The Spotted Devil

Shall do!!!

Fingers crossed Sway - do you want me to still put out flyers at the Lilydale show tomorrow?

Wish you were coming Tassie Hey Jess! I'm camping too but I am SOFT and have an ensuite site :D I have a good camping set up that did well at the Dally Nationals in Sydney 2010, Lakes Entrance holiday in July and torrential rain at the SH seminar in Albury We are off to Bright in December with the dogs too. I much prefer camping - like my own bed!

Your life will never be the same again...nor will your bank account

They do that here LT and it seems to work well and generate interest. The Lab club held one with their National. A few at the Canine grounds and competitors were then happy to follow it to a country obedience trial.

I've just booked my accommodation I hope I can make it - I NEVER plan this far in advance for something :D

You can always find something else.....I'm up to $88 already & still shopping Enabler GG85 - even if you did that within states/regions you would probably be able to make up the $100.

Must be any combination of elegant, pretty, handsome or cute. Downright adorable will also suffice. That's it My 2 dogs are SO different and they are both perfect for me. The Dalmatian is aloof, difficult to motivate, is active if it suits him and gets bored easily. The working English Springer Spaniel is HIGH energy, HIGH drive, incredibly handler focussed despite being extremely birdy, has the best on/off switch and has just enough coat for me to enjoy grooming without being annoying. I love having dogs at either end of the training spectrum....much better for me as a trainer and incredibly satisfying to compete with.

Uh oh......I've already got a free shipping package on it's way. Surely I don't need anything else :D

But if they were contained you wouldn't be calling up and complaining about dogs on the loose. I was bailed up on my own property by the neighbour's aggressive dog. Fortunately I was able to get behind a gate. Rang council who did speak to the owner but asked if I could "take a picture next time" because they couldn't do much without evidence. Perhaps teeth marks might suffice

The thing is, Kavik, even if you NEVER get to tug at a trial the learning curve for you will be brilliant - I think that's what I love about dog training. For example, Em is so birdy that I can't ever provide a reward that valuable. However, because I've had that experience with Ziggy (sniffing and lifting his leg was a billion times more interesting than what I had to offer) I've been able to work with Em's genetic drive and channel that into something constructive for my purposes. End dog training rave ETA: To clarify, it's becoming MUCH more about the journey than attaining the goal.

You have to start somewhere!!! Ziggy found tugging rather aversive but will now tug at training/trials whilst I'm actually holding food in my hands.

What a great result! Your dogs definitely don't lack drive Yes, I'm not that dedicated to SG stuff but she does have some fabulous ideas.

See that's AWESOME - and you have to get excited about baby steps with a dog that prefers food over tug

Entire male Dalmatian who is nearly 5. He thinks he is the Casanova of the dog world (and fortunately the girls think so too) so I always knew our next dog would be female. So we now have an entire female working English Springer Spaniel who is around 14 months. I like to say that HE is great with her and SHE is very good for him. She gets away with absolute murder and seems to have a permanent puppy license - she steals his toys, wrestles with him and bites him on the legs until he relents and plays. I always feed them separately "just in case" but often train them together or in rotation. If he grumps at her she just rolls over and, whilst he is having a good sniff, she reaches out, takes the toy she was after and bolts They are a great, if not odd, match and I think Ziggy would be more than happy with a harem of girls of similar personality. I have seen him in the company of 4 English Springers and 2 Welsh Springers and I've never seem him look so chuffed even when the old girls told him off for getting a little personal ;)

Definitely start slowly and use the best treats you can think of. A hungry dog helps too! My working ESS is extremely birdy but she will ignore them when training. On a walk she is a bit of a nightmare - much better when she has a job to concentrate on.

Oh my how cute is she!!!! Nice work CleoJ Hey Nik, never mind the dog, how did you cope with 45 preps all at once

Ask around locally too. I often used to house sit for friends of my parents when I was younger but I was very responsible. We are going camping for a week with the dogs and the cats are going into a great boarding facility. I've asked a very responsible girl in her late teens to house sit for us - she is well known in the area for doing a great job. There will only be the chooks, a few goats and hand watering the pot plants. She lives at home so loves getting away and having time to herself I think and is happy to just have the eggs as payment although I usually like to buy her a present as well.

To be honest I've stopped caring ;) To those that are interested I explain why I do it. To those that are critical I just ignore them although enjoy watching their amazement when my dogs happily and eagerly RUN into their crates. I often use crates to protect my dogs from visitors so it's a bit hard explaining that without offending

Congratulations TO - you must be wrapped!!! CleoJ - that's great Any video please?????? Go Dr Nik - what a huge achievement! But yes, you need more titles after your name to be taken seriously

Zora is a cutie pie alright! Glad you're having fun RV We're just pottering along with our training here - and loving it

I wasn't really interested in a Dally until I spoke to an interstate breeder recommended by a work colleague. I was considering Irish Setters, Golden Retrievers etc. I just clicked with the breeder and ended up waiting 2 years for a puppy I love lots of breeds and now have a working ESS as well - always loved English Springers as a kid so when considering getting a gundog it seemed the obvious choice! Still plenty of time for a working Irish one day :D

Thanks for the tip DC.....I have a Cool Champions coat for my Dally - it's good for recovery but not so effective standing in the sun waiting to go into the agility ring. I've just ordered 2 Chillybuddy jackets for my dogs (love free shipping!) so will be very interested to see how they go.

I agree with Vickie

What a shame And here was I LIKING it when my dog tells me he is feeling a bit anxious and sniffs the ground.....