tira_mia

Yeap...pretty much as soon as he starts I pull him away. It isn't having as great a positive effect as I would have hoped because I thought that would make him stop doing it...in that pulling him away from whatever he's barking at is a punishment....which was why i posted here hoping someone could set me in the right direction (and i've gotten heaps of ideas - thanks eveyrone - so its a matter of trying them out til something clicks) poodlefan - i dont have a crate...would the boot of my car work as well? i could cover the back windscreen so he couldn't see out of it (its a wagon).

thanks I should be there with a BC barking and carrying on like he's king of the roost, or failing that, i'll be the one carrying on as he runs away I'll apologise in advance for all the extra noise

gawd i wish i had that!! i might check out paws 4 fun this weekend as it's closer to me than St Ives - does anyone know when they take new enrolments, and if i should show up at 4pm?

Pretty good he'll generally come first call anywhere but at agility. That being said, I will only let him off lead in the 'off lead park areas' so I guess the only other distraction there is the odd dog, and never as many as at agility training.

he can weave relatively well and doesn't acutally run away - i think it's because the poles are so close together he doesn't look away from them, so he weaves . We're working on the last weaver with netting around it as he can't do the one without netting yet. I guess i'll have to stop the playing as it does sound like the message is getting confused for him. To be honest I never thought about trialling him - i brought him there initially just as something stimulating for him to do. I can't make Saturday as i have to work a real bummer, because I wanted to see what it would be like. I'll start working on the toy/tug, which might be more rewarding to him than treats...and we might pop back down to beginners for a week or two to just do one obstacle at a time to keep his attention span ON me. Is Paws for Fun similar to Castle Hill in the setup and style?

i can never catch my BC in agility ... once he's off i just have to keep calling until he comes back, because the boy runs like the wind. And depending on who's helping me with the training, i'm not sure if we should/shouldn't reward the coming back - if i dont, he might not come back int eh future, but if i do it could be rewarding the running away. Lately a trainer suggested I only say "good" when he comes back, but no treats, which we've started doing, but only the last 2 sessions so I'm yet to see if it'll make a difference - treats only happen when he's done parts of the course that deserve treating the nutsy thing is he'll come at first call whilst we're in the park ETA: but then i'm torn over when to let him play...because we don't have a lot of off-lead dogs in the park and he's not interested in most of them anyway, so i love letting him play with agility dogs: ONLY if we're not doing training that particular session. ugh, the heart vs the mind !!

hi Vickie, We train at Castle Hill with lots of other doggies, which is probably a major factor in the distraction. I don't know of any other smaller classes or private classes in my area though as i found this one through word of mouth...does anyone know any? i would love to take him to smaller classes as well just so we can actually get some agility done, as sometimes by the time it's his turn his attention's shot. Re playing - for example, yesterday was bad weather so we didn't do much training, and i let him play instead. Is it ok if we play during the bad weather classes, but not during normal classes..or does this confuse the dog too much? I'm not sure what level we're on as i would assume all clubs count levels differently...the Castle Hill club has beginner-green-yellow-blue/red (trialling levels). We're on yellow at the moment. I guess what's frustrating me is that he *can* do the courses when I have his attention - he's done it a lot of times before. But if his attention from me breaks at one particular moment he'll run away generally for the rest of that course and that training night is gone. I cant find me doing anything differently between these nights...and there's no pattern, it's a random occurrence.

thanks heaps Nekhbet and TSD!! :rolleyes: alright..from today onwards, less spoiling...and more working for praise and reward it's all starting to make sense now, 'cuz i've been told before that BC's used to demanding his way with me, but i never understood why this was a negative thing (i think a lot of people think it's cute if anything...until you actually run into behavioural problems!). but if i'm the keeper of any reward or praise , and only i can give it out...hopefully i'll be elevated past a mouldy sock . and now that you mention it TSD, BC *does* ignore food beacuse he knows he'll get dinner...! sorry, just thinking out loud. Thanks again!!!

yes. You're boring :rolleyes: i turned around and asked BC if i was boring, and he just gave me this look to say..."you only JUST realised???" you only have this toy, he never gets it you own it completely. oh bugger...i guess that's why he's never learnt toy motivation, cuz we always leave hte toys out for him...*feels kinda stupid* thanks heaps, i'll work on the toy drive. one silly question - where can you get lambswool from? i can think of where to get ...lambswool rugs..or..boots made of lambswool..but they're really really expensive to shred for lambswool and wouldn't have the scent on it i'd think..?

thanks for the comments :rolleyes: He works for food as he's not toy motivated at all (we tried and tried but could never train it, so any suggestions on how to train toy motivation are welcome!!) - but could it be because i'm giving him food while we train the sits/stays whilst he waits for his turn....that he's not motivated by the same food when he does the course? TSD - what methods did you use to train focus? He happily does the "look at me" method...until he hears a dog clambering up an A-frame, and then he's off

Hi all, This might seem a silly question for those of you that have dogs who listen to you ( ) but I'm at wits end with mine and need some new suggestions!! I have a 3 yr old BC who is a well behaved child (most of the time) at home with any sit/stay/heel training we do in the backyard. Similarly, he'll happily heel and walk alongside me off lead in the park (even with other dogs around) if I ask him to. When we take him to obedience training he'll also stay and heel (on and off lead) with no problems! But when we take him to agility training it's like he's a completely different dog altogether!! When it's not his turn and he's waiting he'll bark and carry on like there's no tomorrow, so I've taken to having to train obedience whilst waiting for our turn at agility - as long as his mind's occupied, he's fine. But recently he's taken to running away whilst DOING the equipment...one moment he'll be jumping over the jumps, and as soon as he sees a running dog doing other equipment, he's off to chase after them :rolleyes: Could I be doing something that's encouraging this behaviour, as he never used to run away whilst on course? i should add that he runs away to play with the other dogs, not to attack or anything..he just seems to see running dogs as an invitation to play !! Should I reward him if he comes back in order to keep him coming back, or does that just make it worse? I'm worried if i stop rewarding when he "comes", then he just wont come and will keep running away...!!

i would love to join a sydney meet will the rouse hill one still go ahead ?

Thanks magthdag! That's definitely reassuring..i'll pop in and get some today! Did you adjust the dosage from what's listed, or keep with the maintenance dosage?

Thanks Miranda, I'll definitely get a second opinion. The initial vet's explanation was that BC was probably just over-exerting himself (as I first noticed it after I hadnt run him for a while), but though it's happening less it hasn't gone away.

Hi all, Searching through old threads I can see that lots of older dogs are on joint guard as a preventative measure, but does anyone know anything about putting younger dogs on it? I have a 3.5yr old border (rescue - so no papers or history to find out about HD in the family) who i've noticed has started to look a bit sore after taking him for his morning run. The vet's checked him out and said there's nothing to worry about. So I'm looking for advice as to what people think the best plan of approach is. He loves running (he's a BC after all ) and once we let him off leash won't slow down, rain hail or shine. Joint guard sounds great, but is 3 and a half years too young for preventative measures like that? Also, he's in the process of losing weight (about 1.5 kg left to lose) which will help the soreness - but would joint guard add the kilos back on, or is it negligible? Thanks in advance for any advice!!

Newbie to the forum hi everyone! Could i ask for a bit more info about the herding at Erskine Park? I have a BC who herds anything that moves and thought i might bring him down for a go . I couldnt find the times/costs/classes etc through google or anything and would love some more info Thanks heaps in advance!