Kavik

Lovely! My favourite colour too :laugh: :D

I agree with the others - more mental work, less physical work :) Tricks are great and lots of fun, and many can be useful in building good body awareness, coordination and core strength :) If you need ideas, Kikopup's YouTube channel is great! She has videos on how to train many things from basic obedience, pet manners to tricks and behaviours of many types https://www.youtube.com/user/kikopup

Any photos or videos of your guys workcocker? Thank you so much for the information! Thanks TSD - yes structure is so important! I have a lot more to learn in that regard! Plenty of rabbits my way as well :laugh: Boy, that could present some challenges with a Cocker Spaniel in terms of training!

Thanks for the replies, I am learning a lot I had wondered about their longer backs DeltaCharlie, in the pics I have seen, but haven't met one yet in real life.

Yes - funny they definitely are! Did you see the one in H360 video? Was hard to get a good look but SG called it a Working Cocker. I reckon you'd need a good sense of humour. And there aren't many breeders in Australia so you'd need to really do your homework. I saw the one in the H360 video, but it was difficult to get a good look at. Yes, sounds like you'd need a good sense of humour, certainly got that impression from the Crufts video too :laugh: I guess I seem to be attracted to crazy dogs which you need a good sense of humour to train :laugh:

They look and sound quite fun! I watched the Crufts gundog demo and the Cocker was so funny! Looked like such a character with loads of personality! No off switch is a worry though!

Any Working Cocker Spaniel people here or know much about them? How do they differ from show Cockers in type, temperament, coat type? Drive levels, trainability, biddability?

Interesting - never heard of it before! I do find that timing to get your dog ready to go into the ring for competition is quite difficult! Enough time to get yourselves warmed up, focused and ready, but not so early that you are standing around waiting for a long time, and letting your dog get either flat or worked up depending on your dog.

Thanks guys :) Sounds like it would be doable if I can handle the extra work around seasons. More to think about :laugh: Luckily OH is great about my rules for the dogs and I do pretty much everything anyway.

How do you find having both entire boys and entire girls? Nitro is my first entire boy, and I'm not sure whether to stick to boys only or whether it will be doable to add in a girl, seeing as I don't want to desex until fully grown at least.

In the back of my Rav4 I have a false floor with two of these on top (medium size): http://www.vebopet.com.au/dog/dog-crate-cage/collapsible-metal-wire-pet-crate-with-slanted-side-for-cars-2-sizes.html Works really well! Also means it is super easy to take the crates out to put kids bikes in etc. I would have loved a setup like TSD but when I checked prices it was out of my price range. I'll see if I can get OH to resize the pic I have of my setup - too big to put on here atm.

I walk in the rain unless it is torrential or thunderstorms. It my "me" time as well away from the kids :laugh:

Mine are lickers too :laugh: sorry!

My male dogs have had nicer temperaments than my female dogs too! Though that could also come down to where they were sourced. And both female dogs I have had cocked their legs just as much as the males :laugh:

I love the boys! Have only boys at the moment :laugh:

I would agree that kibble + vegies does not make the dog vegetarian lol. Many people feed solely or mainly kibble. As others have suggested, feeding vegies is often suggested when people feel bad about not giving treats when trying to get weight off their dog.

Done!

What model did you get? :) Our new car is a 2012 Toyota Rav4 :). The newer models from 2013 have a different boot shape. I am able to fit in a false floor so I can put my trialling gear underneath, with two crates on top of the false floor.

Yep, what aliwake said :) This is how I used to tether Kaos before we got our new car which fits crates in the back. Love my new car!

Norwegian Elkhound?

I'm finding that it takes time :laugh: My youngster is still rather easily distracted (loves everyone and everything!) :laugh: but we are making headway. What breed and what toys have you tried?

Thanks skip :) We are now trying the barking, game stops And improving our self control as well. IYC and also RZ around exciting things. Kids come in handy for this as he gets excited when they run around or ride their bikes, so working on that too :laugh:

Kelpies do use their voice on sheep at times - they are advertised whether they have bark, backing ability and/or bite. Some people prefer dogs with bark, some without and the same for the other qualities. It probably wouldn't bother me if he barked and still worked OK (plenty of agility dogs that do this lol), but he barks and loses his brain, which is a problem.

If you want to feed dry, and the pup is doing well on it, then feed dry. :) Maybe give the more 'interesting' bits as training treats, or treats for general good behaviour etc rather than as part of the meal? Or as a separate meal. So that she doesn't pick them out and leave the dry. 2 of mine get primarily dry :) Diesel gets raw because he had bloat a couple of years ago.

No, I haven't trained him to bark on command.