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Available at either BCF or Rays Outdoors - they both look to be the same structure just a different brand on the bag. Do a search for "gazebo hub" and they will come up in the first results. $159 at both stores.

I'm going to assume you've never been to a trial at all :) Keep your dog on a short lead and under control, stay out of people's way when they are warming up their dogs or running from ring to ring etc. Don't let your dog approach other dogs without permission, or play with or approach the toys and food containers that are scattered outside of ring exits. Squeaky toys are frowned upon, as are thrown toys around the rings. There is some great people in agility in Vic, but trialling puts pressure on people in different ways and someone who is normally lovely may not react well to a non-trialler getting in their way or distracting their dog :) There will be triallers like me who have a warm up jump or a pool noodle for warming up dogs around the very outside of the exhibition area, follow their lead on distance etc from the competition area on a good distance to work your dog at.

This was a useful reference - a friend was using Periactin with good success. http://www.ingleburnvet.com.au/antihistamines.htm

Probably as good a time as any to put in a note about making sure your booking is rock solid if there is a big event on, like Agility Nationals etc - your booking price and conditions may get changed on you if there is a big demand for pet friendly properties over that time frame. Not nice to find your long booked accommodation plans go down the chute because someone got greedy, especially when you'd stayed there before

Not all vets are good with picking up soundness issues in dogs, so you have the potential for an unsound dog being signed off as being ok to complete the ET. I think there has to be a line in the sand drawn for the good of the dogs, and if it's a conservative age where the line gets drawn - so be it. Sadly there are overweight, unsound and unfit dogs being trained in agility (my chosen sport) and even trialling by people who should know better. I can think of several who were trialling way past a point where they should've been retired

Best thing I've done recently with my dogs is find an awesome sports rehab vet who could identify my dog's strengths and weaknesses and put together a program for each dog. Ask for some referrals from people and definitely make sure the person is appropriately qualified, I know two dogs who have had serious issues/injuries missed recently Christine Zink uses a guideline of for every 10 minutes you spend doing agility you should be doing at least 2 to 3 times that of fitness/strength work with your dog. It's a guideline I stick to and would use for any dog sport. I use a mix of swimming, water walking and beach free running in warm weather plus each dog's strength program, and hill free-running in Winter plus I'll ramp up their strength work.

I would do whatever you can afford to do, no point doing a small area and needing to get the machinery back in at a later date when it's too small. I'm managing to do heaps of mini 2 to 3 jumps sequences plus tunnels in the backyard of a 1/4 acre house block which is quite uneven. Half ring sized would be close but I have to work around the holes and troughs in the ground which makes it smaller, but I've seen some pretty amazing set ups on even smaller areas than mine. Ideally I'd love a bigger flatter area, but this is what I have for the moment. Plus my training area is small enough to water to keep it green and have some give in it. I hate training my dogs on hard, dry ground.

I used to get pigs ears from Best Friends but over the past 6 months or so they are really awful - tiny, burnt looking, heaps of tattoo ink etc. Thanks for the offer JJ, I appreciate it and would've taken you up on it but my dogs have kicked the habit now :laugh: I buy the occasional bag from PS if they look ok but that's about it.

I've had the same thing, Open Stays came back to find Darcy dropped. The steward told me that the rotty next to her had stood up immediately and stood over her for most of the stay, it had only been the last few seconds she'd gone down. The steward asked the judge if she could grab the rotty and remove it but he refused. Stupid owner of the rotty was bitching outside the ring that the dog continued breaking its stays but she kept on entering it hoping she'd finally get lucky and the dog would stay. Even on a NQ so the dog could practise. Thankfully the last trial for Darcy's CDX title had saggy hides, so I could peek over the top to make sure she wasn't being intimidated. I hate stays to start with, first trial I ever entered there was a fight in the other CCD ring stays because a judge allowed one dog to get in the face of another. Certainly made me quite wary of stays from then on.

