Tassie

In my experience, the dogs really love the work - and that's important - that pleasure in the interaction goes through to the clients. My Kirra gives beautiful eye contact - her registered name is Khayoz Sweet Soul Music - and I always feel that she is sweet soul music for people she visits. (She's also little and neat enough to be put up on beds where appropriate. I can remember her doing that one time for a lovely lady in the palliative care centre - the lady was obviously used to having an animal next to her in the bed, and she could just easily rest her hand on Kirra while we were talking. One thing to bear in mind is that the dogs can find it fairly stressful - they're concentrating hard if they're working well. I used to do about half an hour, three-quarters of an hour, then swap dogs. I don't think my first therapy dog would have passed the Delta test about other dogs. Another client in the palliative care centre had a great laugh one day when I had to "hide" in her room because there was a labrador wandering loose around the place, and another one another day when a patient's little JRT was wandering around. The patient thought it was great fun that she was helping to protect my big boofy BC from the little JRT My current two now only do visits at the aged care facility where my aunt lives - it's very dog friendly, and staff and residents enjoy visits from the dogs. Often they love to talk about dogs they've had in the past. It's great if the dogs have some special tricks they can do. My first therapy dog, a BC called Sam, used to peel and eat his own bananas. I'd forgotten he did that until he was sitting up on a chair beside a patient's bed in the palliative care centre, and kept looking at her bananas. When I explained, she said to give him one - and then really enjoyed watching him peel and eat it . So I used to have to go in with a banana in my pocket, and then some long term patients would have bananas for him, and sometime staff would provide one to show a new patient what the dog could do. His antics even made it into a lecture the head of palliative care was giving to med students one day. It is a great thing to do with your dog/s - and well done in particular on Zero passing his test - that's awesome.

I used to have my Border Collies visiting in a couple of nursing homes and a palliative care cente. It's a great thing to do. Delta Pet partners have an accreditation scheme - once you and your dog pass the test, you are able to work under the Delta 'banner', and they organise insurance etc. Here's a link - there's a page with the State contacts, and you can also find info about the program and the test. Delta Pet Partners

Yes - you could well be right about it just being handler cues - although the way some dogs move their bodies and especially feet seems to be a bit more than just that. It would be an interesting challenge, to try to get the dog to do something without cues. As people move up the levels, the cues do become much less, of course, so they're almost invisible. Dunno - just sometimes it feels like the dog is feeling the rhythm. As a discipline, it's great in that it helps to develop a really good dog-handler bond (and can be readily trained and performed indoors - nice for winter - or summer for that matter ).

Thanks for the dobbing, ness! And to Mrs D Yep - we finally got organized to get something going down here. About 17 dog/handler teams - most with obedience, agility, flyball or herding backgrounds - breeds ranging from mini Poodle, Westy, to standard Poodle - and a lot of Border Collies since it was the BC Club hosting it. We had a great weekend with our presenter, Sue Cordwell from Melbourne who has inspired/re-inspired us to try to keep going. We had great coverage not only from the ABC but also from the local paper, the Mercury - they've got a very nice double-page spread of photos of the dogs from yesterday - all dogs thoroughly enjoying themselves. Interesting about the dog's perception of rhythm, Greytmate - don't know if there've been any studies done, but it certainly feels and looks especially with some dogs, like they do have a sense of rhythm - but maybe they're just really tuned in to their handlers. And maybe, like people, some have rhythm more than others. I believe horse people say that horses (some horses) have a sense of rhythm, so why not dogs. For those who didn't see the news item, it's on Youtube . Bear in mind we are raw beginners. I'm sure MrsD can point you to more of the finished product.If you think you'd like to try out this fun way to interact with your dog, try it out - size/breed no object - I've seen vidoe of dogs from Papillons to a gorgeous Great Dane - you just adapt your style to the dog.

Well done, Jess and Darcy. That's super. And well done Kavik. but hey - that's my specialty LOL - I ruined a really nice Masters Jumping run in Adelaide by leaving out a little pinwheel

As usual I agree with Vickie. After all, if you don't learn skills as a handler, no amount of tuggability is really going to help

I'm a junky - I have all three Salo dvd sets - puppy because Rory was starting as a youngster. All three sets have grids - Advanced has the greatest variety. There's quite a bit of overlap in the three versions - as I guess you'd expect.

