Ptolomy

I have no idea what you are talking about - please explain.......

Well done Seita - its hard to describe these light bulb moments - but they are really obvious when they happen and I wish I could bottle them. Have to say I have helped lots of people with scent and BC's usually take the longest to "get it". No idea why.......

Gees Katie - you want everything As Ruby becomes more confident she will stop picking up the wrong article and will keep searching until she finds the one with the hottest scent - so hang in there. You have to remember all of your articles will have your scent on - just by you leaning over the articles as you put them on the ground - your scent will be all over them. AND it was only a week ago that she had no idea about smelling them it was more of a case of snatch and grab. Next time you do the scent articles - put 5 unscented metals out straight away and send her for the scented one. Do this once - then pack them up. Next place out 3 unscented woods and send her for a scented one. If she gets it right, add the rest of your woods and send her again. So now you have done 3 "finds". Then.......using tongs place out 3 unscented metals and 3 unscented woods and send her to find a scented metal. If she gets this right then send her to find a scented wood. Then pack the game away. Good Luck.....

My suggestion to anybody wanting to get into trialling and not sure what needs to be done or how to go about it - is to go and watch a CCD and novice ring - watch each of the exercises and watch the handlers. Then go and watch a UD ring and watch the handlers as the handling is usually much better by this stage. My next suggestion would be to go an book yourself an hour private lesson with a trainer - hopefully by doing this the trainer will be able to give you things to go away and work on and will be able to correct any bad habits before they become ingrained. Good Luck and don't be affraid to ask lots of questions of other people trialling.

I find that a dog who knows the scent game usually doesn't have any problems with a new set of articles. I also find that I can use the same set of articles day after day and not have a problem - but I am talking about an experience dog here. Katie - I suggest that you tonight you stick all the metals out and give her 3 attempts at bringing back the correct one. If she gets it right - then pack them all up and stick out 2 woods, 1 scented and 1 unscented and start buiding up the number of wood articles. But limit the number of attempts you do tonight to 8 at most. (Yes I am picking a number - just so that you don't fall into the trap of flogging it). The idea is to quit while the dog is still successful and wanting to do more. At some point, if the dog does a particularly nice scent retrieve - it might be the time to introduce a jackpot and give her half her dinner as a reward.

My son used to make and sell sets of articles, so I would take all the mistakes , or the off cuts, not worrying if they were knurled or numbered incorrectly. I use these for teaching and training at home. I also have off cuts of woods and leathers. You should find that once the dog gets the concept with the metals, you probably wont need as many woods, unless the dog decides to munch on them. It might actually be an idea to go to Bunnings and buy a length of 19mm jarrah and cut it into 15cm lengths to use as a practice set. The dog wont care if they are a little bigger than what is allowed and the fact that the edges aren't smooth. With leathers - go to the Good Sammies and buy a handbag for $2 and use the shoulder strap as practice leathers. Otherwise you can go to a leather place and buy a small bit of leather and cut your own.

From memory - I think with the dog scout method if the dog brings the wrong article back or pick up the wrong one you are supposed to remove it and not use it again that session. Which means you need a truck load of articles. I would go back to using the cans again when you do your next session, and then remove them again when you have a few articles down. I just think the cans tend to stop the snatch and grab.

LOL Rubystar - so glad about the light bulb moment, you really can see it - but the first thing that came to mind when I was reading what happened - was talk about flogging it Have to say.....you need to know when to pull the pin before it goes pearshaped. Next time start with one article and do it once, then add another article and do it once, then add a third and do it once and then a forth and do it once - that is assuming that each time she is bringing back the correct article, then you can go for a 5th article and leave it at that.

When there is just one there it is easy - at some point usually when there is 3 or 4 articles out there - they stop and start sniffing - keep going for another day or two and see what happens.

In the ring, you can use your dogs name and talk to it to get its attention before exercises start, but once heeling, the only things you're allowed to say are the commands heel, stand and drop/down. You can pat and praise only after the judge says exercise finished, so you can't do any of that during exercises unfortunately Bugger I say! And no, no food reward is allowed in the ring. Or toys. Only your hands for reward between exercises. You can also say your dog's name in the recall to get it's attention, but there must be a distinct pause between using the dog's name and the come command. That's all right isn't it, Ptolomy? You are spot on Rubystar - but in these practice trials you can use food and toys. In trials, I make a point of playing with my kids between exercises - touch games, spins, pats, scratching the back, telling them I am going to get them - so it becomes a game.

Definitely not - I have a similar thread a few pages back asking for advice and I still haven't been able to crack it (though I've only tried it a max of 2 times a week so I don't push it while she still doesn't understand). I might give the cans idea a go on the weekend, though! Katie don't wait for the weekend - go give it a go now - put 4 cans out - stand them upright and 1 scent article and send her to fetch. Do this twice and reward and then add a second non scent scent article, try again and let us know what happens. It might be best if you get somebody else to put the cans out or use a towel to pick them up and place them out.

Are you letting the dog see you put the article out - if she is searching the back yard - I would say she definitely has no idea what she is suppose to bring back. I wouldn't be putting out woods and leathers yet since she doesn't understand the game of bringing back the one that smells like you. You will find that if a dog is going to chew articles its more likely to be a wood or a leather and so far I have found that leathers are usually the hardest of the articles for the dog to find. Let us know how you get on - good luck!

