superminty

Hey, me too, entered intermediate sheep and ducks x 2 at our state trial.I am pretty confident of getting the sheep around the C post and that's it really :laugh: Ducks will depend on whether he remembers to keep his eyes on them this time around... Ah well, gotta give it a go at some stage.

Brushes. Walk out into the yard with a brush and you will be hard pressed to find a kelpie. Funnily enough he loves being brushed, you just can't let him see the brush... Also dried fish treats. Very suspicious of those.

Obedience and herding commands can be quite different concepts. A herding command may involve varying intensities of an action, where an obedience command is for one action (generally, that action may involve several components but is still a single concept). I don't repeat obedience commands, but I have herding commands that get repeated i.e. "walk up" means apply pressure, which might start with eye, then movement towards the stock, then quicker movement, then more eye and might culminate in a bite if necessary. So I would say "walk up" = apply eye, "walk up" again means apply more pressure etc etc. Flank commands get repeated too. A flank command for me means "go in the direction I've asked until you get to balance (for a fetch), then turn in unless directed otherwise". So if I want the dog to fetch to me, I give the flank command once, the dog goes around in that direction to balance and fetches the sheep to me. But if I want a drive away, then I will give the flank command again once the dog reaches balance for a fetch (where he should be turning in naturally) to tell him I want him to continue the flank. For an obedience "down" though, even if in a herding ring, if I say "down", the dog must lie down and I will insist without repeating the command. This is the "command over instinct" that Dasha was talking about - the dog must lie down and stay there no matter what the stock are doing. Whereas my "stop" command means "stop your feet but stay on the ball" so if a sheep were to break, the dog can cover and I won't get mad. If I wanted the dog to pause for a length of time until another command is given, I will use "stop" then "down".

Yay, congrats

Old video of my two - bitey face on the move!

There is a trial at Nyora at the end of this month - run by the Aussie Shepherd club, schedule is not up yet but should be soon. The vicherding site has the schedules uploaded when available http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/vicherding/ Looking at Dogs Vic events calendar, looks like there is a VHA trial on the 12th and 13th of May - generally tests are run on the Sunday. There is usually at least one ANKC herding trial a month between March and October/November, so there's plenty of time. Get as much training in before you start, makes it all a lot less stressful on the day :-) ETA: Just need to be reg with Dogs Vic to trial, no need to join a particular club. Herding rules are on this page http://www.ankc.org.au/Rules.aspx to give you an idea of what is required for an instinct certificate and herding test. Herding test is the first title (HT).

Drove off all excited (and nervous!) for the season opening herding trial - entered 2 x started duck runs with the intent of having a go at an intermediate course before taking the leap to actually entering intermediate. Half an hour from the venue - car stops dead. RACV man says broken fuel plug, patches it up, tells me to get it towed. Instead we limp home , me holding my breath the whole way. Darn it! And no more duck trials coming up! So much for my intermediate plans so far this year Cash is rather unimpressed by the 3.5 hours in the car for nothing.

This thread is perfect timing, my old girl turns 10 tomorrow and I was reading up on feeding senior dog food - one of the arguments against it is that some foods drop the protein levels, where some older dogs actually need more protein - I don't know much about the reasoning (still researching). So I agree with Pav Lova - if it's keeping the weight off that is the issue, then a lower fat formula is the way to go.

My brain is still recovering. I'll post more in a couple days once I've processed all the info :-) Was great to see your girl Nik and Kaz took some lovely photos of her! Such a happy dog.

I only have an egg - started with front paws and lured up. The dog in this video is pretty brave, but my scaredy-cat dog took to it really well too once she worked out there were treats involved. That was maybe his second go? I also put the egg in between the couch and a table to steady it at first. For back legs on a disc or box - put it in a corner and holding food, walk into the dog (if they aren't great shapers). Walk the dog backwards til a hind leg hits the balance disc, mark and treat. Rinse, repeat.

Scent work is a great idea! I would also add doing exercises using a FitPaws egg, balance disc or similar for a few minutes a day - I have one for rehab for my old dog but my DA dog loves it - it challenges the mind and body and exhausts him in 5 mins. Plus will help him keep fit and well into old age.

How can a council make a destruction order over a leashed dog versus a dog wandering at large in leash restricted area? When councils investigate a dog attack, they look at the actual attack - who attacked who, damage done and so on. Leashed or not leashed is a consideration, certainly, but not the ultimate determinant of which dog is at fault.I know coz I have asked. If your dog is involved in an attack and does damage to another dog/person/animal, regardless of who started it, you risk losing your dog. I did not know that! That's a real worry for anyone who likes dogs that might be capable of hurting another dog, even if they would never start it. Scary, isn't it And bl**dy unfair IMO. I accept the risks associated with owning a DA dog, and the potential to lose my dog if I stuff it up but your average "normal", friendly dog that gets attacked and lashes out in defence is equally at risk.

