Best Breeds For Obedience Training, Agility And Dogs Sports

[Longcoat]

Does anyone know how a Belgian Malinois would rate in agility compared with a Border Collie or Kelpie???. I did a bit of agility with a GSD years ago but he was too big and clumsy and the BC's & Kelpies ran all over him The Mals are generally more agile and faster than a GSD and I wondered in that type of working dog how a Mal would go???

A Terv won the 26" USDAA Grand Prix Steeplechase final this year...She was the only non-BC in the class & she beat them all.

Here is the link:

Great video ........I am thinking there is more Mal in that dog than Turv though

[Staranais]

Does anyone know how a Belgian Malinois would rate in agility compared with a Border Collie or Kelpie???. I did a bit of agility with a GSD years ago but he was too big and clumsy and the BC's & Kelpies ran all over him The Mals are generally more agile and faster than a GSD and I wondered in that type of working dog how a Mal would go???

A Terv won the 26" USDAA Grand Prix Steeplechase final this year...She was the only non-BC in the class & she beat them all.

Here is the link:

Great video ........I am thinking there is more Mal in that dog than Turv though

Looks like a Terv to me? Traditionally, I believe, you could get "mals" and "tervs" in the same litter - they were just named according to coat type, and not regarded as seperate varieties.

Some of the show line mals you see are pretty fluffy too.

[Vickie]

Great video ........I am thinking there is more Mal in that dog than Turv though

I don't know the breeds well but I know Rob has a few & he calls them Tervs. I loved watching that video. I have had the pleasure of attending a couple of Rob's seminars & as well as being an excellent instructor, he is a true gentleman. I am very happy that he has done so well with this dog at such a high level.

We have a Terv competing here in NSW. She is quite something & very driven. She is still young but already doing very well.

[Sheilaheel02]

Hey nobody mentioned Cattle Dogs!!

And so close to Australia Day.

Come on you know you want one.

luvsablue

CDs Rule

I run Cattle Dogs in Dog Sports luvsablue, but I know they are not the dog for everyone.

Cheers

Sharon

[luvsablue]

I run Cattle Dogs in Dog Sports luvsablue, but I know they are not the dog for everyone.

Cheers

Sharon

Hi Sharon,

Point taken but I wonder why CD handlers/owners often say just what you said. Maybe because it is true? :D

Sure they can present certain challenges,

but the rewards are great!

Regards,

luvsablue

[Sheilaheel02]

Hey luvsablue,

I LOVE my ACD's and Stumpies and I love to train them, yes they can be challenging but I agree that the rewards are worth it. I wouldn't be without my guys, lovable lunatics that they are.

Don't mind me, I've just been involved in rescue for waaaay too long I know Mr and Mrs Wrong get our breed all the time..........and then they dump them - sigh. That said, a performance or working home for a Cattle Dog is our dream adoption enquiry.

Cheers

Shaz

[Sheilaheel02]

Hi luvsablue,

Saw on another thread that your blue girl has her OC and her UDX. Congratulations, she is indeed a true ambassador for the breed and I'm very impressed.

S

[luvsablue]

Hi luvsablue,

Saw on another thread that your blue girl has her OC and her UDX. Congratulations, she is indeed a true ambassador for the breed and I'm very impressed.

S

Thanks Sheilaheel02.

Your three dogs have a string of titles each, including two UDs.

That's ultra impressive and shows their versatility and your hard work,

luvsablue

[Sheilaheel02]

When Sheila was competing, the rules were you had to have a tracking titles to get an OC. My friend and I started training for tracking twice. I think the first training session we went to in Sydney, she lost the keys to the car and would you believe it, none of the tracking dogs attending that day could find those damned keys! We ended up having to get the car towed out of the property with the dogs riding in the back (which had a separate key) and vowing we would stick to Agility and Obedience instead. Sheila was an amazing dog. She could turn in a 190+ in obedience one week and tell me to get stuffed the next. It was in Agility she excelled. Miss Reliable had over 100 Agility passes which was a lot back in the day, she was NSW ADOY one year and the first dog of any breed to achieve an Agility Dog Master in Australia. She even did flyball for a while in the early days of the sport. I miss her by my side every day.

