Dory the Doted One

I picked up an oldie just around the corner from home just the other week. Took him straight to the closest vet and he had a microchip, they attempted to call the numbers, one engaged the other not answering. So they decided they'd call the pound...except...and I don't normally do this...the street he lived on was again, right around the corner from home and I convinced them that it was senseless to go through all the rigmarole when I could hold him till after work. They wouldn't give me the details (fair enough), so I got the details through work got the numbers and rang. He was reunited in under 2 hours. Usually I will take to a vet, and let things take their course from there. Unless there is a tag with numbers on it already, then I ring direct. I also post on Facebook Lost Pages. I would be FUMING if I found someone had been holding my dogs in their yard...who knows what could happen to them? What crap they could feed them, let kids climb all over them, if they have a dog themselves...potential aggression situation. No thank you. I'd rather pay the pound fees thanks. When ever you suggest this stuff on those pages you get howled down. When you tell them it is ILLEGAL to even pick up an uninjured animal and that you are suppose to call the Council, you get told you don't know what you're talking about. I've had to almost prise animals off people who have brought them in to be scanned. One sticks in my mind, I seriously think if that dog had not been chipped they would have kept it for themselves. They were tempted to keep it anyone despite the chip.

I do footstep tracking and it's been a journey! My first hurdle was finding 'what's in it for the dog', especially as Willow was skipping most of the food. Out came the bacon randomly placed, although always placed after tricky bits like corners, surface changed etc. I mix it up with leftover roast, and other goodies. She's keen enough about tracking that randomizing food on the track keeps her interest. Because my second hurdle was making it enough of a challenge that she enjoyed it, but not so hard she chucked it in as a bad joke. I lay my tracks according to my grounds, love it when there are 'goat track' or tyre tracks to me these are opportunities to teach her how to work through it. Anything she had to 'work through' will have a reward waiting on the other side. Be it food on track (footsteps) or an article I can jackpot het on and give her time to process what she just did. (If there is poo on the track, tough through it we go...horse, cow, duck, bird...tasting is not permitted! We have a job to do). I make my corners 90degrees an try to make sure I know exactly where it is. Food is placed on the outside edge. So they are really clear. And I get clear behaviour from her, so I'm getting a better idea of her body language. I'll do long legs, short legs, legs with multiple articles and two to three corners. Just depends on how she went with her last track. I also don't let her go too far off my track. She can head check, but there is no forward movement till she is on and I don't permit her to circle behind me. But then I'm on the track, because I know where it is. On corners I don't allow more than a body lenght and again, no forward movement til. I know she's on the track. She used to circle, but I've noticed with the sharper corners she's more aware that when the footsteps disappear, backs up then head checks left or right and off she goes. :) I love tracking. The fun of laying out a puzzle for my dog to solve. :) Her reward at the end is 'Good Job!' Which means pats from everyone and a tasty jackpot of the good gear. ;)

Congrats!

What about going back to basics, double lay or even triple lay your corners till you know he KNOWS corners. No food up to the corner, a couple pieces on the corner to slow him down, then several pieces out of the corner for reward and stress relief. I usually follow up a few paces down with another couple of treats. Then progress as you normally would. Knowing where your track is in the learning/teaching phase is critical to learning about your dog and how they work.

Auto-opaque glass tint, for when driving past dogs and Super Sook turns to Hell Beast.

Self Cleaning as Standard, Not an Option!

Dooooooo it. :laugh: I really love mine, if you have a look a their fb page you will see Familiar Faces...Willow Centre Stage...Dory hiding in the back, that's my fit out. The dogs are secure...and let me tell you Dory has tried busting out when I took Willow out for training and not her....and Willow regularly hits the doors because some strange dog walked past her car.

If you're not sure that a Jack Russell temperament is quite hitting the mark...what about a Tenterfield Terrier?

Bull Chews...full length.

