Keshwar

Not sure if it's brave or foolish. I made a decision when we started trialling that it had to be fun for both of us. So far he seems to still be enjoying it and I've only had a couple of really bad stress attacks. When the stress attacks happen I remind myself that it is FUN! Thanks for the comment on his coat. I've got much better at grooming him over the last year. Having all the right gear helps. Bear.

For your entertainment I've put the video of Faxon and I doing CCD at the ACT State Titles up on youtube. The Individual exercises: The Stays: We got 14/30 for our heeling and blew our sit stay so NQed. Bear.

This is just a thought based on this comment. When you stop for the stand are you stopping as soon as the judge says "Stand"? Or are you stopping as soon as you give the cue/signal? Remember in a trial situation you can take a couple of steps before you stop. So when you give the "Stand" cue you can still take a step or two giving your dog a chance to actually stop. I'm suggesting this because I used to have a similar problem. Because I was stressed in the ring as soon as the judge said "Stand" I'd stop dead in my tracks and Faxon would carry on a few steps before doing the stand. I've learned to slow down, give the cue then taking 2 -3 steps before stopping after the judge says "Stand". This gets Faxon nicely positioned when he is behaving. Bear.

I have been doing CCD for the last 12 or so months with my Afghan hound Faxon - you read that right obedience trialling with my Afghan Hound. Now as you can probably imagine all has not been plain sailing when we are in the ring. I'll start with one of the more positive stories. We were at a trial in Burra in the poring down rain - there was a small stream running across the ring. Now as I'm sure most of you are aware there has been a bit of a drought happening so chances to practice in the rain have been far and few between. I have to say our heeling wasn't too bad if you consider Faxon was no way going to drop onto that wet grass. Until you have had the look from an Afghan hound saying "you have to be kidding!" you don't know what being put in your place is. :D Anyway we soldiered on and got to the stays. Out we all went lining up for the sit stay. We had a loverly Corgi next to us. Now Faxon had been trying to play with this Corgi all day with no luck, so I wasn't all that confident he would stay. Anyway off we went, I left him in a sit walked out did my about turn and there is this Corgi standing right in front of Faxon. He didn't move a muscle. The Corgi did a perfect 1 min stand stay standing right under Faxon's nose and Faxon didn't move a muscle. ;) Now to a slightly more embarrassing story. Trial at the end of last year on a Friday evening. I raced home from work picked up Faxon and went to trial. I have to say I wasn't feeling at all confident but I wasn't prepared at all for what was about to happen. The scene was set when the competitor before me said "you can't do any worse than that!" Well Faxon took that as a challenge. It all started to go wrong from the heeling. Some time since our last training session Faxon seemed to have forgotten what an automatic sit was. The perfect drop position was suddenly at right angles to me across my feet. Fast pace heeling suddenly included dropping your face to the ground and rubbing it along the ground at fast pace. This performance got a lot of laughs from the Judge and from me but no points. Back to the start peg we went. Judge asks "Are you ready?" My response "Why not?" 10 out of 10 for stand for exam! On to the recall. Heels nicely out from start peg. Stays nicely while I walk out and about turn - by now I'm a nervous wreck cos I've no idea what he is going to do - I call, And off he goes heading for the next ring! I got his attention before he got there so he does this big loop comes to my feet and drops beautifully at my feet looking up at me grinning! We didn't stay for the stays. A more recent incident. We are on a pass all is going well until we got to the stays. Sit stay we had to have a big scratch and then a bit of a lay down. Down stay, It seems it was a bit hot to be doing a down stay out in the sun so 45 secs in up he hops and goes and puts himself in a down in the shade. Looked very satisfied with himself too! Well no-one ever said it was going to be easy. Bear.

Hi Palane, Isn't it a small world? I answered this same question over on OzAfghans. This was my reply over there. The only thing I would add to this is as other people have said add a cue to her doing the right thing. if you take her to the same spot consistently you can even train her to go in that same spot. Cheers Bear.

Do you need him to be right beside you? Remember you are trying to exercise your dogs and you not train them to heel. I allow my guys free range to the length of their leads. They can be at the end of the lead but not pulling and I am happy. I usually hold the leads in one finger so I know when they start to pull. :rolleyes: For me there is a difference between pulling at the end of the lead and being at the end of the lead. I try to make walking fun for all involved. Bear.

I see two issues here. You need to train Chooper to walk on the lead and you need to exercise yourself and your dogs. Currently you are trying to do both at the same time and getting frustrated cos you're not achieving either goal. What I would do is separate the two requirements. Spend 5-10 minutes with Chopper practicing loose leash walking. Then take both dogs for a exercise walk. The method I use to get loose leash walking is to become a tree when the dog pulls. When the dog pulls you stand still, don't say anything don't do anything until the dog looks at you and loosens the lead. At this point there is lots of praise and we move forward again, become a tree again etc, etc. Doing this initially won't get you far but if you are persistent he will get the idea very quickly that nothing happens when he is pulling on the lead. The really hard part of using this method is the staying still and quiet part. You will want to encourage him to come back to you. DON'T! He has to learn to come back to you himself and it is only when he does that he gets praise and to move forward. When he is walking on a loose lead lots of praise and rewards. As far as the exercise goes either walk the dogs separately or for now put up with Chopper pulling until he gets used to the loose lead walking. While doing this make sure you don't reward his pulling. When I walk my two boys I ignore Buzz if he is pulling and will praise Faxon when he is walking nicely - which fortunately he does most of the time. This will take a lot of patience on your part but if you persist you will get there. Bear.

I agree and disagree Dogdude. I have two commands that I use regularly when walking Faxon. I use "walk" to mean walk with me and to the end of the lead without pulling. I use "heel" when I want him. in the heel position. I use this on a walk when I see people or other dogs approaching and want greater control than I have when we are simply "walking". So I don't use heel as simply a trialling command but I do have two commands for similar things. I do have an issue with people using heel when they don't actually want their dog in the heel position - ie glued to left leg. I believe this leads to a sloppy heeling and the dog not understanding what heel is. Having said all that I get the feeling that most "pet" owners don't understand what heeling is or really need to know. Most simply want a dog that walks nicely on a lead and doesn't yank their arm out. The problem in the Obedience club situation is that most people don't know if they want to go on to trialling or not until they get to the more experienced classes. I'm not sure how to solve this conflict. Bear.

When she stands reward her. when she doesn't no reward. I bet the ratio of stands to no stands will inprove. This might also be a good case to use a clicker. Click and treat when she stands. When she is doing it reliably - 80%of the time - then add the cue "stand" This should also help in the show ring. Bear.

I do obedience with an Afghan Hound so every training session and Trial is a learning opportunity and a good chance to laugh at his antics and myself. There is no point me getting angry or annoyed as that won't get either of us anywhere. I have learnt very quickly not to take myself too seriously. Bear.

My Afghan Hound, Faxon, having his first go at Lure Coursing at Erskine Park last year.