Ptolomy

Agility Dogs - thanks so much for your run down on CK, his performance and how you got the best out of him. You deserve a BIG pat on the back for turning what could have been a disaster into a memorable weekend. Well done to both of you

and bubbles - as I have led her astray I called it distraction training

Woo Hoo top effort Rivsky and go the little red dogs. Masters will be like a walk in the park Good luck

ACWA have a pre trialling class on a Tuesday where they are running sequences - are you in this class yet?? If not then IMO you are definitely not ready to enter a trial yet You will also find tyres and collapsable tunnels in all novice courses - so your dog really needs to be confident on these before entering. In WA you can also enter as NFC (not for competition) which is half the normal entry fee - you still get to have a run on the course but you are not actually competing or elligible for a pass. On your entry form you just mark it NFC ;) Really there is no need to rush as there are always plenty of agility trials. But if you want something to aim for - then perhaps having your dog ready for novice at the National Agility Championships at the end of April - might be just just the way to go Good luck

:D Did somebody say i-Squeak Seita - are you planning on stocking both sizes. Ness - you are right currently they are so much cheaper getting them from Clean Run - especially if you don't have to pay postage. :D and they are very hard to find in Oz. Amypie - you have to buy at least 1 to give it a try

Best thing I have found to improve the pick up..... Leave the dog in a sit stay walk away and drop the dumbell, keep walking about turn so you are facing the dog and then ask the dog to fetch - so basically you are asking the dog for a recall with a fetch. The dog doesn't have to worry about the turn at all and it just seems to help with the timing. You can vary the distance on how close you drop the dumbbell to the dog or how close it is to you.

Woo Hoo - I just saw your post to the oz obedience list. Any pass in UDX is a terrific effort - well done I would love to hear about the problems you have had and how you have worked through them

Hmm scratching head trying to pull something positive from today. My little open girl was used as a stand in for UD stays. Usually I would have had to stay with her, but today the judge said remove your lead, so I did, and then are you ready, and leave your dog - so I did, and she managed both the stand stay and the 7 minute down. So I asked for a stay credit for 3 weeks time when we enter our first UD trial ;)

You should be tickled pink with Leo's UD debut To complete so many of the exercises is a credit to you and his training. The hunting for the seekback when you send them to the box is a real novice dog thing. Well done on Kinta's 1st place - she will be in open before you know it ;)

I will see how many I can fit in a padded postbag

Hey afrisandreams - your dog was not the only one not to work well - lets just say the toller tree is very FULL today It was funny weather - blowing a gale and a lot of dogs were away with the fairies Good to hear that the judge was helpful and just remember this was your first trial - so it can only get better from here

For a younger dog the local primary school oval after school is usually a great place to start for distraction training. You will usually find that the kids are so keen to help and you can get them to help with SFE and taking the lead at the start post, figure 8 posts and scent if your dog is up to that.

Good luck tomorrow Africandreams Your judge is lovely BUT will try and engage you in small talk and will offer you lots of training advice. Make sure you don't forget that you have a dog on the end of your lead who you should be paying attention to. Looking forward to hearing how you get on. Come and say hello - I will be the one running from ring to ring ;) GOOD LUCK

When Ptolomy tells me she is ready ;) , which at the moment is when she learns to keep her back end in and stop heeling me in a crooked line . Kenzie is a work in progress isn't she Sal ;) She has a few bad habits that have cropped in that need fixing - no need to rush her. As one of the first people who helped me would say - three trials and you can be into open, three more and you are into UD - whats the rush

Shopping Centres are the best lots and lots and lots of distractions. The people shopping, the kids, the shopping trolleys, the cleaners, the delivery vans, the cars in the car park the list goes on and on and on. If your dog can cope in this situation a normal trail situation should be a breeze. and lets face it most people are impressed by a well trained dog ;) now how many times have people offered their dog for you to train ;)

Lablove you have some terrific successes there - BUT the Bestest would have to be finishing at the Nationals last weekend. I heard that after the first day there were only 11 dogs out of 49 left. SO HUGE CONGRATULATIONS - GO THE GIRLS (in a very male dominated sport!)

Yeah I know I would think about the royal canine but the others no , there all grain , royal canine is too actually. Fresh mix adult , look I think the food is great but it also has to be easy to purchase , Im hopeless I know I'm getting low and I just keep forgetting to order 2 new bags and then you relise you have 2 maybe 3 days left and then the stockist is out of stock... Yeah, I've noticed that about Royal Canin. Hills too - first ingredient is corn. Have you got a Petbarn near by? One that might be worth trying is the Dick Van Patten stuff.. not a lot of grain if any. I think they use potato as the filler. First ingredient in the Advance adult is chicken. I feed a fair bit of raw chicken so I feed other kibble. Yes I have tried it but my shepherd has the usual sensitive tummy and it didnt work, No one out here has even heard of Artemis and when Ive asked them would they stock it and get a no all the time , look California Natural might not work for her and I will have to stick to Artemis but i just wanted some reviews on it and then see if Ill give it a try. Advance has chicken which is 80% water it would be better if it was chicken meal. I use the Herring and Sweet Potato 4-5 mornings for breakfast for my allergy girl. Its the only dry food she can eat with breaking out. I have been using it for a couple of years now and I am happy with it.

OH OK back in my box for another week

Terrific scores Seita and Leopuppy well done to both of you. Leopuppy - no mention of Leo?????

Dare I ask who your judge is????

We had the South Australian judges at the States/Nationals last weekend and if you were heeling and you called you dog up usings its name - it was exercise finished

Africandreams - I am not sure which trial you have entered but just in case its the West Coast Challenge - it is listed in the K9 News as being at the GSDA Grounds when in fact it will be held at K9. Good luck and let us know how you get on

You can get a parvo only vaccination - if thats the route you want to take. The vet will probably have to order it in though.

Shhhh Ness - thats our secret weapon Mr Alex is the only toller I know that can disappear, leap on a table, remove a lid off a plastic container and consume multiple pieces of cake in the blink of an eye. Hmm I am not sure if there is a title for this or not :D he would certainly have his masters title multiple times over by now :p

BIG congratulation to Caffy and Alex on gaining their Masters Strategic Pairs title today. I got all excited thinking we could now retire but apparently we will be blowing the dust off the boys for the agility nationals