leopuppy04

Laffi -I've decided you and I talk too much Shoey - who votes for SW playing 'naked' games... at her present state THAT would be interesting (or scary?!) :cheer: I can't believe Laffi suggested it :) At this stage I am trying to teach CCD exercises which is just basic obedience. I am absolutely looking no further than heel on leash, sit on halt, drop, stand on command, stand for examination, recall off leash and one minute sit stay and two minute drop stays. I am absolutely not going any further or making it more stressful than I have to at this point. But this IS part of CCD exercises! Don't corner yourself into thinking 'but I only need to teach heeling for CCD'... if you back yourself into that corner (as many do) you will struggle to get GOOD heeling to get you through open and UD.... It is much easier to teach a green dog UD heeling, than it is to teach a dog with 4yrs experience of BAD heeling, to then perform this awesome heelwork. Benson has the potential - let me tell you . So certainly don't train just for CCD. Not to mention - more specifically in this case... being the type of dog Benson is, he can and most likely will lose position at some point (especially being his first trial)... you want him to be able to go 'oh what's that over... oopsie... right back into position then'.... you see time and time again, dogs that lose position, and simply CAN'T find it again... and no this isn't just secluded to green dogs either. To me, heeling is about teaching them exactly where heel is as well as the other components of the exercise . You should be achieving heeling where the leash is a pain and only gets in the way I understand your frustration about your club - unfortunately where you are situated, you are not blessed with the number of clubs we have here in 'town'... We aren't ditching your club, I think they do an excellent job, but it certainly is a lot harder to get a good grip of 'trialling level' dogs without that one on one instruction or further research. Having said that - I'm more than happy to catch up with you again and offer some assistance **trots off to check the next DOL training day** :smurf:

howz all the training going Shoey?!

Who has time for mischief! Are you still doing your cat thingy?! we could organise something easily if you are Cat thingy! *snort* If you mean my data collection ( ), nup - I'm all finished....writing up my minor thesis now so working from home mostly. So I had a brain fart moment and couldn't think of the word "thesis" or "study"!!! It was milling about my head... and all I could come up with was 'oh you know - that stuff you were doing with all the kitties!" ;) Darn - I could have met up with you one lunch time ;)

Who has time for mischief! Are you still doing your cat thingy?! we could organise something easily if you are

Can you ask this judge/ trainer to take you through the motions after each class on the weekend? I know where you live it's hard to find people - do you have a trial ring set up at your club on a regular basis? How about having another DOL training day - we sometimes have those organised by the likes of me, TSD or DD!!! Putting vids up here is always helpful too ... but harder to get a good idea as video is not as true as what you see by the naked eye Suggest you do some reading.... Try: Kay Laurence Morgan Spector and a bunch of DVDs... have a look on www.dogwise.com... ask around on here and go mad A

When you start trialling it becomes different. You get no individual feedback in a class and in that situation 'near enough is good enough'... nobody in class is going for the same precision and finesse that we go for in the ring. So in that sense, the weekly classes can be a little futile. With a weekly gathering of friends- sure you may spend 10 mins practicing, but they are better than 5hrs at obedience club. You work on one or two things, and you dissect them in every possible way. For example - I had a session yesterday and all we did with Mr Leo was discuss and try and find ways to straighten up his presents/ finishes! Yes - it gets that picky ... we did a teeny bit of UD work, but on the general scale of what you have to cover in your classes - it's nothing. In some sense I agree with this. When you take away your rewards, voice and motivators...add to that 10 gallons of stress and it's a recipe for disaster. Guaranteed you will be stressed!!! You want to go in with the feeling of 'my dog can do all of these exercises to perfection' and not 'he may, he may not'... you have so many other variables to worry about. Of course, most of the time, our dogs don't do what we wan't them to ... but we can't go in with little faith in the dogs... and despite what we say, I think we all know that our dogs CAN do it when we enter a trial... the difference is whether they DO ... Not only can it do harm to you, but also fellow competitors... what if a dog ran into the UD ring next door and caused havoc etc... So - because of these variables, we like our dogs to be MORE than ready. Yup - you've entered... go along for the experience and to see what it's all about... sometimes, it's hard to get a feel for it, until you are actually there yourself etc . Number one thing to remember.. don't get upset at the dog (not that you would anyway!) if they don't do what you want/ what they usually do... it's a very different scenario for them

AHEM - didn't you get a pass first time, first go with BOTH of your dogs You had it made! Too easy!!! Howz that Novice coming along?

