RubyStar

Congrats ST and Ari on the bundles of joy!! Well done Ari!! Can't wait to see photos :D Happy Birthday, CC!! What a coincidence, I'm turning 21 this year, too! :p RosieFT, that sucks about the test Kids don't need that stress just yet. For my companion animal breeding class at TAFE, we have 2 excursions to breeders as part of our assessments. The first one was to a cat breeder, that was YAWN But the next trip in a few weeks is to a dog breeder. And not only that - a LABRADOR BREEDER!!! I'm so excited, more Lab puppy cuddles :D

we will see if we can twist some-ones arm to do itfor me :D I wanna see this! It will just make me feel even more slack with my Labs But I'm dying to see this! I love Paps

Well done twoblackdogs!! Trialling in another state would be exciting. Though I would find it daunting

Glad to hear Louis went well last night!!

Ruby doesn't have the ability to transition either so I may try this piece of paper thing :p It worked ok on a tile, so looks like the paper may be a goer. Sorry to hear about Kenzie RV, how exciting about a puppy! Jealous! :p I got a Royal schedule in the mail last week, but haven't even looked at it. I don't plan on entering this year.

Yep my girls work much better in cooler weather, and if it's night time, even better! I kept tonight very light and fun, and Millie was a bundle of fun. Ruby was too but she's just not as psycho as Millie They were very good kids tonight, so I've come home very happy! Ruby did a speedy DOR, probably the fastest I've seen her do, wahoo!! I've changed my drop signal back to my old one (will get you to check it over again Ptolomy ) because I find the girls are responding better to it. I just have to be conscious not to bring the signal in front of my body. Did some signals heelwork with Millie tonight, including COP at the end and she nailed it She's always worked better with signals over verbals, which makes life a bit easier when it come to UD I guess

Wow ok I had no idea that trials get harder as the season progresses Looks like I am going to have to think seriously about entering, otherwise I might have to put it off for yet another year Thanks for the heads up!! Ruby has only had one bird in the water, and she brought it all the way back and delivered to hand. I really do think that was a fluke!! (though she shook while still holding it ). That was at last year's Arthur River trial. This weekend I'll see if I can find some water and try it with a bird just in the water's edge Some photos of Ruby at training yesterday

Good to hear! I'm sure you'll have a great time trialing instead of just stewarding. Do you gun steward? I have found a good way to become familiar and comfortable with the gun is to gun steward at trials. Yes I've gun stewarded at quite a few trials, now But you don't get practice holding the gun in the right position to shoot being gun steward Well done on the NRA, mollipop!!!!!

I like it, so much easier on the phone than it was before, don't have to stretch the screen and stuff. But I do the majority of my posting on a computer. On your phone, you can go down to the bottom of the screen and change the skin. Your mobile will be using the mobile skin. If you want it how it used to look, change it to one of the other skins. I have had a few issues though with the skins... if I change it on my mobile, I got the mobile view on my PC and then I changed it back, I got PC view on my mobile. I was hoping it would detect what I am on and adjust accordingly. I think it is meant to do that, but just had a "blonde" moment. Hopefully it will work how it should!

Yep should be! You bringing James? :D

Well done to your boys and to rubyroo. We also had some promising new dogs/handlers in our training group yesterday. I really hope they stick with it! They all seemed very keen! There was a working springer there, awesome drive! It was a black/white coloured one, and for a second I thought it was a large munsterlander! Gosh they look similar.

Yes, I will definitely enter a trial IF I can get more water training in, then I plan on entering one before the season is over. I also want to do some water stuff with Millie in case we ever get a RATG held here. I'm still really crap with the gun Look like such a wally holding it wrong! I'm too busy concentrating on everything else in the walkup to get the gun holding right! But that is the least of my worries at the moment thank goodness

Zenith, thanks a lot for taking the time to write that out for me! That helps me a lot I'm definitely impressed with a Papillon going 10-12 km/hr! My Labs struggle at half that pace and their legs are longer! Yes they can run fast, but don't have the endurance to keep that up over several km's (yet!)

