sheena

Oh that's good to know, because with this course I am doing, Michelle likes the dogs to be able to perform moves on verbal cues only, because, obviously when you are performing you are going to have to make up lots of different moves for each cue, so a verbal cue which never changes no matter what your body is doing, is the best in her opinion...& I can understand why. Bindi only needs the very slightest body cue so I guess I am expecting too much too soon. So I will work longer on just giving subtle cues & take longer to fade them out...maybe fade them out one by one :)

Thanks SM...but we had a backward step this afternoon. After last night success, I set up the video camera this afternoon & she was hopeless...hopeless I feel that she was just trying too hard & just kept offering me every other behaviour other than what I was verbally cuing so I had to resort to very slight physical cues. On a positive note, when I replayed the video, it is quite clear that she is trying very hard & for the whole ten minutes she never took her eyes off me

Great job!!! Sounds like you've definitely caught the dancing bug!!! Once you've been bitten by the dancing bug you are infected with DWD germs. Symptoms are you mind is often wondering what tricks your dog can do next, what type of music will you use (and how to cut it to suit), what will your costume be and what can you use for props. Your friends and neighbours will think you have lost your mind as you pace out your routines in the backyard with music blaring loudly and you randomly calling commands that make no sense to the someone who is not affected by the disease. But luckily you are not alone, there are many of us out there infected with the DWD disease. We are all struggling to find the only cure ...... the perfect scoring routine. Once you have achieved that you will feel so much better. But by then you have passed on the disease to others close to you. :rofl: I have just finished reading the section on putting the routine together & it is lucky that I don't have neighbours :laugh: I know what music I want to do (Abba) always have, just have to work out a way of putting it together, seeing that I am a techno dinosaur :)

I just had the most fantastic 5 minute training session with my girl.....Oh the power of Latent Learning The part I am up to in the course is getting your dog to reliably sit, drop, stand, heel left, heel right & heel front on a verbal cue only as well as back heel pivots. Boy I wish I had my video running. She is doing them all almost perfect...just a bit slow on left heel, which is surprising as that was her favourite position. Maybe I spent too much time on the other positions. She even will now do a "bow" on verbal cue only...big party after that one We might get to dance afterall :laugh:

I would say the lungs would be good. After all, companies do dry out lungs to make Lamb Puff & my dogs love it

These are great & top quality. If she is really that cold, I would be putting a pair of these on her & putting her in a snug covered crate with a heat pad.

I agree with you Erny.....practice your timing without the dog. Whether you're using "yes" or a clicker, if the timing of the marker is out then you could be reinforcing the wrong moment.

Agree...I have never been able to understand that argument

You have to click BEFORE he takes the treat, so that click always means TREAT. You throw the treat on the floor (one treat) & just a millisecond BEFORE he picks it up you click, then throw another & click just before he picks it up. Or hold them in your hand & click then treat & repeat. Are you using very high value treats. But I would say that the problem could be that you are clicking after he gets the treat, so he is totally confused. Did you not read that article I put up on "Introduction to Clicker Training" ETA The link again Introduction to Clicker Training I did read the article. I did try to click before he takes the treat but he just freezes and does not pick up the treat (he even went back to his bed at one stage) ."Just a millisecond BEFORE he picks it up" is the bit that I am not sure of (timing again!) I will try again with more valuable treats. He is so food orientated (he would do anything for a piece of kibble) I did not think that would be a problem. I will also try to put the clicker in a cloth to smooth the sound a bit and give the treats from my hand. I just don't want to fail too much as it will be hard to overcome once he decides it is really scary. It is frustrated as I had good success with just the Yes to get him to try and play with a toy: he now goes and grabs the toy on the groundwhen he would have run away from any toys before. Well, we'll see how I go. Thanks for all your advices, very much appreciated. Definitely don't have the clicker reaching out & close to his head. I keep my clicker in my pocket most of the time, or behind my back :) When he realises that a click means something really yummy is coming, the light bulb will go on & there will be no stopping him. But if he is really scared of the clicker, then use "yes" as a marker instead, but you should charge it just the same as you would with the clicker, for it to have real value & meaning.

Not sure if this is the correct thread to ask this question Someone at Agility training the other night mentioned that if you ever do Tracking with your dog, don't use cheese for treats. I didn't get to ask her why.......Anyone heard that before

You have to click BEFORE he takes the treat, so that click always means TREAT. You throw the treat on the floor (one treat) & just a millisecond BEFORE he picks it up you click, then throw another & click just before he picks it up. Or hold them in your hand & click then treat & repeat. Are you using very high value treats. But I would say that the problem could be that you are clicking after he gets the treat, so he is totally confused. Did you not read that article I put up on "Introduction to Clicker Training" ETA The link again Introduction to Clicker Training

Yes, every morning we would hear a commotion on the front veranda, with lots of growling & banging. He gradually made the doorway bigger & preferred to turn it upside down & lay in like that. He used to try & pull it along the veranda & out the door onto the lawn & it would get stuck :laugh: He still loves this one best, even though the other one is still in perfect condition. :)

I havn't noticed any gaps in mine. Mine are on a verandah so are out of the weather & they only sleep in there during the day. I do put a snuggly blanket in so they can scrunch it up. Really they are quite snug without being hot. My young guy did some renovations on his when he was younger, but thankfully he has matured :laugh:

When I bought my entire male (border collie) it was of the understanding that he would be on the limited register ie. not for breeding or showing & I actually signed an agreement saying that I would get him desexed. He was about 16 months old when I had him desexed & the breeder was happy with this :) The same thing with my female border collie. I wouldn't buy from a breeder that didn't trust me to do the right thing. I certainly wouldn't buy a pup that had been desexed at a very young age.

LOL when exactly does the chewing stage end ? He stopped chewing at about 18 months but I have had him in a cloth crate for much longer than that & he has never tried to chew or scratch his way out, probably because he really likes being inside an enclosed crate. I have just got him this new K9 one for his 3rd birthday :) Prior to that he had an El-Cheapo that we won at a trial but it has just decided to completely disintergrate

I have a couple of these Hound House they are made of heavy duty canvas & have a weather proof mattress inside & the whole lot is easy to hose out. Plus they fold up if you want to travel with them, but I use crates for that.

I can't wait for all the contacts to be made rubberized. The equipment we are borrowing is rubberized. Our own equipment will have to be done by the end of this year & it has a really good non-slip surface on it, but I just think the rubberized contacts are kinder on the dogs paws, especially when they are sliding down the A-frame to anticipate a stop at the bottom. If anyone has any suggestions on obtaining the rubber contact, I would be interested to know & will pass it on to our committee :) They have made enquiries, including getting it from NZ, but it is oh, so expensive but it has to be done eventually.

Double post

I'm not sure about that. I know we are trying to get them done in time, but are running out of time. We are about to order a new A-frame, so hopefully it will be ready by then. I'll see what I can find out for you :) There are some rubberized contacts, but not all :)

it is the BEST arrangement if you & your dog like it that way ....another thought - with the weather getting cooler .... TRY THIS I really want to buy her some jammies ^.^ a member on DOL makes them for Danes so I am quite tempted to buy one, hopefully she doesn't outgrow them halfway through winter... She will chew them up :laugh:

There is only one piece of furniture that my guys are allowed on in the house & it's not my bed. If you don't want her wanting to sleep on your bed, then I wouldn't have her up there at all. The only time my girl gets on my bed is when she is being very silly & I am playing with her...she jumps up & over it before I have time to catch her :laugh: She knows she is being "naughty" :D

I use mine all year round for camping, visiting or trials etc. At home I have wire crates with covers. The young guy sleeps in his wire crate every night & the other wire crate is for my girl when we get a thunderstorm. I only have wire crates because this is what I had before I got the soft crates, while they were puppies, so they are permantlly set up at home & we use the soft crates for travel, but no reason why you couldn't get full use out of them at home. They are quite well ventilated when all the flaps are up. :)

I would transition to a soft crate when you think his chewing stage might be over & as Ness said, until you are sure he will not tear it to bits, it would be best to have someone supervise. The Clean run one will cost you a fortune to post over. I have just bought my second Australian Made, Australian Owned K9 crate & can't speak highly enough of them...service & quality is great I bought it for my large border collie & I bought the ML size. They also make matching padded crate mats. Here they are in their K9 crates last week away camping :)

In this one she demonstrates how the OMG handling system proofs your start line stays, weave poles & contacts :laugh: OMG Spoofing System

I wonder if Petstock sell it. I wouldn't mind a small bag to use as emergency training treats.