Kavik

Nice work with Bondi! wheres my rock - except for the stand for exam, I think even Diesel could manage that routine!

Hi daisy I have done most of my training with food, and I am trying to do some training in drive. I am finding a few things that make training in drive difficult. One is if the dog does not have a lot of drive and it takes a lot of stimulation and work to get them interested in chasing a toy. Another is that some types of other training can inhibit prey drive and they may think they are not allowed to chase and bite the toy. Even with my dog who has good drive, different environments provide a lot of distraction. So first you would have to evaluate if your dog has enough drive to work with. If not, then you will get frustrated with this method. Then if you do have enough drive there, you will want to build it and then you can direct it and harness it. Here is an article someone posted on another topic about creating a motivating toy which I found an interesting read http://www.clickerdogs.com/createamotivatingtoy.htm

While I really like my club, and it is the best I have found so far, we are not up to trialling standard and I'm not sure we will get there with Diesel. They are happy with our progress and Diesel's heeling, but I would like really upbeat focussed heeling, and this happens only occasionally. They also don't teach a particularly motivated drop on recall (not that we are up to that ;) ) and a lot of dogs are slow on this exercise. I am teaching a drop at a distance for a toy, which is getting good results, which is how I would like to do drop on recall when we get there. I did manage to speed up his recall Diesel is still a bit slow for my liking, the people at my club think he is very energetic It is the little niggling things that are difficult to fix at a club, as they generally do the same exercises each week. My last club had a trialling class as well, that I was in with Zoe, but you had to go through the other classes first. The instructor for the trialling class did trial, but a lot of the other instructors were pet only, and so they taught trialling steps but with pet instructors, which made it difficult.

I am not a huge fan of the forced retrieve. Like some others, if I couldn't get the dog to retrieve using positive methods, well we wouldn't do retrieving. It is not absolutely necessary to have the dog retrieve. I know that it works, but I am uncomfortable with the method. I have had the most success using a clicker, especially with the initial hold part which is where I had my biggest problems. Speed is starting to come now too although Diesel may never be the fastest retriever ever. As with most things, Zoe is super fast but Diesel is more accurate and easier to fix problems

Hi myszka My obedience club has two parts : There is one that is aimed at pet owners that is run on Saturdays by Delta instructors. They do obedience, tricks, some basic agility. They do not allow check chains, only use flat, martingale or headcollar There is one aimed at people who are or are aiming at obedience trialling their dogs. This is run on Tuesday night and is the one I attend. The focus is obedience only, with a main class and then a separate area for more advanced retrieve/jumping/send away etc training which is done one on one. There are different instructors (all of whom trial and judge) to the weekend classes, and you are permitted to use check chains if you wish (most do use check chains, regardless of breed). Some people go off and do their own thing, and they have been pretty flexible in allowing me to try different things (even if they do think the food spitting is gross ). They encourage the use of motivators, most use food, some use toys, some use clickers. Western Suburbs Dog Training Club http://www.sinch.com.au/wsdtc/

I voted a couple of times a day. Like Sidoney I train in short sessions, trying for intensity. Mornings it is drive training and TOT for brekky, depending on what time I get home I might do some send aways or contact training in the afternoon with Kaos, and at the moment some drops at a distance for a toy with Diesel. Then a walk in the evening with some training. And TOT for dinner.

But I've seen heaps of breed books on APBT at local bookstores? Even recently.

The trick I most recently taught Zoe is putting an object in the bin (can be used for putting toys away). I used toilet paper rolls and a wicker basket bin. I used the bin as a target, then progressed to putting head in the bin. Then I introduced the toilet paper rolls. Zoe already knows how to retrieve. I got her to hold the toilet paper roll right over the bin and then gave the 'bin' command, so she put her head in the bin, then c/t, and she let go. Then I gradually moved the toilet paper roll further away from the bin, and she picked it up and put it in the bin. Now I can have her in a sit stay, put the toilet paper roll on the other side of the room, and she will get it and put it in the bin. Took a few months though

Cobber looks great And I would love to see Trim run We will probably join up next year when Kaos is old enough for classes.

The key is simply to have an open mind. I have no problem with people questioning tools or methods as I hadn't heard of them until doing the NDTF course. The problem is it does tend to get heated on both sides of the discussion.

I am a food spitter and glad to say we are back to it after a forced break when Diesel had to be on z/d for suspected food allergies. I also use a clicker. I agree with leopuppy and would lower expectations. Diesel heels great at training and now at the park but in new locations he gets distracted and doesn't work so well, so we are working on simpler things such as only eye contact, or exercises he knows well and will get his attention such as a short come-fore. I also use a high rate of reinforcement in these cases to keep his attention.

I don't know what you can do about the bluetongue - is there a way you can keep it separate from the dogs? Or if you are so worried about it - can you put her away so she can't get to the bluetongue?

I wouldn't do the alpha roll. A blue tongue has no chance here In our old place I came home to one dead blue tongue a week for 5 weeks!

myszka Give clicker training a go, you know you want to Once they get the hang of it (and you too) it is sooo much fun I have just taught Zoe to pick up an object and place it in the bin using a clicker. And I am using a clicker to teach Kaos the contact behaviour two on/ two off for agility. Divani is looking good

My parents adopted a Beagle from rescue that barked A LOT - all night long and whenever left alone during the day. After numerous complaints from council and no sleep for us, they tried an electric no bark collar which worked quite well. At work we also have some dogs which bark excessively. What we have found sometimes works is a gentle leader (depending on the dog) - the hushers look good too. I have seen some on dogs at agility.

I was talking to sidoney about this video earlier in the year. She said the French agility dogs are also extreme speed/drive with not a lot of control. Maybe they just like them like that

No photos sorry, but he just got a haircut yesterday

HAve fun! We can compare first time herding experiences

He will get the idea, your story is funny though cassie's advice is good. We have a Bernese Mountain Dog pup about 8-9 months maybe? who comes to work, and when he pees it is at least a lake, if not an ocean Biggest wees I have ever seen! So I don't envy your clean up jobs

Would love to have the kind of focus Jerry and Rudy have! Most of the trialling dogs in my club don't have that good focus! And I agree that is great control as well as intensity.

Love this vid Have to admit I found being the decoy rather scary, not surprising since the dogs weighed more than me

Marketing forces? How so? Pinch collars and ecollars are hardly widely available in Oz. I didn't even know about pinch collars until 6 years ago. I like choice in training - methods and equipment I may not choose to use a certain method or piece of equipment, but I like that there are choices as different things work for different people and different dogs.

I like the Koolies. Every time I go to the Pet and Animal Expo I go to their stall and go I like the smaller, finer boned type rather than the heavier type (just personal preference) and the shorter coats. I like the darker merles. They had a rescue needing a home this year at the expo and she was gorgeous

I can't wait to meet Jack, he sounds like a hoot! Wait till you meet Kaos :D The people at obedience think I am mad to have Kelpies. They think they are mental. I wouldn't have it any other way

When out on walks and we see birds he will start to work them and then stop and hold his position. Would it be OK to use this situation to introduce the 'Stop' command?