sheena

What a lovely sucess storey...It got me thinking about our own club. Out of all the people who have started Agility training at our club & there has been lots & lots, I am the only one in two years that has gone on to trialling. They just all drop out along the way & it must be such a disappointment to the instructors who do a wonderful job in the face of adversity. We live one hour from training, but turn up every week. I just find that it is very disappointing that not more of our members go through with it. Is this the same with most clubs

Normally my girl is very good on a loose lead, but when I know we are going to be in exciting situations I put a front fastening body harness on her. It is called a Gentle Leader, Easy Walker & it is great & cost only about $20 online from the Pet Barn. Being front fastening, when the dog starts to pull on it, the lead turns the dog back into towards you. Simple idea but very effective. Of course it doesn't take the place of training, but you can't be training all the time, otherwise you would never get to go anywhere.

My daughter's maltese cross girl has been on epilepsy tablets for most of her 9 years. We have heard that this medication is not very good for their liver or kidney :D What can we give her to try & counteract this organ damage that the medication might be causing.

OK.....so whats the calendula tea for :D

It's the egg whites that you don't give on their own (uncooked). I give my girl a whole raw egg about twice a week, shell & all, but I crumble the shell up as I have chooks & I don't want her thinking that its OK to steal the eggs.

Clean Run have a new Agility DVD available on their free shipping page. It is "Dial up the Distance" & I have ordered mine

Do you have any wandering jew growing in your lawn or garden as this can be a real bad one for some sensitive dogs. Also I would be interested to hear what your vet has said about it. I took my girl to the vet as she was chewing her legs & feet to bit & he found very tiny grass ticks, which I couldn't see. What has your vet suggested. Also some dogs react very badly to flea saliva.

My girl always wants the bit of the tug that I am holding in my hand even though the toy might be really long. I am sure she means no mallice, but it's annoying. When I give her treats, she is very gentle.

I am talking about the Gentle Leader BODY Harness, not the head halter. You will get it on line for about $20 & it is really good. Head halters are not recommended as they can injure your pup. & I'm not saying it takes the place of good training, just that you can use it if you want to take him for a walk, outside of training. Because it's attached to the front (chest) every time he reaches the end of the lead he is automatically & gently turned back in towards you.

At this age, every time you take him for a walk it has to be training with no letting off. Good idea to get a Gentle Leader Easy Walk harness which attaches at the chest for the times when you have to walk him somewhere. When he pulls on the harness, it gently turns him back in towards you.

I wouldn't have any issues in feeding Human grade horse meat to my dog...but I wouldn't actively go seeking it out to buy. I would be hypocritical if I said other, as I myself enjoy a bit of cabbanosi & pepperoni occasionaly along with all those other deli delights, & we all know what gives them the flavour

When my girl was a pup, I had had her home for less than a week, when she cut her pad badly on some colourbond sheeting. From memory the vet covered it & bandaged it up well, & it healed in no time. He also gave her a shot of penicillian & tetnis (I think). So glad your girl is on the mend. How did she cut it in the first place

If you can get hold of Susan Garret's DVD "Crate Games" it explains it all, especially how to make the crate a very special place for your dog. I got my 48" wire crate from Petstock on a 1/2 price special for $110. You could also pick up one from Ebay. I bought my canvas cover to suit the crate from Ebay.

;) Yahoo!! Go CK. What a lovely controlled run, & he's clearly enjoying every minute of it.

Maybe he got hit by static electricity as he stepped from the car....that would give any dog a fright.

Interesting and it didn't give your dogs the scoots. I am thinking maybe it might have been some other ingredient in the pastels (eg. sweetner) that gave me the runs, & I would be better of with the drops.

I bought a packet of Bach Rescue Pastels as it was suggested these might help to eleviate my "pre trial nerves". I'm not sure if they helped me over the weekend or not, except for maybe giving me the "runs" :D & possibly made me feel like "oh she'll be right mate, no worries" which made me worry more. I only took two pastels. So I googled info & found that there is a Bach R/F out for pets.....has anyone used this to settle their dogs.

He's probably finding all the other things going on around him more attractive than playing tug with you...he is distracted. We didn't do much on tugging in our foundation classes...it was left for us to do as homework. Bindi, up till now, would only tug at home & was more motivated by a ball or food. She got more interested in the tug, when we hid all her other toys, including the balls. Last week, we had a breakthrough & she tugged at a trial for the first time. She has been trialing for 8 months now & I have trained her mainly with food & she is doing well, & has fun, especially now she is getting less distracted. I wouldn't stop going to classes, just because your dog wont tug. You don't need a tug toy to be able to train your dog to enjoy agility.

I would be trying the crate idea, but make sure you do plenty of crate training with him & make the crate a real fun place to be. The crate has to become his place of sanctuary, somewhere where he can feel safe from all those things flying past the window....before you put it in the car. Cover it over (maybe just leave one end out) & just make small trips to start with. Susan Garret puts out a really good dvd called Crate Games. Travelling in a car can be really scary for some animals...imagine all those things outside wizzing past...trees, fences, poles, animals, not to mention cars & trucks.

