leopuppy04

Well done Sal - where are the Vids?! Hmm... it really does sound like boot camp! Do we make bookings or just show up :rofl: How is Ness?! I take it the Chiro visit went well then

I can't wait to meet Denny - I don't think I've seen him yet - just Blush and Kiz! He can compete against Kinta - also coming out to play with the big kids next year :rofl:

Obedience and Agility have finished for the year in Vic - well - until Feb anyways - links are: www.geocities.com/vicobedience www.geocities.com/vicagility Just click on events and that will tell you

Smart lady! I didn't have that option and since I was there, thought I better support the club

LOL - Thanks Ptolomy. Yes, bummer we have to wait till 2008 - but it happened with CCD last year, so maybe it's a good omen ;). Mind you - these last 2 trials of the year were only meant to be 'testers' to show me what to work on over the summer.... I wasn't expecting passes ;) I had some great help for trial secretary. We have a great club where everybody chips in a little, which makes such a difference

Thanks everyone! I'm still floating over here Umm... Jules - SPILL! You can't write in a thread the word "puppy" without adding pics or at least a link to the pics !!

I left it on right until we went into the ring. Yeah - considering the heat - I was very proud! Better yet, we held our sit stays, even when the 2 dogs either side of him decided dropping in the heat was a much better idea :rofl:

Feralpup - just beat ya to it ;) Congrats with Darcy - she looked absolutely brilliant! I am green with envy at her weaves so expect a few PM's this summer about them :rofl:! Apologies if I talked too much - if I do you just need to tell me to shut up :p See you round next year!

Ok - last mindless brag for the year... I promise ;) Busy weekend this weekend! Agility trial on Sat and Obedience trial today. Agility didn't start so well with some terrible runs in the morning and one distracted doggy - Ex Jumping was pretty bad, he just wasn't paying attention. Novice Agility was better, but we knocked 2 bars . PM was a much better run. Mum got lost in Ex Jumping and turned to late, thereby causing dog to go wide and miss the jumps :p. But we did get a pass in Novice Agility (#2) and 30 sec under time ! It's been like extracting teeth getting these Nov Agility passes so i'm thrilled. We came 3rd in around 8 qualies, with some really good dogs there! Today Obedience was organised by our home club and my first time as Trial Secretary (I hope all the DOlers who went had a good time!). Was very hot today with it hovering around 30deg! Leo worked brilliantly. Our 2nd ever trial in Open and we pulled of another pass - 189, great comments from the judge, 1st place and Highest scoring Croydon Member in trial :rofl:! I've always wanted to pull off a 190 +, but I guess next time eh?! LOL! Couldn't be prouder with him considering the conditions! Was the first weekend I've used my cool coat too - and needless to say - I'm very impressed with them.... they really work!!!! Here's the photo with the loot! Go the DOL doggies!

Have you practised any of the techniques or are you waiting to finish the book? I have started re-teaching Abbie to go to a mat the way it says in the book. He stay on her mat at home as deteriorated drastically because of certain people not enforcing it (*cough* dad *cough* ) so I thought I may as well teach it again (with a different command and different mat). I like the way McDevitt teaches 'go to place' so the dog loves the mat, not so the dog knows it has to be there but does not want to. T(AD)pole - it's a good game until you tell the dog 'mat' and the dog and mat go flying across the room because of the enthusiasm they land on it :D Kallistar The book is Control Unleashed; Leslie McDevitt..... http://www.agilityclick.com/prod158.htm I received mine about a week ago and hope to start reading it soon.... life has been hectic of late

I was in the same boat as you last yr Jules (well, if I was to get my puppy ). Rowville Vet runs right thru - i'd recommend them

Jules - I don't find it too hard - I do obedience/ agility / showing- and sometimes it is hard to get to Sunday classes coz of trials - but I try and keep Sunday's free. A couple of times a week I do training in the morning, and other times at night (at home).... easier now with daylight saving I have weeknight agility 2x per week - so I either take 1 dog each night, or I take 2 dogs in 2 classes (one after the other) on the same night. there is the option of obedience on a weeknight - but I don't do that too often as it clashes with agility :p. Sometimes I just bring out my own stuff to do Weekends are free for trialling too. I can do this with both dogs and have time just to 'chill' as well - so go on walks with no training or anything. It can take a little longer to train what you want, but I enjoy it, which is the main thing!

