wuffles

There's absolutely nothing wrong with being in Beginners if you actually are in Beginners It's when your dog is about to do a higher level assessment and you have spent hours and hours getting them to that point that it's embarrassing 10 months old is a great age

KTB we got asked on Sunday when we arrived if we were there for Beginners WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP ASKING ME THAT???

My experience with the Canberra dog parks... Belco is only ok if you can pick a quiet time. If you get there around 8am on a weekend there is usually only one or two other dogs there. We don't go there when it's busy. Forde is ok if you can pick a quiet time. After work is not a quiet time. Weekends are a bit hit and miss. We were there a few weekends ago around 9:30am and at one point there were about 8 dogs in there (a lot, considering it is a very small park). The lab and pug x are hilarious, I think the lab is Bill and the pug x is Muffy. Last weekend I was there at the same time and we were the only ones there. I've come across aggressive dogs and idiot owners at both places. We don't go to either very often anymore... in saying that, poor Ava was attacked by a very insecure dog we met this morning on our morning walk, so it seems you can't protect them either way... ;) KTB one weekend you should come check out our local reserve. It is safe -- bounded by a paddock on one side and fenceline on the other, so no cars or anything. There are a few laneways but they are a fair way from the main path so don't tend to cause problems. Ava should leave Elbie alone, but I can leash her if she is annoying. Or I could bring the big one who definitely won't annoy Elbie but does take his own fun path through the reserve and may be a bad influence Ava dropped in sit stays a few times, this is what I did. If she even looked like she was THINKING about dropping, I gave her an extra stay command, then released and rewarded a few seconds later. Not sure if this is the right way to go but it seems to have worked for now

We train tricks for fun, to help us both learn, to give her some stimulation. I use tricks to break up other obedience commands in training because they are generally short, snappy and rewarding for the dog. From what I have seen on Youtube and in real life is that dogs that heel looking at their owner not only have better precision, but they seem more willing and happy to be working. When Ava stops looking at me, she stays with me for a while, then loses interest and usually drifts either forwards or away from my leg. Some of the others dogs at my club heel without looking at their owners, they are generally the ones who lag. Just an observation.

Sorry, can't give any advice on what's in Toowoomba but we have both fenced and unfenced dog off leash areas here Our unfenced ones tend to be ovals and reserves.

IMO a dog should take direction from all humans in the family. If they don't, it's the human's fault... I know whose fault it is in our house OH isn't particularly firm with ours, so they get away with more while he's around. His body language isn't as easy for them to read. Mine will pretty much take direction from any human they come across if that person is firm and consistent in their actions. At the dog park a few weeks ago my two were happily jumping over hurdles and running up the dog walk for my friend's children who are dog savvy. They also work well when instructors use them as demo dogs in obedience class. Yet if they come across someone hesitant or unpredictable they will take advantage of the situation. Some dogs are also more wilful than others of course... I often hear OH going to our older dog, "No, don't do that, stop it, OI!" with no reaction, whereas the little one will run out of the room at any hint of a raised voice

WOW! Cider's videos are an inspiration to those of us working towards CCD... amazing work, well done. I don't think I've ever seen such beautiful heelwork

Royal Canin here.

I'm interested in this as well. We're going to take a few days off when our girl gets desexed, but can't stay home the whole 10 days. She can be crated for a few hours but not 9 hours while we're at work. She loves to run and jump and doesn't need any encouragement to do so for no apparent reason

Satch is scared of it so I don't think we'll have any problems

My dad thought it was hilarious Oh we are such Canberrans thinking this weather is hot... it was a balmy 20 degrees I got a tad sunburned. I remember taking Satch to training on a Thursday night when it was still over 30 degrees at 7pm. Big mistake, the dogs just stood and stared at us like we were crazy. The heat worked in our favour today, it calmed down our little livewire :D Ava just had a play with the Home Alone toy! I put some liver treats in there and they do indeed come out the bottom hole if they pull it and let it bounce up again.

:D Bit random, but once my dad (who has a beard and a bit rotund) was on his morning walk and went past a little boy playing with a ball. The ball rolled towards my dad, so he picked it up and gave it back to the boy. The boy said with wide eyes, "Oh! Thanks, Santa!"

