bedazzledx2

Woo Hoo!! Well done! Third one won't be far away. Onto UD now I'm here I'm here! Today Jess got her second open pass with a score of 191!! And 1st place!! Very very pleased with her :D

Thats a common mistake for a baby dog (as in new to the class) to make. It just means you have to be very clear when you give your signal and also remember to praise her when she gets it right. If she makes a mistake don't make a big deal of it...just re-set her and help her out. If you think about it you will need the body language of a recall for later on in the Open and UD class so I would be inclined to keep your hands where they are but perhaps modify the beginning bit of either your down or recall signal. Walking on will be pinged in a trial but at this early stage it is also important for you to get your timing and foot work correct. You will find it'll all come together with practice :D

Well done! UDX is a really tough class...PhD for dogs!!!! We have had several of those nearly passes. This weekend was the down in PIM...would have been a 194 round! Just when you get things right, something else goes pearshaped!!! Mind you the down in PIM is a bug bear...for some reason he's not keen on it and it requires more work...sigh

I only ever buy human grade supplements as there is no testing for animal feed and who knows whats in it including high levels of mercury, lead, cadmium etc. The health food shops often have specials on products that are close to expiry date and you can get some real bargains.

Pockets...your not a real dog trainer until you have gooey pockets :rofl: Just a caution on the polony, cabanossi and such like treats...remember he is a puppy and puppies need proper food. Unless its a dog specified roll (4 legs make a terrific puppy roll) you run the risk of overloading with salt and preservatives. I agree with Meh, puppies need their meals to be able to function and focus but there is no harm in doling out one of part of a meal in training. Hopefully you are not training for a whole hour...he won't have the attention span, so you can divide up the meal into portions so you know exactly how much he is getting. I feed raw which provides special challenges! At one point I was hand feeding BARF!!!!

Yay for the lunge line!!!!! For the drop you can go about it a few different ways. You can arm yourself with a clicker and treats in pocket and capture it. Any time he drops naturally you mark it 'click' and put the food on the ground between his front feet...(remember at this early stage its important to feed in position) Its a slow way but does work eventually. I prefer to combine luring and shaping with the clicker. Start by getting the lowering of the head by putting a piece of food low to his chest...as the head lowers click and treat low. Progress to a slight movement of the elbows keep shaping it bit by bit. Don't worry if you get a bow...bum up elbows on the ground...allow that for a bit then wait and the bum should drop...click and jackpot in position!!! Don't add cue (commands) words to it just yet...wait until he understands the hand signals and then just quietly add your cue word as you get the behaviour. The other way you could do it would be to use a target or a target stick using the clicker.

Me too...all my dogs love cheese and its easy for them to see for 2 food games and catching.

You can use both Mason, just be careful that your signal is not exagerated and that he moves completely around to the finish (hind end awareness games help here...perch work is great)

For a puppy I use soft food that doesn't crumble easily. Remember his tummy is still small and you have to be careful not to fill him up too quickly, so cut the pieces up into small bits that you can still handle. I use puppy chunkers or 4 legs or dog sausage, all available from the supermarket, and cheese. Factor in training treats into his meals...its all food intake. At least one of my puppie's meals is doled out in training if not more...depends on how dedicated I am that day! :D Later on when they become foody you can use kibble, but for obedience classes its not a good idea..you don't want him choking on a hard piece of kibble

He sure did! Do ya wanna see my bruises????? What a stunning sendaway in Udx Brookie did after your tugging lesson bedazzled ;) ;)

...and we need her for UDX...you are not allowed to keep her!!!! YES!! Send her back please. I couldn't have got Snazz's CDX without her guidance and I'm sure others over here can give her credit for solving some of their tricky obedience problems ;) Enjoy her seminar..you'll learn heaps.

This is an example of lovely heel position UK style where the dog is touching but not impeding or crowding the handler. I would think this style of heeling would score highly anywhere in the world (including Australia ;))

There was a competitor a few years ago who used to have a large bunch of keys that rattled as they walked and when they did fast pace...wow! Jingle jingle!!! It was clearly an aid to the dog and after a while the judges started to ask them to remove the keys and leave them with someone when they were in the ring. You would not allow someone to have their keys in their pocket during a trial? You would ask someone to take their jewelry off? I've never heard of such a thing.

I have the opportunity to do an informal run through once a week but most of the time I will work on either individual exercises or string a couple together or work on duration...just depends on what needs work. UDX puts a spanner in the works as a lot of it is conflicting and you have to be really careful what order you work on particular exercises. I train at club but not in classes about 3 times a week and trial most weekends. I do a lot of attitude training and intersperse my training with lots of play. edit spelling

Outrageously gorgeous kitties :love:

A common misconception...if the dog is in correct heel position it will not be crowding nor impeding the handler. Many people cry foul when a judge pings them for crowding and interpret it as touching...it aint so! The dog does not have to be laying on as some of the UK ones do but a consistent mainainance of correct heel position is unlikely to be pinged.

Nope!!!! For this you will likely get pinged! Good thought but not worth the hassles.

I tend to colour co-ordinate too :D At one stage I would co-ordinate my top with the dogs collar and lead and my watch band! Oh and the number holder arm band as well Nowadays I'm inclined to be a tad more casual at normal trials (and wear joggers) but for the biggies I will make more of an effort and I wear nice black lace up shoes from the chemist. I always wear black pants as they don't show the dirt and dog hairs so much!!!!

You won't get pinged if he maintains contact as long as he is in correct heel position. I would re-train him to maintain a touch with his shoulder to your leg (or hip depending on relative heights) You could make a case to have permission to trial him on the right and write in to your governing body and if you do get permission you would have to carry your letter of permission to every trial. I would try other methods first though. Well done on your CCD

Sounds good RV Is this the main oval opposite the post office? If you can handle a 5 min drive and want to train out of school hours the oval at Helena Valley primary is good, close shady parking and laid out so you cab easily see people coming.

I clicker train...love it! Especially good for youngsters and for shaping behaviours.

Oooh gotta love the spider dance!!! Especially when a guy does it!!! :rofl: That was my thinking when I volunteered to help someone catch funnel webs. I'm no longer afraid of funnel webs, but any other spider still gives me the heebie jeebies. I had a consulting friend who used to make me laugh because I'd be following him through the bush and he'd suddenly jerk backwards and I was like "You're afraid of spiders, aren't you?" I would recognise that "Hells bells, spider web!" dance anywhere. He was kind of relieved to find another zoologist with the same achilles heel. It was a problem for herp surveys, though, as neither of us liked lifting rocks because half of them had these big, black scary spiders that lived under them that made us shriek. Well, I shrieked. He was too manly. Most of the time. Oh now I think that would be fun! Spiders are fascinating creatures. Funny story, a little OT... I was at a set of lights and the car directly diagonal from me had a man in it. All of a sudden this guy opened his door and flew out, he was jumping and dancing and ripping his clothes off in the middle of the streets while everyone was still stopped at a set of lights... I looked at the car next to me (behind him) and the guy was PISSING himself laughing (I was too). They guy who jumped out of his car all of a sudden stopped, turned around, gave a thumbs up to everyone and got back in his car and drove away. Im assuming it was a spider - funniest thing I've seen!!! And I can tell you, even though I don't really have a problem with spiders... that is DEFINITELY what my reaction would be like!!!! :rofl:

You gotta wonder how come they can walk upright don't you RS

I am so over it!! I can't train at my local oval as its been turned into a free for all, dogs offlead area so I go to the next suburb. Now this one has been overtaken by morons who have no control I had just finished a short training session with Brookie and put him in the car and brought out Zac (6 month old) to do a little bit when this utter moron (I could say a few other words) rocked up and let his 2 large dogs straight out of the car...no collars or leads and they made a bee line for Zac with the one of them with his hackles up grrrr!!!!! My last kelpie girl was attacked in just this situation when she was around the same age and she never got over it so I just bundled Zac back into the car as fast as I could at the same time asking the owner to put his dogs on a lead PLEASE!!! Well I was totally unprepared for the torrent of abuse from this poor excuse for a man!!! Yelling at me that his dogs just want to play what did I think..his dog was savage???? I have to travel 45 minutes down the hill to our K9 grounds to train just so I can ensure my dogs are safe. Not fair!!! OK rant over...I feel better now ;)

I have two older dogs and when we added the puppy he was crated for the drive home which was around 3 hours, and then supervised interaction with the older dogs for a bit, then into a large C (no floor) crate in the lounge room. I bought a couple of meters of cheap vinyl to go under the crate in case of accidents and lots of bedding that could be washed easily. Baby quilts and stuff from the op shop work really well. From day one he slept in his crate which gave the cats and the older dogs a bit of peace. You will most probably have to get up during the night in the early stages to toilet him as baby puppies rarely go through the night without needing to pee. Feed his meals in the crate to associate it with good things. The crate door is open during the day and there is always a dog in the bed (upgraded now he is older and toilet trained) in fact Zac is having a mid day nap in there at the moment. Crates are wonderful things!!!! In your situation I would probably invest in 2 and have one on the veranda and one inside. If you are sure there is no Parvo in your area the ideal is to introduce them in neutral territory. Unfortunately it was rife when I got my boy so I had to err on the side of caution and brought puppy into our property and introduced the older boys one at a time outside at first. Just give your older girl extra love and attention so she doesn't feel puppy is taking all your attention and be ready to step in and give her a bit of space if the pup is pestering her a bit much. It should all be fine and I'm sure they'll enjoy a great relationship. Ian Dunbar :thumbsup: You can't go wrong!!! We want pics when you get your pup!!!! :D