fetchindawgs

The retrieving trial this Sunday is being held at the Lavender Farm, Dumbarton Road, Toodyay. This is off the Toodyay/Northam road. Novice begins at 8 am Restricted at around 11 am.

RS there are some Antihistamines that are not suitable for dogs, simply because they will not work. It might do for you to ask your vet which one he would recommend for Ruby. I have several boxes of A/H which are suitable to give to dogs, and will give you a box to put in your car. If you are going to the retrieving trial on Sunday I will give you one then, otherwise I can give it to Ann to give to you.

I don't think I would worry about him. My GR is 2 yrs old and he gets so excited to see us that he can't wait to go and find something to carry in his mouth and bring to us, the whole time making this woeful noise. I generally ignore him and he settles very quickly. Both my GR's have to have something to carry in their mouth all the time, and will often go and fetch something to bring to me, just because they can. They have a very strong retrieving instinct. I also have Labs. and they do not display the same behaviour as the GR. I do work all my dogs, so they have an outlet for their excitement and energy. Sounds like Roy needs something stimulating to do. Maybe do some obedience with him, or agility, to focus his energy into something productive. But, certainly dont worry about the circles or his searching for an article, he is just trying to please you, and, he is a very young Goldie boy. They take time to mature.

Hi RS, yes I do have the video of Sound Beginnings. Most sets are compatible with it & yes you can borrow it. Re UD. When I was doing UD with my Golden, I used "fetch" for the gloves, as they were within sight anyway and I had trained her on blinds & marks with a fetch. For directed jumping, I thought that using "over" with my arm outstretched right or left as the case may be, was going to be too confusing for a dog trained to take straight overs in the field, so I used "jump" instead, and didn't have my arm dead straight out to the side but angled slightly towards the jump I wanted her to go to. This worked well.

I too started in obedience before retrieving, and I place a lot of emphasis on heeling and sitting for retrieving training. Both my Goldens would be one of the best heelers in their classes at the moment, and, it counts for quite a few points. Also, Sound Beginnings is a video. I'm not sure if it comes out in DVD form but try googling it and see what results you get. It was made in the USA by a Goldie owner/trainer, who has Topbrass Goldens. Well worth the money.

I don't think I would give a pigeon for a puppy at this age. What you can start on with her is beginning her recall education. With my pups, I would clear out the other dogs and go to a hallway or large room and have my OH kneel on the floor about 12 to 15 feet away. Holding the puppy facing away, he would call her name and say here & maybe even clap hands to make it exciting. As soon as the pup showed a response you let it go. the person at the other end then gives a little food reward, and then the process is repeated with him holding the puppy and I do the call. The pups love this, and quickly latch on to going quickly from one end to the other. We do it about 4 - 5 times each session. The other thing you can start on with your puppy is teaching sit to the whistle. I am presuming you are crate training your pup. When you ask your puppy to go into her crate, use a little food in your fingers and as the pup goes in you can get her attention by saying sit. Hold the food just slightly over her nose and back, so her behind goes down. (You may have to do a little sit training beforehand to get this going). After awhile, when you ask your pup to go to its crate and she enters it, say the sit command and reward. AFter you have her doing this quite well, introduce your whistle after you say sit, then reward. It worked a treat on my pup. Also, get yourself a soft puppy dummy and do little throws for her, giving her encouragement and making it lots of fun. Nothing formal !!! If need be have a soft rope attached to her collar so you can encourage her to return to you. If you can get a copy of "sound beginnings" by Jackie Merton, there are some helpful bits on it that particularly apply to GR's. It is the US style, but still has its uses.

Well done Mollipop. It appears that the RATG is going to be a popular event. I do hope it brings more people into real retrieving trialing though. Rubystar, it sounds like you are starting to get somewhere with Ruby and her dropping the dummy coming out of the water. Does she do it with a bird as well ?? Don't despair though, my older Labrador had his first Novice trial when he was two. I had brought him along slowly and everything was going great in training. His first trial and what did he do.....drop the bird after he came out of the water, and only a foot away from me. He lost the trial on that drop. I put extra work into him in the following week, on hold, and the following week he didn't drop the bird, and won the trial. So, keep at it, and keep it happy. Also RS, I would suggest that you try entering a Novice trial sooner, rather than later, and just see what Ruby does. If you go in with no expectations, then you may be surprised. Also, it gives you an idea of what needs tidying up, or fixing, for both yourself and your dog. Am only suggesting this as the trials tend to get more difficult as the season progresses, even in Novice, so why not give it a go (once you have her fetching and holding a bird well).

Well Done FHRP, and, what a great photo of him. I have been to one field trial, one early misty morning, and was allowed to walk with the judge, just behind the braces of dogs. I found it fascinating to watch and was very impressed how the dogs backed each other. With conditions being so bad over here, I am wondering if there are any stubble paddocks still around for the field trialers to use.

And my 11 yr old boy in the first run on Monday.

This is my young Lab. bitch in action on Monday.

Wasn't too bad actually. The dogs handled it really well. Two of the runs from Sunday's AA were pretty tight (the first and third), & one on the Monday was, too. But you get used to it in All Age.

As requested here are some details of the runs from our Easter trials. All Age on Saturday. Run one: Blind, Mark and doublefall (Lost five dogs on this run, mostly picking up the wrong bird). Run two: Triple mark, with the second mark being a wounded pigeon and dragged back and angled away from the fall. Total span between all three marks was 90 degrees with a strong wind blowing across from right to left & pickup being left bird, middle bird, wounded game. (three dogs lost here). Run three: Mark and blind both requiring long swims. No dogs were lost on this run. Day two, Sunday, All Age: Run one: Mark and blind with nono bird. Blind was straight ahead & longer than the mark. Mark was to left of blind line, and nono bird was to the right of the blind line. Total span between all three birds was about 45 degrees. (five dogs lost) Run two: Triple mark with a walkup on the first mark which landed across the river; second mark thrown immediately on fall of first bird & landed in the river about 30 to 40 metres from first bird. Third mark was long and dogs had to negotiate fallen timber then go out into open ground to retrieve. One dog lost here. Run three: Mark, doublefall and two bird, all requiring swimming. Span between all three was less than 90 degrees. For this run you fired at a mark & sent the dog. As it was about halfway across the river a doublefall was thrown from the same position as the mark thrower, but this bird landed in the water at the banks edge and slightly to the dogs left. After getting the mark and swimming back to handler, a two bird was thrown to fall at the edge of the same bank as the d/fall, amongst branches, and about 30 metres from the d/fall bird. Dogs had to get the d/fall then the 2 bird. (8 dogs went out here). Day three, Monday. Novice. obviously three single marks, but we had some fog and sighting of the first mark may have been difficult for some. It wasn't terribly easy but most got it. I judged the second run, being the water run. This had a mark on the opposite river bank and required a pretty good swim. The last run was a land run and had some obstacles. Restricted: Run one: Double mark. one long and one short mark, with almost 90 degrees between. Run two: Mark, doublerise. Quite a long run with a high mark falling into light cover with d/rise placed just behind. Run three: Blind and mark. Both across water with the mark as first pickup. All Age: Run one: Triple mark. First into water with fallen timber all around it. Next two pickups, dog was out of sight of handler. Again, less than 90 degrees between the three marks. Run two: Blind, doublerise and mark and nono bird. Mark was landing in the river about 40 degrees off the line to the blind, with a nono bird placed about 20 metres right of the line to the blind. Run three: Blind and walkup mark. Mark thrown high to land in the river but totally out of sight of the handler. This was first pickup. Blind was left of the mark. Hope this gives an idea, I'll see if I can upload some photos later on.

W.A. trials were pretty heavy going weatherwise. Still too hot over here, and only a drizzle of rain on Sunday afternoon. Really happy with my kids. Three are in All Age and my youngest Lab. came =5th on Saturday, and my old boy finished. The All Age on Sunday had 23 dogs in it and my Golden girl came 1st, so absolutely thrilled with her, then on Monday, my baby managed to topscore his 2nd run in restricted, but didn't finish his trial. The AA in the afternoon had 18 dogs in it & went well into the evening with my two labs being the final competitors. (Very difficult to see a black dog in the dark !!!!!). The Golden and my old boy both finished, but the young Lab. went out on her last run (I couldn't see her go the wrong way). Ended up with the old boy getting 2nd place (he turned 11 yrs old today), and the Golden came 5th. Pretty happy with those results. RS enjoyed herself with Ruby, by the looks of it, even firing the gun over her for some practice retrieves. It was a great weekend.

