Kavik

What was the surface like to run on? I've never run on anything other than grass.

When Zoe was quite bad with storms etc she would still bark and carry on in a crate, but was quiet under coffee table, not sure why.

If she is safe and happy under there I would leave her be. Strangely my Kelpie X seems to be getting better as she gets older. She used to shake and bark and hide under the table, now at 12 she doesn't notice as much - I think because her hearing is starting to go

If I have people over who are scared of/not comfortable around dogs I put the dogs away, simple really It is not fair to subject them to dogs if they are scared of them. Certainly if your dog tends to act intimidating, and also he is a breed that would make some uncomfortable. I also put them away when we have tradies over, simply because tradies often do not like dogs/are scared of dogs, the dogs would get in the way as they like to say hi to people, and tradies are notorious for leaving gates open.

I wouldn't have children try to take food or bones away from dog - too dangerous and risky! Better to allow the dog to eat in peace (I also recommend crates - that way no dog can intimidate another off of food or bones) and address the problem another way. Dogs + food + children close/taking food = accident! In regards to children, getting dogs to do simple commands for treats (sit eg) works well and safer than trying to teach them to take food away. Dogs will view little babies differently to toddlers differently to children. There is no way you can get a dog to view a baby as higher in pecking order than a dog, but they are also no threat (just sit there, not moving yet) and so far I have found the most difficult time when they are starting to walk - 12 - 18 months or so, maybe up to 2 or 2 1/2 when they lean on/sit on and try to pull ears and tails and don't understand how to treat dogs and are also a bit unsteady on their feet.

The positive thing I see in the video is that when a dog did not wish to interact/was not enjoying the interaction (and I saw several such encounters), they avoided and moved away from the situation rather than reacting.

Personally if I was doing competition obedience (which I'm not) I wouldn't teach tricks which might erode a drop stay position until that was well established (so crawl, play dead, roll over)

Touch target with nose or paw spin backup crawl beg play dead rollover shake hands

I never let my son near the dogs while they eat and certainly not pat them - not worth the risk.

OK I am a bit confused Do you enter all 3 heats?

Red in Kelpies! And I think brown or chocolate in Dobes (I got corrected when I called it red )

Trim is hillarious

I like crates for bringing pups home and until they get used to wearing a harness (this took some time to train so they wouldn't freak out/tangle themselves up). I prefer crates generally in the car, but I have to fit kids in too, and don't have enough space for a crate as well! So a harness it is. A station wagon is so on my wish list!

Maybe he meant that after 16 weeks it is no longer in the socialisation period, and he may call work with different environments and stimuli something different to socialisation

I use a NRM for weave entries

Are you sure you didn't misunderstand what Craig said/meant? The primary socialisation period DOES end around 16 weeks. There are measures you can do to improve the situation, but it would not be the same as if you were within this period.

Kaos wants to get things right, he doesn't purposely take incorrect obstacles. If he pulls off a jump, or takes an off course tunnel, it is much more likely that either he got confused (rear crosses), I slowed down or turned too early, or didn't signal soon enough (off course tunnel). I'm finding that this year my challenges are different to last year. Last year he powered ahead and I had most of my problems with off course obstacles and turning. This year he is reading my body much better but is pulling off jumps earlier if I turn or slow down.

My dog would shut down if I did that KTB.

Next time I talk to a judge I will ask them about it. If they go out of the ring to deliver the reward, that doesn't break the rule. May take a lot of time though, which you don't get that much of for a course. Not sure how it would work re start lines though? (something that was stated as what a lot of people would use it for) as you want to reward the stay, which normally means rewarding in position. Contacts as well, many people would reward in position for 2o2o.

I don't know. The rule as far as I can make out is that you can only reward with a toy that does not leave your hand in the ring. Since you only get standard course time, you wouldn't want to waste time running out of the ring to reward anyway. The benefit is being able to reward straight away like you would at training to prevent ring wise issues. Running out would still mean a delay in the reward.

I don't know of any clubs that look down on food (most people use food for something in their training attention, tricks etc). You can always have food at the end of a run in competition, it is only in runs where you are allowed to reward during the run that you can't because you are not allowed to take it in the ring for obvious reasons such as distracting other dogs by dropped bits and smells. My dog's favourite reward though is thrown atm and you can't do that straight away except at training.

You can't use food in Not For Competition runs because these runs are designed for you to be able to reward your dog in the ring to allow you to fix any issues that may appear in competition but may not appear in training. start lines or contacts or weave speed etc. Obviously you can't take food into the ring, so you can't get the benefit of them.

I have a preference in colour but temperament/structure/health are more important. In Kelpies the colours I would NOT want, and would knock back if offered, are the dilutes, due to colour dilution alopecia possibilities. ETA: considering that my preferred colours are far more common than dilutes in the lines I like, I doubt it would ever be an issue.

Trying to get the dog to tug if they don't like toys at all would certainly be very difficult. Mine likes toys, and works very well for thrown toys, and currently will tug in the yard, but not out and about. If he didn't like toys at all, I would stick to food. I was really bummed when I heard about the NFC runs - would be very handy to be able to use them for a variety of proofing exercises/trial/ring related problems, but I can't make use of them atm cause he won't tug.

Susan Garrett is one of those that think dogs should tug for agility - I think she only allows people into her physical classes if they tug? Certainly part of it is probably ease of reward. Many dogs are more excited by toys than food (the work is faster/flashier/drivier). You can't reward with a thrown or noisy toy straight away in a trial, but you can tug. And tug is an interactive game with the handler. And you can reward the dog with a toy close to you, such as recall, or stationary position, eg contacts, where otherwise you'd have to use food as you wouldn't want to use a thrown toy then. ETA: also you can use a tug for rewarding in NFC runs, but you can't throw a toy or use food, so you basically can't make use of them unless your dog tugs. Throwing/retrieving a thrown toy is alot easier though