Tassie

Lots of good advice here but this point needs to be addressed. You have a herding breed and as such their natural instinct is to chase anything that moves. I have a breed that tries to head off cars. It is not something they grow out of. You must get control of the dog despite distractions and never, ever trust him off lead around moving vehicles. Totally agree with dancinbcs. One of my Border Collies was a wannabe car chaser. She's been taught to look at me for a treat when she hears a car coming when we're out walking... originally it was a stop and sit for a treat, but she's over 12 now, and for several years, looking to me has been enough. (She even does it if she hears wind in the trees that sounds like a car coming.) So it's been based on teaching her through classical conditioning, a response to a moving car that's incompatible with chasing. That said, I would still not push my luck by having her off lead where there are cars moving that she could get to.

I think sometimes you just have to assume they know nothing, and start training all over again, as if you were working with a pup with no training. Little, high intensity, high reward rate and often. Don't try to go through the full exercises he'll need for the est - just the basic bits - to restore his confidence and yours.

He looks like he's saying - "This is a great game. Mum" :D

Or having longer BCs ... don't forget even Miss Kirra needs the 55cm coat - and that's a tad short sometimes. It's not a problem as we can use the fitbone for other exercises. Now learning to use the paw pods - yep - that's a training issue. :D

Have a look on Stayz OPet Friendly and Take a Break Pet Friendly. One night can sometimes be a problem - a lot of places have a 2 night minimum, but it's well worth looking on those sites.

The dogs on the farm where I used to go to have sheep lessons would do this - they'd play mad zoomies chasing each other round the dam, but if the grandma dog stopped, they all stopped, and no one would move (even though they were just quivering in anticipation) until she moved - I swear she used to work out just how long she had to pause to do the younger dogs' heads in. Priceless. :laugh:

So reassuring for you - and so confidence building to have some strategies and a plan to work on. Things should really look up now. :)

My girl flew from Melbourne to Hobart as accompanied luggage at 8 weeks, 12 years ago , and my boy flew with JetPets on Virgin from Perth WA as a 10 week old 5.5 years ago. Something like 9.5 hours including a 2 hour stopover in Melbourne. Both were completely happy when they arrived. My boy also had his first Bass Strait ferry crossing .. about 12 hours in his crate in the car .. complete with water and bedding .. and was fine.

Great information from Mystiqview and dancinbcs. As has been said, so many different activities that BCs can love doing. Mine do obedience, Rally, agility, Dances with Dogs, and tracking/track and search. We're not always successful, but we have a lot of fun 'playing'. BCs are also great as therapy dogs - people as a whole tend to smile at them and have good associations, and kept groomed, their coat is so inviting to stroke and ruffle. The main advice I give to new BC owenrs, is not to buy into the "Border Collies need hours of exercise" thing. They do need exercise, but ideally it should be exercise with you, building up and cementing the relationship with you, rather than a lot of extreme crazy self-reinforcing exercise. A bored BC is a pain, but an extremely fit, exercise junkie, bored BC is a nightmare. One of the things I love most about the breed is that they were bred to work with people, so to me, that is what pet owners need to try to replicate - so as has been said - lots of mental exercixe, trick training, training for dog activities, and just hanging out together. :)

Really enjoying the class - though I struggle with time - I think I do too many disciplines with my dogs - and work gets in the way, to say nothing of a kitten who decided to swallow a small head off a toy and completely obstruct his intestine .... . I've only read half of the Week 4 lecture - away at a Track & Search trial over the weekend (successful ) - and then away again this weekend for Rally. And have to fit in some training for a T & S trial in 3 weeks - Kirra will be attempting her urban night track. But I'm hoping to get on to the Week 4 work today. Trying to keep up with the exercises we've done so far. Now if someone could design an app ....... :D We're liking the Fitbone, but my BCs are a bit long to fit on it lengthways with a straight back - good for the different level exercises though.

