Agility Dogs

This is Xena's JWOW run. I'm just love seeing her jump into my arms. I think I might be the naughty one - a bit of shaping on the broad jump won't go astray....... This is CK's Intermediate Agility run. I'm happy that he is happy. LOL. Won't be long now and I'll have another consistent dog! :D This is my favourite for the day - Xena's open jumping. She is so fast at the moment. I looked back at her coming over the broad jump and could not believe how hard she was driving.

We had another fantastic day today at agility. The naughtly little dog (Xena) who is currently locked in the study with me because she is insisting on chasing the cats out of the kitchen did exceptionally well - 2 out of 3. She got a second and card in snooker (48 points) and then won open jumping. This weekend she has managed to pick up her games dog title and her Aust Agility Champion Title. (Combination of Masters, Team Dog and Games Dog). (she is currently about to qualify for Whining Dog ) CK ran really nicely all day, very drivey and really fast. Just a couple of faults here and there though. Don't care, he is starting to look like an agility dog as well. That should keep the smile on until the next trial in a couple of weeks.

AWESOME!! WELL DONE. We had a great day at flyball. CK had fun as always and didn't make an error all day. Xena, who has been struggling a little bit lately refound her mojo. She ran really well all day, after we found the key to sorting out her passing problem. Now we just have to work at slowly getting her back to 100%. I haven't been this happy after a day of flyball for ages! And we lost almost every race....... Off to agility tomorrow - hopefully we have another good one there.

Xena is a VERY pushy dog. She jumps up on me, she noses me, she drags me along on walks and tries to make decisions about which way she wants to go (usually to where we train). She tells me off for late/poor handling at agility. She jumps off contacts because it is quicker - unless she is told consistently she can't. She tells me off for not rewarding on time. She is constantly telling me what she wants and when she wants it. If I put my foot down then she knows that is it, but until that point she will try anything on. BUT - for all that she is heaps of fun and a joy to train. CK on the other hand is not overtly pushy - he is a sooky, manipulative brat. If he doesn't want to do something he 'shuts down' and sooks. IMO this is pushier than Xena, or at least harder to manage in terms of him doing what I want and not what he wants. Either way both of them have really clear rules that need to be met - no questions. Interestingly I let Xena get away with WAY more than I do CK - because that way she gets nuttier and with the extra rules and right handling he gets driver as well.

thats an awesome idea poor raz i've been a bit slack ill try to make him up some things for him next week Having met the gorgeous Raz the other night I don't think he does too badly for himself.

I was going to say this too - shaping is a great way to build retrieval skills. Only problem is it can also end up with constant offering of the behaviour and you end up having to put all the toys away or they get dropped in your lap every 2 minutes. As someone else said though - be patient. Sometimes it can take a little while for you to work out how to play with them. My girl is a MAD retriever, but it took quite a few months for us to get it together. I'm sorry, but what does shaping mean in this case? I'm sorry if that's a stupid question. I'm relieved to hear that someone's dog also took a while learning to retrieve/fetch things. Charlie had no initial interest in the ball whatsoever, so even progressing to him catching it some of the time is progress for us I am not limiting him to just fetching games, heck I'd love to play any game with him. It's just figuring out what it is he might like... There are also some opinions online that tug-of-war games and chasing games are not good for the status/authority of the human in the dog's eyes if the human becomes something to chase? What are the thoughts on this? It's funny, at the dog park, some owners come to the park to throw a ball around for their dogs to fetch. Their fetch-trained dogs think the ball is fantastic, and run after it - Charlie runs after the dogs because he wants to play with THEM, and barks when the other dog is not at all interested in anything other than the ball! We were hoping that he'd get the idea from watching them, but, nope Start in a small area with a ball or anything else you want to use (a sock is easy to pick up). The second they show any interest in the item reward (click and treat if you want to use a clicker). Repeat this a few times and they'll soon get the idea that item + attention =reward. Next, rather than paying for attention to the item pay for touching it - in any way at all. Pay this a few times, then wait it out for the dog to pick it up for you - same process. It takes a while, but it builds real value on the game and helps your relationship no end. Once you have the pick it up it becomes pick it up and give it to me, then go get it, pick it up and give it to me, then go a bit further etc etc. Hope that helps.