Kavik, I did Shape Up Foundation (still working through it as I had some hold ups along the way) and signed up for Proofing as well. megan - Yes Shape Up does include handling as part of it as they go hand in hand. Foundation is about setting the dog up with the basic skills and verbals in particular and starting to proof against your movement i.e. that your verbal overshadows your movement so you can send and get to where you need to be on course. There is only 1 lesson done for Proofing so far but the feedback being given to those who are handling in it is very comprehensive, very clear but not overwhelming. The main difference between Dave Munnings and Susan Garrett is Dave can run, and thus uses less verbals in his handling as he can get to where he needs to be. I'm not a fast runner and I found Dave awesome last time he was out here, and I'm really looking forward to working with him again. He has done some work with Lisa Frick since he was here last year, so that will be really interesting. OMD looks to be more about body movement and direction and no verbals, as opposed to the sending and running style that I'm looking for, so I will be happily sticking with what I'm doing. :)

Too expensive for me, looks very comprehensive but makes me wonder how much of the course is truly "new" or is it a repackaged version of the same stuff I.e. Recallers and PP. I find SG's layers of training a bit demotivating these days, just so much to work through that it feels like a chore. I'll be sticking with Shape Up, great information, friendly environment with very useful feedback and I'm feeling really comfortable with working through the extra proofing as I go rather than feeling so "tick the box" in my training. Plus I can work 4 Shape Up courses for the same price The results are showing too, my baby dog is working simple sequences beautifully that I struggle to handle with my 8 yo, yet he's way faster

Thanks guys. If I have any more issues I'll call the number, for now I'll just head to a section where I know it's super quiet and there is no plover fencing. The signage is really ambiguous, some of it says dogs under control and then the plover signs say dogs on leash but they refer to the fenced off areas. Don't get me wrong, it frustrates the hell out of me seeing people let their dogs run wild chasing anything that moves down there - they are the ones who ruin it for the rest of us. I've never seen a ranger down there either, but I wonder if Parks Vic has ramped up the numbers for the holidays. I have noticed there is a lot more 4wds and dirt bikes etc on the beach these days.

Happy New Year everyone!! Long time no action in here :laugh: Question for the locals - is anyone aware of any communication or information re: on lead requirements for the Belfast Coastal Reserve? A friend was approached by rangers about 2 weeks ago well east of the Killarney boat ramp and told to put her dogs on lead due to the hooded plovers. I came across a ranger today who also told me to keep my dogs on lead, he was willing to turn a blind eye if all of us (myself and dogs) were in the water but that was it. There is no fenced area as far as the eye can see where I was. Seems they are now enforcing dogs must be on lead for the entire Belfast Reserve, not just the fenced off areas. Yet I can't find anything at all on the website.

Ours has been sitting in limbo since the 27th Dec and an attempted delivery today, so I hope customs haven't decided to relieve me of the Go Dog in my parcel. RS it's a sports drink/supplement for dogs, sold here in Australia for double the price. Thus why I stock up every time there is free postage, but I've never had a CR parcel opened by customs either.

Shape Up Dogs foundation. SG's new handling sounded interesting particularly the "continuous movement" she's talking about, but there was no word on courses at that stage and to be honest I'm a bit over the marketing hype when there is so much opportunity out there in online course land. I've been watching Justine's transition from GD to a blend of ST/european handling and I really liked what I saw. Justine runs workshops with SG at SY. Definitely my favourite online course so far. Ketschker turns, effectively a FX followed by a BX. This is Dave handling Darcy demonstrating a K turn at the second bar and a BX at the third: .

