RubyStar

Congrats everyone! And congrats NC on yours and Koori's first Novice pass!

Shame Ness doesn't like other dogs, her and Ruby sound like they would get on like a house on fire - motivated by food and missing out! But Ruby is friendly to the point of annoying, so Ness would probably tell her where to go Hey don't blame me for making you want to come to Perth! Don't know of any law jobs as I work in IT but there are plenty of jobs around until a law one comes up ;) Sorry Tiggy, we've just totally highjacked your thread

Ness sounds a bit like Ruby, not motivated by much except for food? As for Millie, just me interacting with her is enough to get her going (hmm unless there's a great scent on the ground!) I'm using hand touches with her too but while they're not as strong as Ruby's, she still does them, but I can just rough her up a bit in play and she thinks it's great

Ummmmm.... yeah, nice try I do need a training partner, and badly! Move to Perth and you can get the um, pleasure? of working with me!

Way to go, Beans!! You got a video? You know, you really need to keep your YouTube channel up to date! I'm sure I reward all "near enoughs" as I rarely get spot on And it usually takes someone watching you to point out what you've done wrong, as it's hard to see where you're standing even though you're the one right next to the dog!!

It went very well She says Ruby actually enjoys heeling Who woulda thunk it?? Certainly not me She also says Ruby finds playing the touch game fun so start introducing that as her reward and then back it up with a food reward, and occasionally drop the food reward and just reward with the touch game, so when we need to resort to just the touch game in the ring, not having a food reward after won't be such a big deal or a shock to her. As we all know, there is no magic fix for being able to stop using treats, it's a gradual thing, so we just need to keep working on upping repetitions on things and duration before she is treated, and not pay for anything less than what we expect ;) I'm still not 100% sure how to tackle the training motivation, or lack thereof, when we start a session and she hasn't seen any treats. I've just gotta keep the element of surprise in where the treats are dispensed from, but that first "surprise! there are actually treats on offer" is going to be a hard one to crack. Once she knows treats are available, whether hidden or not, she's a different dog and ready to work, but getting her in that mode right away I am still struggling with I think the element of surprise in that treats can come from anywhere at anytime will hopefully eventually get her to the stage that she will work anytime I ask, without having to bribe her upfront...

Oooh yes bring puppy puppy!

Tiggy, if I can pick you out of the crowd by Banjo, I will say hi too, but please look for me and the Lab who will either be eating the grass or just being a plain nuisance! To anyone else going that I haven't met, please don't be a stranger! I don't know many people I want to hire a scribe so I can have them take the notes while I spend my whole time listening! Sooo hard to do both!! Does anyone know whereabouts at the K9 it's being held? Undercover or one of the ovals?

I'll be there with the yellow ratbag

Wow, congratulations!!! Where are they being held?

Our judges in WA would allow it. I have had a dog struggling with heelwork - so I have helped her along and then done another exercise or two and left the ring on a positive note. In WA they have now introduced Not for Competition in obedience. It costs you half a normal entry and they put you at the end of the catalogue and you can go in and have the judge call a round for you and you can do what you like (except use food or toys). There are a few people using this in novice and CCD in preparation for the Nationals which are here in October. I was only just thinking about this today! Stop stealing my thoughts I am seriously considering entering an upcoming trial and entering both girls in NFC to see how we go in preparation for the Nationals. I was actually going to post and ask opinions on this, but you beat me to it! Rubystar - I think you might be running out of time - I don't think there are many trials left before the Nationals - so you better dig out your K9 News and check. Already did, last trial is Cloverdale Canine Companions and entries close Monday. Sending my entry off today

Our judges in WA would allow it. I have had a dog struggling with heelwork - so I have helped her along and then done another exercise or two and left the ring on a positive note. In WA they have now introduced Not for Competition in obedience. It costs you half a normal entry and they put you at the end of the catalogue and you can go in and have the judge call a round for you and you can do what you like (except use food or toys). There are a few people using this in novice and CCD in preparation for the Nationals which are here in October. I was only just thinking about this today! Stop stealing my thoughts I am seriously considering entering an upcoming trial and entering both girls in NFC to see how we go in preparation for the Nationals. I was actually going to post and ask opinions on this, but you beat me to it!

