Luke W

Spectacular stuff Tess! Really nice post-processing work as well - I can appreciate what went into those! The primate faces are amazing.

When Barkly finished his test today and the club's chief instructor spoke to me about his performance she said "...he worked really well today" I think Midol's view is that the only time a dog is 'working' is if it's 1. Traditionally bred for that task AND 2. The handler is doing it for a living

Good luck TerraNik and Jedi! I just decided before hand, that if I failed, it wasn't a big deal and that I should try to have fun. It worked!

Too long between photos! Anyway, today Barkly passed his level 2 obedience test at Croydon and District Obedience Club with flying colors. That means he received his Basic Obedience Sash and is now ready to start Intermediate level and also start in the agility classes! After class we were presented with our blue sashes and I took a few photos to commemorate the occasion when we got home.

Today Barkly passed his level 2 obedience test at Croydon and District Obedience Club with flying colors. That means he received his Basic Obedience Sash and is now ready to start Intermediate level (to prepare for trialling!) and also start in the agility classes! I couldn't have been more happy with how we performed this morning. Barkly put in an almost faultless performance, even with dogs breaking their stays all around him and a few running off. Lots of barking didn't faze him and even the single nearby scuffle left him solid in his sit stay. His on lead heeling was the best it's ever been, his recall was perfect and he hardly moved a muscle during his stand for examination. His one minor fault - a break during his stand stay (he sat when distracted by a nearby breaking dog and approaching handler). Not enough to cause a fail though. Phew. Of about 12 dogs and handlers in the class, only about 5 passed, so I was very happy with Barkly. To cap it all off, we actually had fun. Barkly enjoyed his chicken rewards and his play between exercises and I enjoyed working well and the morning in the sun. After class we were presented with our blue sashes and I took a few photos to commemorate the occasion when we got home. Barkly is sleeping off his big day in his usually style - in his crate, on his back with his tongue hanging out. Woo Hoo!

You can often recover even after a reformat. I don't think it matters that much. I reformat every time.

Not too bad!! Shiny things are hard!

No and no. It won't fit on it's own, you'd need an adapter and image quality would be less than stellar anyway.

completely off topic How cool would it be to teach a rat all the obedience exercise? Sits, downs, stand for exam, retrieve over a jump, heel work, scent discimination, etc.

I think a good trainer is a good trainer. I'm thinking of buying a chicken to practice my clicker technique on, or maybe an agility mouse.

And the same goes for those who have your style of 'working dogs'. You sound miffed and a touch dismissive - do a sense a bit of elitism seeping through? Don't security dog handlers spend most of their time just 'taking their dogs for a walk'?

Somewhat. For some skills and for some dogs. But it's stylised. Maybe as much as doing katas shows a fighters ability. Or a woodchopping competition shows a blokes ability to chop down trees for a living. Or the 100m sprint shows a persons ability to escape from a lion.

Semantics. We use the term 'work' in obedience. It's just what we do. "Working" your dog. "My dog is working" We don't say "I have a working dog" or my dog is "going to work". There's 'work' then there's 'work'. Semantics.

hmmm... Asking the dog to perform a task or series of tasks it's been trained to do, to the exclusion of other activities, in a specific environment... Yeah - I'd consider it work as it's generally used in the dog world. Is the dog putting on a shirt and a tie and driving in to the office and writing some code? Nope

I wouldn't think anyone would need permission to post the url of a website.

Do you provide i-squeak training sessions? :p At training last night, someone's dog had a squeaky toy on the sidelines in it's mouth and Millie just wanted to bolt over there and steal it She's really getting the hang of this playing thing, so great to see!! Now if only I could just get her to bring it all the way back to me instead of spitting it out a metre in front of me, expecting a treat Be careful you don't teach her to steal other dogs' balls and bring them to you for a treat. Like a certain cocker spaniel I know :p

Anyone had any responses from Theresa ?

Maybe something like a 70-300?

A 50mm f/1.7 ? Fast 50s are good for low light stuff and portraiture. No zoom though. The winder aperture allow shorter depth of field (smaller DOF = more background blur) and faster shutter speeds. I'd be thinking about something longer (allowing you to zoom closer) before thinking about a fixed 50mm.

Thanks all - I've left a message with the secretary - I'm going to try to get a spot.

Barkly looks a bit like a German Shepherd doesn't he? Maybe I'll pass him of as a miniture German Cocker Spaniel Shepherd.

Would this be mainly focused at Schutzhund ?

That's cool Vickie - what are you gunna use it for?

Spoke to our gardener. Yep, we have some wandering jew around. I'll keep him out of the garden beds!

If the AI Servo and tracking isn't working for you, you could try to pre-focus on a spot ahead of the dogs and trip the shutter when they reach the spot.