sheena

It is upside down, so you have to stand on your head to see the real picture, but it just goes to show the great reflection... :)

Delta Charlie has said it so well. When they are around something as exciting as agility, they don't want other dogs coming up & getting in their face. Your dog re: the focus on you, sounds very, very normal for a 14 month old pup who is just starting out with all the excitement of learning agility. There are lots of things you could do to get him to focus on you..probably too many to mention here. Have you done any "clicker" work with him ? they love "shaping" games especially when it is done with the clicker...things like targeting, hand touches, look at me, look at that & heaps more. If you can get hold of "The Focused Puppy" by Deborah Jones it would be a good start. We have some great little JR's come to our agility trials. My head instructor has one ATM about the same age as yours & in her own words, he is a right little turd :laugh:

Try running 7 :p Before we cut back, our entries for 2012 were well over $1000 :laugh: It's always so hard to decide what to cut back on...but geeze...> $1000 That's why I like ADAA big events, its just the one fee that covers all events.

I'm thinking of going, but it is going to be expensive. $10 a run & two dogs for all the events they are eligible for plus accomodation. Expensive compared to the ADAA Grand Prix. Might just have to cut back on what they enter.

Patented....but just like our personal medications are available in generic brands & things like Roundup is available in generic "glysophate". The patents by the drug companies only last, for I dont know how many years, then it is available to anyone. How many times have you picked up a prescription & been asked, do you want the generic brand?

Evidently they have, but again, not in Australia Generic K9 Advantix

I have often wondered why someone hasn't brought out generic brands for expensive flea & tick controlls. The companies only have a patent on these things for so many years. While googling I came across Generic Frontline Plus, probably not available in Oz yet, but it is promising that an Advantix one might follow :)

At our school we have a "3 second meet & greet" rule. ie. the dogs are allowed 3 seconds with the other dog...theory is that after 3 seconds, they will either start to play or feel threatened. My young BC guy @ about the same age as your guy, was fine when he started agility group lessons until one dog in particular...an ACD, joined the class & gave out very unfriendly vibes which escalated into lunging at him & after that my guy doesn't trust anybody. Generally I dont allow my dogs to "play" with other dogs...they have each other. & I don't allow other dogs to get in their face either. I find JR's in general a bit unfriendly towards my dogs which are BC's...probably because BC's tend to stare. When dogs are on lead, they feel very vunerable & when they stretch out on the lead, because of the lead, it puts them into an agressive pose & other dogs misread their body language. Off lead, most dogs are completely different. :)

Tailwaggers...it is great ...here are my dogs enjoying themselves there last year And they will look after your dogs for the day if you want to go out without them. The dogs are provided with beds, food bowls, towels etc....or at least they were when we were up there :)

I agree! When standard course times first came in (god it is scary to think I have done agility long enough to say that!) I had a very wise instructor who said "why bother worrying about it, it shouldn't change what you are doing as you should always be handling to the best of your ability" He hated that people would hear a "generous" time so go oh good I can take my time and do it slow and safely and was always of the opinion that you should be running the course the best way possible for you and your dog so did not even want to know the time. To this day it is something I have believed. I have come out of courses with no idea at to if it was a "quick run" or not compared to the time o others as I have gone out there, walked the course to find the best path for my dog and then run that course. I have known if it felt quick and smooth for us but not how it rated against the course. I don't go out of my way to hear the SCT but when you go for briefing they always tell you, doesn't make me change how I run the course though. Don't get me wrong I don't think Masters should be easy, no way, it should be harder. There were a few reasons why we didn't make time, that is 100% us, when she is feeling better (which explains the complete lack of enthusiasm, I just thought it was heat ) and I work more on my handling then I have no doubt she will always make time very easily. I just think that alot of course times and courses are geared towards fast 500 dogs and tend to forget that other heights compete as well. When rate of travel is 4m/s it's definately not the 99.9% of 200's in mind! LOL A lot of the trials I go to, the judges set a different time for different heights & I have even seen one judge change the course for smaller dogs. I have seen some very fast little dogs & most of the larger, faster dogs lose ground because they jump so long & can't turn on a sixpence like the little fellows.

I have shelves full of DVD's but this is the BEST IMO. I have even used it to teach (try) & teach distance handling to my class. Not sure if it still is, but is was on free shipping from CleanRun

Yay its going to be held the following weekend (4 days) ...same great venue. It will clash with the agility trial we normally go to at Armidale, but hopefully it will just be a "one off" & things will get back to normal the following year. Big party planned to be held in the stables too :)

My girl is only a moderate speed dog, definately not fast, & frigs around in the weave poles, but if she gets a clear round in Masters agility or agility open, then she manages to qualify with heaps of time to spare. So I think the time is fairly generous in agility. In Masters jumping we often will get a clear round but miss out by a fraction of a second so that ROT is probably about right too, to cater for most dogs. IMO

Some people are just soooooooo talented ...thanks for sharing them with us

Well done & what a lovely rose :)

I think the ROT for Masters Agility is 3 mps & Masters Jumping is 3.5 mps...but I may be wrong.

You peel the spiky bit off & just give the bottom bit ie the guts & the legs. Nothing spiky in that & the legs are soft & full of goodness. I don't give too many though because of the salt content, but they are good for a special occasion. :)

My girl loves the prawn heads, but I peel away the top of the head with the spikes & she just gets the guts & the legs. She also eats fresh nippers when we go pumping for bait. She knows to shake the claw off first. :laugh:

I've got it on burst mode, but maybe because the light is not real bright early in the morning, it is not bursting quick enough. If we leave it till the sun gets right up, then the wind gets up & spoils the reflections, so it is just a case of keep on trying.

The bottom Cricket is jumping through a giant hoop :laugh:

I sometimes give the cheap sardines, but normally feed the Woolies Mackeral which is in natural mackeral oil. Must go & check what they say on the sardine pack re: type of oil

Sorry guys...I hope I am not boring you with these...but I am having fun trying to get that illusive shot. There was a slight breeze blowing this morning unfortunately. Go Cricket, Go..... Who said that dogs can't fly :laugh:

My dog has just discovered a new treat for her which is definately low fat (not that she needs it). She was watching me cut up apples & now she thinks apple cubes are the best

Great AD...I have uttermost confidence in the organisers & it must be an unwelcome headache for them. I wonder how the council decided who should get the venue, seeing that ADAA have had it for the last 3 years. Maybe money talked

My dogs have absolutely no problems with their digestion