bedazzledx2

:cry: I move on to woods among woods and leathers among leather and then mix it up. You should find she gets it pretty quickly after having done the metals! Other people do it differently so its something that you have to work out what suits you and your dog. If she starts having problems go back to the step at which she was successful. I would still keep the fronts and finishes separate at this early stage. Big brag! I took the full set of metal articles to training tonight. Daisy only started learning SD on Thursday, and we only started working with more than one or two of the metal articles on Monday. We haven't trained anywhere other than the living room floor, and tonight I had the articles down on the grass with loads of smells, other dogs, noise, people etc around. She was totally on the ball and brought back the right one every time And we must have done it at least a dozen times throughout the night. AND we did it 'properly' a few times with Daisy and I turning around, someone else putting the scented article down, and then turning around and giving her the command. I am so proud of her she has really picked it up quickly Now to train wood and leather Does everyone train them separately? Should my next step be training wood on its own, then leather on its own, and then mixing them up? Should I start scenting different metal articles instead of using the same one each time?

Good job Tiggy If the dogs are competitive you can play the game of who drops first gets the treat! Pretty soon you have them dropping real quick but be careful to only reward after you have cued it.

Is it raw Tiggy? Whereabouts are they? The Pet Chef in Midland makes a good BARF mix .

Sounds like its going well Seita Our grounds are so smooth that the article sticks out like the proverbial and there's not much point in them tracking when they can see it quite clearly! When trialling on less than perfect grounds my guys have always looked for it first and then if they can't find it they will resort to using their nose. I always train with a start post (could be anything...a cone or a post) and if they can't find it they will go back to the start post and search from there.

Eeewwwww!!!!!! Several big cans should do it!!!!

Kinda says it all doesn't it!!!!!! Noice wun Ann. I'm sure BanksiaPark are happy to have you on board.

Like RubyStar says...raw meaty bones are a must for good health. Meat alone will deplete the body of essential nutients including calcium and can cause problems with growing bones. Don't be inclined to artificially supplement as things can go seriously wrong! You can also get pre-prepared BARF patties from Better Pets and Gardens and also City Farmers.

Sounds like she's coming along nicely ZZ Just before she gets to the point where she would normally anticipate and drop, throw food behind you with a big exaggerated movement and tell her to 'get it!' (try to do it before the last 2 meters of the recall) I rarely practice a formal DOR and if I do I mix it up with a few Novice recalls. When they are playing in the park and hooning in to me I will occasionally chuck in a DOR and throw the treat to them and release.

An essential part of training Ptolomy!!!! LOL no it just seems that way ;) Mondays is obedience and yes we do train together Tuesday is agility night for others but we are doing obedience at the moment Wednesdays is obedience/agility and yes we do train together Thursday and Friday are W or C night (Wine or Cider) ;)

I agree with Andrea ....I am a groomer and for those really horrible stinky smelly hard to budge odors.....tomato juice!!!! Yes it really does work:D After her tomato juice bath you can re-bath her in a nice doggy shampoo.

I don't like to put a cue (command) on the behaviour until its at least 80% accurate. There is a school of thought that it can even be later than that...ie just before you trial. The other thing to think about is that many clicker savvy dogs will offer behaviour...particularly if you've done a lot of shaping. Once the cue goes on you simply don't reward what you didn't cue. This does mean that they need to fully understand the cue! You can also have a 'working' cue that you intend to change once the behaviour is taught. For example you could easily cue 'Wait' and change it to 'Stay' later on. You can also do this with signals (I have) A couple of problems with putting the cue on early are that you can end up with a 'poisoned cue' if the dog gets confused or corrected for something he doesn't yet truly understand or the other situation where he is being re-enforced for apparently ignoring a cue (command). How many times have you seen and heard people say 'sit', 'sit', 'sit', 'SIT'....which sit cue is the real one? Personally I will quietly say the cue word as the behaviour is being performed when I think he is ready for it but it is NOT a command!

Thats what I'm hoping will happen I've done heaps of research and have been told the litters tend to be very even so I guess I can't go too far wrong!

Woo Hoo!!!! Well done

Now optimism is not something I would have thought of! I have always said that anticipation is not the worst thing a dog can do in the trial ring. I hate having to zero score a dog that anticipates when I'm judging. I'm thinking that anticipation and optimism are not that far removed.

Interesting!!! My Kelpie was chosen by the breeder as pick of the litter and she was probably too much dog for me at the time. I loved her dearly and she did really well despite my ad hock training gaining her UD and Masters Agility and Jumping titles! She was very naughty and I dread to think how she would have coped in a pet home! My instinct is to go for the naughty one who will retrieve!

How old was Zee when you got her Jess?

I've known many Staffies that hate to drop in the wet grass...can't say I blame them They don't have much in the way of coat on the belly so maybe a water proof coat might help?

I'm interested how people decide which puppy is 'the one'. My dogs have either come to me as rescues, chosen by the breeder, or been very obviously the only one in the litter to take. My next one will be my choice from a fairly early age. There are many testing criteria around but they all seem to differ from day to day. Conformation will be a given and something I can assess myself but attitude is a different kettle of fish. What age do you determine that stuff?

Good job Just a suggestion.....careful not to make your body language part of the exercise. She is looking to you for confirmation and you are consistantly giving her a second signal to bring it in. This could haunt you later on!!!! I would either be closer, or click after she has selected and taken one step towards you and throw the food behind you. Gradually increase the amount of steps towards you before you click and throw.

Thats funny (sorry but memories there!) Way back in the past before I knew much about crating and such like I had my Kelpie (also called Ruby) desexed when she was around 8 months old. The vet told me to keep her quiet. I laughed at him and said you try keeping a Kelpie quiet!!! We managed but she was a very busy Kelpie and didn't take to being indoors most of the day and I think we just went back to normal by around day 4 or 5. We had both had had enough!!!!!

Well done Xena with all your girls :) hope Gabby's pad is ok...fortunately they seem to heal pretty quick.

Bring your camera to training and I'll take some for you

:laugh: :D Yes, I used to think of it as the "I don't have to get of my arse to exercise my dog" rountine. Although I'd often lose my page and spill my drink

Huge achievement Huski!!!! Fronts and finishes can always be added later. I wouldn't be in a hurry to put it on the floor but it might pay you to get a few offcuts of carpet as well. It took a year before my Kelpie girl was able to pick up the metal and bring it back to me without dropping it. She hated the metal but in the end it became her best one as in the trial ring she never mucked around with it...straight out, select and bring that yucky thing back to Mum quick!!! This was many many years ago before I discovered clicker training.

Many times I have been more proud of a good fail than a crappy pass!!!!! No matter that she failed the figure 8, just add it to the list of 'those things I must train' BTW that list never ends!!!!