Tassie

Yay for both of them. I loved the mental picture of Ziggy's what the heck and then cogs turning moment - must have been lovely to see. Isn't it great when you're working on something and the pieces start to fall into place. Kirra hits her weave entries so much better if I just let her go and trust her - and although Rory hasn't done them on a full course yet, his entries are better than hers - thanks SG for 2x2 :) . I need to work on switching him from handler focus to obstacle focus and back - and I need to remember that he's not Kirra :laugh: - I really have to be careful about setting the line for him at the moment.

Exactly TSD! I think when he has a chance to learn what the game actually is, he'll settle down a bit, but still have plenty of go - I hope.

Yes, it's the March issue. They're a bit behind getting them up on the website, but it should be there ... eventually :laugh: .

As long as you're having fun, RS, the Qs will come when you least expect them. Kirra and I had a real JDM drought for a while, then all of a sudden about 5 in a row - mind you, we're back to drought again now :laugh: . Ok, folk - here you go - your Tuesday morning funniest home video. This is the first, third and fourth of my misguided missile's runs. I know he is really undertrained, so we're still very much at the beginning of our journey as an agility team, but I'm happy that I can see improvements from the first run (he stayed in the ring after that - always a good thing :laugh: ) - and I think there's quite a bit to work with - and most of all, we had heaps of fun.

That's fantastic! So you should be proud of her - and yourself. It's a whole new world, isn't it - and the dogs really enjoy it.

:laugh: RS ... there may be video ... have to look at the camera tonight - too stuffed when I got home last night after a weekend of 19 runs with 11 year old feral Kirra, and 4 with Rory. Hmmm - Rory's runs - well - after the first one, he did stay in the ring (went to visit people a couple of times on the first run) - and he was really starting to understand the game, I think. But think of a teenage boy who learnt to drive an old ute in a paddock, let loose with a V* commodr on a race-track, and you have the picture - heaps of spped and power, not a lot of judgement, and steering ... mmmm .... undeveloped. On the plus side - he gave me a lovely 5 obstacle lead out ... and he tried very, very hard to avoid some big tunnel traps on the last run of the day ... almost successfully. I'm actually very happy with his start, for a dog that had nowhere near enough training. He's going to be a blast to run when we get our act together. And the feral one - couple of ADO Q - the one that gave her ADO5 she was the only dog in the ring not to DQ , one clear JDM run jsut 3 seconds over time, and a lot of really nice stuff in her other runs. We ran Masters Pairs with a different partner - first Pairs run in 18 months for Kirra, and she had a blast - she was so good (no Q - too many bloopers :laugh: ) And best of all - The dogs really enjoyed what they were dong - and Miss Kirra has pulled up fighting fit and sprightly this morning. Only 2 bars down for the weekend - and they were my handling errors.

Huge congratulations CC. I just loved watching your girls work when we competed in Albury and Gippsland. They're both lovely, and you're all a great team.

Perhaps because I've been inspired by and been to training courses with Mary Ray, and other similar trainers, I give a high priority to maintaining a connection with my dog. To me it's all about teamwork. There's a happy medium between looking straight ahead, and really looking down (which isn't always helpful - makes you walk crooked, and can push the dog back.) There's an article in this month's Dogs Vic mag which explains how you can get a head position which enables you to focus forward while keeping connection with your dog, assuming the dog is in heel position. (Probably works best for medium and above - marder for small dogs.) JMHO. Has worked for me so far.

As well as being Britain's Top Obedience Dog for 2012, Crufts Obedience Dog winner 2012, being a member of Britain's Obedience team, which came second to the Netherlands in the Crufts International Obedience (with handler Mary Ray winning top handler of that competition), Levi (Ob Ch Colliewood Blue Jeans) strutted his Heelwork to Music stuff in the Main Arena on Best in Show night at Crufts with Freestyle 2nd and 4th place getter Richard Curtis, and his 2nd place winning Bearded Collie Whizzy. Enjoy! :D And here's a link to the obedience 'demo' at presentation to the Obedience winners of the Dog and Bitch Obedience Championships. (starts about 2 minutes in)

Staffyluv - that was an amazing post about how you found Zig - or he found you. Thanks for sharing that. I'm a great believer in meant to be - even though we can't always see it at the time. It's always really, really handy to have a knowledgeable "spotter" - for any sort of training. We can be so involved with what we're doing, that we can't see the wood for the trees - we just can't see the detail for ourselves. We 'know' you well enough to know that you're not going to allow your dog to be overwhelmed, so you're able to take what the club has to offer, while at the same time doing what Zig needs you to do. As with all training - little steps - hoefully mostly forward - but an occeasional great leap forward. Random reinforcement schedule :laugh: .

