piper

Dova, I am sure you will be fine!! You have been putting a lot of work and effort and I am quite sure it will show. You are bound to be way more prepared than me!! Piper is in 2 runs - 1 each day and Jazz is in 4 runs - 2 each day. That will be enough by the time I judge, race around moving stock, setting up and doing all the other committee stuff needed as well. We spent a few hours out there last week marking the grounds out and planning it all so hopefully it all goes smoothly. Just hope we marked everything out right...

PME, Jazz and Piper both gave me many heart attacks over jumping. I tried to discourage it and prevent it and certainly never asked for it but if it happened, it happened. I remember saying to Jazz's breeder that I dreaded getting her hip and elbow xrays done as they were bound to be awful with all the jumping she had done. I still remember coming home from work when she was 4 or 5 months old to her happily on the grooming table but when it came time for xrays she got 0-0 hips and elbows so it didnt hurt them. LOL Don't encourage it, try and prevent it where you can but also dont panic when they do it anyway is my stand on it now.

Owey, I am pleased to here they refunded all costs and you are not out of pocket from this awful experience. I hope that they have also learnt a lot too. I wish you a happy healthy puppy when the time is right for you and your family.

Unless she has changed how she does things, she is 1 of the fastest I have seen when it comes to getting rid of lures and moving to random rewards. Certainly does not encourage the use of rewards as bribes. After having instructed at obedience clubs and battled to get people to get rid of lures, she amazed me how quickly she managed to get people to get rid of what is often a crutch for them and then becomes an issue for the dog as well.

I used the fenugreek tea too, it definitely provided a boost and in my girl's case once the supply was up I dropped the tea back.

Esky the Husky, that sounds like Dion - he is great and who I would go to if I were even remotely close to Marion. This is an old thread and I have a feeling the person that resurrected it is hoping we will ask them what went wrong with their dog at the vet.

Try again.... I give in on embedding it!!

Some of today's training. Jazz is getting the idea of taking stock away from me, still a work in progress but for the amount of training we get and where we were in April I am thrilled. In April we were only getting a couple of steps. Hopefully this works... [media][/media] Grr, not woking. I can never get this to work

Yes well it would be nice if we could have mice adjoining area but alas we can't. Most dogs will have a couple of runs on each stock type though so I would suggest sitting with 1 type until completion of a class and then watching the second run off the other stock type. Traditionally there are less duck runs and they are usually quicker as well so you would probably see most dogs go through and then move to sheep and see the last half of the first run and then all the second runs.

This will be different to what we have done before, nothing is where it normally is and we have never run ducks there at all! B course sheep will be behind the big implement shed (on the left as you drive in) and there is a roadway on either side of the paddock that you will be able to stand in. A course ducks will be down near the Rosedale Rd in the horse arena as it is the flattest area we could find that is also short grass. A sheep and B ducks will both be in the paddock the other side of the 1 we usually use (the 1 with the duck shed in the corner). I might make up some maps to put on the check in table showing what is where....

Cool. Things will be a bit spread out unfortunatey but we need to do that to minimise the effect of stock being worked in 1 area impacting on another area. There should be pretty good viewing for all areas - B course sheep and A course ducks should make for particularly good viewing. B course ducks and A course sheep will be a little more difficult due to trees along boundaries but still pretty good.

Well we just spent the afternoon out marking up the grounds ready for the State Champs in a fortnight. Hopefully we get better weather as it was a bit wet and windy out there today. 1 of the committee members has some totally awesome binoculars that measure distance that made the measuring SO much easier and saved us heaps of time :) I can't wait, it is going to be a full on weekend but hopefully a really good one for everyone.

I dont know if all of the proper ones are easy to move but mine was. The cheap removable 1 did occasionally come loose - never with my guys who respected it and didnt push on it but a few times when I travelled with friends and their dogs they would lean on it and make it move.

