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Agility Dogs

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  1. We share Urban's training grounds with them. Although I haven't done their puppy classes I have watched them and know the trainers (I instruct them in agility classes). They know dogs/behaviour quite well and use a good deal of common sense to go with their theory. THey also have a free puppy play session on a Sunday a/noon. Personally I'm not a big fan because I don't want my dogs playing with other dogs or thinking they are allowed to play with other dogs, but the sessions are a great way to teach you dog to play if that is what you want to do. They are quite well run and supervised with a time out every 5 minutes or so. The only criticism I would have is that they are a little on the pricey side, but then again, they are a business and you will get a consistency with them that you may not get at all clubs. (In terms of the level of instruction.) You could do a lot worse.
  2. x2 I'm doing the Accel/Decel workshop and the Advanced Handling workshop. CAN'T WAIT!! Feedback from Linda's last visit to Australia was brilliant. I've been to a couple of other workshops run by Agility Click and they are always really professional and very good value.
  3. No dogs at Wynnum, but there is a massive dog park right down the opposite ends of the walking track from the yacht club. There are two dog friendly beches at cleveland though - about 15 minutes up the road.
  4. Not sure about all RSPCA people being this way. I train at the RSPCA in Brisbane for flyball and most of their instructors are mad keen about dog sports - much of their animal behaviour/training school focusses on a watered down version of competitive activity. They are constantly at me to go over and do agility nights for them so they can improve their skills - fortunately they don't all seem to be tarred with the same brush. That said, my work colleagues, friends and family think I'm a little bit strange, but then again, they did before I got into dog sport so no big change there. They are pretty amazed at what the puppies can do and like Poodlefan understand the passion if they don't share it.
  5. Whoever told you that is right and I would encourage you to give it a go. Xena is a complete nutter - the type of BC that people warn you about. She is confident, verging on pushy, LOVES to work, no matter what the job is and picks up most things VERY quickly. She is great in the competition ring and generally makes me look a lot better than I am. CK is my snugglebum. He is a beautiful boy, both in looks and temperament. VERY soft and would be happy to lounge on the couch just about all day every day (in a BC kind of way, which probably makes him a fairly active dog for most people! ) He lacks confidence (compared to Xena), and takes a LOT of work to get him confident in a new task, but once he does he is AWESOME. To the point where we went to the World Dog Games for frisbee - a game he understands. The thing is that while Xena is certainly a buzz on an agility course or to teach tricks to because she is so quick and so drivey I haven't learned all that much from training her. If she gets something wrong you just tell her and get her to try it again. When she barks at you you back off and think of another way to get the message across because you have pushed her too far. No damage done, no need to walk away. With CK you have to be VERY careful not to switch him off by making him think he's made a mistake. You have to break exercises down into incredibly small pieces for him to learn each one and become confident. He has made me a better trainer and my training with Xena has benefited from what he has taught me.In the process CK is getting more and more excited about training all the time. (He is almost a border collie now......) I spend more time training Xena because I can and I know I won't/can't break her. I spend more time thinking about how to train CK and implementing it in shorter sessions that yield more per minute so to speak than I get from the time I spend with Xena. (Too busy having fun with Xena!) I often say though, CK is the dog you want to live with. Xena is the dog you want to lock in a cupboard and put the batteries in 3 or 4 days a week when you go out to train or go to a trial. That said, I will be hunting for another Xena when it comes time to take another puppy into our home.
  6. This is a pet peeve of mine. It's taken me almost 3 years to get my boy to the point where he trusts me enough to ignore dogs that race up to us to 'say hello'. He will only ignore them if I tell him to, otherwise they are breaking the rules of CK's little kingdom and will/do get told off. On a positive note though - we were walking through the bushland/reserve near us the other day and a guy with two Kelpie mixes came running past us with his dogs off lead. They looked at my two (who were on lead at that point) and then kept running with him - without approaching us. Very well controlled dogs. I don't have a problem with anyone having their dogs off lead (away from a road) as long as they do have complete control over their dogs. I will walk either of mine off lead like that, but together they just can't be trusted not to get too far away from me so they stay on lead. My favourite line for people with dogs saying hello is 'You might just want to keep an eye one your dog/s - these two are just getting over Kennel cough and the vet says they should be alright, but it could still be contagious.'
  7. Incredibly rude on their part. We take our dogs everywhere we can, but if we have been invited to a friend or relative's place we still ask if it is OK. Most invites to our place come with a request not to bring dogs - just too much hassle to supervise dogs you aren't 100% sure get on with yours unless that is the purpose of the get together.