I agree Prodigybxr - what can we do to sabotage this team who seems to be creeping up waaay to quickly into Open ;) .... Not to mention, stealing my HI T!!!!!! Well done DD - bet you are really proud of Oscar - I'm not surprised he can work so well in the heat - with his tail going as fast as it does, it must work as a personal fan or something :o. Ptolomy - well done - what an awesome weekend for you!!! B_C well done also!!!! You have been doing brilliantly lately! Ok - now I need to get my butt in gear !!!

that is certainly what makes it difficult in practice! With relatively few dogs competing and with so much of it depending on training... it is hard to know if a) the great dogs you are seeing are the product of good genes or if they are not the norm for those lines... and b) if the numerous lines that do not have dogs in top performance homes could have the same or more potential - and another line could have other benefits in soundness or conformation that you also need to keep in mind when breeding etc... That's why for me, temperament is so important. If they have the right *temperament* you are looking for in a performance dog, then chances are they are going to produce/ be what you want . If a puppy doesn't play with toys, doesn't mean it won't have any toy drive etc :p. For me - I fell in love with Leo's dad when I watched him work - he just had this exuberance oozing out of him as he worked.... heeling was the best place to be and the closer and faster you could do it was better. Yes, it was excellent training, but it also is the dog's personality. I only got 1/2 of it in Leo :) He takes after his mother ;)

Too many factors come into play here. It also depends with what you consider workable. Some would say my boy is fab, others, not enough zing..... To me - he is a great worker. By breeding two performance titled dogs together doesn't mean it is foolproof - that's like saying breeding 2 Ch or Gr CH together will produce only GrCH etc. Takes a lot of homework to get what you want - you need to assess temperaments, structure, not to mention the working *type* you want. Also - just by having the titles means nothing. Breeding a CD AD JD ET dog to a Ch CCD JD or something - won't necessarily mean that you will have a top working dog. It may mean the dog will never get above those levels, the owner hasn't had time to achieve the higher titles etc,etc. You can only make this assessment by looking at the dog. There infact could be a better, un-titled dog/ parents that the owner has no interest in competing with etc . On the other side of things, a well titled dog could just be testament to a great trainer/handler Having said that - there are some breeds where titles become important for me.... and the higher class titles. BUT, if you were breeding two superior performance dogs together (after much research) then yes, I think you will increase your chances of producing higher quality stock - suited for performance. That's how you get kennels with the 'top performing xxx breed in xxxx state'.... That's how, you will notice some kennels producing dogs that consistently seem to be winning in the rings. But, essentially - it is no different to breeding for the show winner either.... a lot of misses, before you get one just right.... if at all

I do a lot of clicker training and am more than happy to help - PM me if you like I use it for show training and find it really useful some relevant topics http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...licker+training

Haha - I don't think it was deserved - as his heeling was sh!thouse :p - i've been told to cut him some slack though as I don't think he was feeling the best ..... and it was our first obedience trial for 6mths (and our first open trial). But we also had some...um.... interesting d/b retrieves where he would look around first see what was happening around him before picking up the d/b :) His morning work was similar, but he blew a pass of 184 due to poor laziness in the sit-stays.... judge later told me 'what a bummer... he heels beautifully'.... I told her she should see him when he is actually heeling and not what he gave me today :( The conditions were disgusting yesterday though - it was hot, muggy, glaring sun and as Arya said - the whole country's flies came down to watch!!! I think by the end of the day 1/4 of them were gone as most of the dogs had gotten their protein fix eating all the flies :p Tess worked beautifully and compared to the dog I saw in May, If I didn't know better - I would say Arya had switched dogs :p. Congrats Arya - you must be so proud of her with the improvement you saw in her - and pat on the back to you for sticking with it Prodigybxr - I didn't see you work in the ring ..... but i'm looking forward to beating the pants off you in Open ;) :p

OK - I'm going to break the silence.... Prodigybxr has a huge brag to fill us all in with today!!! As does Arya with the beautiful Tess!!!!!! :laugh: Anyone else at Southern?!

