bedazzledx2

You must be a superb trainer in order to train with both positive and negative reinforcement and positive punishment. Your timing has to be brilliant because you are not only looking to mark and reward the thing you like, you are also looking for the things to 'correct'. I freely admit I am not that good! I find it much easier to concentrate all my attention on the things I want and mark and reward that and manage the rest.

Thanks TSD.. I always go by the turn straight, sit straight, run straight concept and have done wagon wheels and he is fine when he sees it. He is really good at gloves for UD in that respect. I've seen gun dogs 'lock on' and it is unmistakable....herding dogs tend not to do that so easily What do you mean by 'hot blinds'? I like the idea of the lining drill... Any chance of a video link for this? I think I might start cuing him with the word 'blind' why didn't I think of that :D Thanks for you response...much appreciated

Hi everyone....not a retrieving person (wrong breed) but a few of you will know me with my Aussie, Brooklyn. Am wanting some good retrieving advice for the stooopid blind (multiple retrieve) exercise in UDX. The exercise...exactly the same as UD gloves only using three scent discrimination leathers which are not visable to the dog. ie. 12 meters out and 6 meters apart. This is not a scent exercise and the dog cant do a hunt and search...must go out and fetch the article on a directed retrieve command. No re-direct allowed. Brooklyn is very literal and just doesn't understand. If he can see it he is fine, but with it blind he is going out for nothing and doesn't get it. I thought I would look at how you guys train a blind and see if I can adapt it somewhat. Any suggestions?

Can I tell you how much I hate multiple retrieve??? Brookie put down a stunning round in UDX only to fail the last exercise..the dreaded MR. I really don't know how this can possibly equate to any real life situation that anyone in their right mind would train for.... Ok dog go out in a straight line and retrieve a small flat thing that you can't see and no you are not allowed to find it by scent... Oh and do it twice. Until MR he had only lost two points. On a brighter note he won UD :D

I'm sure you wouldn't notice a tall skinny ring in!!!!

Split it down. Firstly can she do a double left about turn on the spot? That will get her bum in. Heeling is heeling...left leg moves, dog should move with it. Soooo... see if you can take one step forward with your left leg but plant your right foot....does she move forward with your left leg? If not then thats what you work on first. If yes then can she heel one step lateraly?.... Can you now plant your right foot and take one step backwards? That is the beginning of it and you build it up literally step by step asking for perfect heel position.

Yes your vet would draw blood and send it off to the lab. Hopefully your vet will be up to date with this. I dont know where it would be sent from Victoria...we have testing labs here in WA.

If this were my dog I probably wouldn't bother about the KC as there are so many different strains BUT if you want to be sure then ask for the KC vac only. Then next year when the full vaccination booster is due you can do one of three things.... Titre test to see what the level of immunity is (this is what I am planning to do with my youngster) Give the C5 booster which is for Parvo Hep and Distemper and KC Give the C3 booster for the big three... Parvo Hep and Distemper but not KC The protocol in the US is for three yearly vaccinations and some vets here will do that with appropriate certification. This would be my second option. If you plan to board your dog in Kennels you need to know what they will accept. I use kennels that accept Titre test certification from my vet and also Tri Annual vaccinations that are also certified from the vet. Thanks @bedazzledx2. Don't think I want to give another C3 either. But will check with vet if another C5 is needed after the last shot C4+BB that last for 12 months. I mean, I should be allowing only the KC shot not the full C5?

Please don't give your pup another C3! That would definitely be overkill. Be aware that even if your pup is fully vaccinated for KC there are many more strains that can't be vaccinated for. A bit like our flu. You can do the best you can but they can always catch another strain and there are many of them.

Hi sheena, the answer is a bit more complicated. Actually Brookie doesn't target my hand...it may look like it but at the start of each round for trial or training I ask for a hand touch and I show him I have no food in my hand! For some things I treat in position and the early stages of teaching heel but I quickly progress to the Hansel and Gretel game by getting a few steps of perfect heel, click and throw the food away with a 'get it' command and keep walking in my heelwork attitude. They learn to run out and get the food and then re-join you for lovely heelwork again. Another thing I do is to have the treats in a bag somewhere close and ask for perfect heel and then jackpot to the treat in the bag.

