Seita

Nah just open tonight, last trial of the year for us so hoping to finish on a good note! UD next year hopefully! I hate novice... I tend to train my dogs to open level before starting Novice so I can go straight through into Open pretty quickly. Looking forward to hearing Kinta's awsome results in Open next year!!! I'm sure when I hit the UD rings with Ella there will be some silly moments from me too! can't wait to share them!

LOL Ness! Hope theres lots of ice coffees for you tonight!!

Well done Leopuppy! Now you can have the real fun up in Open and then UD with Kinta!!! Soo much more fun to trial in those classes I reckon! Sounds like Leo did a super job too... just need to upgrade the handler hey? LOL Hopefully I'll a brag of my own to add tonight when I get home! fingers crossed!

Well done on your results Ptolomy! Congrats on the title and yay about Scooter getting everything together again for you!!!

You guys should see my girl train! In an obedience ring when the judge says forward I need to concentrate sooo hard to not move until my feet are ready cos even the slightest body movement and she's on her feet. I'm trying to teach her send away to a box and then directed jumping for UD and when she's in the box the slightest body movement towards either of the jumps and she's already on the way - I haven't even moved my hands yet at this stage!!

Yeah but a Sibe wooing is a nice sound. Beagles wooing makes your ears want to explode :p While my dog might not give your dogs a run for their money in the noise department. I'll bet she'll beat them in the leaping into the air out of sheer excitement before entering the ring!!! I have to watch my nose some days, she leaps straight into the air and head butts me!!! Oh and Shell I am jealous that you guys still have trials, we have two left for the year and then virtually nothing until february here in QLD. Oh well two months off to train Ella for UD I supposed... :D

nope, as long as she's controlled/contained then she'll be fine.

My girl recently (less than a month ago) had a tick, I got her into the vets early and she's recovered pretty well. She cracked a tooth (one of the molars along the side of the jaw) a while ago and it seems that the root has started to rot a bit and it needs to be removed. It's still firmly in place and not loose so it will need to be done under general anesthetic. It's bothering her a bit so I figure it will need to be done soon but I am concerned about the GA so soon after the tick, especially seeing as the tick poison and serum affects the heart and lungs. She's just over 3.5 years old and is fit and healthy, the vet mentioned that it was a risk but said that she should be ok but I am a little worried about doing it so I'm after some further opinions.

Ohhh is this true Huski??

Sorry can't help myself! Only 8 more sleeps to go!!!

From what I know most clubs will give you a test to see what level your dog is at to decide what level class your dog should go into. I am another one who doesn't train at a club until I'm at the proofing stage of my training. I have joined two different clubs over the last two years, the first club with a dog that was being proofed for trialling so had no titles to her name yet, we went straight to the trialling class after they saw what level she was at. The second club was a year later with the same dog who by that stage had 3 titles to her name, again a short test and straight into trialling class. In answer to the OP's question: I start in my backyard or lounge room - low distraction familar environment. Then I progress to the front yard or the street in front of my house - still close to home and familiar but more distractions. Then I head down the road away from home a bit but try and find a quiet area. Then it's the park where there might be low-med level distractions. Then I might search for a park with more distractions. Then I might work outside a dog park with lots of dogs inside it for a while. AND THEN I go to the club and practice. My final test is to work inside a busy dog park, or outside on the fence line if the dogs won't leave my dog alone. I use this for anything that I'm training. So I might have different behaviours at different levels of proofing. For example - I had a young dog here earlier in the year, I had him at the club a couple of times and did nothing more than work on getting his focus around the other dogs. At home he was learning heel, sit etc but at club all I wanted was focus. If he had of stayed with me it could have been possible that I might be working on heeling in motion at home, finding the stationary heel position down at the park, working on stays near a busy park, and working of focus only at club or near dog park... does that make sense? The idea behind all this is that the dog learns better in a low distraction environment and gradually introducting bigger and bigger distractions means the dog won't get overwhelmed with too many distractions. Some dogs will progress very quickly and others will take a while, it depends on the individual dog.

I would LOVE to borrow it!

Pretty much ditto although my new job only pays about half of my current salary more! I've been meaning to buy it too but just haven't got around to it yet!

