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Just a comment that popped up in the overweight dogs post - what height do you train at at home and at club? Does it change depending on how accurate a jumper the dogs are? I.e if a dog is completely comfortable with jumping their height and rarely drop bars vs a dog who drops bars more often? FWIW One club I attend sets the bars at correct height for all dogs, with the exception of dogs under 18 months. The other trains at 300 mm to 400 mm (with no dogs smaller than that) regardless of what height the dog is.

Unfortunately there are a few dogs out there competing that are bordering between slightly overweight to fat... A lot of clubs have rules as to what age pups/young dogs are allowed to do equipment, no questions asked. Why can't the same thing apply to overweight dogs? I remember reading on here a while ago that up to 40% of dogs were rejected from intake to one club's beginner class due to weight This is so sad - seen a dog recently that was entered in just about every available section at a trial. Dog was struggling to get over the course at the start of the day, let alone after it had been hawked around every course it was eligible for. Poor dog was trying so hard to please his/her owner

I had a similar problem with Darcy when she was younger, she wasn't always looking for a pat but she'd just get fidgety and I had to keep telling her to go back to her bed. Only well behaved dogs are allowed in my house, if I had to tell her any more than once to go back to her bed, she went outside. She soon learnt that if she wanted to stay inside she had to stay where she was told. Now she's learnt this, she's welcome to move between either heater and either bed and obviously her water. But no getting up and sniffing round the cat food or getting into stuff she's not supposed to. If I asked her to move then thats different. Plus I always make sure she's well tired out and worked before expecting her to sit quietly all night.

I started off using a food processor but recently switched to a juicer - its so much quicker!. I freeze about a months worth in the take away like containers that you can buy from the supermarket in lots of about 4 or 5, and defrost them as I need them.

This is what I am doing with Kaos at the moment I have a board which I place over some stairs or a raised flower bed to make a ramp, and we practice contacts this way. Did some this evening, he is going well. I have a board that I use which I can put down the steps off the back deck that should work ok - will try it this weekend :D

Ncarter - meaning I feed mostly vegies as a base of her diet, then add some protein and a few supplements to it. Most people probably wouldn't feed their dogs as much vegies/fruit as I do, I feed about 1 to 1.5 cups of vegie/fruit mush a day to fill her up and make sure she's staying a healthy but lean weight for an agility dog. :rolleyes:

KC thanks for the info. Yes I was referring to ANKC agility. I'm going to put the pressure on to get the A-frame changed when we start back in a few weeks - I refuse to compete in agility until I'm confident she's going to be safe on it, especially since she's still quite young (not yet 2 yo). We only need one more pass to get Darcy's JD and I was planning on switching over to Novice Agility but if we head into excellent jumping for a while its no biggie, probably prefer it anyway :rolleyes:

Thats interesting - never knew that. When I got picked up for it in class one day I just presumed that was why Problem is that we get such limited time on an A-frame that its difficult to get much of a go on it (it comes out maybe once a month) and even more difficult to stuff around and adjust it because its not an adjustable A-frame. We've put it over a 44 gallon drum, and we can also place it over our 1m high fences - both too low to be really that useful. Admitedly we focus mostly on jumping in class but Darcy only has one pass to go before she gets her JD so I want to start on agility as well to start her in Novice. So Darcy isn't really confident on it, she tackles it okay going up, but instead of coming down it she jumps from about 2/3 up. I don't really want to put her back on it while she's doing this and expecting a 2o2o in these circumstances is just not on. What I would like it to look like is more of a running contact up (so running up it rather than jumping up it) and then dropping her weight back onto her hindend as she comes down the other side with confidence seeking the contact (no jumping off!).

I managed to get a working place for the whole weekend as well, would love to go on the Friday night but I'll drive from home (hour and a bit) so its probably a bit much to do all three days. Glad I didn't wait any longer, I think I got one of the last available working places in both days Edited to add: Any chance there will be camping available like at the trials? If thats the case then I'd do the Friday night and swag it for the night

I feed a lot of vegies with some fruit, probably a good cup to cup and a half of vegie/fruit mush for dinner, with some protein (egg, fish, yoghurt or some lean mince) and a few supplements (ACV, VAN Health Booster & Linseed oil) and a meaty/minimal fat bone for brekky. I use the vegie base as Darcy's a very good doer, unfortunately tends towards the labrador in that department rather than the kelpie. I use them to bulk up her diet, plus add some nutrients in a low calorie form so I can ensure she's getting what she needs. She's fit and healthy, has great teeth and a pitch black shiny coat so I figure I'm not doing too badly for a dog on such a restricted diet. :D

I've wondered this myself when I bath my dog - what temperature do people use to wash their dogs? I tend to find the temperature that I would shower in and then back it off a bit, as I tend to like a quite hot shower. Thats in winter obviously, just wondering if its still a bit too warm?

