Vickie

totally agree! When we brought Pep home, she did a bit of resource guarding (people & food) snapping. This was not evident in the pound at all. I have no doubt that since she was a bit timid & had some SA that some people would have felt sorry for her, excused this behaviour & let it develop into something more serious. With a zero tolerance policy, it took about 2 days to disappear here, with no recurrence.

Where are they when you are preparing/eating? I would not be letting them anywhere near the kitchen/table while you are preparing/eating food. Will they stay on a mat? Giving them something to do, ie stay, at the right distance from you would be how I would approach this.

How scary for you & her! Best wishes for a quick diagnosis & a speedy recovery

Totally agree. I have seen some AWESOME weaves taught with 2X2 & some not so great too, but I can say that for all methods. My 2 were taught exactly the same way (3 poles) and have quite different weaving styles. I did a bit of 2X2 later with Shine & I have to say that I think she has better entries & independence than Trim although she is not quite as fast through them in competitions (even though she is at home ). Hmmm, not sure I agree with that Bec. I can think of a few spectacular weavers, running at warp speed who are very upright in body & weave with their heads high. Cathy's Snazzy would be one, can't find any recent video online of him weaving Another would be Rob's Wings: OMG check this out, very unorthodox style but WOW

How are you resizing & what size & Resolution? And are you sharpening before or after resizing? Both these things will make a difference as to how sharp something looks. I think that last pics was very sharp, just different light & a more distracting background to Wag's

A shame the article did not further clarify the link between puppy farmers & pet shops. I fact I think the whole article was fairly poorly written, touched on a few things but did not send any real message or advice to Joe Public. Did not Adequately differentiate between puppy farmer & registered breeder, failed to adequately explain that health issues are more than a one off, failed to explain adequately conditions & quality (lack of) of life for the breeding dogs or puppies etc.

I have heard excellent things about Raelene from people here as well as overseas

I know exactly how impossible it is with a dog like Abby. I tried to get Trim to sit stay forever! for agility. Can't help you, I gave up I reckon if they have a default down on sheep, it's near impossible to train a sit stay in any situation where they show intensity. Shine was easy but she is much more upright on sheep. The steady feet game might work and the fact that you need it for a boring situation might calm her a bit.

Yes. I have been emotional over my older 2 for a while now. We lost our beautiful Zeus a few days ago at 14 :) I have lots of beautiful photos & video of him but right now I would swap it all to have him back smiling up at me for a week. Noah is only a few months younger and we always thought he would go first. although he doesn't seem unwell, the thought of losing him is terrifying. I don't think I will ever have 2 dogs so close in age again, way too painful.

Well done AD & CK he is looking so happy when he runs

I don't have the book, just borrowed it for a couple of hours. If you have any other exercises from it that you like Amypie, feel free to share

Just trying to trick you

If you were to look up the line from the tunnel exit: The first time the jumps are straight The next time you move the first jump a couple of inches to the left, the 2nd one a couple of inches to the right, 3rd a couple of inches to the left etc The next time, rinse & repeat In the end, the inside uprights are basically in a straight line Make sense?

After 2 weeks at the beach, we are back to training today I saw this exercise in the new Mecklenburg book You start with the jumps in a straight line & then offset them. I expected Pep would need lots of very gradual repetitions to find the jumps, but she surprised us & so far is going one for one with Trim & Shine. She's such a clever pup!

Back to training today I saw this exercise in the new Mecklenburg book You start with the jumps in a straight line & then offset them. I expected Pep would need lots of very gradual repetitions to find the jumps, but she surprised us & so far is going one for one with Trim & Shine. She's such a clever pup!

We just got back from 2 weeks camping at the beach. Pep loved it! Her first big camping trip. There are lots of dogs where we stay & she was very well behaved with them, she was also excellent with the multitude of small children who now love her! Other than one big seagull chase she was great on the beach & took to the water like a duck! We learnt that she can jump OVER the Xpen very easily, but only if her best friend Shine is taken on a walk without her. She settled well & was very happy to hang around the campsite with the other dogs. Of course...she slept with Chloe in the tent every night , cuddled up, just like she is at home

I got this for Christmas from a special DOLer. One of the best books I have ever read! Has anyone else read it? Did you love it?

Shine is my dog with really great social skills, although they are all pretty good. We have only ever encountered one dog who doesn't like her. Most dogs who don't like other dogs seem happy to hang out with her. She has a bunch of dogs who turn themselves inside out when they see her at trials. Not really sure why as she can be quite bossy. She is aunty to many agility puppies & makes it her job to meet every new puppy at trials & let each crawl all over her. She keeps everyone in line here & will discipline the other dogs if I'm not around. Even the cat we inherited (who swipes at any other dog who comes close) seems to feel totally secure with her & allows her to lay beside it & nudge it. If any of our other dogs so much as look at the cat the wrong way, she places herself in between & tells the dog to bugger off.

How is she this morning?

About time you found something that rattled that horse! she is cute! Bears an uncanny resemblance to a dog I have here hope she settles soon

VERY well deserved! Congratulatons Lisa :D thank you for spoiling our dogs rotten, for the photos & videos you email while we are away, for the quality food & special meals you cook the fussy eaters and for the play, exercise & love you give to them. For the first time ever, I don't stress about leaving my dogs.

I suspect amateur wasn't the best choice of words but I know exactly the type of people Dasha is referring to. They are the ones whose dog never improves they are the people who never recognise that their dog is not suitable they are the ones who yell & scream, chasing their dog constantly with a stick they are the ones who do not seek to learn more about working dogs or even realise there is more to learn they are the ones who never attempt to learn about sheep & instead think of them as no more than a means to their dog having fun they are the ones who think it's ok to come every week with a muzzle on their dog they are the ones who treat experienced trainers with disrespect they are the ones who come with a picnic purely to have a day out with their friends they are the ones who put photos of their dogs chasing sheep with intent on their websites they are the ones who advertise their puppies as suitable for herding since the parents chased sheep around a yard once a month for a couple of years. I envy the state of Victoria if they don't have these people. Maybe we could send you a few of ours.

Totally agree, but I would take that even a step further and wonder what people feel they have to gain, by attempting to train a dog in an activity for which it is unsuited. I don't have an issue with amateurs trying their working breed out on sheep. Everyone starts as an amateur at some point & an amateur handler & green dog can develop skill, a promising future & a lifelong passion. What irritates me is when people persist with a dog who is clearly never going to develop into any kind of useful stockdog. What is the point? Just so the dog can have fun? at the expense of the stock? Is the dog truly having more fun than it would in a variety of dogspots? I guess where I am different is that I don't think of sheepwork as a dogsport, like I do agility or flyball etc, probably primarily because my dogs don't think of it as a fun sport. It is much more serious to them than any game or sport we could play & I respect that with them & for them. I believe there is nothing more beautiful than a sheepdog working with talent, skill & instinct... I also believe there is nothing more awful than a dog who is either out of control & dangerous to stock or a dog who performs with robot like obedience on stock, even if they do no harm. I don't mean the above to be offensive, it is just how I feel.

I don't think dogs are capable of addiction