Kavik

Thanks I have been working hard at calming down my handling in general, my agility handling was described as frantic at one point but I am improving, and I can see the difference in my dog's performance. Personality trait of mine To be fair, the people that showed me how to use corrections for dog aggression, were able to have Zoe calmly around other dogs. I just was not able to effectively utilise that method.

I think for me a lot of it was my approach and how I felt and my body language. When shown how to deal with aggression with corrections, I was tense and I guess waiting for the reaction in case I needed to correct. Using the clicker allowed me to relax and approach it as a focus training exercise, and this helped Zoe to relax. Not that she is now social, but I have reduced her reactivity and her critical distance.

I don't think my dog's aggression comes from dominance. I found that correcting her made things worse. So I do avoid other dogs with her as she does not like them. I have gotten to the point now where I can have her sitting in a driveway while another dog comes past. The problem I have is that people do not respect other dog's space, and even if I am in a driveway off the footpath people let their dogs choke themselves pulling to get to my dog while my dog sits there calmly (until the dog gets in her critical distance). I found with her that clicker training for correct response - looking at me instead of another dog - has helped remarkably in her behaviour. I have seen people utilise the method you describe with success, but I have found that this method does not work for me and my dog.

I think getting focus back on you will help a lot Have you done focus work? Will she look at you on command? If not, this is where I would start. Clicker training is one good way to get focus. Then gradually build up your distractions, starting with dogs at a distance. While you say your dog is not aggressive, this book outlines a really good way to get focus and use this to help settle your dog around other dogs. It would work with excitement as well, mainly works on rewarding the dog when it looks at you and doesn't pay attention to the other dog. Click to Calm: Healing the Aggressive Dog by Emma Parsons

I'm not sure you could call it a windup purely on that? I have had trainers tell me to do that when I was seeking help for Zoe's dog aggression.

Very interesting first post. One of my dogs is aggressive towards other dogs, and I think a contributing factor was how I had socialised her by taking her to the off lead park and just letting her run round with the other dogs. I do remember a couple of times when she was run over by other dogs and may have had a bad experience, and with a somewhat nervous temperament, this may have been part of our problem. I am more careful with my other dogs now. More relaxed with my GSD as he is pretty easy going around other dogs, careful with my Kelpie as he can be more reactive if the other dog is showing too much interest in him, dominant or confrontational body language. If I think they will get along, I let them meet, if I don't think they will get along, we just keep on going. If the other dog is a friend, I will let them play. My Kelpie generally prefers to ignore other dogs unless it is one he likes.

I think at the Easter Show it is a Police Dog display? Pretty sure it is not Schutzhund though. Schutzhund uses an arm only, not a bite suit.

What are you putting on her nose? I have done this with treats and had no problem with the flicking and catching bit

Athleticism is not what would hold a Basenji back from agility I have talked to owners and breeders of Basenjis (as I think they are gorgeous) who all say they are difficult to train and difficult to get a good recall on and are not always good with other dogs. This is why I would not consider getting one, I like my biddable working dogs I think their independence is what might make them difficult to train for agility, they are not eager to please like many of the breeds that traditionally do the sport. No reason why you couldn't give it a go though, providing you have a good recall and stay.

For agility you need a start line stay (position of your choice - I use sit), drop stay for the table and recall. You can use any type of signal you like, hand or voice, does not need to be formal like obedience. There are many less 'rules' than obedience in what commands and signals you can use, though for a competitive performance it is a good idea to be consistent with your signals so you don't confuse your dog. There are a couple of different handling styles around to help you with the common signals used in agility for turning your dog and giving directions, but you won't get penalised for using any combination of signals. While I don't do agility competitively with Diesel, I sometimes give him a run while I have the equipment out for the others, auto sit is not a problem, all the focus training I have done though creates issues with too much handler focus and he does not like to go ahead of me as much.

There are many ways to teach the weaves lol. This is a discussion going on at the moment, mostly focussing on Susan Garrett's 2 x 2 weave method, which is not the one I am using. http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...=164135&hl= If you can get a good send and good distance control on your dog you don't have to keep up, but otherwise you do a bit of running

Here is our weaving - taken today. A few videos, thought it would be easier to put them on their own rather than clutter this one http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=164919

OK here are some videos taken today of our weaving. Kaos is going really well Here is right side entry, right side right angle entry and difficult right side entry. Here is Zoe doing 3 pole entry and 4 poles slanted. Not as fast as Kaos, but not bad considering she is 9 years old and our weave training with her has been a bit all over the place.

Thanks. How hard is Open A Jumping? The next trial on 16-17 May has this event, wondering whether to enter.

So Open A - that is open to all dogs right? I get a bit confused with all the divisions in ADAA Will there be Jumping events or only Agility?

My leadouts are guesswork/intuitive at this stage Derrett would do leadout pivot right? I only learnt about that at the last PICSI training I went to in March. Edit: got month wrong! Trying to type with baby on lap doesn't always work!

I heard about the World Dog Games event at a trial yesterday - to be held at Acer Arena in October this year. Apparently there is a prize of $10,000 to be won! Tryouts at the June WAC trials in Macksville. Here is all the information I could find: http://www.adaa.com.au/articles/chairreportapr09.htm Does anyone else know more?

Thanks guys Still some work to do, we struggled a bit with the easy serpentine they gave us - he can do it in training, I just didn't give him quite enough room so not very smooth. And a bit more confidence and speed in his send to the end would be nice too.

Today we got our 3rd Novice Jumping Qually - which means we get our title! Not our best run - Kaos stopped to sniff in the middle of the course, so did a few others, turns out there was dry food sprinkled on that part of the course! Something we obviously haven't proofed for! Ended up being about 1 second over time, but the judge took into account the food on the course.

Today we got our 3rd Novice Jumping Qually - which means we get our title! Not our best run - Kaos stopped to sniff in the middle of the course, so did a few others, turns out there was dry food sprinkled on that part of the course! Something we obviously haven't proofed for! Ended up being about 1 second over time, but the judge then took into account the food on the course and gave me a qually.

Very impressive - well done!

Yeah must remember to have fun I get really nervous and stressy, no wonder Diesel lags in that situation I have more fun at agility, think the judge giving directions at obedience is what makes me nervous. But can't do agility with Diesel as he is not really coordinated enough lol would be so frustrating after the Kelpies, and he broke his leg as a pup, doesn't bother him but I wouldn't want to test it at comps. So obedience it is ETA: OH is asking why I am torturing myself by considering putting Diesel in a trial

Good point, I should practice with a peg. With the nerves, well I am hoping experience will help that Just means the first few will be shocking! Getting better at agility now, not so nervous, but you can give more cues and commands in agility, and once you are on course, it is just you and the dog, noone telling you what to do.

There are several of us on here that have to deal with dog aggressive dogs - my Zoe is also dog aggressive. Firstly, I would avoid situations that cause your dog to be aggressive until you can address the problem, as the more it happens the harder it is going to be to change. This may mean walking in a quieter area where there are less dogs, or walking at a different time, or crossing the road when another dog comes, or going into a driveway so you can get more distance between your dog and another dog. I personally found that persisting with going to the dog club did not help, as people did not respect my wishes not to bring their dog close to mine. What I would have done if I had my time over again is to go to a behaviourist to get some one on one help. A book that I have found helped me is Click to Calm: Healing the Aggressive Dog by Emma Parsons - it deals with getting your dog's attention, and teaching them to look at you when they see another dog instead of becoming aggressive.

I think you can either do Community Companion Dog (CCD) or Novice (which gains you CD - Companion Dog). CCD is the lowest but I don't think you have to do it?