wuffles

Just be aware that people can be REALLY nervous about other dogs approaching. My dog seems to really attract aggressive dogs and every dog I see is now a potential threat.

6 months generally isn't physical maturity...

I have found in obedience that although there is some bitchiness (as there is in any group of people), people I don't even know cheer and congratulate me for getting a Q! If a dog in the ring does something wrong, everyone outside the ring groans... people genuinely want others to be successful. I don't even know whether showing is like this or not but the perception to most people is that it is not so friendly. And it's all about what people think, whether it's true or not. For my next obedience/agility dog I will consider showing as well but I just don't know whether there are enough positives for me to want to go down that path.

Another thing to throw out there by someone who has never shown before... I don't think that there are many younger people getting into showing their dogs. This would be for various reasons... time restraints (weekends are pretty highly coveted in my house seeing as are at work all week), expense, the difficulty in "starting out" and finding mentors. Even having to keep an entire dog is difficult these days. There also isn't a very positive attitude towards showing amongst younger people (actually most people in general these days) because it is seen as a popularity or beauty contest. I do dog sports and there are not that many younger people involved in that either.

Open training for us last night. Did our first full drop on recall which was lovely, and she did a GORGEOUS retrieve over jump which I was so happy with. SFE was also nice as we did it in a group of three dogs so it was a long time to keep all 4 feet still! I remember when she used to wriggle her little bum and have to try SO hard to keep still whereas these days she knows what it's all about and ignores the person completely! Not so good points were COP (didn't do the sit, even though she has been doing it nicely all week in training) and her focus in general was not brilliant. Stays were ok but when I went out of sight on the drop she sat up. Good luck everyone for upcoming trials. I am missing trialling and we won't be ready until next year (which I guess isn't that far away). We are going overseas in February so I am hoping Ava will remember everything when I get back!

Yep Tricks are part of the syllabus at our dog club as well.

If you want a martingale make sure you are shown how to use one properly... they are not just to let your dog pull with a bit more room than a flat collar, or for looks... The main use of them is that you can still give your dog a "check" like you would a check chain but as they can only tighten a small amount, they will not "choke" your dog (although a properly used check chain should not do this either). It's important that this is well timed, the martingale is properly fitted (high on the dog's neck and very tight) and you have an actual training plan to go along with it! They are also handy if you have a dog that is able to back out of regular flat collars, or if you need the collar to slip off the dog's head quickly (for example before an agility run). Personally my dogs are walked on flat collars. I have used martingales for specific things (loose leash walking) and I have also used a front attach harness for more control while my younger dog was in training. I prefer positive training methods so the martingale only came out when necessary

angelsun I understand where you're coming from and I know you have done heaps to get it up and running here! But there is sooo much interest in this sport and people can't even get their hands on the proposed rules so it's natural they are going to find other ways of getting information. I know at least in my area there is a really mixed attitude towards it all which only makes it harder for those of us who want to take part. I would think it would be better to at least start training the basics (and all we can do is go on other countries rules for that) rather than wait until something is released here in Australia.

Proplan here. I have previously used Royal Canin which I was really happy with, but as my dogs are different sizes I had to feed them different foods which annoyed me. On Proplan they both just get "adult" food. I have also used Blackhawk but my girl had some health issues on it which stopped after we changed to Proplan.

Great work Nik and Annie I don't do broad jump as Ava thinks the best way is to run straight over the boards. Are you going to enter any Open trials this year?

Also works with the vacuum. My girl got her nose suctioned once and now she stays well clear.

Both my dogs are completely quirky. Satchmo has a fear of tiles and other slippery surfaces (this does not include wet rocks which he is happy to climb to his heart's content). After 3.5 years at our house he often still has issues getting across the 1m stretch of tiles between rooms. Sometimes he walks across without a care in the world and other times he looks at the floor like it's going to open up and swallow him. Sometimes he barks at us to 'help' him across, and as soon as you get up and say 'come on!' he happily walks across. He can't get into our bedroom across the tiles but once he's in, he can get out no problems at all. Sometimes he gets stuck on 'the island' (otherwise known as the doormat at the back door) or manages to stand with all four feet on the rim of the doorframe to avoid the tiles (he is a BIG dog). He won't go near the toilet or bathroom because there are so many tiles, he gets a look of fear just being near them. Ava gets really hung up on our emotions and associates words with them. As a result she becomes really sensitive to seemingly harmless words. If one of us gets the hiccups she dances around all worried-like and will roll around on the ground or go hide under the bed. Now just saying the word 'hiccup' gets the same reaction. She also has reactions to 'ew' and 'ow' (wriggle wriggle lick face) and 'naughty' and 'trouble' (squint, grovel) and 'hungry' (OMG EXCITEMENT). Once, many months ago, OH got home from work before me. She'd destroyed something while we'd been out so he was displeased with her (didn't yell, just changed his tone of voice). She went and hid under the bed. Now, EVERY SINGLE TIME he gets home from work before me she goes and hides under the bed until I get home

Yeah I've had a few that have confused me as well. I am generally so happy to get a Q that I couldn't care less about points until the next day

To spice up the thread a bit, here are some pics from our last trial! At least they make it obvious why we lost a point on the recall and why I have to make an effort to reward from BOTH hands

I have one sporting dog and one purely pet, and I can barely keep up with the two of them, so no more for me.

murve will he pick up the dumbbell or are you handing it to him? I used (loosely) the Shirley Chong method here. I spent about 6 months getting a hold so you are doing well in that regard I've posted a few times about my frustration about retrieves, I think it can be a very hard exercise for dogs that aren't natural retrievers. My many months of squealing like a happy lunatic for interaction with the dumbbell has finally paid off and she is actually getting excited when it comes out of my bag.

Love the pic, RV :D I often use Satchmo as a distraction when I am training Ava. He has no qualms about wandering in front of us during heelwork or giving Ava a good sniff over while she's in a stay Last night we did some club training after a few weeks break and I am quite happy about how our training for Open is coming along! She did two really nice retrieves which I never thought would happen. We are also getting there slowly with the stays, she did a 3.5 minute group sit (I was in sight about 20m away) without dropping (YAY!) and she is looking quite comfortable when I go a long distance, hide for a short time or something is blocking her view of me. She was noticeably happier being around other dogs (especially ones she knows) and people so practicing in class rather than on my own is going to be helpful. All stays were also done while the flyballers practiced in the adjacent paddock which must have been difficult for my little stickybeaker

Set up a webcam to see what is actually happening. This helped us when our neighbours told us about our dogs barking.

:thumbsup: I have a boy and a girl (both desexed) and they sound similar to yours, TSD. My boy is independent, loves to explore, is very aware of his personal space so loves pats but dislikes cuddles. He's devoted to us in a protective way but isn't particularly interested in pleasing us at all. My girl on the other hand is a complete hussy for cuddles and loves to crawl all over people. She thinks she's an 18kg lapdog. She's VERY in tune with our emotions, very soft and sensitive, works her little butt off to please you. I would say a lot of this has come down to breed/genetics. My boy is a mixed breed (GSD, sighthound, God knows what else). My girl is an Aussie and her parents have very sweet temperaments.

Can I also put forward that people interpret dogs' reactions to things and emotions differently. What some people might see as constantly hungry others would see as normal. For example there is an overweight lab that we walk with regularly in a group of dogs, his owners are always talking about his scavenging and acting very hungry all the time. One day someone had thrown some veggie scraps over their back fence so all the dogs went to investigate. "Oh, he's always scavenging! He must be so hungry" cried the lab owners... even though he was far from the only dog who thought they had hit the jackpot Apart from that, I would second the suggestion of trying a higher quality food.

Thank you corvus, that was a good explanation!

I'm not sure I buy into the "don't comfort them as it'll make it worse" theory. Whether I comfort my thunderphobic dog or not, he's petrified. I usually let him know that yes, I hear it too, but try not to worry too much. I give him a confident pat then go on with what I was doing. If he wants to sit his 35kg bum on my lap, he can

Strauss looks great Ptolomy, definitely a big ask for a baby dog! The judges seem to vary a lot here with their patterns. I have had some super long ones with each position in each speed, and I have also had the odd short one. Same as distances for the recall - have had some huge ones and some short ones!

Ours are "paw" and "other paw" "Touch" means touch that with your nose. I use "heel" for heel position on the left hand side, I don't have a command for the right hand side. Some people I know use alternative words for heel like "close" or "space". I do leg weaves just with my body language (if I take a big step with my leg, go under it!) and I also don't use a command for pivoting... you mean on a phone book, rear end awareness? I use this behaviour to get a proper heel position so her understand is if there is an object, try pivoting on it, into heel position if possible I don't really teach much just for the sake of it anymore because I have so much to train for obedience and agility that I don't have time So training things in either direction or on both sides doesn't really happen I do use "spin" and "twirl" for spinning in either direction but to be honest she responds to the hand signal rather than the command on that one. In conclusion I'd say just make up whatever you want! You can generally change it later if you have to.

Elise as a guide, Ava's first CCD trial was when she was 15 months old, and I trained her with trials in mind from a baby. I'm pretty sure she was the youngest dog in all her CCD trials, and most of her Novice ones as well. If I wasn't so impatient I would have waited longer. We won't be back in the obedience ring until next year. Open is requiring a fair bit of tweaking and I am not getting great consistency in some of the exercises yet so we need time to work on them. Ava is spending more time on the couch than the training field and I don't think she minds much at all Edit: Yep I actually found Novice easier and the lead caused us all kinds of problems. I do like the concept of a leash almost like a safety blanket for newbie dog and owner but putting it into practice was hard for me