I have a little brag....two weeks ago I posted in frustration a plea for help after a weekend trial held in the middle of a greyhound track. All weekend I couldn't get Bindi to focus because of all the distracting smells of the dogs & rabbits etc. The whole weekend was a disaster & I was in fear that Bindi might have "turned off". :p For the following 4 days, I did 10 minutes a day with her in a very exciting (smell wise) part of the farm, with a clicker & a big bag of treats. When she would put her nose to the ground, I would call "here" then click & treat as soon as she turned to me. By the 4th day, she was putting her nose to the ground then turning to me, before I had time to call "here". This last weekend was the tester with another trial in a distracting (rabbit) environment. We did 6 runs over the weekend & came away with 3 third places & a "Q". We were under SCT in 4 runs & were only disqualified in one run, when Bindi had a nasty fall on the second last jump (the sun was in her eyes) & I carried her off the field. :D I am so proud of my girl :D

DAY 4...went really well. I took her to a more distracting place, around the dam & only had to give a little tug on the lead once. She gives me her attention straight away & doesn't bother going back to the smell Probably have to start fazing out the treats soon & take her to where there are other dogs around doing their own thing. One side benefit of all this, is that I now have a dog who walks lovely on a loose lead

You can get collars that are remote controlled. You hold the control...he barks..you press the button as you give your "quite" command & the collar vibrates, it is not an electric shock, just an annoying vibration which gets his attention. Also a hand held ultrasonic device is an excellent tool. You use it in the same way, except this time he gets an annoying ringing in his ears. Don't use it though if you are near any other dogs ie within about 20ft as they will not understand, what they have done wrong. Make sure you give you command at the same time you push the button. I used both these tools on my dog when she was young & I can take her anywhere & she is well behaved. When she barks now, I know it is important & I investigate. You can also use one of those hand held squirter bottles the same way, only problem is you have to be close to the dog, but you can always set her up for the situation. It works wonders & is cheap. The other two devises you can buy on Ebay.

Hi Vickie, I am not sure where this lady lives, but she goes to most of our trials & I have spoken to her on occassions...usually to tell her how I admire her being able to keep her cool & be so upbeat when it is obvious the dogs are doing their own thing. This is my third day of trying the "click & treat". I take her down to what we call "the cattle camp", (we live on a property). For a dog it is the most exciting part of the farm as there are smells from rabbits, foxes, kangaroos, dingoes & possums, just to name a few. When she puts her nose to the ground I call "here" & if she lifts her head & turns to me I click & treat. First day went OK & she got the idea. The second day, not so good ...probably because I had rump steak treats instead of baked liver. Today, I took her on a lead, & it worked much better. The idea of the lead, was if she didn't respond to my voice immediately, then I would give a gentle tug to get her attention, then say "good girl," but no treat. Then immediately give her the opportunity to earn another treat. I only had to use the lead tug twice & I noticed that she was even lifting her head after detecting a smell & looking for the treat before I could ask her.

Sounds like you are on your way to achieving it. Just know that it will take time. If you are getting her revved up (I like to use a word, like "Ready") to let her know fun will begin, you asking for achievable things, are rewarding often & remaining upbeat, she will improve with each session. Soon she will be loving it so much that she won't even notice the smells on the ground. It's good to remain positive about her mistakes. Is any dog really making a mistake on an agility course? I was chatting to someone about this today. I believe that each time you take a dog back to redo an obstacle they have failed or missed, each time you slump your shoulders, or groan etc...you are decreasing their motivation & their trust in you as a handler. If a dog makes a mistake on course, then it always means more work needs to be done either in improved handling or training. The dog should really never know they have done it wrong...b/c they haven't, we have...either in handling or training. I do believe there are a couple of exceptions to the above. We have a lady comes to our trials & she is a joy to watch. She has a couple of dogs she runs & she is so "up beat" all the way round the course...when the dog goes the wrong way, she has a party. Thanks Vickie & all the other DOL's, I really appreciate your advise & encouragement. I agree, there is no such thing as a bad dog, it's always handler error. Bindi is a great dog, I love her to bits, & if I can fix this "distraction" problem I will be over the moon, & I think she will enjoy things a lot more too.

Keeping in mind I know nothing (and I emphasize on nothing) about agility, I find with my dog once I get her 'up' and working in drive she simply doesn't notice distractions lying around. For example last night at training we put an open bag of stinky luncheon roll under a cone. Simply walking her past it Daisy went crazy, she could smell it instantly and went mad trying to sniff it out and had she not been on the leash I am 110% certain she would have tipped the cone over within seconds. I revved her up and got her in drive and walk her around the same cone so close she was touching it and she didn't even glance at it never mind put her nose on the ground to scent out the food. It wasn't a conscious decision to ignore it - but because she was so focused and switched on and aroused, she simply didn't think about it. I can do the same thing walking past people crouching on the ground waving food at her. That's what I want to know....how do you train it