What are the dates that those vaccs were given? Cos puppy would have had a 6/8 week old vaccination, then normally another one around 12 weeks and then another around 16 weeks. Sounds like puppy might have had his 6 weeks vacc and his 12 week but hasn't had a 16 week shot. although those dates are only a few days apart which is confusing. As long as pup has had his 12 week vacc he "should" be ok for intake at a club but again I'm not 100% sure here on what the club's policy is. Membership was just due so if you join on Monday your membership will be due again around October next year which is when they are normally due. I don't fully understand why they don't just make it from the start of the calander year but they don't. 30-45min might be alright, maybe check with the people on the lab thread about what they would recommend for a 6 month old lab pup. I just worry about putting too much stress on growing bones with pups so I tend to let my dogs have more offlead time if possible with more focus on lots of brain work. Labs are prone to structural probs like hip and elbow displaysia which can be partially caused by too much exercise early on and also being overweight. Your walks sound ok though seeing as you allow stop and sniff time... you can increase the time gradually as the pup gets older. Did your brother get the puppy from a registered breeder? And do you have his pedigree papers... as his breeder could give you information on raising and training a labrador.

Southside training starts at 7:30 on the soccer fields, you can't miss it there are cars and dogs everywhere! If you are looking for his vaccinnation information you should have a vaccination card or vet report of some sort which should have little stickers on it that say things like C5 or C3 etc. You will need to have his vaccination certificates with you to enroll at any obedience club. If you can't find them try and ask your brother what vet he used for the vaccinations and try and get a copy of the dog's vet records from that vet. Training costs at Southside are pretty reasonable, it's $10 for a year's membership and then it's $4 each night that you come along. As for treats, trial and error will find you what he really likes. Try small peices of cheese, kabana, cooked cold sausage, etc (cut into peices about the size of your little finger's nail). Soft treats tend to be better to train with that dry treats and dogs really like things that are really smelly! As your pup is still growing I wouldn't recommend really long walks just yet, shorter walks to practice walking on a loose lead are good, I think a half hour max would be good. As well as offlead running time if you have access to a safe area to do so, otherwise pop him on a long line and find a quiet feild to let him run abit while still having control over him - this way if he ignores you and doesn't come you can pull him back in without risking him running off. The other important thing is training, teach him tricks, games, fetch etc at home to make him think a bit this will tire him out just as much as a walk. I take it this is the first time you've owned a dog? If so, I recommend lots of reading up and research on dog training, dog ownership etc. Also do some research into Labs and problems you might need to look out for. There is loads of info on this site, but for more articles try dogstardaily (google it). ETA: just re read your post, no need to make him sit and stay for a treat, if he's doing the right thing (like walking loosely on the lead, or came when you called) then tell him he's a good boy and give him a treat. No need to be stingy or tough with treats while he's still learning. Don't give them away for nothing but when he does what you asked him to make sure you reward him!

Hi and welcome! I definitely recommend K9force's TOT (triangle of temptation), it's a very good way to start out with a new dog. As for obedience schools in your area, Southside Dog Obedience Club trains on a monday night at Runcorn on the soccer fields although our last training night is Monday 30th Nov for the year but we'll be back again early January I believe. Not sure if there are any other clubs private/other nearby but someone else may be along with some suggestions for you. As for vets, I used to use greencross vets at Macgregor (opposite the woolies petrol station on Kessells road). If he's been desexed and had all his vaccinations you probably won't need them again until he needs his 12 month old booster shot. A good idea is to take treats with out on walks so you can reward him with something that he likes when he does what you tell him. Train him to come, sit and stay etc all at home in your lounge room or backyard where it's quiet and has fewer distractions and when he understands properly at home practice this out on walks etc and always reward him for doing the right thing. How long have you had him for now?

Don't you just love those people who like to tell you that working breeds shouldn't be in the city! I've had a few comments made about how cruel I am for having BC's in the suburbs by random people. I just nod and smile

I also see no issues with large/active breeds in apartments or small yards as long as they are given enough exercise and mental stimulation. It's very common in Europe to have dogs in apartments and these dogs are often larger or more active breeds. I lived in a house with a tiny little backyard and a small side courtyard with a young border collie and a GSDx with no major issues. They just needed to get out to the park to stretch their legs pretty much every day. My OH is of the mind that active/working/large breeds don't belong in small yards or apartments but I don't think he understands that if the dog gets enough exercise and training then it will be fine no matter what space it lives in, it depends on the individual dog on how much training and exercise it would need. Although I think Corvus makes a good point about taking into consideration the size/layout of the house/apartment as well as the dog that you might be considering. A tight space and a larger dog just might get a bit crowded and lots of possibilities for damage to stuff in the house!

Some cultures just don't understand dog ownership. I live in an area that has alot of asians and many are unsure about my border collies, they move off the path and try to generally stay away from them. There are a few that have no issues with dogs but many still do. I also used to live in an area that had a large population of african refugees and I am involved with a youth group of predominately african kids and they have similar reactions to the dogs, they avoid them and don't want to be approached by them. Whenever the kids come to my place they are afraid of my dogs who are harmless but exuberant. It doesn't bother me as I realise that they come from a completely different culture to me and I respect that they are afraid or cautious around dogs. On this topic, as a kid we had a ridgeback and often took him with us to places like the esplanade in Cairns, which is anyone has ever been there is a major tourist strip. We used have to people (mostly Asians) stop and ask if they could take photos with this placid giant of a dog! He wouldn't even bother to get up to say hi and many of the tourists always thought he was pretty cool!!

I haven't had a chance to see the instructors manual for this club yet but I assume it's similar to the one from my old club. 4 levels of classes, one month each class and a set list of things to acheive in that class level before being elevated. My current idea is to mix it up a bit by doing a small amount of heeling, followed by something else such as focus work or stays depending on the level I'm instructing. So there might be a fair bit of heeling throughout the class but instead of doing long blocks of it, it will be broken down into short bursts to keep both dogs and handlers interested. I think they might be revising the manual and I am going to push to add in more elements of teaching the heel position first before actually heeling in motion, and also incorporating more life skills like loose lead walking etc. Not sure how I will go with making changes though! I like the sound of your club JulesP!

I know many people who trial here don't train their dogs through classes at their clubs. I certainly don't either. But I assume that some or many of you do instruct at your clubs. I'm after a bit of feedback on how you handle a class situation at a normal obedience club especially if you don't put your own dogs through classes? I haven't instructed for several years but have been asked to start at my new club next year. I have no issues with this but I am trying to plan ahead to have some good ideas on how to keep things moving, and interesting for the class without resorting to boring and the old fashioned paddock-bashing that so many clubs still do. I myself refuse to train a dog through classes as it's just too distracting an environment to teach good behaviours so I'm struggling with the challenge of how to run a class that I most likely wouldn't attend!! Here in QLD just recently we had an instructors seminar, which was aimed at sharing information between our clubs on training methods and how to handle classes. It was apparant that many clubs including my own still rely largely on large blocks of heel work thus boring the brains out of the poor dogs. The main aim of most clubs is to recruit more people into the world of trailling but when the dog (and often the handler too) has been bored through the class training this becomes quite difficult. So how do you guys run a class? Feel free to give me thoughts, feedback, ideas, examples of how you would/do do it?

Fainty_girl, I am disgusted to hear about your ordeal! I can't believe an instructor would put a halti on a dog and then force it to walk. If a halti or any other form of head harness is to be prescribed it needs to be introduced somewhere familiar and gradually - so at home, put it on give lots of treats and make it a pleasant experience. All that trainer has done is made dogs that are now even less likely to want to walk on a leash! I would request my money back and tell then that you weren't happy with the training provided and I would definitely NOT go back again. Before you join another club go out and watch a training session first to see what they do. But if all you want is to fix loose lead walking, book in a consult with a recommended trainer and you should have her on a loose lead within one session. I know K9 force has been recommended to you, he does distance learning for loose lead walking too but as you're in sydney you could book a consult with him too. I guarantee you that he will show you how to get Tilly on a loose lead within 5 minutes. I'm sure there are other great trainers in Sydney but I don't know who they are, but I'm sure someone could recommend one to you.

the weekend is a private group, not sure who but only people from that club/group are able to attend. So the one day is for those of us who are not amoung the special group who get the whole weekend!!

Where abouts in brissy are you sparky? A car pool would be good but not sure if it would work for me! Only a few more weeks to go now!

Boys can be such trouble makers!! Healing thoughts being sent your way!