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Tiggy
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My girls are obsessed with it too, but I got a nice performance out of Millie by using it so I will see if that was just luck or not :rofl: I use it in combination with treats (hype dog up with i-squeak, ask for them to jump into heel or a front and reward with food). I am still yet to find a routine that works for them best before going into the ring so I am trying everything!

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My girls are obsessed with it too, but I got a nice performance out of Millie by using it so I will see if that was just luck or not :rofl: I use it in combination with treats (hype dog up with i-squeak, ask for them to jump into heel or a front and reward with food). I am still yet to find a routine that works for them best before going into the ring so I am trying everything!

Definately keep using it then :D

Lewis's eye glaze over like my BIL's totally ball obssesses BC who would drop balls on your foot all the time or just stare at the ball willing it to move. Lewis will even take a ball over his favourite food treat. I do use the ball as a reward for somethings, but wouldn't just prior to going in the ring.

Best disraction training ever - Lewis training and a young boy kicking a soccer ball. I had to work hard to keep his focus as he has his own soccer ball he plays with along with an Isqueak, horse ball, small tennis ball like ball, kids balls (mostly now popped) and any other ball on a rope or otherwise.

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How much warming up does everybody do before going into the ring???

None! I want Ella to be soooooo keen to do something before we walk into the ring! She gets crated, I usually try to take her out a few dogs before we're in so she can go to the toilet and then back into the crate until just before we go in. Her "warm up" involves me revving her up as much as possible and then asking for attention and heeling into the ring and line up at the start peg.

So do most people use food as a reward for the warm up?

An i-squeak works best with Lexi.

Nothing... I don't even show her the tug reward anymore, I used to do a small bit of training and give her a reward but I've found she actually works better without a bit of training/warm up etc first. She knows that when I say "are you ready?" that means it's time to work and that the tug will be provided when I say "OK"! You should have seen her yesterday! I pulled her out of her crate and headed to the ring revving her up as we went and she was bouncing straight up in the air to about my chest height that's how excited she was to go into the ring! And the moment we left the ring we hightailed it back to the crate for the tug!

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My girls are obsessed with it too, but I got a nice performance out of Millie by using it so I will see if that was just luck or not :D I use it in combination with treats (hype dog up with i-squeak, ask for them to jump into heel or a front and reward with food). I am still yet to find a routine that works for them best before going into the ring so I am trying everything!

Definately keep using it then :rofl:

Lewis's eye glaze over like my BIL's totally ball obssesses BC who would drop balls on your foot all the time or just stare at the ball willing it to move. Lewis will even take a ball over his favourite food treat. I do use the ball as a reward for somethings, but wouldn't just prior to going in the ring.

Best disraction training ever - Lewis training and a young boy kicking a soccer ball. I had to work hard to keep his focus as he has his own soccer ball he plays with along with an Isqueak, horse ball, small tennis ball like ball, kids balls (mostly now popped) and any other ball on a rope or otherwise.

Millie's eyes glaze over in a way, too, and there is no way I could ask for precision work from the girls using an i-squeak as reward. But waving it around and doing little throws hypes them up which is what I want :rofl: Then back in pocket (or give to someone next to me if at a trial), ask for them to jump in heel for example, treat with food! I am really hoping that method will hold up for me as I am sick of trying to figure out what works and will give me consistent results :o

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I do a few left about turns and each position, just to make sure he's not being a doofus! This is usually when the dog before us has gone in. Then I put him back in his crate until they are doing their last exercise and then he gets revved up with food and we go in. I HATE waiting around out in front of the ring before we go in... So I try and avoid it if I can.

Edited by TerraNik
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Loads to think about now, we have a members comp at our club in Sept and I am going to enter with Mason, it will be all the CCD stuff so I need to think of my tactic before I enter the ring, never thought about it before...

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How much warming up does everybody do before going into the ring???

I can get Daisy focused and drivey pretty instantly but I find she always works best if I warm her up first, running through some heel patterns etc.

At training, I can work her on and off for more than an hour, and she always works best towards the end of the night. Once she's switched on it takes a lot to distract her and pull her out of drive!

Huski....its out of the way now and it does get better from here!!! Lots of positives too!!! :) Its annoying when you are rushed in when you're not prepared but there are strategies you can employ. I always keep an eye on the previous competitor just in case they pull out unexpectedly although that usually doesn't happen until Open and UD. I also speak to the stewards and let them know I'm there as I don't like hanging around at the ring waiting. As RS said, don't let the stewards rush you....acknowledge that you heard them and you are coming but don't run into the ring...think of your dog above all, they know you are out of order due to the previous competitor so they will wait. Another thing you can do is to practice being unprepared!!! Get her straight out of the car and into the 'ring', set up at the start peg, do 4 or 5 steps of heelwork and have a party! That way when it happens (and it does to everyone more than once!) you know at least that you've practiced it and both you and Daisy can cope. Good luck for the next one!!!

Thanks heaps Bedazzled :(

I do a lot of setting her up and walking one or two steps then rewarding heavily etc but I think the biggest problem at the trial was the way I absolutely freaked out when I realised we'd stuffed up and we were next, I was so beside myself my hands were shaking ;) :thumbsup:

At least the next trial is a PM trial so I can have a glass of wine before hand :(:rofl:

I used an i-squeak with Millie before going in the ring and it seemed to work, so I am going to keep trying that and see if it was just a one off or not :eek: Which means I need to kill one of my i-squeaks! And I need someone standing nearby to palm the ball off to. I was lucky in that I roped mum into coming last time which is a rare occurrence so I handed her the ball before going in the ring. I've never used that technique before but I might start with both girls as they luuuuuuurve the i-squeak, it's better than food ;)

Do they like to tug too RS?

