Staranais

Simulated field trials and working tests are, in many ways, more realistic tests of real work ability than Schutzhund or Ring sports. In any case, simulated field trials, tracking trials and Schutzhund are generally good predictors of working ability. I think perhaps they just test different things. The working trials we have here really test a dog's ability to track & do scent work in difficult conditions, to work independently, & to take direction from their owner. But none test a dog's nerve by pitting them against a human in the way schutz & ring will, and the working trial jumps have nothing on the ring jumps (those are amazing!) Lots of border collies do wonderfully well in working trials here, but I'm not sure if they'd do as well in schutz or ring.

Just wanted to say, thanks very much for the recommendation, SecretKei! I got her one about a month back, and she loves her Tug-a-jug. Took her about 10 minutes to work out exactly how to get the food out most efficiently, so I had to alter it somewhat to make it more tricky. Now when she's bored in the evening she'll come and show it to me to encourage me to put things in it.

I hope you're not talking about the people on the thread who urged caution? I don't think they were being judgmental at all, just trying to look out for the OP and her dog. When you've heard first hand stories about dogs being baited, as I have, it tends to make you a little cautious about feeding your dog food from a stranger.

Yes, the judge tells you which direction to go once your dog is already out there, so you need to teach both. You don't lose any points if the dog spins to face you after the send away (I didn't realise you did in IPO either, that's interesting! Is it a big deduction in IPO?)

I would keep jumping on the couch, too, if that was what started the process of getting treats and attention from my owner. I would personally be telling him "off" then gently but firmly pushing him off the sofa, with no treat and no attention, when he got on the sofa. And making sure he got lots of treats & attention at short random intervals whenever he was on his mat or in his crate. When you can't supervise, I'd crate or tether if possible to stop him jumping up on the sofa.

That is very, very sad. I'm sorry it happened, and I'm sorry you had to see it. I hope they took the poor baby to the vet! I bike with my dog, but she has a very good instant drop on command, and a very quick and reliable return to heel command. It's not something I would ever do with an unpredictable young pup, or at all on a busy walkway for that matter. An accident waiting to happen.

Yes, I would never have thought that they could be baited (I must be so naive!), so I'm glad someone bought it up. Perhaps at the least you could try to meet the person first before feeding the treats, see if they look trustworthy? I'm not suggesting this as a sensible course of action, but if I'm being honest I have to admit that I'd be tempted to lick them myself to see if they tasted OK. Since I can't think of many commonly available toxins that you could bait a treat with that can't be seen or tasted. If it's genuine, it's a very lovely gesture!

I am very interested in hearing how people would train this working trials exercise. I've heard a couple of methods that triallers use, but they all seem fairly haphazard, and I much prefer to have a structured & logical approach to training. It's a few years ahead of us, but I like to think these things through in advance. So, this is the exercise - the send away & redirection exercise. The trial takes place in a field. The exercise starts with a send away. The dog is sent away is 40 - 50 m, to an area marked with natural markers (i.e., ones the dog won't notice), and the handler stops the dog however they like (most people drop the dog). That's just a typical send away, ideally the dog must go faster than a walk, without looking back, etc. Then on the judge's command, the owner must then redirect the dog to the left or the right (not coming forwards or going backwards excessively) at least 18m, and then stop the dog again. I can do the send away bit, have taught that before, no biggie. However, the redirection confuses me - turning the dog when it is 50m away & sending it away to an (unmarked!) left or right target seems like a big ask. I have seen some people trial where they gave "left" and "right" commands. However, my old dog (and I suspect my current dog will be the same) very much liked to spin & face me when I dropped them, to watch for further commands. So, "left" would therefore be the dog's left as it faced me, or the dog's left as it was trotting out? Seems too confusing to me. I think I would prefer to avoid that confusion by relying on hand signals to direct the dog towards the left or right after dropping them, but then I am still a little confused how to structure the exercise from the beginning, so as the dog knows that I would like it to go out 90 degrees from its original direction of travel? Or would you insist that the dog remained facing away when it dropped, so that the left & right commands made sense to the dog? How would you all teach this exercise? Am interested in any & all suggestions.

Yes, I can understand that too. If you have a dog that is an exceptionally nice pet, healthy & sweet natured, and your family and friends want a puppy just like your dog, then breeding your bitsa may seem like quite the logical thing to do. Like Fleuri, I also wonder if people who do not know any better may think, well, I have had kids (and I didn't do any genetic tests and all it ended up OK), so why would it be any different for my dog?