Just bumping this back up :rofl: RS you could have a look online at a site called Dobbs Dogs. There are heaps of articles there that you can sift through for training hints.

Off down south tomorrow for three days of trialing, and camping, alongside a beautiful river. What could be better than being in the fresh air, with only birds and sheep making noise, being with our dogs and people with the same interest, and enjoying the scenery, companionship and competition. Anyone else off to Easter trials to compete ? If so, good luck.

I feel the problem isn't Mason, it is his handler. I have never had a problem with any breed of dog I have owned in teaching fetch and hold, and that includes a Dalmation, Rottweiler, GSD and gundogs. I suspect that you are being too soft with your dog, and he knows how to twist you round his little paw, and, get away with it. From previous threads I suspect that Mason is boss, and I'm afraid you will not change anything until you become the dominant party in this relationship. And, I don't mean being harsh or abusive, but by actually having an "I love you, but you will, do what I ask you to" attitude, and not taking any nonsense. All of us must remember these are DOGS, not four legged humans. Over the years I have had a few different problems with my dogs. Solving them involved the following...... I never gave up; I would practise overcoming the problem in short bursts, and several times a day; I was never cruel or verbally abusive, but gently insisted that my way was the correct way; praise was offered for even small achievements; once a skill was achieved I didn't keep repeating it, but left it till the next session; if there was complete obstinancy or naughtiness then the dog was put away for a period before trying again; What do you do ??

Rubystar, the trials are on Saturday 23rd, Sunday 24th and Monday 25th at Easter. All Age on Saturday and Sunday, and the three stakes being held on Monday. It is at the same site as last year. Most people will be travelling down on Good Friday I should imagine. To answer the question about having just one stake (eg; All Age) on a single day instead of how it is done over in the ES, with all three stakes on a day. The practise over here has always been to devote a whole day to one stake. We do have the Anzac Day trial having Novice, Restricted and All Age. They are not run simultaneously, as there just aren't enough workers to do so. People from other stakes are expected to work in stakes they are not competing in, so you will find AA handlers working in the field for Novice or Restricted, and Novice & restricted handlers working in AA. We also began only a couple of years ago to have a couple of double header weekends run by the ANRTC. These events usually have an All Age and Restricted on one day, and an All Age and Novice on the next day, again, run consecutively. Generally, the people judging and running dogs over here, do not like the ES method of running trials. It becomes a hassle when you have multiple dogs in different stake levels, running here and there, and, also in situations where you do have to go to another stake, you don't get to see anything (usually of either stake). It must be a nightmare for the judges as well !!! In regards to getting to trials, my priority is retrieving. I dabble in obedience and HTM, and used to do some tracking and agility a long time ago. I found that having too many disciplines became too much for my dog, so I sat down and thought what was the most important to me, and retrieving came out in front by a mile. So, if another discipline clashes with a retrieving date, then that's too bad, my first love is retrieving. My idea is to catch up on the others in the 7 months off season. Someone asked if we had flatcoats here, and the answer is Yes. We have two flatcoats competing in Novice, and another pup just starting this season.

At our Easter trials we have All Age on the Saturday and Sunday, then on the Monday, Novice, Restricted and All Age. I'll be running dogs in all the All Age and the restricted stakes. It is a weekend away camping, with only a bush toilet put on site. Everyone either takes their caravan or tent and camps alongside the river for the four nights, although there is motel accommodation about 32 klm away in Williams. Most stay on site though, and we have a nightly get together for some lively chat. All food, drinks, toiletries and sleeping accommodation etc must be brought with you. It is a great opportunity for novice handlers to come away and be involved in the trials and the people. I always recommend to newbies to get out into the field and help at trials, as you see and can learn so much from this angle. Anyone is welcome to go (I think Rubystar said she was camping again this year). It is about 2 hrs south of Perth on private property and set alongside the river.

Mason, Not every gundog is meant for retrieving competition. But, saying that, most have the time of their life once they get out to a comp. The excitement of the guns, the birds, the atmosphere and the tension of new handlers just gets the adrenalin going. Also, some dogs in training sessions, are not as switched on as in trials. I would just keep on plugging at it and try some pigeon wings on your dummies, which might excite him more. Try not to be tense yourself, as this transmits to your dog. In regards to his dropping the dummy on his return, do you pick it up ? or do you make him pick it up and bring it to you ? More fetch and hold work on lead is obviously needed I think. Also heel him around with a dummy in his mouth, and not just in your backyard, but anywhere you can do it. He must hold the dummy whilst heeling with you and not release it until commanded. Reinforcing the hold is the answer to your problem (it is a common one). Start off with short holds of the dummy, (you can gently tap under his bottom jaw as he is holding & reinforce your "hold" command whilst doing this exercise). Then put your hand on the dummy and give him your release command and quietly praise. No throws !!!!! Gradually increase the length of the hold. If he does drop the dummy out of his mouth, just pick it up without saying anything to him and gently replace it in his mouth, then reinforce your voice command again quietly. Do this hold exercise with him 4 -5 times each session. I must warn you that most dogs do not find the above exercise fun, or stimulating, and typically, want to get on with the good stuff of retrieving, but you must be diligent in your work on this, and he calm and quiet, even if it all goes wrong at times.

OK, but where does one find a really wealthy guy, so we can have more time with our dogs. Only ones I ever use to find were the poor ones, now I figure I get more time with my dogs without one around anyway. The trick is, to find a guy totally out of the dog scene, who absolutely adores you and will put up with anything you say (because you are his "angel"). Then, escalate the dog thing, (it is your emotional release !!). Before you know it you have your dogs, your sport, a devoted guy, and no worries about money. Sounds easy!!!!

The owners were in their early twenties and mum 40 something. And, the brothers were fighting. Mum was possibly screaming at her sons, and who knows how violent the fighting became. Natural reaction from a loyal family dog is to intervene/join in. Maybe the dog had one member of the family that he had bonded with more than the others, but sounds to me that the dog got into the fight, and hands and arms and teeth all got in the way of each other. If calmness had prevailed then probably none of this would have happened. And, of course with the neighbour putting his hand in to the fray to pull out the dog, (dangerous move at any time), then he also ended up with an injury. Too many maybe(s) and if(s). Separate interviews of the family involved would probably bring light on the event. I feel sorry for the dog being put into this situation, and possibly only doing what it thought right. The media presuming it attacked & mauled and headlining it annoys the hell out of me. Sensationalizing is the usual media ploy often used on the wrong news items. We put too much pressure on dogs to be humanized. They do not reason, they do not know the law. All cases where the dog comes off second best, sadden me, this being one.

I have only seen one handler at one trial, line their dog on the right hand side. It was during a Championship trial and it made absolutely no difference at all to the retrieve, as the dog overshot the mark by at least 80 metres. All the others, including myself, lined our dogs in the usual way, on the left hand side. It is purely an individual thing, and may be beneficial at some point in trials. I certainly feel teaching a dog to heel on the right does no harm, but being right handed if the dog is sitting on my right to see the mark, then I would be firing right over its head, and unless I had trained solidly for that, I wouldn't feel comfortable with it.

Happy throws were used in all my pups initial training to develop their desire to retrieve, and also their sense of fun. I still do happy throws as a reward after they have completed what may have been a difficult training run. I call out "hey, hey" and throw a short bumper. They would keep this up all day if given half the chance. Mind you, they do receive food reward as well during training, but usually after the happy bumper. Off subject; remember that the Retrieving Club is holding training days for beginners for the next 3 Sundays. I think it is at Kings Meadow in Guildford. Groups are divided into beginner and others who may be on the brink of Novice trials. Experienced handlers are there to help with questions and give an insight into how to begin training pups or older dogs for retrieving trials. Anyone interested should make the most of these training days, as these four weekends are the only ones for the whole year.

I agree with Wazzat that a day is nowhere near long enough for a new dog to integrate into a family, whether it be human or dogs. A pup of 7 months of age is just feeling his oats and I would have expected that an entire male pup would have tried it on with Mason. Obviously an experienced handler is the answer here, and one that can be more assertive than Chance is. Also it doesn't sound like your husband fully understands dogs and their dominance behaviour, and probably Chance and your husband would have had a personality clash anyway. My youngster has never been allowed to be dominant over any of the older dogs, and at two years he sometimes thinks he should be the dominant party here, but consistency on my part has paid off and we very, very rarely have an episode for dominance. Some boys need a firmer hand than others, especially between 6 months and 2 yrs, then it just clicks. I do hope that Chance gets to find his forever home soon.