Clubs In Northern Melbourne That Do Flyball And Tracking?

[Kavik]

I'm now too petrified to try a working spot at a seminar, did one for the fist time on Wed (all others I have gone to have been auditing spots) and it was a total disaster . Don't know if I could face that again!

Nooooo!!! I love both. It's all learning. What happened?

My dog has a short attention span and gets easily distracted, and also doesn't deal well with repetition or failures all that well in a situation like a seminar. I tried to explain this to the instructors and was basically told he is driving the bus, I need to do more foundation (have I done much apart from foundation for the last 3 years? Seems that's all I do half the time!) and they then pushed too hard and asked for too much repetition and too many chances for him to check out, and he ran and took off with someone's toy and I couldn't catch him .

It was SO embarrassing! I left early.

Basically, I don't have a Border Collie that will try all day long to get it right if they don't get it right the first time.

[The Spotted Devil]

I'm now too petrified to try a working spot at a seminar, did one for the fist time on Wed (all others I have gone to have been auditing spots) and it was a total disaster . Don't know if I could face that again!

Nooooo!!! I love both. It's all learning. What happened?

My dog has a short attention span and gets easily distracted, and also doesn't deal well with repetition or failures all that well in a situation like a seminar. I tried to explain this to the instructors and was basically told he is driving the bus, I need to do more foundation (have I done much apart from foundation for the last 3 years? Seems that's all I do half the time!) and they then pushed too hard and asked for too much repetition and too many chances for him to check out, and he ran and took off with someone's toy and I couldn't catch him .

It was SO embarrassing! I left early.

Basically, I don't have a Border Collie that will try all day long to get it right if they don't get it right the first time.

I think that says more about the instructors than it does you and your dog...speaking from non-BC handler experience!

[JulesP]

I guess I was hoping there is some kind of small casual watered down version of it? Where people are in it for fun and learning, testing their own skills without getting overly competitive.

I am hearing many kind things on rallyo and thistle and I have had 2 informal goes at it. But I don't think at any point the dog gets to work away from you?

Probably more chaos with a casual club! They do look like they are having lots of fun. Too much fun perhaps!

The furthest away a dog is going to work in rally is at the highest level were there are some distance stations.

I would look at tracking but as others have said the clubs don't tend to offer classes in it.

There is dock diving too. Does she like water?

[Two Best Dogs!]

She loves water, but I think the strangeness of the situation and the people watching will likely put her off like it did with weight pulling. I think it is because the dog is very much alone without many other dogs to emotionally buffer her from the strange ppl about.

Kavik that is horrible

[Kavik]

I'm now too petrified to try a working spot at a seminar, did one for the fist time on Wed (all others I have gone to have been auditing spots) and it was a total disaster . Don't know if I could face that again!

Nooooo!!! I love both. It's all learning. What happened?

My dog has a short attention span and gets easily distracted, and also doesn't deal well with repetition or failures all that well in a situation like a seminar. I tried to explain this to the instructors and was basically told he is driving the bus, I need to do more foundation (have I done much apart from foundation for the last 3 years? Seems that's all I do half the time!) and they then pushed too hard and asked for too much repetition and too many chances for him to check out, and he ran and took off with someone's toy and I couldn't catch him .

It was SO embarrassing! I left early.

Basically, I don't have a Border Collie that will try all day long to get it right if they don't get it right the first time.

I think that says more about the instructors than it does you and your dog...speaking from non-BC handler experience!

I think my dog may just not be a good dog to take to a seminar for a working spot

New/different things and testing knowledge of cues in a busy, new environment when I am likely to be quite stressed as well due to instructors being well known, but not knowing the instructors well personally, trying new things, and other people watching. Sounds like a recipe for some failures for sure :laugh:

Edited October 7, 2016 by Kavik

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

What about dances with dogs and "pool noodle work".

Ie to get your dog working away from you, you can teach your dog to wrap around a pool noodle on a toilet roll holder (or a metal rod stuck in the ground - tho something that tips over is better - they have to learn to wrap without tipping it.

And then you can start sending your dog to wrap the whatsit.

