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Miss Darcy finished off her Open obedience title today with a 2nd at Werribee. I found some lamb chunks marked down last night so thought they'd be a good jackpot reward after her ringwork today (used it raw). She was so excited she pulled like a steam train out of the ring - we always run back to the gazebo as part of the fun. The people in front seen us coming and cleared out before they got knocked over in the rush - nothing gets in the way of Darcy and her jackpot The drool puddles were incredible!

Well done to everyone on their awesome results Darcy scored a 2nd in Open today to finish off her Open title. She missed one position in the heeling in the first time in her trialling career and subsequently copped a caning in the heeling score despite the fact that she worked really well today. Mixed feelings on today - disappointed not to finish on a really nice score, relieved that I can go back to full time training agility where the time I put in is far more rewarded. We maintained the most important criteria all the way through though CD and CDX - that she is happy to be in the ring.

So sorry to hear Tenties - hugs to both you and Theresa. I seen Theresa was entered at Werribee today but she was a scratching

Good luck everyone. The weather looks perfect for trialling, much rather it a little cool than too warm.

JJ just got back! As most of you are aware, JJ & Ms JJ got married today! We had the BEST weather and have had THE most AWESOME day today. My 4 kids have been absolutely amazing and have made me so proud. It's been such a long day but they haven't put a foot wrong! Will post pics when I get them. Big congratulations JJ Great to see our weather put on such a sensational day for you ;)

http://www.k9agility.org.au/contact.php Try some of the contacts on there, last I heard their waiting list was shut too but that could've changed since.

Thanks Tassie - that one might suit KC a bit better, I'm looking for something a bit further on than that. Have found one at Penrith which I'm hoping will be available and not too pricey. Looks easy enough to get to. Does no-one read this section anymore or is there seriously no dog-friendly accommodation around Sydney

Thinking I might have to put the tent up ;) The tent is the easy bit, getting it back in the car will be the challenge. $1050 - that is a total bargain - shame I'll be half a day ahead of you ;) Seems there is a few places in Sydney itself but Sydney city without a co-pilot or a navman is a bit of a scary thought. Wonder if I can teach Darcy to map read between now and then

I'm travelling from Western Vic to past Newcastle with my two dogs in November and I'm looking for a sleepover spot somewhere around Sydney. Ideally somewhere around the main highways in and out so I don't have to go far off track to find it. I'd really like somewhere that the dogs are allowed inside given the amount of time they'll be spending in the car for the trip. Any suggestions would be much appreciated Thanks in advance, Jess

Thanks for that tlc - will head for a look. Thanks to you and JJ for the good luck wishes too It has been a foul day, I reckon it's taken 3 hours for my feet to defrost. Have been on farm all day at a field day and didn't wear enough layers. Brrrrrr!!! Corangamite shire has recently bought in $200 fines for people not picking up after their dogs or carrying bags, but I wonder what they plan to do about the number of dogs who are allowed to wander and toilet where they like. Leaving it on footpaths or people's lawns is just bloody inconsiderate. Pity you can't bust them in the act - a family friend used to pick it up and dump it in their mailbox if he knew where they lived. :p My two have had fun today - they normally use the outside of the cat cage (which is 6 m x 4m) as part of their daily zoomie run. Sometime today some poor bird has gotten in there and they've obviously spent a considerable amount of the day running around the outside of the cage as it's now a total quagmire!! So bird has been let free, no harm done, and my two ferals have copped a bath after trying to walk into the house with mud to their elbows It was the state of them that made we wonder what they'd been up to and led me to find the bird.

No Warrnambool Show here - normally would go in and have a look at the cattle but the entries are pretty low. Plus W'bool have their double agility trial that weekend so I know where I will be. BTW thanks for the info in that other thread on the ipad tlc - still having a think about it whether I go for a reasonable sized netbook or an ipad...

