Gamby

Hey, way to go kiddo. It's a great feeling isn't it? and the reason why we keep entering trials. Happy Trialing for the future.

Hi Karen Bridge will be at the Geelong obedience Dog Club on Satyurday 7th -Sunday 8th June 2008 from 9am-4pm Bookings Close Friday 30th May 2008 Contact Tina on 0414 363 556 Saturday - Pet dog behaviour modification, Loose lead walking, Aggression/timidity, leadership. Sunday - AM - Obedience Trialing problem solving, PM - Agility Trialing poblem solving $60/day or $100/ Weekend Spit Roast dinner on Saturday night $15pp

Hi Ruthless You might be interested in the following Web Pages the first is the Murray Valley Obedience Dog Club & the second is the the Tracking and Rescue Club of NSW http://mc2.vicnet.net.au/home/mvodc/web/MVODC.html http://www.trackingclubnsw.org.au/ Wendy

Hi Where do you live? I adore Tracking. It is one of the most wonderful things you can do with your dog (but not Mr Scotty, he's not interested). The Tracking Club of Victoria hold a yearly Tracking Workshop at Shepparton (I think it's closed for this year) and during the year they hold One Day Workshops. These Workshops were how I got hooked into Tracking plus interest and training days organised by a good friend of mine. Maybe I'll meet you at a Tracking Trial one day with Gambit or a little foxy called Pixie Bell who needs to go into training to gain her TCh. The following is a link to the Tracking Club of Victoria who have links to some great sites. http://www.trackingclubvic.org.au/ Links Tonnes of valuable information can be found in the sites below. Have fun. If you know of any other interesting dog or tracking sites or would like your club's website listed, please let us know and we will create a link. Please Note: All links open in a new window. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tracking Sites Trackwest Western Australia's Tracking Website Tracking & Rescue Dog Club of NSW New South Wales Tracking Website Craig Green's Tracking Articles Fantastic site (especially if you like basset hounds !!!) with heaps of good tracking info and advice on handling Dan Tratnack's Tracking page A look at this blokes tracking adventures with some introductory type information Dr P's Noses Know Lots and lots of articles from tracking, search and police resources Tracking Canadian Style does it "Canadian Style" K9events.com Some good links and information on all dog sports through this Aussie site Search And Rescue Sites SARDA Search and Rescue Dogs Australia (SARDA) SARDA (Scotland) "arrrk eye, wheel feend yar missun laddy fur ya, laddy" [seriously, very cool site about air scenting and SAR. great design too] NSARDA (UK) The National Search and Rescue Dog Association (NSARDA) in the UK. It's members are the Search and Rescue Dog Associations which are located throughout the UK. SAR Dogs Otago Inc. Kiwi Search and rescue dogs. Wendy TCh Miss Annabell Poruse Diamond Dealer "Gambit" TD

My wish for 2008 is that Gambit and I can work as a team in Obedience Trials. I was working towards his CCD title in 2007 but that was not to be. We needed one more pass. Once I get my act together then I'm sure he'll shine as his mother and siblings have done during 2007. He will be doing his unbelievable Tracking thing during the year and I'm aiming for him to gain his TDX title (Annabell went through in a hurry and gained her TCh title and I hardly remember any of the tracks she did) so I'm doing it slowly this time. Agility, well, hopefully Gambit will be seen in the Agility Ring some time during 2008. Herding, with a new car I can take Gambit to herding trials and see him having fun. I'm looking forward to the 2008 trialing season with a new outlook on myself as an owner of a delightful Aussie boy who loves being kept busy.

How far did you go with the steps before rewarding outside the ring? Did you build up like three sets of 10 steps, 3 sets of 20 steps etc. Or ran out side the ring to reward after the first good set of heel work?

Well we haven't done anything since Werribee's trial. I haven't rewarded Gambit for any thing only a cuddle if he did any part of an exercise by himself Today was promotion day at GODC and I asked the judge if I could try somenting by taking food into the ring with me and I understand that Gambit would be disqualified. The judge agreed and into the ring we went. He only lost 5 points from his heeling out of all the exercises. I got him to do the dumbell retrieve instead of the change of position, which he did perfectly. The judge was amazed at how well Gambit worked as he had never seen him at his best. By the way he wasn't fed in the ring I only held the food in my left hand. After the class had finished I went back into the ring without food this time with the same judge. Well, Gambit lagged and came around to my right hand side. The judge couldn't believe the difference in him with and without food. Suggestions again please would be very much appreciated. Just to clarify my training I will not work him on a correction collar. A very frustrated handler of a brilliant Obedience dog as long as I have food in my hand. Hi Arya I'm reading through it now and you are spot on with what you said. Back to the drawing board this week.

Yes Arya that could also be one of the problems also. Boy our dogs are so on the same wave length is scary.

Hi Arya I'm reading through it now and you are spot on with what you said. Back to the drawing board this week.

Kowai & Shoemonster I do feel for you Kowai. I remember seeing Zak on the day. I passed you both as I was returning to camp to get the poo bag. Who was your judge? But, Hey!, congraulations for taking the first step into Obedience training. Thanks for the offer of luck Shoemonster.

Hey Dogdude you might have hit the nail on the head. Yes he does like to work off lead and what you say about a "Lead means Walk" could be the answer Thanks

If anyone knows the secret Please let me know. I enjoy training, seeing my dog responding to my body language, toys or food rewards. It is so good to see the dog happy, working with me as a team, maybe that's what I should do instead of competing, train him for tricks or doggy dancing or whatever.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! If we had have travelled any further than Werribee this morning I might have been tempted to throw Gambit out of the car on the way home, just kidding. Gambit was in Eric Booth's CCD class,1st in the ring and worked on my right hand side the whole time. He wouldn't drop, stand, watch me etc. I'm at the end of my tether. He works so well when not in an actual Trial situation. I've been told to relax, be firm, play with him during training, make it fun, train only for short bursts, reward, reward, reward, I do, I do, I do. I pulled him out after the heeling part of the exercise. No recall, stand for exam, sits or downs. I was so upset. He had fun playing with him Mum (Kaasha Double or Nothing) and Roy (human being) his bestest mate, a couple of paddles in the dog pool at Werribee, did a poop and piddle and then it was time to go into the ring. I talked to him, teased him with his tug toy and I thought he was ready. I know that other people have been in the same situation with their dogs and I would love to know how you went about getting the dog over the scardycat hurdle. How come he can show off when not in a trial situation and do the exercises perfectly with a bounce in his step and then become a different dog completely? Oh well, back to the drawing board, I have entered him in the Cup Day Obed Trial, and I had seriously thought about pulling him out of that but I'd pay the entry fee and it should be a good trial so I'll give it one more try.

Way to go Helen and Bella, Kira and Silvawillow. That is a great result especially for you being in trouble with your knee. Being able to work the dog is a distance is such a help. No it wasn't a fluke that you got Bella to get the correct entry for the tunnel, it was a 'Meant to be day' for the four of you. Wendy

Hi Zelahi There is also Bellarine Dog Activities Group but sadly you are too late to enrol your dog for the last block in 2007. BDAG train on Thursday nights at the Geelong Show Grounds. Classes are at 7.00 pm and 8.00pm. Email me privately and I will give you the contact number. The class sizes are a maximum of 6. The main aim of the club is Canine Good Citizen, once your dog has been assessed as a 'Canine Good Citizen' then extra fun begins with flyball, agility, games, tricks or whatever depending on the instructor availability. Wendy Mr Scotty CGC TCh Miss Annabell CGC Gambit CGC

Sorry to hear you will be auditing on sunday instead of having fun. Hope it won't be too long before your back on the Agility course. Wendy

I'll be there maybe on Friday night as well as Saturday with Gambit. Sunday I'm taking Gambit to do his first NADAC Jumpers and Tunnels trial. Looking forward to hearing what Gina says about the competition heeling. Gambit needs one more CCD pass for his title and is no way near ready for Novice so any help will be gratefully received Wendy

Thanks for the update SwaY Congratulations to all of you who were successfull, especially Gambit's Mum. Maybe her son will follow in her footsteps one day at the Royal Show.

Ummmm what jumps are you talking about? The only jumps that are on the track would be if the track was in the bush and the dog had to go over a log of wood. As you don't use food rewards are you laying the track and having someone else take your dog on lead to track you? There are so many different ways you can do to get the dog intereseted in tracking. Most of all you the handler hase to be able to read the dog as to whether it is on the track or not. That and not moving forward before the dog has committedd to the track are the most important things that should be taken notice of. the corners once you get up to doing them the secret is to watch the dog and it will indicate ever so slightly with a turn of its head and then it will check out the other direction then come back onto the turn. Oh no you have started me, I never shut up when talking about tracking, I love it and I'm so sorry I never knew about it umpteen years ago. I only started dog training 12 years ago and still have heaps and heaps to learn.

A no reward marker is exactly the opposite, tells the dog that he has just lost the chance to earn a reward. Do you use a word or do you just ignore the dog at that time and break away from the training? Some people say "Too bad' "Wrong" etc.

Thank you everyone for the ideas on training for the Figure 8. I really appreciate the time you have taken to write down your ideas. Wendy

Dogdude, Yes I'll be there at Gina O'Keefe's workshop. Gambit is one of the dogs who will be used for the Obedience session. I'm really looking forward to it. Many years ago I did a workshop with Gina at the melb Show Grounds. It was very informative and I'm sure this one will be just as good or even better. All us Dole members \should wear our dole name tags so we can put the faces to the names. You won't have any trouble noticing me with Gambit as I feel his is a one in a million georgous dog.

Hi I forgot to say that when first starting tracking the tracks should be straight lines with no corners in it at all. The dog should be stopping at the socks that have been placed on the track and not necessarily taking the food fromt he sock Once the dog is happily going out on a straight track and not worrying about the rewards on the track and only going to get the REWARD at the end then it is time to start doing Horse shoe turns. Again once the dog is doing them perfectly then it is time to bring the turns back slowly to become 90 degree turns. In the mean time you need to play find the sock game with your dog. If you intend to enter tracking trials in the future your dog need to indicate the sock. not just look at it as it is on the track but actually stop at the sock. I drop sock all over the house, outside on a walk, and praise the dogs when they pick it up. I now have a sock thief who will pinch socks no matter where they are. Wendy

My suggestion is that you go to the Tracking Club of Victoria's Web Page and visit some of the tracking links I like the following page as it has a lot of interesting articles on tracking. http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/work2.htm I have also done a google search for tracking training and found some really good information. Tracking is very rewarding for the dog and handler as it is a natural thing for the dog to do and the handler is in awe of what the dog is doing on a track. We enter the dogs world when they are tracking, we as handlers just need to let the dog know what we want them to do by standing still if they are off the track and moving forward once the dog is on the track. The handler MUST know exactly where the track goes, if not then the dog can have fun following the scents it wants to follow instead of being shown what scents it is supposed to follow. No obedience words are to be used. the only words that need to be said depending on what work you are going to use are Track on, Seek or Find it. Wendy TCh Miss Annabell Poruse Diamond Dealer TD