Good professional advice would probably be a good idea - not just over this particular issue, but as Nekhbet suggests, in relation to providing a clearer and more consistent structure for this dog. In the meantime, can I suggest that you don't "yell no". That is only going to ramp up his level of anxiety. If you have to say something - a quiet, low toned "I don't think so" or something like that would be better. You do not want to remove the growl from a dog - it is an essential and valuable warning tool. You do want to make sure it's not used inappropriately. On the positive side, the fact that he doesn't bite on your hand is a good thing - suggests that the situation will be able to be dealt with.

My library classes love the Fearless books too! :D

Love happy endings :D Thanks for letting us know.

That looked lovely RS. Had a good training session with the Rory man yesterday, though there's still plenty of room for improvement, and he's not proofed against distractions like a small BC running beside a bike, and a dog chasing a frisbee two hundred metres away eek: Contacts were good though - not that he needs them for this trial, and obstacle focus was much better. He has a bit more speed than he and I quite know how to handle smoothly yet :laugh: .

They are really great to use. Michele Pouliot was the first one I heard about using them, so do some googling. And have a look at some Denise Fenzi YouTube clips. Sue Hogben used a perch box too for rear end awareness. Great for obedience and Rally as well, and you can use them inside in the air con if you have it. :laugh:

and beautiful photo :D

I learnt my lesson when I cost us a (bare minimum Q) by losing 13 on that heel back station - called a retry and then still couldn't get it done properly - so 13 off on that one station. Mind you, she didn't deserve to pass that day anyway :laugh: . Sounds like they're on a roll now - keep up the good work. :D

LOVED Cider's jumping round - how much fun did she have :D .... can we say tunnel suck. :laugh: I shouldn't laugh, 'cos lil big man Rory has his Jumping debut in a fortnight (less ), and it could look quite similar. :) Loved the head banging moment, RS . for the heel 3 steps back, RS. Rory is not too bad at that - not as precise as I would like, but getting there. Kirra wasn't too bad ;ast Sunday, for a dog who can't even heel forwards. With her I don't fiddle around now - just take what I get first time round - and cop either points for out of position, or a 10 for IPS. One of the cool things about rally, unless you've got a really high standard working dog - it's quite strategic - when to retry .... and most of do quite a bit of counting out loud as we do the various stations that require it. ETA, you WA folks are truly an inspiration to us down here. Just love the way you're able to combine working towards perfect precision, with having heaps of fun with each other and with the dogs. How it should be - and what we're trying to get going down here. :D

Your plan sounds really good. How we teach the dog walk ramp to agility dogs. Just use really high value rewards ... Good luck.

Those call fronts are tricky..andgets worse when you add in the Advanced signs. Friend one day knew there were two different ones on the course .. and she did two different ones ..just that they were the reverse of what she should have done :-). And I looked form to double check which side the finish was..and my good boy follows tyre head tilt and finished right ..good booty ..except it actually was a left ...ooops ..handler strikes again :-).

Great dog, shame about the handler, RV - easy to do. I caused our judge on Sunday to crack up when I said to Kirra as we were doing an ordinary right turn "Sit ... no don't sit" - luckily, Kirra as usual had taken no notice of me .

Actually - I wouldn't be surprised - but given all that Ptolomy and bedazzled did, theymay just be asleep!

Oh yes, TSD - Ptolomy and bedazzled have lots of news ... they may still be surfacing . And RV - you have a brag too :laugh: .

I've heard good things about it on lists from the US. Like everything, it is used in conjunction with training, but appears to be a pretty effective aid, and unlikely to damage the dog (or the human) in the process. Free shipping is awesome. Hurries over to CR. :) Not enabling or anything - but just look at the awesome colours :laugh: . HERE

No such thing as bathrrom or toilet privacy in my house either. Toilet = captive human - = fusses and cuddles. And Rory always camps just outside the bathroom door so I can't escape when I'm in the shower - and he comes in and checks every noa and then to make sure I'm still there :laugh: This made me - could just imagine. :) Rory worries aobut wounds - anything that's sore, especially if it's bleeding, gets special attention. Cat had a UTI recently, and Dr Rory was almost permanently attached to her rear end. Luckily she loves her BCs :D . ETA - thanks for taking te time to start this thread W.Sibs. Can imagine your house is feeling a bit empty without your darling Charlie. But I reckon he's still keeping an eye on you.