Kavik

mine will sit by my side if we are stationary Kaos is fine to give focus and do the exercise on the move but for Zoe I stop if possible.

I would not say that doing an agility course is a behaviour chain. However, individual obstacles in an agility course could be trained as a behaviour chain. Eg seesaw. You have your end (contact) behaviour, you have your 'bang' behaviour, you have your running up the ramp behaviour. The most rewarded position is the end position.

There are a couple of Labs that do agility at the clubs I am with. My pointer would be to keep them lean and make sure they do not get overweight, as extra weight puts strain on their joints when jumping. The ones that I see competing are kept very lean. Maybe also check out your lines and pick dogs with parents who are athletic and an athletic build.

I think the main issue with running contacts is that you really need your own equipment to teach it properly. It requires LOTS of practice to get consistent striding (regardless of the method you are using to teach it). And Sylvia's method which does not use a target but teaches them to stride the whole way, you would certainly need your own equipment for that! I think she also starts with the board on the ground and gradually raise it and increase the angle? Also there is the issue of different codes having different size equipment. If you are doing ANKC and ADAA, the ADAA equipment is bigger and the A-Frame is steeper as well as longer. This would make consistent striding for running contacts more difficult to achieve.

Happy Birthday Divani!

Sylvia's dogs are pretty amazing! And she doesn't do lead outs either, runs with them the whole way! Not sure what I think of the jumping issue. I wouldn't start jumping a dog really young, most I think I would do is get them used to going through the jump wings with bar on the ground, for sending and distance. I haven't read or watched as much about jumping as other obstacles (only watched one DVD, and started another - though there are more jumps in agility than anything else!)- I know there are some people that like to jump them only their competition height and some that like to start lower. When Greg Derrett was here for the World Dog Games and seminars, he said the system in the UK is very different to here. Here you get a quallie towards your title if you get a clear round under time. In the UK you have to place as well as get a clear round under time. So this means there is more emphasis placed on time and speed than there is here. He said he wouldn't bother to enter unless his contacts were under a certain speed (from memory 1.6sec dog walk, under 1 sec A-Frame), though he runs BCs and does 2o2o contacts. He said if he ran little dogs he would do running contacts but not trained ones, would just run like the dog would naturally stride over it. At the moment he doesn't think the running contact methods out there are 100%, and even Sylvia misses them in big comps as does Susan Garrett, but that running contacts certainly will be the way of the future for speed.

The dogs certainly choose! I do all the walking, feeding, training for the dogs. OH will give them a pat, or feed them if I can't. Zoe and Kaos are obviously MY dogs and prefer me, but Diesel LOVES OH! Also Diesel is OH's favourite of the dogs (not as high energy as the Kelpies - he finds them a bit much :D ) - so it works well in that regard.

Kaos is pretty good with an off switch. If they try to push you to do more when you are done, I usually find ignoring them works and they give up and relax when they realise no more working. Zoe has the worst off switch of my dogs, she is also the worst barker.

They were selling Kelpie pups in a Hornsby petshop recently . . . wonder if they couldn't sell them as Kelpies and relabelled them as chis - cute red/tan pups - poor little things

I just put them down their throat. But I always do it at meal times, so they get their dinner afterwards.

I think we are saying the same thing but from a different angle A dog that has poor nerves genetically is more likely to react in certain circumstances. This type of dog has to be more carefully socialised and managed to prevent the type of experience occuring which could cause it to behave problematically than a dog with a better genetic temperament. A dog with a more stable temperament could be exposed to things that would cause problems with a weaker temperamented dog and not have any problem at all.

So that is where good breeding practices come into it for breeding dogs with good genetic potential and then selecting the best owners who can explore most that potential and know how to work with the potentially difficult parts of the dog's temperament. The difficult part of this with APBT is that since they are not a registered breed and you are not legally allowed to breed them, is that there are no tabs on people who do decide to breed and they may breed dogs with dodgy temperaments and not sell them to knowledgeable owners. Selecting the right dog, knowing the potentially good and bad things about the breed, train accordingly - whatever the breed

That makes no sense. Of COURSE some dogs have temperaments that increases the liklihood of the dog using aggression. People can't have it both ways - you can't go around arguing that buying a purebred, reg dog means you'll get a predictable temperament (ie, due to breeding/genes) and then say that the 'negative' aspects of a temperament aren't inherited. There's no such thing as an 'aggressive dog', aggression is not a temperament, it's a means of communication. Dogs who have X Y or Z types of temperaments, are going to be more likely to USE this mode of communication than others. And I believe that is true regardless of the environment. To use my own dog as an eg, he is mostly a very sweet, friendly dog. But he has never coped with stress well since he was a very young puppy, and this inability to lead to stress well and this kind of temperament, given the 'right' conditions, could lead to fight instead of flight. It doesn't mean he's an 'aggressive dog', but his base temperament is genetic. I agree with Tess Genetic potential is inherited, but how that eventuates depends on experience. A dog may genetically have a lower threshold to something which could cause it to become aggressive (to people or other dogs), how it is raised, trained and its experiences determine whether the dog becomes aggressive or not. Zoe does not have a stable temperament - skittish, always had a tendency to hide under things. She became dog aggressive. While the tendency was always there as her temperament is not great, if I had done things differently with her exposure to other dogs (not taken her to dog parks where she got intimidated), and if I knew the focus techniques I now do (that have made improvements) she may not be as bad as she is. Goes for good attributes too. The potential for a good sheep working dog/sports dog/racing dog/earth dog/security dog is genetic but whether they reach that potential depends on training and experience.

Hope the breeder or Nekhbet can help sort something out. Sounds like a VERY busy household and some dogs don't cope with all the noise, change, people coming and going.

That was very bad for APBTs

Great video Shows control and good proofing as well.

I use food rewards and toy rewards, depending on what type of response I want, and whether the exercise is new. I use toy rewards when I want a very animated, fast, moving response, generally away from me (Kaos won't tug, so his toy is thrown. If he tugged I could use it for stationary responses too). I use food rewards for rewarding stationary positions where I want some stability or for rewarding close to me and for new exercises if I think using the toy will make him too excited and he won't think about it properly But you can mix it around how you like, this is just an example of how I use both.

I have one on the lower energy side of the scale . He is happy with a walk, some fun training and being able to play with my other dogs. He would cope with less training than he gets - it is more for me than him I think ;)

That was very cool! :D

I thought the Animal Welfare League did something similar to the RSPCA as well.

I'm not trying to be mean. My GSD had trust issues with me for a while as my older Kelpie X would growl at him if he tried to come to me if she was there too (she is possessive), so I had a hard time getting him to come to me in the yard.

I think if the dog is running away from you it has trust issues with you. If it is lowering its bum in the circumstances you describe it is anticipating a smack and trying to avoid it

I would continue to run. First trial, different to training, handler nerves as well as different time and location and situation to training. But I have had some running off issues and Kaos has given me the finger at sts a few times So I am most interested in making it an enjoyable experience and keeping him in the ring. ATM I am not attempting a sitting sts (which is what I want eventually) - I am taking the lead off, leaving him in a stand, doing minimal lead out

I think your dog is far less likely to contract ear mites, sarcoptic or demodectic mange than a tick, and ticks are potentially deadly and more difficult to treat. I would opt for a spot on that covers ticks if you are going into a high tick area. Most spot ons only say they cover for ticks if you apply fortnightly (rather than monthly for fleas). I use Advantix and do only use monthly. Cross fingers have not had a tick yet. For prevention try to stay out of bushy areas. Ticks are carried in bushy areas and on native animals. Whether or not they meet other dogs makes no difference.

I would also think as Anna is on Associate Register (so had to be desexed to get on there) she would never need to be vetted.