Performance Border Collies?

[The Spotted Devil]

Thank you!! Yes, I recently started a topic looking for some near-by agility classes :)

So I see! I don't know clubs in the Northern suburbs of Melbourne but hopefully someone else will :) Have you had a look at Dogs Vic website? If you want to come to a trial let us know in the agility thread or via PM. I would be happy to catch up with you between running dogs - you can also see what stewarding is all about, which is a great way to learn. Do you know the Vic Agility website?

Edited May 24, 2013 by The Spotted Devil

[The Spotted Devil]

I just had a look at your video... super work If your Mum has the opportunity to bring you a bit further east one day I would be more than happy to catch up. You could have a play with my Dally too if you like... he's on my YouTube channel in my signature. Lots of bad handling from me to laugh at too!

Edited May 24, 2013 by The Spotted Devil

[kelpiecuddles]

I'm pretty sure there is dog training in Bundoora, at one stage I think they were meeting at Latrobe Uni. I'm not sure if they do agility there but maybe do a bit of googling

[Vickie]

anyway, hopefully I can fix the now "not so little" problem I've created. so tomorrow I'm going to give agility another go, but I'm going to reward much shorter sequences and keep everything positive

Well done :)You will be surprised at how quickly things will improve. Can't wait to see more updates :)

Edited May 24, 2013 by Vickie

[kelpiechick]

I'm pretty sure there is dog training in Bundoora, at one stage I think they were meeting at Latrobe Uni. I'm not sure if they do agility there but maybe do a bit of googling

That would be Warringal Obedience Club. They no longer have use of the uni ground and have relocated to Montmorency Primary school I believe (near Greensborough), if that's any help. I think they still do agility training.

Not sure where the OP is located but clubs in the 'north' would be :

*Bulla Agility Dogs (BAD) at Bulla near the airport - we started our only Foundation class offered for the year last Monday and won't be offering another one until at least next year due to lack of instructors. We don't have a waiting list any more but offer 'watch this space' instead on our website where we annouce when our next 'try out' evening will be. Training Monday evenings. If you want to come down any Monday evening and have a look you are welcome to do so, just send me a PM and I will organise it. Even though we won't be offering any new intake for a while, there are plenty of exercises you can do at home in the meantime and most of them don't involve equipment - in fact we use very little equipment in our foundation class and work on getting a good reinforcement schedule in place, with lots of games and some rear end awareness thrown in as well.

*Mitchell Agility Dogs (MAD) at Wandong, just north of Melbourne. Don't know what they offer in regard to training but I believe they do run some sort of foundation class and I don't think there is any waiting list. Training Sunday mornings (I think).

These would be the only agility specific clubs in the north but you also have some obedience clubs that offer agility. Already mentioned Warringal, I think Sunbury might as well, but not sure. If you are more toward the north west you also have Altona Obedience (a few of our members from BAD train there as well and they appear to be up to date with methods and use rubberised equipment - you won't find them listed on the Dogs Vic. site as they are not affiliated with Dogs Vic any more, I can give you a contact number for their training co-ordinator if you want, they also train Sunday mornings.

There is also Agility Dog Club of Vic in the west, train Friday evenings at Altona North, but I believe the waiting list for classes is still very big.

Hope this helps, if I think of any that I have left out I will post them. Have fun with your Cocker, you are doing a great job. Just play together a lot and keep it fun. I would recommend doing some trick training while you are waiting for classes - this will help you learn to reward more and also strengthen the working relationship between you and your dog. And remember to keep your training sessions really short - absolutely 5 mins. maximum.