How can a council make a destruction order over a leashed dog versus a dog wandering at large in leash restricted area? When councils investigate a dog attack, they look at the actual attack - who attacked who, damage done and so on. Leashed or not leashed is a consideration, certainly, but not the ultimate determinant of which dog is at fault.I know coz I have asked. If your dog is involved in an attack and does damage to another dog/person/animal, regardless of who started it, you risk losing your dog. A muzzled dog cannot put holes in another dog or a person or another animal for that matter. I would say muzzling is good risk management.

Getting some good responses mace. Of course not, but an owner/trainer's resposibility can't control the actions of someone else's dog, a roaming DA dog suddenly appears charging towards your leashed dog, what then? That dog has to get past me first. You'd rather risk losing your dog or getting a dangerous dog tag? I'd take a live, injured dog over a council ordered dead dog. Agree. And like Cosmolo said earlier, much easier to do with only one set of teeth to worry about.

Who told you that Cosmolo Haven't you ever seen a dog take on more than it can chew, turn tail and run away, many DA dogs are fear biters acting on a learned behaviour when they charge at other dogs aggressively? But the difference is with a muzzled dog, it's ability to fight is compromised to diffuse a situation where an unmuzzled dog isn't. Your own dog muzzled isn't safer in a fight with a dog who isn't muzzled and is more vulnerable to cop a real hiding, for my dog, I don't want that to happen if unmuzzled provides a better chance at survival. No responsible owner or trainer would put any dog, let alone a reactive one in a situation where it had to fight for it's survival.

Made sense to me piper! Cash does that sneak to the head thing and before I know it, I have sheep again. I think long line as well, will pick Trudy's brain and let you know! Kate calls it "drop and drift" - I don't have that level of control so doesn't work for me.

Ouch piper! Hope you're ok. Nice work on the driving. I'm hoping to get some tips from Trudy about driving a line - I'm a bit stuck! He can drive them away from me and keep them away but directions are a bit hit and miss.

Which clinics are you guys doing? I'm not sure where I've been slotted in as I'll be there all week - moving into Kate's back yard I'll be the one in a pink floppy hat.

I'm sure she'll be fine. When I did my first Trudy Viklund clinic, Cash had been off stock for a year! Worked like he'd never been away from them...

Some pics from the herding camp this weekend. Working cows Doing a lift off a person with a bucket of sheep food and some very hungry sheep!

Just been looking at hiring a camper trailer,that would be better again, I'm coming over even if I have to sleep under the car, Trudy was great last time . Gotta tell what Bill got me for Xmas a bridge, no not a cutesy garden one a steel one I can use to drive the sheep over when I'm training very excited. Only a herding person would understand how cool that is

I stayed in Korumburra last time but the motel has been sold & no dogs any more, starting to get desperate cos I really want to go. Considering a camper van, 4 dogs & me in the car is a bit to squishy . I'm sure Kate would have no issues with that - I know people who have stayed up there before in a camper van - you could even hook up to electricity in the shed if you want to live in luxury! I'm getting excited - so many questions for Trudy! Been brushing up on flanks - I think we have frame of mind, eyes out and shape but want to be sure Cash isn't going to make a fool of me and make me look like I've done no work since Trudy was last here I DO have a nice drive away now though - that's certainly new since she was here last. Not sure who taught my dog that - surely wasn't me! Maybe he picked it up watching those Lynn Leach DVDs...

Sorry Dova, can't help there, I camp at Kate's. I think people who have attended previous clinics have stayed in Korumburra? Maybe JulesP might know somewhere.

Perhaps put Bronte back in the round yard and shape the barking out? I did some of that on the weekend with a delightful little BC x Heeler who has quite a mouth on her! Once she figured out I wasn't going to let her work if she was barking, she became amazingly quiet. Sounds like Ren is coming along nicely, can't wait to see him again! I think Cash has finally got shape on his flanks! He has been doing some lovely work, nice wide circles and really nice back ends of outruns. Very pleased with him. He has also cottoned on to off balance "right there" and now turns in on his own, rather than me having to block him to get him to turn in. My "work on one thing at a time" plan seems to be paying off!

Well, that dog's middle name is not "presence", that's for sure!