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I think the advice for "low" titres indicating revaccination is needed is to wait a few months and recheck. Something to do with active vs passive immunity - if they haven't been exposed to parvo recently then the active immunity isn't there to be picked up by the test? Dr Jean Dodds is the guru on titres, I've heard she is very helpful - but she also has a heap of info on her website and Facebook :)

I have a Trippe tunnel and am really impressed with it.

I think they may have been the dark blue ones? Don't quote me on that. Bunnings have the Oztrail sides for $29.90 as their everyday price: http://www.bunnings.com.au/oztrail-3m-solid-wall-deluxe-gazebo-side-panel_p3191004

It's not just their mouth you need to worry about A friend's young dog was seriously injured when another dog ran off and collected her on the way into a tunnel. I agree with HW - there is no room for dogs not under effective control in an environment like agility.

I used to use Black Hawk for training and treats - my dogs are raw fed mostly. Last two bags (same product) were a smaller size kibble, and the bags were full of fines. My dogs won some Ivory Coat at a trial. All three dogs liked it and did well on it, so I switched them over. Much easier to get now there is local stockist too. The Ivory Coat Lamb & Roo is a great size for treats :thumbsup:

Omg people actually do that?! x 2 Poor bloody dog Given how sensitive their sense of smell is compared to ours

That's one of my concerns, being so rural it is hard to give back - but I guess I do get in and help where I can at trials, especially fellow rural club trials etc. Being part of things like agility committee just aren't an option, though I do believe there should be some representation from all parts of agility including us ruralites. But when I worked it out today, with nearly 2 hours travel plus set up/pack up and 3 hours instructing plus committee I'm feeling totally burnt out and frustrated by the whole thing. Not to mention my dogs are missing out I had hoped to further hone my training skills, but the reality is I spend so much time general instructing that I don't get a chance to help anyone who needs it despite being the person who is most able to do so.

Thanks girls - food for thought!

Bumping this up to ask the big question. At what point would you pull the pin on instructing? Even if you knew the club was desperately short of instructors? What factors make instructing a yay or nay option for you?

Aint that the truth! x 2 People would enjoy it a lot more if they stopped nit picking and playing for sheep stations and headed to Nats with one goal - have fun with their dogs and their mates :D

The "lollipop" tyre we have in SA :laugh: Lots of people are complaining that it's dangerous and not fair for dogs from other states because they won't recognize it as a tyre obstacle... That and the lack of separate heights for open and games in the rules review. I feel really sorry for the organisers as they've copped a hiding already, and the rules review outcome hasn't helped them either. I'll be there with my two (my eldest is retired now), this will be my second Nats - first one was Vic. I've planned to attend all of them since and haven't made it yet but will be making sure I get to SA

Gazebo in footwell, dogs on back seat in harnesses. Worked brilliantly because the gazebo took up most of the footwell space and sat flush with the back seat, so the dogs actually had extra space in the back seat.

An Oztrail Compact Deluxe used to fit perfectly in the footwell of my back seats in a small SUV. The compact deluxe is stronger than the compact, same solid legs and roof quality as the 3x 3 Deluxe but they are 2.4 m x 2.4 m.

I don't think there is a solution that will not cause massive outcry somewhere along the way. You only need to look at the kerfuffle over this rules review and there hasn't been that much change for such a time-consuming and controversial process. You have some people who would quite happily jump their dogs up a height - and others who'd probably retire their dog. I run two 500 dogs and I don't see the size of the 500 class an issue, and if you win or even place in that class with 50+ other 500 dogs then you've well and truly earned it. There is challenges in running all dogs - whether they be working breeds or non-working, 200 or 600. I guess until people have walked a mile in everyone else's shoes, they don't necessarily see the challenges.

I'm not sure what the rest of the states do in regards to judges training. I know the 40 hours of prac work required here in Vic is a significant impediment to anyone not based at a club with ready access to current judges, and as a rural based trialler I would have no hope unless I gave up a year of trialling. There is no RPL, so some judges will already be incredibly proficient thanks to their own years of experience from instructing, travelling etc - others will need every hour of that 40 hours because they are still quite green in the sport. I am very conscious that here in Vic we are quite short of new blood in our judges, there was only three who came through the last lot of judges training and two of them don't judge much at all - sad because they "get it" and are quite up with modern coursework and training. I would like to see some kind of encouragement for judges keep up with training and handling and safety in particular, but once again are we in a position to make it harder when our pool of judges is not that big? Some of the Vic judges have recently been doing some further learning and you can clearly see it in their courses. I think putting any kind of requirement on judges is not going to go well. In the end they are largely volunteers, I don't know anyone in agility who makes a living from judging, mostly it covers their costs so they are not out of pocket on travel. Not sure that vetting by senior judges is the answer. I actively avoid entering under some of our senior judges Some of them are dead against using the jump wings, and will go as far as to remove them from a ring when they've nested courses with another judge. To me, wings are one of the biggest safety progresses in the sport next to rubber contacts. Wrong calls on contacts - from what I seen at the WAO online recently, Australia is not alone on bodgy calls. My own personal standard for contacts is "don't make the judge think"

