RubyStar

Woohoo Tiggy!!!! I picked Millie up around 10pm, my gawwwd that was an agonisingly long day! Made worse when I could see her crate through the doors but they took their sweet time letting her out to me! I remember Mum sitting on the backseat with her while I drove, and I was worried she would instantly bond with mum and not me. Not likely, she only has eyes for her mother that girl

Well done, LP!!!!! :banghead:

I can do a fairly decent lead out with Ruby, but I've been told by my instructor that she runs faster if I am running with her, so not to do too much of a lead out with her. I think I'm the one who needs the fitness training to do this, though!

Congrats xena98 on all your wins and congrats to TerraNik with tonight's successes! Woohoo!! Whoops I forgot Grumpette, well done also, that is a huge brag!!

+1 I agree with this And the more you do it, the more they offer behaviours.

NRM is just a form of comunication to guide the dog (not a punisher). Basically it should mean "that's not the path to the reward, try something else", same as a RM mean "yes, you're on the right track, keep going" and click means "yes, that was right, here comes your reward". (Hope that makes sense?) I find for my dog that it makes things clearer for him and helps motivate But not all dogs are motivated by a NRM, some dogs see them as something to avoid. I don't have a soft dog but too many NRM's and my dog would say she doesn't want to play anymore. She would do what she does when gets stressed, put her head down and eat the grass. Too many NRM's and you have to ask yourself, have I actually taught this dog what I want? I can see what you're saying about indicating that that isn't the path to reward, but for shaping games, which is what the OP is trying to do with Mason, I think she's better ignoring what she doesn't want and C/T for things she does - even if they are teensy tiny bits of the puzzle, like an eye glance in the direction of the object she wants him to interact with. I use NRM's, but not when playing shaping games. It isn't fair to tell them they are wrong when they don't even know what it is you are asking for.

:D I would never hand Ruby over to anybody else to work. OK, big fat lie, anybody who wants her can work her I don't mind others warming her up, but I am not sure if makes much of a difference. I would only allow certain people to play with or handle my dogs, these are people I trust and who wouldn't do anything I wouldn't want to do myself.

Happy Birthday, Tiggy!! emery, that is one huge litter!! Congrats!

Woohoo for the $100 CR voucher! That is awesome! Bulk order sounds good with using it as shipping cost, or another idea is maybe we could do a DVD order and share them around?

I too would use something larger than that paver we were given. I started Ruby on a little step stool, so it was obvious what I wanted her to target. I started Millie on the lid of the food container. I progressed both of them to their upturned ceramic water bowl or a cake tin :D As for the NRM, what exactly should she be NRM him for? The dog doesn't know what he is doing yet, he doesn't understand what is being asked of him, I fail to see how a NRM would work in this situation? I'm genuinely asking :D

But that's the thing, a lot of people don't want them for "training" as such, it's more so they can't slip a collar if they have a narrow head. I am interested in trying them for my girls who normally wear flat collars. I like the convenience of slipping them over their head

OMG Tiggy :) I was only thinking earlier tonight that Shimi would be here soon. Hugs to you! Can we ask what happened? How very nice of RSG to offer you Pea, instead Was Pea who RSG was going to keep? Run free little Shimi, we all felt like we knew you

For those who trial in obedience, can a martingale be used there? Do you detach the lead to give to the steward or slip the collar over the head? I know they can go naked for agility but I actually am not sure with obedience Can martingale collars be left on in the ring and they won't annoy the dog? Sorry for the thread hijack

At least Millie offers something, Mason expects treats from just sitting and looking at me because focus was such an issue in his younger days that he now sits and stares often when I am trying to teach something new - and I know that its my fault because I wanted him to focus on me and now I have it lol! I will try luring it a bit and see what happens. No, Millie is very much like this, too. She sits and stares at me because that is what I have rewarded her for most, plus the fact I have done very little shaping with her so she hasn't learnt how to learn in this manner like Ruby did as a pup. That is why I had to lure Millie in the end I dread shaping with Millie, but I know I have to do more with her as it makes her a better learner in the end! Edit: I also have to make sure that when I am shaping with Millie, that my posture and where I place my hands do not resemble what I do when I ask her to heel or generally pay attention to me. I naturally hold my hand at my side so I have had to make a conscious effort to put my hands behind my back when shaping with her so she doesn't think I am actually asking her to get into heel and pay attention. I also don't make much eye contact with her either.

I prefer shaping but will definitely lure something in the very beginning stages with Millie if she doesn't catch on. I tried waiting her out for the same game you are doing with Mason and the best I got was her touching it with her nose or pawing at it to get it to move A couple of lures and she caught on pretty quick. I completely shaped it with Ruby, though, that took her about half an hour of offering teeny tiny things until the light bulb went off for her. I also shaped the box completely with Ruby, but found in the one and only session I did with Millie so far, I had to lure her a bit Now I'm working on 2x2 weaving with Millie, 2 sessions down and while I didn't lure her through with a treat, using my body position as a cue helped her through. If Mason is sitting down, maybe don't C/T him for sitting down with one paw anymore. Start again with him standing and C/T for any progress towards it while he is standing. Oh and wanted to add, once the dog knows it, they usually start offering it on everything I put a tile down on the floor to look at the colour before I had my tiling done and Ruby thought we were going to play "that game", and started putting her front paws on it. No amount of getting her off it got through to her that we weren't playing that game right now

happy birthday brookie it's my fifth year wedding anninversary today so its a good day Happy Birthday Brookie and happy wedding anniversay emery!

I would so love to find a part time job that would allow me to still afford to pay my mortgage I would really, really like to go back to study full time next year and work part time, but I can't with my house Mum says if it's what I really want to do, to sell my house or rent it out and move back home while I study, but I can't

Awesome, Ruby thanks you! And your job sounds great! I have a feeling that a friend of mine just got a job there doing the same thing, but full time. She is over the moon! She works insane hours but then gets heaps of days off because of the insane shift work. When you start I will PM you her name in case it is the same place and you can say hi for me

My dogs have never tried them but my girls would love to try one valley :p I think I am bringing Ruby with me on Sunday. I'll just crate her while I'm stewarding. What's your new job, valley?? Congrats!

The idea of feeding horse doesn't sit well with me, either. Not sure why, as it's just as "cruel" to feed beef and lamb! We dissected a sheep's uterus yesterday and there was a baby lamb in there ;) I have no issue cutting up bits that are already removed from an animal, but when the lecturer asked if we wanted to dissect the baby lamb, I said HELL NO, have a little respect for the poor thing ;) I don't like cutting up whole animals. It was so cute, it had teeny tiny hoofs already and tiny ears. It fit in your hand.

I'm there Sunday. Stewarding for agility and visiting with Ruby's breeder.

The signals in Open are the same, except the voice part of course. There is a recall portion in both, but it is preceded by other signals and you can't say the dog's name prior to each position, so sorry, I still don't see how it relates to a recall Hey I'm all for using the dog's name, my dogs look away as well I'm just saying is all

It's different than the recall because UD does not have one I'm not saying it's the answer, I am saying that is my own personal logic involved in why I think you can't use their name prior in the Novice COP and Open Distance Control

My guess is as it is a follow through exercise to the signals one in UD where you obviously can't use their name there, so the dog should be getting used to paying attention to its handler right from the start

I don't believe you can.