Tassie

Haven't kept up with the whole thread, but if I were you, I'd quit with repeating the command and hand signals. Say it once, with the hand signal. What you're teaching her is that she needs to drop after the fifth or the tenth or the whatever'th command instruction. You need to teach her she gets one chance or there's no reward. I know some people (not clients) whose dog has them up to 20 repeated drop commands now. But they seem ok with that, so that's the main thing. Got more patience than me, though, lol. LOL - right on as usual, Erny - and love the bolded bit about the 20 commands :D

So you could drive across to the East, RS - the girls would like a nice long drive - and it probably works out cheaper than plane fare - plus you have all your gear with you :D

sounds really ugly in Melbourne - tough luck guys. Kirra did some really nice work for me in her TSD 2 - but did lie to me at one point (or air scent) and tried very convincingly to cut off one of the legs of the track. Pity, cos the rest of it was very pretty - except that at the start, it took Kirra telling me three times which way it went before I listened to her and clipped the harness on and let her go. Oops - bad momma! She had lots of fun though, and it was some of the nicest tracking she's done - and lovely article indication - good girlie. :D

Way to go ness and Kenz - fantastic way to finish your title!!.

Yep - good luck from down here too. Track and Search trial for us - not too hopeful - Kirra still thinks it's a speed sport - when she settles down she's doing nicely, but the start could be very ugly - still, it's all good fun. :D

It's lovely to be able to celbrate successes at all levels - they're all steps on the way - and something we can enjoy with our dogs. Like Orlando's ribbons, murve.

Vickie. Yes, the chance to work sheep is a whole nother thing - even for show bred dogs who are food obsessed like my Kirra. In a situation where she was working sheep - food didn't even come into the equation. Video would be good - but I think Vickie's description was pretty near as good as video.

Wonderful to watch - and at the naughty bits - especially when he spat the MR article - he's definitely messing with your head - but how much fun was he having - just inspirational. Again - thanks for sharing your lovely boy with us.

Stunning! Thanks for sharing. (Goes off to look at Scoota :D

Welcome to my world - Saturday nights State Champs and my OC dog picks that night to forget what SFE means, not once but twice. Just as well he got his UDX otherwise he might have had to walk home without sharing my cheese and bacon balls :rofl: Yeah, right - we believe you

Yay - bless her and you - and your wonderful vets and staff

They'll be pretty excited I reckon rajacadoo - and with very good reason.

Thanks for the BC dog results - friend's boy got Intermediate dog - go the Tasmanians :D

- at least in agility it's all over pretty quickly :D Well done mirawee - congrats on Varda's CCD, and on Abbey's great CD score. Another WA inspiration :D

That's exciting news.

Absolutely! :D

Couldn't help crashing the WA thread (well, I'm an honorary WA aren't I, since Mr Rory is a genuine WA boy . Such exciting news - super well done to everyone. And RS - thanks for posting that lovely vid of your gorgeous happy girl - encourages me with Mr Rory, who also needs lots of distraction proofing ;) .

Piper, what a lovely brag for a great dog - can understand that it's bitter sweet - but at least she can still have fun with the ducks .

Think that might have just about exhausted the relevant emoticons - but what a fantastic night it must have been guys - fabulous work - you really are an inspiration - all of you. (I did watch the Perth weather forecast, and saw it was going to be a nice cool night )

Well done Lindainfa and Lola - sounds like you had a lovely first day at class, and that it will be a nice fit for you. :D I think what's been said about different dogs and teams proceeding at different paces is very very important. As far as I'm concenred, it's all aboiut building a good relationship with your dog, and the two of you having fun! And Staranais is absolutely right - the more they learn, the easier it is for them to learn. It helps if us humans can be pretty clear about what we want, and break it up into tiny steps - the catch phrase for that among trainers is - be a spolitter, not a lumper - i.e. be prepared to reward small building blocks .... and above all, enjoy :D .

That's encouraging - fingers and paws firmly crossed here that the improvement continues. Your vet team sounds awesome

One thing you could try is luring a fold-back down - down from a stand. I've found in my puppy classes that for some dogs, especially with structures like Lola's, it seems to be easier for them to achieve - and it's a nice drop to have in your tool box. You need to do it with super yummy soft lickable food, and someone or something behind her to limit her backing up. You need to move the food (just in front of her nose - she can lick it if she likes) slowly downwards, and between her front legs. The first mark/click treat point is an elbow bend - as if she was doing a bow. Even a small one is a good start. After getting this a couple of times and rewarding, I would then withhold the reward until she gives you a bit more of a bend - ideally you'd be working towards her forearms flat on the floor. mark/click treat that a few times - big party - then repeat the luring process, slowly, but don't reward the elbow bend - wait her out - and sign of the butt lowering is a yes moment - but after that, you'll wait for the full drop. If she really resists, just sadly close you fingers over the treat, with a "want to try again?" and repeat. When you start doing this, it should be in a very low distraction environment. If she really resissts, I would put her away (where she can see what's happening) and try this or something else with your other dog for a while. Then give Lola another chance - happy, happy - you want to try now? That sort of thing.

Sounds like it was a fun run, AD - poor Xena. Pretty sure Tailwag and Delta Charlie are going to be there - but they'll be running like cut cats, so if you blink you'll miss them.

It is really hard, Jase - but the way a lot of us feel is that getting a new dog is not in any way a replacement for the previous dog, but it is a recognition of the important place that dog had in your life - and in some way honours the dogs who have gone - if that makes sense. I don't know if it's harder to lose dogs through old age, or to lose a young dog - both really hurt. RIP to your deal old Stafford man - he sounded like a lovely dog.

So sorry to read this - his memory will live on as one of the greats in the breed.