ness

Good one my mindless brag seems to have been lost into some deep cyberspace caven so second time around............. Firstly well done to everybody on there passes over the weekend. Good stuff . I have a few relatively minor brags from the weekend - we had an evening agility trial on Saturday and while we didn't manage any passes we did have some lovely rounds all things being considered. Out of 4 runs she had 2 runs each with just 1 course fault - open agility she ran straight off the end of the see-saw and in masters agility she just pulled a single bar. Her other two rounds weren't to bad either. Lots of good things she got all her contacts (other than that see-saw) and successfully completed both open distance challenges neither of which I thought she would get when I walked the courses initially. <Not bad considering we only flew in late Friday evening and then she was "thrown" into a household with 11 other dogs and she is use to being an only dog!!!>

My thoughts are if its not a life threatening behavior and its something the dogs are suppose to enjoy why force them when they clearly are not. Obedience in a trial sense is suppose to be fun for both dog and handler if both parties are not enjoying it then why bother. No dog should need to be forced into doing anything especially for a trial ring.

Hmm it took Ness and I 18 months but she has a pretty nice retrieve now and its fairly reliable in the ring - hmm except she occasionally anticipates or spits the DB at my feet . I will say though that I didn't have too many battles getting her to retrieve the various scent articles or gloves because we had worked hard at it. Somebody suggested to me teaching a "formal" retrieve with a stuffed toy to start with if that is all she would hold.

Hmm nope I can only get a second dog when I move out of home which isn't going to happen anytime soon :p . Oh well from Friday onwards I get to borrow a red dog for a fortnight .

Can't add to this but geez your so lucky to all have multiple dogs for training in different sports . Oh well my time will come and in the meantime I still have unfinished business with one BC :p .

Yep good luck and if you want any help just ask laffi - can be the blind leading the blind - isn't that right Ptolomy .

Hmm what about a virtual UD trial where the dog doesn't make a mistake . Congratulations everybody. Fantastic stuff

Great minds think alike Ptolomy - I sent laffi the link through PM and then said don't stress about the dog not catching on too quickly after all it only took Ness how long . ETA. If baby red dog is so realible already think anybody would notice if I switch just for scent at the trial .

Drop a PM to Ptolomy sandgrubber - she can give you details of a fantastic WA person for dealing with lameness issues - or so I have been told.

Don't ever clip a BC it makes there coat come back thicker. Get a decent undercoat rake and groom him out thoroughly and then make sure he has a paddle pool available . You could get a groomer to give him a proper hydrobath and grooming to remove the undercoat but don't get them to clip him unless you just want the feet trimmed to give them a tidy up.

I am only on dog 1 but hmm thanks to a few people I have quickly had my head knocked into gear and yep I think I am getting pretty good at whats on Ptolomy's list now - including loving my little ruggamuffin no matter how bad a training session went and how many times I wanted her made into a floor rug . And the big one when in doubt stop and ask rather than continue flogging away and making no progress. I have two more to add to Ptolomy's list for her................................. Ptolomy learnt how to plan MY training sessions for me and secondly how much a Border Collie can behave like a Red Duck Dog over things .

Go Ch Beany baby in the making - guess who might be going over to help celebrate (my jackpot if I am good ). Ooops did I say that. My baby brag is that after Ness was stressed out of her mind before evening entering the ring in Open at our "final" obedience trial for the year on Saturday evening I took her back out to the same grounds (happens to be our club) for a UD ring session last night and she worked bloody brilliantly. She has the majority of her exercises down just fine. Not bad for a dog I was going to give up on obedience with this time last year. All the other much more experienced dogs were making errors and Ness just hit the ground running. All with no yelling or shouting or forcing my dog to do the exercises (unlike all the other dogs out on the grounds that evening) .

Yep the New Years Eve trial I am pretty sure is going ahead - it usually does. I presume the schedule will be in the November Journal. Will let you know when I get it.

L just needs a new handler .

