Dova

It starts at 7pm vetting 6-6.30pm, there's jumping, games & obedience, entry is $8 + $2 for a catalogue & entries close tomorrow but if you post them tomorrow pretty sure they'll be accepted.

How many other tragics are spending New Years Eve at an obedience trial instead of doing the normal, , party thing. I've just sent my entries off for the Gawler Obedience trial on the 31st & really hoping Pebbles passes this time & doesn't wander off sniffing all the interesting smells .

I was taught to set the dog up to succeed so they get it right & get rewarded then add distractions, you'll have the RRR in no time Tilly . I'm just about to send my enrolment form off to Alexis for next years Basics class then probably do the Beyond Basics, did them both with Izzi & Pebbles now looking forward to doing the same with Delta, might see some of you DOLers there .

I enjoyed the Beyond Basics too, did it with Izzi & Pebbles at Mt Barker, & looking forward to taking Delta, Alexis came here last week & worked with Pebbles & Delta. My boss just finished the basics class & graduated with her dog Trinket .

We had a lesson Thursday & Delta was soooo good she balanced me no matter where I walked & wasn't taking any BS from no damned sheep :D so looks like she's going to be a strong worker. Pretty sure she'll pass her instinct test, to bad I can't enter the instinct & PT at the one trial but I'll be working three dogs as it is ;), hahaaaa can't wait :D.

We are enrolled in this course Jan next year with Alexis, hope we have as much success as you Do you know if this course is definitely based on the Leslie Nelson DVD? If so, I want to enrol! Any feedback on Scholars in Collars too? as I am moving up to the Hills early next year, and would like to get our pups' obedience skills back up to date you can pm me if you prefer Thanks ;) I think Alexis is really good she's helped me a lot, also get a private lesson occasionally. NewAmstaffOwner are you doing the course in the hills or Murray Bridge, I'm taking Delta to the Basics & Beyond Basics courses & would love to do the CGC with Pebbles if Alexis does one next year . Don't think the course is based on the Leslie Nelson DVD, Alexis is a Delta Society accredited instructor, USA & Australia, but I've never seen Leslie's DVD so it might be similar, sorry I can't be more help there Sighthounder.

RRR is great isn't it , I did the RRR & emergency recall through Scholars in Collars & can stop Pebbles chasing rabbits now. Guess your not a skeptic any more, seeings believing .

I've got a bit more to add to my 2010 wish list, here's a run down of my original list, Izzi, get her HSA title in April, Pebbles, HSA title, pass CD at Gawler New Years eve then get her CD title asap in 2010. Now the extra , Delta, my new Kelpie dog, yep I now have 4 , to start her herding & obedience tiltes, & me to be good enough to train her , she's a smart little cookie, learned her name in a day, sit, drop & catch up heel work in 1/4 hr. But guess the only way to make the list a reality is put the work in, oh one more wish, go to a Matt Webb working dog school, think that's about it for now .

It's written on my calender, hope we get it in SA too .

Has anyone been to one of Matt Webs schools, I've been wanting to but every time he's doing one in SA I haven't been able to go. A couple of friends went & said it was great so next year it WILL happen, I did a school with Ben Page at Melrose & now Greg Prince sounds pretty interesting too, reading all your posts is giving me plenty of ideas too, thanks all . I've only just got into herding trials & am turning into a bit of a tragic, my Coolie & Aussie Shepherd are going really well, Izzi the Coolie has her PT & is one pass off her HSA & Pebbles the Aussie has her PT & is two passes off her HSA. We only started in March, I've been around cattle all my life but only just started working with dogs & sheep, we used horses because it was all mud, belly deep water & reeds over your head, dogs would have been buggered by the time they'd swam from island to island .

A friend of mine told me there's going to be a 3 day herding trial in Tasmania at Easter next year & I thought that'd be great but I'd never travel that far, buuut I seem to keep thinking about spending 3 days trialing with lots of new people & dogs that love herding , does this mean I'm a true blue addicted herding tragic . Going training Tuesday & will see how my new Kelpie goes might be trialing 3 dogs next year what am I thinking. Delta was a rescue, got her Wednesday, she was in hospital Thursday for her shots, microchip, desexing & to dig SIX grass seeds out of her bum, poor little thing, she's sooooo sweet & loving , so we'll see if she's got any herding instinct .

yep when he said that I could see bricks being thrown at TV sets all over the country , I've got Coolies but gotta say have a huge soft spot for Kelpies as well. I watched Landline Saturday & really enjoyed it. Merijigs there's a farmer near us who treats his dog's really bad & shouldn't have them , won't go into detail, but there's also a lot farm dogs that have a good life & love their work, pretty sure you weren't having a go at all working dog owners just the ones like our neighbour.