At least they are only scraping through - I watched a CCD ring recently where dogs on tight leads were scoring in the 90s. Many held their leads in their right hands and then braced the lead against their left hip area. Also watched an experienced trialler correct a dog harshly in the figure 8 behind the judge's back. Same dog placed on a countback.

Thanks for the good luck vibes Got home at 9.30 last night absolutely stuffed! We had a great weekend away catching up with friends and having fun with our dogs - not such a great weekend competition wise. I have been way too focussed on Darcy's obedience work so she's getting a crash course in agility basics this week before Ballarat's trial on Sunday. She did get 2 passes in Masters Jumping with a 3rd and a 4th - with 11 passes in each class I was happy with those placings given the level of competition in JDM. So that takes her to needing one more pass for her JDM3 Wasn't it a sensational weekend weather wise?

It's not looking good for us at this stage Jess, although I did put an entry in. Maybe I'll still get there to cheer you on though! Did you get to Port Fairy? Theresa Bugger - hope to see you there regardless :D Nah I didn't make it to Port Fairy :D it was nearly midnight when I got home from a work thing Wed night, up early to get the car to Wbool to get its brakes fixed yesterday - so I was too stuffed to do anything last night. Currently packing to go to the Sale trial, plan to be in the car and gone by 6 am tomorrow so tonight was out too. I'm being watched intently and I can't move around the house without two shadows following me...

You might also have to deal with some p*ssed off handlers who's dogs have broken or dropped as a result of the "interference", not to mention the affects on their confidence Back in my early obedience class days it was common to have one or two handlers verbally correcting dogs across the "ring" in stays practises. I've seen Darcy's whole demeanour drop the moment it happens and I've had to go back, reward and/or release her after someone decided to do it loudly without warning.

Happy Birthday for yesterday Tez :D Hope to see you at Werribee GSDs.

These are a bloody disgrace - have Dog 1 get in the face of Dog 2 who doesn't tolerate strange dogs in his/her face and you potentially have a fight on your hands. It happened at my very first obedience trial, thankfully it was the other CCD ring but it should never, ever have gone that far given the body language of the dog who tried to stick the stay. The damage it can do to a sensitive dog means you could ruin a dog for life. The one I mentioned earlier being stood over in the out of sight stays still struggles their dogs confidence in the ring over 3 years later. It is just wrong! ;) I take the opportunity to do a sit stay if I feel it needs reinforcing and rewarding. I politely excuse myself after the sit stays and I jackpot reward her. Especially if it's only a single trial. I don't tend to if she has a PM trial to do as she is finding the higher level stuff quite tiring. Because I train on my own I don't do stay work with other dogs so trials is pretty much the only chance I get. That said I feel it's a fine line between reinforcing stays in a trial situation at Open, and not exposing her to risk. Darcy's stays are rock solid so I know she won't interfere with anyone else.

My thoughts only here plus a few things I've pinched elsewhere. My dogs get to practise their drops a lot in real life - I have my dogs drop randomly and reward well. It's a default position when walking them on our local rail trail (which has slow vehicle traffic) so they get lots of rewards for dropping, and another one for staying there until I release them. Darcy's early DORs were really nice but she's starting to anticipate and it's slowed her recall. So now I don't do a DOR coming towards me at all unless I'm in the ring. If I am training it I do a lot of 2 food games and make a big game out of it in as many ways as I can. But most of it was already there before I even started working on the DOR. The value for the drop has to be there first. Can Daisy drop while running beside you at speed? Running towards something rewarding? What about while you're sitting? Laying down? Facing away from her? On voice only? Hand signal only? With you standing on one leg? Standing on your head? (Just joking - but you get the picture ) I remember Gina O'Keefe mentioning that she throws their reward over the dogs head to reward behind them for DOR - helps get their weight on their butt instead of on their forehand, as well as pulling them up nice and quick.