Cats & dogs can get cancer at the site of surgical implants (for fractured legs, etc), and many types of injectable drug & vaccine increase the risk of certain tumour types in cats, so I guess it is not an unreasonable hypothesis that a microchip may increase the risk of certain types of cancers. Although I have not seen any hard evidence that they actually do increase cancer risk in cats & dogs, only suggestions that they might. Having said that, I wonder how many animals microchips have saved? All these things are a balancing act. Eating raw bones has killed and injured many dogs, for example, but we still recommend people feed their dogs bones as on the whole it is highly beneficial.

I'd be happy to do that! I think it would be a nice little contrast. Hooray, thanks.

I agree.

Well I know where I'm not moving to when I graduate!

Are they really all GSD, Nekhbet?! That's amazing. They almost look more like a heavy set dutchie or mally, especially the first one.

I don't really know. I did take my mally girl to work with me when I was working on a sheep & beef farm, back when she was about 3 - 6 months old, & she absolutely loved riding on the quad bike with me "herding" the sheep. ;) Not sure if she showed any particular talent at any stock skills, besides barking madly though (huntaway styles?!)

Maybe it depends on the dog & the breed. For a WL mally, I'd say no, the dog would in most cases not be happy in a pet only home. To keep happy they need things to do with their bodies & with their minds. In a regular home situation like you describe, my girl would probably become quite destructive. As my girl's breeder said to me, if you don't give a WL mally a job to do, they will make one up - and most times, you won't like it. A true performance home, where the dog was trained extensively & regularly, & allowed to use its natural drives, would be OK.

Any vet should be able to do this for you. Core for dogs is the C3, plus more depending on what diseases are prevalent in your area. Killed vaccines aren't normally given, most vets will give MLV. MLV last longer & IMO often potentially safer (less adjuvent) than killed. The exception is something like vaccinating a pregnant bitch, you'd give a killed parvo, since a MLV live parvo could cross the placenta & hurt the puppies.

I suspect it was the other way around - if you don't need your dog to make a living, you have the luxury of concentrating on the appearance of the dog more than it's working ability, and a showline can develop. In other words, if you don't rely on the working ability of the dog on a daily basis, then you may be more likely to prioritise prettier dogs who are easier to live with regardless of how good they are at working, than to prioritise breeding great workers regardless if they are a PITA or butt ugly.

Thanks, I will watch that! Probably not a useful style of herding on our sheep farms today, then, but still very interesting to see how people used to do it. I love to watch working sheep dogs, the good ones are absolutely amazing.

Yeah, that's the type of thing I mean.

That's cool I guess, but will the same people see the two films? I just think it would be nice of him to end the film with a statement like "Cujo the Hell Hound was played by the canine actor Rover" or whatever, and a couple of seconds worth of clip of Rover looking all friendly & cute & harmless. So that the last image people carry away is of Rover acting friendly not vicious.

Search & rescue.

That would be my concern, too. I wonder if he'd be willing to have a short clip of the dog acting goofy & friendly in the final credits, just to make the point that the dog is an actor?

So, let me get this straight (ha ha), Aidan are you saying that you think a slight slope is beneficial for a dog that is going to trot all day because it's more efficient than either a straight back or an extreme slope. Do you then think the slope causes any compromise in any of the other gaits, or the jumping? They are very nice looking GSD at UlfKintzel. Can you please explain what tending is, or direct me to the clip that explains? From my time on sheep farms I am only familiar with heading & huntaway styles of sheep working dogs (gathering & driving).

I got a WL since I wanted the best chance of achieving operational status for SAR. Also, you can do obedience/agility/tracking with a showline mally successfully, but I'm keen to dabble in schutzhund if we don't make it in SAR, and most showline dogs won't successfully do schutzhund (although there are, of course, exceptions). So I got a WL because I want to work her (but volunteer work, not part of my actual job, so not sure if you'd call it "work"), and also compete in dog sports. She is also my pet, though. Is it more effort? Depends on the breed, I think, and of course all dogs and all lines will be slightly different. My girl is definitely very high maintenance compared to most dogs. She needs a lot of exercise & stimulation in order to settle in the house. And not just a walk around the block either. She will go for a 5 km run beside my bike, and it doesn't tire her out at all, she will be just as eager to run or train when we get home as when we started out. I take her out tracking, and she will yell in the car all the way home (unless I ask her to stop!) since she still wants to work. I guess the bottom line is that she is a working animal - she is designed to do a full days work, 8 or 12 hours of work every day. So when I get home from uni, I may be tired from my day, but she isn't, as far as she is concerned her working day is only beginning. There's no neglecting her for the evening and expecting her to be OK, because by the second day of that she's so fidgety she will just run in circles around the house and can't keep her mouth off my things! She'd probably make most dog owners bloody miserable, but if you can cater for her needs, she's an awesome animal. Hope that all makes sense.