I started with a dog who is a natural athlete and though pffffttttt........Xena knows how to jump, I don't need to do that with her. (Didn't know what I didn't know.........Unconsciously incompetent.) At the encouragement of a couple of people I've since done a LOT of grid work with both my dogs and swear by it. It teaches them to look for jump and understand how to jump. The result is that I have two dogs who over two days of competition will generally knock 3 bars between them if we have a bad weekend. I also think it helps keep them safer because they understand what it is they are doing in relation to take off and landing zones. - for me this is probably more important. The other benefit is that I understand their take off and landing zones which helps me work on accel and decel cues. Susan Salo's DVD's are a really good reference for this type of stuff. Cheers Good question, Cosmolo. And yes - attention to jumping style in a systematic way is something that has come into agility fairly recently. I do some grid work with my mature girl - not as much as I should though (story of my training in general :D ), but I have been more careful with my young BC boy - have been using Susan Salo's system for him - with good results - not only is it about having the dog learn to jump correctly, but it's also about the dog learning to take jumps independently - so is in line with the general trend of agility training now, for the dogs to perform obstacles independently, in directions indicated by handler cue, which may be given from a distance - i.e. no need for babysitting. AD - Love it :D

Don't panic - it's never too late - and while I too like to get pups out and about early, I'd have to say a known parvo outbreak in your area changes the goalposts IMO. Play dates with safe dogs in people's yards are good - and if you can, carrying your pup around to various places.

Vickie wrote: I'm sure you're right Vickie - and that seems to be the consensus of our Masters handlers down here. Your serp example was an interesting one - thinking about it briefly, it seems to illustrate the different timing needed with cues for the different dogs. Kirra would have been more likely to do what Trim did, I think, unless I delayed the cue for the second jump long enough - she's still very quick to respond to many cues, so I find myself turning her too soon - except when I'm too late . Old brain - quick dog

I love the picture of the stash. My Rory (now 21 months) is a real toy lover - will often cuddle one, or carry one round in his mouth. Sometimes he will add other items to his stash - like a stick he's brought in from outside, or a draughtstopper, or a bath mat . Kirra on the other hand is not a toy girl. The only toys she reallly likes are the ones we play with - and for the most part she only bothers with them when we're interacting - so tuggies of various sorts (Kong Wubba friends are favourites) and balls. So while I'm tempted to answer - they can never have too many - it actually seems to depend on the dog.

Mine are like that too. Makes things easier on the day. And the staff are so kind the next time they see me - more tears all round - but it is lovely to know that they understand how much our pets mean to us, and they share in our loss.

Micky Moo - it sounds like you've done, and are doing, a great job with this boy. Congratulations. He's a lucky boy. I must say, that was pretty much how I read your post. So I must say I was a little surprised by some of the responses you received. I get people in my puppy class to play the gotcha/collar grab game just for fun, and also to make the dog value hands coming for the collar - so that for instance, the dog is happier to have the lead put on in all circumstances - they are also taught to put the lead on, treat and take it off again and release the dog to play - rinse and repeat. I do the same things with my own dogs, even though neither of them have ever had a problem. LOL at the 'bullying' to get your mum to play - my agility girl does the same thing - if I'm talking to someone for instnace, she'll start throwing behaviours at me to 'bully' me into interacting with her - and yaffling at me. :rolleyes:

Ptolomy wrote - :rolleyes:

@ Ptolomy. Hey, remember that Rory is doubly handicapped - he's a boy and has me for a trainer - which makes him pretty 'speshal' . I reckon your little soggy-bear will be weaving like a dream in no time. You might find she's more likely to look for the reward when she's doing left hand - right hand, they seem to be able to concentrate on the poles a bit more. I really can't remember when Rory stopped looking and started really concentrating - and as I said - long way to go yet. It makes me laugh, cos he's like the little red engine - concentrating hard "I think I can, I think I can" and then when he gets to the last 4, it's "I know I can, I know I can" and he explodes out :p . Still lots of work to go, but it's getting there. I just need time - not only for that, but for tracking training for both of them - specially Kirra who has a Test 7 coming up (where's the bites fingernails" emoticon? :D )

Dare I ask how your evil hound is going with them. I started 2 x 2 with Soggybear using an i-squeak to throw on the reward line - but I noticed that she was running between the poles looking over her shoulder at me waiting for me to throw the ball. So then I decided to get off the grass and to do it on the driveway and to use chunks of cheese. Now I have noticed that she is running through the poles looking up in the air - waiting for the food to come flying past I know SG covers this in the DVD - but her thorwing abilities must be much better than mine - yes I am throwing underarm. I have progressed to 4 poles - but know I will end up going back and starting again! Ptolomy, Rory went through that stage too - I tried to time my throw so that it happened just before he looked - I think.l But anyway, he seemed to get out of it as the poles closed up and he actually started weaving. Now his head is down low, and he's concentrating on getting past the last pole - and my throwing abilities are getting better. I'm using the nylon strip tuggy we got in our goody bag at Nationals - or if I don't have that with me, like yesterday, I use his Kong Wubba bear - I can hurl that by the tails, and we can tug on it. Noth are nice and heavy. BTW, I have to brag - tried him on 12 poles out on the course in the lunch break between agility trials yesterday (with judge's permission :p ). He hadn't seen poles since last Monday when he did 12 beautifully. Yesterday he started off a bit dodgily, but then got right into it. Not super speedy yet, but it's coming. I need to be working on left hand entries - not as solid as right hand yet. @ Mrs Rust Bucket apart from the eating :D , I wouldn't leave the poles out in the early stages. I got them out and set them up each session. Didn't leave poles out until I got to 8 official poles and was too lazy to reset the metal bases. :D

Vet/chiro check is a good idea. But I'd certainly be trying what Mrs Rusty Bucket suggested, to de-sensitize him to hands near then on his collar. My previous BC boy was a pretty reactive dog to hands restraining him (no history - had him from a wee pup - that's just the way he was.) I learned to play the 'gotcha' aka 'collar grab' game with him - much along the lines suggested - gradual shaping to get him to allow more and more constact around the face/neck area. With my boy, it progressed quite quickly because he was used to some shaping and clicker training - and he turned from a squirming, snapping, crocoldile-rolling monster when you tried to hold him by his collar, to a dog who on the cue "Wanna play gotcha" would race up and thrust his face/neck/collar into my hands so I could play a sort of tuggy with his collar - he loved it. If you're happy with the results of the training you've already done with this dog - and it sounds like you're doing great - then it would be worth giving this a go. With the warning that in the meantime, you will need to manage him so that no-one else tries to grab his collar.

sas wrote Yep - very true. With those breeds that were bred to wrok with a person (whatever that job might be) you've got a head start, although there are still individual dog differences of course. Mrs Rusty Bucket wrote Don't kow about a deerhound, but I've seen a pretty competitive Great Dane (great dog -sadly now ) Staranais wrote I've got an agility T shirt that says "Dog needs younger handler" - and another one that says "Yes, I KNOW that was my fault" :p

well done TerraNik and Jedi and Milky. ;) ness, if I can do it, you can. When I did it with Kirra and Fergus 4 years ago, I hadn't ridden a bike for pretty much longer than you've been alive, and my friend and training partner even longer ago . Our first training session was without dogs - just getting used to riding a bike again. RS - yes you can get a little bike computer gadget for your bike - think mine cost about $20. You need in training to be prepared for speeds up to about 15 or 16 kph - in case of things like having to catch up to the group again - e.g. after dog toiletting, or as in my case, after falling off your bike when the dog has a huge shake because of the sleet storm coming straight into his face - and then having to get a spare bike because my brakes were temporarily stuffed - literally - with mud. But for most of the trip you're riding about 10-12 kph. Probably a little faster in the first leg, cos some judges like to 'bank' a little time while riders and dogs are fresh. As far as heart rate and temp go, what they're looking for is signs of dogs being over-stressed - eg heart rate going to high, temp going up and not coming back down again within a short time. My Kirra has 'white coat phobia', so her resting heart rate as per our check with our own vet was high - over 140. At the last check, I had her in my arms and she wasn't noticing the vet at first, but when she did - the vet laughed cos Kirra's heart rate suddenly shot up. (Vet was lovely - commented "And I didn't even wear my white coat today" The 'obedience/willingness' test, as has been said, is just basic - to make sure the dog is under reasonable control before the test, and then after the test, to make sure that the dog's brain is still functioning as well as it was before :D . In spite of the absolutely foul weather we had when I did ET with Kirra and Fergus, it was a fun thing to do. I'm hoping to do it with the little big man next year or the year after.