I use sulo bins and the clothesline (with a milk crate stuck next to the handle so she goes around the handle instead of crashing into it. At the park I can sometimes use football goal posts if not too many dogs have peed on them. And the jetty posts (also like sniffing more than go around).

this is an example using a traffic cone instead of a pool noodle (PNU) - note the reward is placed to encourage more wrapping of the cone... when you start you reward lots and be careful to reward near the cone/noodle so you encourage the wrap... and then you can gradually build distance from you to the cone... and then you can use two cones (or sulo bins)...

[The Spotted Devil]

I'm now too petrified to try a working spot at a seminar, did one for the fist time on Wed (all others I have gone to have been auditing spots) and it was a total disaster . Don't know if I could face that again!

Nooooo!!! I love both. It's all learning. What happened?

My dog has a short attention span and gets easily distracted, and also doesn't deal well with repetition or failures all that well in a situation like a seminar. I tried to explain this to the instructors and was basically told he is driving the bus, I need to do more foundation (have I done much apart from foundation for the last 3 years? Seems that's all I do half the time!) and they then pushed too hard and asked for too much repetition and too many chances for him to check out, and he ran and took off with someone's toy and I couldn't catch him .

It was SO embarrassing! I left early.

Basically, I don't have a Border Collie that will try all day long to get it right if they don't get it right the first time.

I think that says more about the instructors than it does you and your dog...speaking from non-BC handler experience!

I think my dog may just not be a good dog to take to a seminar for a working spot

New/different things and testing knowledge of cues in a busy, new environment when I am likely to be quite stressed as well due to instructors being well known, but not knowing the instructors well personally, trying new things, and other people watching. Sounds like a recipe for some failures for sure :laugh:

Nothing wrong with failure. But that's seriously a fault of the instructors if they can't work within your capability. Ginny is MILES behind in classes due to my injuries but instructors had me modify everything for success. I was still stressed but she had s BALL.

[Kavik]

I'm now too petrified to try a working spot at a seminar, did one for the fist time on Wed (all others I have gone to have been auditing spots) and it was a total disaster . Don't know if I could face that again!

Nooooo!!! I love both. It's all learning. What happened?

My dog has a short attention span and gets easily distracted, and also doesn't deal well with repetition or failures all that well in a situation like a seminar. I tried to explain this to the instructors and was basically told he is driving the bus, I need to do more foundation (have I done much apart from foundation for the last 3 years? Seems that's all I do half the time!) and they then pushed too hard and asked for too much repetition and too many chances for him to check out, and he ran and took off with someone's toy and I couldn't catch him .

It was SO embarrassing! I left early.

Basically, I don't have a Border Collie that will try all day long to get it right if they don't get it right the first time.

I think that says more about the instructors than it does you and your dog...speaking from non-BC handler experience!

I think my dog may just not be a good dog to take to a seminar for a working spot

New/different things and testing knowledge of cues in a busy, new environment when I am likely to be quite stressed as well due to instructors being well known, but not knowing the instructors well personally, trying new things, and other people watching. Sounds like a recipe for some failures for sure :laugh:

Nothing wrong with failure. But that's seriously a fault of the instructors if they can't work within your capability. Ginny is MILES behind in classes due to my injuries but instructors had me modify everything for success. I was still stressed but she had s BALL.

I didn't really fit in anywhere which didn't help. While I enjoy foundation handling training, I do lots of that at home and we are proficient at this, if I am paying for a handling spot I wanted to try my hand at sequencing rather than sits, drops and multiwraps. But the advanced section wasn't right for us either. Not only was it fiddly and far too difficult for my dog (who is maybe nearly almost ready to enter Novice - if it wasn't for a few non agility specific issues we would enter, his handling is OK), but it was far more complex than anything I had ever tried with my Masters level dog - I had never attempted or even seen anything like it in Australia (think non linear type course like the recent FCI ones). So I was stressed before we even started.

[Natsu chan]

Another suggestion what about dances with dogs? It's fun the dogs can work in close and away from you. It involves lots of tricks and the dogs seem to enjoy it. Mine would love to do it but the handler here is in no way co ordinated and almost lands on her backside out tracking or doing the figure of 8 in obedience (and we won't mention the 3 steps back in rally will we....) so no dancing for us!

Do think about the tracking and try the club. If you can find the time think about coming and looking at the track and search trial just to see what you think. There is bound to be something out there you can do that you will both enjoy you just have to find it. :) Don't lose heart!

[silentchild]

Distance work..... what about NADAC?? It is sort of like agility but with different classes, ie. you can do just tunnels, or just hoops, or just jumps, etc etc. The courses are generally fenced in so less chances of a runaway dog, and a lot of the courses involve distance handling. There's even one where the handler has to stand in a designated spot whilst distance handling the dog around the entire course!!!

Edited October 7, 2016 by silentchild

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

but the handler here is in no way co ordinated and almost lands on her backside

I can't count to save myself which doesn't help the DWD but I love the training and learning new tricks and teaching them all that stuff. So we do quite a few of the moves without the music. I can't do three pirouettes without wiping out but my dog has no trouble with three spins - tho I usually ask for a drop straight after to save her dignity.

[J...]

???? finding something that is a good fit for both of us (and possible future dogs) and not incredibly far away is proving difficult!

I know at our club there is a "gap" where people want to continue to socialise with other like-minded people, have some fun with their dogs doing different activities but not get right into the competition side of it.

We have had some suggestions of a self-driven group, doing some basic nose work, tracking, maybe a trip to the cross country course or even a walk down the boardwalk to the pet friendly cafe as a group. It continues to go round and around - maybe one day someone will grab it and make it happen Maybe seek out some like-minded people and find someone who does private lessons in your areas of interest?

[J...]

I think my dog may just not be a good dog to take to a seminar for a working spot

New/different things and testing knowledge of cues in a busy, new environment when I am likely to be quite stressed as well due to instructors being well known, but not knowing the instructors well personally, trying new things, and other people watching. Sounds like a recipe for some failures for sure :laugh:

Don't write yourself or your dog off for seminars :)

First seminar I did with a big name guru I felt the same way. I knew Darcy was only a heartbeat off shutting down on me, I was overwhelmed and freaked out and certainly wasn't getting any help/support from them.

Having done probably a dozen or so now - I found it was just a matter of finding the right people and sticking with them :)

These days we have so many people out there available for seminars that we can pick and choose. My advice - stalk them before committing I watch videos of their seminars, I ask heaps of questions and I find out what their background is, who's been their influence in their training and and research them too. For example - I've watched several seminar videos taken at a US gurus seminar - and while there was music over the video to block out the feedback, their body language was really off. I did a bit of background digging and what I seen in body language was also reflected in the attitude. I've watched a few videos from the last series of seminars from the one you went to and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't suit me for multiple reasons, yet several of my friends rave about them. Of course I would learn something, but I don't have endless $$ or annual leave to do every seminar out there.

If a working spot feels all too scary - find someone in Aus who does seminars but also offers online private lessons or online classes. Get to know them through their online private lessons, or their online group lessons and then step up to a working spot when they are next in the area if you feel you want to - once you know them, it's no longer quite so intimidating :) There is plenty doing it now, Epic Agility, Red Dog Agility, My Agility Coach etc.

Megan at Epic is one of my all time favourites and Megan does seminars in Sydney, I'm also hosting her in December :) Dave Munnings is also great - both have a knack of being able to cater for everyone, they are both really encouraging and a lot of fun.

[Kavik]

I think my dog may just not be a good dog to take to a seminar for a working spot

New/different things and testing knowledge of cues in a busy, new environment when I am likely to be quite stressed as well due to instructors being well known, but not knowing the instructors well personally, trying new things, and other people watching. Sounds like a recipe for some failures for sure :laugh:

Don't write yourself or your dog off for seminars :)

First seminar I did with a big name guru I felt the same way. I knew Darcy was only a heartbeat off shutting down on me, I was overwhelmed and freaked out and certainly wasn't getting any help/support from them.

