Kavik

Hi all My Friday night agility training is cancelled due to lack of instructors - everyone is going to the Goulburn trial Is anybody interested in getting together and doing some training tonight? I'm in Sydney - upper north shore but willing to travel

I have Kaos registered with ADAA with his registered name like ANKC. Doesn't bother me, but it does seem to throw people off who say - who is that dog - I don't know that name

Another recommendation for Nathan from Doggonemad ;)

I am taking a class and looking for good sites to give as references for students to learn more about agility. I have already included Susan Garrett's site, Greg Derrett's site, Karen Pryor's site, ADAA site, YouTube

OK thinking this one might work - I am looking for something very simple as some of these people will not have done much training and I don't want to confuse them with operant conditioning terms. http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2...gtheclicker.htm

I am going to be instructing a class and I am looking for a site that has a simple easy to understand explanation of clicker training/reward markers that I can hand out to the class. Just on what they are/what they do, nothing too specific. Any ideas?

Yep have tried that. Have had a little success with a sheepy skin type toy I won at an ADAA trial which squeaks but still not reliable or for very long. I have also tried putting his favourite toy in a sock but he won't tug on it. His favourite tug toy is a sheepy tug from Clean Run but at home he will tug on braided fleece tugs as well - actually just did a little bit with him then I'm not overly fussed if I can't get it to work, but it would be nice to have another way to reward, and I could reward straight away at a trial which is difficult if you have to throw the toy. (at the moment I reward immediately with food and then we run to a quiet spot and I throw his toy.)

Kaos is another that is happy to tug at home but won't tug when out (walks, training or trials). He will now tug in the front yard as well as back yard. Soon I am going to try to get him to tug outside the front gate. We may or may not be successful He does like to chase and retrieve a thrown toy, especially this one squeaky toy (which doesn't squeak that much any more ) and I use this toy at training and trials as his reward. I would like him to tug, but not sure if we will get there in the end or not.

I'm so sorry Monika - Rex was a lovely boy. He and Diesel 'flirted' with each other when they met and it was so cute. Remember all the fun and adventures you had together. RIP Rex

Completely agree with these Success with One Jump is by far the most useful agility DVD I have watched. Great for teaching obstacle focus and driving ahead as well as handling cues. I knew I had too much handler focus at the start and this DVD helped me to get better obstacle focus.

In regards to dog sports - from what I have heard BCs are generally 'softer' than Kelpies and yep deal with repetition better. Also I think many people find the BC fluffy appearance more appealing (I like the Kelpie sleekness ). I think BCs are probably better for competition obedience, in agility I think people just like BCs, they are also very popular worldwide (Kelpies are not common in other countries).

Actually I thought they liked head collars? I know they are totally against check chains and any physical corrections.

I get the comment 'where are the dogs'? if I am out without any dogs - many people I meet at the shops apparently see me walking them every morning

RubyStar how did you start training the seesaw? Kaos went through a period of doing this too. Now he is much better and knows Walk it = go fast and Seesaw = it moves! A couple of weeks ago at training we had some confusion because I called him and didn't say walk it soon enough and he heard the "s" at the end of his name and got confused. But we got over that after sending him over the dogwalk a few more times.

They are the same dogs Kavik, except the lower drive puppies will normally be selected for pet only homes and the driven and more dominant puppies selected for work and sport. That is what I meant That working line litters sometimes have lower drive pups that would be more suitable as pets than working or sport dogs

Even in working lines you can get some that are more placid and more suitable for pets than work A lot of working line GSD breeders that have websites I have noticed in their puppy forms have a choice of pet/work/sport on their form I would certainly pick on temperament, take time to research your breeder, try to talk to other people who have dogs from them, to see if you like the sort of dogs they breed, especially in a breed like the GSD. Regardless of whether you go for show or working line.

Let's just say that when I got my GSD pup with an existing Kelpie X, it was not the Kelpie that ended up getting hurt Seriously though, my GSD broke his leg when playing with my Kelpie X, just doing the zoomies and not coordinated yet at 6 months, had a collision and landed badly. Larger breeds are sometimes fragile. I would separate and supervise play when together. I agree with Poodlefan that I think adding a smaller breed puppy to an older bigger dog would be easier though. I am confident that I could easily introduce a smaller breed puppy with my older GSD. While he will play rough with big dogs he adapts his play style for smaller dogs and is more gentle with them.

I also think it depends on personality. I have 2 boys and 1 girl, all desexed. The girl (Zoe) was here first and does not like other strange dogs, but will accept puppies into the pack. I thought a male would be best fit, and Diesel is pretty cruisy. So I got another male as Diesel would be OK with another male but I wasn't sure how Zoe would cope with a female. Diesel and Kaos are best mates. Assuming Zoe is still around when I get the next dog (she is 10 1/2) I think I will go for another male, and get a female when Zoe goes to the bridge.

Well done Agility Dogs - you had a very busy weekend The people running the more experienced dogs are excited and keen to find out how NSW did compared to QLD

We went to the ADAA WAC Downunder Trial yesterday. Highlights were a Quallie and 1st place in Intermediate Jumping (with a difficult tunnel call off and then a rear cross into the weave poles) and a Quallie and 1st place in the 3 dog relay team event. It was the first time we have entered a team event, we made up the team at the last minute when we realised it was a jumping course and all team members were inexperienced dogs! We seem to do better in more difficult Jumping events as we were disqualified in the simpler Starters Agility and Elementary Jumping

I would think it would be easier to go the other way - teach retrieve with the dumbell first and then move to the bumper.

I am not sure the OP is looking for a champion...but just in case you think it is not generally done with a rescue: Some current results from the NSW Dog of the Year Cumulative Point Score after 8 rounds: Agility Dog of the Year 1st Rescue crossbreed 2nd crossbreed 3rd crossbreed 4th pure ANKC recognised breed 5th Rescue crossbreed Jumping Dog of the Year 1st Rescue crossbreed 2nd crossbreed 3rd pure but non ANKC recognised breed 4th crossbreed 5th Rescue crossbreed I have not sure whether the crosses listed above came from rescue or not, but do know that 1st & 5th in each comp definitely came via well known Sydney Rescues from the pound. What level of competition are we talking???. Do these results represent the best agility dogs in NSW against all the top level Border Collies, Kelpies etc???. YES - the best dogs in NSW The cumulative pointscore is done through the results of the Regional Qualifying Heats which are open to all dogs in NSW and one is offered at most DogsNSW trials. It was amazing watching the finals last year

I don't mind where my dogs walk as long as they don't pull. I prefer either beside me or ahead of me, easier to see what they are doing, watch their body language etc. If there are other people or dogs coming past I have them beside me.

Double post - computer playing up