Good idea ValleyCBR. ;) I have no idea - I know in one recent set of Open stays that the judge was on his own as the only steward was in the hide with the timer. Had one dog try to stand over another and a different dog try to leave the ring. People had to step in from outside the ring as he didn't have a steward to assist. ;) I think having a friend there is a great idea - if I'd known what was going on at my last stays I would've come back around from the hide and stood beside my dog, regardless of the consequences from the judge. A big dog stood up the moment we left, same dog broke the morning stays as well. Spent the entire time standing while staring at the dogs either side. Darcy was really uncomfortable and dropped, I could see she was still uncomfortable when I returned to her. She's also rock solid in her stays and is a pretty steady dog, but she's soft when it comes to other dogs. I'm hoping it's not going to bother her for the next set of stays. Losing a pass at a stay level due to interference (however subtle) is bloody disappointing but if an incident affects her confidence for stays (or her agility start lines) I will be very unhappy!! Some of the things I've heard really worry me - like the dog that stood over other dogs in five trials at Open level before a judge twigged and reported it. Another trialler who came around from the hides to see a dog standing over hers and nothing being done about it. I believe any form of interference that appears to be affecting another dog should be stopped immediately.

Had one of these Friday evening - drove in the driveway with both dogs in the back of the wagon to see my neighbours cat* stalking birds in the front garden. I knew Zee seen it as she started her usual high pitched yodelling. Great opportunity to test just how good her crate games are as well as her recall. Opened the tailgate and said nothing. She sat right on the edge of the rear section and whined and carried on but she stuck to the rules. I gave her release word, of course the cat took off with Zee in hot pursuit. Called Zee once and she spun instantly back to me. She got the good bikkies as a reward for that one. *Before I get flamed for allowing Zee to chase a cat.... neighbours cat is "free range" - it toilets in my garden, chases the native birds that feed off my native trees and teases my dogs by sitting on and prowling the boundary fence. It is often in my back yard and I have seen it up on my back deck when the dogs have been inside. Both dogs get along with my own cat fine, it is just this one which intrudes on their territory so often. ;) It gets chased out of the back yard regularly but it continues to wander - I gather it is not too traumatised by the experience. ;)

Totally agree, cannot believe how many very unreliable dogs there are in Open stays. Same dogs who break (not drop - break!) trial after trial and especially those that stand over other dogs. ;) I hate stays from a safety point of view, I especially hate out of sight stays because you place so much trust in a judge/steward to do the right thing. People should not have to worry about other dogs - but especially when you're not in a situation to be able to step in and assist your dog. ************************************************************ Sorry had to hijack there Resume normal brags transmission! ;) Big congrats to everyone who's done some good stuff recently

Hey the Winch vibes can have credit for the straight fronts and nailing both sits in the COP. ;) They apparently got lost for the heeling and finishes :p Are you planning on doing Werribee at all, I remember you saying about getting back into it when we chatted at Geelong? Thanks tez - we were thinking of the Dunkeld pub but was looking for something to do up there. The boys can go abseiling, I don't do heights unless I have something sturdy under my feet and little rock ledges don't quite cut it Would love any more suggestions that people have

If a dog owner has no control or recall then they need to keep their dog on a lead. That's the law - dogs are required to be under effective control at all times.

So you'd tell someone that your dogs would rip another dogs head off? Not in those words. Yes his attitude was aggressive. If my only choice to exercise and work my dogs was a dog park then yes I would probably resort to something similarly aggressive in order to protect them from the constant stream of out of control, rude and aggressive dogs.

How do you know the dog really is aggressive? Maybe the dog is, but just maybe he told you a porkie so he could avoid the usual dog park issues. I have two dogs with great temperaments but it seriously gives me the sh*ts when people won't control a dog that my two clearly don't want to play with, and it happens a lot in dog park areas (which is why I go to out of the way places to train and walk my dogs!). I can see why someone would say such a thing if it meant they got to work/train/walk their dog in peace.