Kavik

Have you done any focus work with your dog? I have found that clicker training attention on me to be very useful. I used the method from Click to Calm: Healing the Aggressive Dog by Emma Parsons. I found it useful even if your dog is not necessarily aggressive, but if it reacts by barking or other things to other dogs (or people). Teach it first in a quiet environment before taking it on the road. When taking it out and about I started at a large distance (across the road from other dogs) for my dog aggro dog (and shorter distance for my other dogs). You want to start at a distance where the dog will not be too worked up by another dog and where you know the other dog cannot get close enough to touch your dog so you can work on being relaxed and focus on the training. What I did was click/treat when the dog looked at me, then wait and allow dog to look at the other dog, and wait to see if the dog looks back at you (which it should if you have a good reward history for that behaviour first). When the dog looks back at you from looking at the other dog, click/treat.

Agree with this I also think it is about trust. I didn't teach it correctly with Kaos from the beginning, and while he would let go when I wanted, he was not as keen as I wanted him to be, and if I let him have it he wouldn't bring it back. I am working on getting him to bring it back and trust that it will not just be taken off him, but the game will continue if he brings it back for another game. So far we are having some success with this ;) Hopefully I get it right with the next dog from the beginning

PICSI trains at Dan Mahoney Oval in North Parramatta on a Friday night at 7pm. They are a medium sized club (bigger than Paws 4 Fun, smaller than ADC). They almost always get contact equipment out. They have a beginners class and a mixed intermediate/advanced class. Many of the intermediate/advanced people compete, so there is a fair amount of competition focus at agility training at PICSI. Clicker training is used quite a bit in agility in all clubs. Very useful tool ;) http://www.picsi.org.au/ http://www.paws4fun.org.au/

Hi penny I go to this club and this year I am helping to instruct as well It is a very small club, which has both pros and cons. The pros are you get lots of turns on the equipment, get to know the other people and dogs really well, and when you get to a higher level you can give input into what exercises you want to practice. The cons are that if there are not a lot of people sometimes you only practice smaller things rather than getting out the bigger (and heavier) contact equipment. I train at both Paws 4 Fun and PICSI (in Parramatta). They are different and offer different things and have a different focus. Agility Dog Club (Castle Hill Showground) is a MUCH bigger club. This means they will always get the contact equipment out but there are a LOT of dogs and people there, just something to be aware of if your dog or you are not confident around a lot of other dogs and people.

You will find mixed responses to this question, based on anecdotal evidence and people's experience. My opinion is that you don't know what the dog will do for sure if you have not tested the dog in a similar situation.

Hard to say what a particular dog will do. Generally though, they will alert or not but are mostly consistent (if they tend to bark at the door).

I use hand targetting as a setting up behaviour at the start of agility (well, that's the plan Seems to be working pretty well in training but not so well at trials . . . )

I do the same as Luke. They are pretty good at remembering which exercises have a thrown treat and which ones are given from your hand/stationary on ground. Built into the exercise itself I think.

Same Here is a very impressive nose touch

Do you mean get the dog to do something then throw the target, dog touches target and you reward? Or dog chases target, you get dog to do something, you throw target, dog touches target, you reward? Just trying to figure out how you think it would work. Or put a target on the ground, and say do some heeling, then send the dog to the target? In this case it wouldn't be much different to using a treat pouch etc as you would still need to get there and reward the dog.

Touching a target is not intrinsically rewarding for a dog, its value is built in by using primary reinforcers. So I don't think you could use a target as a reward in itself (if that is what you are asking?). You could get the dog to do something, then touch the target, but you would still have to reward touching the target with something else (food or toy for eg). You might even be able to get the dog to chase a target stick like a toy then give a command but somewhere you would have to reward with a primary reinforcer and not just the target.

There is a lot of discussion about security dogs (and security handlers are on the board) here: http://www.specialistcanines.com/

That is great news

My targets are stationary when I train with them (for sending or 2o2o for contacts or my hand for nose touches) - are you talking about moving the target (like luring with the target on a stick or something)?

Why do you think they got sick? Do you think it is their lack of body fat? A sighthound thing? I've used Advantix on my lot with no problems.

I'd like their competition to be numerous but to be people like themselves with dogs like theirs Warls.. and if you put handlers with years of experience and well performed dogs against novice handlers new to the ring with an inexperienced dog, those classes IMO will never grow. You can learn just as much without being seriously outgunned. You don't expect people in other sports to learn or remain motivated by repeatedly pitting them against the current stars. I don't see any real spirit of competition in denying inexperienced dogs and handlers out a real chance of winning. Maybe I'm being somewhat patronising to potential entrants but if I'd been encouraged by my breeder to give showing a go and rolled up to find my neutered dog beaten by a Royal or BISS winnner, I'd be wondering why I bothered. There is no motivation to be found in one sided competition if you're the one on the losing side.

Zoe has a tendency to chase shadows and reflections. Unfortunately this was encouraged by my family when I was living at home who thought it was hillarious, and I didn't realise how damaging it would be. While she is a Kelpie X, I don't think herding would have been the answer (she is dog aggressive and can be skittish) - like Vickie I don't think herding is necessarily the answer just because the dog is a herding breed. I do think herding breeds may be more prone to this behaviour, but I don't think it is a desirable trait in them. Kaos, who is from a working Kelpie breeder, so bred to work sheep, does not exhibit this undesirable behaviour, and has never looked like doing so. Different temperaments.

Crate Ruffians Squeaky dog toy Clicker

I pick up all bowls before they are let out of their crates (Zoe is possessive over food and will intimidate others off their food), and at the moment have gates closed or my toddler will go in there lol.

I feed the dogs in their crates. That way I know that everyone has had the correct amount, easy to see if someone is off their food, no intimidating others off their food or fighting, and I can make it another short training session . I feed Diesel first simply because he is the slowest eater and gets the most food being the biggest, so hopefully they finish around the same time.

When I worked at the dog daycare we had several Beagles that liked to eat poo and had to be watched carefully.

Loose leash walking is important but there is certainly no need to teach your dog to formally heel on the left if you don't want to.

It is very possible to teach your dog how to socialise with other dogs without having rough play What you want to find are adult dogs with good manners so your dog can learn to meet and greet in an appropriate manner. When your DDB is fully grown and what 40+kgs? you may not want to allow rough play anyway, could end up with a dog being unintentionally hurt or scared.

I bought Kaos sight unseen. Breeder has a good reputation and I knew someone with a dog from same breeder. I discussed with the breeder about what I was looking for and what the dog would be for.

I have a friend with a Jap Spitz that had to be shaved as he had a run in with a spikey fish - will ask her how long it took to grow back for you