Great news emery! Sorry to hear about Wandy's toe, LabRat So I take it she hasn't started bringing those bubs into the world, yet? :p

I think she was just about to shake, actually

Had a training day this morning with the Retrieving Club, had a blast! Ruby's confidence to continue hunting if she doesn't find the dummy right away is increasing hugely! I've been having issues in getting Ruby to stop dropping the dummy at the water's edge, fetchindawgs can attest to that. Well today, I relaxed, smiled, got down on Ruby's level with my hands in my lap, and she actually came out of the water, and up the bank, still holding the dummy! Woohoo!! She did drop it and have a shake, but I quickly threw it back into the water's edge, sent her for it, crouched again, and this time she brought it all the way to me! It was a race to see if I could grab it before she dropped it, so her holds where water are concerned are still not there, but this is definitely progress!! Her coming out with it and making her way up the bank with it is huge progress! Here is proof I remained happy and upbeat! ;)

That sucks, bedazzled There really are some morons out there!! Glad you got Zac put away before anything happened! Not training related, but I'm sure some of you are aware that I refuse to give my dogs the small pleasure of a walk around the neighbourhood, because there are too many off lead dogs. Some are walking with owners (but nowhere near them), but the majority of them are just out wandering the street a couple of houses up to where they live. And some of them are NOT friendly. I get a panic attack now anytime one of them is out. So the only exercise my two get is at K9 where I can ensure their safety Although last night I took the girls for a bike ride around my parents neighbourhood, which is much better. Anyway, there is this family that live right at the top/middle of a T junction, and them and their kids and their DOG are always out the front playing. This street isn't quiet, many cars come flying down it. Anyway, I was at the corner waiting for a lady and her dog to pass (as I was on the bike, so I got off and waited so Millie wouldn't pull me off!), and just as we're about to take off again, the dog out the front of this house bolts across the road straight for us! 5-10 secs earlier and it would have been hit by a car! It went right up Millie's bum for a sniff, lucky she just stood there looking at me like get this thing away from me. The guy ran over to get his dog and apologized as he walked off, but I yelled back that it's actually their dog getting hit by a car I am worried about! About 45 mins later, I am out with Ruby this time on the bike. And yep, these people STILL have their dog out the front with them. I think it is going to take the dog getting hit by a car for them to realise that it isn't as well behaved as they think, that there are in fact times when something (like me and Millie for eg) will entice it over the other side of the road in the path of an oncoming car

Thanks for the explanations

I don't think you'll find diagrams of them, and even then, it may be hard to understand. The best thing to do is watch some obedience trial videos on youtube for hand signals

Way to go, Kathq and Coco!! I've been having trouble with Ruby bringing a dummy out of the water and to me, she always drops it at the edge and it has gotten me really uptight. Today, I totally relaxed, smiled, crouched down to her level with my hands in my lap and she came out of the water and up the bank with it So I'm hoping more of this and the present to hand the first time will just follow :D

I'm too scared to work my girls too far and too fast. We can only cope comfortably with a quick recovery time of about 3km's at about 6-7km/hr. So yes, still quite slow. If I can get them doing 3-3.5km's (as that is a set route I can take on local footpaths) without lagging at the end, I will increase speed, and then when they are doing that, increase distance. Does that sound ok? I am definitely not aiming for this year's ET, they are clearly nowhere near the fitness they should be, but if I work to get their fitness up anyway it can only be a good thing! I just want to do it right I'm just glad they are recovering almost immediately, I'd be worried if they were still panting for ages after getting home! Any advice would be appreciated Thanks.

Happy Mother's day everyone! Mmmm haven't been to Sizzler in a long time! I really want to try their breakfast buffet sometime.

I was under the impression that a show lead should blend as best as possible to the colour of your dog so it doesn't stand out - is that wrong or no longer applies? Or are these just leads you snap onto say a snake chain that does blend in so you can't see the colour around the dog's neck but you just have a pretty coloured lead in your hand? You can tell I'm not a showie But I might be one day and trying to learn this stuff I've already checked out their FB page and they sure are pretty :D

I did a lousy 5km tonight - 2.5km with each dog. But my butt sure is feeling it after the ride yesterday! Ruby is still such a princess. Starts limping dramatically on the road, her paws don't like it. So I ride her on grass and she's fine :rolleyes: She carries on like she has a rock in her paw but I check and she's fine.

What's my excuse then? Single and no kids and my night doesn't sound any more exciting! Yours actually sounds way better!