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Looks like they did very well too I did see that litter but it was too early for me, I still have a year or so before I've allowed myself to get a puppy again.

Lovely runs Amypie :laugh: at your finals commentators :D I love this dog, I remember her from the Vic Nats in 2008. Darcy came either 2nd or 4th to her in one of the JDX qualifiers, I remember we were discussing our "Diva" dogs - Darcy is a Diva as well :D

Sounds like a great weekend and awesome fun - I had a friend go, dunno whether she'll pop her head in but I'm sure she would've enjoyed it just as much as you did. I'm looking forward to hearing all about it :D

Congratulations to everyone who's achieved passes or what they wanted to achieve from Nats, and good luck to those in the finals today :D

Grab a pringles lid, cut out the size you want and knock the pointy bit off the middle :)

Without seeing what's going on, possibly you've given him a fright without realising, or he's associated that fright with you. Or there is something physical going on and he's associating whatever that is with you? I wouldn't continue to approach him in the same way you have been. I'd back right off but focus on having some fun with him, get some of his favourite treats and do something with him - it's not about bribery, but getting him back working with you and viewing you as a source of fun. Does he have some simple tricks you can work on? Something really simple to get his confidence up. Does he have a favourite toy? What kind of things does he really love doing with you? Extend the offer to play but don't insist, let him come to you because he wants to. If he doesn't, put it away and go back to it again later. If it continues with no improvement beyond the long weekend I'd take him to a vet, just to be sure there is nothing physical going on.

Yes, and I absolutely recommend it. A lot of the principles learnt are awesome for agility and obedience, but having a pet dog 100% comfortable with their crate is really handy if you are ever forced to crate them. I did crate games with my 2 yo at the time, also did it with my young dog as a puppy. It's something I work on occasionally as part of their agility work, and am currently revisiting more intensely as part of retraining my 6 yo's agility contacts.

I would recommend Pippi from this forum

You rarely hear anything about it even if a dog is really borderline. There are a few kicking around who are close but no-one really says much, and what can they do anyway? If you have a height card then that's all that needs to be said :) I would highly recommend getting any dog used to being measured though, no matter how bombproof they seem, especially if they are likely to be close. Darcy (who I would've said was totally bombproof!) was measured pretty easily for agility but had a real objection to the obedience measuring frame and was quite difficult to measure. Luckily she is clearly in at 520 mm.

There is a 600 registered BC here in Vic trialling and several who are very close to 600 height. I know a judge who picked up a Masters dog from another state a few years ago who was jumping a height below what they should've been and had never been measured. Apparently it should've had it's Qs taken off it but who knows what happened when they went home. Measuring dogs on the borderline must be bloody hard, there is one dog who I know was remeasured after the owner complained There was also another recently who was remeasured by a judge at a trial and had to be bumped up into 500, no penalty was applied as the dog had a height card.

I'm not doing Nationals, I had some hesitations and when the Bob Bailey seminar popped up I had to make a choice. Turns out it was the right one as there has been some big stuff happen at work and I wouldn't have got the leave to do Nats anyway Have fun to everyone going, and good luck :D

Well done Tassie :D

Yes!! The barrage of emails throughout November trying to get me to sign up for something I was already doing drove me up the wall, to the extent I emailed and complained. I suggested that they find a way of splitting their email distribution list into those who were already signed onto the current program and those who weren't. Apparently it's not that easy That said, she is brilliant at what she does and I've found her better in this format than I found her seminar in real life. Contacts would be a two or three day workshop, add travel and accommodation, time off work etc and it makes $600 look pretty bloody cheap. You can work through it in your own time, and you can take more in because it's not such a huge rush of information. Go back even as early as two years ago and there wouldn't be an online course to work through at all. I think we're really lucky that we're able to access such awesome trainers and handlers via online courses and have gone from having nothing of the sort to being spoilt for choice.

I built a heap of value for the box, had her striding through it and then started proofing it by adding lateral distance, leading out from it and expecting to her to drive into it with me behind. So I wanted to be able to put the box down and have her run to it from anywhere once released, then I put the cue on it and then introduced the jump grid. It's Rachel Sanders Reliable Running A-frames - have a look on youtube, there is some good info on there but don't be shocked at how much work some people put into it. I figure if Darcy misses the occasional AF contact because I don't have the ability to do that, I can cope. :laugh:

Half-way through it with my 6 yo, so far so good. Once it's done and proofed in the ring for 6 or so months and I'm still happy with it, will be putting my youngster through it as well. You need to watch the DVD, there is this section first which is the basis for everything you do on the A-frame: This is the part that has taken the longest so far, as it's where the real proofing came in. My biggest hurdle was getting her to understand that I still needed her to stride collected through the box even if I did lead out 15m past the end of the box. It's more extreme proofing that is shown in the DVD but I don't have easy AF access to be able to work on this stuff. This is the reason I like it so much, 80% of it can be worked on the ground before it goes on the A-frame, and it can be fully revised on the ground as well. Darcy had her 4th session on the AF last week at training, on a lowered A-frame, I threw everything at her (FX, RX, awful angles, lead outs, running way ahead and with a heap of speed out of a tunnel) and she missed the striding once but still hit the contact. Edited to add: this was her first AF session

Come on TSD, you can't come in and make statements like that and not give us an update on how your retrieving trialling went with young Em :p Well done TO on your runs with your Darcy and big congrats on doing so well at your State Trials Amypie - lovely runs! That was a tricky weave entry for Novice dogs .