Millie's eyes glaze over in a way, too, and there is no way I could ask for precision work from the girls using an i-squeak as reward.

Never say never - I have seen the same with high prey drive dogs but if you can harness it and teach them self control and to think the through the arousal the results are amazing!

ETA: I would love to crate Daisy or put her on a tie out before going in the ring but she is a terrible barker and yesterday at the trial we got told off after coming out of the ring, Daisy gave a single 'woof' and some people next to us cracked the shits because there was a dog in the ring in front of us :o barking dogs at trials obviously don't go down well :(

Edited by huski
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Never say never - I have seen the same with high prey drive dogs but if you can harness it and teach them self control and to think the through the arousal the results are amazing!

ETA: I would love to crate Daisy or put her on a tie out before going in the ring but she is a terrible barker and yesterday at the trial we got told off after coming out of the ring, Daisy gave a single 'woof' and some people next to us cracked the shits because there was a dog in the ring in front of us ;) barking dogs at trials obviously don't go down well :thumbsup:

Yes, I know, if I put in the work I could probably make it happen, especially with Ruby. Her face lights up like a christmas tree when I ask her to heel and she has an inkling that the i-squeak is in my pocket (I swear they know the smell of them!) but she forges in anticipation of it being thrown. Millie simply cannot take any instruction when faced with i-squeak or dinner bowl. She works best for praise, play and mundane treats.

Ruby tugs, but I haven't harnessed it and don't really want to, she hasn't got a soft mouth for retrieving as it is so at this present time, I don't want to encourage it. Though using an i-squeak won't help that soft mouth either :) Millie doesn't tug, but I'm sure with some work and the right tug toy, I could get her to.

As for barking dogs, Millie is a terrible barker when she's not being worked so I can't tie her out or crate her either. I lock her in the car and close the door and she goes bananas in there :rofl: If a dog woofs once or twice (ie. not a consistent nuisance barker), tell the triallers to get over it, they should be proofing for that too :eek: Ruby has missed positions due to being distracted by a barking dog, but what can you do ;) Besides more proofing! :o

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See the photo of Ruby on the far right in my siggy? I am pretty sure I had an i-squeak in my hand when the photo was snapped :rofl: She was doing this prancing thing as she wanted that ball! That's the face I get when I ask her to heel when i-squeak is on the reward menu :)

Edited by RubyStar
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Yes, I know, if I put in the work I could probably make it happen, especially with Ruby. Her face lights up like a christmas tree when I ask her to heel and she has an inkling that the i-squeak is in my pocket (I swear they know the smell of them!) but she forges in anticipation of it being thrown. Millie simply cannot take any instruction when faced with i-squeak or dinner bowl. She works best for praise, play and mundane treats.

Ruby tugs, but I haven't harnessed it and don't really want to, she hasn't got a soft mouth for retrieving as it is so at this present time, I don't want to encourage it. Though using an i-squeak won't help that soft mouth either :) Millie doesn't tug, but I'm sure with some work and the right tug toy, I could get her to.

LOL I would be like a kid at Christmas with a dog like that :(

If people can do it with super high drive dogs I have no doubt you could do it with your labs! I love watching Schutzhund dogs for this reason, you can see how driven these dogs are, but the precision the handlers have with them is amazing.

I couldn't get through to Daisy at all when she was on a scent, it's the same thing, once they are locked into it it's very hard to work with them - I could be physically pulling her away from a smell and she wouldn't even realise. But I can get her attention with a simple voice command now instantly because we've done loads of work to teach her self control and to be able to think through the arousal and learn that the best way to achieve drive satisfaction is through complying with my commands.

She's not a particularly high drive dog when it comes to anything other than scenting though so that was a challenge in it's own :rofl: A dog that naturally has tonnes of food or prey drive would be heaps of fun to train!

As for barking dogs, Millie is a terrible barker when she's not being worked so I can't tie her out or crate her either. I lock her in the car and close the door and she goes bananas in there :eek: If a dog woofs once or twice (ie. not a consistent nuisance barker), tell the triallers to get over it, they should be proofing for that too ;) Ruby has missed positions due to being distracted by a barking dog, but what can you do :o Besides more proofing! :(

That's kind of what I think, I try to prepare for anything in the ring, including lots of barking. I think my car would be torn to shreds if I left Daisy in there alone :(

ETA: Some of the stewards at the trial yesterday were trying to tell me that I wanted my dog to be calm when in the ring. I was like, that's the opposite of what I train for ;) I don't want calm, I'd lose her to all the smells on the ground :thumbsup:

Edited by huski
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huski, you'd have a tonne of fun training Ruby. Her handler is the one that sometimes lets her down ;)

Hmmm, sounds like Ruby and Daisy have the same problem :)

I'll swap you ;)

OK then :rofl: I keep trying to palm Ruby off to others, oh and Millie, 2 for 1 deal :eek:

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huski, you'd have a tonne of fun training Ruby. Her handler is the one that sometimes lets her down :thumbsup:

Hmmm, sounds like Ruby and Daisy have the same problem :rofl:

I'll swap you :o

OK then :eek: I keep trying to palm Ruby off to others, oh and Millie, 2 for 1 deal ;)

Deal! :) You can have the Evil Beagle... please?? ;)

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huski, you'd have a tonne of fun training Ruby. Her handler is the one that sometimes lets her down ;)

Hmmm, sounds like Ruby and Daisy have the same problem :)

I'll swap you :thumbsup:

OK then :rofl: I keep trying to palm Ruby off to others, oh and Millie, 2 for 1 deal :eek:

Lol I will take Ruby any day even though she is female ;)

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