I had this is the wrong thread, so this is probably part of my answer... I don't think there is one easy answer. Safer equipment will absolutely help, in every case the new doggy jump wings would've been a solution to the issue - easier to see, far less dangerous if the dog collects them by mistake. Education is hit and miss, despite the push from our agility committee. Often we now have wing jumps available, but sadly very common to see them sitting outside the ring unused until the judges are setting up JDM courses. Some judges are hit and miss, one course I had some significant doubts over running due to the position of a jump vs a tunnel and all metal jump uprights, the next day we had the most beautiful and fun super fast JD course from the same judge - complete with a full set of wing jumps. Often the awful funky angles are there to add challenges to novice courses, sometimes they are there from nested courses and left unchanged. Often there is very little handling in a JD course, so I think some learning on how to add handling to a novice course would be a winner. One judge has gone from a "do not enter" to one I seek out because their courses are so much improved on previous years. I make a point of complimenting any judge who puts down a nice course, and I had heaps of fun on some judges training courses recently - so I'm really looking forward to seeing what our up and coming judges put down in future. :D My biggest frustration with JD is that I spent so much time working on a good solid foundation with my youngster, only to have to go back and teach him to blast straight lines that we will never see again in his agility career because JD is nothing like JDM or even JDX. I guess I could've heeled him around the course to get out of JD, but to me that's against the whole idea of the sport and not the way I want to play it.

I like the idea of a starters class, or even just a higher level of NFC availability would do the trick too. Now JDO has no weaves, I guess you can spend some time in there too given they are more of an JDX level course, you can just step over the exclusion line :) I agree with KC that Novice wasn't "easy" for me as a relatively experienced handler these days. I spent a lot of time teaching my young speedy boy to listen and read my body language, not blast over every jump he can see in his way - on course or off course. I also didn't have access to suitable course work, so while I taught him to drive lines when asked - the whole concept of that on a course with 5 full distance jumps as a finish line was still difficult given my training circumstances and the fact that I'm not Usain Bolt :laugh: So while he had JDM level skills before I even entered him in his first trial, JD was beyond us for quite a while. Often I had heaps of one fault runs with him turning in at me just before the final jump because I was 4 jumps behind him.

I was an early fan of extra Novice passes with my now 6 yo - she wasn't ready for excellent. She ended up getting 5 passes in JD anyway just by virtue of extra JD runs and the packed autumn trial run we have here. With my speedy youngster - the awful angles he was expected to deal with as part of the novice speed circle courses, added to metal uprights, no wings and sharp metal jump ups - I couldn't get the hell out of novice quick enough! I will be interested to see if the separate height trials cut down on the number of trials offering the crazy numbers of extra novice and masters runs.

X 2

Michael's post was taking the p*ss :laugh: I'm a bit shocked at the level of carry on over rumors, and how many people seemed to be totally oblivious to the rule changes process. Everyone has different priorities and no-one is going to be 100% happy with the rules. No point getting knickers in a twist until it's all confirmed. My biggest goal is that agility is made safer, and when I see metal jump cups are nearly obsolete in NSW vs the norm in Vic - making it "fair" for everyone pales a little in comparison.

Any chance there was a change in his diet while he was away? My Lab x used to be one of those stinky dogs until I learnt about grain free diets - she stunk that badly that she was a wash your hands straight after patting kind of dog I could bath her today and she'd stink tomorrow. Switched her onto grain free, no more smell, no more ear infections and no more itchies :) Might be worth having a whiff of Ernie's ears just to make sure there's no ear infection happening. Check his mouth too - does his breath smell? Their teeth get awfully dirty very quickly if they aren't getting bones to clean them as usual.

There was talk of dog fighting rings and dog thefts happening not too far from here. A local FB group was set up to report suspicious activity, the FB admin allowed people to post anonymously by messaging them. There were some legitimate door to door people in the area who were of indian descent, and of course the local rednecks had a field day Police repeatedly asked for solid information on supposed thefts, even number plates of supposed vehicles belonging to those "casing backyards" but nothing ever eventuated. There was some other supposed incidents of vet clinic break ins etc which were never confirmed either. Once the incredibly active FB page was shut down it all stopped. Most of the dogs reported as "stolen" showed up again some time later.

Random question for people who train multiple dogs. How do you shelter your dogs while training without lugging multiple crates? I have 3 dogs, in good weather I just set up a camp stretcher up for them to sit on as their "crate". With Winter comes the occasional quick and unpleasant coastal shower plus wind so I'm looking for ideas for shelter. Vehicles are not close enough, and having my dogs close and easily accessible to demonstrate something is super handy. Any ideas would be much appreciated :)

I had some concern about the tyre angle as well, and to me it's not about preparing my dogs for that kind of challenge. I refuse to run courses I deem unsafe, especially with my crazy baby dog who has little regard for his own safety. His older sister isn't much better. Legal or not, just because you can doesn't mean you should. :)

Thanks for the ideas :)