sheena

I like the idea of crate games, but I suspect that not everyone in my class would have a crate. But that sounds like a good idea for practicing tunnel entrances. I also like the idea of starting off a new class with an 8 week block or foundation & then those that are left go on to learn equipment....but I think I would rather make it 12 weeks to make up for missed training because of weather & trials etc. I am going to ask them tonight who has access to a crate. This week I have emailed them instructions on teaching your dog to leg weave & tonight I might just set up 4 poles in a channel with the tape running up the middle to the target, just so they feel they are doing something :) Might take in the pool noodles too. Tassie...slightly off topic, but I found a Utube last night on learning Lateral Leg Weaves...you ever done those??? It's when you start with the dog between your legs, then step back with your left leg to face behind, then step back with your right so you are facing the front again all the time your dog is weaving your legs. As I say, very much off topic & nothing to do with agility :laugh: MRB...in my experience, when it comes to tunnels...you only have to "think" the wrong end & your dog will take it. Makes me wonder if when we "think" the wrong end, if maybe ours eyes follow our thoughts even just enough to put the dog on the wrong course.

I wont take anybody into my advanced class unless they can do 12 weave poles relatively well & they have to be trialing. It is not fair on the others in the group to have me spending time teaching new guys how to weave when they have been through all the other groups & still can't weave. Eighteen months ago our club had trouble finding enough people to start a new class, now every body wants to do agility. I have thought about taking another class on Saturdays while they are doing Obedience, but I would lose too many days out because of trials. But maybe I could do it at the end of the agility season. If I did it would be Foundation only.

Our club has Obedience on Saturdays during the day & we have Beginners, Intermediate & Advanced Agility on Monday night. We have two Beginner groups...I have 11 students in my class. We have one Intermediate group & one Advanced group which I take. I worked out that I spend four hours there every Monday night & add to that two hours travelling time...it's a big night. Last week I had 12 dogs in my Advanced class followed by 11 in my Beginners class. I split the beginners into two groups for exercises & get someone to give me a hand to supervise. Usually they assess before allowing them to start Agility, but this is the first time that hasn't happened, but I did have the option to weed them out on the first night if there was any problem dogs. Thankfully that didn't happen & they are a great bunch of dogs. I would like to see them have just an eight week foundation class, but that doesn't happen. I am a firm believer in doing heaps of foundation before any obstacles are introduced, but the club likes to see obstacles from day one, cause they think, that the students will lose interest otherwise.

I have a small foundation class just finishing up in a week or so - 8 week block and they have been so good at doing their homework. Their SLS aren't completely bomb proof (whose are :laugh: ) but impressive for beginners. We have just been doing flatwork, end contact behaviour, table and started on flex tunnel - oh and PNU and general rear end awareness. We're looking forward to these people going on to the more 'sexy' stuff wit a good foundation - but they have another 8 week block before they get to courses. The last couple of training nights I have had them all find a space, put their dog in a stay, but stay within a couple of meters of their dog while I & a helper weave in & out of them with our own dogs, flapping pieces of paper, talking, waiving my arms about, handing out treats to my dog etc..any distraction we can think of. When I get closer to their space they are to up the marking & treating of their dog. Then we did SLS in front of a jump doing all sorts of things, but not releasing to the jump. This was actually a bit harder for some dogs. I am going to introduce them to this next week, but without the obstacles. I am really enjoying taking beginners :)

I already have them driving to a target. That was the first lesson I taught them & I tell them every week to keep practicing it & variations of it. That is why when I brought out two poles with a line up the middle to a target that it would be a lot simpler than it has been. :laugh: Tassie, I read that bit about the back chaining the channel & liked the idea, because I like back chaining things, but thought it might be a bit much for beginners to get hold of.. MRB.. I might get them started next week on noodles, but thought I might show them how to teach the dog to weave around their legs, which is a good exercise. They should have bought themselves 6 weave poles by now as this was one of the bits of equipment that I told them to get before they even started the class. Just 6 long handled screwdrivers from Bunnings & six matching pieces of polypipe & a long piece of webbing with holes at 60cm intervals. On a different subject, we have been working on Start Line Stays since day one & I am most impressed with their progress :)

Thanks Guys...DD...what do you mean by WAM Is that weavamatic using guides??

I give them two weeks apart & mark it on my calender when they are due next. So it's Interceptor on the 1st & Nexgard on the 14th.

This thread is mainly aimed at those fellow instructors who instruct a beginner class. How do you introduce your new guys to the weaves.?? I am really mostly referring to those who have NEVER had an agility dog before & have probably never heard of weave poles. I have started them off with very simple 2 poles opened up with dog running to a baited target about 4 to 6 feet out along the line. Slowly closing up the gap & then introducing two more poles opened up. I thought this would be a very easy concept to grasp, & the one student in my class who has already done agility, grasped it straight off & now has her dog running through 6 poles, closed up, to a target. But the others are still struggling after a month with the first two poles Of course they are a real mixture of dogs with different levels of drive (or lack of). I really don't think 2 x 2 would be any easier to grasp & the other instructor has been doing channel weaves with her group for nearly two years now & they still can't do the weaves. Last week I showed them how to "shape" a dog to go through the two poles using a clicker. I thought this week I might try putting up four poles & putting wings on them to guide the dogs through. This is how I taught my first agility dog back in the days when I didn't have a clue how to do the weaves, but it worked :laugh: I don't want them luring their dogs through, otherwise they end up doing the "elephant walk" :laugh: that you see so much in trials.