  8. CK (BC) runs around the yard until he finds his latest favourite toy and then jumps up on me and throws it at me until I throw it for him. (Of course I reward his enthusiasm - what else do you do!! ) Xena runs into the back yard and stares me down until I come up and play or take CK inside. In which case she races to the back door and launches herself into my arms (or the middle of my back if I'm not looking). I think most people would be horrified, but I'm happy to have dogs that want to play. It's just a matter of managing the greeting if someone else happens to come home with me!
  9. Yep, another crate advocate here. I agree TOTALLY with Shoemonster. I can still remember not wanting to crate my dogs, but an even stronger memory was watching my already crate trained girl start to REALLY understand what her crate was about. It was at her first flyball nationals. She was only 16 months old and still really hyper all the time. It was very hot and she was running just about every race over 14 inch hurdles. She quickly worked out that the crate was a safe place away from the world. Now if we have people with kids over we just put up the crates and both dogs will seek refuge from the little terrors when they have had enough. We've also been able to stay places who don't accept dogs because they are crate trained. Many, many good uses for them - no down side, except for people who don't really understand what they are all about.
  10. We have a very small club and a very committed band of instructors. Typically the core group of us instruct 2 weeks out of 3 for the whole year. (I've just done the last 12 weeks straight though.) Others instruct every second week. In terms of how much time is enough to put back in......I don't expect anyone to put anything back in - that way I am not disappointed. That said I find as people move through the trialling ranks they are happier to put in time. Those who aren't are better off not instructing because all they end up doing is losing members for a club.
  11. ;) AWESOME - isn't it great when it all starts to come together. Well done - sounds like you have worked all year to give you dog a present as well - security/confidence.
  12. Mr P Hill. In one of his routines he just wore shirt, shorts, base ball cap & sneakers. Cool......ever since I started playing with dogs all I have is work clothes or the above......
  13. Hang on a minute.......you mean I actually have to think about an outfit? No wonder guys don't compete. ;)
  14. Thanks Mrs D - it has been a while so we can forgive Dagboy. ML - you did a great job at the nationals with your girl. I love watching all your chocolate dogs running in all the sports they do. Zoya was awesome - might have even convinced me to start thinking about DWD next year.
  15. Like most 'fetch' games it is best taught in a small area first and then get bigger and bigger. As for twisting in the air - it's not really a problem IMO - as long as the dog knows how to land properly. They twist more in a set of weave poles or on a flyball box. Xena is a nutter who twists all over the place, CK on the other hand I don't ask to do that because he is not as athletic and does not land as well - he can, however consistently catch at 40m+ - Xena struggles with much more than 35m. It's about playing to their strengths and not pushing when it is going to hurt them. To give you an idea what I am talking about - have a look at Xena catching a disc in this pretty ordinary freestyle routine. (This was in her - I only do one disc at a time phase). She catches it in all manner of positions and twists, but always lands nice and square on 4 feet. As long as there is no impact when they are twisting it is not going to do them much harm. (Given they are warm before they start.) The landing is really easy to teach. Just have your dog jump over one leg when you are sitting on the ground - they will land on all 4 - which is what you are looking for. Once they are doing this really well move to short, low throws and then slowly build distance and height. Hope that helps. The other thing that helps is to do heaps of throwing without your dog - unless you are lucky and have natural talent for throwing frisbees......Good throws help to keep the puppies safe as they are not trying to get to discs flying at crazy angles.
  16. I'm not sure where the puppy ones came from. One of the club members bought a heap in from the US for herself and accidentally ordered puppy discs. Clean Run don't stock them. I will have a hunt around and see if I can find out where they come from. You wil probably have to get them from the US though - not aware of anyone who has any in Australia any more. (But I stand to be corrected.) T
  17. The discs are around 200g. They are very flexible so they can't shatter and have quite soft edges to avoid the puppies hurting their mouths. They are VERY different to what you wil generally find in pet shops. It is possible to get other slightly heavier varieties as well - they are just about impossible to destroy whereas the ones we used in Sydney do get knocked about a bit by the harder mouthed dogs. (I'm lucky - my dogs very rarely damage a disc.) It is also possible to get approved 'puppy' discs that smaller dogs find a bit easier to handle. I have used one for a Cavvy and a mini-schnauzer and both loved it. They are a little more difficult to throw, but then again the shorter legs don't carry the dogs quite as far any way.
