Agility Dogs

Not necessarily in this order: 1. Check Chains. I don't believe they are needed to train my dogs the way I want to train them. I used to be a total believer and feel they may still have an application in some instances, but am not convinced that I will need to go there again. This is not a shot at people who do use them, this is my own personal observation and decision - devoid of any judgement. 2. Shaping - it is not a waste of time, luring is not more effective and it is an AWESOME relationship builder between me and my dogs. I advocate it wherever possible. 3. Trialling - 'I'm never going to compete'. Famous last words. It is the most awesome experience to compete as part of a team with your puppies. Now I spend my entire life trekking from one trial/flyball competition/frisbee competition to another. 4. Breeders - are a VERY cool place to get puppies from. Just because they came from pet shops when I was a kid doesn't mean they have to now. I'm sure there is heaps more. I'm just at that cool point where I'm starting to realise there is more that I don't know than what I do know.

I've just found the date for the one in Qld - our wedding Anniversary....... Now I just have to decide which puppy to play with and whether to ride or run. I think it might be easier just to run as they have a 'thing' about bikes.

Got it in one. Tough working dogs.....pfffffft.

One of our inside only cats loves to make a break for freedom whenever the laundry door is opened. At night it is especially difficult to retrieve the little bugger so she gets popped into one of the dog's crates. Last night OH put Jazzy cat into the crate and locked the door as she usually does. about 5 minutes later there was a bit of a noise and we thought Jazzy was just throwing a tanty wanting to be let out. When we let her out 5 minutes later again she was followed by CK. Both pup and cat were unscathed, but CK just looked at us as if to say - hey, why on earth would you have done that to me!! LOL. He is such a good boy sometimes.

Interesting.......does anyone know if they hold Et's in Qld?

I'll keep reading this post with interest. We are adding a third dog to our household next year. At present we have one bitch and one dog - both desexed. They will be about 5 yrs by the time the third dog arrives. I'm thinking a dog might be best, but will probably go with whatever prospect the breeder we choose thinks will fit our 'family'. Will be interesting to see what others have to day.

Qld would have been far better......

I said no, i would not buy from a breeder who advertised in the TP. NOT because they are advertising in the TP, but because I know the type of dog I am after and who breeds them. I DO however think it would be great if there were more ads from registered breeders in there though. IMO one of the biggest problems for RB's is the perception (that I shared until a few years ago) that they are breeding dogs that they consider to be 'better' than what the average person need. Most people just don't get that the vast majority of dogs from RB's go to pet homes and would not consider going to a RB for a family pet. All that said I can also see that for most RB's the TP would not be a cost efficient way of finding homes for their dogs.

Awesome!! WELL DONE. They were fun courses weren't they - we ran the same ones. Xena won midi gamblers (Q) and CK won Regular Maxi Intermediate Agility. Other than that we made a couple of little mistakes here and there, but the puppies were drivey and had everyone commenting about how well they were going. ;);) (especially CK - as far as I was concerned his best run of the night was in Open B Agility where he slipped/crashed off the dog walk and missed his weave entry, but both times he shook himself off and looked at me asking if we can go again - 2 months ago he would have just stopped and I would still be trying to get him out of his crate!!) Then yesterday after a 1:30am finish we rocked up at flyball for a 6am set up and played all day. CK ran a PB - 4.7 secs and the club broke 20 seconds for the first time EVER, then followed it up with 2 more runs that were just on 20 seconds and under our previous PB. All in all a great weekend!

Pee Wee dog - you don't know what you are missing. I ran my girl (475mm tall 500 dog) over 600 last week so she could play in SPD (late entry and the only friend I could find has a 600 dog). I actually forgot that the height was different - she usually runs over 550 so the extra 50mm didn't make a lot of difference (if any) to her and I only noticed/remembered after we had run. (In adaa the two of them run together over 550mm any way so it wasn't strange to be playing with that partner.) Both my puppies are going to keep playing with this dog - at any rate I occasionally run them over 650mm just for practice. It slows the boy (540mm) down and widens his turns, but makes no difference to the girl who is considerably smaller. I guess it just depends dog by dog. To my point - LP - is your 600 dog a 'small 600' or a 'normal 600' dog? I'm wondering if some dogs find it more challenging than others to run at greater heights. Cheers

