Seita

Yep, cos the Judges are learning to be judges so they need a trial to learn on. And other judges stand outside the ring and judge you as well so you could well end up with 4 or 5 different scores!

I got mine from there too! But I'm going to have a play with making some myself as I keep losing articles or ella chews the wood ones up! I have a set reserved for trialling at the moment which she hasn't been allowed to use yet and won't until we hit the ring! And agreed on the dog scout method! While it took Ella a while to catch on I had more success with it than other methods. I'm not really working on anything at the moment... aside from fitness. Ella cannot physically manage a whole UD run out yet, she just gets too puffed about half way through. Which sucks as she can do all the exercises quite well, she just needs extra proofing. (note she's unfit due to a tick late last year!)

Thanks GSD, that's exactly what I'm after Keep you eyes peeled for dates in the dog world, they usually have a box somewhere with upcoming dates for judges training if you wanted to go along. I think they usually run them on Sunday evenings at Oxley.

in QLD all dogs need to be vetted - this includes entire bitches being swabbed as well as all dogs doing a short out and back to check that they aren't lame etc. Your number will only then be handed over to you with either vetted written/stamped on it or a signature by the person who did the vetting.

It'd be a pretty nasty judge to take points off for that. On a sit or drop stay as long as the dog stays in position then it has completed the exercise, excess fidgetting can lose you points but moving a foot to get comfortable is ok. If the dog lifts its bum even to rearrange itself that is a fail, same on a drop stay if the dog lifts either it's front or back end off the ground. The only stay where you are penalised for moving feet is a stand stay/stand for exam, and you'll lose points for every foot that moves there.

Hey Tilly me too! I am always on the lookout for decent clubs to recommend in Brissy

Again, as stated by many others, the club was not named on a public forum therefore it hasn't been attacked. What is said in PMs is personal, people are entitled to their opinions and free-speech so you cannot under any circumstances claim that what was said there could be seen as attacking the club... especially seeing as you did not recieve any of these PMs. You and Ms Faye, on the other hand, have both repeatedly called the OP "a liar" which could be taken as a personal attack on them. Also, not once have either you or Ms Faye mentioned/told what you witnessed that night, which means neither of you actually witnessed it or are avoiding telling for some reason unknown to us. Denying that the incident happened does not equate to your side of the story. We have the OPs view on what happened but at this stage we have no view from either you or Ms Faye on what actually happened, only that both of you seem to be denying it like there's no tomorrow. These are basic facts, regardless of what did or didn't happen that night and what was or wasn't witnessed, your's and Ms Fayes replies certainly leave me questioning the truth in your arguments. And lastly, please use punctuation as your posts are incredibly difficult to follow and you seem to be getting annoyed that people aren't understanding you, perhaps posters will understand better if your posts are a bit clearer to read?

pretty much never in my case. My club doesn't do them on a regular basis, I could ask if I wanted to but most of the time I can't be bothered. I practice what I want to work on at training and ask for help where needed (ie articles) but I don't think it's good training for a dog to do loads of run outs all the time. I preffer to practice randomly, only do half a heel pattern in slow pace, only send the dog to the box without sending her over the jumps, rewarding the dog on the way back on a recall rather than asking her to sit in front of me etc. I work this way to keep her guessing and keen to work. I think my dog would get bored if I did the same thing every time I went to training. I do usually do a run out or two if I've had a bit of a break from trialling before entering again to guage how she's doing if I put it all together like a proper trial. I use another club for this and they are run like proper trials, although you can ask to do specific things if there is something you are working on. For example, I haven't been in an obedience ring since Oct last year while I've been training Ella up for UD, sometime in the next 2 months I'll probably go and do a run out or two with her to see where she's at if I do a whole trial with her, based on how she goes in that will determine when I enter her into real trials. In short, no I do not think it's beneficial for a dog to do run outs on a regular basis, dogs often get ringwise because of this or bored and things go downhill very quickly. But! That said, if you are mixing things up while doing run outs or doing crazy things in the ring in the way of distractions/proofing then yes this is a good idea. This way you can avoid a bored dog, or a ringwise dog and keep things interesting and different and still keep your dog guessing. But doing a "proper practice trial" I feel is a pointless exercise.

Really?? Yep, so you technically have to get four passes to get your novice title here ;) Totally ripped off! How stoopid is that?! That and I think I read that you are only allowed one Associate dog and then you MUST have a main/limited registered purebred to be able to compete with it, now THAT sucks! Correct... and don't forget we've only been allowed to register an associate dog for the last 6 or 7 years, before that it was simply not allowed. Yes QLD is a bit behind the times... we might catch up one day!

Seeing as you are new to trialling it's probably a good idea to do CCD first to get used to being in the ring and getting your dog used to it as well. But if you feel that your dog is capable of going straight into novice then by all means go for it. From memory, there are a few people involved in trialling at the Townsville obedience club so they should be able to give you plenty of advice and some practice runs in a ring before you enter an official trial. I'm pretty sure that Townsville is also usually the host of judges training days up there so you could ask the club when the next one is and see if you can come along and put your dog through the ring under a trainee judge. All the best!

to be honest Jetty, I don't think there are too many clubs in Brissy that will be understanding of your dog's issues. Most of the clubs in Brissy use out dated training methods and most instructors don't have a particularly good understanding of dog behaviour etc. You could try VIP training club, they are a positive club who I think would be most likely to understand your dogs issues. I would NOT recommend Logan obedience club to anyone, especially someone with a fear agressive dog. Good luck finding a club, and when you do decided on one stick to your guns and don't let the instructors bully you into doing something that your dog may not be comfortable with!

And the tragic thing is that this happens all over the place and the poor public who come along to train their dogs don't know any better. I've watched an instructor check a young dog (under 12 months old) who's body language was clearly showing very intense fear of the person. I think even a training novice can see a dog cower and act fearful. I've also seen other instructors work with a fear agressive dog, by walking it towards other dogs and correcting the daylights out of it. I told a class member off the other night for correcting his puppy when it jumped at another puppy for a game. And I've trained at a club where the method of choice was check and drag... needless to say the dog I trained there never got anywhere in the world of obedience competition. I am a member and instructor at a club now that 'favors' the older style of training... why? Because there are no positive clubs here and the only way for clubs to change are for experienced trainers, competitors and owners like us to get involved and try to create a culture shift in each individual club.

get in contact with Jane Harper from dogs on track, she is brilliant! (www.dogsontrack.com.au). Good luck with your puppy!

Congrats Steve!!!

oh come on and tell us already!!!

your dog made friends with the stranger as it was the only way he was going to get out of the room?? I honestly have no idea!

Sounds like a plan, Steve Will put my handling on hold until you get here Yes I saw that too!! BUT the "special delivery" pricked my interest more! Steve are you expecting a mini Steve/Stevette??

I know! I am just impatient and want my new tugs asap! *stamps feet* I got a message to say that it would be sent out as soon as it was back in stock (less than a week or so)!

My Starter Tug kit arrived today If you're thinking about this kit I definately recommend it - good quality and CHEAP!!! Yes that's what I'm waiting for... they are currently out of stock Not that I really need more tugs, I have 3 or 4 or maybe even more kicking around here but I liked the look of these and I'm always keen to "test" out new ones. I haven't had many last more than a year so am keen to see if these will survive longer!

Bumping this up cos I'm curious if you decided to go ahead with these carry bags? I'm really keen to get something to carry my UD training gear in cos my current solution (camping chair bag, so too short and not tough enough) has died!

Noooo! I placed an order this morning and apparently I was too slow and they're already out of stock on some things! Not that I actually needed anything to begin with...

Just get the pack like I am and then you don't need to make a choice!!!

do a bit of a search on stays, breaking stays, teaching solid stays etc and I'm sure you'll come up with several threads on the topic. I work on a basic philosophy with stays: time before distance before distractions. I don't like setting dogs up to fail so I work on length of the stay first, then I increase the distance gradually and then gradually introduce distractions.

And it works in browsers other an IE!!! That used to be a major gripe of mine with the old website when blocks of colour covered text/pictures because Firefox or another brower I was using displayed things differently!!

Hey Steve! With this big fancy new website you know what else you should do! Set up a page on facebook so everyone can become fans!!