I had an awesome day yesterday - Darcy won Masters Jumping after I swear she dropped the 2nd bar. Stupidly I just assumed it was down and never realised it wasn't when we had to run over it again later on in the course Zee had a lovely run in Novice Gamblers, stayed focussed all the way around and did all her multiple weave entries even at the end of the 45 seconds - and came 2nd with her GD title. Nearly had 3/3 but lost my footing just enough to be late with a FX which dropped a bar in the 1st JDM class - totally my fault

Kind of off-topic Luke - but running two dogs I'm learning that they have very different "needs" when it comes to pre-run routine. I give Darcy plenty of time to physically warm up, and I can get away with it with her. So a walk for toilet, some circles, a good game of tug, some spins/backs up, some rear end stretches and put her over a practise jump or two if I can beforehand. A quick bark game before she goes into the ring and while she's in the ring (about the only reward you can get away with these days in the ring!) and into the run. Zee is very different, give her a very quick toilet run when we arrive, a very quick toilet again before the ring and a few minutes of warm-up, tug game and some verbal rev-up before we go into the ring, same bark game at the start. If I give her too much warm up she loses focus and ends up spending half her run gawking as she runs, no matter how focussed she might be while I've got a toy/food on me. They both get the same brekky but it's always very early.

A big well done to both you and your instructors I've seen quite a few volunteer club instructors at seminars, diligently taking notes and obviously keen to take in everything that is being offered, and even discussing updating class notes/training right there on the day in the breaks. I think it's absolutely wonderful that those people take the time to keep up with the latest info and want to share what they've learnt for the benefit of the students and their dogs. A massive well done to them all :D I wish I had access to such people in my early days and I know it would really help my training/handling even now. I'm very lucky to have some supportive friends to trade ideas and info with but distance is a bit of a killer, and it's amazing what another set of eyes will see when you've missed it yourself in your training/handling. I find it really sad that some instructors either aren't interested in keeping their knowledge up to date, or go to such seminars and don't bother passing it on - but I've come to accept that you can't expect all volunteer instructors to be that diligent.

Aw thanks TSD - she's one hell of a special girl, a true once in a lifetime mate Thanks for the lovely comments, those seat of your pants type runs are what make agility so truly addictive :cool:

I never used to feed Darcy before an agility trial, just something that I did because she didn't get fed before training normally and it was the "done thing" Every now and then we'd have a run towards the end of a trial day which was totally and utterly disastrous, that there was no real logical explanation for. Then a good friend showed me this: http://susangarrettdogagility.com/2009/08/looking-for-clues-in-a-jumpers-debacle/ Ever since then my dogs always get breakfast before a trial, 98% of the time I leave for a trial between 4 and 5 am so plenty of time to digest their brekky of two chicken wings each. I haven't had an issue since. If they've got a big day I also feed them a few grain free dog biscuits at lunchtime, or Darcy loves a banana. Drinking wise - Darcy won't drink much at all while away, even in hot weather. I got the big jug of GoDog from Clean Run on free postage last year, Zee and Darcy get a half bottle each morning and arvo at a trial if it's warm, or a bottle between them if it's not. Darcy will happily drink it and has to have it taken off her otherwise she'd scoff the lot. Regardless of what else is in it, just the fact that it gets her drinking every time is brilliant

Well done everyone on such a great start to 2012 - so much good work One of my NY's resolutions was to get more of my runs on video as part of working on my handling and hopefully putting a stop to the occasional bar knock. A friend took this for me today, one of those runs where other than a wide turn at 12 where I pushed Darcy too hard, it just felt really good. Marathon course for the end of a double back to back trial at 190 m, but it was fun :D There was one or two moments where it looks like she's learnt to read course numbers in saving my butt but she's good at it Out of 14 passes we were 3rd up against some really good dogs, and Darcy's JDM 8. :D

I tried my best to ignore this but I have to comment: I am getting a little sick of people believing that we are spending a lot of our own money to improve our sport in an attempt to be unfair to other competitors. I have not seen anyone here insinuate that the 2012 Nationals Committee are attempting to disadvantage us "out of staters". I know there has been a lot of concern raised, both over the indoor arena surface and now the table. You can't blame people for being apprehensive and raising their concerns over anything that is different. Some could've done it a little more constructively but the news of the e-table and the indoor training sessions has been a bit of a surprise. Nationals are a big cost for anyone competing, especially the far comers. Many are bringing some pretty competitive dogs along, and want to ensure those dogs aren't disadvantaged. Others are concerned about how their dogs will react and whether there is a chance of lasting training issues as a result. Now it's largely settled down many are being proactive and asking questions in order to do the best job they can to ensure their dogs are as prepared as they possibly can be. Sorry I sound so blunt but was trying not to write a novel

:laugh: I don't think I've ever seen two dogs take so bloody long to decide to have a play or not, so much negotiation that went nowhere Maybe we should just let them for an off-lead play next time and leave them to it :D At least Ziggy knew what he wanted out of the whole deal...

She sounds awesome - and I could imagine her being so much fun :D I would find a similar mix very hard to resist