ness

Warm salty water will help but I'd probably just take her to the vet and get ointment.

Hmm nah don't think cat eating treats would really fuss Kenzie. She would be like whatever .

:D Ptolomy - can try that one tonight but I will say I am pretty impressed my two managed to hold a sit stay while the garbage truck was coming up the street. Behind the front fence but usually they bark and fence run. I went out got them to sit and they both held a sit while it picked up garbage from across the road and then went up the street. I released then both and they willingly followed me inside for their reward . I did give them a few verbal reminder cues while the truck was there but pretty impressive to me. Even Kenzie did it and we haven't really built that length duration on a stay :D .

Will say we have stick in the ground ones at club and they are a bugger as they need constantly readjusting as they are easily disturbed. Love my base plated ones now .

I ordered myself a set of 12 2x2 base plated weavers. A bit expensive but I couldn't be happier with them. Can get them made in other configurations but having them 2 poles on a plate does make them car transportable sized. I also intend on using them to train my younger girl using the 2x2 method. I had mine made by a person in Victoria (I am in Adelaide) and then couriered. Very good service as they were picked up late afternoon on a Monday and arrived first thing Tuesday morning.

about Di and your comment re the food. Blaize is an evil sweety . But yep she does love her treats and will stay with you if she thinks your going to pay her.

Question is Ptolomy do you have a Beans/Scoota/Blaize pair and then a Lexi pair or do you need to go and find yourself a third pair .

I wouldn't do stays if I was failing. I have seen enough things happen that I wouldn't put a dog who wasn't passing through it as its a huge risk. All it would take especially in the lower classes is one unstable dog upsetting your dog and you could be ruined for life (or have a stay problem which at least wasn't there before you started). Not like you can actually do anything during stays as in reward or correct a dog (if that takes your fancy). Better to grab dogs and practice them when you have an opportunity to reward and your dog isn't vulnerable to what a strange dog might do.

Yeah I know my show one doesnt though . God knows why the only times she has broken her drop stays she has sat up (although in context its probably partially a stress response). She still stays but ends up scratching and sits up. I wonder if in part its due to also doing more sit stays and rewarding more sit stays then I do drop stays . And she just doesn't want me to actually get a quallie card with a decent score. She always manages to nail her stays when she is on lowish scores but on the odd occasion she puts in a blindingly good ring round she decides that is when she is going to break her down .

Between exercises with my older girl I keep her focused on me. Will heel her between exercises or do tricks. Not sure what I will do with the younger girl. She just loves to work so we will probably play as long as she can keep herself under control. If I find she is getting to wound up I might have to find something else.

Hahaha - well I'll usually wear neat jeans and a reasonably respectable looking polo top but will wear my fleecy training jumper in winter or shorts in summer . In fact I think most of my videos I'll be wearing just about the same out fit . I won't wear trackie pants though save those for when we are running agility. Oh and I did wear a neat rugby type jumper at the Royal rather than my daggy fleecy one .

Might be worth getting her checked RubyStar but some dogs just have lazy sits as well. You can get a more upright sit by asking for a hand touch above the dogs head. Kenzie has started doing lazy sits in the last few weeks so will be back to the chiro sometime in the next few weeks before I do to much with her.

At CCD level I would have over trained the length of stay in the ring so a 1 minute sit shouldn't be an issue when the dog is regularly doing 3 min++++ even with the extra standing around waiting time. In open I do leave my dog until the last minute before getting them to sit. Never had a sit stay problem but I do occasionally have a down stay problem and bugger of a dog certainly knows when to pick the occasion to break doesn't she Ptolomy . PAX well based on my observations apparently BCs like to watch things from a sit so maybe they need to outlaw the down stay or maybe they should just make it a stay as long as you don't move from that spot.

Thats cos her dogs are brilliant PAX . She would win no matter how she was dressed. Some of us get caught up in the better wear what we always wear and better trial with the set of articles she last did all 3 correctly on without mucking up .

Well I was going to suggest if they were red dogs that maybe swapping them for a black and white model might be easier but good to hear it wasn't a certain red one . In which case I might ask if the dogs are use to doing stays around the same dogs at training but where located next to different dogs in the ring. What level stays are we talking about, are they CCD/Novice or Open level. So in sight or out of sight? What do the handlers do in between the sit and the down stay. Do they release the dog and break them off or immediately place them into a drop?

Hmm is this really a hypothetical - would depend whether the dog has a history of sit stay issues. I would certainly not be doing the drop stay (presuming that the drops are very reliable). I might switch to considering using a sit only command and building duration on the sit for the next 2 weeks. So instead of a stay command I would give a second sit command as I left.

Can't get Ness to touch frozen fish or raw fish at all. Tried with sardines once that mum had bought since she eats the tinned ones ok.

Goodonya Ptolomy .

about the looking good. Yep forgot to mention that must have matching lead, collar, dog colour . Thankfully for me anything looks good on a black and white dog.

Not sure but I use a 120cm x 12 mm lead on my girls in the ring. Now my older one is in UD its only for the purpose of walking in to the ring. I probably won't bother with CCD with my younger one either. I found it an suitable length though and it wasn't too bulky. It was just one of those KraMar brand ones with a small clip. Don't like bulky clips even on a medium size dog. Really the lead is only there because you have to so I would go with one that is small enough but not to light that it blows all over the place. Even a puppy weight lead would be suitable.

Ptolomy - it would certainly be a get rich quick scheme.

Don't be scared cos the gurus are watching you - although maybe some of us need to pretend they are there all the time so we lift our standards. My biggest ring craft tip would be don't let your standards slip just because your in the ring. If you wouldn't accept it at training then its not acceptable at a trial either. Trial as you train and train as you trial. Better to ask to be excused because the dog isn't paying attention then continue and let bad habits develop. Please Ptolomy remind me of that one will you. The other I can think of even as a newbie trust in your dog. If you have made the decision to enter a trial then you have a belief that the dog is capable of completing the exercises and hopefully completing them to the best of there ability. Doesn't mean you will always pass but it does mean you should focus on giving your dog 100% in the ring. Leave any thoughts or doubts or fears at home before you even get to the trial. Following on from this would be don't feel the urge to drill your dog prior to going. Whats done is done and I have seen novice dogs drilled constantly before entering the ring and by the time they get in their they have often been pushed past the point of enjoyment. If your dog needs drilling then they aren't ready so go home and train some more and then come back when they are at the required level. Certainly watch as much as you can of the higher classes (although I'll say there is some pretty shoddy handling happening in them as well). Ask questions. And finally relax - its not about sheep stations, its suppose to be a game we play with our best friends so treat it like that.

Nope I am definitely thinking interceptor as its the only product Ness has ever had. It was sometime in her 8 years of life. Maybe they have modified the product since the early days and it now does cover everything.

It probably is but I'll worry about fixing it later. Rather keep the attitude at the moment.

I think there is an element of uncertainly because they are trying to avoid the distraction and haven't been taught a clear enough release to an object on the ground. They don't fully understand that there job is to get into position as quickly as possible regardless of what is going on or what is in front of them. ETA. Different context but I had a toy in front of the hoop I had been using to teach a sendaway. She slowed up because she wasn't sure if she should grab the toy but then made the correct decision to sit in the hoop so was relesed to the toy. Next time there was no hesitation in her response. It was straight out regardless of the fact the toy was there and then I released her. So I guess its just confusion by the dog as to what it is suppose to be doing.