RallyValley

That looks pretty cool Jules! Sadly I need lawn (or something very similar) so I can do a little training in the yard. I have enough room to do some heel work, tiny retrieves or set up a few weaves or a jump, so I want to make the most of it rather then having to leave the house every time I have to train :)

Do you mean you had real lawn and a dog garden bed or artificial lawn and a dog garden bed?

Hmm interesting replies! Currently researching real lawn too...

Ok so eventually (when the builders finally finish it - was supposed to be done early Feb :laugh: ) I will be moving into a new house. I will have a very small yard, I think it's like a 6m by 3m rectangle. I am notorious for being an awful gardener and I'm not sure I want to stress about lawn. So I want to hear about people's experiences with artificial lawn. Pros? Cons? Does it get stinky? Can I put weave poles in it without killing it? Thanks :)

I'm not traumatised, trying new things is good. I think I have one pic.

At the moment Zora gets at least 5kms road work a day, if weather permits she will get another 5km session. Usually this is in the form of a walk and the second session if she has one will be a bike ride. We live on acreage and Zora uses it so would have in excess of 30mins free running too. The length of the cycle leg of our exercise is slowly increasing too. We do lots of rear end awareness stuff too - which I think helps. Why - I am conditioning her for field season, so she will need good endurance to hunt for several hours when we have training sessions. I'm happy with her condition, she is maybe carrying a little excess for an agility dog but that's calorie and not exercise related.

Yes mine was a call front finish right forward. Yet I stopped and asked her to halt - which she did . I was a bit stressed out though and felt a little rushed into the ring...

I'm still not sure what it is - do you have any inspiring examples of abstract work anyone?

My brag is small compared to Bedazzled and Ptolomy, but after two shows and 2xBOB Zora had a Rally O trial and got her third pass for her RN title! Shame about her handler though, I lost 10 points for doing a sign wrong or she would have ended up on 95 and instead scored 85.

I've signed up as 'prep' for her seminar later this year :D Haven't started yet though

Do this using pounds and inches. Poodles are also ectomorphs. :) Brittanys are right on the border :laugh: Mine scores under 2 when she is in peak condition but at the moment is closer to 2.1

To the OP, please remember the reason people are cautioning you is that it can hurt to have expectations and reality not match, especially when taking on a 10+ year commitment! There are many dogs that weigh under 20kgs who structurally break down from the stress of agility on their body. Make sure you research, research, research with you dog! Here is a good point of starting info about large breeds in agility http://doubleqswissies.com/Home_Page.php I suggest that you teach everything 'on the flat' first, find a contact method that uses planks on the floor, teach all the handling manoeuvres on the flat ect. Please also find a good sports vet or bowen therapist (not a regular vet but one that sees lots of Greyhounds or agility dogs) and take your dog in for regular check ups once you start jumping. Here is an excerpt from an article about boxers, it gives some food for thought (http://www.netplaces.com/boxer/other-advanced-training/special-consideration-for-canine-athletes.htm): Assessing the Canine Athlete According to Chris Zink, D.V.M., one of the leading national canine sports vets, in a canine athlete, the angle formed by a line perpendicular to the ground and the articulation of the scapula should be about 30 degrees. A well-bred boxer should have about this degree of angulation. Obviously, a boxer should also have good hips, but if he has poor shoulders, he will have almost as much trouble jumping and landing as if he has bad hips. In agility competition, he will have more trouble on the sharply angled A-frames. Zink also mentions a weight-to-height ratio that is ideal in the canine athlete, particularly those that compete in agility. Her recommendation is to divide the dog's weight by its height at the shoulders. If the ratio is under 2.0, then the dog is at little risk of injury from repeated jumping. This is roughly equivalent to the ectomorphic type of human being who is very thin. This ratio includes whippets, Border collies, and Shelties, the last two of which are very good agility dogs. The risk of injury increases if the ratio of weight to height is between 2.0 and 3.5. Most boxers fall into this category, so they are at moderate risk of injury with repetitive impact to their joints simply because of the ratio of their weight to their height. Boxers are fairly heavy dogs for their size. This isn't because they are fat but because they are generally very muscled and have relatively good bone density. Zink says that if the ratio of weight to height is over 3.5, people should be very careful about jumping their dogs for fear of injury. Only an overweight boxer would fall into that category, and Zink recommends that dogs be very thin for performance. No performance dog should carry any subcutaneous fat, and boxers should never be fat.

Well done WX! What a terrific result for you guys, Makaela and the breed

I know it's a bit 'out there' but for very cheap prices you can pick up old manual focus macro lenses. I've been using my dads old macro lenses and since most macro is manual focusing anyway I've had some fun with them. Then if it turns out your not so into Macro you haven't laid out a lot of money :) My fav shots and

I know Kristen is away, so she probably planned ahead, does anyone know the next theme?

I have 1 and possibly 2 people shots - but no one else wanted to model for me so I had to do selfies

Sorry to hear Larissa.

Thanks guys I re-uploaded them from Flickr as the other ones were too big. Yes Persephone looking forward to my first silver or gold one day!

Ok so I had my first camera club competition night of the year last night. I entered two pictures in the Novice category and two in our Monthly Set Subject of Street Art. The judge was Steve Fraser, who although he grew up locally is a world famous landscape photographer (the last Camera Club he spoke at was in New York!). I was pleased to get two bronze awards for my pictures in Noivce. But I was even more shocked and pleased to get both my pictures in the set subject category earn bronze awards!!! Anyway I thought I would share since it was DOL that inspired me to take up photography and then DOL again that inspired me to try and better myself! My Novice Shots My Street Art Shots

A friend. I don't even bother going to shows anymore unless I know one of my friends is showing too - it's more of a team sport ;).

In every country but the US there are two breeds of Akita. Even Australia had recognized them as separate breeds now.

I was just watching the clip so I'm not sure what to tell you - it's definitely there somewhere...

They are not 'presenting' anything here. This is an awful candid shot. Maybe watch the breed judging video before you decide the whole direction a breed is heading from one photo. http://www.westminsterkennelclub.org/videoindex.php?year=2013&day=2

I think they are taken by someone who is good at taking pictures but knows very little about dog conformation. How many have the dog looking at the camera You can clearly see that dogs are not stacked properly and these dogs are all so good at stacking - so I wonder what went wrong... However the photos are VERY clear and close so it's easy to spot some grooming 'tricks' on these dogs used to sculpt them a little. :laugh: