Tassie

Strauss really is looking great, Ptolomy - so happy and proud of himself, bless him. I'm with you Seita - I do tend to try to look a little bit neater for obedience than I do for agility and definitely neater than for tracking

well done RubyBlue - onwards and upwards now.

East Devonport Tasmania - just near the Spirit of Tasmania ferry terminal. Alice beside the sea The 2 Border Collies and I just spent a night here on our way to an obedience trial in Ulverstone. Expensive, but beautifully clean and attractively furnished. Plenty of cooking utensils, but only supplies are tea, coffee, sugar and milk, so you need to bring all your own food. Right near an extensive dog-walking coastal area where dogs can run off lead.

Ah - OK - then I think you will really find doing some intensive foundation training (mostly flatwork) really valuable. Try doing a search on here for threads on resources for agility foundation training - I'm sure there have been some recommending good resources. There are a couple of DVDs I'd be starting with. Considring the reactivity spcifically, again there are some recommendations on here - I'd be looking at something like the Conrol Unleashed (Leslie McDevitt) programme - which dovetails neatly in with agility foundation training. Basically what you're attempting is to make working with and responding to you the greatest thing since sliced bread - heavily rewarded - and making the presence (distant at first) of other dogs the oportunity to earn even greater rewards. There are a couple of trainers on here not too far from you who do private lessons and are accustomed to working with reactive dogs - it would be well worth your while taking a few lessons to get you started..

How old is your dog, Enigma? And what general training have you done already? As you'll see from discussions here, the foundation training which for the most part is done without equipment, is key to success in agility. The obstacles come later. As one of hte 'gurus' Greg Derrett, says, agility is about running with your dog, and the dog following the directions you set with your body and to a lesser extent, voice. The obstacles are sort of speed humps on the dog's path. You can find the equipment descriptions for ADAA - ADAA link for ANKC ANKC link The best way to get into agility IMHO is to find yourself an appropriate club, and/or private instructor, who can help you. I must admit, I'd struggle to try to do it on my own.

Well - it's a brag for Rally O, and a semi brag for obedience, so I'll put it here. We had our first go at Novice obedience today - decided to do the individual work even though I couldn't put Rory in stays as he's not proofed enough to be with strange dogs yet. Morning went well - apart from him getting lost on fast pace and ending up on my right in the fast pace RAT . Full marks for SFE - yay, lost 1 for crooked sit in recall, and 2 - I think for mouthing in DB retrieve - so would have been on 187 if we could do stays. Afternoon - completely lost the plot in heeling - rubbernecking everywhere - but did all the positions, and didn't get lost in fast pace RAT . Then picked up his game for full marks SFE again, but lost 5 in recall - rubbernecking before I called him, then came in a bit slowly - but straight. Decided to do COP to see how it went - fine - full marks. (By the way, does anyone else think that there's an imbalance between the level of difficulty/chances for things to go wrong in the two options in Novice?) We finished the day with a Rallo O Mock Trial - and my little man did a lovely round - 1st place with 96/100 - I lost most of the points by rushing a bit leading to crooked sits, and making a handler error at one point. If you get the chance to do Rally O, do give it a go - so much fun for the dogs, and you can challenge yourself to work with great precision, while being able to talk to the dogs as you go through.

dont's tempt me. Miss Kirra already has 3 spare collars - one is a bit similar to these - made in Colombia by village women - and I got a pretty bling one from Bronwynne Goyen when we were over for Nationals - so no more collars. Keep thinking they'll be good if I ever get to enter DWD

Way to go Chloe - what a girl. She's a tribute to your great care, KL

Hope you all have a great time. And remember - whatever happens, you take the best dogs home

Great, cherokee! My two have had another trip over just a few weeks ago - just for a long weekend. Again, no dramas, although it was rough going over, and would have been noisy as the ship banged down into waves (and the spray broke up past the Deck 7 portholes = don't think the dogs slept very well

Sorry - missed this one - no, you can't stay with the dog - not allowed down to the vehicle deck during the voyage for any reason. The security guys do patrol there.

Don't forget little old Tasmania 10th July - Tas Dog Training Club. Hoping to enter my BC Rory - will see how he goes - need to do some riding with other dogs, and he won't be 3 until the end of September - might wait till next year. Hopefully he's my next agility dog as well as obedience and tracking (and showing) - don't want to break him..

