Levi

Me, me, me!! I put the weave poles up last night to see if we could still do them and Bindi flew through them. I am going to have a run around a friend's agility course tonight to refresh our memory. See you there tomorrow

I have not heard of this system before, and until a few days ago I have always been extremely confident in Bindi's recall. Until...she was playing in the paddock with the neighbour's dog, I was right there to supervise. She is very clear on not crossing the boundary fence line and has never done so. They were running full pelt and she bolted straight into the neighbour's paddock and her horse started chasing Bindi. I had no recall at all . This really frightened me and I feel I need a much stronger and/or emergency recall. Does anyone know if I can get this DVD in Australia or does it have to come from OS? What is the best place to buy it?

Oh no, not this thread again, it cost me a fortune last year !!!

We will be competing at the pairs trial - our first pairs outing should be funny . We are also entering the Gold Coast fundraising trial in December. Bindi also struggles with the heat so the night trials are great. We are competing at the Jimboomba jumping trial this afternoon.

Hi Sam, Great to see your new boy going so well, can't wait to see him at comps soon . I was wondering where you are getting your metal weave pole base from? I am using pegs in the ground but this is such a hassle that I can't move them very often and Bindi gets used to doing them in the same spot, metal base would be great!

Thank you Smisch and well done getting Jock's title (again) . I also want to congratulate you on coming out to compete after losing Snoopy only days before the competition. Bindi and I had a pretty good day. We got our first jumping quallie which was very exciting . We also had a super run in our second novice run for the day but unfortunately Bindi dropped a bar which she has never done before. The course had some really tricky bits in it with many dogs coming unstuck but Bindi just cruised through the hard bits. The dropped bar was on the straight and just one of those things. We had our first ever open run and she performed like a dream and did not put a foot wrong. I was extremely tired and was very slow at manouvering around the course and unfortunately I caused us to go over time. Bindi was absolutely awesome and is a fantastic little dog for a beginner handler. She just waits for me to catch up with her and doesn't get upset if I get confused or muck her around. She is totally obliging and just loves being out there doing something with me and is very forgiving at my lack of confidence and experience in the ring. I am so proud of my little girl and could not wish for a more lovely dog in every way :p .

RIP Snoopy. Take care of yourself and Jock Sam :D :p . Bindi and I send you love and strength. Monique.

Thanks leopuppu04. I currently do agility trialling and did obedience trialling 10 years ago. Next time I go to an agility trial where obedience is held as well, I will have a look and see what I think. Bindi is super stable and very reliable and is only likely to break if another dog crowds her. With the heeling she tends to prefer to walk just behind me rather than at heel but heels beautifully with encouragement (which unfortunately I cannot do in a trial). She has done dancing and obedience and is always off lead, I am like you and don't like working with a lead (nor does she) . If I enter a Novice sweepstakes and feel that her heeling is not up to scratch, can I enter Ccd the next time?

Hi all, I am thinking of doing some obedience trialling and am not sure whether to start with CCD or go straight to Novice. I am unsure if I will be able to keep Bindi heeling off lead without encouragement but I think she will be ok. I don't know whether to ease into it with CCD. I am a bit concerned by some of the posts I have read here about dogs not being ready for CCD and mucking up other dogs in the group stays. I don't want to wreck her stays because of unstable dogs. I know you can also get unstable dogs in Novice but maybe there are less of them? I would like to get some personal perspectives on this. There is no real reason for me to do CCD other than easing back into obedience trialling. Maybe I am better off using Novice sweepstakes as my training ground rather than CCD?

Thank you muchly .

I am sort of thinking about entering a CCD trial (or maybe not ) and was reading through the requirements. I used to trial many moons ago and used to call my dog's name for the recall then pause and call 'come'. I have never done this with Bindi and she comes to either her name or the word 'come'. I would really rather not confuse her by training her to stay when I call her name and come when I call 'come'. Do I have to use her name in a trial or can I just call 'come'?

I was wondering where you were smisch. Well done on your win on Saturday, your placing on Sunday and most of all YOUR TITLE !!!

Some super runs Border Lover awesome how it all came together on the weekend, well done !!!

Well done on your Saturday quallie mntgood, very nice run . Bindi got her very first AD quallie on Saturday (very first quallie full stop) This was our fourth trial and the first time that she has actually done an A-frame in a trial. Every trial she just kept running around them. I was so excited when she did the A-frame without hesitation that the judge had to remind me to keep going as I was only half way through the course . She didn't put a foot wrong and we were still well within the time . I was entered on Sunday as well but felt that neither myself nor Bindi were up for another long day so we gave it a miss. Well done Reddi on your two quallies .

Hi lilyandjazz, I can't help you with your question but you may like to post this in the Sheltie thread as quite a few of those members show and are very knowledgeable. Cheers

Well done Smisch We ran just before you in each of your classes and although the jumpers class was sunny when we ran, the ground was like a swimming pool. Well done for getting your quallies in those conditions. Bindi ran beautifully but decided that the huge puddle in front of the last jump was just too big and she skirted around it while I took my eyes of my dog . I guess it all comes down to experience, it was only our third trial (novice handler, novice dog) and there is plenty of time for quallies. The agility run was awful with that rain pelting down just before our runs, I was slipping all over the place and Bindi was none to keen, all I can say is :D to both of us for sticking it out to the end.

