Tassie

Or with agility sometimes - uncontrolled chaos - especially in Strat Pairs :laugh: . Nice find DD - thanks for sharing.

+1 for Success with one jump. And Susan Salon has a couple of other jumping DVDs, including jumping for competition.

They seem to change a bit. Mine had 3 puppy shots, 11 years ago, although I seem to recall the 16 week one was optional. When Rory was a pup 4 years ago, the same vet was only doing the 6 and 12 (that was C3 for the 6 week, and c5 at 12 weeks - and then the booster 12 months later. @DC - that's interesting about the Nobivac. I'd be interested in knowing a bit more about it (not for me, but for our dog club requirements.)

That's super dezzyno.1! Special congratulations to Tamika and Jessie on their TDX. Commiserations to Dezzy on the 7 - Rory feels his pain - we failed our first go at 7, but were lucky enough to get it on Saturday - so on to T&S for us - which will really annoy Kirra - she thinks it's all hers. She's up to TSD Test 5 now - urban 800 metres, which will make training a bit easier - though it's a long set time. Good luck to your two tracking next weekend, and to Dezzy for a successful surgery.

And we have a brag. Mr Rory managed to keep his boy brain concentration going for 1200 metres in gusty windy conditions (and a steep hill) to pass his Tracking Test 7 with a Good grade - lovely article indications on all three articles - lovely start - a few wobbles during the track - but he did enough. So subject to Dogs Tas approval, he will now be known as Dual Ch (T) Winpara Soul Dreamer CDX RAE DWDF.S HTM.S ET. Love my lil big man. Now he can join his 'sister' playing Track & Search. :D

So very well deserved, Linda - you're such a great team. Your dogs are a credit to you.

@TSD ..... dogs don't have any space in their diaries for another trip atm ;-)

That looks really interesting. Pity it's a bit far away. :D Hopefully you or someone else will pass on any useful info. :)

Agree with what TSD said. It's good to have a name you can shorten to one syllable when necessary. And hard consonants are good to have in a name. My feral agility girl is Kirra - her 'pay attention right now' version on course is "Kizz" ... of sometimes, "Kizz, Kizz, Kizz" - which usually indicates I was way late in cueing her . Around home she also gets Whizz, and variants of that. My boy is Rory, and his on course pay attention version is "Rorz" (or "Roarz" - it's a saying name, rather than a written name) - again, repeated quickly if necessary.

Feral is awesome (I have it on good authority from Kirra :laugh: )

FOO = Friends of Obedience. - As TSD says - it was an initiative of Dogs Vic Obedience Tracking and Endurance Committee. A group of judges decided to get together and offer triallers an opportunity to have ring run throughs, with rings set ups, judges, stewards etc.. People have to be prepared to help steward etc. From what I understand it's been very successful in encouraging people to trial and helping them to trial more successfully. These days, you have to book in ahead of time, I believe. :D

@ TSD ... but what if Zig is like Kirra - eveready batteries for agility, so far - 11.5 and still going. Mind you, she is a smaller, lighter dog. :D She's done tracking concurrently - up to the urban track know in T & S - we've done a little bit - she finds it nice and challenging. The lil big man is still trying to finish his paddock tracking - we get another go at his Test 7 on Saturday. Still, you're excused - the gundog stuff is pretty darned time-consuming - although it always sounds like heaps of fun.

BR - not TSD (obviously :) ) but just to answer part of your question. Gundog as in breed .. the list is here Group 3 Gundogs For the starter level, associate (i.e. not registered purebreed dogs) are eligible as long as they are a Gundog breed. 2.2. Main and Limited Registered Gundogs (including de-sexed registered Gundogs) and Associate Dogs of a variety accepted by a Member Body as a Gundog shall be permitted to compete in Retrieving Ability Test for Gundogs in all States and/or Territories of Australia. For the main titles, only (ANKC) registered purebred gundogs are eligible. And yes - the dog sport business is a whole new world - a growing one, and one where you can have ltos and lots of fun with your dog. The good news - a lot of the foundation training is similar across many disciplines - hind-end/rear-end awareness being an example. The bad news .... highly addictive And I'm another who is not a believer in rushing dogs through. IMHO it's really good to spend time on the basic foundations .. which are starting to train the components .. and then you can start putting things together as the dog matures, and is able to cope better with the inevitable pressure we put on them - even when we're trying hard not to. :) @ TSD ... yes .. you should do tracking - in your spare time. Zig would love it. :D

Let the dog guide you, young grasshopper :laugh: some dogs respond faster then others. The more pressure you put for performance you can find the less interest the dog can show in you. Enjoy the dog, get to know it's personality, little quirks etc and let him settle in and explore his surroundings properly.

