Lablover

I greatly enjoyed the day. Thanks everyone.

The article was related to information achieved, to links to various sites. Frankly I was surprised they visited Australian links, as avoidance training, force, negative re enforcement, conditioning to such etc is more common in their own country.

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I have organised overseas trainers to hold seminars in the past, and have to admit the SARDOG training day, will be great also. Please feel free to Email me if anyone has further questions.

- this comment made me think that ruthless got professional advice on what collar to use for the dog. Fair enough, but I had to ask :rolleyes:. A prong collar seems, to me, and I am more than happy to be um.......corrected, that the tool may be not necessary, especially as the dog has been further educated.

I was reminded today, after receiving a Volume, of Journal of Veterinary Behavior, that you have to be careful of what is typed on the web. This particular thread was the current issue's Editorial.

It may??????????????, be worthwhile, TEACHING+++++++, conditioning, and then using a heeling stick, for control.

No need to apologise. Any tool or implement can be used wrongly. As long as conditioning, fairness (and this normally takes experience) with good timing and consistency, and change of required behaviour results. Correction (in its various forms) is sometimes warranted. The problem I have, is not many people are fair to their dogs. Ruthless, do you think your dog needs a prong, to be "trained"? I ask this question, not as an insult, but ........simply interested.

Sorry for my confusing question. I did indeed mean the different formats to old field trials to the proposed newer versions. I have only attended ONE field trial and my husband is the hunter in the family, so my knowledge of the mechanics of field trialling is limited.

This morning I have been returning PMs and Emails, in the hope of finalising numbers. If you have not received a message, could you let me know. With people having different log in names, it becomes VERY confusing. Thankyou.

Working Setters, I am interested. Would the above apply, to the old style- when game was a plenty - field trials?

Ruthless......great name by the way. Be Ruthless, train one on one. Or as others have suggested, find a good trainer for one on one training.

When I rode horses, years ago mind you, hacking did not do IT for me, so I went to 3 day events. Nowdays, after competing and enjoying obedience trials, retriever training and trialling, is my (and luckily my dogs) love. In my chosen "game", quite apart from my husband being a hunter - which in reality is very easy, working with a dog with the right instinct, right drive, right nerves, right training, and right luck is so much fun.

Leopuppy, Glad to hear the limp has resolved. I have 5 labs, one retired, four competing. Recently..........it had seemed so strange.........as no vet visits had been required for months, LOL. Unfortunately the retired girl, who at 13 has significant arthritis, and is topped up from time to time with pain killers as well as her normal medication had a crisis, which has resolved. In my experience there is always a reason for a limp. Hopefully your dog, like mine who limp from time to time, had simply a cracked nail, pad cut, or foreign body.

Sorry, addition: Is your dog limping slightly?

Damm, I reckon you both look great ++++++. Maybe shorten your stride before change of direction (as dogs are experts in reading our body behaviour) and before commands. Top job. Very very very nice focus. Have you competed yet? Have you practiced without your dog, as in, a trusted friend watching YOUR movements?

You poor soul. If you are like me, everything in your life will change. Home, vehicles, lifestyle, normal????? friends who think you are possessed. Getting up at 5.30 to travel to a trial or training. Well..........you get used to it.

Good idea. If you exercise your dog before and after work, you would be surprised how many hours your dog sleep. Good luck.