Well I have one more obed. trial this year, new years eve, & I want Pebbles to pass the 2nd leg of Novice, now for 2010 I want Izzy to get the last leg of her HSA in April & Pebbles the 2 passes she needs in HSA & to get her Novice ASAP. Am I asking to much , will karma come & bite me in the rear end for expecting to much , ah well I'll take my chances . Now better get out there & put the work in if I want all this stuff to happen, good luck everyone hope you reach your goals in 2010 .

We can be embarassed together if you like, Pebbles was lagging like you wouldn't believe last night , ah what the hell it's gunna be fun & the southerly has just come in WOOHOO .

Don't know what it's been like in Adelaide but in the Bridge a coolish breeze has come up at about 3pm each day & by 7 it's been livable so hopfully the breeze will be back Saturday arvo. Can I ask you all a favour for Saturday pleeeeeze, could you for me & Pebbles, we've been working very hard this week, after dark, to try & pass our second novice leg, don't need to win or anything just pass , see you all then .

Jules I'd love to go to your club it sound like fun, oh no I've use the word fun & dog club together , our local club does the whole paddock bash yank & yell thing . I try to make it more interesting for my dogs by playing with them during the class, not distracting others though, make a game out of the exercises & pulling out if the dog loses interest. I have to go because it's the only way to get mine use to working around other dogs when at trials, maybe I'll suggest some new things for the trainers to try, don't think they can shoot me, can they .

Thanks for that Jules, could be a bit far to travel all on my own, yep bit of a wimp about long distances alone . I think the working Coolies & the Koolie Club have trials/training days a bit closer so might see what they've got planned. Gotta tell you about our last training session ;), we changed the course & put a pen up in the middle of the paddock again, haven't had it for a while, couldn't pen the sheep first time around but did the 2nd. Here's the reason I was , Izzi & I got the sheep through the rest of the course then came "THE PEN", Izzi is getting better at her walk up & was working well, she had the sheep almost in when "OH NO" the pen started to collapse , I thought no way was I giving up so grabbed the gate & held the pen together until Izzi put 2 sheep in & shut the gate, HAHAAAAA success, the other sheep ran out when the panel fell on it can't really blame her I guess. I pulled some string out of my pockett & fixed the yard so when Pebbles had her go it would stay in one piece , her turn came & woohoo she got them all in & no wardrobe malfunctions. Afterwards a friend & I went to the local bakery & did over coffee, cake & sandwiches, yesss I love my dogs. Nearly finished, promise , Izzi & Pebbles are getting so much better at their stops, walk up & we're putting more work into casting as well, now you can see why I'm looking for more trials, want to use all our training. Ok done now, sorry about the epic tale :D.

I know herding is finished for this year but being a herding tragic I'm already thinking about 2010 & maybe going to some Victorian trials. Are there herding trials around Bendigo, Ballarat, Echuca or that sort of distance from the SA border, sorry if that's a bit of a vague discription but this is all in the "thinking" stage at the moment & I don't travel much. Also really happy with the way my two are going I want to get them out as much as possible.

Wow, congrats Brigidstarr your a champion & I can see your smile from here in SA. Rivsky & Xena, where's the cake going to be, I lurve cake, oops sorry it's rude to invite yourself to other peoples gatherings .

Had a lesson Tuesday & feeling pretty good . We worked on our walk up, Pebbles is better at that, Izzi likes bringing the sheep to me but is learning to walk past me to them, getting our casting right, not straight at the sheep but out around, YAY, & Pebbles got a sharp lesson on "OUT" when I got sick of being run over by the sheep , so I think we can finish our HS title in April next year. Couldn't do the training day, working all weekend, so who went & how did it go ?

I loved the look on people's faces when I was teaching the dogs not to pull, walk a bit then stop if the dog pulled, wait till she came back reward then walk on, all the way to the post office, took a long time to get there at first but we don't have to stop now. It's not unusual for me to be walking 4 dogs down the main street so pulling is a huge no no & I still get odd looks .

Did anyone go to the Para Districts Dog Club on Wednesday night, Carol Husein & Alexis Davison did a class, I wanted to go but had to work, & I want to know all about it, please .

Hey Zug Zug I probably saw you sitting on the hill too, but wouldn't have known it, I had three dogs, two Coolies & an Aussie. If you ever want any videoing done I can do it if I'm not in the ring , & big congrats on your .

WOOHOO you bet I have :p :D. Weeeell today was Pebbles, & mine, first shot at Novice & I wasn't expecting to pass because she doesn't usually stand for a male judge but today she didn't move a paw, turned & looked at him & that's all , after it was all over I was soooo pleased she'd passed, then got a huge surprise at the presentations Pebbles got 3rd :p, score of 181 WOW how happy am I. Izzi got her CCD title with a score of 83, she got a little distracted by a dog near the arena & then Pebbles barked in the car, miles away from the arena, but she passed & I'm the happiest little vegimite at the moment. Xena has some brags to add too, congrats Xena & everyone else .

Woohoo agility Dogs, did good .