Vickie

I have very strict rules in my house regarding children & dogs. As well as my own 2 children (4 & 10yo) and my own 4 dogs, we regularly have visiting children & visiting dogs & puppies. Firstly I always refer to the dogs as being owned by the adult. eg Please move away from MY dog. My own children need to ask if they want to play with MY dogs. They are encouraged to co-exist & I make sure they know that any dog that lives or comes here is a NOT plaything for any child living or visiting here. If children are playing, running, throwing balls etc, dogs are somewhere else. If I am training dogs, children either sit quietly and watch or go somewhere else. If I am playing with children, dogs are either in a drop watching, or they are somewhere else. When we have a puppy here visiting or for training, my children have been taught that they are not to run around like loonies in the same area as the pup. If a pup runs & jumps at them, they are to turn away. Children's bedroom doors are closed & human toys are picked up before puppy comes. My children have never been allowed to correct any dog in any way. They are encouraged to ask dogs & puppies to sit/drop for a piece of food with owner's permission. And both children do more complex training with my dogs & some visiting dogs. I don't find I have a lot of issues with jumping or biting when puppies come. Puppies mostly jump/bite children because they are exciting when they run & scream. When my own dog's were pups, they were supervised & never allowed free run of a house full of children. A couple of the rescues I have had were surrendered for problems with children, too boisterous, biting etc. I had no issues with either of them coming here with the above rules in place. I think people often get a pup for their kids & expect everything to be perfect from day one. Small children running around & small puppies loose are a recipe for disaster, IMO. Not sure if this helps...as usual I have rambled quite a bit. :D

I am dabbling in stock photography. I hardly ever take stock oriented images, so need something to control lighting and allow isolations. I'm finding the high standards needed to get images accepted is putting me on a whole new learning curve.

Here is the link I followed: http://digital-photography-school.com/how-...sive-light-tent Mine is a bit cruder the the one in the link as I am careless & impatient :rolleyes: but it seems to be working. I think I will have a go at making one a bit bigger when I get a bigger box. I also need something a bit better for my backing so will get something when I am next at the shops.

:rolleyes: well there is an agility trial in Wagga, not this coming weekend but the next. 26th April. He sounds great. Any pics? I will keep my eyes out for anyone looking. There is a lady in Newcastle who trials a foxie & a tenterfield. I wonder if she is looking for another?

What area are you in Ceilidh? He sounds like a great prospect. Maybe you could take him along to a trial or 2 to show him off? Flyball might be fun for him too.

Great price??? can whoever Pm'd rubeedoo, PM me...pleeease. My jumps suck, I would love to get some at a good price.

Great post Pax. This is what I would do too. Increase the bond by training & proofing any commands with rewards. Dogs do not generalise very well, lots of dogs obey a command 100% at home but nowhere else if they have only ever been trained at home. Try going into your front yard or on your footpath & training sit every day for 10 mins. and then take it somewhere else etc.

I spoke to them recently. Their poles are 550mm (ADAA), but they said they can do them at 600mm (ANKC) for the same price.

Which is best really depends on you. Different clubs will suit different people for different reasons. I used to go to ADC Castle Hill & Paws4Fun. I now go to Nthn Suburbs & Canine Fun Sports. Each place has offered something different. I don't train with food much but I like to have the option if I want to use it for something specific. There are a number of other local clubs other than the ones mentioned above...Springwood, Deerbush, Sutherland etc. We also have at least 5 people who do formal private (and small group) classes in Sydney now & a few others who do so informally. It is great that we are getting so many options & "privatisation" can only help to increase overall skill levels.

Ooops, sorry. I thought she was wanting to set some stuff up to practise.

well you can...but it may not resemble what is typically a Novice course. Novice is generally a flowing course in a curve shape, generally has 1-2 changes of side, no obstacle discrimination, no tight turns or difficult entries onto contact obstacles or weaves. Minimum distance between obstacles is 4 metres. The rules are supposed to be the same in each state, there are some local trends but the rules for number & type of obstacles will be the same. A scramble is an Aframe. I will PM you a link to some Novice courses you can look at

I am another one who would like to add my thanks Your help and support is so much appreciated...it must be very rewarding for you to see a number of DOLers expand their skills and improve so dramatically.

I have a totally different way I just take them to a large area & ride slowly without a lead. It takes them about 2 minutes to learn that if they go in front of the bike I run into them! I also say "beep, beep" which means get out of my way at home, if they are in my way. Once they have learnt to mind the bike I can put a lead on.

My BC's range from 14-18 kgs. They get premium dried food some days, bones some days & leftovers other days. A cup of dried food per day seems to maintain their weight at a level I am happy with. I will take it up or down depending on what I feel when I run my hands over them. not sure about the coat but mine don't have "bum nuggets". I just brush the boys one a week or so to keep everything tidy, the girls have very little coat.

