cos she seems to know something in one context doesn't mean she knows it everywhere. And wait till she becomes a teenager and starts testing to see if the rules she did learn as a baby still apply - they do - but you may have to start from scratch again!

That's really exciting RS - good for you and the gorgeous Ruby. :D

:D Only guessing - but could actually be the puppy expressing frustration - both because of not being allowed, but also maybe because she doesn't completely understand yet what you are asking of her. I'd just be doing the rinse and repeat technique - show her what you want, encourage her to do it, and reward heavily when she's done it - so in the case of teaching her not to come into a particular area, youd need to make not coming into the area more rewarding than being in there if you see what I mean. I'd probably be tossinf a nice treat - preferably one that will take a little while - frozen wing or something into the area you want her to be. And if you're not there, use a baby gate or something to keep her out.

+1 - Very impressed. And wtg bedazzled

It varies a bit, but usually about 2 weeks or so from when they were shipped. I'm hoping mine will arrive next week some time - they were shipped last week.

Does it get it's name from "look at moiiiiiiiii!!!" That's what I was wondering... Slow to get back on this one - yes, the girls did make the most of the happy coincidence of their names!

It's a bitch thing maybe

Don't forget that brain training uses up energy too - good opporunity for playing round with some shaping or trick teaching or all sorts of things - beginning tracking - GSPs are good at that :D - but you're right - it is a worry, expecially for thre youngster.

I must say I give the same advice to puppy owners in my puppy class that we give to children in dog bite prevention classes - do not (let your puppy)go up to another dog without asking the owner's permission first - that way you can get an idea of the other dog's child/puppy tolerance. We practise friendly puppy to puppy greetings in class, and often have a bomb-proof older dog in the class on lead for polite greetings. But as the owner of 2 dogs, one of whom has quite a large personal space and zero tolerance for puppies or rude dogs,and the other who can be quite rude himself if given the chance, I like to err on the side of caution.

Yes, that would work well too. I did a bit of distraction-proofing/precision turns/figure 8 work the other day with treat packets and a frisbee and a ball on the ground as distractors, and turn targets. Once I got a little bit of really focussed work - a deliberate averting the eyes from the ball and looking at me and maintaining position (after a couple of less successful goes, I marked and rewarded him with a throw of the ball or the frisbee - whichever one he'd just pointedly ignored - good little man would bring the toy right back to me, then I'd put it back on the ground, and we would do a little bit more. Probably only about 2 or 3 minutes all up, including the toy retrieves - and in a concentrated area. Seemed to work well. (Ideas pinched from WA gurus )

And I'd be keeping a close eye on them - in those circumstances, if they're at all unwell, and particularly if they get diarrhoea and/or vomiting, I'd be calling the vet, and maybe taking them in - but not into the waiting room until you've checked with the vet/staff. (Assuming your vet is local.)

It could well be, RS. I must confess I haven't watched all of the dvd (or if I have, I've forgotten it :D ) - Kath & Kim's workshop was the first time I'd come across it, but they may well have got it or adapted it from somewhere else. I think they like the jumping up part because it's very rewarding for a lot of dogs, and it fits in well with DWD. They certainly adopt the Choose to Heel philosophy. (After I found the link, I just took a few minutes to watch a couple of their HTM routines - wow - talk about duration and focus - the Minuet routine of Karen's with Fly which won HTM at Crufts in 2008 was over 4 minutes long, and in the big arena! I'm all inspired again )

The K & K game is like the 2 food game, except that it starts and ends with the dog jumping up (on cue) and getting the first and lasst rewards from up near your chest - then you turn a 360 circle with the dog alongside and as you face front again, throw the food as far as you can - with a get it if necessary - then saying nothing until the dog gets to the food, then lots of noise and yahooing as the dog comes back, then round again, throw again - rinse and repeat a couple times, then as the dog comes back in for the last time, cue the jump up again and treat (and fuss). The two girls came out in April and did Daces with Dogs workshops in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne - I went to the Melbourne one. It was directed at DWD people, so Heelwork to Music rather than purely obedience heeling - but it was mostly motivational training tips, so applicable to everything. Here's the link to their website - and do have a look at some clips of their performances - sooooo much energy and enthusiasm, and precision.