ness

huski - she is acting like a brat at the moment and certainly not a 9.5 year old. She was screaming her head off while I was doing stuff with Kenz tonight. Not happy and in fact decided she would work for the same toy Kenz had been playing with because I had no food on me and she was missing out on doing something . Of course I can't talk about the trial ring - I still get nervous with Ness even now and will probably be the same with Kenz .

Yeah Ness is working brilliantly at the moment - think she is waiting until our first trial for it all to go pearshaped . She is a bit demanding to but hey I will take attitude with her because at least she is enjoying herself. Rather that to dragging an unwilling party to the table and at 9.5 if she decides she no longer wants to play then I will have to respect that decision. Lucky for me she seems to still think we have unfinished business to attend to . My only issue with her at the moment is the bloody thing probably will get through all the UD exercises and we will get to stays and she will break her drop stay because she won't settle anymore . As for Kenz she has her moments - those are the times I decide maybe its not time to give up on her just yet. ETA. huski its certainly a bit of a relief when you watch other people make errors in the ring and then you think maybe your dog (or your handling) isn't quite as bad as you thought they were .

Bugger huski but ah well hopefully it was fun . Lovely night here Ness has managed to find most of her broken gloves exercise and Kenz did some lovely heelwork at the agility trial. I know she can do it its just a matter of somehow getting her over her hang up of strangers enough that she can still prance rather than just go through the motions .

Ness might get there one day but considering she seems to go to bits with her DJ at least she showed me she can manage that. Now if only she could get her act together with gloves we might be in with a chance of a pass next weekend. Good luck tonight everybody.

So Deb - has Brookie spent today resting up for tonight . He is like a machine and did anybody get it on video :D . Nothing like your brags but I took my two out for a training session last night. Ness managed a seekback and 2 lots of directed jumping correctly without me having treats on my possession - maybe we can manage to get through to articles and still be on a pass next weekend . Kenz who had been tied up while I was working Ness must have been watching because she then went out and nailed around a 26m sendaway as though she had been doing them all her life. Pretty impressed since its not somewhere we have attempted them before and I was going to make it easier on her because she has been wanting to take the jumps so thought I would go up closer then a full length one but before I had a chance she had taken herself off to the box. She then managed another couple all with lovely enthusiasm . We are off tonight to gatecrash the local games trial to hopefully do a bit of distraction proofing .

Hmm mine looks like the Umbra but is slightly different. I suspect its what replaced my model which is now quite a few years old. Mine was called a dog bag and folds up into a backpack. Ah yep just found a website that says The Umbra Pet is the evolution of Pet Ego's famous Dog-Bag. Mine doesn't have quite the external frame that one appears to have so I suspect if anything the Umbra model is more rigid then the model previously. Its certainly not as study as the K9Royale crates but its certainly much more transportable. I have the old size medium and have been known to place 2 BCs inside it for short occasions.

I was watching a CCD video last night - was it really windy there??

So much for Brookie (and Brookie's mum) don't work well in the heat . Good boy Brooklyn :D and obviously your mum didn't let you down either .

I have one like that second one and had it for ages and its pretty good depending on what you need it for and if your dog is reasonably well crate trained. It is now my spare that I take to training when I can't be bothered lugging out my studier soft crates.

I was starting to wonder what had happened to everybody over west :D .

Go Soaks :D .

huski wrote: but she had that desperation that I am after whilst still being neat and precise and worked well without me having any food on me. Way to go thats fantastic. Ness at the moment has decided desperation outweighs being neat and precise but ah well she is entitled to that now . Agree with you about the being more confident when nobody is watching (or your not videoing something) .

bugger BC4ME - hope your feeling better tomorrow. I was going to have a non-training day too because I just really couldn't be bothered however so much for that idea. I had the girls in the car at the local shopping centre tonight and thought what the heck they could each have a short session of something out the front. Well blow me Kenz who has never managed anything at the shops in the past decided tonight that a. she could actually do something other than have a minor meltdown and b. could actually play some tug. Ok so not as good as she can everywhere else but she actually bounced out of the car. ETA. bloody Winpara dogs hey. And the pair of them aren't even related . I keep threatening to return mine but can never quite follow through with the threat .

cool huski - good news about Daisy (sorry watched your vids didn't get around to posting in the youtube thread). ETA. Maree if you are really bored I could send Kenz up - whats another 1 when you have 4 already .

BC4ME - bored are you. You could always do some training in the meantime .

After spending time with a Lappie I think one would go well with a collie and fit your criteria nicely - so another vote for a lappie.

Thanks for the thoughts - will take it on board. I got what I wanted out of the video and maybe I did compromise a small amount of a training session for that to occur. Although funnily enough my 400/500 issue was resolved without the assistance of the video when we ran the jumping course over both heights. The video did however showed me things I wouldn't have been able to see otherwise and appreciate everybody's thoughts and my handling is pretty average and obviously I am not able to see that without having it videoed .

Ah ok maybe that is where I was wrong - I presumed handling = building skills so guess I am probably lumping it into the same category or maybe my handling still suck and Ness just happens to get me out of situations due to experience . I can see what your saying though and certainly can see what your saying about them being handling issues now. I guess I just assumed it was a two way thing which needed work. Caffy I would usually do less other stuff then I did and the video is really an inaccurate snap shot of training. I was trying to lump together things when I was able to get somebody to video. I wanted some video firstly to see if I thought she understood her contact behavior and secondly to see what I am going to do about her jump height and whether I will run her at 500 or 400. I was hoping to run and video something at 400 but didn't get a chance last night. The other 2 turns we did on that particular course were to run jump/contact sequences or to do a bit of table practice and I did a few SLS's with the first couple of jumps. So nope I wasn't quite as ambitious as it appears. We then went over to the open jumping course which was set on 400 where I did some more SLS practice. We worked some BJ into weaving as she was having issues with the weaving entrance and actually staying in the poles so I rewarded that. She did a lovely 7 bar arc and I rewarded at the end of that. I then wanted to FC in a particular spot but that failed me miserably and in hindsight it wasn't the correct spot so after seeing it not work the first time we worked the end part of that course with a RC into a tunnel. So again maybe 5 or 6 obstacles max and pretty simple following sequences. I later tried her again at 500 but we had plenty of bars down and she wasn't running nearly as well so think that helped my conclusion about what height I will run her at. As for working at home - we have a short plank I work with, some jumps and weavers but can only do jumping and weaving if I take the gear to a park. Well aside from 1 jump work and lead outs which I have been known to practice in the yard.

Hmm ok I am known for being super critical so here we go with the list - 1. I know without a question her SLS release needs some proofing. She is getting into a slight habit of going when I lift my arm in there air rather than waiting for her release cue - but thats on the work in progress list. Probably not clear on the video and I can't remember if she came early or not in that particular run. Bit of over handling on the first tunnel both entrance to and exit from. <thats all really an aside> Ok first bit when she ran past the second bar she wasn't committed to the bar before I dropped my signal and possibly rotated my shoulder and while Ness would have taken the bar in a similar circumstance Kenz actually did the appropriate thing which was come off the bar because she wasn't committed to it. Not sure why that bar came down - I will point out there was an edit because she thought she would then go birdie chasing . Its the first time she has done so while working so will have to get on top of that. I also guess I take having her focused on me for granted now and since I have never really had issues with her in the past I might have just taken it for granted a fraction to much. Jump/tunnel (which was suppose to be dogwalk) - took it that she would be walk obsessed because she likes to put herself on contacts and thats just a lack of training. Dogwalk contact - hmm she wasn't straight and she was looking where I was and then of course I made it worse by then rewarding her with her head crooked rather than coming in from the other side and rewarding with head position straight. Table - hmmm so much for an automatic drop that I wanted and I seem to be rewarding half criteria rather than insisting on the standard I want. She ran around the bar off the table because she thought about going back to chase the bird . See-saw wasn't bad - bit slower then I want but she raced up it the first time and promptly ran straight off the end so guess that is why she was slightly more cautious the second time. The next little bit of sequence with the jumps into the tunnel I thought was nice and I shouldn't have expected her to continue over the bar so the coming back to me on the otherside of the dogwalk is a lack of training. Having said that I would like her a bit more obstacle focussed as she is I think a bit to handler focused. That was a definite lack of rewarding her when she got it right and getting frustrated when she made a mistake and pushing my luck with what I was getting before rewarding and then having her mess up so she wasn't being rewarded. Contacts are a work in progress. A lot comes down to the lack of planning and having a clear aim in mind for a particular sequence.

Yep Vickie that is what generally happens at our club. Mostly people just do stuff as its put up and I do fall into that trap a bit too. I guess my problem and hence my post a little while ago about what skills to include is that I just don't know enough to be able to set a sequence to work on and know what I am doing . I can set a sequence but it usually doesn't really teach the dog anything.

Yep I guess that was a case of no real plan in mind and lets go with the flow . I will make it clear that isn't entirely the way all my training sessions go and part of the aim of the video was to get some contact stuff so I could have a look. When it came to running the jumping course I ran it with a much more definite strategy. So I would go back and reward start lines/proof her SLS. Proof her lead outs. We worked on breaking it down and rewarding when necessary. She actually had no problems with lateral distance in the Open Jumping course that was set up (admittedly it was a simple arc distance challenge) but she handled it well.

Was hoping you would come along Vickie . Reason I posted as I am really not sure what I am doing with her. We get nothing in the way of instruction/feedback - its basically just a run the dogs over the equipment and sometimes its hard to see what is happening when you are in the middle of running your dog. There are only 3 of us running dogs at 500 in the trialling group and only really 2 handlers running dogs in the smaller group. We are basically left to do as we please which does make it difficult. And if its saying anything at all I am probably one of the more experienced handlers in the group and there are a few others who come but they have been away the last few weeks ;) and so last night I was the only one running left with a 500 dog who has its masters titles. No need to edit anything you have to say as I am in full agreement with all of it.

If you do a write up of what you learned Jess I would really appreciate having a read. I am having real issues from going from dog can do individual equipment/small sequences to running a course. I struggle to work out what I should be doing on the planning front. I can work out plans for working on equipment skills but when it comes to jumping and handling I am really lost.

Thanks for your comments Jess. My older girl has very average point and pray contacts and I have promised myself Kenz will not have the same. In part I think her putting herself on the contact was part of confusion as it was only when I lost what I wanted to do that she would offer that. I also think part of my issue was indecision about what I was wanting to practice and when I was intending on rewarding.

There are a few people who compete in agility here so thought I'd post this question. I am having a few problems with Kenz wanting to offer a 2o/2o WHENEVER there is a bit of contact equipment in her general vicinity. This includes taking herself over to it when given half a chance. The problem I have is I am not sure how to "deal" with such a situation. I don't want her offering the position and then not giving her a release cue because I think that in part could possibly undermine the behavior but by giving her a release cue you are still in effect rewarding the dog for having put themselves there in the first place. She is still in the green dog learning stage of the behavior and we only have access to the dogwalk every second week at training so I do tend to make use of it when we can get it. Does anybody have any thoughts or views on the matter. I have included a video training clip from last night -