RubyStar

Isn't it funny, and a bit humbling, when someone who doesn't work dogs or who is very new at it looks at what you do (all sorts of training) with awe? We think its very novice stuff, but to others it is fantastic :laugh: I overheard a comment about me and my dogs (a positive one ) from someone I don't know and it was nice. Millie had her last retrieving club lesson today. We were first up for the first water mark, and her dummy landed into a pile of mud! As she tried getting it (elbow deep in mud), she made it sink I was devo, it was my only dummy with wings on it But later on the tide moved and revealed the dummy, so one of the experienced dogs got sent across the water as a blind We hand threw her another one so she didn't come back empty handed mouthed

Sounds great TSD! Ruby and I are back from a morning of training. Nothing like your work TSD but I am sooooooo chuffed with my girl! For a dog who lacks enthusiasm, she was oozing it this morning (even after being out late trialling last night). We started with a single mark across a small piece of water and onto a bank. Picked that up (but cheated slightly on the way back, as did the others I noticed). Had a break, and came back to try it as a double rise. Good girl Ruby!!! She understood the command and off she went out again. Took her a little bit to find it, but she kept looking and was rewarded with finding it :D Did a couple of single marks into water so she could have a swim and work on water deliveries. Oh and her heeling between the flags was much improved today. No serious amounts of forging on the way there :laugh: While I was waiting around I decided to work on some easy blinds with a frozen bird in a sock into some thick grass. Started close and backed it up a bit by the end, and with each send she was as enthusiastic as the first :) Some reminders earlier of sit to the whistle helped because when we came back to the blind game after doing a water run, she overran it so I whistled her into the area and blow me down, when I whistled for a sit, she did! :D Yes, baby things, but for me and this particular dog, I am SO CHUFFED!!! She has developed a new stress issue (even though it was all kept light and fun and she wasn't grumbled at once!) She stopped about 10 metres in front of me each time to stop and pee on the way back, even though she was toileted before her run. I'm not going to concern myself just yet, hoping that will sort itself out as confidence builds. More important things to worry about! I hope for more training days like today, they are so motivating :D Heading out tomorrow morning with the retrieving club for Millie's last training class for the year. Hope she enjoys it as much as she did last week :) Bit of everything for the dogs this weekend. Obedience trial last night, agility games trial tonight, and retrieving training both mornings. Gundogs, so versatile :D

They're advertising it as a new series, so maybe they just mean a new series of episodes to an existing program? But yep, very interesting! I love watching working dogs :)

Just in case it hasn't been posted already, there is a new series (how new I don't know, I only discovered it on Monday) called Extraordinary Dogs on Animal Planet channel, Monday nights at 8.30pm (AEST). It's about working dogs who have all sorts of jobs, such as scent detection, protection, finding people in avalanches, finding seals and finding ants! I loved it as it mostly featured the Labrador but other breeds did feature such as Rottweilers, German Shepherds, and coming up next week has the English Springer Spaniel. I've set IQ to tape the series every week

I can answer this one. YES. Big fat YES. I so hate working a dog that lacks enthusiasm, it makes it paaaaaiiinful!! Millie's got nothing on working/field lines, but she has a heck of a lot more enthusiasm than Ruby does, so it makes training Millie fun (and also incredibly frustrating when she doesn't listen, but it's much better than a dog who is bored). One day I might get my wish of a high drive dog... and hopefully not regret it

I'd put plenty more photos up, but I'm at work and my photos are all on facebook, so I'd not only have to sneak back on facebook, but the photos all come out large

Minis are great cleaners. There was no need to replace our cobweb broom when Pippa came along :D And they are great snugglebums

Minis are awesome. Female one here. Has bonded to more than one person (her "mum" and to me, her trainer) and loves cuddles but also her alone time. I'm not experienced with male dogs of any breed, but I constantly hear they are sookier as a gender, but I personally think my girls love just the right amount of cuddles (love a pat and cuddle and then go and lay down elsewhere). I beg to differ though, Sue and Waldo, the best mini lives with me :D :p

Oh Tassie that was awesome He was having a blast and he recalls off tunnels really well, can he teach Millie that?

Looks like a nice day, RV!! Gorgeous dogs :D

I know that is likely an autocorrect mishap, but I think that is truer than what you meant to type Good luck with your trial this weekend!! Be sure to check in and let us know how you went :D I forgot to say, great photos TSD! I clicked on the facebook link but only saw maybe 1 of Em in there? Maybe I was seeing the wrong thing

Definitely not 300 grams, the little porker She's 33.5cm. She looks so tiny compared to some other minis I've seen about, but according to the standard she's about right, it says bitches 33cm. Gonna be so fun to run a littley!!

Well done, Tassie! Gosh I don't know what it feels like to run clear anymore, it's been ages since we have On the weekend Millie blew an ADX pass by pulling out of the last weave, grrr!! (but hey, she got her entry which has been troublesome in the past, so yay). And Ruby blew a possible JDM pass by knocking one bar again! (I say possible as I don't know if she was in time or not ) Had so many near misses in JDM with both girls, but so far that first pass card still eludes us! And ADX well, I think we'll live out the rest of our agility career in there! Got Pippa officially measured - 300 dog :)

Congrats, CC!! Wow I just love your girls, they are full of flair!

Millie's second training day too and wow, much improved from last week! Last week there was many a good smell about, so she got very distracted. Today her marking was great, she was straight out to pick it up and straight back to deliver to hand. AND she didn't break, happy dance! (she's a bit keen this one and likes to break). She enjoyed her water runs and was starting to reach me before shaking, so we're progressing, slowly! She was keen all morning and could have kept going with her, except I had Ruby waiting in the car for a turn. Only did a few water throws with Ruby to work on her water deliveries. All I can report there, is, "getting there" Took Ruby out yesterday for her first real piece of training in many, many months. The area was great and had some lovely water. She got off to a shaky start with deciding on her second retrieve to literally spit the dummy, then wade up and down the shallow water playing instead. Big moment. We did a few more in the water and she kept her focus this time. Moved to some land marks in a grassy paddock. I ran it as 2 single marks first. The second she overran by quite a bit, but worked her way back and picked it up. Gave her a rest then came back and tackled the same one as a double mark (but pick up in reverse order to the singles). Sent the first one up as a frozen bird in a sock, leave it, watched the next to our right, a plain dummy, send. This is the one she overran the first time, but she nailed it this time. Sent her for the second which was the birdie, nailed it too! Called it a day as we ended on a good note :D Can't do too much with her because she starts to lose focus and switches off, which is the highlight of frustration in our training. That and the bird issue :p

Just to be difficult, DogsWest doesn't issue new papers with your title application - you have to request it AND pay extra! I think it says somewhere on the form that you need to supply a copy of it, though. I did this for my first title and then haven't with all the others, still seems to get through All I supply is the title application form with applicable fee, and copies of my qualifying certificates. Oh, and we have to pay for return postage over here, too!

I attended the WA Retrieving Club's first training day yesterday. I took Millie along this time, to see what she remembered as there is a RATG coming up. It was HOT. Thankfully we didn't have the sun beating down on us as it was overcast, but it was painfully muggy. We did 2 single marks on land each and even though the dummy landed in an open patch of ground, most dogs ran around the bush to the left of it towards where the mark had been thrown from. Yep, Millie was one of them. When I walked out closer to help her out the dummy stood out like dogs balls, so it still baffles me how most dogs got drawn in by the bush She needs a fair bit of work and the heat drained her a bit, but her craziness returned after she got to take a dip for some water retrieves. To get her to hold as she exited the water, I ran away and yes she held it, but I landed flat on my bum when I ran backwards and down a ditch. Owie! My back was twinging all day. Thank goodness I didn't do any real damage, mainly just the pride :) Next week I will take Ruby and see what she remembers. Her marking had improved last year but after such a LONG break, she might have forgotten it all! Hope it isn't as hot next week. Thinking of taking a frozen pigeon for her next week and having a go with that after the other dogs have run. Is this a bad idea? I did some hold work with her with a frozen pigeon when I got home yesterday, and will continue to do this in the hopes she gets better with keeping it in tact She holds beautifully as I am calm and she is calm, but add in the rest and its munch city I will keep trying :D

I hope someone is going to film your debut run, Tassie!! I'm keen to see it :D

Oh how exciting, Tassie!! Your first agility trial with Rory! :D Sounds like you had a great session! Oops I'm a bit behind with the congrats for TO and Jovi! Well done, guys! E+H, great video, too! Hudson is so fast!! He looks like a heap of fun to run. Making me want that Aussie more and more So Pippa and I have started doing more jump work this year (after spending last year focusing more on contacts and weave training for some reason). So here is Pippa doing a part of a course that the seniors set up last night. I broke it down so first time I did jumps 1-5 twice, then jumps 6-10 twice. Then I moved on to doing all 10, which is what the video is of :) I'm so pleased with her progress! Of course we did a better tunnel entry on the try that was not filmed!

Or alternatively I could take the MS for a jog, wonder if she'd keep up? Probably better than the Labs!!

Probably, but that would include running in the same area. I like to jog the 'burbs and take in the sights I like checking out all the local parks/grassed areas, they provide nice visual stimulation during the boring slog Taking into account my personal preference for footpaths, is twice a week for about 40 minutes excessive for a dog to get injuries? They are 6 years old if that means anything, with no known injuries (except one gets bowen every so often, she gets a bit sore apparently but no actual known injuries/problems if that makes sense? Oh and this is the one who appears fitter!)

By road work, do you mean onlead walks on varying surfaces, or actually footpath/road walking on lead? I find this interesting as I was always under the impression that too much exercise on hard surfaces like footpaths and roads could promote injury. I would love to take mine out on jogs with me but I don't do many as I'd like as I don't want to bring about unnecessary injury (that and we have an issue with moron dog owners around here, too many off lead and it scares me). Mine don't get walked very often at all, there is the lack of time - when there is time they usually get a bit of a free run at the training grounds, or are just being trained (obedience/agility). Mine certainly could have their fitness improved which is why I'd like to take them out with me jogging more often, build them up slowly. When we do go, it's anywhere from 30-50 mins usually. Nothing overly excessive like running a marathon! Would half hour of jogging a few times a week on footpaths be classed as good or bad for them? I realise jogging on ovals would be better for probably both of us, but I prefer to hit the road! They are both Labs who are definitely not overweight or lazy, just lack a bit of fitness due to only getting small free runs after training. They spend their day snoozing inside while I'm at work!

Unfortunately, in our first Excellent trial, we didn't get a Q because we couldn't walk backwards. We did attempt it, though! Might have been Ruby's title on the weekend otherwise (not Millie's, at that same trial she ran on the broad jump ). Our second trial we still weren't too successful, but only lost points for being out of position. Our third trial they both nailed it

I loved Cider's jumping round Well done again Ptolomy, what a great weekend for you!!! and of course for bedazzled! Don't worry RV, as you know I was queen of the dufus' and lost 10 points in Rally Excellent with EACH of my girls on the SAME STATION! You'd think I would have realised the first time, errrr, nope Stoopid offset figure 8, I went through it 4 times instead of 3, and that extra time caused Millie to then go and sniff the sneaky food tubs Oh and then there was the 3 point loss with Ruby because I had no idea what a 360 was, I did a 270 instead and declared that I was lost because the next sign wasn't in front of me, then realised and called for a retry I'm just super proud that both kiddies did their 3 steps heel backwards without moving a paw out of place 2 trials before that we couldn't walk backwards to save ourselves, but they nailed it on the weekend