I was going to say this too - shaping is a great way to build retrieval skills. Only problem is it can also end up with constant offering of the behaviour and you end up having to put all the toys away or they get dropped in your lap every 2 minutes. As someone else said though - be patient. Sometimes it can take a little while for you to work out how to play with them. My girl is a MAD retriever, but it took quite a few months for us to get it together.

IMO this is the key. Kids are unpredictable and are going to do dumb things - parents or not. My dogs are good with kids, but I still don't trust them together (kids and dogs). OH and I had a discussion the other week after she thought it was cute that our nephew (a well behaved 4yo) was allowed to play with our two dogs while she and her sister had a cup of coffee inside. Nothing happened and nothing was likely to happen, but if anything did I'm thinking it would not have been the child's fault. hmmmmmm......... While in a perfect world kids would not harass our dogs or get in their faces, just like with other dogs - it is our responsibility to manage situations before they occur. It is inconvenient to have to watch every thing every single second we are out with our dogs, but it beats the alternative...... Most kids are willing to listen and parents are happy if you tell them to stop and show them how to pat the dog before anything happens. If they don't then I tend to adopt a slightly sterner voice which never really fails to get the right result. Everyone goes away happy. Banging on about it because I missed the opportunity to stop it before it happens only serves to upset everyone.

How does a rescue puppy of unknown origin and breeds fit in with that definition? You won't know whether the dog it grows into will be appropriate for your lifestyle. Not having a go, I think it's a good definition, but as with, I suspect, all of these questions, there are always grey areas. I personally would not rescue a puppy for that exact reason, but I like pedigree dogs so that's just me. To answer your question - if you are going to rescue a puppy of unknown breeding then you need to be VERY sure that you can cope with ANYTHING. I don't think there is any grey about that one. Unless you know you can cope wit the demands of the dog, don't get it. I know this is harsh, but I just hate seeing dogs in poor situations.

So is the concept of "responsible dog ownership". The RSPCA definition seems to go no further than providing food, water and shelter at the moment. It's also very hard to go into in less than 50 words. It varies depending on the dog, it varies depending on the breed, it varies depending on where you live, it varies depending on whether you are happy to see your back yard resembling the surface of the moon or not. Yes, very, very subjective. In my case, IMO - if you are not working a working dog in some meaningful way (not necessarily on stock) then you are not meeting its needs. Others rightly disagree - they don't have to live with my girl!! I think the RSPCA is the absolute minimum you need to provide to avoid physical suffering, it does not necessarily mean that you are responsible.........(and I know for a fact they would agree.)

:D Good point. I just assume that a responsible pet owner does not 'breed'. I really like the bit about not being a nuisance to the community.

Without emotion - A business owner who breeds dogs on a commercial scale with the sole aim of making profit. Anything else is just describing the methods they use. What is a commercial scale? IMO a commercial scale is anything where there is intent to profit because of the economies it generates and the operation is larger than what will allow them to give each indivdual dog the care (physical and developmental) that it needs.

Without emotion - A business owner who breeds dogs on a commercial scale with the sole aim of making profit. Anything else is just describing the methods they use.

Simple: An owner who chooses an appropriate breed for their lifestyle and then cares for the dog in a way that meets its needs for physical and mental well being for the period of its life.

I know the people who own this Kennel and most of the people who work there. They are all active in Dog Sports, many of them instruct at their respective clubs - I'm pretty sure they would look after any dogs that stayed there as well as anyone. I would trust any of them to look after my dogs - either at work or privately. Not something I could say for a couple of other boarding Kennels that I have had experience with. It seems that you have struck someone on a bad day - the first day of school holidays is never a good time to visit a Kennel IMO and I don't really think you can blame them for their location. I guess if that is going to be an issue for your dog then you don't need to board them there. I know first impressions count and you have obviously not got them on a good day. I also think that its all too easy to bag out and damage a business for superficial things like not having a website totally up to date (although it apears that you have not read the piece about school hols). Personally I would rather have a small business interested in keeping enclosures clean and dogs well looked after than a smart looking website. (How many puppy farmers cop it for having a great website and treating animals poorly?) I hope you find somewhere you are comfortable with to board your pets and can understand that you may , but I would recommend these people to anyone.