For a minute there I thought you'd stolen my dog :laugh: . Rory is a great one for sleeping upside down like that. Glad I'm not the only one with 'defective' Border Collies .. if there's no action, mine are asleep - that said - they're ready for action as soon as they're needed - and they get heaps of mental stimulation. So maybe they're not 'defective' after all. Bdut I'm the same as others - very careful who I recommend the breed to.

That's a lovely photo of a happy and satisfied girl :D .

That sort of success deserves brags in two places, CC!!! The weather must have been awful, so it makes your succeses even more admirable. Goodness - a whole year since we were competing together in Albury. I loved watching you and the girls work there.

CC that is wonderful news. Clever you, and clever girls. Roxy is well on the way now - and good on Violet not letting Roxy overshadow her - HIT - .

:laugh: Thanks guys - very proud of my girlie and the way she worked. I thought the track seemed a bit long .. checked the rules today to see what we have to do for the next one - and found out yesterday's track was 1200 metres. Back to 800 metres for the Test 5 - urban track - streets. Will be interesting. And where's Ness's brag, ness? :D

Miss Kirra has a brag. She did a really nice job on he Track & Search Test 4 today, and passed with a grading at the high end of Good. I could have handled her better to avoid some of the little excursions which brought her grade down a bit, but she worked really hard for the whole kilometre..not bad for a feral 11.5 year old :-).

4 JDM passes - way to go Mr Ziggy. Had to laugh at the 'far, far jumps'! And yes, it must be a bit hard for Em working out how far ahead she needs to focus in each discipline .. but the smart little cookie she is, I'm sure she'll get it sorted - with your help of course :D . Our last agility trial was postponed because of sever weather and grounds closed by council .. so we have to wait till next month .. then two weekends in a row - right in the middle of tracking season .. could be interresting :laugh: .

:laugh: They sure know how to keep us guessing, don't they kallistar. We're right in the middle of competition season in tracking, track and search, obedience - and the odd agility trial thrown in, so DWD is still/back on the back burner. But we are playing with some of the stuff we learnt with Jill and Amanda in Adelaide. Might some in handy some day ... and like everyone else, when I hear songs on the radio, I'm considering would they be useful. :D Can't help with the small dog thing - other than to have a look on youtube - Richard Curtis's small dog might give some ideas.

Totally agree with this... BC7, apologies, I did mean to point you at the border collie pictures forum - this topic was discussed a bit more about 4 weeks ago, here's a link: http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/66907-border-collie-pics/page__st__27390 Hopefully that works from about pg 1827-1832 is all pretty relevant to your decision. Hope this helps and welcome :) Thank you both for your help. And another who agrees. And there are several important things to check when considering buying a Border Collie. Personally I want to see at least a 3 generation pedigree - preferably 5. This gives me an idea of whether the breeder is breeding carefully, choosing parents which complement each other (avoiding a person who is just breeding dogs they happen to have in the yard, or have access to. It will also indicate whether the breeder is breeding primarily for performance disciplines and/or herding - or primarily for conformation. Either is fine .. it just really depends what you are after. Because I'm primarily a performance person, I like to see performance titles on relatives of the puppy I'm considering, although conformation titles as well are a real bonus. Your breeder should be ANKC registered, and hold an ANKC prefix. You should be informed of the status of at least the parents, in relation to the 3 main testable genetic problems in the breed. At least one parent should be clear (by parentage, or DNA test) for CEA, CL and TNS. Your breeder should be able to provide evidence of this. You should also be asking for hip and elbow scores of the parents - it's helpful to have this information for other close relatives. You are looking for low scores, and preferably fairly even on both sides. Elbows should really be 0:0. Low scores are not a guarantee that a pup won't develop HD, because there are other factors which can influence this - but it's a good start, and being able to supply the test results shows the breeder is taking care. Many breeders now are also undertaking mature eye exams - it's not compulsory, but again, shows a breeder who is concerned about the breed. Personally, I steer clear of breeders who offer a whole litter on Main Register (which enables future showing and breeding). Even the best breeders are highly unlikely to get a litter full of show quality, breed worthy pups - and even then, they need buyers who they can rely on to do the right thing by the breed. Good structure and good temperament and good genetic inheritance are far more important than colour. Hope all that helps. Sorry - I get a bit carried away. :)

OK ...I'm officially green with envy ...but so many great presenters this year, I had to make choices. :-). Best I can do is observe some of Denise's online courses .. and read about what a great time you guys have been having ;-).

So sorry you've had to say goodbye to your boy. It's so hard, even when you know you've done the right thing.