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Must've been a good weekend for it! We had some ok runs yesterday with just stupid mistakes costing passes, including a jump/tyre discrimination which bought up undone at the very last obstacle :D BUT we made up for it today with 3 JDM passes, a 1st, 3rd and a 6th and Darcy's JDM2. ;) The first 2 runs were what I've been looking for for a long time - I have a bad habit of blowing lovely runs or getting passes which are anywhere from ugly to ok but these two runs were clean, tight lines, flowing and just felt really good. The 3rd one was good but not quite as smooth as the first two runs, but we did manage a lead out pivot which had an off course tunnel right in the dogs faces - and for a tunnel suck dog she didn't even acknowledge it!

Wow that is nasty - poor Jane!! Darcy has had one or two eye infections in the past, just conjunctivitis but she's only ever had eye ointment for it. Both my two are fine, I've had both dogs in the lake probably 4 times in the last week and a half for at least an hour at a time with no side effects. I did check the toxin levels with the council before I allowed them back in as I was really concerned about it, and certainly didn't trust the council media given their reporting of it last time they tested. The only thing I've noticed in the past few days is that my guys are itchier than normal but I suspect that is the kikuyu in my back yard taking off again with the rain - it makes me itchy too!! We're off to Altona trialling Saturday and Sunday - bit sucky as it's a fair drive backwards and forwards each day but having the night in my own bed makes it worth it Hope everyone has a great Easter and enjoys their break - I'm certainly looking forward to a 4 day weekend

I run a Lab x in agility, she's 4 yo and done really well despite her being my first dog. Darcy had her JDM title at just gone 3 and her ADM by 3.5. Darcy is a 500 dog for ANKC agility, she weighs around the 22 to 23 kg mark - very Labrador in her looks and it's not until people see her run that they ask if she is purebred Lab. She is pretty fast, she's not in the league of the super quick dogs but she's certainly no slouch and does very well placing wise if I can run her without my usual stuff ups. :D The biggest issue I have is keeping weight off her, she is raw fed and I still battle to keep her as lean as she needs to be for agility. I am really careful with her diet, but working her to keep her lean takes a lot of my time - we do about an hour a day of swimming/water retreiving, hill work, off lead running or biking or occasional flat ground retreiving. That sucks a lot of potential training time - particularly when daylight hours are short and I don't get home from work as early as I'd like.

She was 9 weeks the day I looked at the litter, I bought her home the next day.

Zee picked herself. Zee's litter happened to crop up in the paper and I thought I'd go and have a look knowing I could walk away if they weren't right. Hers was the second litter I'd looked at - was looking for a smooth coated BC which are bloody hard to find. The first litter I looked at showed very little interest in us or the owner or any potential toys which bothered me a lot. They were also medium coated which wasn't what I was looking for. With Zee's litter I walked into their pen and was puppy mugged by the entire litter. I'd stepped onto a pallet which had a kids chair behind me and had half a dozen pups desperately scrambling at my feet for attention when I felt a set of tiny paws on my butt. Guess who?? She'd jumped up onto the kids chair to get my attention. She really stood out personality wise. She wasn't well socialised but I really liked both parents and was willing to go with what I thought she would become. She was the pick of the litter from the breeders perspective as well. I thought I'd made a very big mistake for the first week or so - a farm bred pup who'd never been in a house before made for an interesting few days. But she's gained a heap of confidence and skills along the way and I'm really happy with her. She's just gone 10 months and you wouldn't pick she had those issues as a baby. Darcy, my 4 yo, also picked herself. Back then I had no idea of training with toys or prey drive etc (actually no idea at all other than a bit of experience with farm dogs) so picking the pup who wanted to be with you just made sense.

Zee spent a fair bit of time in her puppy pen by herself (her and Darcy wrestled nearly constantly at that stage). She had quite a few bones and a stuffed kong to chew on and I kept her separate from Darcy for 4 days unless under strict supervision. I also walked her on lead twice a day from about day 2 just to keep her relatively sane - she was better doing that then doing something silly from being cooped up for 4 days. Day before I went back to work (which I think was day 5?) I let them back at it within reason so it wasn't a big issue for her to go back outside with my older dog. Zee was fine thankfully but she certainly learnt to lay down and "show me your belly" very quickly as I was checking her so often.

I agree with Vickie - I'll play or train when I'm ready too, my dogs don't get to make that call. Any "nagging" gets ignored. Zee is full on and quite insatiable when it comes to training, but at just gone 10 months (yesterday) she still has a fairly good off-button.

Ouch!! Best of luck with it JJ - hope your surgery and rehab go better this time. I love daylight savings but I'm kind of over it at this time of year, still love the extra daylight at the end of the day but I really struggle with a lack of early morning light. I'm lucky that my job tends to be more flexible but it's still not unknown for me to get home with minimal time for working my dogs. I spend more time at the lake in Winter because I tend to get it to myself I use the bike a lot up there in Winter, also just let the dogs go feral in the long grass - they love doing zoomies up and down the hill to keep warm.

Got any time management tips in regards to dog training/fitness? Fitness is something I am really pedantic on - swimming/biking/plenty of off-lead running/hill work but that takes time as well. I find two dogs easier than one training wise though, particularly now Zee is a bit older. I cart all my gear out as my backyard is too slopey for most agility so to pack it in the car and set it up for one dog means you do tend to overtrain Now I train two dogs in the same amount of time and achieve more as a result. That goes for my "kitchen work" as well (don't ever walk around my place in the dark - who knows what you'll stand on/trip over! )

Hey tez! Sadly a case of necessity at the moment, Darcy has put on a heap of weight in the 6 days I've been away and the shallow water retreiving is the best way I can think of to pull it off her ASAP without risking cooking her or snake bite. Zee, well, tired is rarely a word I use to describe Zee. She turns 10 months old today. Crazy little squirt she is. Pisser Nothing better than a good zoomie session We went up there again tonight, so good having the lake usable again. Great that it's still warm enough to use too. I've missed it so much

Zee got me where she wants me.... no way!! I don't believe that for a second... Sending you heaps of puppy vibes for your girl, glad to hear you're finding the fly repellant so good.

Agility in Vic hasn't vetted bitches for about 2 years. Obedience still does, regardless of associate register status. Edited to add: apparently it isn't just being in-season that they are looking for - they are also swabbing for any sign of discharge which could cause an issue. Just what I've been told when I asked why they insisted on swabbing a tattoo'd associate dog.

Yes, most will just check for an ear tattoo but some will still swab a desexed bitch.

I can see why they'd be required to be on lead given the stock either side of the rail trail, they know people will let their dogs off and the "no dogs" policy has probably been some sort of agreement with the landowners along the rail trail. Bloody disappointing though. The rail trail around here is all on lead (that I know of) but it's in such bad condition - big stones, long grass and in one case a huge hole that would've broken a horses leg (Thankfully someone had shoved a log down it so horseriders could see it). I use the lake for most of my doggy bike work but it's still too snakey at this time of year. Just got back from a week in NZ for work - how good would it be to not have to worry about snakes I got the biggest welcoming last night when I walked in the door at 1 am - both dogs and the cat were so excited but I was too stuffed and put them all to bed. Hi Camnusch :D My contact trainer is going well, not getting much use because I'm still working on lots of contacts foundation at the moment but I've had the dogwalk section sitting on the kitchen floor for a few days here and there Zee pesters the sh*t out of me if it's down wanting to do more more more training. Who said it was only kids who have pester power...

Can't remember the details specifically but dogs have been banned from the rail trail around the back of Lake Pertobe, Mayor voted against dogs having access to it on lead because they could get loose and attack the bird life or a child *rolls eyes* He was the deciding vote as it was an even split. There was a few pics of some of the WDTS crew with their dogs saying that they now have to walk around the back of somewhere and rejoin it again later, and that it's the quickest way from Harris St to ???? can't remember. A few letters to the editor/SMSs agreed but then it ended up with someone carrying on about letting dogs off lead and destroying bird life and wild life for the sake of their dog having a run. D*ckheads!! *more rolling eyes*

Nice to see dog owner's copping a kicking in the standard again this week Where is Pandii - haven't seen her post for a while. Hope she is ok? tlc - it was double dutch to me too when I first started out, particularly since they'd not long changed the rules as well. Some swear by the greyhound man - I can't remember his name. Ask at the greyhound shop, they will probably know. I took Darcy to him once and yes he fixed her immediate issue but she actually curled her lip at him to tell him to back off. Anyone who's met Darcy will know that is a pretty extreme reaction from her and I wasn't comfortable having her see him again given she was so worried about it. Have since found a lady at Belmont who is fantastic - she's a qualified vet but does accupuncture, massage and manipulation, she is also a chiro. Her name is Dr Kim Lim, google her name and it will come up. She is awesome, and will fit you in if you need her in a hurry. I know it's a bit of a trip from Wbool but she's worth it.