I'll look out for it wei's and enter it in

Hey arya - your post is soo similar to mine Does that mean that we are on the right track? Or both heading down the wrong path together??? :rolleyes:

For me: I've learnt a lot through my training - and am still learning now, and even making the same mistakes that I did 1st time round..... the advantage now is that I pick up on it faster and now how to correct it! Strengths: *The ability to take criticism & advice - though I may not agree with it initially, I usually go back and 'ponder' for a bit and make my final decision then *Having an open mind - I don't write off any method or any trainer, but rather take what I like from them and leave out the rest. *Patience when training my dog - this is a big thing as I used to get frustrated, now, i'm able to take a step back *The ability to look back and acknowledge that most of the time things go wrong, it is something I have done. *The ability to use praise, toys & food to the best of my ability - and take time out of training in order to build up the dogs 'drive' for those things. Weaknesses: *planning training sessions - it never happens! *Speeding ahead too quick and not breaking the sequence down enough... I'm starting to recognise this more now though *Getting downhearted and taking it 'personally' when something doesn't go right! I really need to stop that. *Focusing on what the dog can't do rather than what they CAN do!

Congrats LL and FHR!!! Some great results! Best of luck with the litter helen! Must be a very exciting & nerve wrecking time for you!

Oh wow! Congrats Ptolomy! Best of luck for the Ch Beans ... We are still working toward Ch Kinta..... next year is her year That's a huge achievement - I've only started trialling with Leo in March this year - and we are nowhere near masters!!!! :cheer: Thanks everyone for the good luck / congrats . DD - you'll be in open in no-time... Arya- looks like i'll be at the trial after all!!! :o

Another mindless brag from me. Last night at agility training - we have gone up to the highest class now - as we have been trialling for a bit and gained titles/ passes etc . This means rather than running/ breaking down novice/ excellent courses, we run/ breakdown higher scale excellent/masters courses (and maybe some games ) We had a masters course set up last night with quite a few nigglies around - 2 jumps next to each other and the tunnel/dogwalk discrim (note: I have one of the worlds *biggest* tunnel suck dogs!)... I've been doing a bit of work with him; some ideas I got from the In Focus Need For Speed DVD and Gina O'Keefe's low drive/ high drive seminar - i've noticed the improvement too! Anyway - back to the point. I was most impressed that my dog ran a CLEAR round (multiple times!), not to mention, quite a fast run too, around the masters course! Nobody believed me when I said he hasn't passed out of Novice yet :p. What's more is my little velcro dog also did an 'out' and layering (weavers) to allow me to handle the final jumps with minimal 'fluffing' around :D But what I was most proud of was he did the discrim between the tunnel/ dogwalk - and I didn't have to do any blocking, redirecting or anything like that - he *listened* and did the said obstacle I asked for :cheer: Go Leo, Go Leo :p Fingers crossed for this weekend. In an act of stupidity we entered our first open obedience trial ... I need to start picturing what he CAN do, not what he may stuff up

Hi Guys, Just a reminder that the Croydon's Obedience trial entries close in a week!!! CROYDON & D0DC Inc Open Obedience Trial Richard Silcock Reserve, William Road, Croydon Vic Sunday 2 December 2007 Entries: Trial Secretary, Leopuppy04 - PM for details. Entries close: Sunday 18 November 2007 Judges: CCD: E Booth Novice: R Carlson, R Buckley Open: F Valastro, S Stephens, F Tipping Utility: T Moore, MF Brueckner, C Makepeace UDX: N McIlroy Entry Fee: $10.00 Check In: 9.00am - 9.45am Start: 10.00am Catering available on grounds Look forward to seeing you all there! Should be a great day