Lablover

CTD, I am confused now, do you mean staying by your side or away from you. Tia is your youngster? I cannot remember how old she is. Stays, to my way of thinking, without all the fancy behaviour catch words LOL, is a non drive exercise. Stay means stay. As you know in retrieving trials, dogs are left behind trees/cover, as the handler continues to the starting pegs, the handler then fires a blank or blanks, and after a delay to show (dog) steadiness, the handler calls the dog to heel.

Just a thought, maybe Zac has a thyroid problem? You have a lot of dogs..............like me LOL.

Think deeply while having time out, in the garden, with a nice drink. Learned helplessness may be worth consideration. That is, if, she has good nerves. Concentrate - focus, on what she deems worthy. Possibly, she is not a good show prospect?

Satisfaction comes in many forms. Having three entire males (including a bitch who humps despite being speyed a few months ago) in my household, is interesting, to say the least!!! The boys ignore a bitch in full season, when working.

When Darcy thinks you are not about and not observing, does he hump? Mounting behaviors occur due to sexual hormone influences, dominance behavior, anxiety, and sometimes as a sort of obsessive/compulsive disorder.

Myszka, Do you think???????????, there is a small chance that you are contributing to her nervous behaviour, by .......um.......... not acting the confident leader. Sometimes, and I do not mean you personally, owners can over "mummy" their dogs.

Country Joe, now that you have rewet the whistle, are you entering the Feb trial?

Even being well aware of the fact that a large part of a dog's performance is situational, I am still amazed at the difference location makes. When you go training with somebody and they take you to their home paddock, swamp, lagoon etc, the dogs frequently look like magic, and you go WOW - that's an AWERSOME dog. You go to a new location, ask the dog to perform the same type of exercise and it's frequently so lousy that initially you have trouble believing it's the same dog. Even after seeing this happen over and over, I still have to shake my head and wonder why. Even well conditioned dogs never seem to have quite as much confidence when travelling as they do in their home paddock. Yes indeedie, , I think good performances, whatever the endeavour, without proofing in new locations which include different distractions, gives one I false sense of security, which in my experience has shown up at retrieving trials. That is my excuse when I fail

More good news.

Good on you, Country Joe, Jock and Whisky. What am I not surprised? Good trainers, are good trainers!!!

Have you tried dog crates?. Marvellous!!!!!!!!!!!

I understand. Hopefully age will help settle your youngster down. Does he do much free running in large areas? A tired dog, is normally a good dog. I am sitting here, looking down at my very active fellow, fast asleep on my feet. He does rest. I cannot help notice grey flecks (his is black) where his coat has grown back and many hairless areas, due to him not taking care of himself. He is only 18 months. He is going to look old before his time.

Well? I know its still early, most are staying for the 2 days of competition and you may be too tired to post later tonight, but looking forward to hear of todays stakes. Including Country Joe, who I heard had entered also. Was GB entered?

Looking forward to it WS. I was training an hour away from the trial site this morning, thinking why why why did not enter!!!!!! Mind you my training partners were saying the same thing. Oh well..........February is not too far away.

There is a saying in retrieving circles, use the magic 6. Which means PROOF in six NEW different areas before your first trial.

Sorry Saltwood, for being unclear (it is quite normal for me LOL)!!!! When "this" particular youngster was released from his run in the mornings, I took the opportunity as he was running about toiletting and zooming close to me, (which he afforded me on endless occasions), to disencourage!!!!!!!!! him accidently running into me.

WS, I am in a bad mood LOL. Its looks as though it will be coolish tomorrow and Saturday. All my friends are currently driving to the trial. All could not believe I had not entered. Damm damm damm LOL.

How many dogs do you have? Five. One is retired, nearly 13!!!! Still wants to work, but she suffers from arthritis, so she just has fun retrieves and fun obedience. Two, just turned 5 years of age. Two, nearly 2 years of age. How often do you train etc. Every day. I also drive 3 hours, twice a week to train. Do you find it hard to train all of them? Sometimes when it is very hot or very cold (for me). The dogs are fine, they are dried when it is cold, the swum during training when hot. Me, I freeze, get wet or sweat. What are their rough ages - ie: are some retired, do you have multiple dogs at trialling level? Two at All Age. Two at novice/restricted. Do you feel that you have enough time for each dog? Yes, because I do not work for a living, have no human children and a very good husband. Do you have multiple breeds to train or do you only have the one breed? Any preferences in working style? One breed Labradors. High working desire is an absolute requirement. May I also add, two thoughts which come to mind regarding this topic. Inexperienced people tend to make the same mistakes when they own multiple dogs, particularly if training to a high standard. Inexperiened people also tend to compare their dogs currently in training. Each dog is a little different (my four in training are very very different), no matter if they are same breed. As K9 force, has added in various threads, and one I had never previously put into his words- HIGH DRIVE AND GOOD NERVES are vital to achieve a high standard.

Saltwood, One particular labrador of mine, is very active. For example, when I let him out of his run in the mornings. He would quite happily run laps around the house for hours, which has obviously happened if I was distracted. I would simply, when not distracted LOL, extend on what you have already been doing regarding leadership etc. Find the times he runs about, and use those to advantage regarding extending his training. Faster sits etc.

$120!!!!!!! My first reaction was geee..........$120 is not much in the life of the dog, then remembered when puppy classes were free and the vets held them, in the hope of gaining new customers. $120.00!!!! Damm. Prices have gone way up.

:D Maybe the posters mother? can take a tired puppy, so it behaves. Great story Mita, thanks.

Sounds to me as though some of the owners may have been ignoring the trainer and allowing their poppies to roam. Who knows??? Hopefully the future classes will suit everyone.

I would worry, it is a sign of disrespect, for want of another term. It is no fun been knocked over by one of our dogs. Sorry, but I correct my dogs big time (with good timing), just as the older dogs would do, to the young zoomsters.

If you do make it, look forward to meeting you (and feeding you too, if you dare ) The Easter trial is great.

When I am training my dogs to drop, I have learnt to keep my face right way from the their front feet. Nails hurt. Oops, sorry typo.