Use your instructor's lack of faith as determination to do better - so when you see her next week (if it's who I think she is, she'll be happy to help!) say to her 'ok - so we're not ready - what can I do to GET him ready' and practice. The absolute BEST thing that we have at our club, which I found few other clubs have is a ring set up... week in and week out. We have very experienced triallers take us through the paces and nit pick everything (and I mean *everything*)... sometimes you walk out and think 'what on earth am I doing this for' and other times you walk out and think that you might have a shot Don't get disheartened... if it was anything like Leo's first stint in our practice ring, it left a lot to be desired. See Knox (as others have said) as a training ground - if it goes pear shaped, rather than get tense, use it as a training field as you want the experience to be fun for Benson. I learnt *that* from personal experience. It's one of the hardest things to do - but you almost need the attitude of ''oops you made a mistake... how CLEVER are you!"... That way the dog sees the ring as a good place to be and nothing else... then you take away what you have learnt and practice Just remember... every dog has it's day, and most days it's usually not their day! They have a million ways of stuffing up and gee... they certainly take pride in being as creative as possible, at the times when you would probably rather they didn't! Work on a routine over the next few weeks - try and work out with Mr Benson what switches him in to work mode- does it help if you take him straight out of the car for work, or does a warm up first help? Or is a good game of tug outside the ring really get him switched in? You'll have plenty of people to help you on the day - just remember to breathe (oh - and please remind me too!)

Reddii - sounds as though you are doing a wonderful job with KC and doing all the right things. A pet hate of mine are people that take their dogs back over and over to the same obstacle to re-do because the dog mucked up. Weaving is a big one (yes, I too am guilty of this!)... What we forget are the 11 other good weaves that the dog did! Take a note, and work on it.. usually it will be our body language that pulled us out (read a big GUILTY sign on my head!) Vickie - this is just a generic thread, but as always you can read and pick up things that are relavent to your own dogs. Thoughts started pouring into my head after reading CU and thus the start of the thread. One of my dogs, I was not pleased with his speed earlier in the year, so I decided to pull him out from competition for a few months and work / focus on a few things... He isn't going to be any top speed BC, but I am really proud of the improvements we have made as a team. I am now doing the same thing with Miss K. Building toy drive is really important to me, and I spend a lot of time with this in mind. I swear, the next dog I get, for the first 6-12 months, I am going to do nothing but drive building/ basic obedience coz I just find it is so important to have that drive... and you CAN build it up in most dogs Kelpie chick - sounds as though you are doing a wonderful job with your two!!!

OK - things I have found particularly useful: *teaching the dog something they are totally confident in - eg: touch... and use that to build their confidence.... see - don't worry about that over there - just touch my hand! *From CU (control unleashed) the "look at that!" game and the "Give me a break" Game. *building up the drive for toys in a variety of areas *Teaching a default behaviour such as a down or sit as a time out. *Providing a safe place such as a crate/ mat *Exposing the dog to the environment rather than shutting them away - so taking them out and about lots at trials and playing 'Give me a break' and 'look at that' games rather than only bringing them out to work... makes it too stressful then *Bring them to HEAPS of trials before entering - even setting up 1-2 obstacles on the sidelines and practicing one jump games, or other short sequences and rewarding like you have never rewarded before! Hehe - now I'm worried nobody else will come up with suggestions!!!

Yes - it's a fantastic book for these sorts of issues ... This is what has sparked my thread actually as Leslie covers so much of this. But I guess I'm looking forward to some ideas of *exactly* how someone might tackle these issues

Talking about this with some friends and would love to hear your thoughts. Say you have a dog with moderate drive, but one that is only half interested in food/ toys.... or a dog that likes food/ toys, but can't really focus with the stressors of a trial. We all know that if we had a dog struggling with weaving, contacts or tunnels, that we break it down and make the behaviour really worthwhile. Usually the end result is that this obstacle becomes their most favourite to perform. What are some things you would do in general to build confidence in a dog.... both generally and specifically.... A few examples - you have a fast dog for agility, but when you get to a trial, it is always slower because of the stressors presented to it (close proximity of other dogs etc) or - you have a dog that is of moderate speed and could go much faster... what rewards and how would you use them to try and increase speed? Imagine this dog is not crazy driven over it's toys etc. Would love to hear your responses

