Seita

not a trialling brag (on hiatus at the moment) but a proud training moment nontheless! I let the dogs out the front door tonight and they both took off after the neighbours dog (who was out and wandering again) I called both dogs and Blink the 6.5 month old pup came bolting back first call!!! Her mother the "Obedience Champion" on the other hand ignored me completely and came back in her own bloody time! I was horrified at Ella's behaviour but man was I proud of Blink! :D

I don't think you've missed the boat at all in fact if you haven't been to club training classes then you are probably in a really great position to teach behaviours the way you want and you won't have bad habits to unteach! Where and how to start depends entirely on what you want to do with your dog. The best advice I can give is read and learn as much as you can, watch youtube videos and have fun training your dog!

I think Tassie has given you very good advice and what you're already doing sounds like a good strategy. I wouldn't let them run together unless you are supervising for the next few weeks. I also wouldn't be worried about the growling, my adult bitch is boss dog around here and every time another dog walks into my yard she usually snaps at it once or twice and then ignores them for a week, after that there has never been a problem and I can happily leave her to run wtih the other dog. If I had to introduce a dog that didn't submit to her at the first meeting they would be separated indefinitely until I could train a truce between them. I've now introduced at least 4 new dogs into my yard over the past 5 years and we've never had a dog fight.

Unfortunately both of these guys are Sunshine coast/northside based which proably won't help the OP but I certainly wouldn't hesitate to recommend Jane Harper!

You are spot on the money with the Oxley club being pretty much the same as Val Bonney's classes. You might like to try out the Agility Dog Club of Queensland (http://www.adcq.com.au/index.php?act=viewDoc&docId=12) as I'm pretty sure they run a basic beginners course which doesn't really touch on agility, it's more of a basic obedience type course. They may be more helpful for you and as you want to get into agility then you're already in the right place!

You'll probably find that the obedience classes at Oxley are much the same or at least no better unfortunately. Where abouts are you based and where are you currently training?

I taught this using guides on the ground like broom sticks or if you have a very exuberant dog like mine lengths of 2x4 or star pickets were a bit sturdier. Dog inside the channel you on the other side, keep the sticks really close together so if your dog starts to twist out they will stand on the guide which they won't want to do. And start really slowly, only look for a tiny bit of backwards movement to start with and gradually increase until you can get several full steps.

definitely not too old. I'm just starting agility with my 6 year old now!

Thanks for the all the replies it's made a lot of sense and I have a clearer understanding of what I am doing right and wrong. I am still confused about the arm up in the air thing and will double check with the instructor next week as like someone said I may have misunderstood something along the way. I certainly do need to focus on keeping my arm steady or I will see bars drop, I also need to learn when to turn, how to change direction and speed smoothly so bars (and uprights) stay up! I started agility back in the late 90s when you ran the dog at heel on your left only and said over for each jump and weave weave weave for each single pole, right hand handling was just starting to come in when I stopped! I haven't done agility in more than 10 years now and man is there alot for me to get my head around!

Based on this theory, Jazz should never make it over a bar. I have been training her with an injured shoulder - I can not hold my arm up at all or out for any period of time. Poor girl has had to learnt to work from very minimal signals on that side of my body, basically just my forearm and she has coped fine and is not a bar knocker (at this stage - yet to test it in a trial but I can only think of 3 times in training she has dropped a bar in 12 months). I'm looking forward to recovering from the shoulder surgery I had last week and finally getting out there to trial her as she is so training so well at the moment (or was, hopefully still will when we return from my enforced break). I've have never heard of that..... I have my arm extended if I want the dog to stay out & bring it in close to my body if I want her to move in to me, but it doesn't matter where I have my arm in relation to her dropping bars. I can have my arm behind my back & she will not knock bars. If you start with your arm up & then drop it, it shouldn't make her knock a bar, it will simply bring her in to you, so she might miss a jump that was further out.....if that makes sense. My girl is very sensitive to body language so if I drop my arm mid jump she drops her rear end and knocks bars. I did some more testing of the arm thingy today and I still haven't worked out why the raised arm is needed. I don't want to knock my club as I really like the way they train but just want to understand the reasons why I'm being told to do certain things!

I'm pretty sure they are using Greg Derrett's system.... I understand what you are saying and that's what my thoughts were too. I did challenge the instructor on this last night as I honestly don't think my dog knows that if my arm is way up in the air it means to jump high! I've been playing in the backyard with no arms just using shoulder and body to indicate where I want her to go and she's not dropping bars there

I've got a question for the agility people! I'm learning very slowly how to run a manic, hyperspeed dog in agility at present and have been reading alot about handling and also spending hours watching videos. But I'm stumped on the use of arms! I understand the need for giving direction and my dog has no trouble with that but my agility club keeps telling me I need to keep my hand raised up in the air or my dog will jump lower or drop bars? Now my dog has never been taught anything in relation to my arm being up in air so I'm confused about how having my arm up will affect her jump. I understand if I start with my arm up in the air and then drop it while she's jumping that affects her jump as I've changed my body language. Surely I can train her to jump with my arm held level or not even having my arm out and only use the arm for directional cues or crosses etc? What do others think about arms? I know alot of this comes down to the handling system that my club teaches but I want to know the reasons WHY we do certain things!

- Well we can check the first one off the list, she had a super litter and I've kept a very promising girl and 3 others are also in performance homes! - Yes we are back in the ring, we had our first trial last weekend and her heelwork was sensational but I got nervous for the first time in forever and threw her off for the rest of her work. So add a new goal - fix my nerves LOL. Next trials this weekend! - Agility is progressing steadily, I am feeling more confident about trialling her at some stage. Probably looking at early next year...

Owey, how is puppy going? Have you sent the blood tests off yet? We all have fingers and paws crossed for your little guy that it's not TNS. Please don't get offended or put off by all the backyard breeder/puppy farmer bashing, we just do it because we care so much for our respective breeds and we hate seeing situations like the one you are in now. Keep us updated and we'll keep thinking of you and your family!

Ahhh everything makes a whole lot more sense now! Now I understand why when my dog does something that I didn't want, the instructors tell me that I did "such and such" wrong. I must have missed the part where my club teaches the handling guidelines as I just keep getting frustrated and confused when I'm always being told that I am doing things wrong! I think obedience is easier! So much less going on to think about LOL. Thanks so much for your replies, now I need to learn the guidelines and teach them to my dog!

Ok so it's been forever since I did agility and sooo much has changed. I did a beginners course last year and have been tagging along to a local agility club this year in their novice sort of level class. It is becoming apparent that I need to learn how to be the best handler for my dog and I've heard all this talk about handling systems but haven't got a clue what that actually means!! Could someone please explain in simple terms what this means and how some of the main ones compare to each other? Thanks heaps!! :D

Southside Dog Obedience Club is holding a Rally-O trial in conjunction with our Obedience Trial on Sunday 24th June. Unfortunately our ad didn't get printed in the dog world. I have emailed a flyer to all clubs but am not sure everyone recieved it. Judging starts at 1:30pm, vetting from 12:30pm All classes to be judged by Ms L Thiele $7.50 per class Entries to: Trial Secretary, 126 Durrang St, Durack QLD 4077 Please share this information with your clubs!

section off the house, I have baby gates set up so that one of the dogs only has access to one room. The other dog goes straight over them as if they don't exist so I lock her in the bathroom or laundry (decent sized rooms). Otherwise make it a gradual transition, put dogs out with a big bone for an hour or two while you're home and gradualy increase time and make it enjoyable for them to be out there - you could have special "outside" toys or things to do that your dogs will enjoy.

And my brag is that I've picked my new superstar competition dog! Introducing "Blink" who hopefully will be following successfully in her mother's paw prints!

Congrats Kath! I'm impressed, there's no way I would have gotten out of bed this morning it's too wet here in Brissy :-) Well done!!

I'm probably one of the daggiest triallers out there! I often rock up with a dirty, unbrushed dog, ripped jeans and a daggy shirt. I do make a bit more of an effort for the bigger trials but most of the time can't be bothered! I let my dogs work do the talking rather than how we look from a presentation point of view. :)

Very true but I think there are things breeders can do to help develop those temperments. I've seen too many of my breed that are shy, nervous or uncertain and while the genetics may play a part I don't think that's the sole reason. I am more than happy with the parents' temperments, it's just that I want to do everything I possibly can to ensure these pups develop confident, stable and social temperments.

WOW! So much info! Thanks! Most of mine are going to performance homes too so I want happy, confident, outgoing little guys! Looking forward to hearing other people's methods :-)

I'm very new to breeding and have a litter of 4 week old pups at the moment. I've been doing a fair bit of reading on what to introduce at different ages and have found lots of different ideas and of course opinions. So I'm asking for what everyone else does in regards to raising your puppies so they have lovely stable temperments? What toys/items do you give them? When do they move outside/inside etc? Do you take them to visit other people or places? What do you introduce them to? I think you get the idea! So tell me what you do to ensure your pups get the best start in life!

I find more judges have issues with the hand on the hip but it does depend on the state. There is actually nothing in the rule book about where hands need to be but if you change the position of your hands during an exercise (ie start with hands at your side before giving recall and then putting them back in front of your after the command) that can be classed as a double command. I swing my arms (both) and have never had a judge comment or dock points.