Kavik

Watched the 3rd promotional video - very interesting and covered a lot of points and areas where I have problems (such as DWDH - don't wanna don't hafta) - great to see her work through it with a different dog.

IMO anything that is solid enough to be 'permanent' in a dog park that gets lots of use is likely to be dangerous. Are there any proper agility clubs in your area? Or anyone who does private lessons? Or even a competitor who has their own equipment, who might let you come over and run your dog on it for a fee? That would be much safer, on regulation equipment, and get some instruction.

Yes that was a good story!

MRB - are you on IC Peep membership?

It can be very useful to get help from other trainers. There is a wide range of trainers and disciplines, and nobody knows everything. Expertise of course varies, from local dog clubs to private trainers, as does the expense. At the very least it can be useful to have the opinion of a neutral party who can see things that you cannot. And if you are having a problem that is more serious than you have the tools to deal with, trainers can help with a plan of action to help. Even top level competitors get instruction from others for training their dog and go to seminars, dog training is constantly evolving.

Absolutely. But some shelters (acting as pounds in Vic) are now refusing to release to Army due to "welfare concerns". Frustrating but it is the reality. A relative of my ESS has been working as a bomb detector dog in Afghanistan. Yep, I've heard a couple of shelters/rescues say the same thing and it drives me mental as most of the suitable dogs for the Army are the ones that go nuts in the shelter and aren't fantastic pet prospects either. Cos it's much better to kill the dog than give it a great working life satisfying all it's drives.... I've been hearing the same thing from some rescues as well. Doesn't make sense to me, much better that they go somewhere they will be happy and help people at the same time.

I'm pretty sure Guide Dogs NSW and the NSW Police both breed their own dogs. AQIS is fading out Beagles and will only be using Labradors.

This one is probably my favourite of this years - very clever!

Thanks! I think it is better than my video last year! I didn't get into the finals though, oh well! Time commitment on the course - depends on how much you want to do. A couple of short sessions of a couple of minutes long works! Some of the games fit easily into a warmup routine for training other things as they are drive building/relationship building type games. I didn't like the winner of this year's video comp at all Didn't really show the dog doing anything. I did recallers last year and whilst I did think it was brilliant, I found it hard to be consistent with the games and sort of gave up half way through. I do think what we did manage to do helped build my relationship with Luka though. That was one good thing about doing the course again. Knowing the format etc and then working on the games we didn't master the first time around, as well as being more relaxed about it, whereas the first time felt a bit rushed as there is a lot of course content (as in all of SG's courses). Of the 3 of this years winners, I like the third one the best, with the Beagle - the start of endless possibilities. They were all about journeys with very difficult/rescue type dogs this time that won.

Thanks! I think it is better than my video last year! I didn't get into the finals though, oh well! Time commitment on the course - depends on how much you want to do. A couple of short sessions of a couple of minutes long works! Some of the games fit easily into a warmup routine for training other things as they are drive building/relationship building type games.

Hi guys, The course will cost money, I'm not sure how much Recallers 5 will cost, those details will roll out after the video series is finished, there are usually 3 tiers of membership with different pricing. You don't need to submit any videos. Once you have done the course, you are then eligible to enter the next course for free via a video submission for a video contest, which is what I have done :)

You will enjoy Recallers! I will be there too - this will be my third time :) This was my video entry to get into Recallers 5

Yes agility has changed a lot and is continuing to change! I feel it is getting more complicated and is now a lot more about handling, as we are starting to look at what is happening overseas, particularly in Europe, in terms of course design. Some things have gotten 'easier' eg lower jump heights and more jump heights, lower seesaw height, and now there are separate heights so that the small dogs, medium dogs and large dogs are only competing against their own height, not against all heights. This gives many non-traditional breeds that are small or large a good chance, as they are not competing against the Border Collies. BCs are the most popular breed at the highest level all over the world. However, there are still a wide range of breeds participating in agility at all levels, and I don't see the numbers dropping where I am.

There are LOTS of breeds where there is a large difference between show lines and working lines :laugh: Both of the breeds I own for example - Kelpies and GSDs. When I was last doing obedience (about 5 or maybe more years ago?) Golden Retrievers, Border Collies and Australian Shepherds were the breeds of choice in the higher classes But why Kavik, that is what I don't understand? If the breed standard was established to be a 'perfect' example of the the breed then surely they should be the ones who can 'work' well. In the working class obviously. I'm not sure why there are differences. With some breeds, like the GSD, its purpose has changed over time, now working line GSD mostly means protection or protection sport bred, and not sheepwork. No idea if that has also influenced its changing shape in the showring, probably one of the most controversial breeds in the showring. Working Kelpies still perform their original sheepherding task, and working Kelpies vary quite a bit in build, depending on the type of work that person does, the terrain, type of stock, and preference. I'm not sure why show Kelpies are so different - they are in general shorter and heavier built, with more coat.

There are LOTS of breeds where there is a large difference between show lines and working lines :laugh: Both of the breeds I own for example - Kelpies and GSDs. When I was last doing obedience (about 5 or maybe more years ago?) Golden Retrievers, Border Collies and Australian Shepherds were the breeds of choice in the higher classes

It will be great to catch up with you!

I'll be there doing the agility demo with Kaos! Come and check it out and say hi!

ewwww..messy Yes it was rather gross!

If I'd had my camera I could have done one of these photos this morning! Nitro found a dead possum. Wasn't anywhere near as good as your dogs - he grabbed it super fast and wanted to eat it! I had an interesting time wrestling it from him!

Will you be there MonElite? I'm going for the agility demo - would be great to catch up, haven't seen you in ages!

I'm so sorry You took some fantastic photos of him!

I prefer day trials, 8:30 am starts are fine, I don't do well with very late nights so I like to be able to get home for dinner, or with evening trials I like to be home before midnight! 2 or 3 am finishes don't work well with my schedule!

I can get a whole dog's worth of hair off my GSD every week! Probably get as much off him every week as I get off the Kelpies combined in a whole year! :laugh:

You just have to keep training interesting and short :)

Not anywhere near as much as a GSD! :laugh: