Agility Dogs

Hi everyone, 14 Aussies are currently either arriving in Bristol or are on their way to compete in the 2010 IFCS World Agility Championships. They will be running 'host' dogs which will add to the challenge. If you are interested in seeing how they go we have a facebook page they will be updating on a regular basis (as time allows). Team Australia World Agility Championships 2010 http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=124083000940714 Cheers Tony

I voted other. I think if there is a valid reason to not desex then forcing someone to neuter an animal is wrong. There are responsible animal owners who do not need or want ot desex their pets. I think there should be incentives to do so, but if people choose not to then that is up to them.

Anyone?

Just wondering if anyone has had any experiences - good or bad with these guys? I'm potentially looking for somewhere to keep two softish BC's for a weekend every now and again. Pls feel free to PM me if you are not happy to post in the public forum.

It was a brilliant run lol poor den was left eating your dust. . Ha ha ha i thought we'd run a good time lol. . Ha ha was i wrong. . I think so lol Denver's run was pretty good as well - we just both had our skates on for the first run of the day. And remembered to warm her up properly this time! I'm just soooooooo pleased to have my little girl back after almost 4 months of injury and recovery. She has started to do a few things that I haven't seen from her in a long while - all relate to her confidence. Now I just have to sure up her contacts a little bit and she will be rocketing in all her runs.

Xena got her first novice jumping pass on the weekend. SCT - 39 seconds. Xena's time - 15.19 seconds. Not bad for a little dog! Even better, I didn't get barked at, I don't think either of us had time to breathe. Rate of travel was 6.3m per seconds.

Isn't that the point of flyball? sorry, couldn't resist. But now he does it WITH THE BALL!! ;) I knew we were doing something wrong.

Isn't that the point of flyball? sorry, couldn't resist. That is AWESOME though - it is so hard to get some puppies to work away from you. Well done. Well done to those at the nationals as well - very jealous.

I'm with KelpieKaye. My dogs are expected to stay regardless of what I do, which foot I step off on or whether I fall down in a fit of laughter, whatever. If I'm starting with my dog though and expecting him/her to come with me then I release them with voice, but not on movement. If I am sending them then I'll step off with the foot closest to the dog and direct them with arm and leg down the line of obstacles I want them to run.

Cool. Well done!

Great work guys. Very jealous of those who have been passing HT's. It is my one regret with the puppies that we don't get to play with sheep any more. On the upside Miss Xena completed her MAAD (Masters Australian Agility Dog) title with ADAA last night. It is made up of 7 open/advanced agility and jumping passes (at least 3 agility - she has 5) and 3 games titles (at least one snooker or gamblers in the mix). It was a really nice run on a tricky jumping course and to top it off she won! WOO HOO! Mr CK ran really well in all his runs for the night and showed some great speed. Our Not for Competition class is just awesome for building confidence. Back to ANKC trials next weekend and easy courses. (We are still only in novice and excellent there). Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

I've only been training dogs for 3 years, but the more I know the more I trust my dogs and the more I relax and the more fun we have. I think there is a lot in this.

to me harm is physically or mentally damaging. This would be caused by something that I wouldn't do as a matter of course at some point any way. eg: I WOULD choose not to feed by dogs for 24 hours - having them go without food is not going to harm them. They are built this way. I have not problem in keeping them crated (removing their freedoms) for longer than usual either - they spend 8 to 10 hours a night in their crates. An extra few hours in the day is not going to harm them in any way, but does keep them rested and maximises their stimulation levels when they come out.

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.

For training I don't deprive at all, other than when we are training the dogs are in their crates when they are not working. On the day of a trial and possibly the day before the dogs spend a lot of time in their crates with very short, intense bursts of activity every couple of hours. I find this gets them in the right mind set and they come out much more ready to work. As far as going too far, I think it depends on the dog. Some dogs need 'help' to reach arousal where others are quite naturally high and will work. For some dogs 4 hours in a crate when it is not necessary is excessive, for others it might not be enough. If the dog is suffering then IMO you have gone too far with deprivation. Otherwise when the dog's performance is not improved by the technique you have been OTT.

I started by playing with the two of them together - by playing I mean doing tricks for treats - and made sure that I could get each of them to work independently of each other. (Xena down - CK had to stay sitting, etc etc). The next thing was to start out the same way and then put one of them on their mat on a stay - this way it just became another exercise. (heaps of reward for holding the stay) At first it was only really short, but we built duration. Next step was to add a lead into the equation (when they were on their mat they were tied out - quickly I could tie out one of the dogs and the other could work). Then we moved to in their crates with the doors open, and finally to in their crates with the doors shut. If at any time one of them breaks then they are just put back on the 'stay' with no interaction other than a hand through their collar or by their ear if they are not wearing one. If they make noise in their crates they are just covered up with no notice given to them and then brought out when they are quiet. I now have REALLY good stays and although I still have a few problems with the girl from time to time, all in all it is easy to cope with and I can train one without the other going nuts. Proudest achievement is having one of them on a stay while the other plays frisbee. (these are dogs that LIVE for frisbee). Sorry to hijack. Cheers

Fairfiled is about 45 minutes from Pine Rivers. There are a couple of dogs in the team that can be a little in your face, but that is the same with most flyball teams IMO. Once the dogs get into the swing of it they can be a little OTT. Cheers Tony

