Zug Zug

I think for most dogs the middle zone works best. I find with my own performance dog (12yo poodle x) that when she gets very excited she tends to forge and miss signals etc. but when she is moderately aroused/excited she is very quick and precise in her movements. My lovely old bichon is very low on arousal much of the time and it can be hard to get much out of him performance-wise - but when he fires up he's still got it and he can be quite precise he just needs a bit of building up. Had a good discussion about this with some newbies in my pet class a few weeks back, and we talked about using their voices and movements to raise or lower their dogs' arousal levels and bring them into that middle 'working' zone. It has made a huge difference to their handling and their dogs' focus, so that has been really good to see. Most of these dogs are highly aroused, active older puppies between say 10 and 15 months. So in most cases we were talking about bringing them down a peg or two so they could concentrate. Would be interesting to try it with a class of slower dogs, and see if they got similar results.

Hardly anything from my bichon and poodle x - good thing too I'm very allergic to dog hair! I can only live with dogs that aren't shedders. From what I know this is the curly ones like the bichon, poodle, bedlington, portugese water dog, lagotto, and possibly a few more like the schnauzer etc. and of course the hairless breeds. So the only hair flying around this house comes from my daughters' heads - they both shed a surprising amount of hair!

Mine too. Try to make the change gradually if you can, and get your puppy used to gradually longer periods of time without you. Don't make a big fuss when you leave or when you get home, but make sure the puppy's life is full of learning opportunities and stimulation after hours and on weekends. Most dogs adapt very well.

Gottfried Dildei is someone who has been recommended to me previously by someone whose views I respect enormously. I haven't read it yet - on my 'must do' list!

There is a book by David Weston. It's called 'Dog Problems: the gentle modern cure'. Good practical solutions to all the common problems and well worth buying. It is the companion volume to his dog training book called 'Dog Training: the gentle modern method' which I've had for years and always go back to.

Some good points raised here. Yes it's all true too isn't it? Within reason you'll ultimately call on any and all ideas and go with whatever works for that dog. There are limits, though. We need to be conscious of how much coercion and pressure we place on dogs. Best to think that through both in advance and in response to each dog's reaction while we're training, so we don't inadvertently head down a slippery slope. I think it is easy to get frustrated while training and use more force than we originally meant to. Maybe that's just me? But I don't think so - I've seen some handlers applying an alarming level of force at times, and you can tell it's because they're angry and frustrated with their dog. To my mind one of the attractions of lure/shaping approaches is that they don't let that side of the handler's temperament off the leash (so to speak). It's easy to train in a calm and positive way when you're using these methods - but can be harder to stay calm and relaxed when using corrections etc. But again, each person is different, as is every dog. So while this is true of me (and I am certainly not alone), it may not be true of everyone.

Hmm yes I remember having trouble getting her to hold the dumbbell initially, but once I got her holding it, the fetch was fairly quick and easy. In this case she will hold, but not pick up. But you're right I've only tried a few times so maybe I just need to try longer.

I got some scent discrimination articles this week, thinking I'll get my old girl to start fetching different stuff. We will start training scent discrimination sometime late this year, if/when we get our Open title sorted out. She will fetch the wood and leather articles no problems, but won't fetch the metal article. I can get her to (reluctantly) hold and carry the metal article, which is essentially a hollow aluminium rod. But if I toss it and ask her to get it, she runs over there, sniffs and paws at it, but then decides 'nup' and just looks back at me. Her face says something like 'can't be done that is clearly unfetchable, perhaps would you like something else?' On advice from someone today I tried putting some cardboard dumbbell ends on the metal article, so it sits up off the ground and is easier to pick up. She actually picked it up twice and I got really excited, but then I realised that she was very carefully holding the cardboard in her mouth and carrying it that way - not touching the metal at all. Of course the cardboard then came off and we were back to square one. Any ideas?

Luring and shaping here too.

Pele's heeling was amazing today!

I would agree with the Lagotto as a recommendation. You need to groom them in much the same way you need to groom a poodle (although the shaping is simpler and a bit more rustic than poodles are usually trimmed). Any dog that doesn't shed will need brushing and trimming to keep its coat neat and tidy. The price you pay for no sneezing and no fur on the couch, on your clothes, in your car.... They are great dogs. I haven't had one myself but have met several and they seem like real winners as a low-allergy, fun family dog. They can be high energy though, so get ready for some training and tricks/games. I have a bichon - also a fantastic dog that does all the things you mentioned above and very sensible. But they are fairly small and similar in size to the toy poodle (a bit bigger but not much) so probably smaller than what you're thinking at the moment. But very, very cuddly and loving. I also agree with some earlier posts about the reality of getting a dog for a teenager. My daughter also wants a dog. I pointed out to her that if we did that, the dog would probably still be alive when she is 30 years old (my daughter is 16). A lot happens in the intervening years - boys, uni, moving out, maybe even moving overseas, maybe even babies of her own... So if you get the dog, you need to be making the lifetime commitment because at this time in her life, your daughter is not able to make a commitment like that.

Well he (Clyde) is a really great looking dog. What a shame he can't be shown because of his lovely longer hair. If Weims can do it, why not Rottis?

I have the same trouble with my bichon. I'm going to get some Angel's Eyes and see how that works. Will this make a difference to the dicolouration around his chin also, or just around the eyes?

