MishB

I havent been a dog show competitor, I was always happy to stay right away from the 'precious' show people that are the stereotype of dog showing. Ive done obedience trialling which is completely different, no members of the public to deal with much there. I have been one of those annoying members of the public who want to pat ppls dogs in the pavillion,& chat about their dogs breed.Based on my personal experience there are the cranky pants ppl you can spot a mile away and the nice ppl who are happy to chat and let the kids have a pat. I have always asked first, and my kids are always close to me as I dont want them making a judgement mistake, something children do, & trying to pat the wrong dog. I am going to start show my new pup very soon, and have to say, I have been so pleasantly surprised by the welcome and help I have been offered by more experienced show ppl. It wasnt at all what I had expected based on my experience as a spectator at ag shows. I would like to think that most ppl are polite and prefer to think the best of the ppl until proven otherwise, it is a shame that there is this stigma about show dog ppl being precious and nasty, its ppl like the lady who decided to tell you not to pat someone elses dog who give normal show ppl a bad name IMO. I think that if you are exibiting at a big royal show then you have to accept the sad fact that there will be some idiots who do the wrong thing! I hope the show organisers will improve the layout and the space in the pavillions for everyones sake though,because it is always a risk that an accident happens. it sounds like a lot of valium needs to be on hand for exibitors and dogs alike at big shows

Id be getting myself some legal advice fast. Good luck xx

Congratulations on the safe arrival of the triplets Ptolomy :D

Good thread! I am thinking about changing my dogs diet, I want a dry food that I can use for both my dogs when pup is grown up, Ive got a german shepherd who is 2 and a Brittany pup who is 18 weeks. I am feeding my german shepherd royal canin gsd adult.He eats it,but I know he isnt totally sold on it, because he loves the royal canin medium dog junior that I feed my Brittany pup. I supplement them with omega magic, they also get an egg or a chicken frame a few times a week, plus some roo mince or other mince. My german shepherd has been on royal canin gsd food pretty much since we got him, he does look great, ppl comment on how good his coat looks, his breath is good, he doesnt fart much at all, & poos are good.Pup is doing well on the junior for medium breeds, his breeder only gave them pal puppy dry food(eek) & I changed his food over as soon as we got him.He was so excited for the first couple of weeks about his food, now he is used to it he isnt quite so frantic about it.He is in good condition on what he is being fed, although he does strain a bit when doing poos & looks like 'that hurt' sometimes. But not all the time. Not too sure which food to try, or if to risk a change at all? Not much has been mentioned here about the royal canin, what are ppls thoughts on it?

lol i get the same, Troyboy is 74cms at the withers and my friends 1yr old GSD makes him look short, he is abt 85-90cms i would think. When i tell ppl that Troy is actually taller then the standard people are very suprised. Hahaha is it closely followed by 'my mate has a bigger one'? lol

Love your greyhound in drag :laugh:

Love this :laugh: made me giggle..... :rofl: love it!

OMG how cool to find someone who knows what a Brittany is!!!!!!! Woop woop!

Just wanted to say good luck and have fun at the State Agility Trial this weekend to everyone who is competing :)

Both my dogs (17wk old pup & adult dog) sllep outside, and are outside when Im not home. We dont have a dog door, I personally dont like my dogs having free access to the human areas, I have control over when they are allowed in. When we first got the pup, I had him in a puppy pen inside the house to keep them seperate, and I gradually increased the time they spent together outside until I was happy for the pup to be unsupervised with the older dog. I did notice that the pup seemed to want to be inside the house constantly recently so I spent lot of time doing things outside with them, I fed them outside, etc so he got into the habit of thinking good things happen when we are outside. This works for us, I also give them both a treat for going outside, that type of thing. If you gradually build up the time, they soon adjust.Good luck

OMG thats outrageous!!!

Hahaha 'sniff here' ROFL!!! OP: what breed is your puppy? Me: a Brittany OP:not her name, what breed is it? Me: a Brittany OP: Did Britney Spears have a dog named after her? Me: No, its a breed of gun dog OP: Oh right,a cavalier king charles crossed with a beagle/cocker spaniel!!! OP: Who knew Britney Spears had a dog named after her??

In a perfect world it would be reasonable if I could tazer snappy, growling, uncontrolled mongrel dogs and their owners every time they blame my german shepherd for their dogs aggression towards him. I can dream cant I?

Love the video, very nice work :)

Some dogs have the memory of an elephant, I gave a Bassett Hound a piece of chicken over 2 yrs ago at a park which Im hardly ever at, I was there the other day, she saw me from the other side of the park and came running over, sat in front of me with big brown sorrowful eyes fully expecting food I dont give other ppls dogs treats unless I know them & have cleared it first. My dog isnt keen on taking food from other ppl than me(he generally isnt interested in other ppl much)& I take treats with me to the park as insurance for recalls, I have been followed by other ppls dogs begging for food, I am usually ok with it, but if the owners cant call their dog away from me, or if my dog gets annoyed that there is another dog hanging around me being too pushy then it becomes an issue. I have a GSD so most ppl automatically think he is being aggressive even if its their smaller dog chasing me & he tells it to go away.But I understand too that dogs who are normally well behaved sometimes decide that they are going to ignore their owners on a given day, so I try not to get cross, dogs are like kids in that they will embarrass you at the worst possible time, and generally most dogs take the hint when I ignore them. I think if you have a dog that you know can be a bit food aggressive & not rock solid on a recall then use a long line while you are out, it is far better to be safe than sorry in a public place.It can be annoying to have to do that but you wont have to worry about what if's then, as most ppl are just trying to be nice & dont have any clue not to feed other ppls dogs.

OMG sometimes theres no cure for STUPID!!

Ok so field trials are different to retrieving trials. In retrieving the dog is soley doing retrieves - the retrieves are more complex and testing then the retrieves in the field trials. In Utility Gundog field trials the dogs are expected to find (hunt), stop and point steady then flush (but not chase) wild live quail. At the end of the trial retrieves are done in water and on land to test the dogs retrieving ability. The dogs work in pairs out in the field and have to respect when the other dog points by standing steady and to not hunt over the same terrain as them. Many will beg to differ here but as agility is my main goal I encouraged Zora to tug and she likes the game, she also has a good hold and does not mouth things when she is in a 'holding' situation. We have a word to start a tug game, so she knows when its ok to tug. If you are unsure and it is not a big motivator for Obi don't teach it, Field work and retrieving work have different whistle cues. For the field trials they need a recall cue, a 'woah' cue and a little pip to let them know you are giving them a new direction. Retrieving whistles are much more complex, so I can't pretend to explain that. The only thing that IMO encourages natural hunting (NOT retrieving but finding birds in a paddock hunting) is getting out there. They need exposure to planted quails then once they learn the game they need to get out with an experienced dog and go hunting. Once they click thats it - you have the desire. Zora was an absolute brat after her season and would not work at all except when I took her out in the field - there was no stopping her! She knew she was hunting and went into full hunting mode, she found a few quails of her own, pointed, backed and honoured. She still has lots of work to go but she understands her job now. As you know Zora is also training for obedience rings and it does not interfere at all with the field work, they learn the difference. In fact a good field dog needs to know how to heel, recall, stand and sit to a gunshot so all obedience behaviours. Don't stress and just keep training as you are! The only warning I have is field training means many 5/6am starts in Toodyay/Goomalling areas and is only on weekend mornings when you can find someone who knows a farmer that will let you use their farm. There is a training day this Sunday if you want me to PM the details but I think you have football? Bugger, Ive got Jacksons bloody 12th birthday party this Sunday, no footy for another weekend, I would have loved to go Although the early mornings dont sound too good, Im so not a morning person

congratulations on your new arrival No real advice I can give you except I have just bought a book called 'The Focussed Puppy' A Training System for raising a great Companion & Performance Dog by Deborah Jones and Judy Keller. It is brilliant so far, it goes through basis step by step training like what to teach when kind of thing. I bought it online from a site called Agility Click they are based in QLD. Theres some great threads in the dog obedience forums, and get on the Great Danes sub forums, Im sure there are a heap of other Dane owners who can give you some tips. Have fun with your 'not so little' baby :)

Hi, I need a bit of advice from ppl who are familiar with field trials, retrieving work. Ive got a Brittany pup that Im planning on showing, obedience trialling. Im not sure if I want to give the retrieving side of things a go, obedience titles are my main goal, but Im unsure about the use of tug games with hhim as a reward/ play. Ive heard that its not wise to use tug games with the gun dogs if you want to use them as a gun dog (my husband does have a bit of a dream of taking Obi out hunting one day).I dont want to start tug if it will hurt him chances in these type of trials if I do want to give them a go one day? What do you use as a play reward/ motivator if not tugging, he seems to love it but Ive delibrately not done any just in case. I think theres a few retrieving ppl here who have gone through the obedience rings before field work so is it relativly easy to transition to a whistle? and also is there stuff I can do to encourage his natural hunting instinct while still doing my obedience work? Im sure there is a way I can have him capable of performing both in the obedience ring and then on to field work? Or is it really tough? I know he would enjoy getting out in the paddocks eventually

thx for the replies,much appreciated. I think I will have to go for a few private sessions with either Gina or someone else who can do NOR, as much as Id love to join a club I dont think its realistic atm with footy on a Sunday, showing on a Saturday if theres one on, and Im going to do a show handling class at CAWA starting 2moro night. I will need a few of these because I have no idea how to show him either. So much to learn!!

Oh awesome, Im going to join Northern Suburbs after footy season is over but Id also love to possibly get a couple of sessions with Gina if possible. I will PM u :D

Thx Helen, I do recall Gina O'Keefe, I will see if she does anything NOR. He is brilliant with his attention on me ATM, maybe he is just in a stage where he loves me more than anything else in the world. I hope not, its nice to have someone look at me so lovingly. I am practising a lot of recall stuff with him, watching me type things because I did notice when I first got him that he has a 'nose', much more than my shepherds ever have, & I hate dogs that arent reliable on recall. It helps too that a willy wag tail has decided to try distract us in the backyard, he is managing really well with that, Im really pleased with him, but Im worryed Im going to make mistakes with him because I did all of my trialling stuff back in the 90's when the training was so different. I wish my son wasnt playing footy, its annoying

Hiya everyone, Im looking for a good trainer/club that I can do some training with NOR. Both Northern Suburbs and Joondalup clubs train on a Sunday, but I cant do Sundays as my kids have footy. I have done some training previously but havent been very serious about it since I have had my kids. B4 kids I had 2 GSDs and got their CDs titles, back before there was CCD I think its called. But then I had my boys and priorities changed.My gorgeous old dogs have passed on. I do have a 2.5 yr old GSD now who is good, but Ive not really done any proper work with him, bar every day dog manners, he heels, sits, stays etc but he is more interested in playing with the kids than me, which is fine as he is brilliant with my youngest who has just been diagnosed with JIA, Neo has taken on a role of his 'protector' he seems to know if Samuel is feeling particularly sore and will glue himself to his side.I dont want to start anything too much with him, I do walk him and teach him new tricks like finding the kids, speaking, but I dont want to take him away from Samuel as he is a big help with his illness. His eyes kind of glaze over as well if I ask him for a sit stay, why sit when you can lay?Im in the same spot Mum, chillax Im not going anywhere. But if Samuel moves, different story.He is like a therapy dog in a way I suppose. But as well as my big dog I have a 16 wk old Brittany boy who I want to try showing with and hopefully get some obedience titles with Since I havent trained seriously for many years I am in need of lots of guidance from experienced triallers.Anyone this side of the river around who does stuff at other times than Sunday mornings? I can join a Sunday club but not til Sept/Oct

thx for the links, Id never seen heel being taught this way before. Im loving these training threads.Getting some great info

HI, I just watched your video, I cant help you with any advice but I love the way she manages to stay glued to your side when you go backwards, so cute!!