emilymarston

My cocker was desexed at 8 months old. This could possibly explain why she's a tiny 10kg, even though both of her parents were roughly 14kg. She also has a different coat texture, and never grew a silky feathering. Instead her fur is very thick + curly and almost always has to be shaved off. I would desex when the dog matures, just to make sure the dog develops properly.

I used a target disk to get my dog further and further away from me. I also rewarded my dog by throwing the away from me, so she expects to move away for a reward. Eventually I built a bigger distance and slowly worked up to adding extra cues once she reached the target. Hope this helps!

Definitely get her clipped. Consider buying a dog coat if you're concerned about her being too cold :)

Thank you!!!!! For the moment, I'm siding with borders from show lines thanks to some nice feedback up there :)

I've got a cocker spaniel. She's a great little dog, loves kids and is very smart. I've been training her in obedience for a few years, we got up to class four then stopped. She's learnt a lot of tricks, over 100 now, and we're just starting agility. She's pretty tolerant with kids and other people but loves being cuddled by me. I couldn't be happier with a cocker. They're very good family dogs and respond surprisingly well to training. Good luck finding your puppy.

Also consider English Cockers. They're very similar to springers but a bit smaller and a little less active. My cocker is quite energetic and walks 12km or more each week. All those breeds you listed are good family dogs and walking buddies. Good luck finding your puppy!

Thanks everyone! DiscoDobe I used a lot of food, and started down low. First I taught her to jump and balance on my leg, then I slowly worked my way up. Notice how sometimes I had my knee lifted a little, just so Bonnie can jump up.

both my dogs eyes are naturally brown and they both shine bright green at night. my cocker has a problem with one of her eyes though, thanks to an accident at the groomers, and now the right eye doesn't shine as brightly at night.

So some of you would like to see our agility updates so here goes: we've been training a bit more with more treats, as I said last time. I've noticed a big difference since the last time I filmed! I've been using more rewards and doing shorted sequences, which has helped a lot. I've been moving around a bit more and so has Bonnie, who was actually running this time! She's been looking happier to start training and just overall looks more eager to participate. I've been doing much shorter sequences, and realized she goes faster for them. Apart from the last clip, I thought the rest were pretty good. I also noticed that Bonnie is very bouncy when running, haha she looks really silly but at least she's having fun now. Thanks for all your feedback!! Here's a video if anyone wants to watch :)

No. One of my dog's is pretty antisocial, and she doesn't like to be picked up or cuddled. My other dog however will lie on your lap and sleep on your bed all day if she could. I love both of my dogs, but I feel more connected to one rather than the other

Thank you!! Yes, I recently started a topic looking for some near-by agility classes :)

Hello!! I was looking into starting some agility classes with my 3 year old cocker spaniel. But so far I haven't found many. I live on the northern side of Melbourne, but most of the classes I've found are pretty far away. So has anyone found some reasonably priced agility classes on the north side of Melbourne??

Hello again!! So this isn't about Border Collies, just an update on Bonnie's agility. so keep reading if you would like to see how I'm going!! so today I filmed a session with Bonnie. As soon as I watched it, I found what I've been doing wrong. I haven't been rewarding her nearly enough. At one part of the clip, I made her do the same jumps over and over for a whole minute before finally rewarding her. So Bonnie is not the problem, it's clearly me!!! this is why Bonnie has been starting to walk during agility, I've tired her out!!! both physically and mentally I've been asking way too much of her. I'm guessing that how I have been rewarding Bon, or not rewarding, has changed how she's been performing. I know she wants to please me, but I'm asking way too much. so instead of just going flat out like I've been wanting her to, Bonnie has been pacing herself because she knows I'm not going to reward her soon. or she might just be bored, which is probably what's really happening. anyway, hopefully I can fix the now "not so little" problem I've created. so tomorrow I'm going to give agility another go, but I'm going to reward much shorter sequences and keep everything positive

I'd like to, but all of the classes and stuff are really far away from where I live. At the moment I just make up pretend routines at home :)

Every school holidays :) he's going to turn 1 in a couple of days, so next time I see him I'll probably be able to do some actual agility with him

Yes, my parents said I'm not allowed to get my own dog until I move out. I'm 14 now so I've still got a long time to consider this. I'm training my cocker at the moment, I love teaching her tricks and we've only just started agility. So for now I'm just dreaming up my perfect dog, and working with my cocker. Thanks for the help!

Thanks for the tip!! My cocker is pretty slow and steady most of the time, hopefully I'll learn a lot about agility from her :)

Thanks for the tip!! Tomorrow I'll try to run with Bonnie during training and see if we both improve. I'm still a beginner in agility but this sounds really helpful already :)

Yes, I've really started doing agility in the last 12 months so I'm very much a beginner. I haven't had any classes yet, but hopefully we'll be going to some soon. Thanks for the help!! I haven't tried running around much before, as I don't really know what I'm doing just yet, but I'll give it ago tomorrow and tell you how it goes :) thanks again for the help!

Yes, I have been looking at dogs from show lines. My cousin has a dog bred by Terrabella, and he is just a great and energetic dog to work with. I'm still on the fence on which sort of lines I want my dog to be from, it's so hard to pick because I love both varieties for different reasons. Thanks for the reply!

No, I'm not trialing yet. My cocker is very close to my mum, and she freaks out in public without her. Last time we performed some tricks in public, in front of an audience, she ran off the stage looking for my mum. So we're not really ready to trial just yet. Bonnie is not very driven, but occasionally she will go crazy and actually run during training. I've tried different treats, toys, praise e.c.t but she only really gets moving when doing tricks. I'm working on her drive at the moment, we're getting better by incorporating tricks into agility. A few weeks ago I did some training with my cousins BC and even though he's never done agility in his life, he was so much faster and willing to work than Bonnie. I'm hopefully taking some agility classes soon, so we can both improve. I'm still very much a beginner, but as I improve I would like a dog that enjoys training a little more. Here's a recent video of me + my cocker doing some agility practice

Hello!! I was just wondering if there were any good performance/working type Border Collie breeders in Australia?? I've been doing a bit of research and couldn't find too many breeders suitable for agility. So far I've found Guiremere, Kayladene, Adensly and Kerodan but I was wondering if there were any more? So does anyone know of, or bought from, a good working Border Collie breeder? I've started training my cocker in agility and have fallen in love with the sport!! Sad thing is my dog hasn't. So in a couple of years I would like to add a Border Collie to my family to continue with agility

Bonnie still has some silky fur around her neck, and the tops of her legs. And both of those areas have been shaved every time. I think it might grow back, but will never be beautiful like her original coat.

Yes she is desexed. We got her desexed at around 8 months old, she still had puppy fur then.

Yes, she was desexed at around 8 months old. She still had her puppy fur back then