My kids get food rewards and truck loads of them at every training session we have. In fact I always have food in my pockets. I believe the art is keeping them guessing when you are going to dish it out.

My suggestions is to not use a mat! I would then say I would never use tiedowns because the dogs learn very quickly which articles and tied and which aren't. Try putting out some things that don't look like scent articles eg cans of food, along with one scent article and see what she does. When she is reliably bringing back the scent article, leave the cans out there and add another scent article and see what she does.

I find it a bit sad that there's nothing local. Do people think there's any hope of training up someone . . . eg, taking advantage of k9 force expertise? but getting a group together? btw, I was first impressed by e-collar training on a forum for Chesapeake Bay Retrievers. High drive dog, much more alpha tendency than Labbies. Poorly suited to WA because their coats are very thick and they are water nuts . . . not to mention being a bit hard for the average Joe to handle. . . so I settled for Labbies. On the Chessie forum, someone was talking about being able to halt a Chess mid-retrieve and get it to respond to a recall. Others confirmed the experience. That is impressive. Sandgrubber - the reason why there is nothing local - you will find that WA is the most "Positive" training state in the whole of Australia - we have several of the best obedience trainers here who all use positive training, getting results - so you would struggle to find anybody who would even considering using an e-collar. Anybody who did would certainly not be advertising the fact. I do know several retrieving people who have gone the e-collar route and all of whom have had to buddy up with somebody in the Eastern States to learn how to use it. I believe K9 Force has been here before - no idea what happened to the people who attended his seminar - you would have to ask Steve.

Loraine - Vetwest does titre testing but they are expensive ($118 for parvo and distemper). I know Mundaring Vet also titre test ($90 for parvo + distemper) and I have also had titres done at Lark Hill 3 years ago and they were $64. We run a boarding kennel and accept titres tests - and I know of a few others in Canning Vale/Southern River who also accept them.

LOL Blaize didn't quite make the centrefold but she did get 2 photos in the latest K9 Mag. Scoota is towards the back with Brooklyn his travelling mate. Snooker and Gambler titles are 2 of the agility games they now have. So you start off with novice snooker and then go to excellent snooker and then masters snooker - There are a few games trials coming up in March and April.

I think the frist practice session I worked lexi - we had been having start post and heeling issues (which never happen in training) - anyway I get to the start post, remove my lead, the judge says are you ready and I reply and then she says forward and lexi left the post her tail wagging - so I said jackpot and pulled a container out of my pocket and rewarded her there and then. The look on her face was priceless. We then left the ring both of us very happy. So don't be affraid to stop and reward. Also to jackpot for extra special efforts. People often want to go through the whole round without rewarding to see how the dog will go - however - this is not a trial, you will not get trophies or sheep stations if your dog does it. You are better off keeping the dog guessing as to when you are going to reward - rather than waiting until the end when you leave the ring each time.

On this, I have been doing a bit of offlead heelwork with Ruby and we've done a few extra exercises past CCD as you know - does this mean I can try my hand in the Novice practice ring as well as CCD to satisfy my curiosity on some things? :cool: Not saying I will, cos if our last practice trial for CCD is anything to go by it's not a good idea to embarrass myself any further, but just thinking about it is all Are you calling any rounds at the practice trial? You pay $2 and can go into any ring you like. I would suggest that you do give Novice a go and perhaps at the next trial you might have done a bit more open work and might be able to give that a bash. Remember, you can take food/toy in and reward the dog at any time. The rounds are supposed to be called by judges, but usually there are so many people waiting to have a go they ask me to help with CCD, so I will be there, and you may possibly get me (if you are unlucky!) Have to say when I have called rounds in the past that most of the novice/CCD people are so nervous when they come into the ring that they usually forget all about their poor dog on the end of the lead and don't reward at all. Something to remember is that this is a chance to make it a fun and a pleasureable experience for the dog - so do take advanatge of being able to use food/toys., and remember to breathe!

Labrat - On the 30th January (from memory) there is a show n go being held at the K9 grounds in Canning Vale. You may not be up to that standard yet - but you can have a look at what goes on in each class. As long as you are a member of K9 - you can pay $2 and enter any of the rings and somebody will call a round for you. You can take food or toys into the ring as well.

Jump on a plane and come to WA ........a day with the guru is worth its weight in gold!

HMM tough question - tossing a coin here Winning UD at the National Obedience Championships and coming second in open was definitely the highlight - I was so excited I kept phoning and texting family and friends back home. Then being able to compete in the winner of winners with a dog I woke up, got out of the car and then reved him up with twisties, and have him perform his little white socks off still makes me smile. But the one that blew me away .......would have to be Blaize taking out Winner of Winners at the State Obedience Championships - she is either brilliant or bloody awful and that was her night.

Are you free Sunday after 6pm?

How windy was it when you tried doing the 5 articles Rubystar? It is possible the scent had blown onto the article next door, but it is also possible the dog has no idea.

Lablover - which BIG Trials were you at? I know what you are saying - I was hanging out for the last trial of the year which was mid December. My kids now get 6 weeks off and we are enjoying every minute of it.