Glad you're happy with it Sheena. I've found over the last couple of months the ticks have gone anyway, without Nexgard or tick collars. Usually winter and spring are worse for ticks here The ticks are back with a vengence here after all the rain, but only on the cattle & on us....still none on the dogs

Yes...definately have a look at LAT. Basically it is counter conditioning her to the things she finds distracting. If she likes tricks then this just becomes another trick. I know some would not agree with me, but I feel that the clicker is an important part of LAT which is what the originator, Leslie McDevitt uses.

I was talking with an agility judge just recently who runs Jack Russells & we got onto the subject of treats. He gets a human roll of devon & cuts it into tiny (1cm) cubes then bakes them on a flat tray in the oven. His dogs go nuts for them. You really need a treat that can be devoured quickly without the risk of it getting caught in the throat...hence the reason for using soft treats. I wouldn't consider chicken neck pieces as being soft or cut up pieces of dried meat. Apart from that, I wouldn't want to be handling raw chicken while training because of health reasons. Have a look at the LAT Thread (Look At That). If she is being fine when indoors then a tiger when you go out, then the jump in distractions is being too much & you need to take it a bit more slowly. Personally, when I am walking my dogs I just want them to be on a loose lead & can go sniff as long as they are not pulling me all over the place. But have a look at the LAT thread in Training section. I did it with my easily distracted girl & it really does work :)

Obviously all of the above need addressing individually, but one thing stuck out. You say you are using tiny pieces of chicken neck as rewards. I am just trying to get a picture of just how tiny it would be able to get a piece of chicken neck :) If the pieces are about the size of a dried pea & able to be consumed very quickly then fine. Personally I would rather use a tiny soft treat. One that can be delivered often & devoured quickly before she forgets what she was doing to earn the treat. My favourite at the moment is tiny pieces of human grade chicken loaf. Think of your dog as a bank account into which you make deposits regularly or you lose interest. When the distractions are the greatest, that is when you need to treat more often & not so much when things are not. But treat randomly, maybe after one second or one step, then 5, then 2 then 6 then 1 etc. So that she never knows when the reward is going to come. Are you using a clicker???

On our third month of it here & no reactions & no ticks

BH is still being made in Victoria & using 100% Australian produce. The business of whether or not you would still call it Australian Owned is a tricky one. It was sold to the Australian sister company of a New Zealand Company & is registered on the Australian Stock Exchange. The people making it & running the show are still the same as are the recipes. :)

Another fantastic run of Helen King's....I think I noticed her using left & right commands & her dogs contacts are to die for :)

Glad you had fun with it. I am not sure if I am going to put that one up tonight. It will all depend on how many people turn up early to help with it & it looks a little like rain. So I have a smaller course as a back up. I can make them up on paper....but I am hopeless at setting them out on the ground :laugh:

I have often wondered if it is more important to look at the health of past litters of the breeding dogs, to see how they shape up as they grow more so than relying on hip scores. I guess this all comes down to getting to know the breeder. The breeder of my last BC doesn't hip score. But the parents obviously had good hips as was proven by the sports & activities they are involved in without any physical problems.

I have never tried RC...so can't comment on RC, but my dogs have always had Black Hawk. They love it & do well on it. I mainly give them the Lamb one as they lost a bit of weight on the Chicken & they get fish with their meal anyway, so no need for the Fish one. As others have said..location will play a big part in the costs. I live in Northern NSW & pay $95 for 20 kilos of Lamb. The food has to come from Victoria, so I would imagine the freight to WA would be pretty hefty.

We love our HoundHouses...had them for years

Where are his priorities? ;-) Exactly...I can't believe he's doing this to me What is it with men & their fishing mates

Go ahead. It's going to take a bit of setting up...I hope someone gives me a hand. OH usually sets up for me, but he's going fishing

I think the nearest is out past Armidale & I think they are sort of like weekend workshops.

I didn't post one this week as we had our trial, so no training, but this is the one I am putting up for next Monday night's class. It is one we had at the trial & I thought it was a good one for practicing rear crosses & directionals (left & right). Bindi handled it well but because she is a little slower, I struggled in places to do rear crosses. She ran clear but was just over time. I am thinking maybe I should start doing blinds with her instead. Cricket was better with the rear crosses & I tried out his lefts & rights on it & it worked pretty well, except on occasions I called too early & pulled him off. I have to distance handle him as he is way too fast. Usually he distance handles really well, but on the day, he was being a bit of a dick head :laugh:

That's great AD :) I've made my group a few videos to try & demonstrate what I am talking about. I really should make more, but I am a little camera shy This is the first beginners group I have had, so I reckon if I just make them for this group then I will have them for all other groups coming on. I have eleven in my new beginners group, which is probably a few too many, but I split them into two groups for the exercises & I have an assistant to oversee the other group, then we swap halfway through the session. I hate knocking people back when they want to join up.

Yes this is what I do with my class notes....I follow it up the following training night & always make sure they know that they are welcome to email me with any problems. Before we start anything on training nights, I always ask if anyone has any questions/problems with the stuff I have sent out & each week I let them know that I am going to "test" them on something. Eg. Start line stays. Mainly to get an idea of where each one is up to. One lady told me she hasn't had a chance to look at the class notes, because she has been too busy with Facebook Needless to say, I don't go out of my way for her. There is so much that they need to do at home if they want to keep up. For instance, they are NEVER going to learn the weaves if they just rely on ten minutes once a week at training. I do up notes for my advanced class as well on training new moves etc & always put up on the net, whatever course we are going to be working on a few days prior to training, so they can study it beforehand.