Mock Trial today. She did very well and very...erm...enthusiastically. lol Know what to do some extra time working on. At least she was having a good time. And she ran to Me, rather than the laps it looked like she was going to do. :laugh: :

I cruised passed good old Supercheap, got me a 3 compartment storage bag with zip cover. Leaves room for one passenger. Perfect! Thanks folks. ☺️

Same here signed papers last Monday. *high fives!* So, what cars did we all nutjobs get? I've now got a Rav4. Diesel Ford Mondeo Wagon. So economical.

Like Gruf, I bought a car and Black Hound cages for the back. Next I'm going to buy something to stow all their training gear so I can free up the backseat.

It all sounds so punitive. I've noticed that people will do a lot for a discount.

I like the foldy out bag thingy. Anything behind the car seat would probably bug the hell out of me, although probably nifty for poo bags, bug spray and sunscreen!

I'm loving my new car, apart from one thing. Being a station wagon, I now longer have a boot for storing all my training gear. Admittedly I don't need to have ALL of that stuff in there, BUT I'm one of these people who likes to be prepared. I can fit most of it into a large bag, but it is really annoying to have to go fishing through the bag to find a ball. Everything ends up all over the place and then I have to repack. Tedious. So I'd love to find an alternative and wondered how the rest of you guys stow your gear in your cars. The back seat of the station wagon is unlikely to have to deal with passengers on a regular basis. But may do from time to time.

Thank you, Red Fox! The books sounds good too. We've had some success calling her away from distractions. Although the soccer ball and the kid was waaaaaaaaay too much this weekend. And it was a bit hard to say....DON'T PAT THE IDIOT DOG. She was being too friendly. *sigh* Joys of training on an oval that is used by random, oblivious members of the public.

How do they feed them? Together? Separate?

Yay, we have been getting some light bulbs with articles. So funny watching her look at you, look at article, look at you, sloooooowly go down. And her corners are coming along too! :) Still have to slow her down a little bit.

LOL. Thanks Guys. It's a real exercise to get out of your head, isn't it? You've all made me feel better. For now. :laugh:

Last time I trialled it was close on 20 years ago, give or take a few years. I was pretty nervous then too. I have about 7 weeks to get ready, this is doable. I have to proof her long down, drop or greatly minimize a lot of the handler cues and put the routine together (without it getting too boring for a clever dick Rottweiler). Oh...and train her on a lot of different grounds, this I haven't done so much because I thought I would kick off trialling at a Club trial. You know, get the first one out the way on familiar ground...for ME, not for her! :laugh: This part of the plan did not come together. (Stupid work) So now I'm stuck doing my first trial in 20 odd years at a freaking NATIONAL. (nerves are kicking in already) And I'm crapping my pants. My number one fear is her knicking off halfway through the routine to go and say hello to the Judge or The Crowd. How does one even prep for these things? Especially as I've been prepping for a Club trial, on club grounds. Although I have taken her to other places and worked her, it's not really the same. The atmosphere will be vastly different. I have no concerns about her being nervous or anxious...far, far from that. I'm more worried about her losing focus and being over stimulated by all the new people, dogs and different surroundings. (plus my nerves, which I'm worried might trigger her to break and be sociable). I'm not a super competitive person, this is not about a High in Trial (we will be doing a BH [very basic IPO/Sch title]). It's about doing our best out there, and hopefully not stuffing up someone else's trial result with a Knob Head dog that broke the long down to say Hello. (She's not broken her long down to run off before...I REALLY don't want to mess up someone elses routine). Anyway...that's me...second guessing myself...wishing I had've done things a little bit different. For what it's worth, anytime we have done a Mock Trial, she has been infinitely better than I thought she would be. So this is probably much more a Handler exercise/training/trial prepping query than it is a dog one.

She does this from a standing jump.

$62

Spectacular!

A goofy grin, a sense of humour and a cute wiggle in your tail will win over about 90% of the population. And whatever you do, have fun.