Tassie

Good news!

Gotta tell you it's really hard when you have 2 puppies. You really have to work hard to spend one-on-one time with each pup. I had 2 (seven weeks apart in age) and it really was an effort. You're going to need lots of time, and some good planning. On the other hand, it is quite nice that they have company - it will take pressure off your older dog, too. What are your plans for the pups - as in, obedience, showing ......?

Pup should be fine - and yes, the crate will be her safe haven. Just to reassure you - my BC boy flew from Perth to Hobart at 10 weeks - quite happy - settled into a house with another BC and a large cat - no problems. Then a couple of weeks later, travelled to Melbourne on the Spirit of Tasmania, spent a week there, visiting rels, then back on the ferry. Three weeks later - across Bass Strait again for a 4 day agility seminar - staying in a different place, with another dog. All with no problems at all. Think he regards travelling as normal now . Good luck with the move.

Have a really good think about this if you're contemplating attaching one to a head halter (as I frequently see ) Well said, pf. My pet hate. Each of those pieces of equipment should come with a big letter warning that they are not to be used with the other IMO. So much risk of major injury. The other thing I don't like about retractables is that you can't get the same feel from the handle as you do from a normal lead - and you can't do the fingertip 'power-steering' thing - remember Suzanne Clothier talking about that.

Looks perfectly suited, Sandra - should be able to chill out nicely in the breaks. - Yep - I'm the same - my boy's not 2 till September, so I've got plenty of time before next year's test - only 1 a year here - sometimes one every two years.

I don't have any problem with a dog being on lead, especially a long lead, in an off-lead/effective control area BUT, I do have a problem with the long lead being a flexi lead. IMHO these can present quite a hazard for dogs and owners, the cord being as thin as it is - and difficult to shorten and lengthen easily. I much prefer a long light lead like a tracking lead. Easier to drop part of it, as suggested by Vix, to change the dog's posture and reduce tension - and much less likely to cut or otherwise damage legs - canine and human.

Now we certainly want a video of that.

Yes, of course, ness - no problems. And how can that be that the i-squeaks are louder than the Cuz . Oh well, Rory will be delighted - the louder the squeak the happier the boy - and Miss Kirra will just have to cope.

Finally - my chance to get the i-squeak everyone is talking about. Ptolomy, could you put me down for 2 medium please. And no need to post - I can pick them up from you in Perth . I've gone so long without any anothr couple months won't hurt. Can't be louder than the Good Cuz - or the smallish PetLife elephant that you can get from Woolworths/Safeway. Poor Kirra rolls her eyes when Rory starts charging round with those. Luckily I live on an acre, so no really close neighbours .

I'd think so. As you say, nothing in the rules says you can't.

And yes - definitely do some training on grass - for the human mostly. We had to do a bit (fortunately not too much) on grass that was actually under water - what fun - NOT. Training on wet gravel/mud is good too, just in case - depending on the terrain of the test site. As far as speed goes, it's a good idea to get your dog conditioned up to about 13/14 kph. Some judges will take the first leg out a bit faster than the 10kph, while the dogs are fresh, to give them some fiddle room later. Not a problem as long as your dogs have done a bit at that sort of speed. We found it was good to vary the speeds anyway on training days - a bit of variation for the dogs.

Check the new rules on the ANKC website - I'm pretty sure they mean you can hold the leash in either hand.

Consistency is key (though it's so hard for us to remember that and do it. :rolleyes: ) As far as a lead goes - if you feel you need something more than a normal flat collar, I'd suggest a fabric martingale or limited slip training collar like Black Dog sells. Dog can't get out of it (well not easily) but also can't choke. My top tips for your reaction when the dog pulls : stop, say nothing, wait for the dog to turn to you to ask what's happening, mark that with a clicker or a marker word, then treat, start off again - rinse and repeat; start taking some steps backwards - say and do nothing else until the dog turns to you to see what's happening, mark and reward' - start off again - rinse and repeat; doodle - my favourite - you need to go to a more open space like an oval or something. Start walking - as soon as dog pulls, change your direction and start walking away from the direction the dog is pulling, keep changing direction until you find the lead slackening - mark and reward heavily. You can't get lost - you're in an open space - and you're probably only walking a few steps in each direction. You'll probably find after a short time that your dog is starting to quite enjoy this new game, and will be looking at you to see which way you're going next - massively reward that - with treats, but also with eye contact, enthusiastic verbal and physical praise (if the dog likes that). This is an exciting new game for you and your dog to play together. As Aidan suggests, while you're working on this, your dog will probably not get 'walks' as such - not a problem - you can make up for it with retrieve games or other games in a safe place, and the mental exercise your dog will get from working out hhow to play the new game with you will tire him out anyway. I taught the doodle technique to a large breed puppy owner a few days ago, and puppy and owners ended up having a really great time. The eye and brain contact that was going on between them was great to see.

