Ptolomy

Tassie you continually make me smile with everthing you do with your kids. Well done to you and Rory

Yee har well done mate It was a tough day at the office and she is a credit to you. It was nice to have a little peep hole for stays too On UD you go......;)

LOL - I think STrauss has been talking to him - he chewed my cord into 2in bits while I was having a nanna nap one day. Thanksfully it wasn't plugged in! He would have been around the same age as Zac too

OOps I didn't see the previous thread. I guess it all comes down to how seriously you are with regard to competing. If you want to go out there, have fun and you are happy with anything over 170 - then yes I agree - don't worry about the fidgeting, the squiffy presents, the wide or lagging heeling....the list goes on. If you want the best you and your dog can be then why throw away possibly 2,3,4 points because the dog figited, when its not that hard to train it. I find the kids usually watch the direction I disappeared, and wait for me to come back For a short time I did have a problem with one of my boys (who shall remain nameless - Scoota) licking his willy and losing marks in a down stay. I told him I would cut it off and thankfully it stopped

How do your guys do their drops? Do they do the sphinx drops or roll onto one hip (either eventually or from the start) and then stay there? Lara, Beans, Lexi and Cider all do sphinx. Scoota and Strauss lay on a hip and they all stay how I left them

I don't want my kids being sticky beaks in stays .....I train them from a very early age to watch me and disregard what else is going on. Its all part of the distraction training we do. As for the moving from hip to hip......er - nope I would be going back to square one. OUr judges over here - once they know a dog is a fidgitter they will start watching and taking points off. Its much easier to fix this at the CCD - novice stage than later on.

I am trialling on Sunday with a dog that in hindsight didn't have great novice stays which a week after getting her title I put her into open and of course the sit stays fell to bits. Its taken me a couple of months to get to where I am today and I had to rebuild from scratch, so if she passes on Sunday I will let you know what we did ;) If she doesn't pass ....I will be back here reading what everyone suggests

I am getting him measured on Sunday - I am betting 52cm and he sure has grown. Still trying to find his "on button". Working Cider then him its like chalk and cheese.

Here is Strauss's 3 minute training session inspired by LuvLottie Strauss also sits too far away when he brings back the db and lately I have been getting backing up with it, lots of mouthing and spitting it at me. So I did some chair work tonight, then moved to the hallway where he did some pick up work and finally some sends to the mat...... It was tough because the tiles were slippery :D

LuvLottie - I love the jarmies ;) I am assuming that you haven't backchained your dumbbell, so started with Lottie sitting close, handing her the db and you taking it and rewarding, then processing to the db on the ground at your feet her picking it up, you taking it and rewarding??? The other thing that needs work is her pick up and to do this .....leave Lottie in a sit take a step away from her and put the db on the ground, take another step and about turn and ask her to fetch. The dog should be able to do a clean pick up from a step with 1 more step to present. You can then increase the distance, between the dog the db and you. This really teaches them to pick the db up cleanly without having to worry about a turn.

Distance control - I play with fire..... I taught Moo the marker on the ground was a land mine and I don't want him touching it. I know it could come back and bite me on the bum at some point, but so far so good......touch wood

I use a white plastic dumbbell. I used to use a wooden dumbbell for my old girl which had the ends painted white, but my dad made it and painted it so I have no idea what he used. SLLH - good to hear you have been out and about - all the distraction work will pay off in the long run so keep at it Did you ask the lady to repeat the SFE after your dog moved - or did you call it a day? Rally Valley looking forward to meeting Zora and seeing you at training again ;)

Just dropped in to say that the UDX fairy deserted me on the weekend too. Though Sunday was better than Sat. The only thing that I brought home with me was a nasty cold Sorry to hear that there was no UDX passes in WA but great news on the Open passes and lovely scores. ) Cheers OK tell us the gorey details - what exercises did you muff?

There has just been a rules review - so CCD will be staying for the next couple of years at least :D

Bedazzled I opened the popping bottle anyway - I couldn't let a good bottle go to waste and your open scores were worth celebrating! Maybe next weekend the boys will both pass since they seem to do things their way and together ;) I kind of wish I had been trialling this weekend as Moo is on fire, which means its ugly, but he doesn't run out of steam during distance control See you Wednesday....

Puddles - we do lots of work at a young age of setting rings up, walking into the ring and standing next to the start post, removing our lead and getting ready to take off and then jackpotting the dog. We vary the amount of time sitting at the post. So the dog actually goes into a trial ring expecting to get a reward and his favourite spot - is right next to the start post :D

Woo Hoo Kathq - its been a long time coming, I know you are almost bald but the feeling of that first pass must feel like you have won lotto. Well done mate and pat on the back to your little star Coco Enjoy cloud 9 ;)

Well.......? Look what greeted me at the mini garage today, how sweet of them to do that :D It's a awesome little car to drive, and it's weird, but good to have a manual again....must resist trying to beat everyone at the lights :thumbsup: I love it

TerraNIK - what made you decide to change breeds and YES he is beautiful - can't wait to hear more about him. SLLH - glad to hear you have sorted yourself out which had helped your boy

Do some practicing without the dog making sure you are stopping on the same foot each time, keeping your body straight and not taking a huge giant step before you halt. Then introduce the dog into the picture and see what happens.

I did ask my friends helping me at training when they put the cloths out to really overscent the decoys and that threw Scoota, so I stopped that pretty quickly, although he is way more experienced now, so not sure if it would cause the problem or not. There are a couple of people he struggles with, but even that seems to have improved and I have to say, touch wood that cloths he really does pretty well....... Now watch that come back and bite me on the bum at the next trial

I have only just seen this thread. Like everybody else I am shocked to read of your loss and I will miss you in the training thread. You did a great job with her and the house must feel so empty without her. Hugs to you xx

You are not going to want to hear this, but 9 times out of 10 the dog doesn't automatically sit because you are not being consistent in your footwork or are not cueing him in consistently. Any chance of a video ;)

How exciting Now you will have to be a regular visitor and let us know how training progresses over the next 6 weeks and how you go on the day. Don't forget the video ;)

Strauss's breeder has just sent me this link - its the same dog only a much clearer better video