wuffles

If I had a dog that was likely to injure another dog if it was rushed on lead, I would at least make an effort for it not to occur. For starters I wouldn't be walking in an area were dogs were likely to be off leash. If I saw a dog off leash, I'd walk in the opposite direction. If an owner was present I would yell at them to call their dog. I would hope that anyone with a reactive dog would take these steps.

Glad to see I'm not the only one Edit: Yes, Ava definitely needs to learn to watch my body language more. I generally have the most problems with her at the start of training when she is excited - she likes to make up her own courses. The second time through she improves. Definitely something for us to work on.

I've heard of dogs having tunnel suck before but my dog seems to find the table irresistible Anyone else's dogs have a favourite obstacle?

There are a few ways (luring is one) but I used rear end awareness training (elephant trick) then faded the platform. Now she understands what heel position is no matter where she is coming from. Whichever way you teach it I think your dog has to understand that his back end can move independently of his front end

I lost points for squiffies in all 3 of our Novice trials I had one very slightly crooked front (1 point) with a perfect finish, another crooked front with a nice finish (2 points) and one perfect front and crooked finish (2 points). Needless to say it's something I need to fix before Open Nik, I had the same issue with finishing too far back (she went through a phase of sticking her bum to my leg). I am struggling to get it right but I think we are getting there. I think we were discussing this at Albury, but I am doing flip finishes now and I THINK that will work better for us. Time will tell... Edit: Adding finishes broke our fronts. Her CCD recalls were nearly all full points.

My youngen doesn't let me know that she needs to go out, but she holds on until I let her out. I let her out at intervals and tell her to go toilet even if she doesn't need to

Ava came to us at 12 weeks and we didn't have any accidents after 14 weeks. She's a pretty special one though ;)

A lab in our walking group almost constantly has his raised. He always plays nicely with the other dogs. One of mine does it occasionally and it means he is excited but unsure. It generally stops when the other dog has shown themselves to be friendly. I keep an eye on him and remove him from the situation if I think it could go bad.

Sorry, the reason my dog doesn't tug in all environments is that she doesn't really enjoy it. I understand what Joe is saying and yes, weak nerve COULD be a reason but it's not the ONLY reason. Some dogs are more stimulated by the environment, some just don't like tugging, some prefer another behaviour that they will do instead. One of my dogs I would call weak nerved, he can struggle in new environments and for example will refuse food if he is nervous (like at the vet). I do think that this is genetic in his case. My other dog is submissive and non-confrontational, so some might call her weak nerved, but she has no problems in new environments and does well at obedience trials even on grounds neither her nor I have seen before in our lives. I didn't have to work through any nerve or confidence issues with her. But tugging is not a big reward to her, so often she won't do it. (Both my dogs are desexed pets, like most people's dogs in this thread)

SLLH that looked great, and your handling was much improved from last time too! :D The only thing I can think of in the SFE is that when you went back to him it looked like you might have stood a bit crooked - I know it sounds nitpicky but some judges will dock you points for that. I lost 1 point in one of our SFEs and still have no idea how we lost it so sometimes you just have to shrug and just be happy you passed :D

Interesting questions I don't know the anwers but I can relay observations about my own two dogs just to highlight the differences between dogs! My older boy is very calm and laidback but he has very high prey drive for actual small fluffy things (cats, rabbits, foxes, etc). He goes a bit bonkers when he sees a duck from 50m away, yet magpies can wander around a metre away from him and he barely lifts an eyelid. He is not interested in toys or tugging, at all. If I throw a toy, he doesn't even look at it. The only tug toy he has found interesting is one with actual bunny fur woven into it, and even then he wouldn't tug on it... just wanted to rip the fur out He came to us as a rescue at 3 years old so I can't say whether something in his past may have diminished his prey drive for toys/tug, or whether it is something more complex. He likes food but environmental rewards are more enticing for him (sniffing, exploring). My younger girl is high energy and would die for one piece of kibble. She is very food motivated (but we do keep her portions down to keep her lean so I don't know if this would lessen if she got more). She likes toys and will tug but I haven't been able to get too much out of her in that regard as food will always triumph. I taught her a better tug using food and a clicker but I can see that it's not particularly enjoyable for her... she is obviously doing it just to get the food at the end. She does love a flirt pole and does better tugging with real sheepskin or rabbit fur. I started out trying to use toys as a reward in agility but gave up (for now). I get quite good results with food, although food is obviously not as versatile as toys I do use food chasing and throwing and she LOVES it. Overall I'd say she is quite driven but not crazily so, she gives me a lot of enthusiasm for both obedience and agility.

Wagon :thumbsup:

IMO tricks are good for developing a bond. They also teach the dog how to learn (and owner how to teach) which is a big bonus when they are older and you want to teach more complex behaviours

It is perfectly practical in short stints for practise. Kivi thinks it's practical for quite long stints. I'm not sure how he avoids tripping over, particularly given he's not the most graceful and nimble of dogs. My dogs get to walk for fun, but doszens of short training stints are part of that fun. If I don't make them happen the dogs usually try themselves. Sorry, I'm not trying to be inflammatory, I'm just genuinely intrigued by this "never" thing. I honestly look for situations where I have never asked for a behaviour and add it to the top of the list of places to next drop that particular cue. Because of aiming for fluency rather than proficiency. Fluent behaviours are more reliable, but more to the point, I love testing my dogs' understanding of a cue. It's my favourite bit of training. One time OH cued Erik to roll over while he was swimming and he actually tried to do it. He would have pulled it off if his method of rolling involved more twist in his body like Kivi's does. I freaking love that level of fluency. It's just good fun. It's not practical for me My dog understands what heel means. She would do it if I asked her to. I just don't ask in the middle of a daily walk. As I say, I don't mind if you do, but we don't need to so we don't.

I never ask my dogs to heel on our daily walks either. Our walks are informal and they are allowed to sniff, pee and explore. When I am walking them both together the rules are a bit stricter but only things like they mustn't cross over in front or behind, or stop dead in their tracks, etc. Heeling to me is a very precise behaviour. In particular when I say "heel" I want my dogs unbroken eye contact which isn't practical on daily walks -- my young dog offers this behaviour often and I try snap her out of it as I am worried she will trip If I want them right in at my side while going past traffic or across a road, I shorten their leash. If I want to practice heelwork I stop somewhere like the oval and do it there, but I always let them know that it is training rather than walkies time. I don't care what other people do, they can ask their dogs to heel the whole way if they want, but I never will

Well done!! All your training and work must have paid off!

OH and I are going for a walk around the local lake with the dogs, then will stop and get a burger on the way home :D

No ADAA trials here so that makes my choice easy

I don't think I'd know where I was meant to go either if I was your dog There are so many options - puppy pads, mat, floor, grass... after seeing the vet to rule out an infection you need to be more clear by taking the advice of previous posters. Edited to add: My girl tends to do lots of little wees as opposed to one big one, but she was very easy to toilet train.

Are you using a target? I'd take the target off the door and try getting a harder push on that first. As Kavik says try putting the target somewhere she is more likely to push harder, maybe your hand or even on an item that moves easily when touched. Edit: To push a door you probably also want an extended touch? I taught an extended touch by asking for two touches before a reward and they naturally got longer from there

Also, are you sure she is lying down and ignoring you, or might she be offering the drop as a behaviour because it has been highly rewarded in the past? My girl offers drops regularly when I am training her because it is an easy behaviour which is often highly rewarded. If she is dropping then actively avoiding eye contact or sniffing the ground it could be a displacement behaviour - she wants to please you but doesn't know how. Are you encouraging her in any way or doing more pure shaping where you expect her to figure things out without feedback? Personally my girl gets discouraged easily so I encourage her if she is trying, even if she is not getting it right, by telling her she is good, smiling, etc. I will also do things like point or use my eyes to help her. Also remember to throw in "easy" exercises and play between more difficult exercises to help their confidence! I have found that there are certain things that take them ages to "get" and if they're not important things I just give up and try again in a few weeks.

Doesn't fit in every way but have you thought about an Aussie? I know their coat is too long for you, but they are surprisingly easy to manage. At Albury they were walking through mud almost to their bellies but were miraculously clean after being left in their crates for a few hours. They do traipse it in the house though ;)

I thought the same thing - dogs in the pictures go against what they are saying in the "standard"! I also like that it says their lips are clean and tight, then proceed to use pictures of the opposite.

Squee! I love collies! Don't see too many in obedience unfortunately.

I've tried two different sizes of plastic and a wooden, she definitely prefers the wooden. Still doesn't like it though :p