RallyValley

Who trains Thursdays? If I get all my work done at uni today I might go down with Toby.

Congratulation Sparkytansy! Charlie is your weim yeah? Charlie is an adorable OES that is owned by ST's sister but groomed and handled by ST. Well done to everyone for thier Classic results!!!

My dog is so laid back! The only thing he does like this is if you pick up his Cuz he starts bouding like a pogo stick with an excited yelp every time he lands

While stereotypes dont help people, there is a reason why they do get applied. Im no old-timer myself, and like you, I managed to study full time from home, maintain a full time job plus a part time job as well as look after my dogs exceptionally well. My comment wasn't blaming the younger generation, it was throwing out there -the possibilty that the well known generational changes in society and the current 'I want and I want now'. Surely you look around at the younger generation and see this? Surely you can acknowledge the growth in younger people who want a particular dog simply because of fashion and image, without much consideration to the responsibility. I'd say most of the people on this forum, regardless of generation, are not the problem Maybe there are young people out there like that, most of my friends are uni students, work at my job or are involved with dogs so maybe more 'responsible' then most, but I am not aware of that many more young people with that attitude then older people who have that attitude (i.e 30 yo's with big credit card debts, a 50 yo I know who wanted to retire and now can't afford the mortgage). Ask anyone who has advertised a litter of pups, impulse and unresearched dog enquiries come from all age ranges! (In fact my older aunties and uncles (my parents generation) have mostly pet shop dogs/impulse buys and my and my cousins generation mostly have dogs from registered breeders).

Yes blame the young people My parents obviously didn't teach me manners or a correct attitude and my poor dog who sees a behaviourist once a month, vet/physio every 6 weeks, daily walks and training and sleeps on my bed bviously suffers for my age. Oh and the fact I work a shiftwork job while I am studying so I can afford to do these things for him is evidence of my 'I want without putting in any hard yards attitude'. Stereotypes help no-one! Just ask the people who own Pitbulls.

I may be back in the thread! Toby's leg is improving so much as I condition his muscles that I may get to put him back in the ring eventually

I think that's the point people are trying to make. You are expecting ethics out of advertisers. Its a deterioration of ethics and not a deterioration of breed standard. Yes the US have lovely labradors also. They tend to separate them into the terms "English Lab" and "American Lab". Mariner is in the pedigree of all my labs - both the ugly and the good looking ones. It only takes one bad mating to bring it down. You either perpetuate good conformation or you bring it down. Crossing an English lab with an American field lab is one mating that will ensure poor conformation of the resultant pups, regardless of who is in the pedigree. Plenty of hunters with guns in the UK as well, but they are working with decent looking dogs. Thats only in your opinion Give me this: or this any day! (Both US field titled labs, from a field kennel, one is actually a conformation Ch. too!) Over this (Crufts 2010 Lab BOB winner)

Well done everyone!!! Thanks for the updates.

Only Sunday And maybe Monday if anyone else will be there

Goodluck everyone tonight! I will be at work :D and up until 6am so I expect results either on DOL or texted

I'm the same Jodie Elijah... the list of breeds I could own is pretty much the whole gundog group. But I am fairly set now I have found two breeds that I plan to own.

I went through this last year fist vet gave him meds, I took him home but he didn't pick up,off to emergency vet where my dog had an ultrasound and an x-ray... ultrasound technician suspected something was there x-ray guy said nothing.... when they opened him up it was nothing but his guts were like corrugated iron so they had a definate diagnosis of a severe strain of gastro.

Oh no Poor Toby, he just can't catch a break! I have a spare Lab looking for a handler if one is available? Well I jogged/rowed/cycled a total of 8kms at the gym last night and it was only my first session! So I may be fit enough by the time it comes around! Oh man you all make me feel like a sloth!!!! I never exercise And my poor girls are as unfit as me I really need to prioritise fitness for the 3 of us better I think the main inspiration is that I am using the work gym and it's full of sworn officers and we have to write the time we enter and leave on a sheet by the door. ;) Otherwise I would have given up after my first 10 mins!

Well I can't remember where I got the idea from but I started Toby's heelwork training tonight I had his Cuz ball under my left arm and a clicker in my right hand and stepped off, then if he stepped off with me and with good attention I clicked, I worked up ping ponging up to 4 steps before I called it a night and I alternated between dropping the ball while walking and doing an auto sit then throwing the ball. The attention was great, I tried with food after I started that thread a few days ago and used about the same rate of reinforcement but he had this compulsion to look down before he stepped off.... not with the Cuz!!!