  18. This morning we did our usual play session down in the park. Heaps of 'training', but really just running around like mad things and a few tricks and some heel work thrown in for good measure - nothing that is actually 'useful' in the scheme of things. (Although stays are quite useful for when you get sick of being followed from room to room by 2 sets of obsessive eyes! ) When we got home the dogs were both up into the back yard like a shot. They love nothing more than chasing birds out of their yard and here was one of their enemies wandering around on the ground squarking. I thought the bird was dead for sure - I have found unfortunate birds in our yard before, not to mention any number of slightly slower moving blue tongue lizards. I called the dogs off and both of them turned around and came to me (CK did give it a second and third look, but his hearing isn't as good as Xena's .) Nett result - one baby magpie making a trip to the vet in not too shabby a state and one very happy dog owner. Sometimes all the games really do pay off in the real world!! Merry Christmas everyone.
  19. I guess if they qualify then they will be represented. Given there are not many of them participating in some of the sports this reduces their chances of being represented. That's pretty much it. We'd love to see you out at frisbee or flyball or agility. For frisbee the only breeds represented in the qualifiers in Brisbane were BC's, Stumpy Tailed Cattle Dogs, Kelpies and maybe a Toller (plus mixes). (oops - never have been any good at breeds other than BC!! ) We'd love to see more in the sport - but most other dogs are too smart to chase a plastic disc all day! Are there clubs doing disk all over Australia? I haven't heard of any in NSW. At this stage its limited to Brisbane, Gympie and Townsville, although next year we are looking at expanding into NSW and Victoria - very exciting. We have had a lot of interest as a result of the games and can't wait for even more people to start getting involved. There are a number of clubs and individuals who have contacted us to start something up so it is looking very promising.
  20. I don't think you need a big voice or intimidating body language to be the alpha in your pack. For me it's not about being dominant, it is about control of resources. ETA - resources are ANYTHING that Pete wants - whether it is a game or a piece of food you need to control it. NILF and TOT are great starting points. The other thing we practice in our house is ABSOLUTE adherence to rules. My dogs do not live in a democracy and do not have choices, unless they are told they do (released from working). If they are not asked to get onto the lounge they are TAKEN off the lounge, if they are told to stay on a chair and choose to get off, they are PUT back on the chair. NOTE - taken and put - they are physically moved back to where they should have been, not asked to get back there. I don't use a correction, I don't even talk to them, they are just put back there - gently, but firmly. To do anything else is to give them another command and to me is to have accepted their previous action as OK - inconsistency. The other thing you can do is make sure you don't ask Pete for anything he cannot be expected to do 100% of the time unless you are in control of the situation/have set up the situation so he can learn. eg: If his recall is perhaps a little bit suspect in a certain circumstance then don't set him up for failure by putting him in that situation and then calling him. You know he won't come and you have just reinforced to him that he does not have to come. Work up to things like this by setting him slightly easier tasks under similar distraction. I think you hit the nail on the head though when you said consistency. If for any reason or in any way Pete is interacting with you then you need to be on the ball and enforcing the rules. Even if they don't seem to matter in that situation or at that time you need to stick with them. He won't know the difference between one time and another - look at the world through his eyes and provide him guidance/rules that are consistent with his view. Hope that helps. Sounds like you are doing a great job!
  21. I guess if they qualify then they will be represented. Given there are not many of them participating in some of the sports this reduces their chances of being represented. That's pretty much it. We'd love to see you out at frisbee or flyball or agility. For frisbee the only breeds represented in the qualifiers in Brisbane were BC's, Stumpy Tailed Cattle Dogs, Kelpies and maybe a Toller (plus mixes). (oops - never have been any good at breeds other than BC!! ) We'd love to see more in the sport - but most other dogs are too smart to chase a plastic disc all day!
  22. You are too funny. The problem with the flyball dogs they chose is that they were just too quick. If they'd picked some of the others around the place it would have been on for longer..... Seriously - I agree. It would have been nice to show the heats with the other teams in them at least. I thought the coverage they did use was awesome though.
  23. You know she is welcome.........until OH finds out. I'm still working on how to explain the next puppy to come along, although a trained one might not be a bad idea.
  24. Ahh memories. For those that don't know Ck 'christened' the anti - fatigue matting!!! And the grass the second time and then nearly my foot the third time......... ;) poor little man.
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