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Tiggy
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Is checking out the state canine association websites the best way to find out when trials will be held? The DogsACT website has the schedules, addresses etc. but the DogsNSW website just has a big list without details - do I just call the phone number listed and ask where to send my entry? :confused::thumbsup:

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Also Ness maybe silly question but why did you change your footwork? I am just learning the footwork now and it is such a PITA for an uncorrdinated person like me it is highly likely I will keep this footwork forever. :thumbsup:

A lot of people change things after their first dog. I went the whole hog and changed foortwork + hand signals :thumbsup: . I take my hat off to Lara who just went with the flow and 99% of the time got it right no matter what cues I gave her, she didn't even mind when I used to call her Blaize by mistake :confused:

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Nawww poor Lara - having to put up with being called Blaize. Ness actually isn't to bad with the cues but she has a turning circle like a truck compared with Kenz :confused: . At least as far as had signals go I didn't mind the ones I had with Ness so Kenz has learned those as well.

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I am finally entering a trial with Rams! I joined dogs NSW yesterday and am going to register Ramses when my number comes through. Our first trial will either be the end of May or mid-July. Rams is now 5 and about 12-18 months ago he was just about ready to enter the ring but I just never took that step. So now we have about a few months to get him back up to speed and ready to go! I started training yesterday and although he is a little bit rusty Im confident he will get there! The biggest problem yesterday was not the kids kicking the ball or the people walking their dogs around us it was the smells on the ground!

Good to see you here :confused: and we want to hear how your training goes over the next few weeks - maybe we need a Sunday check in session to tell us about the week :thumbsup:

Thanks guys! Ive been training each afternoon and yesterday there was kids soccer training happenign while we trained. A few things I need to work on are his right turns, he goes wide and his automatic sits. I have been a steward at 4 trials but now as a competitor cant for the life of me remember if you can give them the command for turns. I know you can for sit, drop, stand etc etc but with left and right are you meant to just turn and the dog follow or can you say the command?

Also need to brush up on figure of 8..Need some posts to work with first :thumbsup:

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I am finally entering a trial with Rams! I joined dogs NSW yesterday and am going to register Ramses when my number comes through. Our first trial will either be the end of May or mid-July. Rams is now 5 and about 12-18 months ago he was just about ready to enter the ring but I just never took that step. So now we have about a few months to get him back up to speed and ready to go! I started training yesterday and although he is a little bit rusty Im confident he will get there! The biggest problem yesterday was not the kids kicking the ball or the people walking their dogs around us it was the smells on the ground!

Good to see you here :confused: and we want to hear how your training goes over the next few weeks - maybe we need a Sunday check in session to tell us about the week :D

Thanks guys! Ive been training each afternoon and yesterday there was kids soccer training happenign while we trained. A few things I need to work on are his right turns, he goes wide and his automatic sits. I have been a steward at 4 trials but now as a competitor cant for the life of me remember if you can give them the command for turns. I know you can for sit, drop, stand etc etc but with left and right are you meant to just turn and the dog follow or can you say the command?

Also need to brush up on figure of 8..Need some posts to work with first :thumbsup:

Hello, I am a new competitor too! We have done one CCD trial so far and have a few more coming up over the next few weeks. So many newbies in this thread at the moment, I am loving it :D

You can't give a turn command no. I feel for you because I have a similar problem, we lost 2 points for wide turns and 1 point for going wide on the figure of 8 in our first trial. We are working on her face being glued to my leg during turns...

I rarely get to work with actual human figure of 8 posts but I have found that most of it is my body language anyway so doing figure of 8 around trees or markers or our other dog (:thumbsup:) seems to work well enough!

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I am also new to trialling, I did CCD @ the Western Classic with my boy and he did brilliant heelwork!!........... but then lay down in the sit stay :confused: So we have a practice trial on the 17th that we are doing and then I have a real trial again on the 23rd :thumbsup:

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Also Ness maybe silly question but why did you change your footwork? I am just learning the footwork now and it is such a PITA for an uncorrdinated person like me it is highly likely I will keep this footwork forever. :D

A lot of people change things after their first dog. I went the whole hog and changed foortwork + hand signals :D . I take my hat off to Lara who just went with the flow and 99% of the time got it right no matter what cues I gave her, she didn't even mind when I used to call her Blaize by mistake :confused:

I changed my footwork with Mason, training with someone else has been helpful to show me what i am doing wrong and I change things when shown a better way - Mason seems to have no problem adjusting ( I dont call him the wrong name though lol :thumbsup: - probably would if he wasnt an only dog :thumbsup: )

Edited by Mason2009
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Ok so I need to work on getting him to follow my leg. He never looks at my face just plods along beside me. Any tips on getting them to turn when you do without hearing the command?

I was watching videos on youtube and the dogs wagged their tails madly. I cant see if Rams does that so Ill be getting my partner to film us training to see if he does.

Edited by spoilt lab lives here
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spoilt lab - a number of us train our dogs to watch us but use different methods. Some like the dog to be targeting the hand and others the face (simply speaking). Wagging tails are a good indication of a dog that is confident in the exercise and has a strong reward history....again, simply speaking :confused:

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spoilt lab - a number of us train our dogs to watch us but use different methods. Some like the dog to be targeting the hand and others the face (simply speaking). Wagging tails are a good indication of a dog that is confident in the exercise and has a strong reward history....again, simply speaking :confused:

He watches me when I ask. Guess Ill start training him to watch as we heel.

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I retrained our heel so that Ava is always watching me as I was having focus issues.

You can give subtle signals about when you are about to turn, like when you generally slow down before a halt. Some people look in the direction they're turning but I think (someone correct me if I'm wrong) most people move their feet in a certain way to cue the dog that they are about to turn. I'll leave it up to the more experienced trainers to describe this as I'm not even sure the way I do it is correct :D

Filming is a BIG help even though, if you're anything like me, you'll be horrified by your body language at first :confused:

My aims for my next trial this weekend are... 1) walk in STRAIGHT LINES :thumbsup: and 2) get my footwork for turns correct. I don't think I really have aims for my dog as I trust her more than I trust myself :thumbsup:

Edit: Does your dog understand the heel position rather than just walking beside you? I do a lot of stationery work with turns to make sure she understands what position she is meant to be in.

Edited by wuffles
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Absolutely! It helps to train them to be independent ie they make a choice to watch you and are then heavily rewarded rather than being coerced or reminded all the time. With my pup, I do a lot of work in the stationary heel position and only 1-3 steps forward at a time. Perfect practice makes progress :confused: Be patient! I think that the complexity of good heel work is often underestimated.

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When we train I do a heel pattern with sit, drops and stands in it. Then I do straight heel work no sits or anything in it just normal, fast and slow pace. He gets heavily praised when he is in the right position. So now ill add the watch me while doing the heel work and see how he goes. Ill keep giving the command for turns at the moment until Im confident that we have them down pat and I have some sort of signal to give him before we turn.

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Wuffles I am no expert but my dog does know I am going to turn by my footwork.

Try and get your lab to look up at you the whole time, I had HUGE issues with this- I am sure Ptolomy and Bedazzled were sooo tired of my endless questions and it took ages but I now have my dog heeling way better - there is still room for improvement but I am way happier.

Things we did to get him to look up during heeling :

- held a favorite toy at hip level, clicked and threw it when he looked up at me

- held food at my hip and when he looked at my face he got the food

- worked heaps on him just focussing on me when we were stationary

My latest problem is he is banging into my leg when I walk as he sometimes heels to close - he used to not be close enough :confused: so if its not one thing its the other - always a work in progress but we both love it :thumbsup:

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I have been a steward at 4 trials but now as a competitor cant for the life of me remember if you can give them the command for turns. I know you can for sit, drop, stand etc etc but with left and right are you meant to just turn and the dog follow or can you say the command?

Not sure if this waS just an error in typing as you did mention auto-sits, but just in case, you can't give a command to sit, it needs to be an auto-sit when you stop. You can ask your dog to sit when lining up for the stays, though :confused:

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Ah ok. So ill have to get the auto sits going again. So you can only give commands to drop and stay pretty much?

The rules will list what commands are permitted :) Basically as Mason2009 said though: heel, stand, down, come, stay. Or any variation of as long as it's in English and one word.

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