Congrats TerraNik - well done to you both!! :cool: Congrats to you too LP - 3 passes out of 4 runs is a fantastic effort, definitely worth the trip :D

Failing that, a 44 gallon drum cut in half so you have a sturdy flat base, and bend the edges over on themselves so they aren't sharp. We used to use one for our old ACD who used to trash every water trough known to man. It worked, just meant he started on his kennel instead.

http://www.rocla.com.au/Drawings/Rural_Products_Brochure.pdf What about the 2nd trough down on page 3? They have stockists in Brisbane. It will have a metal screw in plug in it to clean it out/empty it which you'll probably need a length of pipe to open and shut properly.

Thanks for the congrats guys! JJ we are kind of addicted Darcy has her ADM JDM titles as well as JDO and GDX and 5 passes out of 7 towards her JDM2. She's only 4 and my first dog so I'm pretty proud of her. She's taught me a lot but I still have much more to learn.

Did the games in between exercises no worries as these were my guages as to how she was going motivation wise. If she won't engage with me in a quick high five/hand touch/pretend bark then it's a fairly good sign we're in trouble. I can't do these and not give my focus to my dog though - the not paying attention to the judge is not a bad idea, as I said I did appreciate the feedback but in reality it didn't tell me anything I didn't know. My ring skills are crap and I need more ring practise. Knew there was a reason why I got a second bitch I use "yes" which is amazingly handy in the obedience ring I found. But it's not enough to tide me over for that amount of time - very conscious of the fact that this is what I've been doing at agility training and the effect it's had on my dog. Lynda Orton Hill covered it a lot at her seminar as well, it's something she was really tough on. Not sure about the tug in the ring. But she's more of a foodie once she's done in the ring so I use a bumbag full of her favourite foods which she likes to play with and mouth until I crack it open for her reward. I think you're both right - I'll excuse myself from the judge under that reason exactly, my dog comes first!! Was just concerned about it being a bit rude but it's even ruder to my dog if I don't

Just a question for those who are experienced obedience triallers... As some would know, motivation in the obedience ring is something we've really struggled with, and I'm working on heaps of reward reward and more reward for any good work Darcy gives me. At both of our trials on the weekend the judges gave me some good feedback. Really appreciated it, don't get me wrong, but my agility training is screaming at me - reward your poor bloody dog!!! She's just spent 5 mins in the ring working her butt off for you and now you've just spent another several minutes letting her switch off and boring her to tears. I had a very quick play with her when she finished her COP but I can't play with my dog in the ring and pay attention to the judge. Any suggestions as to what is acceptable from an obedience perspective?

Hi tez, not as well as yesterday Darcy dropped in her sit stay (while sitting on a pass!) which bombed us out but we had some fun in the JDM ring. Too hard going from obedience to agility in the same trial though, won't do that again. Baby Zee was a total star though - she's only along for the experience and the ride but a great chance to do some work under some high level distraction. We did some tug games outside the ring, did some waits in a sit and a stand, including several at about 10 m throwing the tug right in front of her and then releasing her to grab it and bring it to me for a game of tug. Last one she did was in a stand at the same distance but someone walked their dog within about 2 metres from her after I threw the tug and she still had rock solid feet and focus until I released her. We played the "bang game" yesterday on the seesaw while it was outside the ring yesterday as well. I'm so pleased with her work. No pics unfortunately, I should be getting the video camera out more but feel bad asking people to tape my runs when they are busy with their own dogs and runs. The weather held up really well, much nicer today than it was yesterday. Looked pretty ominous at about 3 at which point I packed up so I could beat it home.

Thanks everyone for the congrats, and thanks to those who gave me some advice back in the obedience questions thread. Congrats to any results in the last few days as well. Unfortunately we weren't able to repeat the experience today - blew a good pass by dropping in her sit stay! Have practised the sit stay quite a lot, always for several minutes rather than just the 1 or 2 minutes and never with the drop afterwards. Unfortunately we are lacking a lot of ring work practise which is showing big time with me. Despite the fact that Darcy's stays are rock solid with other dogs I reckon we need more stay practise with other dogs as well, but I won't put her in club stays because yelling at your dog to stop them moving or running off is totally acceptable behaviour! Really over being so isolated training wise at the moment.

Just looked at the weather forecast for tomorrow - 90% chance of 20 to 40 mm. Looks like we could get wet! I'm definitely a fair weather trialler, so if it starts bucketing I'll be packing my bat and ball (and my dogs of course!) and going home!!. ;) Darcy had a pretty awesome day today, scored the only pass in our ring, and the won highest in trial and highest scoring member at our club. Such a good girl given her handler issues. Believe it was the same handler who also blew both of our JDM runs too....