Agility Dogs

There is another one. The people who panic and scream at their dog to come back when it gets away from them and runs towards you, but then get upset when you ask them to move their excitable, out of control dog from the situation. Huh????? if you are worried enough to scream at your dog, why should I not be worried enough to collect mine and ask you to come and get yours?!

I got my second dog when the first one was 9 months old and unless our circumstances change will not have them that close together in age again. A few reasons: 1. Number 1 pup was not trained to a level I was happy with. I know this in hindsight, but at the time I thought she was really good. The second pup slowed our progress down considerably. 2. The challenges of having two pushy dogs that are about the same age. They will at some point try and get one up on each other - not always pleasant. 3. The puppies bonded too strongly to each other. This is partly because I let them run together and partly because of their age I think. Either way I won't let young dogs run with the others until I am confident I can call them away from any excitement between the dogs. 4. The training needed for two young dogs is a lot more significant than for an experienced dog and a younger one. (or even 2 experienced dogs and one younger one!) If I had my time over I would have waited until Xena was at least 4 years old before bringing another dog into our house. It has worked well for us all in all, but I think it would have worked better if I had waited. You need to be really sure you can cope with 2 young dogs - remembering that the new addition will learn from your current dog - both the good and the bad. We now have 3 dogs (2 @ about 5 years and one at 1 year) and I'm happy with the arrangement, but would not do it again.

This morning we were down at the local football field that we go and train at most mornings. This is a field that is bounded by two of the busiest roads in Brisbane. It is not officially an off lead area, but I have spoken with the council's dog guy and his attitude is that if you are there working your dogs as opposed to letting your dogs have a run around, he is OK with it. That is why we go there, I know I'm not going to get in trouble and you would think that we should be fairly safe from out of control dogs.........you would think......... I have a particular aversion to big bouncy dogs after my boy was monstered as a puppy and is now quite the policeman with any dog that is rude. As a result I'm VERY careful not to let my current puppy (11 months) suffer the same fate. This morning we were training and I had sent Wikki out to retrieve her toy when a bouncy big dog decided to race over and say hello to her. I just called her back and she bolted back to my side. I had seen this dog playing with another of the same breed over on the other side of the field and did not like what I had seen. (My dogs are a lot smaller and this dog could accidentally hurt mind just by being boisterous.) The dog, of course, followed her over to us, followed by its owners vain cries of 'Cujo, come, cujo, cujo, cujo, come, here boy.' Eventually the dog left and i waited until I could no longer see them before starting the game again. Guess what........he hadn't put the dog on lead, and it bolted back around the corner to us. Repeat previous scenario......... AND A THIRD TIME. Seriously - what sort of idiot lets a dog they have that little control over run off lead that close to a seriously busy main road leading into town.

Do you find it acceptable: - when people allow their dogs to bark non stop at the dog park? I live next door to a big offleash park and it does peeve me when people let their dogs bark in the park at unreasonable hours- like before 7am on weekends. in play, I have no problem. constantly - not on. - when people spend the whole time yelling at their dog, but not actually doing anything about the bad behavoiur? BIG peeve, but it doesn't only happen in dog parks.. - When people sit in their cars and let the dog run around in the park? TOTALLY irresponsible - When people let their dog jump all over you? VERY out of line. - When people hit your dog, or yourself when throwing the ball for their dog? Part of the reason people go to dog parks and a large part of the reason why I don't. - when people let their kids run around the park screaming ? As long as they don't mind their kids being rounded up or bitten - no problem. - when people let their dog try to hump your dog or attack it and then think its funny? They don't tend to think my response is funny so they change pretty quickly, but again, why I have not been to a dog park in 3 years. - when people let their dog take your dogs ball or toy and destroy it and then think its funny or not even offer to replace it? Again - why I don't go to dog parks. Everything is public proper to some. - when people let their dog steal your dogs ball/toy and are then not able to get it back from their dog? See above. Not really a fan of dog parks or people who can't stop their dogs running off to say 'hello' to others full stop - dog park or not. If you don't have control over your dogs don't let them off lead. Simple.

Again - spot on.

