Kavik

I am in the middle of watching the 2 x 2 DVD - WOW! is all I will say! May give it a try with the next dog. Certainly has prompted me to do more work with a smaller number of poles to proof entries etc.

I don't do the 'proper' training in drive with Kaos for this reason. All of my dogs prefer to chase a thrown toy rather than tug, Kaos is the only one who will tug and he will only tug in the backyard, not at training. While I would love for Kaos to tug so I could reward close work with a toy, I have found in agility it is very useful to throw a toy for a reward, both for rewarding at a distance to the handler and to reward movement in a particular direction (rather than rewarding a stationary position). Having the dog anticipate that its reward is going to go a certain direction at speed helps to build their enthusiasm and speed. Susan Garrett's 2 x 2 weave training is all about this - using a thrown toy (placement of reward) to establish a reward line. Very useful in all weave training and in training distance and sending exercises.

my club does, don't know about willow

I'll see your public disrupting a class and raise you disrupting a trial in progress My club also runs agility classes at an off lead park, which is leased to the club, and we are supposed to have full use of it when classes or trials are on. At one trial last year, someone walked through the park with her dogs offlead and purposely walked them through the trial rings It was pretty obvious something organised was going on, pretty hard to miss a heap of agility equipment set up, people there with dogs crated, ring ropes etc She was being pretty obnoxious! We also have the odd person disrupting classes with their dog running in the middle of a sequence. Again I am unsure why - you can certainly tell something organised is going on!

Here is my video of some drive work

All I reply to that is that I feel much more confident handling my DA dog now when I have used a clicker and food to deal with her aggression than when I was using corrections. I feel much better and less stressed to be looking for a way to reward her for looking at me instead of the other dog than when I was waiting for her to aggress so I could give her a correction. A mindset rather than a problem with the method, possibly, but it really made a difference to my outlook when walking and training her.

Corgi and ?

Can't wait for feedback on this. Even though I use the other handling 'system'. I am in the middle of watching the 2 x 2 weave DVD and it is awesome :D

Go Benny! :D While I would love to get some sort of title on Diesel (or at least trial him, a pass would have been nice) so that all my effort on him isn't 'wasted', unfortunately I don't think that is going to happen.

The bolded one for me too

That not all dogs want to play with other dogs. And that is OK

I would take her out on lead. Mine sometimes do this too though their last is normally around 8pm. Most likely possums and other lovely critters.

Happy Birthday Rex!

Why though? I see no need for an invisible barrier, with or without the use of aversives to teach.

Completely agree! Kaos as my only competing dog gets the most training, but I do some training with both Zoe and Diesel. Kaos is the only one I take to a club. Zoe is 10 yrs but still fairly active and driven, Diesel is fairly quiet so a challenge to motivate. I practice stuff like shaping on Zoe and Diesel so that I am better at it with Kaos and for the next dog!

I disagree...I think if your dog reacts aggressively towards all dogs and you could not stop a fight from happening if another dog simply approached, then yes I think they should be muzzled. If either of my dogs consistently showed dog aggression to every dog that approached they would definitely be wearing a muzzle when out. My dogs don't love every dog they meet, but I know what kinds of dogs they play best with, I also only take my dogs to a very quiet off-leash area, where they may only see 1 or 2 other dogs at most. For me I know that Jessie is OTT with trying to round up small dogs so I now leash her around them if she is too interested in them. Jessie normally has good recall (especially when i've remembered to bring treats) so that is very easy to manage. For Tilly I know that she doesn't tolerate boisterous in your face dogs or anxious dogs, so I try to move away at the park or i'll get Tilly swimming instead, and by the time she paddles back the dog is normally gone. Zoe doesn't like ANY dogs, but since she is only exercised on leash when off my property and I avoid other dogs (go into a driveway, cross the road etc when I see another dog approach) I don't see why she should be muzzled? As I only walk the streets and not off lead areas, any dogs that actually get close enough to cause a fight would be off lead against the law ( or stupid owners with those flexi leads who don't listen to me say don't allow your dog to approach).

I'm sure it was being discussed before about possible benefits of training in a vest or similar and then trialling in the same vest? Can't remember where I saw that though.

I agree that conditioning, stimulus control and management are key (and I use them a lot) however it is very difficult to control factors in the real world.

With the number of breeds whose 'job' is companionship, certainly people who do not want a high drive high energy breed can pick one of those instead of people watering down the smaller number of working breeds? Why change the breed so that it is less likely to be able to work just so that joe public can handle it?

OT but I got to meet your lovely dogs recently! Was this when they were staying with PAX? It seems they got a couple of visitors while I was gone I hope they were being well behaved!

Yep happens to me all the time Last time luckily they did call their dog without arguing about it - dog was running towards Zoe off lead and I said "My dog is not friendly, can you call your dog please!" repeated it twice I think before they called it. Was a BC that looked like it just wanted to visit but unfortunately Zoe doesn't like visitors.

How do you cord the coat? It must be a lot of work

I use NRM for a couple of things - weave pole entries and when training difficult entries on the dogwalk. I found that it helped Kaos to understand quickly that what he did was not correct and to come back and we would try again. I use "whoopsy' in a neutral tone. He comes back to me quickly and happily afterwards and positions himself to give it another try. Correct entries were marked with 'Yes' and I found he was quicker and more confident once he picked this up. I have only done the difficult entry training on the dogwalk once, using a pole for him to wrap around, and was amazed at the increase in confidence in running the dogwalk once he got the correct entry. I don't use NRM for missing jumps.

Having a GSD and Kelpie (and crosses) I agree that GSD cop more than their fair share of politics, especially in the show/working debate. Almost enough to put one off if you are not a serious fan of them! Kelpies are one of the breeds whose original job continues to exist and so there are many herding sheep on farms and stations. I do see a difference in appearance between the show and working line dogs. What I found most interesting though is that when I took my working line Kelpie to a show as a pup to visit a friend and socialise that some showies didn't know what breed he was

Even if it is not fear aggression, from the OP the dog is not comfortable around groups of boisterous dogs and I would avoid going to busy dog parks as the behaviour could escalate.