kelpiecuddles

I agree Nat, this is why I used a loose leash. As long as Sascha performed the heel properly then it wasn't used at all essentially. But a distracted pup can be hard to keep in position especially if like me you have two dogs and have dificulty even training distraction free in your own backyard We don't train on leash at all anymore other than at the club as they won't allow you to train off leash in the classes.

I agree Nat, this is why I used a loose leash. As long as Sascha performed the heel properly then it wasn't used at all essentially. But a distracted pup can be hard to keep in position especially if like me you have two dogs and have dificulty even training distraction free in your own backyard

Trying to think back to how I taught Sascha, I think I was halfway between. We used a lead but it was left loose and only used to gently put her back in postiion with the command heel if she didn't move back by her self on cammand. Cazza, Sascha knows two commands, heel means the obvious and the command free means that she is allowed to wander around when off lead or wander to the extent of the lead when on lead, I find this works well for us

Can I ask you guys another question. How do I increase her ability to recall when there are distractions around? I know that this is something that comes partly with maturity and I certainly don't expect it of her yet but I would like to do some foundation exercises with her. This is something that we do when she plays with the agility dogs after training: She is off playing, I call her and she comes and sits in front of me recieves a treat, pat, etc. and is given the free command again at which point she may go back to playing. She achieves this exercise about 50% of the time and when she doesn't it is generally a REALLY GOOD distraction Is this a suitable exercise? Do you have any other suggestions?

OK thanks guys. I probably won't have these issues once I start down where kelpie-i is next year. The problem I have here is that there is only one class group other than the raw beginners generally and as such the class is expected to work at the same rate as the least advanced member of the class. For example, Sascha does a fantastic sit stay and come off lead (and generally finishes nicely right in front of me in sit) but we aren't allowed to practice this at class usually as there are some dogs there that won't even do a sit stay. I haven't got anything against the owners of these dogs, the problem is in the way that classes are run . We also aren't allowed to work our dogs off lead, even if they will do it because there are many dogs in the class that are only beginners (after puppy school) Unfortunately this means that the only way we will ever actually progress is if I work at home. Once I am down at Tulla though where there are classes for different levels this should be much less of an issue I'm going to see f I can sweet talk one of the agility ladies that I met last week (who was lovely) to help me with her stand for inspection which she does very well for me and will do for other people most of the time but this is obviously a two person job

She's going on for 7 months now. I am aware of the worry about decreasing her ability to work on her own as such so I am careful to keep a fun, relaxed attitude with training. Also when we are around the agility field as we occasionally are I don't restricit her movement any more than is necessary and allow her to watch the other dogs and get a bit excited(which she does ) I never teach her anything in a forceful way and as my OH is not overly experienced I have made sure to keep a close eye on him so that the pressure is only slight to give her the idea, as she does understand the command, I am just refining the way she performs it. In reality the strength of the string we are using would be akin to sewing cotton so it would be impossible to use it to apply too much force.

Sascha has always been good at her sit/drop stays and then trotting ina nd sitting in front of me and then returning for a nice finish. I am now trying to develop her sitting or dropping part way through the recall. I use a seperate command for this so that she can expect another command (come for a standard call in and forward for a sit/drop on the move). So this is how I work it: We move into position and I sit Sascha tell her to stay and then walk away to a good distance. I give the command forward and she starts moving towards me, I then give the command to drop or sit and she is expected to do the approriate action. I am having some trouble stopping her though, she does normally do the command before she gets to me but it often takes 6 or so steps before she stops. I asked my OH to help me the other day with a piece of string tied to her collar so that he could put some pressure on her if she didn't immediately start moving into the new position. We had some success with this and a couple of times he didn't need to apply pressure at all or very little. I am just wondering if you guys think that this is an OK technique to be using or if you had any other suggestions?

Waiting to hear responses Trish, we have the same problem with our stressed out rescue kitty. Isn't it nice how that smell seems to go all through the house no matter how much you've cleaned it

You'll find that Sascha and I are both eager pupils Actually I think I can get annoying at times with all my questions ;)

I have spent the last day PMing backwards and forwards with kelpie-i as I will be joining her obedience club next year. She tells me that they train alot more in drive than most of the 'clubs' do so I interested in what this entails and whether I am instinctively using drive already(not being entirely sure of what that means ). Sascha is a very attentive pupil and I can only assume that this would relate to pack drive???? We do not train with a toy but use treats sporadically as reinforcement with verbal praise and the odd pat at the end of an exercise. Can anyone explain for me in really simple terms as I had never even heard of the concept until recently ;) Fanks guys :D

Yep I understand that, which is why I'm asking here so that I can get something that is as safe as possible short of putting him in a crate. I am investigating a different club at the moment so it may not end up being an issue anyway

I'll be up at Erskine Park for Spring Fair, I'll keep an eye out. Thanks

I know that I do not pat Sascha unless she sits still still and waits for one and she has done really well, since noticing this I have started doing the same with Beau who was a bit like your labs and I have noticed a big improvement in him

Looks good, can I ask where you got it from and how much it was?