There is some who are training and proofing BXs well and using them appropriately, and some throwing BXs just because they can and blaming the poor dog when it goes wrong. I've also seen dogs anticipate the BX and slow down waiting for it as well. I have used BXs for years on tunnels, I did flirt with BXs and K-turns at the Dave Munnings seminar but I have some work to do on getting my head around sending and leaving. Dave took Darcy for a demo and she did a lovely K-turn and BX, not bad for a dog who's had a good few years of Derrett drilled into her I'm now working an online course with my 1 yo on foundation which includes BX foundation and proofing in the higher lessons. I don't see much point for them at Novice level (except tunnels) but I think it will be a handy skill for the toolbox in the higher courses. If you're having issues with your dog not driving ahead enough for you to RX then my POA would probably revolve around getting the dog to drive lines on the flat and encouraging speed and enthusiasm that way. I really like Dave Munning's first DVD and a lot of the Silvia Trkman work for motivation, encouraging speed and driving lines.

I have 3 of these on their way, seen one the other day and was really impressed with them. Pricey but what price a life or the risk of serious injury to my dogs or myself in an accident or even medium to heavy braking. http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_id=3577

Ditto to this ^^ although I would probably get the jump cup strips - if cleanrun still sell them? Cleanrun have a 'ready jump' that is foldable, but apparently the postage is hideous to due box size, however if you're buying a stack of them it might be worth investigating. There is a lady in NSW that occasionally buys a heap of the Ready Jumps in bulk for people, I got 3 that way quite a few years ago, and I noticed it was referred to on the AA FB list a few weeks ago. Still really $$$ by the time you factor in getting them couriered from NSW. If you were looking at spending a bit more money I'd use 1.5 m PVC for the width of the jump instead of the 1 m pre-cut, use the CR jump cup strips and add some coloured tape to the order. They would look pretty good for something so easy to put together and pull apart if needed. Plus much safer than the metal jumps with the awful metal jump cups.

I've bought 10 of the 4-way fittings from Clean Run, a bag of 10 basic jump cups and made 5 of my own using the already cut-up pieces of PVC you can buy from Bunnings. Sturdy but also easy to pull apart and relatively cheap.

My 4 yo has been roughed up and badly frightened twice by agility dogs at agility seminars with top OS presenters. People who should've had an effective recall and should've known better.

Really?! Bet she isn't coming to Perth! No, Qld only. Sounds odd to come all this way and only do QLD She did the same last time she was out here. Cost me a bloody fortune Just too expensive when you add in flights, accommodation, annual leave etc, especially with the odd format with a break in between. I can't justify it, not when I could do at least three or four online courses in my own time for the same money and not sink two weeks of A/L to do it.

Really?! Bet she isn't coming to Perth! No, Qld only.

ANKC Weesaw/wobbleboard/trip hazard here - both my adult dogs were trained on a full height seesaw but I don't often get access to either. Ideally I'd like them to ride the board to the ground from the very end but both of them run to the tip point and then come into 2o2o, given the minimal extra time it takes I'll just deal with it. Both have awesome rear end awareness and rock back and don't have any issues with teeter whip, even with the full size seesaw. I hate the weesaw, despite not having the ability to train it that easily due to lack of access. Too many very experienced dogs who don't respect it, plus it's not in your line of sight while running a course. I dread the day someone trips over the bloody thing, it won't be pretty. I wouldn't ever do a 4otf with any contact equipment - there is insufficient criteria for a consistent contact performance plus there is the risk of the dog copping a knock from the SS/WS board if they are too close.

Please be aware of 1080 baiting in some areas. I don't do a lot of bush walking due to dirt bikes and 4WDs, but some of the places I walk my dogs it's all too easy to stumble into an area that has been baited and not realise. Yes signs are required when baiting, but not every access point to a dog walking area is always sign posted.

I've tried a few and used my pockets for ages, with and without sandwich bags depending on what I was using. I don't always have pockets though. I bought one of the Rapid Rewards treat pouches - it's brilliant! I have big hands so I find most treat pouches fiddly and awkward, but love this one. Magnetic clip is good, and there is room for poo bags, clicker, keys and phone etc if you use it going for a walk.