sheena

I feed my dog's prawn heads. I just peel away the main spiky bit of shell...all the rest go's down the hatch.

Dogs will often feel intimidated if you lean over them, so maybe try getting down to his level & encourage him onto your lap & take it from there....tiny steps :) but don't lean over him.

Maybe your dog needs counseling :laugh: No, but seriously, some races smell different to dogs, but that is probably not the problem here because she lives with you. I would be trying LAT (The Look At That Game) with her. Have a read of this LAT Game. Make sure you scroll down & read the PDF file.

To get back on topic :laugh: I am pleased to report that I din't lose any limbs or noses last night at training. He started to bark in our first run & I stopped him, waited for him to calm down than ran on. He was fine for the rest of the night :)

I actually have "back" & "close" for left & right with my girl, as I got it from Greg D. It's just plain left & right with Cricket, so I have to remember who I am running. It doesn't get used often but can come in handy on equipment as long as I don't call too early. I still can't understand why GD uses back & close for his left & right. I also have "go Back" & "back up". For heeling I use "heel" (lhs) & "side" (rhs)

I spray a bit of conditioner on my tails & brush first with the Le Pooch brush. For some reason, if I lift the tail & brush from underneath first, using my body as a guide, my girl really loves it...I think it must be some sort of "turn on" for her.

Erm Not mathematically or navigationally... eg north is 0' or 360'... to do a three sixty - you have to have turned a complete circle (like a spin) and continue in the same direction eg running north - spin through 360 - continue north... 180 is a U turn. ie face forward/north then turn 180' and you're facing the opposite direction ie south. A line is a line - no turn required - not a 180' angle in the corner of an infinite triangle (cos the other corners will never meet up). My DOG I am flat out working out my lefts & rights. :laugh: I find the easiest cue words to remember are the ones that come naturally to me. I could never get my head around all that...maybe if I was a bit younger. I can only remember two things at once & one of those things is remembering to breath :laugh: However, I am sure I will survive running Cricket...may just have to invest in a suit of armour.

Ok guys...can someone explain to me the benefits of using these multiple words when cuing a turn?? Why is that beneficial over just having a single word to cue a turn...eg. I just use "push" if it is a backside & a "go round" if it is a turn from the front combined with my body cues. All this la la la & check check check etc....is driving me crazy when walking a course & a third of the group are talking in this foreign language :laugh: it's almost like they are from another planet.

I set them up every week for the Advanced class & try to incorporate something that we have been learning. We then break it down into 3 segments, usually working on any difficult part first & will often backchain, till finally they are running the whole course. Sometimes we start off with just a speed run around the outside to loosen up.

My last BC girl (now deceased) had no fear of the cows & if they didn't go in the direction she wanted them too, then she would swing off their tails. One day she was helping to get a neighbours wild bull out of our paddock & was going for his nose, when, whoops, she slipped right in front of him. From there on in, she made up her mind never to do any more cattle work :laugh:

Pretty sure that they were push throughs because they were always set up like a serpentine line, but were numbered the other way. Push to the backs really only have become a thing in the last few years from what I can see. (And we still don't see that many of them in our courses IMO - not a bad thing either.) Ahhh....there you go...I have finally found out why they called them "push throughs" :)

Do you mean you've modified it? For SG it still means, don't take the obvious side of the jump/tunnel entry, come to me and then flick away to take the obstacle. That might mean going around the back if you are out of position, but typically it means come off the face or away from the obvious tunnel entry and take the other side. As opposed to go around the back. No I didn't modify it. Recent coaching call (H360 I think) - she used it on a course that wasn't at all like a threadle. Well it sort of was a threadle if you made a straight line (so all the bars were in the same line) of the obstacles but they weren't in a straight line. More like off set steps or something. I'm definitely going to have to go back and watch that call again. But it wasn't as simple as dog goes around the back of the jump (dark side) and jumps back towards the handler. I don't want to use/think "back side" of jump - because "back" is a command I use to get my dog to back up... If I think "back side" - that's what will come out of my mouth. I have trained "push" to go to the dark side, because I learnt backsides when they were called "push throughs"...why they were called that I have no idea...should have been called "push behinds"

OK...so this is the last one for the year...I would be interested to know if anyone is getting anything out of me posting these ??

The treats that are 100% natural with no preservatives or colours or flavours or salt added. You may be washing him too often & it is creating a circle of itch/wash/itch etc. Any wandering Jew in your garden ?

I wonder if you can put Advantix on, while they are on Nexgard. I imagine if you could, it should last for 4 weeks against flys.

Yeah...I figured it probably meant reinforcement zone...but my understanding stopped there :laugh: I guess it is a bit like when I start using terms like FFC with C, FFC with E, GT, RS, F, LT, BC, PT & HA etc :laugh: bottom line is that it doesn't matter what they are called...just learn how to do them :) God...when I started agility all we had to worry about were FC's,& BC's. ETA...now I know why my Cricket is getting frustrated

Probably no help, but here is a link to the topic I started a while back My link

I agree...a good sheep dog should not bite the stock, especially border collies. Blue Heelers bite the heels, but that is what they are bred for & why they are called heelers.

Huski....you have got it in one...that is exactly what I feel he is doing. He distance handles beautifully & I could pretty much do a novice course with him, just with me standing in the middle & directing him. But for some reason he doesn't like me getting in front of him as you have to do with a lot of these new moves required for Masters. That's why it feels like he is trying to herd me or slow me down. Maybe when you are in front of him he sees you as blocking his access to fun (equipment)? If he is mid way through the course and you release him to his favourite reward (food/tug) would he stop running the course to come to you to get rewarded? If not that would indicate to me that there is a problem with your reward system, he should believe working with you gives him access to the things he loves to do and your rewards, not that you are the fun police or getting in the way of fun. I will try that & see what he does :)

I tried something different with my dogs yesterday. Their release word is "ok" . They have to drop & stay to be able to go out the gate for their walk. Often I will put them into a drop/stay then do all the things you mention along with using all sorts of different words/chatter/counting/body movements/false starts etc. But yesterday I led out & looked back at them and said "no-one is to move till I say "OK"...so Ok was used in a different context. I thought they would self release, but elbows twitched a bit & then they gave me the "you can't trick me look" :laugh:

Yip. I can't see this helping with an agility arousal problem either. Certainly not a game. Sheena - in the past I used to see what you're describing quite a bit with the high drive BC's in Vic. In all honesty I've seen it reduced a lot since people adopted H360 (I don't just mean training in it, but embedding it. It has been "here" for about 2 years now). The difference in dogs and handlers is astounding. Do you play "It's Yer Choice" with him too? Thats one of their favourite games & we play it with both dogs laying next to each other...scatter treats all over the floor gradually getting closer till they have them on each paw & even on their nose...then they get the release word & it's a mad rush to gather up the treats. I do it with their bones as well. I have used that game to finally (I hope) get on top of start line stays. I would love to do courses like SG's 360, but I am very limited with my internet speed & download allowance. I have been teaching my advanced class the new moves though & of course training them with the dogs. It's when he is over excited that he does it. He does the same thing when our other dog starts running around him...he grabs onto the end of her tail...mind you she really provokes him & pushes his buttons :laugh:

Some interesting discussions coming into this thread What my dog is doing, you see a lot especially at trials. I had one woman in my beginners class who had a great dog, full of potential, but his one fault was that he would do this jumping up to nip thing. With her, I could see that part of the problem was because she was in the habit of treating him out of her hand (I prefer to play toss & catch or use a target) & the other was because she couldn't keep her arm still, which is a problem with a lot of beginners. Some excited dogs find the constantly moving arm going up & down too much of a temptation. Eventually, she pulled him from class & I could have cried as he was potentially the best dog in my class, but I think he had her frightened & she wasn't implimenting any of the suggestions I gave her.

Huski....you have got it in one...that is exactly what I feel he is doing. He distance handles beautifully & I could pretty much do a novice course with him, just with me standing in the middle & directing him. But for some reason he doesn't like me getting in front of him as you have to do with a lot of these new moves required for Masters. That's why it feels like he is trying to herd me or slow me down. Willem, thanks for your advice..your input is much appreciated, however, I would never do anything that hurt him or made him fearful as that is one of the quickest ways of turning your dog off agility. The other quickest way to shut your previously fast dog down is to be continually correcting them on course ie..making him come back to do a missed jump or when you the handler lose your way on course, resulting in you stopping, dropping your shoulders & curse under your breath. That is why I am wanting to handle this problem with kid gloves, because I want him to control his excitement but without taking away any of his drive. :)

No....I am not perfect by a long shot & I have only just taken over running him. He used to do the same with OH when he was running him, but he just used to put up with the jumping & the nipping & just stick a band aid on it. So apart from us both getting used to running together as a team...the fact that OH just used to let him self reward (same with contacts & start lines). That is not going to happen overnight, so yeah...you agree then.. just stop all action & wait for him to settle down. I havn't as yet, stopped, put him back on lead & walk off...but maybe I could try that. What I don't want to do is shut him down & take away his love of what he is doing...so maybe the answer lays half way.

Hmmm... I do & to be honest I was shocked when this particular person who is very high up in the agility circuit said that to me No matter how well your dog knows discrimination you still have to call "come" & give him the cues for obstacles & we do heaps of ground work working on different moves etc..putting them into small sequences...he's fine with this..it's just when I run a full course...he just sometimes like to do his own thing & when I call him back to me, that's when he gets frustrated with me. I think I am going to have to put the brakes on seconds earlier before it escalates into him being just plain idiotic & jumping up & nipping. My OH used to run him & I think he might have let him get away with it a bit too much (among other things), but we have swapped dogs, mainly because he runs better for me because I am a bit more stricter with contacts & start line stays. And we thought if he started running my old girl, it may bring back a bit more drive in her...sort of like being born again. I wonder...it just occurred to me...that he mainly trys to nip me, when I am in front of him....I wonder if it is his herding instinct...it's almost like he is trying to get me to stop or turn around. When he is running with my girl he grabs her by the tail when he gets too excited.