Sorry I dont want to tread on toes here but I don't think people realize what an incredibly difficult thing weaving between dogs is. That is PhD stuff for dogs and it is usually taught in beginner class I don't know of any experienced trialler with high achieving dogs who does this with a youngster.

Paddock bashing.... group heelwork with the instructor calling. Great way to ruin a potential obedience dog Personally I would concentrate on agility for the moment. Great foundations for obedience.

Aarrh!!! This is sooooo old fashioned!!!! That and paddock bashing was one of the reasons I took my dogs out of classes years ago! In order to play agility you really need some control off lead, recall off lead, a wait/stay and the ability for your dog to run and turn at kinda heel.... There is no way I would be forcing a meet and greet or a roll over to be examined. I would have a quiet, respectful chat to the instructor and ask what are the minimum requirements to do agility....you may find its not so difficult. Most clubs, quite rightly, need to protect everyone doing agility and need some level of control. It is an exciting stimulating environment for any dog so I understand that requirement.

PS if you DO want to go on to higher obedience some of these things are counter productive...worth a think about what your end goals really are.

What is your end goal? Are all of these things basically why you are there, or do you want to go further in competition? What is the advantage of passing this assessment? It sounds both fantastic and incredibly difficult and daunting!!!! If your end goal is to have an obedient social dog then stay in the class and strive to be able to do all of this, the achievement would be your reward. Personally my aims are different and one of my dogs would never pass that assessment, nor would I put him through that at dog club as it would be over threshold. If you have a dedicated agility club near you I would look at training him for that as the skills learnt are valuable and obtainable and a great outlet for an enthusiastic dog. :laugh:

Woo Hoo!!! Congratulations Tassie

Hi teela, Rally O is basically a series of doodling moves set to a course set by the judge. The signs tell you what move to make and they are numbered a bit like agility. You get to walk the course without your dog first and then you start on the judges command forward. The judge doesn't call and you can chat to your dog and encourage as much as you want. Its a lot of fun Here is a video of my Advanced course with Brookie. Novice doesn't have the figure 8 with distractions or the jump. The rules and signs are here, scroll down to Obedience and look for Rally O http://www.ankc.org.au/Rules.aspx

Hi Erny, I'm really interested in this as it looks like you will be training for a specific behaviour without being concerned about trial ring consequences, which is great and really what we should all be doing in an ideal world I thought long and hard about the sendaway in UDX. The box in UD is relatively easy as its just a 'send to' Changing that into a true 'send away' is a different concept and much harder for the dog to understand. I was going to teach a send away for the UDX cones but I piked out and taught a send to for the ring Let us know how you get on. edited for dumb spelling and grammer :D

Head over to the Training/Obedience/Dog Sports forum...you'll get lots of replies there.

Thanks Tassie....just checked and there were quite few messages there. I've deleted a bunch so should be clear now. It was produced in Queensland with locals demonstrating each station - from side back and front. ETA I tried to PM you bedazzledx2, but it wouldn't go through. Is your message box full?

Was this DVD produced in Australia with an Australian team demonstrating?

"Zoom" is great!!!!:D Our UDX sendaways are 25 meters long, from watching You Tube of the American sendaways they look a little like what our old UD ones were before the box, but shorter. Looks like to the end of your ring but no marker as such, is that right LabsRock?

You dog is showing in perfect dog language she does not want to play and she probably knows that due to her size, she is vunerable. I avoid dog parks like the plague! Just recently a small dog was attacked at the local 'free for all' by two big dogs and the owner of the small dog was powerless to do anything about it. Fortunately the small dog survived after veterinary treatment which did not come cheap. Psychological damage would most probably be permanent for the owner and dog.

Fantastic!!! Huge congratulations...onto GR CH :)

Brilliant stuff xena UDX is no easy title!!!!