Gayle.

If I were employing an apprentice in a specialised area like dog grooming, experience would be less important than a genuine interest in the skills. You already have that, and being that you show your dog, it's a proven interest. Try not to be too quick to point out what you know.....you are applying for a trainee position.....they will want to train you their way, not have to spend time to untrain you, especially if you've learned habits different from what they're looking for. My tips would be.........keep your opinions about dogs to yourself, especially if you have strong opinions about designer dogs. They are often a groomers biggest client base. Keep your opinions about backyard breeders to yourself as well. Bite your tongue til it bleeds if you have to. Your work ethic counts for HEAPS with most employers. They want you to be at work when you're supposed to be at work; they want you there on time, doing what you're being paid to do. Get the very best referees you can find. Often it's the referrals that clinch the job. And make them ones that count.

Sarcoptic mange and bush ticks, 5ml of Demadex to a litre of water. Demadectic mange, 10 ml to a litre of water. I have a bottle of it here, I bought it to get rid of a tiny spot of d.mange on Dusty. It worked well, but it's very potent so use with extreme care. ETA bath dog first , rinse then pour over Demadex dilute. Allow it to dry on the dog, repeat weekly.

Oh no, I never meant you said that. I've been calling myself an idiot for assuming what I did, but I think I just had the wrong end of the stick altogether. No matter, I'll sort something out now I know who to ask.

Ros told me to ask John, so I did and he said they don't have classes on Wednesday evenings. Then she asked him again the week before last when I told her that I'd entered the trial, and he said again, there weren't classes on Wednesday nights. I thought the ring was set up to advance people from one class to another....cos that's the only thing I've ever seen it used for, plus group stays for the higher classes. There seem to be quite a few people there who enter trials and I've spoken to some of them, but I just thought they were doing the Saturday classes and that's how they were learning to do the trial stuff, as well as the grad days. I realise most people never enter an obedience trial, but the instructors always talk about when you enter a trial, so I just thought that's where everyone learned, as well as practise at home. I don't think I was an idiot for thinking that because opn thinking back, there was no reason to assume otherwise. I have a new job, I work now til 5.30pm so maybe once daylight saving starts next weekend, I can do the Wednesday classes if they're still there after 6pm. That would be great, I will see if I can talk to someone else on Saturday now I have a better idea.

Hi Nikki, it's not that I'm unhappy with anything, I love going to the club and the classes. Eddie was fantastic on Saturday morning, he gave me some hints and tips, but I honestly thought that the reason we were in the various classes was to learn obedience for trials. I heard about the Wednesday classes but twice when I asked about them I was told they weren't held any more so after the second time I didn't pursue it. It just came as a complete surprise to me that we don't go to the regular Saturday classes to learn about trialling and I had absolutely no idea how I was supposed to learn when all I got told was "You're nowhere near ready". And it's really thrown me for a loop that Saturdays are not what I thought I was there for, and I honestly didn't know what to do.

Good question. I discovered I really enjoy obedience, I really like that connection I have with my dog and I love teaching him new things. I am probably not as dedicated or obsessed as I might become, but I do like it. I like going to obdience classes, but for me, they have to be a means to an end. He is past the point of needing to learn "basic" good manners. He is a lovely boy that I can take anywhere and know with confidence that he will behave himself and act like a "gentleman". So the original reason for me going to obedience has "expired". Now I want another reason to motivate me to go, and that is trialling. Does that make sense? I'm not a person just to do something for the sake of doing it, there has to be a reason to do it.

Ok, I'm on the right track then cos we're just doing turns.....right about turns, left and right turns.....heel, heel, heel, lots of praise for being there. Tonight we finished off with a couple of stays, then called it quits when he didn't break. We came inside, he got loads of praise on the way in and a pigs ear for being a good boy. Tomorrow night we'll continue like that. Thanks for the help!

His level of concetration....his absolute focus on me. He is getting better though. Tonight we did stays in the driveway (you've been here, you know how dangerous that could be) and I made him LOOK at me the whole time he was in his stay. I threw food around and made him focus on me......he kept looking around but he didn't move. I want him to NOT look around, I want him to look at me the whole time cos it's when he is looking around that he forgets he's supposed to be sitting there. Also his attention wanders sometimes in the heeling. He can be good for a few turns, then his nose will hit the ground and he doesn't keep up with me. He is great in the stand for examination and usually good in the recall, although he could rocket in a bit faster than his usual leisurely amble.

