Kowai

I always think of 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin from wrestling on TV

I havent really had any bad training experiences.. The instructors at my class are usually really nice There have been times when I've been upset with my own performance.. But I guess that happens One bad experience was on my first day at the club.. I was so nervous, and I didn't know anyone and I'd just moved to the area.. My boy was wearing a harness and a flat collar - the harness because we were just standing around waiting for our class and its what he wears when we're walking, and a flat collar because at the time I was against the check chain.. This woman comes up to me, I think she may be on the committee of my club or something.. Anyway she comes up and tells me that my dog isn't allowed to wear his harness to class, they train using a collar and leash.. Okayyy thats fine I wasn't going to use it anyway.. But then she tells me off for him wearing a flat collar because 'Spiked collars are illegal and I shouldn't have it on him!' What the?? First off, flat collars are allowed at my club and secondly it didn't have spikes on it, it has these little blunt, short, studs on it... It certainly was a bad start to my training.. I'm glad I stayed though, even though I was shit scared! I really enjoy it now!

Congratulations guys!! I'm so jealous of you, good work! ;)

Where you mention the Gold Coast/ Tweed/ and Logan areas, I'd just like to note that Southport is a little far to travel for Tweed residents.. Unless you're really keen of course! I always had trouble finding any accessible dog sports when I lived in the Tweed Makes me wish I was qualified to teach something, then I could go back to my town and start a group!

Hey nice work! ' At his heaviest my Staffy was 29kg ;) ;) This was a combination of myself giving him too much food out of ignorance, and my family giving him treats outside of meal times! It's been a hard road to weight loss. It's so hard to get friends and family to stop giving treats to my dog!! ;) Thank god now I'm in my own place so I can control his diet so much better, and I know better too how much I should be feeding him. My dog is now down to 23kg, the lightest he's been in years! He actually has a nice, muscular looking neck now and from the top he has a waist! He could probably stand to lose another 1-2kg I think.. At the moment though he looks so much healthier and better looking! --Edit-- Its so hard telling people their pets are overweight... A rescue dog of mine who now lives with my nana has either a) put on weight or b) looks more overweight because my dog is now thinner! My and her dog both were roughly the same size before.. Now she just looks so overweight ;) I know she doesn't get much exercise, my nana isn't strong enough to walk her and she only gets walked when my parents take their dog over, and I think my nana is lonely and loves to give her treats/pamper her a little.. I mean she lives in a good environment and is loved.. But she so needs to lose the weight! ;)

Like topic says, I'm interested in finding a Dog Obedience club/group that is located near Murwillumbah in Northern NSW.. Or atleast withing half an hour/an hour of it. Murwillumbah is about half an hour south of the Queensland border, and about an hour/45 mins north of Byron Bay.. When I was living there I couldn't find a club, and so I had to wait until I moved down here to Melbourne to join one! I was wondering if anyone knew because now my Dad has a new dog he'd like to train, but he's absolutely clueless when it comes to training and I can't help him because I'm so far away now!

Wow! I wish my dog and I were that good!!! He still likes to work a little too wide.. and needs to pay a little more attention to me. Your dog is just so focussed on you!! -I- need to work on my bloody signals! I'm so sloppy I'm always bending down for my dog.. I also have a habit of 'bobbing' when I turn which I'm trying to break I also have a bad habit of saying his name in the wrong places or when I'm not supposed to talk.. Augh.. I'll never be promoted!

I believe there is a pack order with my dogs Alphas = Myself and my boyfriend. I believe that because we're different genders we've become the female and male alphas in the pack I think though in my staffies eyes, as the one who brought him up and the one he's known longest, I'm the alpha over my boyfriend. Next in line = My staffy, Zach. I believe this is because he is the eldest of our two dogs. (Zach is 5 years, Kapo is 8 months) Also I think it's because of his breed. Kapo is a Siberian Husky, a small and light one. Zach is a very big, SOLID, brick of a dog. Kapo has no hope of pinning him down and assuming a dominant stance with him. Zach also is so used to being a single dog I think he has just kept the attitude of having first place! Last in line = Kapo. For reasons above, and also I believe that she may have been the runt of her litter. She's very small for her breed, and she's always been a pretty quiet girl, well, except when she's bugging the hell out of Zach! She's the kind of dog who loves to just watch the world go buy, and I don't think she has any inclination to oust Zach from his spot of 'next top dog after the alphas'.

I love your #2 point! I agree too.. Staffies are the biggest sooks.. Since moving mines become much more attached to me.. Before he had my whole family to sook up to, but now he only has me and my boyfriend. He also started to show some seperation anxiety signs especially when left home alone. (Knocking over the bin, absolutely going -nuts- when I got home..) Luckily now we've gotten another dog which has helped so much when we're not home, he doesn't freak out anymore, and he's really starting to get attached to my boyfriend now.. You've said you got other dogs though so I guess what worked for me isn't for you! I wish I had something to suggest.. I know it can be so hard when you're dogs just panicking like that, and it can be dangerous for them too.. --Edit-- I reckon getting your husband to take over the responsibilities for your dog might help.. Thinking about it, before I had my mum helping out alot, and my dog was very attached to her as well. Seeing as my mum was home most of the time, especially when I was out (at school/work etc) he had someone there he trusted! I don't know about making you dog change rooms though.. I can't talk.. After not letting me sleep at all the first night I had him as a puppy, and winging non-stop, he's slept in the bed ever since!

Alot of people take one glance at my dog and think he's overweight! You can feel his ribs though and he never shows signs of being too heavy when running around.. He has so much energy it's crazy! He used to be so much larger though due to my family feeding him when I wasn't looking I think overweight dogs should be able to participate in dog sports, but I agree that they should have lowered jumps and maybe shouldn't be at it for so long.. I think its great exercise for them! --Edit-- Just to clarify, my dog is a healthy weight now its just people think he's huge! I've had him on a diet and he's managed to lose the weight he had before, and now whenever anyone who knew him before sees him they say how great he looks

Hey guys! I saw recently that the Alaskan Malamute Club of Victoria will be holding Weight Pull competitions soon and I thought I'd really love to get my Staffordshire Bull Terrier into it! I'm planning on buying a harness from windchill.com.au but what I would like to ask everyone here is how should I go about training my dog? I have about a month or so until the competitions, is this enough time? What can I get him to pull to train? Also, can someone tell me what exactly happens at the competitions - what are the rules etc for Australia? I can't find any info...

Okay, the original owner obviously lets the dog pretty much run wild, (eg, eating sunnies, glasses, chewing things, having the run of the house, jumping on tables, getting on the bed and under the blankets if she wants to ). To me its pretty obvious if the dog is chewing everything in sight, put things up out of her reach or put the dog out of their reach. My point being the dog needs leadership, get the dog off the bed and crate train her, at the moment the dog doesnt have a leader so does as she pleases. I have a gorgeous staffy myself, I know what they are like. I never left her alone (the second time around anyway) if she chewed something (Im talking, pillows, her dog beds, table legs, toys, phone books, door step :D ). If she was unsupervised at home she would have chewed pretty much anything, so she was supervised, I put things up and away, and she could go in the lounge only with me. If I went out, she was put in the dog run with the other dog. Up until a few months ago she chewed up every dog bed/cushion/pillow/blanket/doona she had, until she had to sleep on an el cheapo trampoline bed with no covers because of it. She certainly does now not chew her one and only blanket, because I caught her and she went without it for a week. She is 2 in November. I dont care if your dogs sleep on your bed, thats your choice.... Im saying in general the owner needs to establish some pack authority, and for a start its off the bed and crate train her, limited/supervised access to the house, and some training. ...Ooooops my dog was in the bed, snuggled up to my neck on the first night! If you're not willing to put things up out of your dogs reach then well.. You kind of deserve to have them chewed! Puppies are puppies sometimes.. It's hard to resist temptation, so its far easier to not give it to them in the first place! One of the key things with training I've found is to set the dog up to win. Make it easy for them to do the right thing! Putting things up high means they can't chew them.. The only thing left to chew would be toys.. Which is the correct behaviour for your dog! GOOD dog! You won! ;)

Thank you!

Goodluck!! I hope you and Cooper do well! Man I can't wait to start trialing but at the same time its a terrifying thought! I always have trouble with stand for examination at my club.. Because my dog Zach loves the instructors too much and wants to jump up at them!