A Living Love If you ever love an animal, there are three days in your life you will always remember.... The first is a day, blessed with happiness, when you bring home your young new friend. You may have spent weeks deciding on a litter. You may have asked numerous opinions of many vets, or done long research in finding a breeder. Or, perhaps in a fleeting moment, you may have just chosen that silly looking mutt in a shelter--simply because something in its eyes reached your heart. But when you bring that chosen pet home, and watch it explore, and claim its special place in your hall or front room--and when you feel it brush against you for the first time--it instills a feeling of pure love you will carry with you through the many years to come. The second day will occur eight or nine or ten years later. It will be a day like any other. Routine and unexceptional. But, for a surprising instant, you will look at your longtime friend and see age where you once saw youth. You will see slow deliberate steps where you once saw energy. And you will see sleep when you once saw activity. So you will begin to adjust your friend's diet--and you may add a pill or two to her food. And you may feel a growing fear deep within yourself, which bodes of a coming emptiness. And you will feel this uneasy feeling, on and off, until the third day finally arrives. And on this day--if your friend and God have not decided for you, then you will be faced with making a decision of your own--on behalf of your lifelong friend, and with the guidance of your own deepest Spirit. But whichever way your friend eventually leaves you--you will feel as alone as a single star in the dark night. If you are wise, you will let the tears flow as freely and as often as they must. And if you are typical, you will find that not many in your circle of family or friends will be able to understand your grief, or comfort you. But if you are true to the love of the pet you cherished through the many joy-filled years, you may find that a soul--a bit smaller in size than your own--seems to walk with you, at times, during the lonely days to come. And at moments when you least expect anything out of the ordinary to happen, you may feel something brush against your leg--very very lightly. And looking down at the place where your dear, perhaps dearest, friend used to lay--you will remember those three significant days. The memory will most likely to be painful, and leave an ache in your heart--As time passes the ache will come and go as if it has a life of its own. You will both reject it and embrace it, and it may confuse you. If you reject it, it will depress you. If you embrace it, it will deepen you. Either way, it will still be an ache. But there will be, I assure you, a fourth day when--along with the memory of your pet--and piercing through the heaviness in your heart--there will come a realization that belongs only to you. It will be as unique and strong as our relationship with each animal we have loved, and lost. This realization takes the form of a Living Love--like the heavenly scent of a rose that remains after the petals have wilted, this Love will remain and grow--and be there for us to remember. It is a love we have earned. It is the legacy our pets leave us when they go. And it is a gift we may keep with us as long as we live. It is a Love which is ours alone. And until we ourselves leave, perhaps to join our Beloved Pets--it is a Love we will always possess. (by Martin Scot Kosins)

http://doyourememberlove.com/narration.html

WINTER OF LIFE Lord, he is old and weakened, He walks where he used to run. In his youth he was always a happy dog, Now he sleeps his days away in the sun. Please make his trail mostly level, As he travels these last few miles. Provide shade away from the heat of day, Where he can stop and rest for awhile. If it rains let the drops be gentle, If it blows let the breeze be warm. Let the winter of life be kind, Provide shelter and keep him from harm. Please Lord, if he must suffer, Give the pain and hurting to me. He has been through life's raging waters, As only a man's dog can be. He doesn't deserve to be hurting, He has lived a hard and long time. I hope as he leaves he'll be knowing, Your love, as he has always known mine. I raised him, Lord, from a puppy, We have followed some rough rocky trails. Please Lord, make this last trail gentle, As he comes to where love never fails. Louis A. Carle

The old girl felt her worn and tired muscles relax and her pain dissolve. She drew in a long, soft breath and relaxed a little more as the familiar, loving scent of her people, filled her lungs. Memories of them rushed through her brain and warmed her heart. "A collage of happy images and tender days." She felt their soft touches against her fur. Their hands sent a tactile message of their gratitude and their love. She felt the warmth atop her head and neck and blinked and saw their faces streaked with tears. "Don't cry for me or feel sad." She heard them as she shut her eyes. They said her name and the "good girl" words, through their pain and sorrow. In her mind, her tail wagged to tell them that she heard. And understood. "Good bye, my Hearts." She is standing in a meadow, near a stream. The sky is fiercely blue. She hears the song of many birds and smells the growing grass. Her legs are strong. Her eyes are clear. She begins to walk toward a brightly colored bridge, far off on the horizon, but pauses for a moment and looks back. "Thank you. Until the day we walk together once again." She turns and wags her thick strong tail and runs. And runs. 2000 Walt Zientek

Ha ha. Never could work out why he uses such a long sentence, as well as jumping about as he does. Anyway, I used cuddle, as it is well conditioned at night, while sitting on the couch watching TV etc.

Goodness, I am impressed, and you are just starting with Kovu?. Its so much easier to show people. Whole seminars, books, videos, DVDs are on this subject. That being said, we must remember the demonstration dogs in videos and DVD's are generally highly driven dogs, with good nerves, besides being highly edited.

Myszka, That's great news. I love to hear how DOL dogs are progressing.