Good idea - I've just checked out Google as well and yes that is what this dog looked like.

Thanks - we'll need to find somewhere a very long way away to do it though. :p I shouldn't let it upset me too much. Up until then she had done really well and I was feeling quite hopeful about our future chances. We really need to get these stay problems under control.

I was at a trial this morning (don't ask - didn't go well) and I saw a really beautiful dog that I was told was a long-haired Rottweiler. I'd never seen this before. Are they born in the same litters as other Rottweilers? Or bred separately? This dog worked soooo well and his/her trainer was fantastic. I was impressed all around - but in particular am intrigued about the breed.

Hello all. Ok, first attempt at Open this morning and the story goes like this... Heel Free - lagging and a bit flat, apparently missed a sit (I didn't notice that at the time) but not too bad - 25/30 Stand for Exam - moved one foot - 19/20 Drop on recall - fast, sharp except she travelled a smidge before the drop - 29/30 Retrieve dumbbell on flat - looked good to me but we lost a point for something - 19/20 Dumbbell over jump - d'oh! she ran out AROUND the jump, got the dumbell, then jumped properly on the way back - 0/30 Distance Control - perfect - 20/20 So on the whole I was pretty happy but decided not to attempt the stays given we weren't passing. Then got all excited about Pele and went to watch her - I'll let Bully tell that story! But then (fatal mistake) I thought 'well here is a chance to train out of sight stays in a new environment' so I asked my husband to watch her while I put her in a sit and went out of sight. She did ok, I watched from behind a few people, but she stood up when I returned. So I thought 'can't reward that try again' and I went out of sight again and this time went behind the hide which was still up. Second time she apparently dropped and I couldn't see her from where I was, and then she ran off - first I knew of it was seeing her running around and I called her over and she came straight to me. Disaster. Then of course there were a whole lot of angry people telling me off for not having my dog in sight and under control. I thought it was a safe situation to train - the rings on that side were finished and empty and there was quite a bit of distance between her and any other dog, or any ring that was still happening. And I had people watching her. But obviously not a good idea - I'm really sorry everyone who was there I didn't see that coming. We just gave up, came home, and my daughter came with me to the local oval to train out of sight stays again - she watched while I went out of sight. And yep you guessed it - perfect first time both sitting and in the drop. Edited to add - we won't go tomorrow. It might take me a while to get back on the horse, so to speak.

Oh and by the way, I bought a set of scent articles the other day. No idea what to do with them, but I think we'll start by retrieving metal articles for a while before we worry about the rest.

Heeling not too bad. But celebrating a successful 'exercise completed' turned into huge zoomies at training on Wednesday night. She was so happy she ran right out of the ring and did several laps before she came back and popped into heel position again, looking ultra-eager. She just had beans in her bum this week. Still a bit bonkers - someone needs to tell her to act her age. But secretly I love this misbehaviour because it proves she's still healthy and happy! Yeah we'll just go out and have fun. Good to know we'll have some company. I'm looking forward to it now.

I did a quick count last night. 16 trials between now and the end of the year. Even if, say, 4 of them are restricted and we can't enter, that still means I can afford to fail 9 times, pass 3 times and still finish our title this year. Which is a good thing, right?

I think I'm realising from reading this thread how important it will be to find a breeder I can trust and who understands what I am looking for. This is really daunting everyone - I don't know if you realise how this can all appear to a newbie. I'm reading some of this and thinking 'here we go - I will be treated with suspicion by every breeder I meet because they think I'm going to breed their dog without their permission'. And the breeders I contact will probably be thinking 'here we go, these puppy buyers are treating me with suspicion because they think I am selling them a dodgy dog'. In the end, I am looking for a solid, trusting relationship with a knowledgeable breeder. I will shop around until I find that.

Resolve is weakening.... I'm melting.....

That is a nightmare.

OK, after long consideration I have decided not to try and compete next weekend. We are just not ready. Her stays in particular are still a bit hit and miss. We rarely get the sit stay and the down stay both happening first time, so I think we'll just keep training a bit longer and re-enter her in a month or two. Her other stuff (the exercises) are really good but just the last few weeks she's been getting muddled again with the DOR - sometimes dropping when I don't ask for it, sometimes the reverse. So we've got a bit more training to do on that one as well. Anyway, to add some interest so we're not just training the same stuff all the time I've been working on a punchy left side start peg set-up, and started training her to do the seek back - she loves it! She likes proving to me how hard it is to hide anything from her, and that leather plaited thingy is her new favourite thing. Might even get some scent articles and start muddling around with those. (I know Utility is something we're going to run out of time on, but I'm curious how we'll go learning scent discrimination.)

BichonCrazy - a DOLer after my own heart! While I agree with most of your post, is someone who loves staffies really a bichon person??? I love my bichon, and my Mum fell in love with him too when I got him 12 years ago and went out and got herself one too. But I have friends who cringe when they look at him. They just see a wimp in sheep's clothing. I see the perfect dog! But yes bichons do suit life in a flat and are good, sensible, quiet little dogs with a lot more sense than some SWFs. It's really a question of personal taste and also how much grooming this person wants to do. ETA: I had an Italian Greyhound many years ago. They need more exercise than you would think from looking at them. Quiet, elegant, but not easy to train and probably need a bit more running around space. That would be my thinking, anyway.