Helen Nicholsen has treated a number of agility dogs in Sydney. She is fully qualified with a Masters in Animal Physiotherapy & practices at various locations around Sydney. I took one of my dogs to her years ago & she treated him with great success. http://www.k9physio.com/ I had previously visited a greyhound guy with my dog & got a "quick adjustment" but the problem did not go away. Helen's solution took time & required diligent exercises from me, but it was worth it as the solution was permanent & I learnt a lot in the process.

yep, the nail clipping is a good one. I have always been able to clip the girls nails easily. Zeus is uncomfortable with it but resigns himself & just stands there. With Noah, I used to have to do them a couple a day as it was all I seemed to be able to manage. After my "your dog is a biter" revelation day, I decided that he would stand there while I did as many as I wanted! I think he still hates it, but his resistance days are over. The first few times were hard, a definite battle of the wills, but we got through it & now I can do them all in less than 5 minutes.

Will every dog take try to take a bone from any other? It may seek to get the bone but many won't try to take it. and even if Dog A does seek to take a bone from Dog B, is it necessarily a "dominant dog"? Sure it may be dominant over Dog B, as far as bones are concerned, but doesn't mean it will be dominant over all other dogs or all other resources. Surely the term dominance should only be used in comparative terms, most dogs will have some dominance over something. Looking at my 4, they each have different areas they dominate the others in. I could not call any of them dominant, although I think Noah comes close & most people seem to think he is. I think where it gets cloudy is that some rare individuals seem clearly dominant over all others, whatever the resource and these are the ones labelled as dominant dogs. I am sure there is a valid need for these individuals in wild species of animals but not sure if there is such a need for this in the dogs we have in our backyards. Doesn't mean every undesireable behaviour your dog exhibits is a quest for domination, "regardless of the wants of others". Lots of dogs pull to get to the park. Is that dominance? I doubt it. They're just pulling to get there, it continues b/c owner doesn't care, owner cares but doesn't bother to train, or most common, owner pulls back encouraging it. I have one dog that counter surfs. Yes she "seeks to get what she wants"...and she gets it often enough to keep doing it. I don't for a second think it is dominance and it is not "regardless of the wants of others" 'cause I certainly don't want it. It works purely & simply, so she will continue until I & everyone in my house learn never to leave food on the bench.

Great point! I had that in Noah many years ago. I went to do some training with someone I consider to be a very good dog trainer. Within 10 minutes she said to me "this dog is a biter". I was shocked & totally objected saying he had never bitten. LOL, she said "that's because, when he is uncomfortable, he gives you a warning (via eye contact or physcially struggling), you take notice of the warning & back off. He doesn't need to bite." She told me she could get him to try to bite her in a couple of minutes...and she did. There was no fear, pain, or cruelty. All she did was physically move him, he warned, she persisted, he tried to bite. I will never forget that day. It was a huge eye opener for me & totally changed my relationship with him & all subsequent dogs.

Here's an example of what I mean. Last night my husband stood at the door & said "OK, everyone let's go outside now" None of the dogs moved, he got annoyed & repeated with a few extra words. His first mistake, none of them actually knew he was talking to them. Second mistake, they had no idea what he was saying. He thinks they are dominant. Then my 10YO, rolls her eyes, gets up, says all their names & the word "come". Surprise surprise, they all came. . It drives him crazy...but the reality is, he is the average pet owner with "dominant dogs". I should also add, that if he actually uses words they understand, they will often still ignore him. They know that if he says "come" 3 times & they don't move, that he will give up, shake his head & walk away. There is rarely a consequence for them, positive or negative for obeying him.

you missed a big one here...often dogs don't do what they are asked b/c they don't actually understand what is bing asked of them. People forget that dogs don't speak English. The dominance discussion doesn't really interest me. If my dog doesn't do what I ask, it's either b/c they don't understand what I am asking or b/c I haven't made following that command worthwhile enough for them.

I use them regularly for agility training but also use tugs & frisbees. Funnily enough, I like them for the reason to Kelpie-i doesn't. I generally don't want the reward to come from me in agility, I want it to come from a direction the dog moves in. I will use a tug if & when I want to reward from my hand. I like tennis balls b/c my dogs do & b/c they are cheap & easy to get. I know I always have one in my car & Trim seems to find them wherever we go so she keeps me in supply.

can we have recent video Sam so we can see what he's doing? I think most dogs adapt a weaving style that suits them best naturally. Most experts would agree that bounce weaving is not slower or faster than single striding. I would not get too hung up about his style...as you said, he has come such a long way. I know a few people who tried to change their dogs stepping & regret it big time as their dogs lost confidence and ended up worse than before they tried to change it. LOL, a question...what do you think Trim does? no peeking on youtube either. I recently watched a video someone took of her weaving in slow motion...what she actually does totally surprised me.

Relax KC, no-one suggested you were brainwashed & no-one was being rude to you nor to GD & his system. The comment was aimed at a small group in NSW who are unwilling to accept that any method other than GD's could work.

not everyone Leopuppy, as with everything, it is the loud ones you notice who give the others a bad name.

I agree, forget walking him over the plank for now & concentrate on the end. You are doing great, it is not an easy thing to teach for the first time. ( if it were...lots of us would not have to retrain it later and there would not be so many people who have not achieved reliability). He looks like a very sweet boy and eager to please. Once he gets it, I think he will get it well.