Hi smish, that is how I am understanding this. As I see it, you can register your two current dogs (or any two dogs you want to register at the same time) and then NO MORE! Mrs D has more knowledge of the rules than I do and hopefully she will confirm this when she gets back. Years ago when I trialled my last Sheltie (1997), I also had an awesome non pedigreed German Shepherd who I could not trial. People were going over the border to trial. At least now they are allowing some non papered dogs to compete, but unfortunately the rules are still very restrictive around this. :rolleyes:

I haven't noticed you missing because I haven't been back so don't feel bad . I am doing agility training once a week with Lisa Kaddatz.

Thanks Robyn, I thought you might know, I was wondering about Jarrah, and have been meaning to ask you but forgot everytime I saw you. It may be a non issue but I would like to know just in case. What do you mean by the "working dog registers" (pardon my ignorance). Where are you so that you miss your dogs? I know you said you were going away but I can't remember the details .

Hi All, I am currently considering what breed of dog I will get down the track, and one of my considerations is a rescue dog. Here is my question: Can I register a rescue dog with CCCQ for agility? My concern is that I have a pedigreed sheltie registered with CCCQ and I am a CCCQ member. As I understand the rules, I can only register up to two unpapered dogs with CCCQ when I first become a member, and no more after that. As I did not do this when I joined (because I don't have such a dog) does this mean my window of opportunity is closed? Can I now not register an unpapered dog with CCCQ if I decided to get one? I would like clarification on this as I am a bit unsure on this ruling and was hoping some of you may know. It would be a real shame for people who wish to compete with CCCQ not to be able to rescue a dog. I know that an alternative is ADAA but I would just like clarification on CCCQ. None of this is urgent, nor have I deceided that I will take on a rescue rather than a registered dog. However, I would like to know my options when the time comes.

Hi Chiene. If there is a lot of coat left in there, it will take you a while to get through it . Welcome to Sheltie grooming . I love Shelties and Bindi is my second one. I absolutely did not want another Sheltie after my first one because of the grooming. I could not find another breed that tugged at my heart strings like the Sheltie so I had to overcome my dislike of grooming (not really, I just grit my teeth and get on with it ). I brush Bindi once or twice a week (usually once ) and a fair bit of hair comes out. Just go in stages and do a little every day, it will help both of you survive the ordeal . It will keep coming for a while.

Hi Mrs D. As you described is exactly how we do it and Maree has spent a fair bit of time working with us (as have others). We are currently working with the box to help Bindi understand the heel position better (it isn't working all that well either). She has dodged heel position since she was a puppy and has always moved out wide or turned side on. As you said, part of the issue is that I am tall and Bindi is tiny and I think she moves out to be able to look at me. In all fairness, I have spent much time focusing on tricks and things that she loves to learn and have avoided spending too much time working on heel position as I have found it too hard and frustrating :p . If I get slightly frustrated (I just have to groan or use a stern voice), Bindi just backs off and we have to stop or change to something more fun like tricks. Note to Self: "I must dig out the box and work on the heel position without getting frustrated - training is fun." I must say I am a bit confused by those of you who say that food does not follow every click. I will work Bindi through the clicker but she will still get food after a few seconds. I was told that a click always pays. Jules P - I have been working on heeling with food for more than 12 months now and am so generous with food that Bindi was eating more than double her daily food allowance in one training session . It seems to me that I have kept the food in too long and too frequently. I don't want to do competition obedience but we are working on a dance routine so I do need a reliable heel position particularly when moving sideways and backward. I need to find a way to help her stick to my leg like glue ( is glue allowed?).

Fantastic post, I am having the same problem with Bindi. I have never clicker or food trained before I got Bindi and now that she is 15months old I find that I have to feed her constantly or she just walks away. I realise now that I have been grossly over rewarding her and she is now reliant on food. Even though she has been able to sit on command since she was a puppy, she still gets rewarded for this far too regularly. I guess learning something new is exactly that, learning , and with learning comes error. Lately I have been making her wait for rewards longer after exercises she likes and knows well. Heeling is an issue though, she has never really liked it and she either drifts wide, lags behind or just walks away if I do not show her food (even just a food pouch is not enough if I don't feed her often). At the moment while working on things she likes and knows, I am rewarding her almost exclusively with her favorite toy and although she still looks for the food, she is beginning to realise that there is no food, and that the toy is pretty fun too. Her interest is still a bit sporadic though and she can take it or leave it. The heeling issue though, I am unsure how to rectify. She is just not interested in staying close to my leg. I am trying to break it down to taking one or two steps with her in heel position and then playing a game. However, even staying in position at all does not always happen unless there is food. Any further suggestions?

Oh not fair, I'm still waiting! :rolleyes: Maybe tomorrow.

When did yours get shipped Ptolomy? I can't wait for mine to arrive . Kelpiechick, don't tell me I have to spend more money and buy the Agility Addicts Support Group T-Shirt?