I don't know about that, my dogs have always slept in my bed and I never have any leadership issues with them For a staffy I suggest getting a Staffy Ball and bones. Staffy balls are pretty much indestructable and she should be obsessed with it for hours! Bones are also great, especially the giant ones from the butchers, as not only do they occupy your pet but cleans their teeth as well! --Edit-- Also my dogs do have the run of the house, and while we're going throught that chewing stage with our husky I make sure to put everything I value up nice and high so she can't reach it! I have -never- had leadership issues with my dogs because they sleep on the bed or have the run of the house.. I believe its because I don't take crap from them I'm not harsh to my dogs, but I'm firm - when they've done something wrong I am quick to correct them, and when they do something good they get the shit praised out of them! It just takes being consistent and vigilant and some time.. They learn to stop being so naughty

Okay going to fill out the form... I need ideas! I'm thinking of also using Zachariah for his name.. Not sure.. But I need something cool to go infront or after it --Edit-- Hmm.. He's been with me since I was 16 and has always stuck by me.. Not like he had a choice but anyway! He's my first dog and I love him so much, he means so much to me.. So I want a name to reflect that hmm.. I like the idea of Sparkling! I'll have to think up something equally as cool

Hey thanks for the info! I'll have to come up with something cool.. Luckily I'm not in any rush to join up, I'm still only in level 4 of my club and it's level 5 where we start learning to trial Sparkling Cooper sounds cool btw!

I've found that if I hold the treat in my hand, but have my index finger pointing out, and touch my dog on the nose with my index finger as I'm giving him the treats, he nibbles! I forget where I heard the trick.. This seems to work with most dogs for me except there is the risk of losing your finger!

Hi! I'm from Werribee too and I'm looking at joining a club I found in Altona that runs flyball, agility and obedience It's only about 20 minutes away! Altona Dog Club

Hey guys, I'm currently training my 5 year old Staffy in Obedience and he's getting close to trialing level.. What I want to ask is, when I register him with the VCA what kind of naming convention do I use? Whats the rules with it? My dog's name is Zach btw and he'll be an associate dog as I don't have papers for him. Thanks!

Hey guys what time does it start? I'm not entering.. But I've just started agility myself and I'd love to go watch! :rolleyes:

Omg my dog was the same with his Staffy ball!! He would think of -nothing- else and just go nuts about it, he'd bark at it constantly and slobber all over it while trying to bite it! I would always have to take it off him to give him a break (and us from his barking lol). But yeah, the most damage he did to it was put some holes in it, which of course didn't matter cause it's rock solid So hard to find toys for Staffies normally, thank god they are out there though! -Edit- My mum told me about something she saw on tv once.. Maybe on Dr Harry or something.. It was about this owner who would giver her Staffy a coconut, with the husk on it and he would just gnaw and gnaw at it all day until he got down to the shell of the coconut. Aparently during the whole show they gave updates on the dog's progress, and right at the end when he got to the shell they were about to wrap up the story when *CRACK* the Staffy took a bite, and cracked the shell open! I think he then got to drink the milk Lol!

Whats with the restriction on associate dogs? Why can people only have one or two? What does it matter if a dog isn't a pedigree when it comes to obedience or agility? Also I started proper obedience training and agility with my dog when he was 5 (last year) because where I lived before there was nothing available Saying that though at home I trained my dog to do basic commands using food rewards, just not with the 'correct' commands and he never learnt heeling. I did train him to jump over broomsticks but nothing better than that when it came to agility He's really taken to obedience training and agility though and he actually learns much faster than the younger dogs there! I think because at his age he's much calmer and less hyperactive than the younger dogs. He has a longer attention span than them and I guess the training I did at home beforehand got him in the right mindset for it all

Hmph! I can't believe cross breeds weren't allowed to compete before! I don't have papers for my dogs and I've been told I'll have to register them as associate dogs too even though they're pure bred.. It's all too snooty if you ask me! I guess it was supposed to promote proper breeding etc.. But still.. I feel slightly insulted Lol..

Hmm my club is pretty social which I like, it's really friendly.. And my dog has made a few friends there as have I My club promotes the use of a correction collar.. Which I didn't like at first, but they allow the option of using a 'flat collar' (normal collar) as well which I do. I guess their method is a cross between more traditional styles and positive reinforcement.. For example while healing if the dog moves too far forward the handler is supposed to give a quick correctional 'tug' at the leash, making sure to quickly slacken the leash again straightaway as well as use a strong voice and say 'NO' or 'AH!'. There is to be no choking of the dog. When the dog does something correct we have to praise the dog 'GOOD dog' , and we get told off for not doing it We are also encouraged to give treats and pats. I wish there was more consistancy with the tasks my dog and I have to do on club competition days.. I'm at that transitional point now with my dog between club standards and trialling standards and it's very hard to progress because sometimes we get judged harshly for something thats acceptable in the club or something I havent been picked up on yet. We've failed our last two competition days which is really demotivating for me Last year we passed every single one, and my dog even became 'Highest Placed Dog in Club Competition'!