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Tassie

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Everything posted by Tassie

  1. Is that the Mary Ellen Barry DVD - I think it looks good - haven't gone right through it yet - story of my life. Before that one came out, I did find the Moe Strenfel ones useful - designed for puppies, but can be used with naive dogs.
  2. Always a real worry to get news like this. Unless your vet is an ortho specialist, I would definitely be seeking a specialist opinion - maybe Vic DOLers can help with suggestions of good ortho specialists, especially ones who might be sports medicine oriented and knowledgable about Staffords. When you get more detail, it would be a courtesy to inform your breeder - it may impact on their breeding programs - although the causes are various - environmental as well as genetic in origin. Wishig you luck.
  3. Way to go Miah :laugh: . I'd say she's feeling right at home now :D . I always warn my puppy class peope about forgetting about being house proud till the pup is about 6 months to a year old - and by that time, they'll have got over being houseproud. A zoomie puppy is a good puppy - now all you have to do is channel all that get up and go :laugh: . Oh - and age is not a barrier to zoomies - my almost 11 year old agility BC girl has mad zoomie fits sometimes - digs up bedding etc, 'bullies' Rory out of his crate (door always open) at night, and then digs up his bed . Gotta love 'em.
  4. Clever thinking TSD. becks - was thinking of you the other evening at training when my friend's mini S who she had originally said had no interest in toys, etc. etc. ... was tugging like a maniac on a bunny tug - she and her rather serious owner were having a ball. :laugh: Wish I'd had a video with me. :D
  5. And a big agree from me. :-). Super happy fourth birthday Mr Charlie! And super well done to your mum and dad, and to Emmy of course :-).
  6. TSD - now we want to see perch work with the Supervisor Cat :laugh: . Paddles - don't kow about others, but when I do perch work, I'm not incorporating sits. For me it's about the dog understanding that he can use his rear end to drive his body - that's the understanding he needs to have for good turns. Biomechanically, I'm not sure that the dog can get that understanding if he's also using his thigh muscles and leg joints to come essentially forward sit to stand, stand to sit. When you look at TSD's vid, you'll see she's clicking the sideways movement. When I'm teaching this to puppy class people, I have them start slowly, and concentrate on marking/clicking and rewarding the sideways movement of the relevant back leg - the one the dog needs to execute the manoeuvre - so right hind for counter clockwise, left hind to move clockwise. And then progressively raise the criteria to get more steps. Because I'm impatient, I lure the movement, but pretty soon, when the dog gets it, I can just go to hand signals, and work towards standing away from the dog and having him drive around the box, so at part of the circle he comes between me and the box. All the time the front feet will be staying on the box. So the hind legs are doing the work. Then you can also use the perch the way you're doing - stepping away from the dog going counter clockwise, so that he is coming into heel position, lining up with you - that's the mark/reward point. I would be working fast sits as a completely separate exercise. Not sure if any of that makes sense :laugh: ETfix typose (as usual :D )
  7. Age of pup when sold/ when PTS? Specialist opinion sought by owner? Be interesting to know if it was PennHip scored or AVA. Haven't there been some other instances of juvenile PennHip leading to PTS or early (possibly unwarranted) surgeries? Worth checking for other threads
  8. Hmmm, I'll try to telegraph my moves more, he's focused on my hands cause there is food in them.. lol. a question, (particularly if someone can link a video???) when we do a tight left turn (not an about turn) should his hindquarters swing? or should he "walk" the turn??? Ideally, he will be parallel to you the whole time he's heeling - so he's alongside you, facing the direction you're going. So that means yes, for U left about turns, and for and left turn and for FO8, he will need to move his butt to keep/get himself in line with you. Hence what wuffles was saying about rear-end awareness/perch box work - dog has front feet on raised platform (large book or something will do) and learns to move around by moving his back legs sideways. This is a really good thing to do anyway for their general fitness and flexibility. I'm sure kikopup (Emily Larlham) has a U tube clip showing it, but there are others. Make sure you keep the dog balanced by working both directions - you'kll find one is easier for the dog -they are 'handed' too. The other component, as has been said - is your smooth footwork. I find it easier to concentrate primarily on the crossing point, (works for Rally too :D ) and then work out the loops at each end - not too close to the "posts". Practising at home -youfirst without the og - but remember to leave room for the dog :laugh: - use a couple of stakes or something at each end, so that you can make them as wide as the 'person'.
  9. good for you getting Rally going. You and the dogs will love it. :D
  10. Yes, you're right LBD - and if you're classically conditioning, you're going to keep doing it - like I do with my nearly 11 year old wannabe car chaser - although it turns into a sort of LAT, without me having done it as that. She sees/hears a car coming (this is mainly on country roads with only occasional traffic) and looks at me without prompting. Mind you, she sometimes does that when it's only wind in the trees - souinds like a car . Poor you BC Crazy - this could be a looooong 3 months.