Oh no Poor Toby, he just can't catch a break! I have a spare Lab looking for a handler if one is available? ;) Well I jogged/rowed/cycled a total of 8kms at the gym last night and it was only my first session! So I may be fit enough by the time it comes around!

Looks like I am out for 2011 The biking was bringing up some soreness in the Kelpie, so we can go max 2km's twice a week, maybe at the rate his physio vet approves of it will be ET 2013

Oh, this is an endless debate I have in my head I don't play tug at the moment because she has such a lovely mouth for retrieving and I don't want to risk ruining it. I do know people who do retrieving (very successfully) and tug with their dogs and I do believe dogs can discriminate but she's my first retrieving dog so I'm playing it safe The only time I use it is after the occasional dreaded ear drops - nothing makes her forget them more quickly than a game of tug. She tugs like a fiend with Ziggy too!!! JulesP - Amber is a poppet, even if she doesn't have any coat Funniest thing tonight....it took me 12 months to get Zig to pick up the dumbbell and a good 2 years to get him to retrieve with his current enthusiasm. Em saw the dumbbell on the ground tonight, shot out, picked it up and brought it straight to me I know she's wired to do that but that's a heck of a lot of time I've just saved ETA: JulesP - have you played the steady feet game with Amber much? I'm not even close to getting the pup yet and already having the debate! ;) Only retrieving isn't a big goal for me - I am aiming at Utility Gundog test which involves retrieveing but I mainly want an agility/obedience dog performance wise I know tug isn't the be and end all but... all the agility propoganda DVD's and books would have me believe otherwise

The Spotted Devil - I can remember you saying but can't remember the answer, do you play tug with Em?

Yesterday night we had a vet physio session for Toby and she was saying she can't believe how much his splayed foot is improving as the treatments improve muscle. I took the picture to start recording how his foot is going. anniek- Cowboy's face is just adorable! Look at those melting eyes. sheena - I love the second picture

Yep sure is At the Western Classic (in 2014 ) What a coincidence! That's when Toby will be ready

I'm pretty sure Amypie told me Trixie is in

Me too RS Do you have any puppy/small sized bumpers Judgejtj?

I will likely breed one day I enjoy showing and dog sports and my next dog will be a bitch so IF she passes health tests, picks up a show Ch. and some performance titles AND her breeder thinks she can add something to the genepool I will consider breeding. And if not, she will be neutered once she is physically mature and when I am ready for a dog again it will likely be another bitch (a preference for me) and then there will be the same conditions. I am a molecular genetics student at Uni so I find the genetics/pedigrees side of things fascinating. I love looking to see what is produced in others litters and looking at a few offspring from the same sire/dam but different litters and trying to work out what came from where and what seems to be the dominant trait. I am applying for my prefix soon, just because I finally got around to filling in the paperwork over my summer holidays and I have a name I like so I want to try and get it.

I may be handling on Sunday depending if Ptolomy's boy is entered I hope the entries made it ST! Especially Charlie's! It will be odd with no Ari are you camping out near the group 5 ring?

My dog is the kind that, at home will offer behaviours and go crazy for a piece of kibble or his ball but as soon as he gets in a situation where he is less confidant (i.e away from home at training ect) he will want these items less and has even been known to refuse chicken breast (a fav at home) or his cuz ball (which he starts jumping up and down and whimpering with excitement if you pick it up at home). So I don't have a "low drive" dog all the time so I usually try and teach all new behaviours in the comfort of home and then reinforce them at training. However having met some really "high drive" or up dogs I think I would find one of them just as challenging to a degree Low drive dogs are easy to live with at least! My dog enjoys agility, he finds jumping rewarding and if there are jumps up he will take himself over them for fun, once we have the all clear from his physio vet we will be competing again and in the past he has been pretty happy to do this (unless he was sore). He has had 3 "near miss" JD runs (where one stupid error stopped us qualifying) and did quite well at nationals We are also training towards CCD level obedience, this is more of a challenge! I am a pretty new trainer and although I haven't put any titles on my dog I think we have come pretty far seeings as he is not yet 3 yrs (I think...) and has a few issues So the point is - yes with time and effort you can compete in dog sports with a low drive dog - winning all comes down to how you train and what you expect as a standard before you enter the ring...