The way I used the cheap removable 1 it didn't matter that it didn't go all the way to the ground. Didn't you say you want to fold the seats down? I had the seats folded down and they went almost all the way to the front seat so I just installed it on the edge of those, unfortunately it was pre digital camera so I dont have any pics of how I did it. Moving the proper cargo barrier as about a 5 min job when I needed the back seat, undo 4 bolts, slide it to the other point and then put the bolts back. I'm not sure if they are all that easy though but mine certainly was. I had actually put off getting 1 installed for ages as I didn't realise they were that easy to move until a friend showed me theirs.

I know tollersowned - it still amazes me that she leaves bars up! I also discovered she is quicker than I thought. Not blazing fast but I never expected that she would be, she isn't that type of dog, too laid back. But she is economical and reliable, the SCT was 36 seconds and she came 4th with 22.6 and I know third was 22.4 and was told second was in the 22s as well.

Do you have a normal cargo barrier behind the back seats? If so you can just get another set of anchor points installed behind the front seats and move the barrier forward - I had my camry set up like that for years. Before having a proper barrier though I used 1 of these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/CSI-Adjustable-Vehicle-Pet-Barrier-Removable-No-Drilling-Required-25100-/140741878058 I just bought it from an autoparts store. I think it was from Supercheap auto.

Check your PMs Dova!! :) (I should have just looked for your email address... lol)

Alexis is great, well in my experience anyway. She is who I referred my puppy buyers that lived in her area to for training.

I get a brag :) Jazz had her first agility trial today and came away with a JD qualification from her first run. Would have been 2 but for stupid handler this afternoon causing a refusal. She also had a run in AD and for whatever reason popped a weaving pole and then I asked her what that was so she missed the next couple due to looking at me. I have proofed lots of things with weaving but apparently not me talking to her, lol. No idea why she missed the 1 she did, she made the entry well. I half expected before I entered she might have a problem due to the metal bases so I suspect that was the cause but they didn't appear to be bothering her and she has done them a few times at club. ETA: It is a nice change having a clean jumper. I dont think I have ever come home from a trial with my 3 previous dogs and been able to say every bar was up! LOL.

Jazz has her first trial tomorrow for her 5th birthday. I am desperately hoping that a bad dress rehearsal makes for a good performance as you name it, she did it wrong at training this week. LOL. She is a clean jumper and very very rarely takes out of orders as she is very responsive to me, my biggest problem is pulling her off of things as she responds to me moving but Wednesday night she was knocking bars, taking out of orders (tunnel and contact suck - where the hell did that come from????) and even missed her weaving entry. Oh not to mention pretending she had never seen a tyre. Thank god she did her contacts well, she had to get something right. So fingers crossed that she finds her brain and holds it together tomorrow.

I'm thrilled at the possibility of another judge, we desperately need them :) I have just posted this on Facebook - we have our first state champs coming up and are running 2 each of A course sheep and ducks as well as B course sheep and ducks. It will be the first time we have run B course ducks in SA. There will also be a total of 4 of each test class held over the weekend; I have donated a special award for the most versatile worker over both course and stock types. The schedule can be found here: http://dogssa.com.au/documents/State_Herding_PDODC_DWD.pdf

People in SA, it has been posted on Facebook that Channel 7 News will have a segment tonight on dancing with dogs..

heading over on the 10th & back on the 13th if that's ant help. I'll get in touch :) I think it arrives around the 8th and then it is just getting it to where you will be but that should be doable. Otherwise I will have to arrange a courier which I can do if I have to but would be great if someone could pick it up - I would feel happier as it would be safer.

We use some Hart balance stuff at the club as well as stuff bought from ebay and have not had a problem with any of it yet. I have also had an exercise ball that I bought at a cheap show about 3 years ago survive my guys at home, including Jazz treating it like a giant ball and playing soccer in the yard with it :) I have never actually seen any of the fitpaws gear to comment on if it is better quality or not but so far so good with what we have purchased from Hart and ebay. ETA: It is the discs and balance pods that we use at club not the balls.

Dova, what date are you heading to Victoria? I might need to beg a favour of you - I need to get a prize for the state champs from Vic to SA but it hasn't arrived in Vic yet....