Having done probably a dozen or so now - I found it was just a matter of finding the right people and sticking with them :)

These days we have so many people out there available for seminars that we can pick and choose. My advice - stalk them before committing I watch videos of their seminars, I ask heaps of questions and I find out what their background is, who's been their influence in their training and and research them too. For example - I've watched several seminar videos taken at a US gurus seminar - and while there was music over the video to block out the feedback, their body language was really off. I did a bit of background digging and what I seen in body language was also reflected in the attitude. I've watched a few videos from the last series of seminars from the one you went to and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't suit me for multiple reasons, yet several of my friends rave about them. Of course I would learn something, but I don't have endless $$ or annual leave to do every seminar out there.

If a working spot feels all too scary - find someone in Aus who does seminars but also offers online private lessons or online classes. Get to know them through their online private lessons, or their online group lessons and then step up to a working spot when they are next in the area if you feel you want to - once you know them, it's no longer quite so intimidating :) There is plenty doing it now, Epic Agility, Red Dog Agility, My Agility Coach etc.

Megan at Epic is one of my all time favourites and Megan does seminars in Sydney, I'm also hosting her in December :) Dave Munnings is also great - both have a knack of being able to cater for everyone, they are both really encouraging and a lot of fun.

Thanks, those are really good ideas!

Stalking them and getting to know them through online classes sounds like a great first step to getting to know them before trying a working spot! Much better than going in cold without knowing them at all like I did this time :laugh:

I had an auditing spot in the Shape Up seminar last time they were here, and that was amazing! They were fantastic! I definitely plan on going to the next one, though I don't know if I will try a working spot yet, there will be a lot of competition for them for one thing, I may only be able to audit :laugh:

[The Spotted Devil]

Well said Jess!!!

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

Don't write yourself or your dog off for seminars

My dog has a special gift for ruining handling spots at seminars. She either knows way too much and I get bored. Or she spends the previous three days eating herself stupid because we're staying with someone who free feeds and won't stop while we're there, and then she can barely move when we get to class.

Last club training - we hadn't had a decent walk in a day or so (crap weather - I'm a wuss), so when I get her out for our turn (and we were late because I helped set up - argh), she decides to go sniffing the first time we get to a turn not a tunnel - does a sniff lap of the entire venue without me. rotten dog.

The rest of our runs were fine. sigh.

I still learn heaps from the online courses - but they don't have to solve the same problems I do - like my dog does not fetch and tug. Well very occasionally but mostly - she prefers to nick off with the tug and rip it to pieces. So we don't use that for rewards. And that can slow things down a bit.

[LisaCC]

1475823515[/url]' post='6848855']

Distance work..... what about NADAC?? It is sort of like agility but with different classes, ie. you can do just tunnels, or just hoops, or just jumps, etc etc. The courses are generally fenced in so less chances of a runaway dog, and a lot of the courses involve distance handling. There's even one where the handler has to stand in a designated spot whilst distance handling the dog around the entire course!!!

That sounds really fun!

[Two Best Dogs!]

FYI I signed up to go to....i think it was a nosework theory seminar to scope out the scentdogs australia ?club?school? and see if I click with the people.

I like that they're contributing to disease scenting studies at the university.

Anyway, they seem quite welcoming to timid dogs. So if I like the theory, I'll keep an eye on their practical sessions. Think I've mentioned before I'd like to get thistle into sniffing type things, but wanted to wait for head trainer....but am getting impatient and think when we do get to his class, be too challenged to focus on it then in class with everything else on. so have it at a different time.

and if i enjoy scent works people, it'd be fun to compare to what my spaniel owning friends do it (the subtle handling differences etc)

Re: the loudness of flyball, i guess i was hoping the introductory classes would have them all spaced further apart to build up success but sounds like they're just flung right into it? Bummer on that.

Don't let me stop all the interesting conversations going on in this thread though! It has been great to read and lots of potential ideas. I'm stalking NADAC and Treibball things on facebook.

[Papillon Kisses]

Yay! I'm so excited for you and Thistle.

[JulesP]

Here is the dock jumping FB page - Ultimate Air Dogs Australia - UADA - https://www.facebook.com/Ultimate-Air-Dogs-Australia-UADA-199213823582874/about/?entry_point=page_nav_about_item

There are videos and a fair amount of photos so you can get an idea.

Edited October 9, 2016 by JulesP