  11. :laugh: Gotta love those Mini S girls. Friend thought it wouldn't work with her naughty/stubborn little MS girl - what we found was that she had to use very, very high value food, and work in tiny, tiny increments, and with lots of partying for even tiny steps - then put it away and start again in a little while. She now has a super enthusiastic DB retrieve - but then we had to start all over again with the metal SD article. Persistence is paying off with that, although we id 'cheat" and use a knurled article, which is legal here anyway, Have you looked at Susan Garrett's aarticle about trying to get a food only dog interested in toys (specifically tuggy)> motivating toy? Again it takes persistence - and I find using a food stuffable toy really useful - stuffed with highest value treats in the first instance. It's fun experimenting. :laugh: ETF typos
  12. Good for you. Shirley Chong retrieve This is my favourite method of teaching retrieve. Different dogs work through the progression at different paces - so from what yousay, your Giant is already through the first stages. Personally I don't like the idea of a forced retrieve, because for most dogs the retrieve is a happy exercise - so they get rewards in the ring. :D ET put in the word' forced' that I forgot - changes things a bit. I love retrieves LOL - just not a fan of forced.... :laugh: Shouldn't do this at work
  13. Sorry to hear about your troubles, BC. No great suggestions from me - except to say that I'd be inclined to try to use the LAT game sort of thing for the barking At the first bark - pay attnetion, thank her for letting you know that something was going on, and then try to get her engaged in some productive task, and as LBD says - trying to get in before she's tipped into a frenzied barking. I just wanted to pick p on your comment . Yes, yes, yes ... IMO, a BC can never have too much mental work - done in a rewarding, fun way. Short sharp bursts - unexpected is good - and it really doesn't matter what you're teaching as long as it's engaing and fun. Have a look on the net for trick traiing etc. And a good opportunity for some platform work - doesn't need much space.
  14. Sorry you're going through this, juice - it's horrible when our beloved dogs are unwell, and almost worse, as has been said, if you don't know exactly what you're facing. Just wanted to offer healing vibes - and to say you're obviously doing all you can for your lovely girl.
  15. Totally agree with what both kavik and Pers have said. Playing rough with a tug toy really helps the pup to be able to be excited, but be very clear about the rule - no teeth on human skin. I'd be playing with a long tug first, to help avoid 'accidental' teeth on skin contacts. The game totally stops if there should be any teeth on skin contacts, accidental or otherwise. Wait a little while, ignoring the pup, and either dropping or removing the tug toy - walk away in disgust (acting!). Then after a short break for the pup to reflect on what just happened, you can start again - but again, make it easy for the pup to avoid teeth on skin contact. There's a fair amount of technical skill in this, I have to say- and you might still be reinforcing the lesson long passt puppyhood - I still have to go through it sometimes with my feral almost 11 year old agility BC girl, who if I'm not careful with the length of the tug and how I present it, will sometimes forget to be careful :laugh: .
  16. AFAIK buffered aspirin is OK for dogs, but I'm pretty sure is a no no for cats. Paracetamol (Panadol or Tylenol) is a definite no no for dogs ( liver toxicity). But should always check with vet.
  17. Congrats to you and Chook BC4ME (who is gorgeous even when he's being an airhead :laugh: - boy brains, don't we know it ;-)) - super well done on the HTM Intermediate win - that's serious business. And congrats to the other competitors. You guys are all lovely to watch. No action on the choreography front here - though we have worked a little bit on a couple of moves. Have pretty much succeeded in getting Rory to get the basics of Scent Discrimination - and polishing Open obedience a bit - and do some agility handling. Thinking I might enter him in a Jumping trial before too long - or maybe not.
  18. LOL CFS - i think my feral little Kirra (whom you've seen running) is going to be like Rabbit - and it may well be her eyes that let her down. Fortunately down here our trials are almost all daylight ones. I have noticed she sometimes seems to struggle a little when jumping into a low sun, or a low set of lights. But as we're running for fun, we just ignore that and go on to the rest of the course. At Launceston Royal last year, both Kirra and Ashley and Kendal's GSP Lucy completely missed a weave entry - the weave poles were a grey colour, and the angle was straight into a low set mobile light tower. Poor puppers. :) We'll keep having fun this year, as long as we're having fun. :D
  19. Lol Sheena ..... I felt the same when mine arrived. :-). Still thinking I might kidnap it, but it's certainly great for the dogs. Thanks dancinbcs !
  20. LOL pie ...exactly why I like them :-). Also some don't require to much equipment, and can be done in a relatively small flat space. Played around with some tonight ..some of O, and part of J. :-)
  21. Yay, Sue and Waldo ..great job by both of you :-)
  22. Good question. I think there is no simple answer - it depends so much on the individual dog, and their history and their attitude. I know of one mini poodle who was retired from competitive agility at 9, just because she was 9, and then moped for a couple of years until her owner decided it was unfair, and brought her back in - much to the dog's delight. :laugh: I've competed in jumping with a 12.5 year old first BC - but he was fit, reasonably lean, and competing in UD, so training and jumping anyway. Thata was years ago. Now my dogs see their chiro every few months, although she's retired now - so they see a holistic vet who does massage and acupuncture. This is in addition to their normal vet. My skinny minnie 490 mm 15 kg BC bitch was still running happuly and as successfully as normal (given the crap handling of her handler) in Masters and Open. She will be 11 at the end of this month - but has the OK from her vet to keep competing as long as she wants to. His attitude was - be guided by her. She'll get a couple of acupuncture treatments before the trial season begins in March - and then we'll just play it by ear. I have to say, I'm a bit of a worry wort, and I've always been conservative with my dogs - so not huge amount of training - minimal fetch games etc. etc. And they've been on Joint Guard prophylactically for years. And they don't start juming till the growth plates have closed - etc. ec. Kirra has nothing to prove in terms of titles - they're a bonus if they come. We try for Qs, or at least avoiding DQs :laugh: - but we run mainly cos we can, and aim to have fun and run as well as we can technically and as fast as I can manage her. So I'm in a fortunate position where she doesn't owe me anything, and there's no pressure on her. She's also still competing in TSD and Rally, and we're still trying to get time to play some more with DWD. So there's quite a bit of cross-training, I guess you'd say.
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