You don't need to convince me of the benifits of a crate, having had Sascha crate trained I'll never go back However, not sure how he'll take to it but I'll give it a go. I might try some supervised time in the soft crate to see how he'll react to the concept and if it looks like he'l be OK I'll either buy a wire crate or if he's totally cool with it he can share Sascha's one. My concern is that I have bad shoulders and I find it difficult often to carry heavy weights so I'm not sure how well I would be able to handle a heavier wire crate? Failing that has anyone that has used tethers successfully got any recommendations? The club I go to always has a line of dogs tethered at the agility area and he has been happy in the past to be tethered near them, so I would be interested to hear peoples experiences.

Ok, um... maybe I need to ammend to say that it would need to fairly portable as I will be using it only at training and when travelling.

I did think of that but it's a soft crate and although Sascha is bomb proof in her crate training I am a little concerned that Beau may be inclined to eat his way out Atleast he is good with wayward children although there very rarely are any around at training from my exprience. He would fit in it though.

I am moving in a month and our new dog school runs classes at different times for different levels which will mean that I will be able to take both the dogs Both are happy to be staked out of the way while the other is trained and this will obviously be necessary as I won't have time to take one home and pick the other up between classes. I will probably just crate Sascha as she is trained for this and happy in one but Beau has never been crate trained and I doubt he would be very impressed. What are people feelings on stakes? I have had Beau tethered to someone elses stake at training before and he was quite happy to stay there but I want something that will be nice and strong and also easy to get into the ground, not tooexpensive in case I leave it behind (I wouldn't put it past me )

I would like to share my experience here. I have two dogs and while I can see your point of view regarding the owner 'allowing' the dog to pull I fail to believe that this is the case all the time. I have trained both my dogs at home and while I now take Sascha to obedience as we wish to trial in the future she was already heeling before we got there so we will assume for the sake of argument that both dogs have been trained to the same level (if that makes sense). I got both dogs at the age of approximately 10 weeks, both dogs were trained on a flat collar to start with and while Sascha has never needed anything more forceful than this we eventually despite our best efforts had to put Beau on a choker (don't worry I do know how to fit one) and then when he continued to pull we eventually decided to try a halter. Beau now wears a mini horse foal halter as it is much better made (wider straps and metal buckles rather than clips) and he doesn't mind wearing it at all. We used the halter not as a quick fix but as a training tool. He was taught to heel while wearing it and now only wears it if we are going somewhere high distraction as he can get a bit overexcited I just feel it is important that people realise that not all dogs are the same and some are a bit less..um...intelligent.. than others Beau is now well trained and even tried agility fr some fun a few weeks ago and did really well even with all the distractions around. FYI - we can't train Beau with food as he gets so intent on the food that he won't listen to what you say

Definately get youre mum to takl to the vet about whether the dog could do some swimming to get the weight off. When my mum's dog injured her shoulder she took her to a doggy swimming pool to help keep the weight off ehr a strengthen her shoulder. She's in Melbourne tho so I'm not sure what's in your area.

We have the airconditioning tube for the tunnel here, it's alot bigger than a standard tunnel but it does the trick for at home. Ours has withstood two dogs (one large, one medium) as well as being dragged around by kids so it's pretty tough. I got all the bits for my course from a seconhand building supplier. The jumps are made of cardboard tubes from the inside of fabric rolls which have been painted. I can't leave them outside but atleast I don't need to worry about them injuring themselves if they hit them.

I've seen an animal die from Ratsak. Despite two weeks of treatment she still passed away. :D It's important that the dog sees the vet anyway as the effects of ratsak aren't immediate.

At my club dogs have to be in the advanced class and be over year old to train in agility.

Well there is no mention of whining in his book It just explains the way that dogs see themselves quite well and I think it is a good intro for someone that has fairly outdated views on training.

John Richardson, it's a great book I highly recommend it.