I think you can start on all your foundation work from 8 weeks, but would not be starting with jumps, weaving or full contacts until you are comfortable that they have stopped growing. (Not sure when Goldies stop so won't be specific.) If you have done all the foundation stuff well it won't take long to progress from that point to full height equipment. Foundation stuff = shadow handling, contact plank, jump bumps, jump grids (just with 1/2 pipe instead of jumps - that way they are only jumping about 50mm, but still get the understanding), recalls, stays etc etc etc. Thanks for that, Im starting her on basic things, she goes through a tunnel (straight not curved) and Im trying to get her to do cavaleti but she knocks the poles down, Ill have to find a way to weigh them down so she learns to pick up her feet What are jump bumps and jump grids? Jump bumps are just a fancy name for 1/2 a down pipe that we use instead of making puppies jump height. Jump grids are a set up of 4, 5 or 6 jumps in a row at varying distances to get the dogs used to looking for jumps and varying their stride. Most of the time we use low heights any way so they kind of work for puppies. Height is always the last thing you should add in when teaching a dog to jump.

That's funny because my OH won't let me get a BC I thnk the craziness is about the same level, just slightly different - it's just what you are used to. IMO Kelpies aren't quite as intense (and therefore annoying) as BC's, but the ones my OH has seen, or rather noticed are just OTT crazy (and therefore sweeter, unless you are my OH who tends not to agree).

I walked 3 BCs like that without any hassles agility dogs. I actually found it less hassle to have them all in front but the rule was no pulling and people would be amazed that I could literally have all 3 leads on 1 finger. I found they had their preferred positioning as to who was next to who and rarely deviated from it. The "rule" I had and rarely used (didn't need it) was if you try and pull you can come back and walk at heel for bit. If we had other people approaching we just moved off to the side, I never found an easier way to manage than that as even if they were all by my side we took up too much space on the footpath for another person and dog to pass. And this way they all had more freedom to move and sniff and enjoy their walks. At 1 time a firend went OS for a few months. Her partner walked her 2 BCs a little but not a lot so I took them with with my guys a few times and ended up ith 5 BCs all calmly walking in front of me (hers were used to being out in front as well). I will say that all 5 dogs were obedience trained and able to heel if needed. I find in front is the easiest way for my two to walk. While they don't compete in obedience they are loosely obedience trained (just not as pin sharp as they would need to be in the ring) so walking at heel is not really a hassle. When I did have a third dog living with us that's the way all of us walked, but Morgy is a bit calmer than my two. you're right though, you do get some great looks when someone comes the other way and you are not panicking about the 3 dogs.

I think you can start on all your foundation work from 8 weeks, but would not be starting with jumps, weaving or full contacts until you are comfortable that they have stopped growing. (Not sure when Goldies stop so won't be specific.) If you have done all the foundation stuff well it won't take long to progress from that point to full height equipment. Foundation stuff = shadow handling, contact plank, jump bumps, jump grids (just with 1/2 pipe instead of jumps - that way they are only jumping about 50mm, but still get the understanding), recalls, stays etc etc etc.

I have to admit this is one area I have been a little bit slack in - they walk in front at the end of their leads unless I ask them to come back to me. They will, but it is work to keep them there. We spend so much time training for other stuff that this doesn't really bother me too much. I'm getting another dog next year so I'm thinking it might be time to fix this issue - three on the end of a lead might just be a little bit too much.

BC's (of course) Kelpie's (except OH won't let me) Aussie's (OK, I'm predictable) Coolies Greyhound - I just think they are majestic animals. Afghans - for their personality Lab Goldie (both for my OH) Borzoi - because they are beautiful Toller - I just like them.

I struggle when I'm NOT being barked at. . My girl barks whenever I am late with a turn or even if she thinks I'm going the wrong way. The other night in novice jumping she had decided that the course was three straight jumps when it was 2 jumps, then a turn. She got the information in plenty of time, took the right course, but continuted to tell me off for the next jump, through the tunnel, then over the next jump. Turns out I was right though.....Q and a win. I also run a couple of red BC's from time to time who likes to tell me off the whole way around, but they are both just big mouths. Standing up - not something I've really thought about, althought I do tell a lot of people the same thing. I guess that might be because the MS's owner made me really aware of my feet from the word go so I'm not really trying to 'steer' with my upper body. Amypie - I think what you are talking about with the difference between you 300 & 400 dogs is what I am seeing - only difference is I'm looking at dogs that jump 550 (500 in ANKC) and 250 (200? in ANKC). All good fun!