:D Hey - if I can do it (and in a howling gale and sleet ) then you certainly can, ness . Did it with Kirra and Fergus in 2006 when they were 4. Planning to do it next year if there is one down here, or the year after, with the little big man - he's a bit too young for this year. Though I'm waiting for the bike rack number plate so that we can get out and do a bit of biking just for fitness.

And that was probably just the right sort of 'normal' that you needed - well done! Take care - and keep loving those memories.

He was my first purebred Border Collie - introduced me to the world of obedience, agility and tracking trialling - and he did therapy dog work with me in a couple of nursing homes and a palliative care ward. Started me on my dog training journey - well the serious part of it - my first dog Jessie, a Kelpie/BC cross, actually got me to my first obedience club - she was 2 and a half years older than Sam - but outlived him - by about 7 months, bless her. Losing them never gets easier - it just gets different each time - and you know that you've got through it once, you can get through it again.

:D ;) to you two. You're right - it does help to know that others have been down that path - I spent the last night I had my Sam home researching IMHA on the net - and so I knew that he was in deep trouble. Still wasn't ready for him to die the next morning - I guess we never are. It was worse for you two, as your darling dogs were so young. I'd had 12 great years with Sam. Hang in there, knowing that no-one could have done more for your dogs than you two did. And knowing that you will be a source of great strength and comfort when some other poor DOLer is going through the same thing. It's one of the great strengths of the odg community.

Yep - agree with Aidan - it could easily become obsessive - BCs are like that. I would be interrupting and re-directing - maybe onto a little bit of training - even if it's a bit of target training or trick teaching - or line-up at your side (both sides) - all good for agility. IMHO, it is probably as important to keep a Border Collie's mind occupied as it is to do physical exercise with them. I'd probably also be encouraging him to go to a mat/crate to chill - gives you another alternative when you interrupt the chasing behavioiur. Rewarding that with something really yummy like a bone would help. It's probably something that's going to be a work in progress, but it's well worth starting work on it now.

;) And the video is coming when????

Hmmm - well half of today's agility trial for us belongs in the disaster thread - like a little Border Collie being feral in the first run of the day (we withdrew), and an old handler ruining a nice Masters Jumping run by missing out a whole loop of the course - in my defence, the course did go through the same tunnel 4 times . But then we did get a Masters Agility Q with a 2nd place, and had a very near miss on what was a nice Open Agility run - she got overenthusiastic and missed the DW down contact on the second last obstacle - but it was such a nice run that I couldn't be cross with her.

Yep - my bad. Just checked the rules, and it is a return around the back. But still, no extra step. Just straight down the dog's side. Don't know what a judge would do if you put the sideways step in.

Huski, as far as I know, unless things have changed in the last year, the finish (return to your dog) for the recall in CCD is actually simply you stepping back to the side of the dog - i.e. pivoting straight back to the heel position without going round the back of the dog. The return round the back of the dog is used in stays. Either way, IMHO, you shouldn't be putting that extra step to the side or back in. It's just straight down the side of the dog and round and up to heel position - as close to the dog as practicable, making room for the tail . In the step back to heel position finish, the dog stays put (with an extra command if you want to cop a minor) and you just pivot back into position - i.e. no sideways or backwards step. But I could be wrong .

With my previous boy, who like TSD's dog, wouldn't look at a retrieve item, and didn't carry things in his mouth, I had a lot of success using Shirley Chong's method Shirley Chong's retrieve method. It shows well what Aidan was talking about with successive approximations.

No video camera and no friends ;) (close by with video cameras :p ) is my excuse. But I am enjoying this thread. Ptolomy, I think I already said I was inspired by the line-up/pivoting/find heel work with Cider to really get stuck in with Rory. (Also used a pivot using a brick paver that came up somewhere - doing it with the clicker, and Rory is now doing that pretty well after a few goes. Find heel is still a work in progress, but he's certainly getting better at moving his rear while pivoting on his front feet.) So thank you all - and keep it going.

:D Aidan. I really think Touch is such a useful thing to teach pups (and dogs). They usually pick it up pretty quickly, so that pups and handler feel very pleased with themselves. And since people can get success with it, they'll often do lots of it, so it becomes a very strong behaviour. I had a lovely story from one of my puppy class members, who had obviously been doing lots of touch. When her pup escaped through a carelessly opened door one day, pup's recall wasn't strong enough to be effective. The handler had the wit to hold out her hand and give a verbal cue "Touch" and pup turned and came hurtling back to nose target the hand. Good puppy, good handler! Having got the touch to hand, it's quite nice to transfer it to other targets - great for all sorts of things. Just one little thing to add. Don't know about you, Aidan, but I like to get people to hold their target hand still, so that it's the target that's getting behaviour. Sometimew people will want to move their hand, so then the cue gets a bit muddy - is it the target or the motion? JMHO And to the OP - your story brought to mind the first dog I had as an adult - a Kelpie/BC bitch, who when she was younger, would put the brakes on and refuse to go any further in a direction away from home. Once we turned to go back towards home, she was fine. At her age, I just went with it. As she grew up, she was happy to walk for kilometres - so I guess she knew what she was doing.