Thanks! Did you know CK is one of Tag's boys?

We had a fantastic weekend. Saturday was flyball to start with. Both dogs performed flawlessly. No great times, but Xena did manage a 0.000 start time in one race, then followed it up with a good number of 0.0xx and 0.00x's. Then we headed off to agility. Both puppies had a win in one of their rings although no cards. It was a MASSIVE DAY!! Yesterday was even better. Xena ran awesomely all day. She started with a card in Open B jumping (2nd), then a card in Advanced Jumping (her first purple card for any ADAA people), then another card in Open B jumping (she won came second in that one too - bloody coolie dogs), then her 3 dog team (including the bloody coolie dog) won the relay. We won't talk about the jumping round where she walked off the course at heel for popping out of the weavers. Mr CK was just as awesome (for him ). He ran really nicely in his two intermediate runs with just one fault in each (happy to say neither was my fault, unless you count training issues as my fault ). He won won of those and came second in the other. Then his team came second to Xena's in the teams relay. Both puppies acheived their Aust Team Dog title over the weekend. Now have a week to recover before playing flyball and agility again next week.

Hi, Didn't see this one. Both my dogs are on Glucosamine/Chrondroitin and Omega Oils as a preventative. (At our vet's suggestion.) I don't know for sure if it helps, but I do know for sure that it doesn't hurt and that I want to do everything that I can to keep them happy and healthy for as long as possible. FTR - Xena is a 13.xx kg BC and CK is an 18/19kg BC so neither are large and at 4 y.o. both (hopefully) have a fair way to go before they have to worry about arthritis. I think the best thing we can do for our dogs though is to keep them LEAN - especially if we are asking them to perform as athletes. T

Okk ;) I'm here hahahaha Well QLD state Titles this weekend has been an event to remember I'll break it down Jock Q and 10th in the State in Excellent Snooker QLD STATE CHAMPION in Novice Pairs and SPD TITLE I'm so thrilled with that esp being my old boy! We had some other good runs but nothing too exciting... This Trial was all about Denver lol Q Title and 7th in The State for Novice Gamblers Q and 1st Novice Agility Heat one Q and runner Up Heat 2 Excellent Jumping Q and 1st and TITLE Novice Agility Heat 2 Ranked 4th In State Excellent Jumping & 2010 QLD State Champion Novice Agility we've had a fantastic weekend and I am just thrilled with Dens Runs.. Video coming soon lol But we're all exhausted here congrats to everyone else though on their brags Very Cool. Well done! You must be thrilled.

The weekend is all about dog training (with an agility focus) and then the next 3 days are more about agility - but you have to have done the dog training bit first.

I think it depends on the dog. If a dog is able to cope with IP then I'm happy for them to run in IP. If a dog does not enjoy the IP height whether it is because of a physical limitation or an understanding issue then I think the right thing to do is jump them lower. It is all so subjective - some people think that higher bars slow dogs down and that will cause less wear and tear whereas other people prefer to see less jump height. By 'right' reasons I really meant it is in the eye of the beholder (or whoever is passing their own judgement). For me the right thing to do is put the dog where they are most comfortable.

Cool. Looking forward to seeing you at trials before too long!!

Do you know what the cutoff is for the height divisions? she is actually quite short for a JRT lol Ill pm you the details Cut-offs are: Toy - up to 300mm. Jumping 150 or 250 Mini - 300 to 400. Jumping 250 or 400 Midi - 400 to 500. Jumping 400 or 550 Maxi - 500+. Jumping 550 or 650. T

Just looking at Tess in your signature, I very much doubt that she will be a toy dog and will probably have to jump 400 in the IP and 250 in the the RP. Will be interesting to see what she measures at........ I think I know who you are talking about and I really wouldn't worry. (Although it would be worth asking one of the more experience instructors - let me know where you are training and I'll suggest who to speak with. :D We do from time to time suggest dogs run at RP heights, but for all the 'right' reasons.

I have a plan before I go out to train. I have my toys/treats ready. I have any equipment set up. I have the other dog put away if that is what is required. Then when the trainee comes out all I have to do is play/do the session and we get maximum value from it. If it works that's great - I go and think about next steps. If not I sit back and reflect on why and what I have to do to get it right or communicate more clearly.