ABSOLUTELY. IMO if an animal (and that includes my dogs) cannot live a NORMAL healthy, pain free life (and being carried everywhere or being dependent on an aparatus for motion) then the kindest thing is to give them their wings. They cannot rationalise, but cannot understand, in the wild this animal would not survive for good reason. I made a similar decision for one of my pups when the vets told me that we could operate, but they could not give any indication as to how successful the operation would. RIP little man, I know you are in a more comfortable place. I know there are always exceptions and considerations, but as a general rule I go with the above.

I ticked just about everything!! Sleeping, competitions, seperating the dogs, keeping them confined when they are injured, keeping the house safe from a rampaging puppy when we are out at night, plus they are an awesome training tool - we do heaps of crate games training as well.

not sure how to get the ants out, but I do know if you sprinkle baby powder around the bottom of your container they won't be able to get into it. Worked a treat for us when we had a problem a while ago.

Now you are starting to think the right way! ;)

Nope. I can see that it really looks like that, but is def not the case. He was paddling around after the see saw because I was basically walking. I 'broke' his weaves for the night in his second run. Not sure if he slipped and hurt himself or just slipped and got a scare, but either way he definitely decided that he wasn't weaving any more after that. This is another of his runs where he did a similar thing. It's been an ongoing battle - he hurt himself trying too hard when he was younger and now it only takes the slightest thing to shut him down for the night. He is getting better over time though. One day........

Yeah, the work is finally really starting to pay off for us. The puppies aren't suffering quite as much at the hands of a bad handler and their skills are pretty good now. Power and Speed is heaps of fun, especially for dogs that have a particular weakness. This is CK's run, a good example of how, because the first 1/2 is not timed you can make up for any problems in the second half. Because he made the one error on the weavers (2, but only counted as one because he got the entry first time), he had 5 seconds added to his time for the second half of the course (from the jump after the dog walk.) For this one the course time was 23 seconds (about 6m per second!!) and he did it in about 13 so 13+5 = 18 which meant he was still 5 seconds under course time and qualified - in second place. FTR - he hasn't really been beaten for weaving, it just looks that way. Something happened in the weavers on his second run of the night and he decided he didn't want to weave. I let him run past them for the rest of the night, but I was determined to get him through them in this event, even if it looked like it did. Turned out for the best too - last night at training he was back to his best. Hopefully that is the dog I get at our next trial as well!

We had a great time at the ADAA trial at Suncoast last night. CK did a really good job and managed to win his class in Snooker with that run. He also got a card in the 'Power and Speed' game, despite some woeful weaving after getting a fright in the weaves in his second run and 'forgetting' how to weave again - at least I have a project for the week now. (He did weave VERY well at training tonight though.) Xena had a great night as well. This one was her best run, although my usually brilliant camera person missed the first jump. LOL. She also got a card for Power and Speed and just missed out on Advanced - knocked one bar. Snooker was a bit of a mess for her. So.........She now has her MAAD3 (Masters Australian Agilty Dog). And my litte brag for me for the night - I managed my 100th card which gives me my bronze handler award.

We won't be there this year. All too hard. :p

What a great idea. Were the results what you expected from the different dogs? Also - probably a stupid question, but were the dogs fully warmed up before the first run? I only ask this because I have a mate who is a pro cyclist who in his younger days lost a time trial by a couple of seconds and when he and his coach worked it back his warm up was not as good as it could have been. I always wonder whether my dogs are warm enough before they compete. AND - what do you think is a 'real' difference in times. eg: .1 or .2 is probably a bit neither here nor there, but almost as second seems significant.

interesting. I find that when I drill or run my dogs for a while on contacts that happens - I don't know why, but for some reason it seems to confuse them. (not suggesting that you are drilling, but it is the best comparison I had.) They shouldn't really react to your decelleration though, in theory the decel should tell them something is going to happen after the obstacle, not at the end of it. (assuming independent contacts.) Will look forward to hearing if they speed back up once food is out of the equation.

Can't wait to see the results! One little thing - don't forget to turn the see saw around for your reversed runs.

LOVE LOVE LOVE the focus. It's awesome to see 'different' dogs doing agility.

I've been thinking about resource guarding of food and wondering how to stop it amongst my 3. The 3 of them can have their nose in my bowl licking up any scraps after I have finished and there is never an issue. I can put their food bowls 30cm from each other and go inside - no problems. This holds true regardless of whether it is mince/veges/yoghurt, chicken or turkey frames/necks, whatever, they are fine. I always give them a biscuit, pigs ear or bone before I go out and that is where the behaviour changes. Wikki runs and hides up the back of the yard. CK and Xena growl and snarl at each other until one of them finally backs down and heads off to where they can't see the other. Even then Xena gives a warning bark every 30 seconds or so. The other week I had run out of food and just gave them a bone each for breakfast and low and behold - no problems or guarding - same bones as always. I thought it might have been the context of breakfast that changed their behaviour so this morning I intentionally put their feed bowls (turkey necks) close together and fed them - no problem. Then just before I left (as I always do) i got out their brisket bones and took them out the back, making really sure the dogs knew what they were and why they were getting them. (Had my work shoes on.) I asked each of them to do their trick of the week (like I do before breakfast every morning) and then put their bone in the bowl. NO PROBLEMS, BARKING OR GROWLING. Go figure - who would have thought something so simple could completely change a dynamic. Just thought I'd share an every day success. (BTW - I was standing close by in case the experiment failed and escalated a problem. This doesn't make any difference to the behaviour I've had up until now though.)

These are the ones I am talking about. You need to be really confident in your dog and it's ability to avoid problems regardless of how they present themselves (and not always their fault) to go to one of them. We do go to unfenced off leash areas like the beach etc.

Agree with this I don't think Kelpies are suitable dog park candidates either. They generally like their personal space and while they may run with other dogs at the park they may not like wrestling/full body slams which is how some breeds play. Knowing which play styles work together and which don't is also important. Yep, and you can't always predict what others who come into the park are going to bring with them - in terms of temperament. You dog might be fine as it is right then and there, but another dog in the mix can quickly and unpredictably change that.

Totally agree with this. Between the health risks and the risk of unsocialised/anti-social dogs and the effect they can have on a young pup I think there are much better ways to socialise a young dog. My 3 will not set foot in a dog park for any reason and they are certainly not lacking in socialisation or the ability to cope with most situations that arise. But most dog clubs are on public grounds where anyone can (and do) walk their dogs. In fact people walk their dogs around the same streets so whatever you are worried about picking up is likely gonna happen wherever you go! I just don't think that's such a good arguement to not use a dog park. I agree with you GR - my dog goes to the park nearly everyday of the week ( different parks mind you) and has never picked up anything contagious ( ok he had puppy warts but it could have been picked up anywhere, at the specialist vet clinic, at obedience class or at the park we will never know) it was not dangerous and went away in a few weeks on its own. My Grandfather smoked from the age of 14 and lived to 90 as well. I think we will agree to disagree on this one. Behaviour is a whole other issue.

Totally agree with this. Between the health risks and the risk of unsocialised/anti-social dogs and the effect they can have on a young pup I think there are much better ways to socialise a young dog. My 3 will not set foot in a dog park for any reason and they are certainly not lacking in socialisation or the ability to cope with most situations that arise.

That's how Wikki came along. I wanted a pup from her Dad and it was likely to be one of his last litters so............. That said, I now HAVE to wait for my next pup or risk having 4 old dogs that can't compete and no room for a puppy. If you are happy with where your dogs are at (and you seem to be) and it won't cause troubles 'at the other end' then why not go for it. Otherwise, if you think there might be regrets it is probably not the time.

You can't get dq'd if they drop, but you just need to make sure they don't stop within 1m of the next obstacle. (I woudn't be asking for a drop in the ring.) I've put a lot of thought into the 'performs perfectly at training, but loses it in the ring' thing (I have one of the worst) and keep coming back to the thought that I haven't proofed well enough. In the ring Xena is so high that she 'forgets' what we have done in training. Can you get the same level of excitement at training that you can in the ring or is it a bit calmer? I'd be trying to have her higher in training than she gets in the trial ring so that it becomes easier when you are running in a competition. VERY hard to get that level of excitement, but if you can it works wonders. FTR - I say this because Xena's contacts are AWESOME, some of the best I have seen when we are training, but in the ring she is woeful. We are getting there though.