angelsun

Great to meet you. Your dogs are not only lovely GSD's but wonderfully working as well! (was talking to Tony about them and hoping that someone snapped a few photos as I know he would love to see them!) Would love to get back down again....very awesome group of people and dogs. Enjoyed both ends of Tassie!

Well although I'm not home yet, I wanted to quickly post about the Tassie seminar. I was VERY happy to have SUCH an enthusiastic group of potential Rally exhibitors/judges in attendance. Although the weather should have been horrid, inspite of the high winds, it didn't rain for the sunday outside portion and I had some GREAT helpers to chase down the occasional run away sign! Thanks so much to the Launceston Obedience gang for hosting this event. Everything (I thought) went very well. The venue for the lecture was great and it was nice to have the extra space to practice spirals and serpentines prior to the sunday run throughs! OK...so there were a few small glitches OUTSIDE the seminar including a slight power disruption, and a certain dog who will remain nameless but went "romin" and decided to "conquer" something in the woods and leave his mark....or perhaps I should say it left its mark! A bit of wind and a fencing problem also added to the excitement as well as having a slight experience of camping to remember things by! However in spite of a few things which now also included my departure flight being delayed four hours, we all survived the experience!! Thanks Jan for your hospitality (and Gail for the little touristy moments in greater downtown Deloraine!) as well as the club members who came out for Saturday supper for more of a chat and a visit! Am looking forward to getting back to the mainland and a nice hot shower .....but the charcoal chook was a nice meal and the wine went well with it although we forgot about the icecream....but it was lovely dining by candlelight......

(For Gipfel)Kes the GSD was bred and hopefully pups due around November 25th. This black and tan lovely was bred to a stunner from ACT (and a sable to boot) and we have high hopes as he's related to our young Tripp who has been turning heads.

Check chains are a tool like any other tool. Some dogs work very well and immediately on them, others fight it. Same with martingale leads or even flat collars. Like any tool, the operators either use them correctly or they don't and as a result the finished product either is correct or it's not. (like using a sledge hammer to put in finishing nails...will get the job done but doesn't look very pretty!) I have had dogs that start right off with check chains, including my new Pinscher girl, and others that needed other options. The real sign of a good trainer, be it for show or performance is whether the handler knows when to use another tool instead of forcing the issue. The other aspect of this is simply the ignorance of many out there that see check chains used (good or badly) and are death against them regardless and because they don't know anything about how they work. The bad words spread faster I"m afraid than the positive result information. So many obedience clubs banning check chains is a prime example. Now we see a large group of obedience dogs that are out of control and have horrendous heeling and behaviours because they have never been corrected, only rewarded. (another topic)

Dont worry about how well your dog is trained for a seminar..I'm not there to train your dog (although I find it hard to not give out tips during the event) but I'm there to train YOU to learn how to do Rally as an exhibitor or if you are an instructor, how to teach it and of course eventually how to hold trials. We have had as few as a dozen and as many as two dozen participate in the seminars so you don't have to have a mob to get this done.

Tiggy: If you can get your obedience club to organize it (it's not necessary but I have found that it is much easier to let the club do the organizing and registration as well as finalize my details) let me know. I've got not too busy of a calendar over the next while (forget October, it's totally SHOT!) I have an outline for the seminar that I send to the clubs interested that gives details in what I do, what everyone will be doing and what is needed for me to be able to teach it. We are still working very hard to get this recognized and I know that the follow up from some of the clubs has been wonderful. We are still working on getting more clubs to host the seminar, in order to spread the word of this fantastically fun sport!

Quick update for you Northern Tassie folks: Launceston is hosting the Rally Obedience seminar for Saturday Sept 26 and Sunday Sept 27th. For more information and to register please contact Jan at: [email protected] Townsville is October 17-18th and you can email for more info to: [email protected]

Angelsun German Pinschers expecting a litter October 5th (or thereabouts!) Now confirmed by Ultrasound.

Launceston (Tassie) is doing the final work for the seminar coming up in September. Proposed date is Sept 26/27th (not fully confirmed but we're working on that and should know in the next day or so, as I'll have to book my flight) Townsville is confirmed on the above dates. I'll have some contact details for anyone interested very soon, if they want to get signed up.

try adding a meal of carbs....cook up some pasta for example and toss in a can of tomatos for flavour, honey or whatever you havein the house. Give her a couple cups of that at bedtime so she can sleep on it. It keeps a long time in the fridge so a batch will you you a bit (it also freezes well)

Townsville is on for October 17th-18th. More details to follow for those up that way that want to get involved.

trying to get contact information to either of the ladies that attended the Gympie seminar from N.Z. Any help would be appreciated. BTW...working out the details for the October Townsville event and still picking away at something for Albury NSW (but it's a bit chilly and damp lately to be too serious about it!) Also, plans are in the works for something to happen in Northern Tassie but no dates at this point. Stay tuned for more info on this and don't forget to get signed up onto the Rally Down Under forum (URL found on page 12) Hoping to hear more about some of the clubs efforts now that some of the seminars are over and done with.....

Because the rules said so, I got used to a six foot leash. Mine are leather and the weight depended on the breed of dog I was trialling. For my smaller dogs, I used 1/2" wide leather. For the larger dogs I went up to 5/8". I show on either braided leather or nylon for my own breeds and use my 5/8" leather for the new Shepherd baby.

Short answer to both...yes. Break out the clicker if you know how to use one correctly. Thanks go to the Hollywood trainers that have been proving this can be done for years.....(happy dog appearing to be cross) As for the opposite....again....target a motion and put a command to it....I had a dog that would not wag tail in the ring....I taught said dog to wag on command....she still hated the show ring, but the tail was a wiggly blur and didn't go unnoticed by the judges....I knew by the look on her face she hated being there but the judge never saw that, only the waggy tail!

Here is Lacey taken a couple months ago at a show. She isn't the 'snapper' that her grandmother was but a licking queen like her mother.

Some dogs trigger off different things, but it sounds the same sort of behaviour. What can be different is when OCD comes into play and 'fly snapping' which is very common in Aussie sheps and border collies for some reason. In that case you can see the dog attempt to focus on an invisible fly and try to 'catch' it. This is a very different behaviour from the 'happy snappy' stuff that's happening here. I equate it to my breeds ability to smile, which many that don't know, think is a snarl and are quick to label the dog as aggressive.

Wow..he looks a LOT like his sister Lacey!

Some great photos in there! Want to publically thank the Sutherland Shire club for their hospitality over the weekend and all the work that Noella did to get this seminar off the ground! The weather co operated for the most part and the turn out and participation was wonderful. Nice to see such different breeds in the obedience ring and there were some very nicely performing dogs on Sunday.

I noticed that photo and that the focus was OUTSIDE the ring.....I will say, when he DID decide to work....he did very very well!

Lets hope it doesn't rain!!

Heel position is heel position, regardless of the size of dog (in my opinion) I've had numerous sized dogs and teach them all the same and that is not twisting and looking up at me, but to focus on my left leg. I found it keeps the sits nice and straight for the most part and my dogs never lose me during the first step out as long as I remember to use the left leg first (which has been drilled into my head for years)

On lead.

You go girl!! what you need or what I recommend re: obedience. If your dog can SIT, DROP and heel (fairly well) you can give this a go. Remember...I am not really here to train your dog, that's YOUR job...what I'm here to do is teach you HOW Rally works and what to teach your dog, and hopefully get enough enthusiasm going to see this thing happens as a recognized title sport here in Australia. Trisven13....pick an evening that works for you and your schedule, (after Monday coming as I'm up north til then) and let me give you a ring to chat about this more. I'm sure we can get something going.

Can't seem to shake much loose your way....there are a few still trying....not sure how far it's gone. If we can get a gang of a dozen, it would be worth it though. I know that billie (with the sheppie in obedience) has been working on trying to get the Albury club or shep club to go for it....will find out where that has gone to date. And yes....your girl might enjoy this....and you too!

It wasn't really cold although I never stop bouncing around so who's got a chance to get a chill doing that!! It was nice weather for working dogs....not too warm. I"m not sure those sitting and watching were as comfortable as I was though. Am hopeful that the rain goes away for Sunday....everyone up that way....push it down towards me....we need more anyway!