RubyStar

OK you've talked me into it, I'll give Novice a go Sounds like a good way to give other classes a go before throwing yourself in a real situation! Unlucky, I dunno, if I see you doing a CCD round (or Novice) I'll come to you! I was one of those poor nervous souls who forgot to reward my dog in the practice ring (I guess I wanted to see how she'd go in a real trial scenario cos I treat her all the time in practice!) and the judge I had (can't remember who) basically told me we definitely are not ready But it was one of her off rounds, I know she does so much better - we were actually practicing outside the ring and she did beautifully - get in there and we bombed big time! All she wanted to do was sniff and eat the grass, but even since then we've gotten better with the grass grazing! I will try remember to praise and reward like I do in practice I just read the book Remembering To Breathe :cool: The only thing I haven't been able to practice for Open is retrieving a dumbell over solid jump. I need to build me some jumps! Oh, and our SFE is pretty

On this, I have been doing a bit of offlead heelwork with Ruby and we've done a few extra exercises past CCD as you know - does this mean I can try my hand in the Novice practice ring as well as CCD to satisfy my curiosity on some things? Not saying I will, cos if our last practice trial for CCD is anything to go by it's not a good idea to embarrass myself any further, but just thinking about it is all Are you calling any rounds at the practice trial?

It's been insanely hot in Perth the past couple of weeks so I've been working on scent discrimination and send aways with Ruby in the house. Not much room in here to work on heelwork which is what I really wanna focus on with trials coming up!!

I had agreed to go to the DOL Perth meetup this Sunday but I can go to the next one so that will make me free

Don't remember it being windy, so I'm guessing she has no idea! The question is, how do I help her get the idea? She's a smart girl so I know this can be done, it's just a matter of me being able to find a way to help her understand the requirements! I did the exercise outside on the grass, all the other times I had done it inside on the carpet. Perhaps I should try the carpet again. I don't want to give up, there has to be a way!

Reporting back with how we got on. If I make this learning experience public then hopefully it will be a useful thread to someone else down the track going through the same thing I put all 5 articles down (including the scented one) and sent her to find it. For the first time since that very first time we tried this exercise, she actually went and sniffed them all in the lineup instead of just picking out a random one (I had them next to each other horizontally to where we were looking at them from, not vertically if that makes sense?). I had the scented one 2nd from the end on the left (I wasn't sure if the scented one needed to be in a particular position?) She started from the right end (her choice, I didn't coax her), sniffed them all right down to the other end of the lineup, got to the last one, went back to the scented one next to it, then decided on bringing me back the end unscented one So close!! So I sent her back to have another go and she didn't want to sniff them again, she just went to the very first one, grabbed it, and half heartedly brought it back. It seems leaving the game a couple of days made her want to sniff them again (as the 2nd time I tried it straight after the first night, she didn't sniff them at all, even on her first go) - and when she's wrong and asked to try again, she doesn't even attempt to sniff them, just grabs at a random as soon as she gets there! Oh and ignoring her this time, she eventually got fed up of looking at me with it in her mouth so she found her own fun by having a play with the article instead and the one she previously got wrong :D Where to now? :rolleyes:

Well done Sally and Ness! That UD pass it getting nearer, I can smell it! :D

Best of luck and happy birthday ;) If I lived there I'd come watch, got nothing else to do tonight except watch telly!!

I made a start on the retrieve with Millie using the Shirley Chong website last week and it's like banging my head against the wall, she won't even LOOK at the thing!

How about offer her another scent article as reward? :D

Bugger! Are you trying the scent part yet or just trying to get her to pick it up?

Use whatever motivates your dog..doesn't have to be food... http://www.nwk9.com/twosqueakies.htm I don't use correction as this article suggests. You're increasing drive :D Thanks! I had seen this before but didn't know that is what it was referred to as

Thanks, caffy! What is the 2 food game and what are its benefits?

I'd much rather do that!! Conformation bores me a little bit to be honest, but I sometimes go just to stand there ready with the next dog for her to take into the ring... that and I get to play with her newest addition I'm a sucker for lab puppies!!

