J...

Darcy had a break until the New Year, I wasn't really doing much with Zee except some groundwork, foundation and of course heaps of fun stuff. Since New Year Zee's now weaving 12 poles, is working on her footwork, and has just started some real sequencing in the last 2 weeks - all that groundwork has certainly paid off. In less than a month I've gone from having a very novice baby dog to one that is really starting to look like an agility dog. Darcy has been working hard on her jumping & grid work. I also put Darcy through the 2 x 2 training with Zee and she's doing some lovely stuff with her weaving. Hopefully we can knock off the occasional 10th pole pop and nail some nice entries in the ring

Good to hear that you reported it Tanya - I hope your rangers are better than ours. Glad neither of you was hurt but it's not the point - it shouldn't happen and some people seriously need a smack in the head. Some great news locally - Bullen Merri is open again : :D The girls still got a hose down afterwards just to be safe but so good to have it available again. :) ;)

I love those photos where you can tell exactly where everyone's owner is standing - bit like an easy version of a "spot the ball" competition Was lovely to meet all of you - both of you girls and your gorgeous dogs. That's a cute pic of Zee and Cooper under the table - typical Zee. Well behaved??

Awesome I knew we'd get a date sorted out in the end, can't rush these things. Radar looks ordinary but should be ok by lunch. Fingers crossed. Will see you guys at 12 if the weather is ok.

That's a good idea Zee is fine walking with others but she will be too much of a handful to sit quietly while we eat so I'll wear her out at the beach first (well as best I can ) and then meet you guys for lunch at 12. The experience will do her good, as will meeting other dogs.

As TSD said, it does come with time and confidence. I use an absolute favourite toy, an i-squeak - I find squeaking it while the dog weaves an excellent distraction but also really revs them up. One or two reps and then finish - leave them absolutely hanging for more. Make it a heap of fun and just keep working on it. SG suggested going back to 4 straight poles to "fix issues" so that could be an option as well if you feel she's not picking up her speed as much as you'd like.

Yes I do have tomorrow off work My plan was to take the girls to the beach to give them a big run - ideally it would be before I did lunch to take the zing out of Zee who's .... enthusiastic at the best of times. What time are you thinking? Where is Simon's?

Now that's harsh - Darcy's taken the ring ropes as her final obstacle more than once but we've never had anything said, except a laugh at her expense. What I meant was handlers leaving the ring with their dog off-lead, or following the dog out instead of calling them back, or picking the dog up and not having their lead and collar on by the time they make it out of the ring.

The inequality is frustrating, and the example I quoted above was an experienced trialler and it was a Masters course. Quiet country trial - would've been interesting to see what would've happened at a big trial where there is hot competition for Top Dog points. Spread that inequality across states and it gets even more interesting - Vic is bloody tough on refusals is a good example. That said, rules are rules and you tend to be pretty right if you stick with them. You don't have to be trialling long to figure out which judge will take a pass off your for leaving the ring without your dog on lead, who's slow on their feet for contacts and who will kick your arse for even thinking about redoing an obstacle in the ring

Some of the application of the rules will depend on the judge as well - particularly with games where you pick your own path. Taking a dog off an obstacle will earn you a DQ immediately under some of our judges for safety reasons, regardless of whether it's a toe hair or all four feet. Most of them will mention this in the briefing, along with any other course issues/no go zones. (i.e. handlers being able to run between a tunnel and a jump which are set really close). Some of our judges are massive sticklers for the rules, others will turn a blind eye - have seen a dog complete 4 to 5 weave poles as an off course obstacle and still win the ring with a pass.

Which bridge Tenties? - the one that's in action or the one that's not? Fluffy bunnies are good - great exercise especially when you know the dogs have a snowflakes chance in hell of catching them The only rabbits my two see close up are the ones from the greyhound shop. :D Beach sounds sensational - was going to head down yesterday with the girls but didn't get there. Is there usually many stalls at the show? I want to get an extra silver mesh shade for my gazebo and would prefer to take a look before ordering. We had a great day - a friend offered me the use of her agility gear so Zee got to train in a different environment. She did some stuff today that she's not done before; some rear crosses on jumps, her first full seesaw as well as some lovely contact work on the dogwalk and A-frame. Such a good baby dog - really really happy with her work. :D

I help out where I can - the club that I'm a member of, I always assist on the morning of the trial for set-up and pack up at the end of the day. Many hands make light work with heavy gear, especially at the end of a long day. I also try and step in to assist with course set-up, particularly at trials where you can see they are short staffed. I have a long drive to most trials so if people step-up in and help everyone gets to head off and arrive home that bit earlier :rolleyes: That said, some clubs don't treat their helpers very well and continue to scream for help. Maybe they need to look at why they can't get the assistance and why people keep walking away...

tlc I think that would be the showgrounds that tez uses. Showgrounds has recently put signs up saying 'private property' which is for liability purposes mostly, but I was talking to one of the committee and they were complaining about the dog people quite a lot - not picking up mostly but also allowing dogs to jump all over people's kids and those who do working bee's up there etc. Anyone got a cheap 5 acres they can sell me

You're right - it is getting harder and I can see it getting worse. ;) This council doesn't enforce the rules they put in place, so when people don't abide by then they just toughen the rules again. So for those who do the wrong thing, nothing changes. :D From what I read on the main forum, the State of Vic is going the same way. I've just been kicked off the big athletics field - the only big piece of land around the place that is maintained, flat, away from main roads and has some fencing. Apparently it is private property (didn't realise - no signs) and they've put the rules in place because of the amount of dog crap that isn't getting picked up. Signs are going up once they arrive. Showgrounds is private property as well and I have no doubt it will be next as once again people don't pick up - at the moment I can't use it as it's a foot deep in seed heads. The rest of the parks here are too small, uneven, covered in shrubs/trees, too close to roads/playground equipment and rarely mowed so there is too much grass or massive windrows. Gets bloody hard to give dogs a decent off lead run, let alone do some training. OT from my ranting - will PM you my details for the herding GSDs, got sidetracked and slipped my mind.

I think one of the issues is the potential sh*tfight when the judge refuses. Most judges allow it as far as I know, but I know at least one who would refuse the request, no matter what your reason :D

Insert big vent!! :D To all the irresponsible morons who don't do the right thing and pick up after their dogs and keep them under control - thanks very much for ruining it for the rest of us!! ;) Maybe I should just let my two wander the streets, crap and piddle where they like, chase a few cars and annoy the crap out of the neighbours by barking at all hours of the night and day - seems that's perfectly acceptable :) :mad

I will have to get a copy of this book - sounds really interesting. What I've quoted above is pretty much my experience with kelpies in a working sense - give them a job to do and they do it well - don't tell them how to do it because you'll be wasting your breath!

Type "6 feet in metres" into Google search and it will convert it for you SW. So 6 feet is 1.83 metres. Has anyone got the Cool Champions silver mesh - what do you think of it? Just handy that theirs fit the Compact Gazebo perfectly for either 1 or 2 sides I have on already that I got from Clean Run but it only does one and a half sides.

Mum told me today that the Hamilton Hwy between the Ballarat turn-off and Lismore is awful, some nasty potholes capable of doing damage, so anyone travelling that road please be careful.

I trained Darcy in 2 x 2 out of the Shaping Success book as a total novice, so while her weaves were ok there was some gaps. She struggles with "easy side" entries and pops the 10th pole probably 20% of the time, especially with weave poles that aren't "right" i.e. narrower than the standard, wobble in their bases etc. I've recently put her back through at the same pace as my baby dog Zee, and the improvement in her weaving is awesome. She's nailing some really tough "easy side" entries and hasn't popped a weave pole the entire way through. That's with working some really tough distractions like me running in the total opposite direction, stopping dead, sitting down, throwing toys when she's only half way through. I've found it's a skill you need to keep working them on, just like everything else in agility. :D I'm rapt with Zee's weaving - she went from 6 poles to rolling 6's and into 12 straight poles the other night in a new location. I'm going to offset the poles like SG does in the DVD as her footwork is good but she's trying to go so fast she's losing her stride occasionally. But my baby dog is weaving

http://www.wdts.org.au/Trials.htm There is some dog friendly suggestions at the bottom of the page. On my way to work but try some of the B & B type places, but you'll be lucky with the speedway on all week.

The information is crazy - we had trucks going miles out of their way because council staff told them the roads were shut, only to find out that those roads were never shut at all I heard late this arvo (on the radio) that there is a chance that the Princes at Panmure may not be open for a week due to needing to check the bridge for damage. Best to check Vicroads I'd say. Drove around today and got some photos of the Emu Creek and the mouth of the Hopkins - totally packed out up there! Amazing to see. Would've loved to have seen the falls. Did you get pics JJ?

I don't use a cue word - I just keep rewarding the behaviour I want. Once it's an established behaviour then I might, but my two have a lot of reward history for putting their front feet or back feet up on steps/books/balance discs/foot pods that they offer it the moment I put it on the floor. With the rain this week I shaped Zee to put each foot on a foot pod - funny watching her figure out the back feet, even though her rear end awareness is really good.

Absolutely worth advertising it in the herding thread - also try the BC, Kelpie and Coolie thread as well as any other working breed threads. I seriously don't know enough about the sport of herding to even know what a "C" course is as opposed to an A or B. My experience with working dogs is solely on farm, mostly working cattle, did some sheep and dog work as a jillaroo but that was a few year's ago now. ;) I'd like for both Darcy and Zee to get at least their HIT given they are both eligible, even though Darcy doesn't look it

Too small - even the Manchester which is the bigger version of the ETT is only ~10kg, and if Huski doesn't like the look of the GP then there's no way she'll like MTs or ETTs, her loss :D We have a couple of the Manchesters trialling in agility in Vic - sensational dogs, I love their enthusiasm for everything they do :D But I love my working breeds and that's what I will stick with. :D So I totally understand personal preferences.