Mason_Gibbs

So cute!! Makes me want a pup but i know i wont be able to love another dog like i love my Mason

We also only have the one pup and then 2 cats :p

CC its at Nedlands Foreshore right near the end near the boat/yacht club at the very end carpark. Its at 10:30, just bring whatever meat you want to cook, we are bringing the rest :p if it rains contact me on sat morning as we may not go down if its raining.

Go Rosie!!! You will be winning trials in no time :p

I always let mas drink as much water as he wants when we are out - he is not a big drinker tho, hardly even drinks at home.

I'll be there. I'm on the "Working Party" They didn't give much notice!! Ptolomy I will be able to come down ifnumbers are needed. Not sure how much I will contribute though. I'm on the WP because they needed more support for obedience, so I put my hand up (remember them putting out the call for help a few months back when the whole thing went down about it being cancelled?). I am not sure what help I will be either, but if you can come down and offer support I think it will be a good thing I would love to come down but I am on the late shift at work, only going in at 2 and finishing late...

I always worried about my ridgies getting bloat, they ate kibble and big portions too and always wolfed it down

You can give commands to heel, drop and stand during heelwork in CCD

Very interesting about the bowl height, I cant access the link though it does not seem to be working ETA when I went to edit my post with your link in it I copied and pasted and it worked then... how scary that some foods moistened that contain certain things actually increase the risk of bloat? I always soaked mason's kibble when he was a pup !

Wuffles I am no expert but my dog does know I am going to turn by my footwork. Try and get your lab to look up at you the whole time, I had HUGE issues with this- I am sure Ptolomy and Bedazzled were sooo tired of my endless questions and it took ages but I now have my dog heeling way better - there is still room for improvement but I am way happier. Things we did to get him to look up during heeling : - held a favorite toy at hip level, clicked and threw it when he looked up at me - held food at my hip and when he looked at my face he got the food - worked heaps on him just focussing on me when we were stationary My latest problem is he is banging into my leg when I walk as he sometimes heels to close - he used to not be close enough so if its not one thing its the other - always a work in progress but we both love it

A lot of people change things after their first dog. I went the whole hog and changed foortwork + hand signals :D . I take my hat off to Lara who just went with the flow and 99% of the time got it right no matter what cues I gave her, she didn't even mind when I used to call her Blaize by mistake I changed my footwork with Mason, training with someone else has been helpful to show me what i am doing wrong and I change things when shown a better way - Mason seems to have no problem adjusting ( I dont call him the wrong name though lol - probably would if he wasnt an only dog )

As far as I know, the kennel cough vaccine isn't very effective and dogs who have been vaccinated against it still get it anyway, so if you do the vaccination 3 yearly, there's not much point in getting the annual kennel cough vaccinations? The kennel cough vaccine to me is useless, and I wont do it again. My dog had the nasal one as a pup and had a reaction to it ... Then a friends dog who had had the vaccine about 4 weeks before got kennel cough so it seems pretty useless as the virus going around is not the same strain they usually vaccinate against anyway... I titre test, like Erny said once you have immunity you have it. To me vaccinating yearly is harmful for the dog and unnecessary.

I am also new to trialling, I did CCD @ the Western Classic with my boy and he did brilliant heelwork!!........... but then lay down in the sit stay So we have a practice trial on the 17th that we are doing and then I have a real trial again on the 23rd

He is always busy!! I see he has another vet working wih him now

Will keep paws crossed boxagirl, was at the vet tonight with socks cat, he has conjunctivitis from a suspected virus

Yes I would use cheese, all the other allergy friendly treats are just too gross to think about putting in my mouth lol

Here in WA we can get them off the Dogswest website, no idea what the site is for your region though... sorry

The strange thing is he will focus on me in obedience and ignore the food. I just think the penny has not dropped and he isnt sure what i want

I have not used a release word as he is not holding it long enough for me to introduce one

I gave puppy shots and 12 months later did titre test as its what the derm recommended for my allergy dog- his levels were good and so we will test again in 12 months to be on safe side.

My dog IS a soft natured dog AND i dont like to use methods which use pain. If my dog was not a soft natured dog i probably still would not use those methods. I had dogs before many years ago and was shown negative training type methods and its just not for me, i dont feel comfortable with it. It said in that link to pinch the ear until the dog yelps, which seems cruel. Will try keeping the treat in my mouth though - good tip

I have tried to scratch under the chin, as soon as my hand is near his mouth he drops whatever he is holding

Agree. Can't think of any trick I would want to ever teach a dog badly enough that I would want to delibrately cause the dog physical discomfort for. And i must add that at our dog club anyone who uses pain etc is asked to leave... Its not allowed and i agree with that.

Nekhbet i refuse to use any methods where pain is involved, if it came down to using a method that uses pain or having a dog that never holds anything i would choose the 2nd option. My dog is not at all nervous but he would hate me to hurt him and i would never do that to him - end of story

I do agree with you, and its also a consistency in training, do something that i want you to do = food which you want BADLY!! Yesteday he took the dummy once, I clicked and treated and after that he sat and stared at me. I said too bad which is his NRM and I put the food and the dummy away.... not sure if that ws the right thing to do or not.