Agility Dogs

Well done - that is AWESOME!! I agree with a couple of the others that it really isn't fair to have dogs bothering other dogs when they are working. Aggression or not I would have been stepping in and protecting my boy both from himself and the other dog. (Perhaps this is one of the reasons I don't obedience trial.) I really envy people with the patience to teach dogs formal obedience. I've come to the conclusion that while the puppies quite like it the trial ring is just not for us.

LOL - 14 runs, but a lot of them were rubbish. With the 3 dogs it was good - I got to run most of the courses a couple of times (except for a couple of Xena's runs). We are locked and loaded for the GP - Missy is having a run in the Medallion Stakes Round which should be pretty cool. We will be doing nothing except driving up and down the coast in October - Sydney x 2 + the GP = lots of km! Only a couple of weeks to go! WOO HOO! ETA - here are the links from the weekend........ Two of Morgan and one of CK.

Climbs back into box.

You might want to save a little for a couple of puppies from over this side of the island as well.........(not mine)

I'm glad I didn't get Xena's quali on video , but will up load a couple of the other two tonight.

Happy days!!! That's awesome - well done. We have a small brag after the weekend. Xena got a quali in Open B agility, although it's a good thing I don't have it on Video - it was just a horrible run that some how didn't go too pear shaped. (I nearly stood on her ) CK started dreadfully, but warmed to the task and ended up actually running an open course with only 2 faults - a BIG achievement for him. My third dog for the night (a visitor to our house) ran in her first ever trial. She had an absolute blast and ran all the courses really well, but she just can't weave. We did manage to get through one course (an intermediate level) by the end of the night with a couple of faults. All in all very weary legs from 14 runs, but had a ball.

Given that 30 odd pregnant dogs arrived at the shelter yesterday I'm pretty sure it is a good bet.

I was over at Fairfield last night and one of the trainers had been working with some of the dogs during the day. She mentioned that the ones she had seen were in reasonable condition. The ones I saw come in later in the night were also in pretty good shape. Apparently it was a puppy farm though..........

That was my Polo today See you at the World Dog Games! Cool, I can't remember the rest of the breeds. It was a lot of fun today. Well done!!! That is AWESOME. See you there.

AWESOME, well done.

No, no Tivoli for me. I've been out both days every weekend for the last 2 months - REALLY need a break. I love it, but I also love being able to see the colour of the floors at home and walk through grass less than knee deep. See you on Tuesday. Tony

OK, here we go again. I just worked out who you are.......from your other post. You have done an AWESOME job with your boy. When I saw him the other night I just couldn't believe it was the same dog that paddled off after getting bitten by an ant last time you came. I reckon keep on doing what you are doing and the tug will transfer in time. The other thing you could try with him (something I want to do more of in your class) is some restrained recalls - that way he gets the movement (you) and then by the time he gets to you he will be hyped up enough not to worry about what was going on around him. Hope that helps. See you Tuesday. Cheers Tony

I don't think it is really all that important. What is important is finding what turns your dog on and using that. eg: Tugging at flyball is meant to be the be all and end all - neither of my dogs tug in the ring and they are both pretty wound up in there. I think having a motivator for your dog (not just a reward for correct behaviour, something that really turns them on.) is essential. Someone once told me about a dog that loved bubbles - they got bubbles as their reward. No reason you can't be creative. BTW Mym - where do you train?

At least you can sing in the ring!!

I won't say no. Just don't expect her to come back. I am collecting Border Collies - we have another one coming to live with us for a fortnight. CK will be over the moon it is his bestest friend in the whole world from flyball. (She is going to become part of the AD agility team and is running for me at our next trial - it is her debut!) CK has taken forever on his contacts and weavers, but it seems both have finally clicked - watch it all fall apart in a couple of weeks at his next trial. Funny how some of them do it quickly and some take forever. I wish they just all came out the same way. How are you training them?

Isn't it funny how the small things can often mean the most. 4 months ago I had the WORST dog on contacts in the world. At one point she (Xena) jumped off the TOP of a dog walk and may or may not have touched the down ramp (not the contact - the entire side of the piece of equipment) - but if she did it was only because I didn't cut her toe nails that week. Since then we've done a lot of work thinking about why (self rewarding, more fun) and how to fix it and are now to the point where her contacts are very solid. So......the current project is truly independent contacts. I don't mean able to hit the end and offer 2o2o with me running past 'towing' her into position (even at 3 or 4 m lateral distance), I mean sending her from a standing start and having her run the contact all the way to the end and offer the behaviour with no assistance at all. This morning we had a breakthrough. Every day I work on our current 'project' at meal time (I figure if the dogs can work in that state then they should be able to do it when they are calmer). Xena has been needing less and less help to run the contacts. This morning though she ran up off the bottom terrace (where the house is), onto the second terrace (where the agility equipment is) through the tyre, onto the dog walk and into position on the end of it - without me leaving the bottom terrace!! She held the 2o2o position until I released he and then she came back to me for breakfast. Another week or so of this and it should start to translate into what I am looking for! WOO HOO!! It's only a small one, but it is one that has left me smiling all day.

Yep, that's why we didn't try out. Xena is not nearly that quick at only about 5.2/5.3 secs. CK would have to run at his best EVERY time to get there - just out of our reach. He's a bit better at frisbee luckily.

Agility Dogs, you were right, he got his first agility quali yesterday on the same dog walk - could have knocked me down with a feather, I wasn't expecting a pass but he went on the dog walk perfectly AWESOME. Well done! Can't wait to hear about the next one!

Thanks for taking the time to explain, Molasseslass. I'll have a look at the link later (in the midst of bookwork at the moment .... I hate paperwork). It was just a curiousity but it would have bugged me not to know . Thanks ML. The other thing I've seen CK in particular improve from is general proprioception excerises that a lot of people do for agility foundation. Walking along a ladder on the ground, walking backwards, walking on his hind legs, spinning on the spot, front feet on a box walking in a circle with his hind legs etc etc. Wherzaball - will talk to you at Redlands about starting and where the next clinics etc are. Your doggies will be AWESOME! Cheers Tony

No - he did crack his elbow when he was 4 months old after slipping on one - that put his career on hold for about 9 months while we got him right. We do a LOT of foundation work with the puppies teaching them how to jump and more importantly land properly before going for a lot of distance. Like anything if they understand their bodies and have been trained to play the game the risks are minimised. Xena (the one WAY off the ground) is part cat and has always landed very nicely, but CK took a bit of work to get him landing nicely on all 4's every time. The only injuries they have suffered in all the sport they have played are CK's silly puppy mishap, Xena on a see saw at agility when she thought it was a dog walk and Xena again when she had a collision at flyball. Other than that we have had a dream run.

Here are photos of both puppies. CK has the blue frisbee and Xena has the pink. The little girl had a good day, but just isn't as consistent as CK. The WDG is being held on the last weekend of October in Sydney at Acer Arena and will be televised on Channel 7 over summer.

Mr CK has had a VERY cool day today. We started with an hour and a bit of flyball training, but then raced off to get to a frisbee comp and qualified for the World Dog Games late in October. The little man was just brilliant and in the process managed to get the first every FDM (Frisbee Dog Master) quali ever awarded in Australia!! Ever time I threw the frisbee he was just awesome . So fast and so focussed. Now hopefully we can see an even better performance later in the year! WOO HOO!!

When I was going to obedience the instructors would use a 'demo' dog they knew to be of sound temperament etc or a dog that one of the class members was having trouble with. At Agility I won't handle anyone else's dog (as an instructor) unless they ask me to - I would rather use my dog as a demo dog, nor will I let anyone who I don't consider to be at least equal to my handling ability (and using the same system) handle my dog. I think letting someone else handle a green dog lets inconsistency (not of my own making) creep in and that just leaves too much room for a broken dog. That said, once my dogs KNOW an activity (like they do flyball or frisbee) I'm quite happy for anyone and everyone to play with them. I think it really comes down to what you think your dog is able to cope with and what you are comfortable with.

Make sure you keep an eye on him when you do reworm though and look for a pattern. (Does he throw up each time he is wormed.) My boy threw up after worming and it turned out that it was the worming product that had caused the issue. He was about 14 months and threw up 3 months in a row - spot on, not oral. First time - he's a pup, he throws up. Second time - maybe, third time - the penny dropped that each time it was about 36 hours after the worming treatment had been applied. You are probably right, but I think you should keep an eye out just the same.

Yep, I've seen a lot of dogs balk at different looking equipment - all green dogs. My girl has never had a problem, but my boy has been wary a couple of times. Now neither of them have a problem when we go somewhere new. (Touch wood.) It just takes a little time for the dogs to understand that the picture can change, but the job is still the same. It's only your second trial - he will be on top of it in no time!