sheena

I would be trying the crate idea, but make sure you do plenty of crate training with him & make the crate a real fun place to be. The crate has to become his place of sanctuary, somewhere where he can feel safe from all those things flying past the window....before you put it in the car. Cover it over (maybe just leave one end out) & just make small trips to start with. Susan Garret puts out a really good dvd called Crate Games. Travelling in a car can be really scary for some animals...imagine all those things outside wizzing past...trees, fences, poles, animals, not to mention cars & trucks.

I have a little brag....two weeks ago I posted in frustration a plea for help after a weekend trial held in the middle of a greyhound track. All weekend I couldn't get Bindi to focus because of all the distracting smells of the dogs & rabbits etc. The whole weekend was a disaster & I was in fear that Bindi might have "turned off". :p For the following 4 days, I did 10 minutes a day with her in a very exciting (smell wise) part of the farm, with a clicker & a big bag of treats. When she would put her nose to the ground, I would call "here" then click & treat as soon as she turned to me. By the 4th day, she was putting her nose to the ground then turning to me, before I had time to call "here". This last weekend was the tester with another trial in a distracting (rabbit) environment. We did 6 runs over the weekend & came away with 3 third places & a "Q". We were under SCT in 4 runs & were only disqualified in one run, when Bindi had a nasty fall on the second last jump (the sun was in her eyes) & I carried her off the field. :D I am so proud of my girl :D

DAY 4...went really well. I took her to a more distracting place, around the dam & only had to give a little tug on the lead once. She gives me her attention straight away & doesn't bother going back to the smell Probably have to start fazing out the treats soon & take her to where there are other dogs around doing their own thing. One side benefit of all this, is that I now have a dog who walks lovely on a loose lead

You can get collars that are remote controlled. You hold the control...he barks..you press the button as you give your "quite" command & the collar vibrates, it is not an electric shock, just an annoying vibration which gets his attention. Also a hand held ultrasonic device is an excellent tool. You use it in the same way, except this time he gets an annoying ringing in his ears. Don't use it though if you are near any other dogs ie within about 20ft as they will not understand, what they have done wrong. Make sure you give you command at the same time you push the button. I used both these tools on my dog when she was young & I can take her anywhere & she is well behaved. When she barks now, I know it is important & I investigate. You can also use one of those hand held squirter bottles the same way, only problem is you have to be close to the dog, but you can always set her up for the situation. It works wonders & is cheap. The other two devises you can buy on Ebay.

Hi Vickie, I am not sure where this lady lives, but she goes to most of our trials & I have spoken to her on occassions...usually to tell her how I admire her being able to keep her cool & be so upbeat when it is obvious the dogs are doing their own thing. This is my third day of trying the "click & treat". I take her down to what we call "the cattle camp", (we live on a property). For a dog it is the most exciting part of the farm as there are smells from rabbits, foxes, kangaroos, dingoes & possums, just to name a few. When she puts her nose to the ground I call "here" & if she lifts her head & turns to me I click & treat. First day went OK & she got the idea. The second day, not so good ...probably because I had rump steak treats instead of baked liver. Today, I took her on a lead, & it worked much better. The idea of the lead, was if she didn't respond to my voice immediately, then I would give a gentle tug to get her attention, then say "good girl," but no treat. Then immediately give her the opportunity to earn another treat. I only had to use the lead tug twice & I noticed that she was even lifting her head after detecting a smell & looking for the treat before I could ask her.

Sounds like you are on your way to achieving it. Just know that it will take time. If you are getting her revved up (I like to use a word, like "Ready") to let her know fun will begin, you asking for achievable things, are rewarding often & remaining upbeat, she will improve with each session. Soon she will be loving it so much that she won't even notice the smells on the ground. It's good to remain positive about her mistakes. Is any dog really making a mistake on an agility course? I was chatting to someone about this today. I believe that each time you take a dog back to redo an obstacle they have failed or missed, each time you slump your shoulders, or groan etc...you are decreasing their motivation & their trust in you as a handler. If a dog makes a mistake on course, then it always means more work needs to be done either in improved handling or training. The dog should really never know they have done it wrong...b/c they haven't, we have...either in handling or training. I do believe there are a couple of exceptions to the above. We have a lady comes to our trials & she is a joy to watch. She has a couple of dogs she runs & she is so "up beat" all the way round the course...when the dog goes the wrong way, she has a party. Thanks Vickie & all the other DOL's, I really appreciate your advise & encouragement. I agree, there is no such thing as a bad dog, it's always handler error. Bindi is a great dog, I love her to bits, & if I can fix this "distraction" problem I will be over the moon, & I think she will enjoy things a lot more too.