I never thought to look in there! I was thinking about heading down to take a squiz at the NYE show if my friend who breeds and shows Labs is going, so I will see if their shop is open. And no, I don't have anything better to do on NYE

That'd be great, thanks Does she sell, or does anyone know where I can find, a plastic dumbell? I have a large one, too large for Ruby (though it's what I used to teach her to retrieve and hold something) so I bought a smaller wood one for her but with very little use it has big chunks coming off the bell bit (not to mention endless teethmarks ) So thought I would go back to plastic as she doesn't mouth them as much.

I'm not worrying about anything but finding the right one but she will offer the sit and hold of it in front of me (not necessarily straight! need to work on that for the dumbell retrieve!) which is the part I don't care about right now Just spit the right one at me for starters please, Ruby! :rolleyes:

Yep, using tongs to put out the unscented ones and using the same one over and over as the scented one. Has nice meaty smells on it too from the treats. If she brought the wrong one back I used another one like you suggested, so now all those are sitting outside with the lid off to air them but I've left my meaty smelling one inside to keep using that. Cool. Will do! Awesome, do I need to organise in advance to purchase another set from her or does she usually carry them about and I can approach her on the day?

I think this is my current option - I tried it again tonight and all else failed! She sat there holding the wrong article in front of me for just over a minute before I had to end it. I felt like rewarding her though cos damn that is the best and longest attention she's held on me EVER! But I resisted She doesn't seem to be sniffing for anything anymore, even when I go back to one article and try and hide it behind something or under something light like a tissue. If she can't see it she just looks at me (then proceeded to "take a bow" several times when I asked her to find something she couldn't see just in case that was what I was actually asking for :rolleyes:) I'll go back to it end of the week and keep researching in the meantime I guess! If anymore tips come to mind out there they will be gratefully received!

Yeah, I realise there is no rush to trial, and I've been working all year to get things right even though I could have tried to fluke a pass 6 months ago (not sure if it would have worked or not, though ) But she's getting better and I know she knows the stuff, so now I just want to get out there and see - I actually think it's more my own nerves why I have put it off so long! If we flunk then at least I'll have my first embarrassing flunk over with :rolleyes: But if the practice trial in Jan goes horribly wrong then I may have second thoughts... I just changed my screenname... got tired of the 81! Ruby Star is part of Ruby's registered name

Ah well, one thing at a time, will try the sendaway once I can figure out this scent stuff :rolleyes: I've been working hard on Ruby's heelwork, hoping she'll be ready to trial soon (regardless, I'm taking the plunge in Feb!) I'm mostly worried about her SFE and is one of those things you can't really practice on your own cos you're not as exciting as a stranger touching you

Dammit, I need 2 sets? I just bought 1 set thinking I was on the right track and better than using spoons :rolleyes: Yay if you start teaching Kenzie and get the same problems then it will be fresh in your mind to help me too I know we haven't even debuted in CCD yet but can't hurt to teach more things, I figure I thought scent discrimination would be easier to teach than say the send away, which is another thing I'd love to know how to teach

If Ruby doesn't understand what I'm asking her to do, she'll often throw every trick she knows at me just in case she hits the right one for the treat

Thanks!!

Cheers Ptolomy! I'll give your suggestions a try. I'll start out by waiting it out for at least 30 seconds to see if she goes back, but I'm doubtful as I think I waited almost that long and I kept looking at her feeling sorry for her cos she looked so proud! I need to be firm - no eye contact! I didn't stay on the single article hide and seek retrieve game for long, and tried our luck with a second article just to see if she could do it. Was happy to see she sniffed them both then brought back the right one so I stuck with 2 articles for a while. I also admit I forgot Dog Scout said to place it 5 feet away and I too placed, not threw, it only about 20cm away and she managed to get it. I'm thinking I better go back and try the 5 feet thing as well Silly question - how do you de-scent an article? Just leave it out for a day or so? I feel so silly asking that!! I'd definitely like to take you up on your offer for your help when K9 opens again when you have time - if not for scent discrimination, definitely SFE & heeling as my signals need the most work! Thanks again :rolleyes: