Rivsky

So glad to hear Beans did so well Ptolomy, you must be so pleased that all that hard work is beginning to pay off and by the sounds of it that first pass isn't too far away either!!!

Keep going with Ruby RS and hope 2010 is her year for solid SFEs for you!!

Well done Leopuppy, Leo and Kinta :D

Woohoo - well done Ruby and RS must be great to see all that hard work paying off

Well done to biker_girl as well on the rally-o and congratulations to Ness too on the end of year awards too, is a nice end to the year for you both :rolleyes:

Wow that is fantastic luvsablue congratulations!!

Out of the format from the Qld workshop I'm most interested in the training in drive and motivator topics. With the Qld one were all the topics given the same amount of time or was there more time spent on one or two of the topics than the others?

Fantastic stuff Agility Dogs and Tassie - what a super finish to the year for you and Kirra

I went to Stephens Terrace Vet at St Peters earlier this year and they were great - I assume you saw their details on the delta website but phone number is 8362 6688 if you didn't.

And yet another question.....

Does your dog actually know what a jackpot is - how do they react when you say the word???

and looking at Rivsky's post is there an age/stage/training level that you introduce a jackpot????

Yep both my two understand what a jackpot is.

I like to think of jackpots as an extra reward for extra effort from the dog regardless of their age, training level/stage - whether it's an exercise they know really well and have just done a spot on job with or had some extra distractions or something to work through and succeeded or it's a relatively new exercise that they've struggled a bit to "get" and the first time they do it well I will often use a jackpot as a way of communicating to them that whatever they just did was exactly what I was looking for and generally speaking have found that once I've been able to do this that they both have a much better understanding of that exercise.

I have read a few times though that some people don't seem to like using jackpots in the learning stages as they find it interferes with the dog's learning process and makes them less keen to do any work after that, so would be interested to hear what others have found with this.

I say jackpot and then either run to the container or get one out of my pocket - again in the hope that they won't constantly move off to a bag or area where the container is always kept as sometimes I might have it on me and sometimes I won't.

I've not had any problems with Riv running off in anticipation of a jackpot but I did do some work with him on saying jackpot, clipping on the lead and then running to the container so he has got the idea that the lead being clipped on comes before we move off to get the jackpot.

A question for everybody - if using food in training - do you have it in your hand (right or left) or pocket right or left, or in a container and why?

All of the above just so they don't always expect a reward to come from the same place.

I've been using the feather duster for Zuma recently since he seems to be obsessed by it - every time I open the cupboard where it's kept he stares at ever hopeful I'll either get it out or it'll fall out for him - at least we're getting some stay practice happening so I can actually use the it for it's intended purpose!!

River goes nuts over the hose so I use that as a reward with him pretty often and had a bit of success with a super soaker as well but it's not quite as good as the hose apparently.

Yep definitely interested.

Bugger about the sit stay Leopuppy, she sure did look happy out there which is great to see!

Ok got a problem - anybody got any ideas on crabbing heelwork. My youngster really struggles to keep her backend in when heeling in a straight line. In fact its almost as though she is pushing me to walk in the direction she wants to. This is despite lots of work on rear end awareness type exercises. She is better then she use to be but its particularly evident on her stands when she comes forward and squiffy. Anybody got any ideas on this one?

Did you try adjusting where you're holding your hand during heeling?

Rivsky - what is it exactly that you don't like about Rivs fronts and finishes - the fact that they are squiffy, or too far away from you or both?

What type of finish do you do???

Main gripe about his fronts is how far away they are at the moment and hoping I may be able to possibly fix them both at the same time.

He knows both finishes but only use the around the back one in trials.

Thanks dogdude that makes sense now.

I did try using 2 commands when teaching him the DOR but that threw him into a spin big time so gave up on that idea!

Hi Dogdude yes he has a NRM. Double signal is usually me bending forward slightly but think this has actually made the problem worse - or I bend my knees or drop my head.

So you'd use a NRM as they look like they're about to sit but before they actually do it?

Haven't tried having him find front position with hands down by my side - will give that and the chair a try too. He did struggle with the concept of following me in front position when I did try that one after watching the DVD.

I wasn't intending on trialling him when he was taught to sit in front on a recall so think I just used to call him with food in my hands and he'd come in after the food Definitely not the ideal way to teach it and not surprising that it's all fallen apart now but he did used to have a pretty nice position but because he was so focused on the food I doubt he was actually thinking about what he was doing

Hoping for some ideas and suggestions on fronts and presents please

How did you teach them and do you think you're dog actually understands where the position is?

Riv's fronts/presents have been bugging me for a while now and I know I'm a big part of the problem by giving him all sorts of double signals to get him into the correct position but thinking more about it I also don't believe he understands where "front" actually is - to me it seems like he's just randomly picking a spot somewhere in front of me and sitting.

I've been doing a lot of the go through game from the Chris Bach stuff with him and the 2 food game into front position and scoot sit stuff which helps in that context but so far haven't been able to get it to carry over.

How many of you feed your dogs prior to trialling or training???

and your reason behind doing this is......

Never feed prior to training (but they will have had breakfast that day) and give a small meal before leaving for a trial mainly because it may be a long wait until you get in the ring and I know I find it hard to concentrate and function properly myself if I'm hungry so it's really to make me feel better more than having any firm theory behind it :D

Well done to everyone who's had a brag recently whether it's for agility, obedience, flyball or everyday stuff

Way to go Gabby with Xena98, must be really pleased with her getting 4/4 passes, fingers crossed for her JDM for you before the end of the year too!

Ness I'd be taking her straight into the ring with no warm up treats before going into the ring.

Leopuppy you and Kinta look awesome, no wonder she's been doing so well lately

Great stuff Rivsky!!

Now I hope to see you here for the Classic

Might leave that until a year when I've got Zuma trialling.

Although maybe I could use Alex to help me find Riv's on switch :p

Interesting that when we try and put our finger on why these rounds were special we each come back to attitude.

Now if we could only figure out how to flick the on switch for the "up" attitude before every round I think we'd all be very happy

This is mine... It's not brilliant, but it's sentimental for me. It was the last time Jedi and I were in the ring before his allergies hit. It may very well be his last decent appearance in the obedience ring.

TerraNik you guys did great, really hope you are able to get those allergies under control and get back out there again

LOADS of great work here guys and was awesome to be able to see Ptolomy in action in person and Rubystar so happy you got that round on video of Ruby's, she looked fantastic!

Alex and Caffy are just awesome as well and of course seen lots of Ness in person too and they've put some fantastic heelrounds together too, well done everyone

For me, my most memorable heeling round for little Riv is from Noarlunga this year I just loved his attitude that day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRllbIbyPOU