Kavik

I think Kaos is reasonably quick (we get the odd placing) but he is certainly not FAST and not one of those dogs that makes you go

True. Also if people pulled out halfway through and bellowed: "Leash!!!" I had to race over to the finish peg and retrieve their leash for them. One person's dog pooped at the first jump so I brought her leash all the way back to the start peg. It was entertaining. Don't worry about 'inconveniencing' people. We have a Japanese Spitz and a little Sheltie in our training class and we always keep the jumps on 300 because of them and I don't think anyone minds! To be honest, I'm not even sure what height my Elbie is supposed to be jumping because he's only ever jumped 300. The thing about the trial was that there were just so many height changes. We had quite a few 300s - just one 200 though - very cute. What's funnier is seeing the table go up and down. Unless Elbie is particularly short or tall for a Kelpie he likely jumps 500 My tall fellow jumps 600.

Depending on how you do your serpentines and threadles, you can use the same body language to get them to stay with you and go around the obvious tunnel entry if you need them to go in the other one (in theory ). ETA: a great tip I got from experienced friends is to go behind the jump leading to the tunnel, on the line the dog will be taking, and look at exactly what the dog will see coming over that jump (goes for all obstacle descriminations) - you can see which end of the tunnel will be more obvious to the dog, or which obstacle it is pointing at and which one the dog will see as more likely to be next. Then you can adjust your handling if necessary to help them get the right one. Great for deciding where to place your dog on the start line too. An example: found a Susan Garrett run where she does it twice at :30 and :46

They are a restricted breed . . . and it is prohibited to breed them or import them into the country. There is currently no restriction on breeding crosses though and no management restrictions? Not saying there should be Actually, breeding crosses of restricted breeds is also prohibited http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/caa1998174/s57c.html

They are a restricted breed . . . and it is prohibited to breed them or import them into the country.

I would cetainly have to improve my handling heaps to run your dogs Tailwag! They are FAST! Kaos doesn't quite have that speed lol. I start Kaos in a stand. Was planning on sit but he prefers a stand (read won't sit for me at the start line ). I give him plenty of room before the first obstacle, better than not enough.

Yes, sending is good A send to tunnel can be helpful (and a hindrance ), good distance with your pinwheels. Having independent obstacles helps, and good weave entries so you can trust them to get it without having to be right there.

And regardless of what you do, there will be times when they run around a jump, take an off course obstacle, go in the wrong end of the tunnel. They place the challenges there for a reason ;) and you will not be the only one to do it! And if you are slowing down a Kelpie so much that you are over time - they are not going to have fun. I went into training a stopped contact for the first time with Kaos with the initial goal of I want him to stop in this position so that he won't miss the contact and I can direct him where to go afterwards, so went into it with the mindset of it being a control behaviour. What I have learnt over time is that this is the wrong way to approach thinking about it. If I want fast, accurate and independent contacts I have to think of it as a great place for the dog to be, for them to want to get there as fast as possible, to drive into that position, no matter where I am.

KTB my suggestions are: 1) Circle work, shadow handling so he learns to follow your body 2) Work on rear crosses (I need lots of work on those ) 3) With contacts, most people who teach a stopped contact (including me) have more problems getting their dog to go ahead of them and finish the obstacle independently at speed to end up in the correct desired position (Kaos slows down especially on dogwalk). I would never try to slow the dog deliberatey 4) Tunnel entries and off course obstacles - have you worked on serpentines and threadles/pull throughs yet? You can use those handling techniques a lot of the time and use their name and sometimes pays to look at where you do your crosses

Having a really good recall helps as well, when you first see your dog becoming uncomfortable it is helpful if you can recall them from the other dog, praise etc and then go on your way. Along with other behavioural work. Underdog should be able to help.

The DNA tests are hugely inaccurate. One of my friends got one done on her little long haired crossbreed (was sold as cav x poodle but has long body short legs) - DNA test came back Staffy X- I don't think so . . .

I think you are doing great! It took me ages just to get mine to hold it in their mouth. Diesel now retrieves reliably if a bit slow, Zoe is super fast but mouths the dumbbell as I hadn't taught her hold as well as I did Diesel. I use a plastic dumbbell (harder for them to destroy!) Have you looked at this page on shaping the retrieve? http://www.shirleychong.com/keepers/retrieve.html

You are worried about zoomies? You should see the Greyhound zoomies that happen to a friend of mine sometimes WOW amazing speed when she wants to!

Completely agree lilli

The problem re Pit Bulls is complicated. I am not for banning breeds. But since Pit Bulls have been effectively banned for a while now, and you can't own or breed them publicly in many places in Australia, you do have to question those that are being bred. We have all met dogs with poor genetic temperaments due to breeding, which can have issues such as aggression, reactivity, low tolerance etc and IMO this is more likely with a type that does tend to fall into the wrong hands and which does not have legtimacy and can't be bred openly - so is not bred for working or show type, and possibly not bred for good temperament.

There are a few Groenendaels that do well over here and Tervs as well

TSD - What a cracker of a dog! Awesome

Link won't work for me - something about EMI and banned in our country?

Is your plastic base at home just one straight line or is it offset a bit like these? http://www.affordableagility.com/weaveschannel.htm It could be the different base is putting her off. Different materials, different give to the poles (metal bases probably have less give). If it is offset like the link, the extended feet are still giving the dog a visual clue even when the poles are straight. Also, is the spacing the same at home and training?

I know skip too and have seen her at trials recently - was impressed actually because her dog was tugging and I am still struggling to get mine to tug away from home I have two dogs I haven't competed with. Not because I didn't want to, but one has aggression issues and the other has health issues. I didn't find them another home, but I certainly want to maximise my chances of being able to compete with future dogs, and breed (and breeder) selection is part of that. Training, exercising and competing is part of my lifestyle with the dogs, and I chose breeds that would enjoy that as well as breeds that I liked for other reasons. There are some breeds whose appearance I really like but who are not likely to enjoy training as much so I will not get them

aussielover, Are your weaves stick in the ground and the ones at training solid base? That can cause problems for some dogs. Kaos slowed down a lot when first introduced to solid base weaves when trained on stick in the ground, as he was able to push the stick in the ground weaves out of the way easier. The different colour and number could also be throwing her. Are you up to doing them in a straight line at home? amypie, I have only worked on dog walk approaches once or twice, we used a pole for them to wrap around (we used the poles from the broad jump). You would want to fade the pole eventually, we didn't get that far, only a couple of times at training.

I guess it's just that my boy is a little clumsy then He's the better herding dog though. The focus and obsession I mentioned above for my girl are the same characteristics that cause her trouble in herding, as she wants to sprint everywhere and look at the handler too much. They both do fine at each sport tho (altough i don't compete in agility, we just do it for fun). But I do both sports with both dogs because they enjoy it and it's good excercise & training. I've never met a sheep dog that wouldn't be keen for the 'job' of dog sports. There are several large Kelpies doing quite well in agility atm. Go the 600 jumping Kelpies I used to think Kaos was huge for a Kelpie, then a friend of mine got one that ended up being even taller and about 5kg heavier

If I wanted to do herding with a Kelpie? Easy - do research into WKC Kelpie lines ;) Most have a guarantee that those placed into sheep working homes will work sheep. Of course herding has many facets and different dogs have strengths in different areas - so researching the type you wish to do and the breeds/lines that are most likely to give you a good shot would be my first advice. I guess I'm lucky in that the type/appearance/structure/temperament I like includes several breeds that are good for various sports.

I think it is important to consider what you would like to do with the dog when thinking about breed selection. Most people are interested in a range of breeds, and if they are interested in competing in a particular sport, I think it is important that they consider that in their selection. While agility is open to all breeds, and there are many that can do well, other sports are not open to all breeds, so you would have to pick from breeds eligible to compete.

Wow the rushtotug leads are very nice Not much point in me getting one yet though as Kaos won't tug out of the yard - bummer At the moment I have a Blackdog training collar and leash. I run him nude.