I did have a form for the vet to fill out - but that was 5 years ago - and it may have come from the particular club. Just checked the rules, and couldn't see one there. It'd be worth copying the bit in the rules about what the pre-test vet certificate should cover anyway, and also checking with the Trial Secretary. rules page 4 under Inspection

The praying while walking away in the DOR didn't help a whole lot, huh? Gorgeous stuff!!! I wants me a Cider!! The praying part cracked me up for ages when i watched the video last night!! Me too - couldn't help wondering whether she'd get pinged for second command, or taking a training aid into the ring But super stuff. And super well done to you and Mason too!

bedazzledx2 - per the help line at pricelesspets where I get my meds, when I asked about tick preventative for Camp Tailwaggers - Advantix spot on (if no cats) or Frontline Plus together with Proban (every 2 days) - and a tick collar! I haven't used the tick collar, because my two play mouth wrestling - didn't want them chewing the collar. but each time I've been to CT, I've used Frontline (or Advantix more recently) together with Proban - the Proban just for the time I was there, with a couple of days either side. No dramas with any of the 3 dogs I've used it on - though a friend's lab did have a stomach reaction - probably to the Proban. Lasted a few days afer she stopped. Whatever you use, you still need to do a daily physical search. There is a strong rinse you can use - it's a "humans in protective clothing" dip, but apparently good for a short term.

Congrats on all the good work guys! about the toileting woes, RS - In some ways it's easier with a boy - certainly for wees - just find a vertical surface ;) . Rory likes to park his poos high - so, in a bush, or long grass, or some sort of little mound. And he has 'favourite' places in places we've been before. ETA - I've probably mentioned before a lovely little working Pem who distinguished himself one day in UD by owing the judge - didn't score on any exercise, and then peed in the ring. All his lovely owner could do was laugh - cos normally he was such a happy, reliable little worker. :D

RubyBlue - best advice I think is - trust your dog, and don't try to overthink things. Remember it's the one sport where the dog actually does know best. Just concentrate on reading what your dog is telling you. And hey - if it did happen to go belly up, you and your dog have had a lovely day out, and you still take the best dog home - and there's always another day.

Way to go RS and the gorgeous Ruby - bad mommy though - aren't you glad she was on a score good enough to wear the 10 points with ease .

- see what happens when you want her to do things like a Border Collie! That's sucj a BC thing to do. But congrats on the faultless ring work - that's getting to be a lovley habit :D

Ptolomy - pity the mail to Tassie is a bit slow - or I'd send you a BC boy to fix boy-brain non-stays - but I need him back flooffed for show in 3 days . It was such a hoot - I was only playing, and quite prepared to abandon if it went belly up at any point - but he thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread.

JulesPHmmm - recipe for instant ROH - go training with friend - play with her high jump, just to see what Rory will do - he's never seen a solid jump before. Send Kirra over jump - Rory follows - send him over and call back. Have a rush of blood to the head - decide to throw DBover jump and see what he does - reward when he comes back over jump with DB and presents. Have another rush of blood to the head, and try a formal ROH - big time reward success - job done - love my boy - wish he could do stays with other dogs. (Should mention we haven't tried ROH with a real ob jump - this one was brown, and about 1m wide, so I'm hoping it will translate to the real thing.)

WTG freundhund! Yep - think you should be fine with the ET willingness test OSS, the briefing before the test should clarify the local practice at your particular ET. The hard bit is catching up again and getting back to your place in line. We finally got the bike out again on Saturday - 3 km with both, then a pause while I put Kirra back in the car - she's 9 now, and pulled a hammy a few weeks ago, so that was enough for her. Then another 5 km with Rory - so he did 8km all up. He does love it and works on a beautiful loose lead. Need to get some more training going though - bit hard to squeeze it in between our other commitments - obedience, tracking training, showing for him, and agility and Track & Search trianing for Kirra - oh and a Dances with Dogs workshop in Melbourne for both of them. And then of course there's work - to fund the doggy habits.

I feel for you kathq! My first BC boy Sam used to do the same thing - stand over the correct article and look worried. Luci Ellem from NSW was judging us one day - and after waiting a little while said "Help me mummy, I need my sucky rug"! She was sooooo right Her advice was not to help him at all - just ignore it in the ring. And it was a ring thing - so I agree with Ptolomy - very likely nerves - his and mine. And agree about the leg weaves etc. - if I could get Sam barking mad going out to the articles, he was likely to have enough oomph to bring it back - he knew which one was correct - would usually indicate it - sometimes even bring it part of the way back. Sounds like you're on the right track with doing the SB in long grass, and really making sure she's using her nose.

Great start, Mason! And more than halfway there now Seita! (Gotta love them when they think they know best ). And fantastic reaults TN - especially from Jedi.

Go the red kids. They must have known you needed cheering up Ptolomy.