Keeping in mind I know nothing (and I emphasize on nothing) about agility, I find with my dog once I get her 'up' and working in drive she simply doesn't notice distractions lying around. For example last night at training we put an open bag of stinky luncheon roll under a cone. Simply walking her past it Daisy went crazy, she could smell it instantly and went mad trying to sniff it out and had she not been on the leash I am 110% certain she would have tipped the cone over within seconds. I revved her up and got her in drive and walk her around the same cone so close she was touching it and she didn't even glance at it never mind put her nose on the ground to scent out the food. It wasn't a conscious decision to ignore it - but because she was so focused and switched on and aroused, she simply didn't think about it. I can do the same thing walking past people crouching on the ground waving food at her. That's what I want to know....how do you train it

I want to be able to know that if there was a fried chicken sitting in the middle of the course, they wouldn't even notice it. I would much rather DQ on an awesome run than win on an average run. The dog's perception of the game is everything. That's exactly how I feel & want to find out how to achieve it.. I took her to training last night & made the whole session a real party...really upbeat & excited about even the mistakes & she seemed to love it (instructor might have thought I was going around the twist). I am so glad as I was beginning to think she might have been going "cold". I just want to see her having fun, but I would really like to be part of her fun all of the time, not some rabbit or faraway dog on another course. ;)

How long has she been trialling for? Do you have equip at home? and what are you using to reward her in training? If it were me I would spend every second of my training increasing her enjoyment of agility. Reward more often & reward with things better than you have ever offered before. are you training the focus on you? or the equipment? I never want to teach my dogs to focus on me for agility. but I spend lots of time setting them up in front of a jump & releasing only when they look at the jump & rewarding for that. I want forward focus & looking for obstacles. 2 weeks is not a long time to fix an issue like this. I would be working LOTS of small sequences ie 3-4 obstacles and rewarding heavily. Also I would set up some speed circles so that she can always see what obstacle is in front of her, making it really really fun to feel the wind in her hair. If she misses obstacles, don't worry, just keep running. Depending on how she is going by the time of the trial I may look at just doing half a course at the trial rather than the whole course, so that she is more likely to stick with you. For instance if you have managed to increase her enjoyment of agility by 10-25%, then maybe half a course. If you have increased it by more, she may stick with you for the whole course. There are obvious sections on most courses where a dog will lose focus if they are likely to lose focus. These sections will often be after a straight line of obstacles. Dogs with focus issues will often keep going straight ahead when the handler turns. YOu can help by really talking/calling/getting her attention on these turns. Also make sure you are really running & not facing/watching her. If you babysit too much, your shoulders facing her will provide no direction & it will be easier for her to make other choices. Hope that helps & makes sense. She's been trialling since last September & has been doing really well, despite being destracted by what's going on around her. My OH videos my runs & on the replays I can see that when she takes an obstacle, she is looking out to the side (not at me) at what ever is going on in the next field etc. I have most of the obstacles set up at home & train for probably no more than 5 minutes twice a day, including flat work & mainly working just one or two obstacles. I mainly use roast beef or cooked liver, which she loves & also a ball. She is not a "tug" dog even though she enjoys a game it is not something she goes crazy for. She is almost perfect in training at home & responds well to my voice & body language, & I use lots of treats. We also go to school once a week. I noticed on the weekend that it was mainly at the corners or ends of runs of obstacles that she would lose focus & put her nose to the ground, & shut her ears off. I hate raising my voice & feel really bad about it when I do. I always call her on the changes of direction, but this weekend it just didn't work. Thought I might take her down the paddock where there are lots of smells...when she puts her nose to the ground, I will call her & as soon as she raises her head to look at me I will click & treat her when she comes to me. Then maybe set up a few jumps down there. I have thought about taking her off the course when she stuffs up, but not sure if she would see this as a reward or punishment for her behaviour Maybe she will grow out of it...she is a border collie not quite 3 yrs old...then again, maybe it was just an off weekend for her.

I've just had a weekend of agility trials held in the centre of a greyhound track, which is home to 100's of rabbits when not being used. The whole weekend was a disaster, with her going off after smells rather than keeping her attention on me. Anyone know how to train so that "I" am more important then "smells". I do a lot of "focus" training at home with treats & did some focus training before each run at the trial, but it didn't seem to make any difference. HELP I have another trial up there in a fortnight. ETA...most people had trouble with their dogs...not a high weekend for "Q"s.

What's the best way of starting out with getting your dog to walk backwards I think I remember in the Susan Garrett 2 x 2 weaves she says not to walk into them (can't remember exactly)

Can anyone help me out with dates & venues for Agility trials being held in northern Tasmania in the first half of the new year. I have looked on the Tas. Dogs website, but this only gives me dates & the names of the clubs,with no indication of the actual locations. This information is for someone who wants to go & have a look at an Agility Trial. She is living on the north western Tamar at Pebbly Beach.

I would try taking her on a lead to where she may encounter this situation...or even better ...set up the situation, but make sure the child is completely safe (ie. on the other side of a fence) Have with you a bag of yummy treats & in the other hand have one of those handy water bottle squirters. Be ready & anticipate as a second later for you to act & it is too late. When she starts to react...squirt her on the head with the bottle. If she has any brains, she will soon cotton on to the connection with her reaction to the childs noise & being unpleasantly squirted. When she is good & doesn't react, be alert & ready with the treat & praise. I used this method with my border collie who would go beserk & lunge at any little dog which barked at her, or children on skateboards etc. It worked even though she just loves water & loves to have the hose squirted in her face I think it is the sudden shock of it "oh dear, where did that come from " Now I can proudly take her anywhere with me, including dog trials, training & camping. If I think I might encounter a bad situation, I take along the bottle, but she only has to know it's there Good luck

I always had trouble trying to get my dog motivated with treats until I started making my own. If you are interested I will come back later with the full receipe, but basically it consists of ground beef liver, garlic, parmesan cheese & corn meal, all made into a batter & laid thinly in trays & cooked. Then cut up into small bits & stored in the freezer. Bindi would do headstands for it & it lasts for months.

Does anyone know where to get 4 way pvc fittings for extending our weave pole set