J...

Thank you :) I think he's pretty awesome too, he's the perfect mix of super smart, fun, drive and a total sweetheart :D

Have a look at DIY agility jumps on google images for some PVC jumps you can make, either with wings or without wings. Would be easier if you used the CR parts and jump cups but not totally necessary, or find a few mates to order some CR stuff and split postage. They will allow you to place and pay for orders separately and then calculate postage for you to one address. You can also get the weave end spikes from CR as well. There is plenty you can do with two or three jumps, some traffic cones and a tunnel. A short contact plank is great for teaching 90% of your contact behaviour without contacts. Nearly all my young BCs foundation has been done with 3 jumps and a tunnel and two traffic cones/pool noodles shoved over some excess weave poles. I do very little sequencing as my back yard is too small, slopey and uneven, so any sequencing work I want to do I have to lug my jumps, tunnel and tunnel bags out. This is him at a seminar we did a few weeks ago.

Black dog: http://www.blackdog.net.au/index.php?route=product/category&path=66_86

Hey you asked :p

I grew up with ACDs as Mum bred them when I was very young, they were all working cattle dogs and all really good dogs. The first one I remember was a blue ACD dog, guard dog bred, you didn't get out of the car if he was loose. Incredibly faithful to Dad who could do anything with him, Mum was never quite sure. The red ACD dog was a very full on dog who needed plenty of work. He was incredibly destructive even as a farm dog, but he had a lovely temperament. Not sure how he would've gone in a backyard unless the owner was very diligent about keeping him busy. The blue ACD bitch we had was much more laid back, late bloomer in the working stakes but was a hard-ass when she figured it out. Way too hard on your average cattle beast, she got the job of moving the bulls. She also missed the "heeling" memo, her style was launch and hit them mid-thigh and grab hold. She was certainly effective Same as the red dog, really good steady temperament and was happy to welcome people to the house if she was loose. In all the farms I'm on these days I rarely see them, but dogs in general are becoming less common for stock work on dairy farms. I can't think of one whose temperament I have an issue with, we have a few trialling in agility in Victoria and they are all ok.

The dark side is awesome Dave Munnings DVDs Q-me and Turn me. Dave is now doing online courses as well, I believe there is one on Foundation which would be really good. Silvia Trkman has some good DVDs as well, her puppy class is great for a foundation of tricks and body awareness and she gives very good feedback if you take a working spot, or would be worthwhile auditing. I think the Susan Garrett online courses (Recallers and H360) are brilliant because there is so much information there all broken down into bite sized pieces, but I would be concerned that they would be overwhelming for beginners. Dave and Silvia are probably a bit better as a starter without being too full on. Justine Davenport is awesome, but presumes a level of knowledge even in her Foundation online course, so I'd leave her stuff for later.

Definitely still in business, they had a massive IT crash that wasn't immediately detected. Marian at Canine Comfort is brilliant to deal with, I've just this week had my FFL treadmill arrive - love it already and the dogs have only been on it twice :) Most human treadmills are too short for anything larger than a small/medium sized dogs, I spent a lot of time researching trying to find a human treadmill with a long enough deck that both myself and the dogs could use, but I was looking at semi-commercial treadmills. If you use a treadmill too short you risk the dog shortening their stride slightly to avoid falling off, or thinking they are going to fall off. Don't expect to get one straight away, seems that many of these guys don't have them in stock. CC had the shortest wait at about 4 weeks, another company I was looking at closer to 8 weeks, probably 9 by the time it arrived on my doorstep.

Seconded, Malcolm is brilliant. Edited to add: I do a 6 hour round trip for him to see my dogs for most issues, distance is no barrier when you find someone you know is good and that you trust.

You need to make it fun, and if you're having fun then he will as well. Add his absolute favourite food into the mix and I'm sure he'll enjoy it so much more. Body awareness is so much more than a balance disc. :) You're getting bogged down in the "playing ball is his favourite thing, he doesn't enjoy anything else" train of thought and feeling sorry for him. If you find other more body friendly activities and make sure they enjoy them by having fun yourself, they never miss out. My 8 yo was retrieving mad as a youngster but I put a stop to it years ago when I realised just how bad such a jolting and repetitive behaviour was on her body. At the time I was racking my brain thinking how I was going to keep her fit and exercised. At 8 yo she is happy, healthy, fit and strong, still running agility and the only time I ever throw a ball is in water.

Core strength and body awareness skills are great for dogs. I have 3 working bred dogs and they all get a 10 to 15 min session 2 to 3 times a week, all are happy to snooze the evening away afterwards, even more so than a good hour hill hike. The most important thing is that they learn to use their bodies correctly and take their time with correct form, it's not about the crazy full on "strength work" you often see on the internet which can do more harm than good. Slow, deliberate movement where they are using their body properly is far more effective. Have a look at Bobbie Lyons work on her blog, Pawsitive Performance.

One thing to remember with SG's work is to make sure it is fun. There is a huge amount of information there, a heap to learn and get your head around. It's really easy to get bogged down in trying to keep up, be perfect with your mechanics, do things to a standard, have the ideal equipment etc etc and I can see some of you guys already falling into that trap. Please don't :) Just go out and give it a go, and if you achieved something small and had some fun with your dog, then that's a good thing. I've seen so many people obsess over the little details that they forget the fun, and then no-one enjoys it. SG is one hell of a trainer but she's also really obsessive - doing 50% of something is better than 100% of nothing ;) For what it's worth, I've done more of SG's online courses than my bank balance wants to admit All my dogs have done crate games, and all 3 do crate games to a level where they will all sit in camp chairs/in open crates or in the ute with the door open while I train the others, even at agility training, and will run to the chair or crate when asked to. NONE of them sit when I put my hand on the side of the crate, cos I personally didn't see the value of training it to that level. A recall is a recall, whether it's down the local park, or calling your dog from the lounge room into the kitchen. They all count. Do heaps in the house and backyard during the work week and then work on the bigger ones on weekends when you have more time and daylight. :D I do know how you feel though, I work long hours too and every course I've done online has what feels like a majority of people in it who don't seem to do anything but live and breathe the course, in fact I've often wondered if some of them even sleep!! :laugh:

So sorry to hear about Leo, he was always such a happy boy when I seen him out and about at trials with you - just happy to be there playing the game Thinking of you at such a sad time

That is really interesting, they certainly are great at training us. :laugh: I should really crack down on and reimplement all of the Ruff Love work, but I tolerate the behaviour and then kick myself when I get annoyed with the "bad behaviour" that I've let them all get away with. My current battle is the front door. All three dogs sit and wait until I open the door and verbally release them, but it becomes a free for all once I do as they all bolt down the stairs and head for the ute at whirlwind speed. It's only a matter of time before one of them injures themselves in the fray I need to work out an alternative behaviour that has them all leaving the house in an orderly fashion but I haven't worked that out yet No need to submit videos yourself. I missed all but the last promo videos so didn't see the ones you're referring to. Bit frustrating that they were taken down so quickly.

An email, or a dozen? And that's for Recallers alone in June, it doesn't include PP or H360 emails. I reckon I can top the noise level, I video nearly all my training sessions now and review them later. The whining and yodelling I get from the merley one while I watch my training videos is incredible I need to work on it big time because he's going to get thrown out of the next handling seminar I do... 4 months to fix it!!

There is a Qld company on ebay selling a similar looking treadmill, a search should bring them up pretty easily.

http://www.pawsitive-performance.com/blog Blog post which discusses recommended treadmill lengths and the issues with decks that are too short. Chris Zink recommends them to be at least 2.5 times the body length of a dog. For my small 14 kg BC boy, that's still 1.4 m long at a minimum.

Don't expect to get one straight away! I was expecting to wait maybe 10 days for delivery, but there is a significant wait for both the ones I was interested in. I looked at purchasing a suitably sized human treadmill but none are big enough unless I go full commercial, which is just too dear and risky with dust and dog hair. I've ordered a Fit Fur Life which will be mid-July delivery.

9 am here, getting up before 4 am to make more and more 8.30 am starts is just getting a bit crazy. Especially when you need to be at some of these trials at a sparrows fart to get a close car park or face lugging your gear even further, especially with the number of carparks which are reserved by one person I liked the idea of the extra runs provided at agility trials originally, but now I think it's going too far - eight masters runs is just too much I don't think it's good for the dogs either, no way are dogs getting a decent warm up and cool down before each run with that kind of schedule. Some of these big extra entry city trials are getting to be 15 plus hour days for us country triallers, and that's without hanging around for presentations. I really enjoy the old format of 1 ADM 1 JDM AM and PM, and the 8.30 am starts weren't needed. Will get off my soapbox now

Lack of co-ordination is completely different to not listening to your instructors. I'm far from particularly co-ordinated, and being less than streamlined means I stop and turn like a mack truck I still get out there and do it regardless :D

Why do you have to be that tolerant? I think you've all been way more tolerant than most people would've been... she's been through 2 instructors and is onto her third that she won't listen to, she's hogging class time from those who probably are doing a good job, and she's been given two years of volunteer time. It's not fair on the other students who are progressing, and it's not fair on those of you who are volunteering their time to tolerate that crap. I'd cut her loose, ship her back to beginners! Tough love time

You can't tell some people, sometimes they have to figure it out for themselves. You can lead a horse to water and all that, the trick is to make the horse a little thirsty first ;) Jessica at ShapeUp would be the "bendiest" handler I can think of, yet she still spends nearly all her course time upright and moving. My young BC has just started sequencing and is only just in 500, no way am I bending over to handle him as it doesn't allow me to move off as quickly as possible, and I'm going to need every ounce of speed I have for this one

Aww thanks TSD, that's lovely. I could say the same for you too :D Thanks Tassie :D Pretty sure he's coming back again next year, well worth keeping an eye out for!

I'd highly recommend it Tassie, I've been working through shape up foundation online with my young BC. No way would he have been capable of advanced handling at the Dave Munnings seminar if we hadn't, and i have yet to finish the foundation course yet I'm doing Foundation and Advanced, I'm not addicted at all :laugh: OMG did you do the Munnings seminar this last weekend as well? Addict much!!!!!!* *Disclaimer: I would do them all too but trying to watch the $$$ and focus on writing :D Yes :D It was awesome too. But I don't take holidays and agility is my hobby, so I blow all my annual leave on agility I used to own horses, when I look at the potential for $$$$ there, it makes agility look bloody cheap in comparison. Plus I'm not doing Nationals, which saves $$ too.

I'd highly recommend it Tassie, I've been working through shape up foundation online with my young BC. No way would he have been capable of advanced handling at the Dave Munnings seminar if we hadn't, and i have yet to finish the foundation course yet I'm doing Foundation and Advanced, I'm not addicted at all :laugh:

Yes it is H360, no you can't sign up now as it's shut. And it's not cheap but it is incredibly comprehensive. However, if you have a good basic reward foundation with your dog then I would highly recommend shape up agility. Justine Davenport is the instructor who seems to have bought SG across from GD handling, and I've really enjoyed her foundation class online. She has a foundation class opening 4th May, her feed back is very comprehensive (it's all run thru a secret Facebook group) so you can learn a lot from watching everyone else if you only want to audit. It's the same system, I haven't been able to pick any differences.