I know what you mean on all angles there! Kinta can be a difficult little girlie too (as I'm fast finding out) as she can be so hot and cold! She has so much potential too! Nothing is a small title - you know yourself how much work has gone into getting any title - so be proud of them all... and don't underestimate it!!! ROFL! It does sound little though doesn't it ;). My family always tease me as poor Kinta's ribbons get thrown in the box, whereas Leo's used to be paraded around for MONTHS

Definite benefit! I find 'we' (dogs an myself) are better at one as opposed to the other, however it's always good to have another on tabs to prevent the anticipating

Heel means get into heel position here. Heel is the position at my left leg that they maintain at all times - be it standing still, returning to position from in front or me stepping to the side. No need for another command with the heel position. I teach it pretty much the same way

ROFL - BAAD title makes it look like the dogs are naughty Well done Reddii - I think your dogs have really got their skates on and Xena really improved since her first trials And never say it was 'just' an elementary pass!!!! A pass is an excellent achievement no matter what level!!!!

It's up to you whether you send through the SAE or not. If you want the receipt - then send it off. Usually I ring them up after entries have closed to confirm they have my entry form... that is if I didn't send off the SAE. With shows you MUST send off the SAE

No way - I love my walks Yes - but 5 mins each week isn't gonna cut it :rolleyes: Long story short - I need to get off my a$$ !

Haha - Ness and Ptolomy at it again :rolleyes: Freezer - I got that from a friend in NZ... when I was first starting out with Leo she mentioned that freezing was good - and it works for us :D. Mind you - I'm pretty slack with it these days and not noticed any change in his success rate :p This is a friend who is particularly careful with her cloths though (zipped bag and all) Ptolomy - who trains in the morning?!?!?! Gaah - that involves getting up earlier in order to fit in walk AND training At least the days are longer now :p The thing is - I need to set a date for when I want Leo to be ready for UD... otherwise, I may be plodding along at this pace for the next 3 yrs!! Hmm... I remember someone said at the Royal yesterday... "you can't train UD with 5mins each week"... and therein lies my problem

:rolleyes: Ptolomy you scare me! Well - I did do some work the other day with the doggies - Kinta is starting to sort out her left turns (oh... hang on... I am getting my footwork right for left turns) and Leo was doing some nice work in UD... still a loooong ways to go though Does that count :p ROFL! Too funny! Well - I bought a airing tray thingy (very descriptive I know!) from Aldi and put all my articles on there for about 24 - 28hrs. Just to be sure - the articles then go in the freezer as that seemed to help. Now that Leo is getting better at it, it doesn't seem to matter as much, so a good airing on the rack seems to do well! Really!!!! Hmm... that could be interesting

Yes... but you're..... organised :( ;) You *know* Leo's only problem is his handler being too lazy to train . What hope does Kinta have!

I love this thread 2 food game is the answer to soooo many problems ;) Shoey - I got mine from bunnings .. Molly is gorgeous! Ptolomy - does that mean Kinta should be learning UD too?!?!!?

Miss B - there's no saying it can't be done but it takes a heck of a lot of work. So - are either your boys or your mum's cavies happy to be apart from each other? What happens if you separate them from each other?

I actually would venture to say - not until your current pup is 18mths - 2yrs. YOU need longer than 6mths to bond with your pup. You also need time to train and socialise this puppy properly. A dog is not properly trained at 6mths old. If you socialise your aussie well and it's quite accomodating of other dogs - it's probably not going to be *too* much of a hassle to introduce the two dogs together. Make it positive for both dogs to be in the company of each other and also a positive experience for BOTH dogs when one is getting attention etc Your dogs will still be very close if they have 2yrs between them... there is no rush :D Just think - the reason we often advise against getting 2 pups at once is simply because they a) bond too closely to each other and b) it's twice the training... How much easier would it be if you have a 2yr old beautifully behaved aussie before you introduce another baby into the household.

Westernport obedience K9 agility dog club (waiting list - not taking any more names at present) Both at KCC park, Cranbourne. Hastings obedience dog club