Agility Dogs

IMO the same rules need to apply. You touch the front of the crate it means something good is going to happen and the dog needs to sit in the back of the crate (or whatever criteria you choose) and wait to be released. If touching the front of the crate gets no reaction you walk away and start again. Until your pup really gets the game I'd remain consistent. Once it's a really solid behaviour I think you can afford to be a bit more relaxed, but there will still be fall out, even if it is small. (I see it with my guys when I'm not 100% onto it.) :)

,,, and verbal directionals, AD :laugh: - and rear crosses - working on all of the above! Just need time - and way more daylight than we have atm. Did you see CK's lalalalalala cue? he LOVES it. even offers it now when I take them out to get fed!!

Independence and trust Tassie!!! ;)

I got mine from Allison Britton from Dunwurkn Border Collies. Not the cheapest, but excellent quality and still going strong after living in my back yard for 2 or 3 years. :) She is in Qld though.

ROFL. Yes, this!!! (All of it, but I can particularly relate to the bold bit.)

This. That said, my boy would have been the one to give the scolding. I don't like him being put in that situation where he feels he has to do it so I just don't put him in that situation. That's that long and short of it IMO.

Important about a DQ - unless you are asked to leave the ring for whatever reason you are able to finish your run. It is VERY rare that just because your dog takes an off course you would have to leave the ring. Occasionally we will do it in ADAA for games, but other than that I don't think I've seen anyone have to leave the ring unless they have been excused for harsh handling or some other badness.

What the others have said...... To give you an idea - I used to tally the numbers of qually cards issued to ADAA clubs. Typically it comes to between 12% and 15% depending on the judge. I agree. My favourite run of all time had a knocked bar and a refusal in it, but was soooooooo much fun. Just enjoy it and the cards will come in time. GOOD LUCK!!

:) Thanks. Well done getting back! For me it would be about getting that level of arousal a step or two back - can you get it when you are just doing end behaviour and can Fergs hold it in that environment - look for this before adding in the extra hype of the full dog walk - same way you taught the DW in the first place, just at a higher level. On getting the arousal w/o the restrain - you need to add value into the running or DW or whatever it is. So it will mean reps. Also, change up the picture on the restrain. Sometimes run from behind, sometimes from in front, sometimes not at all. Sometimes rev him up before he is restrained and turn and run just before he is. This takes time, but it works, we are using it for my younger dog ATM and the results are coming, but we are talking months, not weeks. Hope that helps.

Clippers?

I am indeed. :) Bronwen added me the other day. The Kiwi team did a really good job with some quite green dogs and the tricky handling system that is so different to what we are all used to. Yes it would take some getting used to! Looking forward to seeing if they run any seminars here to share what they have learned. Have any of the Aussie team competed in Europe before? Simone competed at the WAO last hear, but with a GD trained dog. Nat and I went to WAC last year and Nat did WAC in England in 2010. This was my favourite run from the competition. Such hard courses - very FCI style and definitely not anything like we are used to running. and this was the little Sheltie I played with. She needed HEAPS of managing around the courses - she just shopped for obstacles the entire way. We did end up fourth in the All Around though.

I am indeed. :) Bronwen added me the other day. The Kiwi team did a really good job with some quite green dogs and the tricky handling system that is so different to what we are all used to.

Sure was. :) I learned a massive amount and had a heap of fun running a big and a small dog. Verbals....hmmmmm......IMO even Swagger has a lot more questions than Encore and Feature used to. It's going to take a lot to convince me that the European style, APHS or a verbal based system is better than GD's system when used by someone who CAN get into position. Privately some of Susan's trainers would probably agree on that. Add to that - there are very few dog trainers as good as SG. Not many of us can train our dogs to the level that she can. I think you are totally right though - jumping and tight turns is where the bulk of the time came from. That said in their Steeple Chase no one with a stopped contact (even if quick released) could get close to the running A-frame dogs. It was truly breathtaking to watch some of them. As a rule though (and there are exceptions) the dogs in the US are much higher drive than most of our dogs and that drive is used to create MASSIVE acceleration that we just don't see here. That said I don't think they understand collection as well as our dogs do. (Again, there are exceptions.)

Just food for thought on contacts...... At the IFCS CCOA in Texas last week most of the top competitors had a stopped DW and a running aframe. Those who did have running DW seemed to have problems managing what was going on at the end of it simply because with the blindingly fast dogs we were running they just couldn't get there. FWIW my next dog will have running a-frame and stopped DW. The DW's seemed more problems than they were worth and the a-frame was saving about 1-2 seconds it was just AMAZING to watch.

Just a thought - when you take him back does he have to enter the weaves at the same speed he would have had to if he didn't run past them? Is it easier to do it without speed built in?

Hmmmmm........Sadly I don't think my dog would need to, she just rips the front out of the canvas.........hence she lives in a wire crate. The other two love their K9 soft crates. Thanks Dyzney!

Lucky for me I'm in Brisbane!! Looking forward to our first nationals. :)

Great post Vickie. The other thing I would add (from personal experience) is that it is too easy to forget to teach the dogs to blast by getting too hung up on getting them to turn tight. My young dog has super tight turns, but I haven't taught her to open up. It's now a work in progress. My word for the year is balance - need to make sure we teach all parts of the puzzle, not just what we missed in the last dog!! Also....just thought I'd add a pic of the puppies doing their fitness work this morning. :)

Sorry to hear this This got me thinking, what do people do for fitness for their dogs outside of agility training? Do you have a fitness routine? I'm planning on taking Pippa out jogging with me to increase her fitness, but she's not a swimmer so that is out. Like DD we do LOTS of body awareness/fitball type work. We also stretch every day - but I get the dogs to stretch themselves (bow, nose to tail, extended sits and drops - where they get into postion and I lure them forward, but they are not allowed to move their butt, not where we push and pull them (although there is a bit of that). Hill work and free running is also excellent. We're super lucky - we have a vet who has rehab quals from the US and she gives us a heap of exercises to do with our dogs when they have anything wrong with them. She'll also vet them out VERY quickly so we are managing quite small things so they don't turn into big things. :) Just on running - don't forget to think about how your dogs are 'built'. eg: BC's will run a LONG way, but when you look at how they work/what they are bred to do it is often work/stop/work/stop, not a consistent 5 or 10km. I don't know other breeds so I can't comment, but just something worth thinking about when designing your dogs fitness program. A couple of km's shouldn't be a tough ask for a fit dog, regardless of breed I would think No, agreed, even 10k should be OK for a fit dog, but it is just something to keep in mind. Also depends on the surface you are asking them to run on. But I always err on the side of caution. I'm not suggesting you would, but I"ve seen people run dogs way too far just because they can.

Sorry to hear this This got me thinking, what do people do for fitness for their dogs outside of agility training? Do you have a fitness routine? I'm planning on taking Pippa out jogging with me to increase her fitness, but she's not a swimmer so that is out. Like DD we do LOTS of body awareness/fitball type work. We also stretch every day - but I get the dogs to stretch themselves (bow, nose to tail, extended sits and drops - where they get into postion and I lure them forward, but they are not allowed to move their butt, not where we push and pull them (although there is a bit of that). Hill work and free running is also excellent. We're super lucky - we have a vet who has rehab quals from the US and she gives us a heap of exercises to do with our dogs when they have anything wrong with them. She'll also vet them out VERY quickly so we are managing quite small things so they don't turn into big things. :) Just on running - don't forget to think about how your dogs are 'built'. eg: BC's will run a LONG way, but when you look at how they work/what they are bred to do it is often work/stop/work/stop, not a consistent 5 or 10km. I don't know other breeds so I can't comment, but just something worth thinking about when designing your dogs fitness program.

Well, FWIW, it will be on 24-27th October 2014, and it is going to be in Gore, Southland (bottom of South Island) :) You can check out general info for this years one on http://nzdac.org.nz/ Hoping to see a few Aussies, it's so difficult for our countries to compete over in Europe etc. so we really need to make the most of each other! Hmmmmmmm.......that's in the same month as our Grand Prix. Will definitely try and work it into the plan. I just have to see what the bank balance is like and whether I end up with a handlers position on the team for WAC next year.

Yeah our jump heights are a bit all over the place too. Are you thinking of coming over for NZDAC in 2014? Apparently there are quite a few Aussies jumping the ditch for our nationals next year = very exciting, I don't know if Aussies have competed here before?? Oooooooh that's the million dollar question. I'd LOVE to, but the IFCS WAC is in Netherlands next year and I'm off to the IFCS CCOA next weekend - the budget and the boss' understanding/leave balance will only stretch so far! It will also depend on what my girls are doing by then. I have one I wouldn't travel with yet and one who is a week to week proposition - she's just coming back from an 18 month break after she injured herself on some dodgy equipment and I'm still paranoid about her fitness. I love my boy to bits, but he can be quite nervey so I wouldn't risk an OS trip with him - flyball or frisbee maybe, but not agility. Now you've got me thinking even more though.......

Our heights: Micro - 325 and under Mini - 430 and under Midi - 520 and under Maxi - Over 520 :) Thanks. They are similar to ADAA, the jump heights vary a bit too.

The other interesting thing about SG's new handling is that she has jokingly labelled it the 50/50 handling method. (50lbs over weight or over 50.) I like a lot of the stuff in it, but for now won't be teaching a lot of it simply because I'm lucky enough to be able to get to where I need to be on course. What I am using has given my boy a LOT more clarity and really improved a few things - I'm not sure if it is making me be clearer or whether the verbals make it easier for him. I suspect the former at this stage, but whatever the case we are having heaps of fun with it! My favourite is the lalala cue. :)

What height is it that she is jumping - I didn't even notice, she does it so easily! Elsie is a midi here, so that's a 570mm hurdle What are the cut-offs for midi? Sorry for 1000 questions, I'm just interested.