Pippi

Yup, I'm auditing agility too - would I miss the chance to do an agility workshop??? OH isn't even complaining and its his birthday. Shows you where my priorities lie See ya there..

Whoaaa - please do not feed sultanas to your dog. Grapes, raisins and grape products are known to cause liver and kidney disease in dogs. If you google "sultanas grapes dogs" you will find lots of information and research on this.

Why not? If that is what works for him then use it. You can cut it into small pieces and keep it in a plastic bag.....

OK, its a date - see ya in Mt Gambier next Easter.... ;)

What a bugger, I would'nt mind a Mt Gambier trial - call in and say Hi to the relatives..... Maybe next time.....

I was interested to read on that website mention of his "Natural Method of Dog Training" but disappointed that there was no explanation of what that actually meant (according to his version). I am familiar with "Natural Dog Training" as practiced by Kevin Behan and others, and as discussed in his book of the same name. Do you happen to know whether this is the same method that Tom Middlemas is talking about and practices.

I might consider persuing training to get to a 'manageable happy level', but manageable is the operative word here. If I am managing the behaviour then it most certainly is not cured, I would always be managing a dog that could never be safely allowed in the company of humans.

I agree Cosmolo - that fight scared the crap out of me, thank dog the class was big and ended up split - that could've been my ring :p To top it off I heard a story from an experienced trialler that they returned from an out of sight stay to find a dog standing over theirs, yet no-one did anything about it. Took their dog a long time to get his confidence back after that incident. ;) Then LP's story as well.... My dog is pretty submissive and I would have no doubt heading in to get her out of a situation I wasn't comfortable with. Just wondering what the ramifications are of 1) not waiting for a judges directions or 2) disobeying them in order to protect your dog? Personally I would'nt give a rats - either about the trial, judges or other competitors. Its only a trial, theres always another one. My first responsibility always is for my dog's safety and I will do whatever I feel I need to, to protect her. (Not saying that you wouldn't FP) Edit because Cosmolo just got in before me and I notice I have said basically what she said....

Nope, won't be there. I am retraining contacts at the moment - so our career , is on hold for a little while. But I'll be thinking of you. Good Luck. Let us know how you go.

Hi Feralpup I was so nervous my first agility trial I spent the whole day in the toilet and nearly missed my run. Even so, we managed a quallie and a first place, and I could hardly remember a minute of it. Subsequent trials I haven't been nearly as nervous. I think part of the nervousness with the first one is not really knowing what to expect or what you are doing. Just remember it does get better after the first one. Good Luck, I'm sure you will be fine - just treat it like a training session and have fun. Which trial are you entering?

And....... "Let your dog know that you have confidence in them" "Know what your criteria is, then stick with it EVERY time"

Thanks K9, thats why I just posted the link, I knew I wouldn't be able to explain it as clearly as you can. I was counting on you to jump into this thread..

OK I'll have a guess. I would think that the dog should indicate. If the dog is sufficiently trained to scent on basil, then it should pick up on any amount of basil whether small or large. Whether the dog will or not , I imagine would be totally dependent on their level of training. You sound confident Cosmolo, so I'll guess that the dog will indicate......

What do you mean you sill 'socialise' rather than 'neutralise' cosmo - I don't think i've heard of that before. Mind you - even though my two are separated, they do spend heaps of time together - I only seperate them so that there is less chance of a pup getting injured as well as them not becoming too dependant on each other. I still think that the owner can bond appropriately regardless of whether housed together or not Maybe you would be interested to read this thread leopuppy( The thread is here...) it will give you plenty to think about and maybe rethink. This is what I will be doing with my next puppy. Damn, that link didn't work. I don't know how to fix it. Do a search for 'Neutralisation' and K9 Force, you should find the thread. Sorry 'bout that. Found it, hopefully this works - http://forums.dogzonline.com.au/index.php?...=neutralisation

I am a very strong supporter of the "separate the new pup" theory. I learnt by my mistakes - my first 2 dogs are totally bonded to each other, not what you want if you wish to participate in any kind of Dogsport, and maybe not you want at all. When I got my 3rd pup, she was kept separate from the other two. She was with me all the time either in the house or in the house yard, while the other 2 had the run of a few acres. At night all the dogs were together in the house. She was kept this way for approx 8 months when she was occassionally allowed out to roam with the others, by this time she was always ready and willing to spend time with me whenever I appeared rather than the other dogs. Don't even have to recall Benefit was that she learnt all the good things in her life always came from me, not the other dogs. I have a closer bond with this dog than I have ever had with any other dog. If I get another pup I would do the same thing without question. Susan Garrett also advocates taking this approach in her book 'Ruff Love' or maybe 'Tuff Love', can't remember which it is.

Does it also separate the women from the girls Kelpie-i ????????

Yaaaaaayyyyyy Congratulations. Go Minty and Cash and Superminty also....... Looks as though a few of us had a good weekend. Let me know when that particular strategic pairs run is happening, I wouldn't want to miss that.. :p ;)

If cosmo carries her head really low when weaving, you should be very happy - this is the exact behaviour most of us train for in the weave poles, low and driving through Congratulations Ness, what a great effort you should be very proud - although I can understand the disappointment. They looked like very good runs.

Interesting, I have had people say to me that they would rather not train their dogs in prey drive, because they go 'over the top' (their words) and they then cannot handle them. I think it is necessary to look at not only the dog but also the handler and the handler limitations. If the handler is severely limited by their experience with dogs, e.g. this may be their first dog, then maybe it is better not to train in drive. Here's something to ponder on - what about the argument that says if you have a high prey drive dog and try to suppress that drive, then you are asking for trouble - the dog needs to express that natural drive in some way and if he is unable to do that then you are likely to see aggression demonstrated in unacceptable ways.

Training is all about getting the dog to do something for you, for a reward that has a high value to that particular dog. It makes no sense to not use treats, if food has a high value to the dog and they will do anything for food. Conversely, the same applies if the dog places a high value on toys or play or whatever it may be. A good trainer IMO will use whatever works for that dog. It is also possible to transfer the value a dog may have for food to another item, if you really don't want to use food. I will sometimes use this technique to get a dog to transfer the value for food to a toy, when the handler wants their dog to play with toys or when I would prefer to train in prey drive rather than food drive.

I have not generally used a clicker for training agility - but I did decide to use it to teach weave pole entries and it has been fantastic. I found that the light seemed to go off almost immediately for my girl. Whatever I had been doing previously was obviously unclear and I thought she was never going to get it. The clicker just seemed to make it perfectly clear to her which behaviour was corect. I may try using it for the rear cross too.

Video Three: You have to be in front of your dog to Front Cross OK, so this is not strictly true. You can front cross if you are not infront of your dog but it is rarely efficient. The first run I am not in front of her & my cross is done on the spot. It is ugly, but it works because she has been taught to come to the hand presented and to wrap around me, so I need to wait for her to get in the right position before moving forward (big time waster). The 2nd one I am ahead of her (not necessarily right in front of her) & I move (take steps covering ground) through my cross. Her line is much better & more efficient. Video Four: Giving a bad line The first is an example of giving a bad line into the pinwheel. It works because I hold onto the line & go further into the pinwheel than I normally would, but you can see she is a little hesitant on the last jump b/c she is not quite sure where we are going next. If I had tried to send & let go, she probably would have pulled off. The 2nd is a much better angle over the first jump & allows me to move parallel towards the 3rd jump while maintaining her line. I am able to move better through my cross & her last jump has a much better line & she is a lot more confident about where we are heading. Is it just me, but video 3 and 4 won't run for me - Youtube loads up and gives me this message [b]"This is a private video. If you have been sent this video, please make sure you accept the sender's friend request." [/b] Can someone please explain??????

Vickie Why don't you do some video of how you teach the front and rear cross. I'm sure that would be interesting for lots of people..

Yep, if you want to see what not to do and how to confuse your dog in one easy lesson, watch this guy..

He is into Schutzhund, here's a link giving info on his background. http://www.k9pds.com/gappay-uk/seminar/intro.html