It's not that I think it's enough to train at the obedience club....it's just that I honestly thought that's what you did, that's where you went, and that's how you trained for a trial. We practise what we've learned at the club every day at home, but unless I *KNOW* what I have to improve for a trial, then I won't know what to practice. I am not saying I am ready, I am saying I thought I was ready but now I don't know but I don't know how to find out because the place I thought I was going to learn, isn't teaching what I thought I was learning. Follow me? Probably not but I know what I mean. Just imagine this....forget the dog training, pretend you're learning to drive. You go to a driving instructor, you take lessons. Then one day, after lots of lessons where you've driven around the town with an instructor by your side, and having practised everything your instructor has told you, you announce you're confident enough to take the license test. But your instructor looks at you in complete horror and humiliates you by laughing at your lack of skills and is absolutely amazed that you actually think you can pass your license test. What have you been learning? What else do you need to know? How can you learn those skills now that you know you don't have them? Your instructor hasn't told you, she's simply pointed out that you won't pass. Who then, do you ask to help you pass? What else do you need to do to learn?

This is what I've been working on the last week or so, now that I have a direction and it's definitely working. Yep, I can call him to heel from across a footy oval, or from the other end of the house and he'll come and sit by my left side. When walking with him and I tell him to heel, he immediately adjusts so that he's there at the right position. At this stage I am trying to teach CCD exercises which is just basic obedience. I am absolutely looking no further than heel on leash, sit on halt, drop, stand on command, stand for examination, recall off leash and one minute sit stay and two minute drop stays. I am absolutely not going any further or making it more stressful than I have to at this point. No, she wasn't specific. The instructor I have is a national obedience judge. If you've competed in obedience in Victoria, you've more than likely been judged by her. I honestly thought the club I went to was a club that taught obedience trialling. They preach it every week....."when you start trialling.....in a trial you need to do this.....if you were doing that in a trial....etc.etc." They run their graduation days as if they were a trial. They hold two obedience trials a year. I wonder what made me think they might teach obedience trialling? I have a well-behaved dog, I am in class 2. There are at least 3 more classes above me, plus UD class and above that. I would rather learn in a group situation.....I like reading but do better with hands-on exercises and feedback. I truly and honestly thought that's why I was going to an obedience club.....so I could get past the "well-behaved dog" stage, past the party tricks and actually learn how to compete in trials. When I stewarded at an obedience trial (in the CCD ring) earlier this year, the judge was most interested in which clubs the competitors belonged to, especially the ones who were doing well. I don't think there are any other ones around here that as better than the one I already go to.

KCC would suit me fine as I have to drive 1.5 hours to get there and that's about far enough for me. Plus I can find that place, my chances of finding anywhere else are remote. The only Sunday I have free is Oct 19th. Then I have one or two free in November. I'm sure he's ready to meet people though! ETA, I definitely can't do weekdays as I work Mon-Fri.

I would love a DOL training day. If I'm not confident Benson won't break a stay, I'll withdraw him. If he's not sitting on a pass by the end of the ring work, I'll also withdraw him from the stays. Our club has a ring set up some weeks but not others. If I see it set up before training and no one is using it, I'll often take Benson in and do some heelwork with him just to get him used to the idea of working within a roped off area. I am probably way off the mark but although there are plenty of people at the club who enter obedience trials, there really doesn't seem to be a lot of practical help to get a newbie started. But maybe there is and I just don't know about it yet.

But where do you find a group of people interested in trialling? Local, I mean. It's not exactly a common or popular pastime, and I thought that's why we all went to a club. I don't know anyone else who wants to trial except Dani (Dee_al) and she's entered Knox as her first trial too, so the two of us together wouldn't be much good cos neither of us would have much of a clue. I will have to think on that one and maybe come up with an alternative. I don't mind it being "picky", I have an excellent eye for detail, so can clue in on those kind of things quite fast but I need to know what I'm being picky about.

Yes, it's who you think it is, and I'm not sure I understand her idea of being helpful. It's basically to tell me to get together with a group of other dog people and practise. Well, I thought that's why we had obedience classes on Saturdays. She doesn't want me to enter and said straight out that unless we are completely ready and rock solid, we shouldn't enter because it will do more harm than good. I rather like the idea of just using the trial as practise and putting no pressure on either of us to perform. We'll just get used to being in the ring and being comfortable with the exercises.

Definitely get more opinions and from alternative practicioners, and don't rely on the opinion of just one mainstream vet. I have seen a dog (a Gordon Setter) that was diagnosed with severe hip dysplasia before she was a year old, and now at 5 years, she lives a happy and pain free life due to her owner seeking alternative therapy.

Our club graduation days, held every 3 months, are held exactly as a trial and Benson does well in them. I have been to trials and taken him along too, and stewarded at a couple of trials a few months ago so I could get a close up view of the ring work required. It was the stewarding that pushed me into it because I thought he was clearly better than about half the dogs entered, but after yesterday I'd say we have a long way to go. We practised last night and he was excellent, but got distracted when a cat ran past, so I need to proof distractions. I am not normally a nervous person but I was yesterday and I think maybe it's because I knew my instructor had very little faith that we could pull it off and that transferred into me handling poorly and dithering around.

I have entered Benson in our first obedience trial on Oct 12, two weeks from today. When I sent the entries in, I thought he was ready, now I'm starting to doubt it. I had decided earlier this year I wanted to start trialling, I enjoy obedience and love going along to the obedience club each Saturday for classes. But I'm at a point where there has to be a means to an end.......there doesn't seem to be much point going along to classes if we're not going to "do" anything with the skills. Benson is already a very easy dog to live with and has the basic obedience down pat. Hence the decision to start trialling. I asked my instructor for some pointers, she told me to go see some bloke at the club and ask him for some help. I did, and he just hummed and hawed and hummed and hawed, then said he was going away for holidays and couldn't help. He wasn't very forthcoming with any more info or direction, so I just left it as he clearly didn't have the time or the inclination. So I just kept attending classes, practising at home, reading the rule book over and over and thinking we were almost there. I told my instructor last week that I'd entered a trial and she was absolutely horrified. But said she'd be at the club earlier than usual to put me through my paces in the ring, in a mock trial situation. We did our agility class first, then met up with her and another instructor for our go in the ring. From the outset Benson was distracted and edgy. And I got nervous and we did absolutely everything wrong, he jumped out of the ring to go and greet all the dogs that were arriving for class, he ran past me in the recall, which he's never done before and he seemed to just completely forget how to heel. I did get a few pointers, but was told quite bluntly that we aren't ready to trial. But I feel he's so much better than that and that we CAN do it. But where do I go from here? Any suggestions for books that might help us prepare? Or websites?

The problem with dogs who dig in their water bowl is that they can empty the bowl without tipping it over. We tried big heavy ceramic pots for Benson and he'd just scoop the water out with his paws while the pot was still standing. Bloody doofus he is!

Why are they dangerous? Benson can't drag one, but not through lack of trying. Even if he could flip it though, he'd just tip the water out and it would run down the footpath and away into the gutter. The empty clamshell would then be nothing more than a toy he'd get bored with. But nothing dangerous there that I can see.

Benson did the same, and I had the same worries.....a hot day, hot puppy, no water. We bought a clamshell pool and filled it with water, it was too heavy to move once it was full of water and the problem was solved. We change the water every few days, more often in summer. And we have one half of the shell put away in the garden shed....we alternate as they grow algae on them, so when one has a coating, we let it dry out and give it a good scrub then leave it for a few weeks and use the other half in the meantime. He has never managed to tip over a clamshell full of water, although not through lack of trying! He gets right in it to have a drink though. It ended up being a very cheap solution, they clamshells are around $30 a pair.

Vets don't know, which is why they didn't tell you. Bensons breeder told me before I bought him, then gave me a list of typed instructions, which also included the warning about ivermectin. Dusty's breeder made sure I knew before she sent her over, and she also came with a list of typed instructions and a warning about the drug. My dogs have seen 3 different local vets and none of them knew about ivermectin sensitivity in Australian Shepherds, although two of them did know about it in collies and didn't associate Aussies with the same doggy family. One vet handed me a bag of trial products which included a sample of Advocate, which she then took back off me when I explained about ivermectin. Oh, and none of the vets had ever seen an Australian Shepherd before they saw mine. One well known breeder told me it's highly unlikely to be a problem in tri-coloured Aussies, but unless I get the dogs DNA tested, there's no way I am taking a chance when there are perfectly good and suitable alternative products available. I am very, very, VERY surprised the breeder you bought your dog from didn't warn you about ivermectin. I thought all Aussie breeders would include it in their puppy info as a matter of course.

A timely thread. Benson and I make our trial debut next month at Knox. I doubt he's ready (gawd, my club instructor nearly died of shock when I told her we'd entered a trial) but I figure if I don't do it soon I'll never do it!

My dogs don't like the sound of the human hair dryer, so I bought a 2nd hand Laser Lites dog dryer (table stand model). It's fabulous, it's about 15 inches tall so I can sit it on the floor then swivel the head to direct the airflow where I want it to go, which leaves both hands free to control and brush the dog. It's not a force dryer but it dries them very fast and gets way down into the roots of the undercoat, which the human one doesn't do. Check out the DOL classifieds, there are often second hand dog dryers for sale there.

Colleen, if you contact Kate Dourley, she can let you know when the Vic Herding association have their clinics. We took the dogs along to one at KCC Park, there was an instructor there (Karen Sherlock) and the dogs went in one at a time for about 10 minutes each after we'd had a short lesson from Karen. She gave instruction the whole time and helped out when necessary. The sheep are well used to being herded so unlikely to startle the dogs. The dogs got 2 goes each which was plenty. We had a fabulous day, but herding just doesn't do it for me as a dog sport. But plenty of people absolutely love it.

Thanks. I tried the search function but it kept timing out so I just thought there weren't any threads on the subject. Interesting to see it's illegal in Vic to lead a dog while riding a bike. My planned training route goes right past the local police station. Maybe I'll plan differently!