Thanks Snoopys Jocks ;) I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible, and the 2o2o seems to be the simplest one. The reason I ask is that the A-frame 2o2o isn't going so well, she's occasionally missing the up contact as well as the down contact so I'm thinking a different method of contacts just for the Aframe. I think she's not that comfortable on it which doesn't help, but when you're limited to class time only it makes it difficult :D

Pretty much as it states in the heading.... what style of contacts do you use on what size dog, and why did you choose to use that method? We have the basics of 2o2o, just starting to add it to the dogwalk and seesaw. Just wondering if maybe I'd be better using some other method but not sure which one

I love the challenge & its highly addictive There's so much to learn, so many different things to teach your dog you could never get bored from it. Its a fair bit of work but when you manage to get that course or sequence right at training, or walk out of the ring with a pass at a trial - WOW!! If you do a search on youtube for agility + dog you'll see some good runs and training stuff on there!! EFS

Ashan - I started my pup out in obedience and then did both agility and obedience from 6 months. We have a beginners class where we work on very small obstacles, obstacles that move, focus and control, hind-end awareness, startlines etc. We still do both, Darcy is 19.5 months old. She got her CCD title at 16 months and has two passes in jumping. She doesn't mind obedience but agility is her real love (and mine ). The early obedience stuff helped me a lot as Darcy is my first dog, so if you're new to it its a good start. Find someone who can help you out with the focus stuff, its not something I was ever taught in obedience but its probably one of the most important things you'll learn for both. Find yourself a good training club that is more positive/reward orientated.

I found the Doggy Cool treats fantastic, but the supermarket here no longer stocks them. I emailed the company who said I could get them direct but no more through supermarkets. Now I use cabana or fat free frankfurts so I'm back to chopping before class I use raw steak for high level stuff and thats very popular

My dog loves the advance, but she's a potential fatty so she's 99% raw fed and only gets some as a treat very rarely as its just too high in calories for her. Not sure how she'd go on it long term, other than the fact I know she'd get fat!! I only have it because Darcy won it!

WMR - Worst thing is its often club members who should know better!!

Well done!! Thats a great effort! Especially to those of us who wouldn't even know where to start with scent discrimination!! :D Do others get such a huge kick when they get a break through? Absolutely! I had the same thing today, one of those fantastic light globe moments and I couldn't get the smile off my face!

My parents had a similar issue with a pup out of their kelpie bitch. Unfortunately the mother wasn't the best of mothers and decided that working was far more important than looking after her pups, so she promptly weaned & dumped them at about 3 weeks. This pup was in a litter of 5 from memory, but unfortunately none of his siblings stood up to him and he didn't have his mother to put him in place either. He was ok with humans but was a really bully towards his litter mates. He needed to be put back in his place and hard!! I wonder how you'd go starting the NILIF on such a young pup? Obviously on a very simple basis but start teaching him that he needs to behave in order to get good stuff in life. My dog was 7.5 weeks when I bought her home and I started on it immediately, so he's not much short of it.

Yep completely agree with you! The other thing that annoys me is the ones who seem to think everyones dog is an opportunity to socialise theirs without asking the owner!!! Then you become the bad guy for saying something

Results could mean either way - in my situation it would be learning new skills and making good progress, you would think that the competition results would follow if you were that way inclined.

As the question states, as a club member, whats more important to you? Is it the quality of instruction and results? Or would you prefer to sacrifice a few results here and there, and hold your dog back for feeling like a valuable member of the club and having some friends who attend the club as well? I know in an ideal world you would have both, but just wondering what peoples thoughts were?

Heres a link to the obedience ones: http://users.lavalink.com.au/theos/obedience.htm There is a few links on there to other dog sports which will probably show other titles

I was under the impression that as long as you spoke to the judge prior and gave him/her a list of the commands that you would be using that it wasn't a problem. Would pay to find out if there is any chance you could get told you must use English commands after seeking approval from the judge though. Use of German commands in not unknown, specially those who use training in drive. An obedience judge mentioned it at a clinic we did at our club.