Vickie

I have Abby's run on video too...but I guess I better let Dasha watch it first I'm sure she will let me put at least a bit of it up

The above video is one of our top handlers in the country. Am I ever going to be that good? probably not. Do I aspire to what she can do? You betcha. I'm not saying that anyone starting (or teaching) agility does or should aspire to this, just wanted to put it up as an example of what can be achieved.

yes, that is very true...and I really should add that I have probably only used them to compensate for a failure or lack of training somewhere else on course which meant I could not get to where I needed to be. As far as the opinions...I think we're generally on the same page...like I said couldn't resist playing devils advocate

can't resist playing devils advocate here after watching some of the top (world team) Europeans lately, I was surprised at just how many of them do blind cross on course. They train it AND they pull it off! Well! In fact they break lots of our rules with spectacular results sometimes. I have been known to throw the occasional one in & have even planned a couple. It's something I want in my toolbox but rarely use. At this point I have only ever planned or used it when my dog is in a tunnel and can't see me anyway.

X 2! Especially the last sentence Why would we go back 10-15 years when we have so many text, online, visual & overseas presenters as available resources?

Some other dogs, with some very tough sheep

Big Congratulations to Dasha & Abby on what was definitely one of the nicest runs of the day!!! and to the baby dog who started out great but drew some very tough sheep

Just saw this thread poor daisy! Hoping for some better news today

Ps, forgot to answer your question I don't have dogs that bark anymore, but when I lived in suburbia & trained Zeus at home, I just had a word with my neighbours. I let them know that I would like to train my dogs for 2 10 min sessions every day & told them it would be noisy. We agreed on a rough time together. They were happy that I consulted them & knew that it Would never go on for more than 10 mins

Corvus, be careful trying to stop him barking while he is actually doing agility. It is almost impossible to isolate the barking vs performance from a reward/punishment pov. The barking between training runs is a different story and one you should be able to get on top of. Mine are likely to whine/scream if they are tethered in full view, but happy to wait quietly on a down stay while I run the other one. Crates also work if you apply a simple rule, barking gets you covered, silence means you can watch. Only problem is you need another person to help here. sorry but this is just not true. Many great agility dogs bark the whole way around the course. It's not always frustration, although it can be. Some breeds just bark & Vallhunds are right up there with the best of them. Google Vallhund agility, you will see many brilliant world cup runs, none of them will be in silence.

someone once told me that the reason sheepdogs, even fit ones, are prone to this is that b/c they are concentrating so hard, they don't open their mouth to pant. If this is true, it'd be hard to reproduce with exercise alone. I have seen it once with one of my dogs & 3 times with other dogs, all have been very intense dogs who didn't pant a lot.

I know of the condition Exercise Induced Collapse but any animal can suffer from heat exhaustion/stroke, right? And from personal experience I know that it doesn't have to be a hot day for it to happen.

We added a mature terrier mix from a shelter to our family last year. She is a perfect match for my border collies in terms of temperament & activity levels. She would never cope living outside though and just like my BCs, needs to live inside with the family. Terriers are great, but I am sure that the reason there are so many in shelters is they can be escape artists.

Wow! They are really good FM!

He is gorgeous!

I finally got off my butt yesterday & started on Peps weaves again. We did 3 pole entries AGES ago, but I haven't done anything since. This was supposed to be my part of the deal & Chloe is supposed to do everything else. Anyway....we did 5 short sessions yesterday. The first was a reminder on the 3 poles which she totally remembered and the rest was angles & entering after a jump. We moved to 5 poles by the last session. This morning she did 8!!!! will post video soon. Lots still to do but WOW! She is weaving!

I'm glad you have changed your mind about the front yard. 100% is only 100% till it fails. Being complacent is a good way to make it fail. 4 months is simply not old enough to have proofed every possible scenario (if that's EVER possible). In any case, sounds like you have been building an excellent foundation for when he hits his teenage months. Can we see pics? Video? He sounds like a great pup with a great future ps I train with a heap of amazing agility JRTs. As others have suggested, keep playing with him, working on his recall & teaching him tricks...a large part of agility is the relationship you have with your dogs & you are off to a great start

what are you talking about??? Trim doesn't lick....shine doesn't steal food!

thank you. I see what you are saying, I tend to think of it in different terms but it's basically the same thing

would you mind going into a little more detail Blitz? I thInk I know what you're referring to but not sure

For those of you who have trained more than one dog for competition, what things are on your "TO DO" list with your puppies to prepare them for training? Some of the things I want (in no particular order): fast & reliable recall ( to the hand presented, not in front) tug on command, release on command to accept food as well as toys as a reward to be able to call my puppy off playing with another dog to play with me for my puppy to find playing with me more fun than plating with another dog to become operant early on to be happy in a crate to associate a word (ready) with focus & fun to be able to handle my puppy all over, including collar to put maximum effort into everything to learn positions, ie sit down etc from my side as well as in front to make activities rewarding enough that they can be handled by anyone to perform activities in different environments body awareness to not lick! to not steal food from the bench! :D I'm sure there's heaps more, but that'll do for now

A collar grab is about employing a dogs opposition reflex to build anticipation and encourage forward drive. It's the same thing that makes a dog pull on lead. You do not have to use a collar to do this, standing behind a dog with your arms around it's chest or hips will achieve the same result. Only issue tends to be that dogs who are uncomfortable being held by the collar will often have issues with such close physical contact as well. If it truly is just about the collar & not about the relationship, the above will work just as well.

are you planning to continue to do the equipment with the collar grabs? Might be better to not use the collar grab in front of equip till you have it sorted out. What do you mean you want the dog cued by the equipment?

Omg I just watched this. Em is SOOOO clever!!! Not to mention totally gorgeous can't wait to see where this little lady goes, she is already looking amazing. Great job TSD eta, I have no doubt my dogs would have returned the item to the throwing person

yes it is gross & a totally inappropriate thing to share in this thread