JulesP

The 2 rings of the chain have to stay together during the test. So no corrections and no pulling by accident either.

Thought I would let people know that Mt Evelyn IGA is now selling the BARF Frosty Paws range.

I think that the dogs 'natural' drive is the strongest. Both my borders have a strong pack drive. I am happy to have that. :rolleyes: They think I am the most marvelous thing in the world, that is not bad! You can use fetch to create drive, you don't just throw the ball though. You do some 'teasing' with the ball until the dog really, really wants it and then throw it. Know your own dog and what it needs/wants! Not surprised that a dog of Barkley's breed would prefer to retrieve.

Well bugger me - I am using a system and I didn't even know it :rofl:

I have the sheepy tail which is very good. Also have one of the training tuggers, Brock still wasn't interested but Poppy loveess it. It is a bit of a pain to clean though. I am sulking because I like their fold up tunnel but they don't post them OS.

I tend to put commands on pretty much straight away but my dogs speak English

"special case" pretty much sums Brock up :D

I have kicked up a bit about doing 2o2o with Brock. I reckon it actually slows him down even more. When I was being a rebel and not doing them he was picking a little bit of speed up. In over a year of training he is yet to jump off anything without touching the colour!

An interesting thing I picked up in the GD seminar was that they believe the 2o2o with nose touch is good for safety. It puts the dog's weight back if they do it properly, so lightening the impact on the dog's shoulders. We don't have much choice at my club as everyone is SG, GD crazy . I find it hilarious with Brock as he is soooo slow, I am usually waiting at the end of the dog walk or A frame for him! Brock I taught to target to a clear disk and then used the flat board to get the 2o2o. Poppy I have been doing on stairs and I prefer this as she offers the crouch back really nicely. On the flat she tends to drop and pounce on the target with paws and nose. She 'touched' her feed bowl the other night which I thought was rather cute!!

I've borrowed the One Jump DVD from my club and don't want to give it back! Better get my own copy.

My dogs like eye contact too, but that could be a breed thing! None of my borders have had issues with staring!

I guess that is relevant if your dog doesn't have a top stay Ness. This dog does. I was also close enough that I could reinforce it. Sometimes I wonder why I bother to write on these threads.

I've left Brock in a drop stay in the middle of the arena, gone off inside to put equipment back and come out to dogs running in circles around him! So he has a pretty good stay. He has also had equipment nearly dropped on him because he has been in a stay in the way! Poppy does not like dogs in her face and I can see her lunging at a dog if it came to sniff her. Will have to do some work on that.

You need to borrow my cat for real challenges!! The tail twirling around puppy dog's nose is a good distraction. The cat going and eating the puppy's jackpot treats was a major challenge The look on Poppy's face was priceless!

As I have been reading your posts I have to admit that I have felt a bit grumpy as I have been reading them as an instructor. Today I walked out of class and did a lot of things differently from what we were told to do!!! Sooooo I think that you need to do what you think is right for your dog but prepare to not be very popular, lol!! I don't really care if people think I am a pain in the arse - my dog comes first. This is an important lesson for newbies to learn! I am just a bit more polite about it now!

Yeah! Congrats. How did your weaving go?

[quote name='Vickie' date='19th Feb 2009 - 05:52 PM' post='3439589' True, and I think in many cases this is exactly what is probably happening...but it does not explain the difference between a straight out stationary release to a toy vs the running release with no equipment in sight. Not sure what you mean here Vickie?? Talking about agility - my new fav thing!

I reckon you scared them Ptolomy!! The more I rate the person doing the calling the worse my handling is!! I can also be going ok and then freak out if a 'gun handler' comes into the ring to be a tree! Yes I have problems. So helping them to relax would be very important. Important tip - tell them to breath! When I stewarded for CCD I think a couple didn't breath at all during the heeling section.

If you have been teaching the dog to go to the item - ie sending to food or toy over a jump then the dog may be confused as to whether it is supposed to get into position (assuming a nose touch) or whether it should go to the item. I can see the dog coming over a walk and thinking 'crap which one does she want me to do here'. Would cause a conflict.

I am supposed to take my class out walking but didn't do that this time as you just end up with a big row of puppies pulling! Don't be scared! speak to the instructor.

What you are doing before class is more than I would train daily. I would not be expecting your pup to do that and then a class. If the instructor is talking too long I would be releasing the dog and then asking it to re-stand etc. I will do this in class with my own dogs. Lots of clubs have rules about what gear you can use on your dog. Some make you use a correction collar! you need to ask the instructor if you can chat about the halti after class. Explain why you are worried about it. I personally would not be going to any club that made me use gear I wasn't happy with. Are martingales actually 'allowed' at your club? All the people in my class have to use a flat collar, end of story. Next class they can have a choice of other collars.

Just what I have been told at club Ness.

You are saying that 1 hour is too long yet you trained the pup for 30 mins before class. I don't get that. It is not a 'nightmare'. It sounds like a typical group obedience class to me. It sounds slightly too advanced for your pup that is all. I don't teach my class walking on a circle for the reasons that you have outlined. They either walk one by one or they find their own space. You don't want your pup to be sitting from a stand. You need to release very quickly from the stand at this stage and slowly build duration up. If you have asked for a sit and the pup lays down then that is not good. If you want the pup to have a rest release him from the sit. Then take some time out. It is hard to give one-on-one time in a group class because the other people then get grumpy. I have had students complain about other students taking too much of my time! If you want one-on-one then you need to pay someone for that. Maybe the instructor wanted to teach you about the halti. They can't do that if you don't have it with you.

I think that you do get pinged if you ask for one sort of finish and the dog offers the other one. Perhaps that was the problem Ness?

I find that the usual reason that the changing of direction doesn't work is that the handler just does it too slow. You need to turn quickly and move off smartly so the dog is going 'what the hell, were is mum going'. And you need to keep turning the instance the dog is at the end of lead. You may get dizzy! The other issue I see is people not rewarding enough when the dog is in the heel position. Your dog may prefer verbal praise to toys or treats. But you have to make that heel position the best place in the universe to be.