caffy

Winning UD at the National Obedience Championships and coming second in open was definitely the highlight - I was so excited I kept phoning and texting family and friends back home

It was like being there and as exciting..and so well deserved

Mine would be my little baby dog taking out Open Agility at last year's States...maybe because it was so unexpected considering the other dogs in the Finals.

caffy, so come on out with some useful advice since Ptolomy is obviously still occupying those feral red dogs .

ETA. Besides you just know I am jealous and would love to live there. Oh well guess having my WA bred girl is the next best thing for the time being.

Do you have the Shirley Chong site?

Conquer the hold and the retrieve. Get to the point where your dog can hold a coke can, a toy, even a clicker....anything you can think of. Don't stick to articles and dumbells.

Do it at mealtimes.

. She is just a weirdo but then what can you say she comes from the west and I hear the water over there does some very strange things to both humans and animals alike . Certainly wouldn't change anything about her though :D .

We all seemed fine last time I looked

Thanks, caffy!

What is the 2 food game and what are its benefits?

Use whatever motivates your dog..doesn't have to be food...

http://www.nwk9.com/twosqueakies.htm

I don't use correction as this article suggests.

You're increasing drive :D

Teaching SD is fun but my feelings are you need that “formal” (that doesn’t mean it’s not fun too!) retrieve fairly solid.

I always use the 2 food game when teaching the SD(and the retrieve) so the dog doesn’t necessarily have to present EVERY article but there are times when I ask for it and I don’t want to rehearse dropping an article, waiting, then asking for the dog to pick it up…that’s just another behaviour you are reinforcing? There’s lots of play in between too.

In the beginning (I use Dogscout method too), I will turn and throw food and give a verbal “YES!”when they PICK UP the correct article so they would drop it to pick up the food. Make sure the “YES” isn’t said as they are hovering over the article.

I vary when getting the correct article is consistent when I turn and throw the food…it maybe the pick up, it maybe three steps in after picking it up or it maybe 5 steps after picking it up but I also make sure to ask for a present as well in the session. I also make sure my dog can’t see me reaching into a pocket as he turns and heads towards me but show him the “final” picture which is me not saying anything and standing very still….the dogs love it as they can’t predict when the reward is coming and I make a lot of noise when they are rewarded. Probably not a good idea for an OTT toller and a full on BC, but I enjoy it.

Funny, how everyone has a different slant on training…makes it all less stagnant. I like reading how others do it as all dogs respond differently.

And Cathy does this mean Alex will never miss his contacts again?????

I'll tell you when I work on the nose target. Hang on, you're good at those aren't you?

You're good at setting challenges..get your clicker and get Beans to rear foot target...have a few wines first

It's good getting back to the theory.

I've been going back over shaping behaviours and Alex has conquered the rear foot target

I've struggled with Snazzy so gave him to Sue H.

Ahhh, just watching gives you goosebumps.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=MrWgyypGIGQ

Go Dizzy.

Precues...love em or hate em...this is a great example of them.

Beautiful run.

OK - singing and dancing after a night worth bottling......

At the State Obedience Championships baby Lexi came 2nd in novice with 194 and she did her SFE - yeehar!

Witchypoo Blaize won open with 197

Scoota Moota won UD with 188

and Blaize took out winner of winners......

and....Beans actually put in a great effort in open but failed COP and Scoota well he moved 12 feet in the SFE (gees you can't have everything!)

Yay

Glad that Lexi did the SFE!

Well done mate

I missed that you are wanting to get the dog to stand from a sitting position. What about teaching a stand from a walk first (to teach the command first) then when he understands what "stand" is..........move to a sitting postion.

I'm a bit late on this thread.

Teaching a stand from a sit is very easy. Clicker and food in right hand, dog in sit and kneel next to dog. Keep dog's head high with food in right hand(you aren't releasing food yet, just letting them lick it ) and then tickle their rear foot...any movement with it backwards..click. Build it from there. Make sure you are "pushing" the food towards the dog to prevent the front feet moving forwards. You'll get a nice kickback stand doing it this way.

HTH

Thought those who saw the black poodle (Maggie) in the final might be interested to know that not only was the Nationals the first ANKC trial for that dog, but she has also only ever run 2 courses before that - as ADCV grades classes on agility prowess rather than just jumping, the dog is still in sequencing class. A few weeks ago when I instructed that class and Tara said she had entered Nationals, we grabbed some jumps at the end of class and built a 'makeshift' novice course for her to run.

The week after that she entered NADAC and had one jumping and one tunnellers run.

Then on to the Nationals where she Q'd on 2 out of 3 runs and then had that awesome run in the final.

Great little dog! (and totally psycho out of the ring, so we may have a 'poodle on crack' in the making to join the NSW 'pap on crack' - another great little dog. ) Nice to see the little ones mixing it with the big ones and 'taking it to them' in many cases.

Wow!! Amazing poodle!! She was a highlight of my Nationals watching her beat the BCs in the Finals. What an amazing feat with those little legs.

Good on her.

PS...I had one of those BC's she beat in the finals