Edited May 25, 2013 by kelpiechick

[emilymarston]

So some of you would like to see our agility updates so here goes:

we've been training a bit more with more treats, as I said last time. I've noticed a big difference since the last time I filmed! I've been using more rewards and doing shorted sequences, which has helped a lot. I've been moving around a bit more and so has Bonnie, who was actually running this time! She's been looking happier to start training and just overall looks more eager to participate. I've been doing much shorter sequences, and realized she goes faster for them. Apart from the last clip, I thought the rest were pretty good. I also noticed that Bonnie is very bouncy when running, haha she looks really silly but at least she's having fun now. Thanks for all your feedback!! Here's a video if anyone wants to watch :)

[Starkehre]

Fantastic Emily, well done. You took on board what was suggested and you and bonnie have come a long way. Bonnie is working well for you and you are handling her really well.

[Sayreovi]

Great work! She is looking so much happier, enthusiastic and faster now! I love her bouncing run :D

Well done :D

[Tassie]

You and Bonnie are looking really good there - enjoying your "work" - that's what it's really all about :D .

[OSoSwift]

Looking really good. Well done

[BlackJaq]

That's great! Love how enthusiastic she is!

[Agility Dogs]

Definitely agree with this too. A dog is only a performance dog for a small percentage of its life, the rest of the time it is your pet. Our dogs are incredibly easy to live with but that has to be taught to them. I have no doubt that if they were in a pet home they would drive their owners absolutely bonkers. These are the type of dogs that typically end up in the pound as they are not stimulated enough.

This is a GREAT point. The extension of this is if your high drive dog gets injured and retired early you are going to have a high drive dog with less of an outlet than it has had in the past. I'm living this hell at the moment - just lucky for me she is a slightly older dog, but was still very much in her prime at 5 when the injury occurred. (We still herd sheep, but its not the same as being able to work her daily.

Having run both working lines (in Australia and America) and show lines dogs (my own guys who I just ADORE) I'd say that for 95% of people a slightly calmer dog or less driven is going to let you achieve everything you are ever going to want to. The calmer dogs will allow you more room for error in your handling, but will be all but as quick as the fastest working dogs.

Back to the car analogy - the faster a car goes the more likely you are to have something go wrong! When something goes wrong the faster you are going the harder it is to correct before it gets really ugly.

I guess my advice would be (and I know it doesn't answer your initial question like plenty of others have) - have a look at all the dogs you see running and look for people you think you could match and think about which dogs run best for them, then start to look for the breeder you click with the best.

Hope that helps.

BTW - congrats on doing such a FANTASTIC job with your cocker.

[emilymarston]

BTW - congrats on doing such a FANTASTIC job with your cocker.

Thank you!!!!! For the moment, I'm siding with borders from show lines thanks to some nice feedback up there :)

[Mystiqview]

Add to the list Hotnote. They are based in Western Australia and have produced some outstanding Agility dogs as well. Leanne does not breed as many litters as some other breeders, but has produced some Agility Champions just the same:

Hotnote Just Jorja CCD CD ADM7 JDM9 ADO8 JDO8 SDM GDM SPDM HT (Agility CH 400)

Hotnote As Good As It Gets ADM JDM ADO JDO SPDM SDM GDM ET HSAs

Hotnote Redi N Daring AD JDX GD SPD AND BAD FOR ADAA

Hotnote Electri Cute ADM, JDM, ADO, JDO, SPDM, SDX, GDX, HSAs

Regardless of where you get your dog from. Some dogs who have done well in sports have come from parents without titles. The person sourcing the dogs has a good idea of what to look for in the next performance animal.

A good breeder would be able to help you there, and especially someone who is competing in the field you are looking at. Again regardless, ensure the breeder does all the relevant health testing and be sure to research the lines for anything that maybe lurking in the background that may not have a test available or a particular line is prone to. This includes any hip, elbow, cruciate and other structural issues.

The performance dog needs to be better conformed as just as well conformed as any show dog. A badly conformed performance dog is more prone to injury which can be expensive and not get you as far into the sport.

Within every litter, you will get the extravert puppy, the mid rank puppy and the introvert puppy. This will happen in all litters regardless of what they are being bred for.

Your first dog or two are your "mistakes" dog. This is where you learn to hone your skills, learn the sport and technique. After this, it gets easier as you know more and do not make the same mistakes (hopefully) as you were learning