Jump to content

RubyStar

  • Posts

    13,424
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by RubyStar

  1. I managed to teach Ruby to turn and sit facing me for box sendaway work for obedience... perhaps I could get the whistle out and introduce it that way?
  2. Now with your sit whistle, is your requirement that your dog has to turn to you first and sit, or they can sit looking in any which direction? I would like to teach my dog that when I blow the whistle, she is to turn to look at me and sit immediately. Just wondering how I'd achieve the turn and look at me first portion, without confusing her If you do this already, how is it different to your turn whistle for field work? And thanks for the whistle links, guys, will have a look
  3. OK so most other sports seem to be creating their own threads, so it's about time the Retrieving folk got one for themselves Feel free to post anything Retrieving related in here! Training, trialling, brags, questions, etc etc! I thought I'd get the ball rolling because I actually do have a question I'm hoping some of you could help me with. I haven't started training anything with the whistle yet because for a start, I am not sure what the best kind of whistle is to buy. When you ask people, the answer generally is "whatever you're comfortable with", but there are soooooooooo many types of whistles out there, many not suited for retrieving, that it is a daunting task for a newbie to attempt such a simple task as purchasing a whistle! I bought a couple from Clean Run because I was told to use whatever, but they sound SHOCKING! Ugh! Can anyone please post up links to online stores that sell good ones and perhaps advise what brand/model you personally use and why? Lastly, I'm a bit confused as to what to teach to the whistle and how to do it. I know I need/want to teach a sit to the whistle, which I will be doing as one "pip", and then I need a recall one (type of "pipping" yet to be decided!), but is there anything else I need to teach? And how do you go about teaching the sit (or stop) to whistle? Hopefully that's enough to get the ball rolling! Looking forward to some responses!
  4. Thanks TSD. Yes I heard most of the books were forced methods, hence me trying to seek out some positive methods I was just thinking that we need a Retrieving Training Talk Thread as every other sport just about has one here I think it would be a great central place for us DOLers to chat a bit about retrieving I would love to be kept up to date with Emily's retrieving training If I can pull my finger out, I will keep those interested up to date on Ruby's progress towards perhaps entering a trial one day Now who wants to start the new thread?
  5. Can anyone recommend particular titles to purchase that demontrate positive methods for training retrieving and that explains things for a complete newb? Each time Borders has a 30% off sale I keep thinking I should see if they have any retrieving books Oh, and DVD's! I'm more of a visual person, so if there were any DVD's to demonstrate how to teach things that would be even better!
  6. No, the Test is open to associates that are determined a single gundog breed only, not crossed with a gundog or two (or more) different gundog breeds. Going back to what twoblackdogs said about getting her Associate Lab a conformation certificate, do you think this is what we need for our Associate gundogs to take part? I'd like to get Millie assessed somehow to state she is in fact a purebred Lab (just not pedigree ), but not sure how to go about it. Edit: at least I hope she's purebred for this purpose. It would be nice to find out.
  7. Any chance such a training program is written down somewhere for newbies like myself to work on? If I'm going to get anywhere, I need to figure out how to do it on my own as I can't be relying on others all the time
  8. I would have loved an experience like you had, you lucky duck!! ;)
  9. I'm certain my dog is capable, but she has the handicap of a dopey handler I wouldn't say she isn't hard mouthed, that retrieve of a bird from the water was a complete shock as it wasn't trained, she was going off instinct I guess :p and is something I really don't think I'd be able to replicate without some serious training Actually she has had a second bird, it was on land a few weeks or so after her amazing water retrieve, and she proceeded to rip it's head off ;) Yes, a case of handler thinking her dog had it but pushed waaaaaaaaaaaay too soon. Big slap for the handler. No more birdies for her for a while. I do hope we make it one day, it's a HUGE rush for the handler to watch their dog's retrieving instincts take over And yes, the WA people are lovely and very encouraging! I feel because I'm such a novice that I don't want to hound them too much for help, as they are busy training their own dogs and it takes a lot of effort to help someone new out that doesn't have much knowledge or experience.
  10. I guess I am scared because I don't know how to get my dog where I need her to be. I am getting a little bit of help every so often in training it, but sadly my lack of knowledge means I'm not sure I'll ever get there My dog is steady, she's not gunshy as I've shot over her a couple of times and she doesn't flinch, she watches keenly for where it falls, and she has the drive to bolt out the fastest I've ever seen her run in my life once sent, but I am having trouble building her (and my!) confidence in going that bit further to find it if it didn't fall in plain sight, as she isn't quite getting the depth I guess of how far it fell. She tends to come back to me for guidance and she tends to get a bit distressed if she thinks she's wrong (she's a much softer dog than I first thought and shuts down if it gets too hard for her). She is getting better I guess, but we don't practice enough. My main trouble I am having with her is the absolute basics - getting her to not mouth it as she comes in, and she's still dropping it on occasion. Don't even know where to start with a water retrieve, as she drops it at the water's edge to have a shake I have a lot of shaping ahead of me to get her to hold it properly. She's only had a bird once, it was a water retrieve and to my absolute surprise she brought it up the bank without dropping it, mouthing it, or shaking! She delivered to hand and then shook Doesn't do this with a dummy I'd just like to be able to complete a Novice trial, I have no ambition to go further than that at this point in time :p I need a permanent mentor ;)
  11. The thought of a real retrieving trial still scares me :p so this new test is pretty exciting for me If I can find out if there are any intentions to hold these in WA, I will have more motivation to go and train for it I must admit I am not training for retrieving like I should, because I don't foresee me ever making it to a trial ;) But if I can train towards this, and we have some fun and some success with it, who knows, a novice retrieving trial might not be so scary anymore and we'd be half way there training wise
  12. Party in the casino afterwards?? Isn't the 31st a Sunday? If my birthday is on a Monday I am going to take that day off, so I'm up for getting drunk after the show if people will join me I hope so, you only get old once
  13. We decided to just do a group booking (12 tickets) for the 31st July 6 tickets already have homes ;) We are row D towards the middle That's the day before my 30th But I don't really have a life so I guess going to see Wicked with a bunch of my doggy friends is probably about the most I'll get to do for my big bday, so the show better be better than Cats :) Put my name down for 1, please
  14. Agreed, I just hope the clubs pick it up and start offering it to us! ;) I'm not too confident they will though as I don't think I've ever seen the previous Gundog Working Tests available here in WA... but then again, I've only been "in dogs" for a short amount of years
  15. Labradors are just fine as first time dogs for first time owners if they do their research on what they are really like as pups and adolescents and train it. Sadly, they end up in the wrong hands all too often of young families who want a "family dog" for their young kids but don't have time for the dog and the Lab sits in the backyard by itself, of course its going to end up destructive and an out of hand representative of the breed. My first dog as an adult was a Lab puppy. 2 years later, I went back for another, but this time I went for an untrained adult rescue. I'd only ever grown up with toy breeds but I certainly coped with raising my Labradors, and I think I did pretty damn well considering. Obedience trained from day 1, they are both great dogs to live with and well behaved. So I'd never straight up rule first time owners out of getting a Lab, but if I was a breeder of them I'd be vetting them as well as I can to ensure they understand what responsibilities they have to raise it to be a well mannered dog. If I didn't feel they could meet those responsibilities, I would steer them away from Labs I don't believe it comes down to the breed being suitable for a first time owner, it comes down to how the first time owner approaches the raising of the dog and what lengths they will go to to ensure they do their best.
  16. Ditto!! Public speaking = I don't even like to give talks to small groups!
  17. No, last I heard she had to rehome them. It's freaky when someone you don't know knows you! Remember that lady at the DOL meet who asked you where Kyzer was and then she said to me she has watched all my obedience videos and we were like but who are you?! Yes it turned out she was a DOLer who is more of a lurker, and I guess the nature of this public forum with us posting personal details about ours and our dogs names, videos, where we are meeting, etc. but it still freaks you out
  18. Not sure about the woman with 2 Labs! But speaking of famous Rosie, I saw a woman that looked a bit like you and a dog that looked like Rosie walking along Albany Hwy in Bentley early evening yesterday, was it you?! Didn't think it could be as you don't live near there, unless you went for a nice long walk!
  19. Labs aren't guard dogs, regardless of sex, and chocolate ones differ in no way to the yellows and the blacks, besides their coat colour
  20. I'd be interested in knowing more about this! Did you ask a judge to check your dog over to say they believe it is a purebred Lab and they were able to issue an official certificate to state so? I didn't think this was at all possible and have never heard of it. How did you get this to happen? I'd like to know if Millie is eligible as she's my associated registered Lab. I'll make contact with DogsWest to ask what are eligible associate dogs, and will contact some clubs to see if they have any intention of holding these tests here in WA
  21. I was looking for a business idea to make some cash, I think I just found it! JulesP, you get your dose for free as you're the guinea pig for my new product, but if anyone else wants to try it, I charge a small fee for a sample!
  22. Great minds, Valley ;) I think if they want more people in their sport, which they do as it's slowly dying out with lack of new blood, then these tests would be a great intro! The Gundog club might be the best bet, seeing as they are the only club out of those 3 that also hold Obedience trials, and these tests are supposed to be held during obedience trials I read...
  23. Of course it went well, we make a great team :D Man I thought I suffered nerves, but mine is nothing compared to yours you poor thing! I get a very fluttery chest and can't eat much the day of a trial, wish I could lose weight because of it! I thought after trialling in obedience that I wouldn't have many nerves for our upcoming jumping debut, but I fear I am going to be even MORE nervous - I got a few flutters during our graduation run!
  24. Awesome! Love the fact that titles are involved and you know what I love more, that Associates can earn them, too! My associate Lab would love the chance to earn a retrieving type title like her sister could Not sure any WA clubs holds it, though :D Hopefully that will change :p Off to go read the rules anyway Thanks for the headsup Edit: Where do we find out what Associates are allowed? I take it that the dog has to resemble a purebred Gundog (or a cross between 2 Gundogs??), but as you can't prove parentage, this could be a point of argument with some :D Main and Limited Registered Gundogs (including de-sexed registered Gundogs) and Associate Dogs of a variety accepted by a Member Body as a Gundog.
  25. OMG! :D I would have been petrified if it was that close to me :D
×
×
  • Create New...