Yes, well, I went through beginners, bronze AND silver with them

Well done KTB, Mr Koala and Elbie! Ava seemed to just "click" with the steady for pats about two weeks into silver. I worked heaps on her stays, pulling her leash, throwing toys around, making funny noises. First I just got OH to come and pat her in a stay then gave her huge jackpot rewards if she didn't move, I think it was a turning point for her, for that exercise The people I went through bronze with that are repeating are all really nice as well so you don't have to worry about that. They divided our classes into "has done bronze before" and "hasn't done bronze before" so you might not be in with them though! We've hung up the Home Alone toy in the pergola, neither of the dogs have shown any interest in it yet. Then again they've also ignored the neighbours completely again today. Doesn't surprise me, they are little angels when we are home. We worked out that the treats are probably meant to come out the bottom hole that the rope is in, they will just have to be small treats Satch has been snoozing in the sun all day, such a hard life, he hasn't even been for a walk! Ava has decided in the past few weeks that the best spot in the house is in our bedroom, in front of the window. She loves to watch the cars going past and the grass grow. She keeps falling asleep with her head on the window sill, it is so cute. Here she is giving me the evil eye for making her stand still when she wanted to wriggle.

Our Cuz has lasted but mine don't really chew it much, just throw it around. We have a 'Squirrel Dude' (treat dispensing similar to a Kong) that goes alright... if all else fails just raid the recycling bin for some cardboard boxes, toilet rolls, etc. that he can have some fun with!

Wooden flooring can be really slippery. I don't let mine chase things or each other on slippery surfaces as it's an accident waiting to happen! My large dog hates slippery surfaces, he loses his balance easily and his paws fall out from beneath him. He's still fast and agile on other surfaces. Our younger girl has no problems no matter what the surface, but I do notice if she sits on the tiles her paws slide forward gradually until she has to readjust.

Haha yes, the doggies quite often have dirty snouts and dirt caked on their nails when we get home. Of course Ava was the mastermind in the shelf-destructo exercise. She only did it once and hasn't touched it since, touch wood... Ewwww @ mouldy kibble. Our Tug-a-Jug is useless now because the rope went mouldy because it got wet and you can't really dry rope It's aliiiiiive. I'm not going to bring a camera tomorrow, too hard to manage a 20kg puppy as well as a camera! We have a guy coming round this morning to give us a quote to replace our side fence, do you think it's rude to ask him to help us practice the steady for pats exercise? .... mine bark at the postie as well

I shared one of our yard and shelf earlier, before all of you admitted to the destruction Here you go, some quick ones. This used to be a pretty grass plant. Ava not only lay on it, but she pulled all the bits off, so now it just looks like something rude. One of our "garden beds"... notice the dug up sprinkler head in the bottom corner (although it was poking out of the ground before Ava arrived). This pipe on our hot water system used to have insulation around it... then it was replaced... and now it's reduced to cable ties again Love how the bottom of this vine, including the trunk, have been lovingly "pruned"... not by us! And of course the shelf in our pergola

Hahaha awesome videos from both of you! Elbie and the Wobbler are hilarious. And Little G sure has a lot of attitude, so cute!

I totally love these pics! But you're not getting any from me because mine are much, much worse and it's embarrassing.

Stunning photos! I like the one where she is leaping through the flowers

I tried this with my two - they both sniffed the towel then lost interest ;)

I know this topic has been done before but just wondering whether anyone has any fresh ideas. Our neighbours have told us that our dogs bark at them every time they so much as open their back door to go into their yard. They are not used to dogs and their child is scared to go into his own yard ;) So now I feel terrible! They barely let out a woof when we are home, even if someone is walking past the house. They have said that our older dog didn't used to bark at them when he was by himself, but now we have the two, they both set each other off. Neither of them would hurt anyone but they do sound and look scary. I have offered for their child to meet the dogs but he is too scared. The lady says that she will work with us, should I ask her to go into her yard and I can observe what they do? What should I do if they bark? What should I do if they don't bark? Edit: I've just found a really similar topic that is only a week old. Sorry! Still interested in any tips though considering they don't do it when we're home.

You guys will all go fine in Bronze! We failed one exercise, the steady for pats You will notice a huge difference in the dogs (and the handlers) as you go up the levels and also as they mature. I remember how the dogs behaved when we started, we joke about it in class as most of us came into Beginners together. I really wish I had recorded some of the early sessions to compare. The dogs were barking, jumping around at the end of their leash, lunging at each other... and the owners generally got quite flustered. These same dogs and handlers, 6 months later, are now doing lovely group heeling exercises, off leash stays, and are weaving between the other dogs in the class while focusing on their people!! I feel sorry for poor Judge, he is so anxious about the world This thread needs more pictures

Great post I also think it's worth mentioning that there can be marked differences between individuals of the same breed, so it is important to consider the temperament of an individual puppy/dog as well as their breed. Of course there are averages, but there are also dogs at either end of the scale. We had a CKCS in our puppy class that was the noisiest, naughtiest, cheekiest, over-the-top puppy there! Her owners were thoroughly overwhelmed as they had chosen the breed for its quiet and gentle temperament.