What Can I Try?

[Kirty]

Well Champa has been doing fairly well at training (now in Class 2 after only two months at obedience ) and Maisie (my little hero) is now in Class 3. She started agility this morning and was so good!! She absolutely loved it and did so well! I have decided not to progress any further with obdience with Maisie, and will just do agility and hopefully Flyball.

My question is about Champa. He hates obedience - he does it, but he nearly falls asleep the whole time. He has no interest in pleasing me and knows all the basics, so I don't see much point in pushing the obedience with him (although I want to get him into Class 3 first). I want to find something for him that he will enjoy to continue his training. He can't do agility because he has problems with his shoulder. I was thinking I could try flyball if the jumps were small, but I don't think it would be his "thing". He is a 4 year old (extremely stubborn and pig headed) Labrador X GSP. Any suggestions on sports or activities that I could try with him that he would enjoy??

ETA: He loves food and also loves toys. Thanks!!

Edited August 13, 2006 by Kirty

[Kavik]

Maybe tracking? This is what I am tempted to try with Diesel when he gets bored of obedience. Does Champa like food treats?

[Kirty]

Hehe I must have edited while you were typing! Yes, Champa lives for food. What is tracking and how would I join a club??

[Kavik]

Tracking is where the dog gets to use its nose! The dog follows the scent of a person and gets a reward at the end (generally food or toys). Eventually you add articles. There are a few threads on it on here too. There are some tracking clubs around - where are you? There are a few different methods. I have only sort of dabbled in it so far - stamping a square and putting food in the footsteps and the dog has to find the food. Theoretically this then pairs food and the scent for the dog.

[Staff'n'Toller]

Yep I thought tracking straight away, he's certainly got the breeding for it.

Croydon Obedience have a tracking club and maybe Berwick? I stand to be corrected on Berwick.

Also some Agility clubs are running NADAC regulated trials with games like tunnelers, I am thinking that would be good for my Stafford who loooooves agility but can't jump due to elbow probs.

Cheers,

Mel.

[Kirty]

I think I will have to get in touch with Croydon - they seem to do everything!! I think tracking sounds good - is the dog onlead when tracking??

[Kavik]

Yep - you use a long tracking lead.

[Erny]

My question is about Champa. He can't do agility because he has problems with his shoulder. I was thinking I could try flyball ...

If he has shoulder probs, I'd suggest you stay well away from Flyball. Flyball isn't simply about the jumps, it's also about the jarring which comes from the speed at which the dogs hit the 'ball return/release' contraption.

Whatever you find to do, I'd encourage you to at least look to throw in some obedience to maintain what he knows. Sounds like he needs a bucket load of motivation to make it 'fun'. Combining an alternative activity can sometimes help to promote motivation in obedience that you haven't found before.

Edited August 13, 2006 by Erny

[TigerJack]

it's also about the jarring which comes from the speed at which the dogs hit the 'ball return/release' contraption.

If you take your time and teach a proper swimmers turn there will not be jarring. Jarring occurs with dogs who 'slam' the box head on. They have not been taught a correct turn. I have a large dog (bigger than a gsp) and our boxloader reports that he has almost the least impact on the box of the dogs in our team. Smaller kelpie sized dogs toss the boxloader about more than Jack does because they slam more.

Having said that, there is repetitive jumping. If you don't think your dog will handle agility, maybe he won't handle the flyball jumps either. Depends on the type of shoulder problem. Maybe get your vets opinion before trying any of these activities.

Good luck with what you choose. If you do decide to go with flyball, make sure you find a club that will show you the correct swimmers turn and teach it slowly to proof the behaviour so the dog doesn't revert to slamming in the excitement of a competition, and don't listen to anyone who tells you that big dogs can't do swimmers turns, they can.

Jo

[Erny]

If you take your time and teach a proper swimmers turn there will not be jarring.

Thanks TJ. I don't do Flyball. I had no idea about the 'swimmers turn' (good idea). The only dogs I've seen doing Flyball have all slammed the box head on.

[bloss344]

I think I will have to get in touch with Croydon - they seem to do everything!! I think tracking sounds good - is the dog onlead when tracking??