Not suprised at that for one moment Vickie and guilty as charged when we had an open distance challenge of 6.5 m out to the far bar on a pinwheel from basically a dead stop. A tunnel leading over a bar but the tunnel was horizontal to the far pin wheel bar. One we had which Ness actually managed to pass did require a shouted out as she took the bar leading out to the distance challenge but decided to spin around and look for me and then wasn't convinced since there was a tree out there as well ROFL. Never mind thanks to a couple of nice courses we have completed our JDO title and thats enough for me. I know she can't do distance pinwheels as the two she has buggered up have both required distance pinwheels. She is fine when it flows into the distance challenge but if you have to do it from no run up thats when we muck up. Will go on the list of things to work on over summer since you only need a couple of jumps (I have 4 :D ).

Yep exactly Vickie - same would happen in SA. Some judges were going through a phase of cracking down on it and sounds like its the case in Victoria. They did however warn the competitors at the briefing. I think its a bit harsh in novice but what can you do as you said she can be proud of the fact she met all the course challenges - the results will come for her in the end.

Sounds like a reasonable distance challenge. We had a weekend of bastard ones and then a weekend of lovely ones :D . I agree with what Vickie said its great when you have met all the course challenges and yep she certainly sounds like she is going great. As for a routine try one that might work if your behind. Even with a slow BC I can sometimes finish behind her. It could be as simple as you call her and she comes to you and you have her sit. Like I said I have seen handlers who have there dogs jump up, handlers who drop there dogs and go and collect the lead. Give it some thought and maybe try a few experiments at club/training and see what works best. Well done though and I am sure we will hear of more success in the future.

Yep more control and focus will help but it also helps if you have a routine - before you go in, after you finish so the dogs know what to expect :D . Well done on your open though as I am currently running Masters and still haven't entered to many open agility (and those we have we still haven't passed ). What was the distance challenge out of curiousity. I wanted to get our open jumping title out the way first before focussing on open agility. ETA On the issue of knocked bars as Ptolomy would say GET OVER IT (god I have had so many rounds lately which would have been clear but for ONE knocked bar so I symphathise with you on that - its darn right annoying!!!!!).

On this issue maybe you could try and put in place a few strategies to present it happening again. For example you could teach Abbie to jump into your arms . A better alternative would be to ask Abbie to drop upon finishing a run and then release her only once the leash is placed on. If the dog is likely to go silly upon finishing then I think the drop is a nice stable position and allows you to regain control. You can then play tug or run to a jackpot container (presuming you reward in some fashion after completing the run) Whatever you do I would make sure you are consistent at both training and when you trial. I am sure you will get there and can totally understand your disappointment with having a quallie taken away.

Bad luck with Abbie - thats a bit harsh at novice level if they haven't warned you first. Oh well next time I guess and now you know. You should still be proud of her to get around the course and go clear . Well done in Open as well - gees and Abbie and yourself are only a novice team well done against some no doubt much tougher competition. Any other board members competing?

AWCA (agility dog club of WA) which train at the canine grounds on a Tuesday night is quite a large club and have great beginner classes run by some very knowledgable instructors . ETA. There website can be found here: http://www.istnet.net.au/~borderaussie/

2 substantials doesn't constitue zero score though. My guess is that it wasn't due to the failure to sit in front and possibly came as JulesP said due to the use of the name on the finish.

Zero score: For a dog that breaks from position, or does not come on the first command or for a dog that anticipates the command to come. The new rules list substantials as for slow response to commands, for failure to come at a brisk pace. Under the old rules a failure to sit in front would only have been a substantial. Its not listed in the new rules but maybe a substantial for the failure to sit in front.

Well done on your kids results over the weekend as well Ptolomy - I suppose I can return your SP partner but maybe you need to come for a double trial next time . I said to both Sue and Cathy they better make plans for another one - otherwise they might just find me on their doorstep and not sure how hard I would be to remove .

Well guys we had another double agility trial today and Ness had a blinder . Must be all the WA luck in the air cos she managed 5 passes from 6 runs (and actually only knocked a bar in the AM Masters Jumping but was otherwise under time!!!!). So we had 2 more Open Jumping Passes, 2 Masters Agility passes (now 3 total) and 1 in Masters Jumping (5 of those so only 2 more to go ). Are you sure I can't keep Sue and Cathy here Ptolomy. Just watch out I nearly threatened to hide in there luggage. So we have had a wonderful weekend 7 Quallies and a JDO title to boot - very pleased with my little girl. She will be thoroughly spoilt for at least the next week or so :D .