;) I'll give you both a run for your money for that title

Ruby was taught with the round the back LAT and around the back finishes. I've tried teaching her some back end awareness so I can better her flip finishes and do the U turn style LAT, but she's very unco with her back end! So we're sticking with what she knows and can do better. As for Millie, she has some great backend awareness for me never having taught it to her, so she does flip finishes better than around the back, and she doesn't know the round the back LAT. Whenever I've tried showing her, she gets confused. So we're working on tidying up her U turn style LAT.

Too hot?

Yeah I had someone force the hold with Millie once, I said I would prefer not to train it that way and kept at it my own way. Millie was already weary of it so forcing the hold wasn't going to work for her. Shaping it has been a lot of work, a lot of time, but it's working and Millie isn't afraid of it. Ruby on the other hand, she knew how to pick it up, but couldn't get her to hold it. Before I knew how to shape the behaviour, I did try forcing the hold for her and after a lot of failure (as I tried doing it with treats at the same time and she'd spit the dumbell out immediately for the treat!), one night it finally just "clicked" for her and she was soon holding it. It wasn't the ideal way to train it, and even though we got there in the end, I would only ever train it by shaping it for all future dogs like I have done with Millie

Whenever I've worked on duration, I've used time, too. Though I've never been consistent enough with duration work. I think I'll start with 5 or 10 seconds and see how we go :D 2 and 3/4 minutes, showoff Ptolomy Dova, I think ness said she's trialling this weekend.

Thanks, that's a big help Much appreciated

Ta! I read it with interest! I've got a few questions now, though Hope someone can help answer them! (quoted from the blog): So are you saying that for a month, you don't work on any other exercise but heelwork? And a minimum of 5 nights a week? How short/long should those sessions be? You don't vary the amount of steps you ask for? So you set yourself a number for that session and do it 3 times over with the same amount of steps? What happens if the dog does not maintain focus for the length of steps you set, do you keep trying until you are successful 3 times? Obviously getting some consistent, focused heelwork is high on my training wishlist ;)

Mine too ;)

;) You've achieved one of the hardest parts of teaching this exercise in my (limited) experience, so I'd say you're going well My first Lab would easily pick it up and bring it back, but couldn't understand this whole hold thing until I ask to take it. She finally got it when I broke the steps down. My 2nd Lab, well she wouldn't even pick it up in her mouth, only thing she'd take in her mouth was food (she wasn't even a toy kinda gal when I first got her). So I had to train the part you're trying to train now (which was weird for me, a dog that wouldn't pick a toy up off the ground?! ) I shaped the pick up of the dumbell using a clicker. If she showed interest in it, click/treat. If she touched it, C/T. If she licked it, C/T. If she put her mouth around it, C/T. Baby steps like that, working the criteria up until they are picking it up. I've gotten that far, now I'm working on her holding it for longer before she gets C/T - so far, not going too well ;)

Got a direct linky? ;)

Rock steady stand for exams. Yes please . I'm looking forward to the heelwork part with no food or toys. That is going to be a challenge and a half with my dear yellow ratbag!! I'll shout everyone a round of coffee and cake at the seminar for a solid block of heelwork

Ta Sandi! I heard about it over the weekend and sent off my cheque today! :rolleyes:

Wow, you guys can apply to get a sash with the dog's name and all on it? Awww I'm jealous! Here in WA, to my knowledge, you pay to get your title certificate, but if you want to get your dog's registration certificate redone with your dog's new title printed on it, that's an additional fee. I just paid to get the title certificate and will get the new registration certificate at a later date once we (hopefully) gain some more titles. I didn't even think if not having her registration certificate updated or not would cause issues?