I struggle when I'm NOT being barked at. . My girl barks whenever I am late with a turn or even if she thinks I'm going the wrong way. The other night in novice jumping she had decided that the course was three straight jumps when it was 2 jumps, then a turn. She got the information in plenty of time, took the right course, but continuted to tell me off for the next jump, through the tunnel, then over the next jump. Turns out I was right though.....Q and a win. I also run a couple of red BC's from time to time who likes to tell me off the whole way around, but they are both just big mouths. Standing up - not something I've really thought about, althought I do tell a lot of people the same thing. I guess that might be because the MS's owner made me really aware of my feet from the word go so I'm not really trying to 'steer' with my upper body. Aympie - I think what you are talking about with the difference between you 300 & 400 dogs is what I am seeing - only difference is I'm looking at dogs that jump 550 (500 in ANKC) and 250 (200? in ANKC). All good fun!

Just wondering if there is anyone who runs totally different sized/types of dogs in agility? I've learned agility with my two BC's who are quite different, but essentially run in a similar manner (might have something to do with how they have been trained..... ) In the last week or so a friend has asked me to start running her miniature schnauzer. It has been an amazing learning experience for me. Initial observations are that overall it is probably a touch easier to run a small dog (I can keep up with him) and have time to fix mistakes on the fly - with my two anything other than a really minor error means an off course because they are just gone. BUT.....there are unique challenges. I'm finding I have to stay a LOT more connected with this little guy. I think this is because his commitment points are so much later than with my two. Handling cues have to be much more overt and accurate (feet and arms, not just arms), but the timing isn't as critical. With my two - they just drive hard to the next obstacle, the MS needs a little bit more direction - this might be because of the dog, not his size though. All in all they are still fun to play with, but I think I like the challenge of a bigger, nuttier dog. That said I've learned heaps and I think running the little man will actually make me better at running my dogs. I know it will help me instruct people with smaller dogs. Has anyone else changed breeds or run other dogs and found similar?

Our puppies LOVE the Ford Territory. They HATE the WRX race car and won't get in it - sometimes they have to toughen up though.

Thanks - they are both beautiful puppies! :D No, can't make it next weekend. We are doing the ADAA WAC trial on Saturday and then playing flyball at million paws walk on Sunday. Will be a massive weekend. Good luck at Jimboomba though.

Well done at the nationals guys. Everyone who went that I spoke to last night has come back totally motivated, must have been a great event. Our brag for the week. Xena won Novice jumping last night (18 seconds with an SCT of 32 seconds ) Only one more card and she can start playing with her little brother in excellent! I'm LOVING running these novice courses again. It is so good for our relationship and confidence - it reminds me how fast my little girly can move. She also came third in SPD with a Quali. Won't be long and we should have all our novice titles. CK ran very nicely all night as well and managed to come second in Excellent Jumping (Q). He is still amazing me with the way he is continuing to improve and how much fun he is having. To think, I nearly retired him because he just wasn't into it! Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Liz is away tracking this weekend, but will no doubt get intouch when she gets home. tony

For some dogs it takes alittle while, but with the right rewards, some who showed no interest can be trained to play. LOL. Like this one......... Seriously. Seriously??? Wow. I think I might be broken... non of my dogs have ever been an avid ball, frisbee or anything chaser. China is the keenest of all, but she's definitely choosy in her chasing and returning. ETA an apology for taking my dandy time in replying... I forgot I had posted in here.... Yep. When I first took that boy to frisbee someone actually asked if I was sure he is a BC. It took ages to get him interested in playing. Movement is the key with him and still is, although I'm transferring value onto other things and he is getting more exciteable over time. That said I think most people would have given up on him, its just that I've had some really good help on working it all out.

Yeah, I just set it up yesterday. Nothing like a bit of planning. As for WAC event - yep, the Brisbane one is at our Club's grounds so I kind of have to be there. Is OK though, both puppies are doing just about every event - I think CK is doing 7 and Xena is doing 5 (she can't do the intermediate events.) Will be a massive couple of days. Before the trial I have to be at the Uni to set up the flyball ring for Sunday, then off to the trial which won't finish much before midnight. Next morning we'll have to be at flyball again by about 6:30. Will be good to come back to work on Monday for a rest!