Pine Rivers is the only one on the Brisbane Northside without going to the Sunshine Coast. The next two are us at Fairfield (Flyball Fanatics) and Awesome Pawsome at Mt Gravatt. Cheers Tony

I find if you have multiple dogs you have to train the youngest one first - if you make them wait - then they get just so over the top that it becomes very ugly ;) and yep like you said JulesP, every turn is their turn! Once I get the required dog out the rest are really good. It is getting the dog out the gate that it a nightmare. I've basically got 3 BC all scratching at the gate, jumping up and down! Total chaos. Nice to see the enthusiasm though. I often end up with all 3 out and then have to convince 2 to go back and wait. I used to have the same problem until the two of them totally embarassed me at a herding weekend. When one came out of the crate the other squealed the house down and visa versa. At that point I decided it was not going ot happen any more. Now we train with either a mat for them to wait patiently on or an open crate for them to wait in while the other is having their turn. It took a bit of work at first, but is now soooooooo much easier than having to contend with a tantrum. As for what age - my next puppy will start PLAYING at 8 or 12 weeks (depending on the breeder) when s/he comes home. The focus will be on focus on me and drivey behaviour/arousal (with self control). Crate games will be a big part of this. Once they are good with all of that (ie: recall at high speed from whatever they are doing and crate trained) we will move onto other things like heaps of shaping, stays, basic handling and so on and so on. Jump heights and equipment won't go up at all until at least 12 months of age and then won't be consistently at full height until 18 months of age. Hopefully they will be ready for the trial ring by the time they are two. Whatever the case it will ALL be about FUN with self control. I will remove a lot of the rules that my current two had to endure to make sure that drive is always rewarded and calm is not so highly prized unless it is appropriate.

My two compete in both and we've never had a problem that we can track back to being caused by the other. Both of them were trained at the same time in both games, but picked up flyball much more quickly as it is 'just' a patterened behaviour. IMO there is a lot more understanding needed by the dogs to be successful in agility - especially past novice or starters level. I think that the jumping thing is a bit of a urban myth. For dogs jumping is not a natural activity and like someone else said, if you teach your dog to jump properly first it should not matter what height the jumps are - they will pick the height and jump accordingly. If anything the patterned jumping in flyball can help with agility - as long as you make sure you do enough variable grids to go with it. Flyball also gives them the confidence to work away from you - you just have to harness it and make it work for agility. I don't really have many commands in either sport so confusion there is not a problem. I also think that it is good for their socialisation to be involved in a number of activities and find that the more we do with them the more confident they become and the more they can generalise what I am asking.

Don't start me. My other passion is racing cars. I was out doing it on the weekend. We've always been able to take our dogs and camp at the track.....until now. Saturday morning some IDIOT decided to let their little dog wander around the pit area without a lead on. FFS it is a RACE CAR PIT AREA, what sort of fool allows their dog to walk around an area where cars with limited vision are being driven. Anyway, because they now have an official complain no dogs are allowed at the track at all. We now have to find an alternative to taking the puppies - either adding $100 to the weekend for Kennel fees, along with the associated inconvenience or we have to inconvenience a friend (or two). Some people just don't get it and never will.

OK, for training dogs you have what I wrote. For training people............. Patience Sense of humour Strong sense of self Ability to read the dog's behaviour - are they coping with the owner's chosen methods, have they (the dog and the person)understood what you are asking for. An understanding of learning theory at least at a practical level. Everyone learns differently - make sure that everyone is catered for. Empathy - people need to konw that you are at least able to understand where they are coming from. If they can relate to you on this level then they are more likely to learn from you. Ability to be flexible - not everyone wants to train a dog to a national standard today, but they may want to tomorrow once they 'get' it. I think it is important to remember this. I know I'm lucky that people kept this in mind as I started out. Ability to keep people focussed on the big picture or at least as close to it as their experience allows at that point in time. Ability to make dog training fun for both the dog and the person - it is too easy to make it a chore by drilling both. Perhaps most important of all we need to know and be able to admit when we are out of our depth and be honest with people about that. I know that I'm not able to help everyone who comes to agility with their dogs - I have to be big enough to be able to admit it and suggest alternatives to those people. (So far so good.) Patience Sense of humour Strong sense of self.

Absolutely not. Whilst it would be nice to be able to take them all in you need to make the best decision for you. If that is to get a dog from lines you are comfortable, with a more predictable temperament and known health issues then I think anyone who suggests you are being selfish is just plain out of line. Apart from (arguably) the puppy farm/supply and demand argument you are taking the same risks adopting a dog from a shelter as you are buying one from a pet shop. I can totally understand anyone who decides not to go down that path. If you want a pedigree dog then I would not let yourself be pressured by others with a different, but definite agenda.

I'm reading your question to mean what makes someone good at training dogs, not at training people to train dogs. IMO: Patience Sense of humour Strong sense of self Ability to read the dog's behaviour - are they coping with your chosen methods, have they understood what you are asking for. Ability to stick to a chose set of criteria. Ability to plan and look further ahead than today. Patience Sense of humour Strong sense of self.

Our training sessions are very short and the dogs always know when to be 'on' (they come off their mat or our of their crate) and then they know when the session is over because they go back to their mat or their crate. For me this is very important because often (NOT always) I will be training the two dogs in the same place and I really don't need dog B going nuts because Dog A is playing and they want to join in. I don't like to leave them hanging at the end of a session, but will frustrate them during the session so build up their desire. At the end of the session though they need to know to rest.