J...

I use spins, back-ups and some good deep weight shift tugging to warm my guys up, on top of some circle walk and some wraps if I get sufficient space. I do very little specific stretching and I don't believe it should be done by anyone unless they've sought specific advice from a sports vet/other suitably qualified person on doing so. What about restrained recalls - I don't think you can do enough of these, you want dogs to run as fast as they can on an agility course so let them practise it on the flat. Work on accel/decel type work on the flat as well if you're that way inclined handling wise.

Congrats JJ - awesome news!!

Oztrail Deluxe Compact - still fits across the back seat foot well area of a smaller car, and I can easily assemble it myself. Slightly heavier but stronger and also has heavier duty roof covering. I started with the original Compact but the Deluxe is so much better.

Sorry to hear you're not well tlc, hope you're feeling better soon! :) Thanks JJ, we got down there just in time to see some of the BCs. Hard going to be able to see much, I did nearly 2 laps before I figured out how to get into the rings without walking through someone's gazebo Showies certainly aren't big on leaving space! Was good for Bowie, he was really good even with a couple of dogs who chose to bark as we walked around. Scored a cheap crate mat for him too - I love the show stalls Any signs of those puppies yet?

Thanks for the reminder JJ - what time are they likely to finish each day?

Good luck with the puppies JJ - hope they all arrive safe and sound and exactly what you want Bowie turned 14 weeks on the weekend, I took him to his first agility trial on the weekend. He got to play with his brother and half-brother, plus part of the explosion of new puppies which has hit the agility community in the past month :laugh: This is from the trial, thanks to a mate of mine for taking the pic :D

First thing I recommend anyone who's stuck with 2 x 2s is take a break, and go back and watch the DVD again, it's amazing what you miss even if you've seen it a few times and done it with multiple dogs. Print out the notes and sit down with pen and paper and work through it step by step.

That was my first thought, good on the council for doing something about it because our local council certainly wouldn't. If the councils enforced the rules we already had instead of adding further restrictions then we'd see some action. Those who already ignore the regulations will continue to do so, no matter how strict they are. Your poor friend, what an absolute disgrace. I agree with whoever suggested taking it further, keep going up the chain until you find someone who'll get off their butt and do something about it.

PM Superminty on this forum, or she posts in the herding thread in the Main Training forum a lot. She will be able to point you in the right direction for your friend.

What a shit of a day! I don't envy anyone having to work today without A/C. I came home at lunch time and am working from home, A/C is on and everyone is flat out asleep under it. Hoping the cool change comes early enough so I can take the dogs to the beach without getting windblasted and fried but I don't like my chances. I think they might be waiting until tomorrow for a swim! Stay safe everyone :)

I own the same cross, Darcy my Lab Kelpie x is 7 yo :D Darcy will retrieve anything for as long as you're willing to throw it. Thankfully she's not obsessed with it like your boy, but Darcy has other "jobs" to do though. I would 1) teach him an alternate behaviour outside so he's not annoying you and and your guests. He can go to his bed inside, he can do it outside but it will take some work and some really good rewards. Heaps of work before you next have guests, and don't let him practise his old behaviours because they are very self-rewarding. 2) You've got some good exercise work in there (retrieving and a good run every day or so) but no work for his brain. A short 5 to 10 minute training session can help tire his brain out so he's not so obsessed about his ball. Teach him some good tricks, once again good rewards so that he learns that there are other things in life. The LBDs point about location is a good one, maybe save the behaviour for certain locations. My BC x Kelpie can be a bit ball obsessed but we only do it at the beach, so I don't get bugged for it anywhere else. She's figured out that the ball thrower is the key, if I don't have that then no balls get thrown and she leaves me alone. She's also figured out that if it's in my left hand, it won't get used either but it's game on if it's in my right. :laugh:

A friend has crates welded into her van just behind the driver's seat. Hers are stacked vertically though, so one dog doesn't get to see anything but the top dog does. I wonder if you could use the down low area as some kind of storage and then have the crates horizontally across the top? Would take some working out and probably extra expense in building it but it might work?

There is some on his breeders' page: http://web3.foxinternet.net/pep-lill/ If you scroll maybe 20% of the way down. Will get some more of him in the next day or so, he's 11 weeks today. Something I was very slack with Zee, I have so few photos of her growing up.

I agree, nice work BC4ME.

Awww, he's so bloody cute RJ, what a ripper puppy!! Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas :D We were pretty quiet here, Dad worked day shift so I took the girls and Bowie to the beach and then we did Xmas dinner after Dad finished work. Suits me fine, much more relaxed staying close to home rather than doing Melbourne trip and back again. :) Bowie is growing like a weed, he's so full on some days but he's also very switched on. Took him to Geelong today to the waterfront which is a puppy socialisation paradise - kids, dogs, people, bikes, kids train, the chopper coming in and out, scooters, skateboards etc. He was really good, bopped along with the girls like he'd done it a 100 times before.

:D

Depends on the dog. Darcy my 7 yo gets training a few times a week, short sessions of a few mins x 2 to 3 reps if it's something I can train without agility gear. If I need to get agility gear out then I will push her and ask her for longer training sessions with rests in between. I easily get away with these longer sessions with her. Zee 3 yo gets training several times as above, but she only gets super short training sessions of a minute of two with agility. Handy having the two girls to work for agility because I can alternate and give one a rest while working the other. Bowie 9 weeks gets heaps of incidental training plus one to two more organised but super short training sessions a day. So heaps of play and fun recalls, IYC/CGs etc plus some fun shaping etc.

Unbelievable. Most of the dogs who need to be muzzled because they are hard on stock are muzzled anyway. We've never needed to muzzle any of our working dogs, the ACDs were never used in the cattle yards and the one kelpie we had who would bite in the sheep yards was a far better paddock dog than yard dog so was usually tied up. Even when I was jillarooing, working with cattle who didn't see man for months at at time, we never used dogs in the yards. However, if you take a look at some of the working dog ads you will see dogs being showcased as being hard biters, in some cases hanging off the muzzles of cattle, sometimes two and three dogs cornering stock in a yard for the sake of a good ad photo. I've grown up and worked on numerous cattle properties with working ACDs & kelpies, but some of the photos I've seen in ads make me cringe because they are unnecessarily harsh on the stock and do none of us any favours.

Awesome drive on such a young puppy but I see a rapidly tiring puppy at the 2 minute mark. To continue asking such a young dog to keep working well past that point is wrong in my books. Totally agree with this. There comes a point where you need to protect them from themselves, not ask them for more.

Fingers crossed here RJ, really hope you get him this Sunday. Unfortunately I'm not around Sunday as I'm off to Ballarat to help with some club agility gear clean-up and will be taking advantage of some puppies up there (including Bowie's brother :)) but would love to catch up at some other time if it's possible. :D

He's a cutie RJ - really glad you're getting him a little earlier. 8 weeks nearly did me in, I can't imagine having to wait 12!! I have a huge page of names I had for Bowie, maybe write a heap down that you like/don't mind/can live with and present to the OH. I like JJs suggestion, he looks like an Angus :laugh: Edited to add: I'm still keen to catch up for a puppy date and with anyone with puppy friendly dogs, especially those who are good at laying down some boundaries. My girls are a little too tolerant at times

Thanks guys, I'm really stoked with him. First time I've gone through a breeder to get a puppy and while the wait was tough at times it's been so worth it in the end.

Worn out...

Thanks tlc - yes I think he's gorgeous too :D He is a BC. He's a merle, his breeder says Seal (Black/brown) others have said Blue but he has brown merle markings down one leg. Whatever colour he is, he's one ripper puppy. :D

Bowie photos :D