N.M.E.

Try this We had a similar problem. The dogs would go nuts whenever anyone walked up next doors driveway. A couple of days with this thing cured that.

With my Border Collie, we did a lot less training than we planned :p In the 2 weeks leading up to the event, we did 2 8km runs (at a bit over 10km/h), and a 6km bike ride (faster) with at least 48 hours between sessions. I just assumed it was the same for dogs as it was for people with respect to the rest. Mind you, this is on top of regular Agility training. Also if you're competing on a Saturday, I'd make Wednesday your last session. The extra days rest does wonders. Best of luck to everyone on Saturday!! Have fun with it

Hooray!!! We had 8 people show up on Saturday and everyone passed. There was one woman with a doberman that seemed to enjoy sniffing everything. I was worried she was going to get pulled off!! I wound up running the whole thing somehow. I'm paying for it today. My legs are killing me! I kept up a pretty decent pace for most of it, but as OSoSwift will tell you (she was riding behind me for the last leg), I really started to drop off at the end. According to my watch, it was a bit faster than 10km/h too! We had nice, soft rain during the first leg which helped keep everything cool, and it literally started belting down just after we made it back to the club house at the end. Very nicely timed! With any luck, Pippa will pull off her JD title this coming weekend too. What a star. Yeah, I think it wound up being 26.5 laps?? I didn't mind it at all to be honest. I found it a bit less mentally taxing counting laps than counting kilometers :p I almost seemed shorter some how. I didn't even think to check Pippas heart rate at the end. How did Sunday go? Wow. That's really nasty. People can be real a***holes. I don't know anyone would think that's ok :/ Hope you're doing ok.

Oh. I asked about some course details for the new location in WA. Apparently the loop is just shy of 800m, which means the first leg is 10 laps. How boring :p Also, we'll be going over grass, sand and gravel.

We're kind of pumped for Saturday, but not looking forward to the weather :p If it doesn't rain, it's going to be freaking cold! I'm a bit out of sorts with my running, so I'll have the bike there just in case! The pace is a lot slower than I'd usually run, so I should be fine. Pippa is fine running with either. She'll gun it :D That being said, I'm already looking forward to a beer afterwards :p

I got my vet check sorted out, and apparently the vet is the guy who generally does the checks during the ET. He said you don't generally need one as they check your dog prior to starting. That being said, he isn't doing the one on Saturday so he wrote a note saying Pippa was of sound health for the ET. I imagine he knows what he's talking about :p That being, I assume this only applies to WA ETs.

Just do it! No-ones going to care. That's the reason they have a novice class ;) If she can jump, do tunnels and will follow you around a course, just enter and have fun with it. Trialling is a completely different world to training anyway. I entered Pippa in the WA State trials before I'd consider her "ready", and she surprised me and went clear on her first round. She was lacking in confidence, so I had to baby her over every jump (which is hard work with a border collie :p), but it paid off. Most Novice courses I've seen have 1 or 2 crosses in them, and chances are 1 of them will be on the far side of a tunnel. Enter, and have fun. Even if you don't do well, trial experience is invaluable.

Me and the missus were talking about this a couple of months ago. We'd be very serious about starting a club, and I sent off an e-mail to the Fly Ball association regarding where we could pick up some equipment and the like, but no-one got back to me. If nothing comes of it, we'll push harder once the weather warms up.

Haha. I just figured out who you are :p I saw Millie's run too! I don't know what's more annoying, dropping a bar at the beginning, or dropping one at the end! Must be all the more annoying when there are titles at stake! I guess it wasn't just the 600 dogs having problems with that cursed spread jump. Well done to Ruby :D

Cool. Thanks for that! I'll add it to my "to do" list this week!

Oh crap. We need a vet certificate?? Not sure how I missed that :p Better sort that out quick snap! We're due for a very wet week in Perth, so hopefully it clears before Saturday. I don't mind running in the rain, but I don't think Pippa would like it much :p We did 6kms on the bike on Saturday with no dramas at all, so if I can't handle the whole 20kms by foot, I can swap over to my bike for the last leg :D

Took part in the ACWA trial yesterday. Dexter seemed very unenthusiastic, but managed to get a pass in Excellent Jumping (number 2). We still don't have a Novice Agility clear round yet!! And yesterday was his best run, but he opted not to jump on the table and scored a refusal For the agility course in the morning, there was a spread jump just after the dog walk, and all 600 dogs knocked it somehow. Dexter also had his first crack at Open Jumping, and we did a lot better than planned at the distance work, so it could be a regular addition to our repertoire. Young Pippa scored her 2nd Novice Jumping clear round, but we still need to work on her weaves before we tackle agility. Good times!

I had a call yesterday from one of the guys at the German Shepherd club saying the venue has changed to their HQ in Southern River. When did you post your entry?? I sent mine on Monday arvo (public holiday) and they've obviously received it and accepted it. I also tried called Sue, but to no avail. Do you want the number of the guy who called?? I can't remember his name :p

Did a training run with my Border Collie last night. We did 8kms together, but given we've never done any distance running together, we stopped at the 2km and 5km mark. She wasn't really interested in stopping at all! We got back home and I let her wander around, and I sprinted up the street and she bounded after me like it was nobodies business. I think she'll be fine :p

Cool!! That's really good news. I've seen some tables at 600 which are pretty wobbly :/ I suppose I should have a flick through the new rules, huh? :p

Awesome. That puts my mind at ease. Thanks a lot. And thanks for the welcome :D I'll keep an eye out for you :D I'll have a skinny little short haired Border Collie, but the give away will probably be my green running getup :p

Hi! I'm planning on entering the ET here in WA on the 18th (I think?) of June and I have a couple of questions. Firstly, I'm planning on running it. Is it OK to have a bike in case it all goes wrong? I have a bit of a knee problem that springs up from time to time, so if it's feeling delicate after the first 8kms, it'd be nice to know that I can ride the last 2 legs. I figure it'd be ok, seeing as you can change handlers mid test, but it never hurts to ask! Is it safe to assume that the course is generally a circuit that you do x number of laps on? So each leg starts and ends at the same point? Also, I had a read through the guide on the front page, and I'd just like to comment that it's actually far safer to brake on a bike with the front brake rather than the back. At 10kms/hr, you don't really run the risk of going over the handle bars, and you stop an awful lot faster. I think the common misconception of the "over the handle bars" thing is from when people emergency brake, hit the back brakes, skid, then hit the front brakes, which will throw you over. To help with front braking (and the confidence of doing so!) try bracing your arms by pushing on the handle bars. That'll shift your center of gravity back and keep you on the saddle. Sorry to get all technical on my first post! I just thought I'd share that little tidbit I picked up.

She'll be fine :D My Goldy is a big, dopey 600 and he does it with ease. The only time I've seen anyone struggle, was a Dalmatian that used to train with us, and she'd need to go over a couple of 600 jumps before she was confident to run a course, every week! Once she's used to it, it'll be no dramas. It might just take some getting used to when she takes off and the like. I find when we run a course on 500 (at training), more bars get knocked :p The one to watch out for would be the table though. Spend a bit of time getting her used to that at 600 before trialling.