Not a Labrador person, but I just wanted to endorse the thinking about getting a male, rather than another female. Or if you're set on getting a female, maybe get one a bit younger than Holly, if possible, just to minimise possible conflicts. And I'd missed the sad ending of your Lacey's story - I just wanted to add my condolences. Having lost a 6 year old BC boy to an accidental poisoning - I accidentally shut him in the garage, where there were no known poisons, but he must have eaten some dahlia tubers that were in there. My poor vet couldn't save him. I totally get the shock and guilt - but like you, I was really supported by this great community. And you certainly did everything you could for Lacey - including the hardest decision of all, to give her her wings at the right time for her. And we are lucky to have the option of individual cremation now - it is incredibly sad, but comforting at the same time, when they come home. Good luck with your search - the right dog will be there for you.

Depending where you are in WA, there are some great trainers and dog clubs over there, training in a way that as people have said, will help you build a lovely relationship with your pup, and help make Cookie a wonderful pet and family member. :D

Beautiful work, both Kenz and Minty! Congrats ness and superminty.

You're welcome ????

Just got my Fitbone today .. from Canine Comforts. Don't know how many she has, but you could ask. Loving the course .. there are even human conditioning exercises thrown in as a bonus. :)

When teaching my puppy classes about the importance of having a consistent release word, I tell them about the other option, like break, free etc. etc. ... but I must say personally I'm happy with OK - easy to remember - and as TSD says, the dogs seem to be able to know when it's meant for them and when it's just something you've said in conversation. I ended up using it - well the shortened version "Kay" - for his recall word, since he sometimes would stick in the sit position when I used come. As soon as I used his release word instead, he bolted in happily. Well . My release is also multi purpose - you can get out of the car, you can eat your dinner, release from SLS and contacts in agility. I tend to use something like "all done" or "that'll do" - as a finished training cue.

My two BCs are quite happy towoof it down - usually I just dump it on a spoonful of yoghurt on top of their kibble, but they'll eat it happily even if I don't have the yoghurt. Maybe they're beagles in nlack and white coats :laugh: . And it's one of those things that's hard to prove, but my guys certainly seem to do well on it - touch wood.

And from down here in the Apple Isle. From what we can tell on here, you are so very lucky to have each other - and we know you will make the best of whatever time you have left. All dogs should be so loved.

That's AWESOME kallistar ..huge congratulations tho you and the girls..they've done you proud.

Just adding - if you can find out from the ANKC that she is not a registered ANKC breeder, but is using their name, you can probably report her to the famous website - they can take action, I think.

It's lovely, isn't it Huski - even when it's not perfect, there's nothing quite like working happily with a dog.

Just realised there's a detailed outline of the syllabus on the public page FSDA Schedule course detail She does mention bird dog work in the course details on that page. I'm taking it to try to force myself to do some work to iron out the chomping and get a steadier hold - a lot of retrieves in UD :laugh:

That's very exciting. Have fun :D

TSD, it's basically a start from the beginning - starting with all different kinds of stuff, and getting a hold. Then progressing from there. Most of the people seems to be starting out, although to be fair, I haven't spent a lot of time in there yet. It's geared towards obedience retrieves, rather than your 'proper' retrieving, as far as I can see. :D

There are a couple of generic ones, and some class specific ones (limited to people enrolled in the particular course) .. not that I'm enabling or anything :laugh: Tassie are you doing the Kamal course? I have started my baby on heelwork using this method, so it will be interesting to see how she turns out compared to the others. I am looking forward to him coming to WA next year Only doing Kamal at Bronze - and only just started to get into it. I still have all my notes and DVDs from when he was here in 2012 - went up to Camp Tailwaggers - the same time as bedazzled. Now all I eed is time to actually look at it , never mind putting it into practice. I'm doing Gold in Debbie Gross's K9 conditioning - and 2 other Bronzes - one a repeat of the Retrieve - cos I didn[t work that one properly either. And I don't even have the excuses of puppies - do the two kittens count - they are learning to walk nicely on their leads and harnesses :laugh: