Kavik

Oooh a Mal! you can't get away that easily without photos

I'm glad they got it all Ruth Took Diesel to the vet to look at his lump as it has gotten bigger. Did fine needle aspirate and the lab thinks that it is benign and most likely due to chronic inflammation, which makes sense (and is what the vet suspected) as it is just above the patch on his flank that he chews, so on the border of where his skin becomes normal again. Of course they have suggested removal and further histopathology, not sure when we'll do that though (let OH sleep on it for a while) as it is likely to be expensive. I am so happy they think benign though!

He is gorgeous! Beagles are very cute puppies!

I agree with Persephone - people would love a pup that wants to go to the toilet only outside! What a blessing and a good pup! I suggest like the others that you start as you mean to finish - if you want him eventually to only toilet outside, then I would start with only wanting him to toilet outside, so that you don't confuse him. Keep in mind too that Beagles are a decent sized dog that can toilet a decent amount, and think about whether you want that inside ever.

Agility has been cancelled a lot this year due to rain - the council closes the grounds when they get wet and soggy.

NADAC is in VIC http://www.nadacaustralia.com/

The courses are also very different to ANKC. Here is one of our Novice Jumping runs (we have a bit of a sniffing issue in the middle of this one )

Thanks Jules! They do have their own titles, Kaos has his NJC (Novice Jumping Certificate) from ADAC. I don't think the titles are recognised by ANKC. I have found ADAC to be very friendly and casual and a good introduction to competing in agility as they are a small organisation. Helped me with my ring nerves too ETA: I wish there was a small alternate organisation for competition obedience! Might have helped me get started with Diesel. ANKC sounds a bit daunting, nerves would be my undoing since Diesel gets stressed too.

ADAC and ADAA are two other agility organisations. They don't run in every state though, not sure which states each one runs in. They are both adapted from overseas organisations, and with ADAA there is the opportunity to go overseas to compete (unfortunately due to our quarantine laws it means we can't bring our own dogs but do get host dogs from the host nation to run). They have different rules to ANKC in regards to jump heights, height of dogwalk and A-Frame, distance between jumps, different classes, titles and games. They are smaller organisations than the ANKC and trials have less participants and some can be more casual than ANKC. http://www.adaa.com.au/ http://www.adacagility.com/ There is also NADAC - not sure what the difference is to ADAC in terms of rules http://www.nadacaustralia.com/

Hi it was great to meet you too Never know when you will run into a DOLer

Here is a video of the trial. Thank you to the lady with Min Pins for videoing it for me! Quite foggy so not optimal videoing conditions. Much busier than the ADAC and ADAA trials I have been to, and 3 rings. Novice Jumping was up first so I was happy about that. He didn't run off which was my aim for this trial so I am very happy He didn't hold his start line stay though and stepped on the broad jump and went around the tyre. Overall I was happy with his performance as he jumped well despite the distractions and did the chute which he has had problems with before.

Just had Kaos measured and he measured 570 so considerably bigger than your girl ness

Diesel whinges a bit but not too bad. Only time it is bad is when I leave him with someone else on lead/tie him up and walk away or OH is with us and walks away (he loves OH!) and the odd howl when we leave the house. Otherwise he is much quieter than the Kelpies.

I agree enjoy the peace and quiet Beagle baying and howling is VERY noisy Kelpies are also not the quietest dogs around

What is a ground line? I know nothing about show jumping horses. I assume by filled you mean more than a single bar to indicate the jump, like the x shape often in showjumping with horses or the solid jump in obedience?

Hugs to you Shmoo and hope Sweep is OK! :D

How do they compare in temperament to other herding breeds eg Kelpie and Border Collie?

Would participation in flyball impact on knocking bars in agility as the jumps are so low in flyball and such speed over the low jumps is encouraged?

Hate to break it to you but owning dogs is DIRTY business :p Especially with all this rain we've been having! I'm quite muddy after training and walking the dogs.

That is a good point and there is one BC I see regularly who is VERY fast but who drops bars often. At the moment Kaos has been pretty good and not often dropped bars in training or competition, but I guess he may once he picks up confidence and speed. I have seen him adjust himself in a comp when I didn't give him a good approach angle, it wasn't a pretty jump, but he did it and was careful not to knock the bar. He has taken me out once training in the backyard (my fault). Just looking at my dogs though, Diesel seems very clumsy in comparison

I was having a think about it, and (at least with my guys anyway) I think it is a matter of body sensitivity. I wasn't rubbishing Diesel in my last post. He is the best of my dogs at heeling, straight close front, finish, SFE. He has no issues with things moving under his feet (like seesaw). He just doesn't care whether he is on/off something or whether there is a bar there he is supposed to jump. He is also the only one who likes to roughhouse with other dogs and Luke can crawl all over him. The Kelpies are much more aware of where things are, would not dream of running into something, very rarely drop bars, are more sensitive to things moving under their feet and respond quicker to body language/directional changes of handler. Thinking about the job they were bred to do, they are sensitive to handler 'pressure' on sheep and so respond similarly on agility course, and had to be aware of the flight zone bubble around sheep. I may be overthinking it but anyway

There is some foundation work you can do for agility that doesn't involve equipment and can be done with a puppy - and will help with handling in agility later on and give them an idea of where their back end is (very important with a big dog). As others have mentioned, you should wait until at least 12 months before doing proper equipment. I have not seen any GSD trialling in Sydney since I have been competing. Some GSD people (including breeders) who I have talked to at obedience don't think that competitive agility is good for a GSD due to the speed and turning required, as they are a reasonably large and heavy dog and they worried about the impact on joints. One of them mentioned that courses have become faster and tighter and not as suitable/safe for large dogs in general. Diesel would be hopeless We have a play over the equipment at home when I have it out for the others, but he is more likely than the others to knock bars or just trash the jumps and doesn't have a good idea of where his back end is on equipment.

The focus at home sounds good Have you been using a verbal marker or clicker? I think it sounds like classes were too exciting/too much of a distraction.

How are you teaching focus? Is the dog focussing on you or only the toy in your hand?

Wow that is a big scar! I am still working on OH to give me the go ahead to take Diesel up for vet to look at his lump.