Trev pretty much loved any kind of work. I swear he would get extra points for entertainment value :D He has personality in spades. Agility was our thing too. 'Trev the Rev' or 'Feral Errol' loved it. He was trained to do flyball, but never competed officially. We were considering a return to obedience after a lengthy break, but he ruptured his cruciate chasing Mick, who was chasing a bird across the house paddock - sigh! He's doing really well on the leg, but he is pretty much retired now.

Due to a lifestyle change, my rescue efforts and the addition of horses to the family, poor Mick isn't trained and trialled as much as he should be :D He shows a a lot more promise in Agility than Obedience though - he's a bit of an adrenaline junkie and has a need for speed. In fact, if we could do the entire heel pattern in fast pace, we might have more luck! ;)

Yep, Cattle Dogs are quite addictive really

S

Edited February 1, 2010 by Sheilaheel02

[luvsablue]

Sheila was an amazing dog. She could turn in a 190+ in obedience one week and tell me to get stuffed the next.

Hi Shaz,

That rings a bell with me; they are certainly not "clockwork or wind-up dogs" but have a mind of their own at times.

Perhaps another reason why they are not as popular as some other breeds.

luvsablue

Beckie the Bluey

[Sheilaheel02]

Yep, exactly. These braniacs learn new stuff SO quickly, you really have to be sure you are teaching the right thing the first time, but don't insult them by asking them to repeat and exercise they already know over and over again! Or, maybe that's just my failing as a trainer that I can't make it interesting enough I could never train Sheila and Trevor as often as some of my friends trained their other breeds. Not for Obedience anyway.

I could get the consistency in Agility with Sheila, but Obedience performances could be quite sporadic. I recall being in an Open class where I signalled, left the start peg and did quite a bit of the normal pace heel pattern before I realised I didn't have a dog at heel. The judge stopped me and I turned to see my lovely red dog just sitting a few metres past the start post with a smug look on her face. Sort of " Yeah, yeah, you are going to walk up there, turn, go up there and yeah, yeah, I know, I'll just sit here and wait until you come back". The judge was very polite and sympathetic and suggested I might like to start training her for UD or even try Agility :D Of course she had her UD title and had been successfully competing in Agility for years, but all I wanted to do at that moment was to find a rock and crawl under it. I had another judge tell me that Sheila didn't understand the UD exercises and apologise to me the next week when she passed and got her title.

Trev used to make up his own games in UD. Judges would sometimes find them very amusing, sometimes not so much. At the Canberra Royal one year, Trev did a lovely seek back came in like a rocket and sort of flung his head back and spat the article so hard it hit me in the stomach and fell back to the ground. The judge waited for a while in case he might pick it up again, which he did and promptly fired it straight back at my hands clasped at my waist. Who knows, maybe he was going for extra points for technical difficulty and expected me to catch it! Another time we had two judges debating over how to mark a directed retrieve where the glove flapped in his face in the wind, so he threw it up high in the air and leapt up and caught it perfectly again and delivered it to hand. He's also despatched an errant magpie in the middle of a seek back when the maggie thought the Judge must have dropped a piece of cake they had at morning tea. Magpie went for the spot his article was, so Trev chased it off the track and out of the ring and barked until it flew away..........then went back and got his article. Trevor has also lifted me off the ground on more than one occasion when he's come in to front after the directed jumping. At one trial he came in like a rocket and poked me with his nose and I let out an audible gasp, the Judge and I got the giggles so bad we could hardly continue :D

Wicked, wicked, wonderful dogs Not the breed for anyone who is easily embarrassed, that's for sure.

Ahhh, I could recount trialling adventures with ACD's for ages, but I won't keep boring everyone else senseless. I must say though that typing this brought a smile to my face and reminded me just how much I do enjoy training them. Might just be the inspiration I need to get my act together for the 2010 trialling season.

S

Edited February 2, 2010 by Sheilaheel02