Fantastic effort Tigerlily. Some things are meant to be.

Snowysal, the trip length varies from summer (shorter) to winter (longer). In summer the ships each do 2 crossings a day, so leave about 9 pm and get in about 6 am. In winter, it varies a bit, but usually leaves about 7 pm or 8 pmand gets in theoretically about 7 am (often a bit earlier). The dogs are in their crates or whatever for about 10 -14 hours, depending on the crossing, how long the ship takes to load etc. In the morning, as soon as you're allowed down onto the vehicle decks, you get your dogs straight away, and I usually give mine the chance to stretch their legs. wee etc. on the vehicle deck while they're getting ready to unload. (Although have to say now, mine don't usually bother wanting to get out of the car - they know the routine, and prefer to wait till we're off the ship and they can have a good run, either on Port Melbourne beach or on the great open off lead area at East Devonport. ) I was a bit worried the first time or two, and a little worried when I travelled with Rory at 12 weeks of age - but absolutely no problems - and the little man held on all night, good boy . One of the few downsides of the ferry is that there's a LOT of sitting around in queues in the car - waiting to check in, waiting to load, waiting to unload, and quite a long wait to go through quarantine at Devonport. I think it's about $20 or maybe a bit more each way for a dog kennel space. The big thing at the moment now, though, is book EARLY if you're taking a dog.

Hey luvsablue. There was a case ages ago where some GSDs in a home made an poorly ventilated dog trailer died of heat stroke on a summer crossing. However .... if it makes you feel any better, my various dogs have travelled across Bass Strait about 3 or 4 times a year for years - never any problems. TT Line prefers that you put your dog in one of the ship's kennels - bank of metal wire-fronted cages that are on the main vehicle deck - which is a very high space, well ventilated - although lights on all night, and fairly noisy, probably. I don't think the dogs sleep all that well - mine usually sleep a lot the next day . With a bit of paperwork, absolving TT Line of all responsibility, and with your vet OKing the set up in your car, it is possible to leave your dogs in your car - which is what I do now - mine are in open wire crates in the car, with water dishes attached to the sides. I leave the windows down a reasonable way - more in summer if it's hot, less in winter - and I'll often put a blanket on top to try to keep some of the light out. TT Line don't encourage you to do this, but they will let you if you insist, and as I said, sign your life away. You cannot go down to the vehicle decks once the ship has sailed - but the security people do check the decks, and apparently the dogs. I usually don't feed my dogs their evening meal, although I give them a Bonio type biscuit as I'm leaving them. You need to make clear when you're booking that you will be travelling with dogs, and you need to make sure the stevedores etc loading the ship park you in an appropriate place - just tell everyone you see that you have dogs in the car. You do need to book pretty well ahead, because they're now taking more and more freight, and what would normally be car spaces on the ventilated decks are now taken up by trucks. The other thing you need to know is that dogs travelling into Tasmania are required to be dosed with a wormer that deals with hydatid tapeworm. The requirements are set out on the DPI website. My guys are on monthly Sentinel Spectrum (so they're always heartworm protected) and this does hydatid tapeworms as well - so I just juggle the dates of their worming so that they are dosed a couple of days before returning to Tasmania. Feel free to PM me if you have more questions - as I say - my dogs are frequent travellers - Rory had his first ferry trip when he was 12 weeks old .

Oh poor Tango - and poor you - and that poor lady with her little dog. It's just the worst part of pet ownership isn't it. I would have been like you - I would have lost it too. Sounds like Tango is going to have a lovely warm comfortable night - wishing him all the very best for tomorrow - and yo for when he comes home with his collar.

Darn it! I was thinking about putting up a question about these people today, since I've been waiting for 3 weeks to receive an order. Same as everyone else - order confirmation - nothing since - no reply to emails - left phone messages - no reply. I might try faxing them today, and am thinking about lodging a complaint with the Department of Fair Trading. Thanks for the link to the other thread, Labsrule - I'd missed that one. Still - first problem in a number of years purchasing online from US and Aus - not fun though.

@ bedazzledx2