Croydon also has a social class that does lots of different things, games, jumping, doing stuff with hoop, heeling to music, tricks with obedience thrown in as well. It's a fun class and moves pretty quickly so not much boredom.

Oh, Croydon also has Rally-O which my unmotivated Bob seems to enjoy.

[Kirty]

The trouble is that we don't know what Champa's shoulder problem is. It first showed itself when he was probably about 6-8 months old, and has has happened again randomly. It is just one shoulder that does it, and when he goes lame it can last for up to 2 weeks. It is caused by odd things - swimming is often the worst surprisingly. He can race around the oval for an hour, and not go lame, but then when he goes swimming, he often ends up lame. It has not happened for well over a year, so maybe he has grown out of it (he will be 4 this year)? We had X-rays done the second time he went lame, and the vets could find nothing wrong. They had no idea what it was either.

I will contact Croydon and I guess I'll just play it by ear, try a few things, see what he likes and if they make him lame.

[KismetKat]

If racing around doesn't hurt him, how about lure coursing???

[Erny]

The trouble is that we don't know what Champa's shoulder problem is.

I'm no Vet, but from what you say it sounds to me like it could be ligament inflamation/soreness. WHY it would be doing this is not something I can answer. Perhaps a good canine physio/chiro type person could?

[Kirty]

KismetKat, do you know where I could find out more about lure coursing?? Thanks.

Erny, I will ask the vet next time I take him in and see if they can recommend a physio.

[PossumCorner]

KismetKat, do you know where I could find out more about lure coursing?? Thanks.

Erny, I will ask the vet next time I take him in and see if they can recommend a physio.

It's difficult isn't it. Our vets are quite against flyball and lure coursing both, they say they see a lot of dogs with bone/joint damage from box-slamming in flyball: and with tendon/ligament/joint damage from the lure coursing fast turns not to mention falls. Our dogs do both for now, but I guess it's something you have to accept for some dogs it could turn a small problem into a nasty one.

All the buzz on lure coursing is on the Rhodesian Ridgeback Club's website: http://members.optusnet.com.au/ashtar1/

It lists the upcoming events, and there is a link there to ask them to put your email address onto their circular-advice when open days are being held.

Come to Croydon - we have coffee and sausage sizzles!!

[Erny]

KismetKat, do you know where I could find out more about lure coursing?? Thanks.

Erny, I will ask the vet next time I take him in and see if they can recommend a physio.

Hi Kirty .... where are you based? Can't remember if you've mentioned already in this thread. If you're in the SE suburbs in Victoria (or thereabouts), you could try Michelle - Dogs in Motion, for the physio treatment if you seek to go down that path. And if you contact (google) the Rhodesian Ridgeback Club they run lure coursing days fairly regularly. Lure coursing can put stresses and strains on the dogs' muscles/ligaments too, though, because the lure changes direction pretty quickly. But you could ask them to slow the lure down especially around the corners to regulate your dog's speed - provided that doesn't make catching the lure too easy for him.

Tracking would be more gentle on him, IMO.

[Erny]

Just an extra thought/info.

IF it is muscle damage, which takes (rule of thumb) 6 weeks to heal, or IF it is ligament damage, which takes (rule of thumb) 8 weeks to heal, you should hold up any exercise which could/might put stresses on it.

What we tend to do is wait until the dog no longer shows outward signs of limping/soreness etc. and then start going back to normal exercise. Quite often the damage is not completely healed and thus is susceptible to more damage. So the key is to rest the dog sufficiently enough that all damage is likely to have healed, even if this period of time excedes the time the dog SHOWS evidence of being sore.

[Kirty]

Thanks for that info Erny and PossumCorner. Champa has not shown ANY lameness or stiffness or anything for well over a year (probably closer to 2 years now). At the time when he started to become lame fairly often (every few months), we basically cut back his exercise to backyard only. But since then we have slowly built up to back to normal, and he has been fine. He has about half an hour of free running every day and even leaps off the quite high playground equipment much to my horror (oops, I mean, what playground equipment? My dogs don't go near playgrounds...) and has still shown no signs of lameness. I think he might have grown out of it. My agility instructor is happy to let me give Champa a try at agility and just see how he goes (once he reaches Class 3 which could be a looooong way away!!).

Thanks again!! Here's my silly boy: