Judgejtj

Hi Livertreats, Not wanting to pressure you but a Flatcoat just won an all age over here, I'm still betting on you though. CU JJ

RV, With a pup or young dog that runs back to you with anything I would make a big fuss of the dog and forget about the article in it's mouth. This reinforces the dogs tendency to hold something and it wants to be around you. After a time you can "ease" it from the pup while continuing to fuss about the pups presence. If the pup starts playing ignore it and do something else that is interesting until the pup comes to you, the longer it carries something the better. If the pup starts to drop the article you can steady it by stroking the pup's chest until you decide to take the delivery. Good Luck JJ When you started her off with retrieving was she sat in front and learned "take and give" with heaps of click and treats. I played this for ages and did not toss anything until this was solid, we still play this game when my boy finds a toy, he thinks it a great game. When I started tossing the dummy made sure there were no distractions, area clear of toys and the other dogs, also made sure the treat was extra special. Make it exciting to come back to you rather than off showing the world what she has, clap hands, make a exciting noises that sort of thing. No I didn't. When she was younger she naturally picked things up and brought them to me, so I just built on that. Now she has learned keep away so I will go back to basics as suggested. Its hard when they are natrual retrievers, Rebel would bring anything that was not nailed down, but that is their game, now she will have to learn your game. Just make it fun, she will soon learn not to run off with it and use one of the dummies, not one of her toys.

Hi GoldenGirl85, You could try http://www.unitedfieldandretrieving.org.au/ or check with the CCC on www.cccq.org.au/ Regards JJ

That postage price sounds very reasonable Thanks for checking the price of postage (even though it was RallyValley who asked, not me!) How much are the dokkens themselves? As I would be very interested in purchasing a couple if you have enough to sell? If you look up our web site http://www.unitedfieldandretrieving.org.au/and go to the "shop" you can see the ones that we keep a limited stock of. I use dokken DDB1 for pups as they are made of the same stuff as the "Teal" (small duck T200). From memory they are about $10. In the retrieving trials we use Small Duck Green-wing Teal (T200), Small Duck Blue-wing Teal (T100), Large Duck Bluebill (D200) or Upland Birds 1 Pheasant (F100). These can be seen on Dokken's web site http://www.deadfowltrainer.com/smallducks.htm

Thanks for the info and invite but unfortunately I already have a committment for this Saturday, might come along in March for a look see though if that would be okay. Would love to see you there, we spend a lot of effort to try to get more people involved in Retrieving Trials. The Post Office was a little taken aback when I wandered in with several new Dokken Greanwing Teal Dummies and asked the postal cost, but they did say that a parcel post satchel either 500gm or 3kg would be the most economical so. 500gm price is $6.00 and could take one or two "teal" or up to three 2'' round dummies or up to two 3'' dummies. 3kg price $11.00 and could take up to six "teal" or probably seven 2'' or five 3''. We have found the "teal" dummies to last very well and are handled well by dogs of all sizes.

How much would it cost to post a Dokken dummy interstate? I will check at the Post Office and let you know. CU JJ

Hi Kathq, I like your dog's breeder would try to convince you to try Retrieving Trials, and to this end I suggest you look up United Field and Retrieving at http://www.unitedfieldandretrieving.org.au/, we are holding a training day on the Southside of Brisbane this weekend and there is a Trial at Bald Hills on the 26th of March which has a stake that would well suit new beginning handlers and dogs. You are not required to join or register with our organization until you have competed in three trials. If any of your friends are looking for training dummies we import selected Dokken dummies ( http://www.deadfowltrainer.com/ ) that we prefer you to try before you buy if possible. Regards Jim Her breeder (gspmadhouse) has convinced me that she would be worth giving it a go with - little did I know this was a sucker punch designed to get me thoroughly hooked