sheena

What I would like to know, is everytime they breed a litter of pups & maybe choose one which might be a goer, what happens to the rest :(

Mock trial was a big success The sun shone all day but the ground was really wet...could have done with gumboots. Everyone liked the courses. Bit embarrassing though, Bindi & I took out two of the six prizes with clear runs in Advanced Agility & the Open Jumping :laugh: Most people DQ'd.

I must have missed something

I've always paid a deposit (with conditions)...works both ways IMO :) I wouldn't feel comfortable until a breeder accepted my deposit for the same reason as Steve points out.

A long time since we trained it, but we trained it using a pool noodle.

I'd love to borrow your novice course for my novice people for this week if that's OK No problems. After you set it up, just have a look to see if jump no.10 needs a bit of tweaking to make the angle to the dog walk a bit smoother. I have taught my group to take the dog walk from all angles. You might even like to add another jump in there. :)

I am not quite convinced that advertising animals on Gumtree is any different to advertising animals on Dogzonline I am sure Gumtree is not just limited to back yard & shonky breeders. I can't see why an ethical breeder shouldn't be allowed to advertise their puppies wherever they like. Quite a bit different to Pet shops.

The other thing I do with the Mock Trials, is I don't have a SCT. Instead I put a maximum time in the ring of 2 minutes. Not only does this stop someone going out & taking up ten minutes getting their dog around the course, but it works in reverse. If they want to just go out & practice something special, then they have a whole 2 minutes to use up, if they wish. They can't use food, but can use toys :)

He's going great AD What is the idea of the pivot box & the two jump bumps??

Thanks AD... I will make a note of that & tweak it when we set up the course

No training Easter Monday as I am putting on a Mock Trial. I am only doing the Agility part & someone else is doing the Jumping. All the courses are nested, which saves time. We will start with Advanced, then Novice then Beginners. Trophy & Prizes for all events. To make it more fun & so that dogs can go in more events, I let the more advanced dogs run in the Novice events, but they are "not for competition" . Novice dogs can run & compete in the Advanced if they wish. :) Now just to hope that it doesn't rain Here is the Advanced Course Novice Agility And Starters Agility. With the starters, they have no weave poles, all the contacts are lowered & the jump heights are lowered & only dogs that have been training for less than 12 months can enter. Their competition is the one that can do the most obstacles before stuffing up, in the quickest time. I usually give them a couple of chances with the start line. I think Mock Trials are a good idea as it is not only training for the dogs, but training for scribes & stewards as well & all competitors have to fill out an entry form (& get it in on time) So good training all round

I found one for "CHOODLES" at Coutts Crossing which is near Grafton. I will PM you the link

We are not encouraged to use toys, balls or tug games in class as it distracts the other class Which is what got me thinking............. Jules, I know what you mean & it helps to keep thinking back to when you/I started & what we thought all these terms meant. :laugh: Maybe I might put some notes together on the subject, send it out to them & then invite anyone who is interested to come along early some nights for special training sessions. I really don't want them going through what I went through with my own dog, no-body wanted or knew how to help. If only I knew then what I know now.

There are a couple advertising on Scumtree

This is another one of my questions aimed at people who have had successful experiences using LAT, as I have. At the moment with my new Beginners group at Agility, we are doing well with Start Line Stays with distractions, while there are still some dogs that have been coming along to training for 12 months or more in the Intermediate group & they still can't work their dogs around distractions. Which got me thinking, going by the success I had with my easily distracted/motion reactive dog, whether teaching how to play LAT to new groups would be a good idea. It is after all, just another trick/skill & if they did it early on in the training whether they would benefit further down the track....I think YES. But just wanting others opinions :) I know there are still some people out there who cannot see the logic in clicking & treating your dog for looking AWAY from you, & just don't even want to try

The tyre was a bit further away from the tunnel than what shows on the map...no-one had any problem with it, nor did they comment on the night. I sort of believe in training them hard, so that when they go in a trial, especially novice, it's a walk in the park :laugh:

What's an ESS

Ok...all taken on board....no more tyres in serpentines :) Although I do try to train the group to meet all challenges. Better to confront them & train through where we can break the course up, then to suddenly get one in a trial. But if you think they would probably never get one in a trial then that is it. I remember once getting them to send their dog to the weaves from all sorts of angles including almost from the other end & someone said "why would we need to learn that stuff, you would never get it in a trial" I tried to explain that maybe that might be true, but all the same it is good training...same goes for when I put weave poles in an exclusion at training. So here goes with the course reversed. The biggest problem they had here was most dogs pulled out at the last weave pole, because the handlers started to move towards obstacle 11 before the dog had completed the weaves. Ideally they should be able to put the dog into the weaves then move away to do a front cross at 11, & the dog to stay in the weaves...but maybe we need to work on that a bit more. Cricket can do it, but he didn't on the night...too excited. Once again, obstacles were set out a bit further apart than on the map :)

Surprisingly ..no-one had any problems with that & just handled it as a serpentine.

Do you have video? I'm having a blonde moment and struggling to get the rear cross at #4 part :) I can see the rear cross at #3 if you are starting with the dog on your right, but wouldn't you then be rear crossing them at #5? Might have to set that part up and have a fiddle with it. Sorry, but I wouldn't run the rest of it though, I'm not keen on having my dogs do a pull through off a tyre and would withdraw from any course that had that in it as I see it as a major safety issue. Whoops....I just had a look at my original plan...9 & 10 are on opposite sides....I will upload again :) I had it scribbled out on the plan I used last night....Have amended it ..is that better :)

Don't worry they don't get of scott free ...I email them homework as well as a "trick of the week" they have to teach :laugh:

OH & I wear our gum boots for our morning walk. We even do our agility training in them. Best to wear a good pair of socks underneath. Most of our walks around the farm with the dogs, we have gum boots on because of snakes. But apart from that, I agree, with some good hiking boots. I bought mine from Kathmandu & even though they are not waterproof, they are designed to dry out really quickly. I also have a pair of waterproof socks (SealskinzWater Proof Socks)

I designed this week's course mainly so we could practice back crosses. I wanted them to start with the dog on their right & back cross @ 3,4 & 13. I had no trouble running Bindi, but the couple of faster, longer striding dogs had trouble getting over 4, even without attempting a back cross @4. They were going from 3 & heading straight for the weaves. I fixed that by getting them to do their BC at 3 ... crossing further behind the dog (handler almost crossing where the number 13 is)...does that make sense ??? Backside of the tunnel was no problem...I should have made it harder :laugh: We had the jumps spread out a little further than what is in the map. Later on in the night I reversed the course...will put that one up later :)

Well we didn't get to do anything tonight...washed out Just got the advanced group done & down it poured.

Dog Lovers Cruise 14 days to New Zealand 2nd December