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A friend has lent me a book, titled Shaping Success, by Susan Garrett.

Those who have read the book, what did you think?.

I was a little suprised Buzz, one of her dogs, the main focus of the book, continually barked. I understand he was a working line border collie, but all the same.....................

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CTD,

I thought the book, would be excellent for agility people. She certainly did not seem to take any short cuts. Sometimes I often wonder, if most dogs "mistakes" are more often than not, simply NOT repeating, repeating, repeating each behaviour required. We all wish to train smarter, using time restraints.

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I think it depends on the dog LL. I think different dogs require different levels of repetition, certainly in agility & in other things as well.

Lots of dogs bark continually in agility. I think it's a personal choice for the handler. One of my dogs used to bark the whole way around the course, it bothered me, so my current dog doesn't. I'm not sure it has anything to do with being a working line BC though...you don't see/hear many dogs barking at sheep trials. I am not even sure that Buzz is a working line BC, but may be wrong.

There are heaps of video's of him running online. I can find them if you like.

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This book would have to be one of my favourites... I've read it several times already and I've only had it a few months :confused:

I agree the work Susan put into Buzz was just amazing! I've used quite a lot of the information and tend to find more useful info every time I read it... :o

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A friend has lent me a book, titled Shaping Success, by Susan Garrett.

Those who have read the book, what did you think?.

I was a little suprised Buzz, one of her dogs, the main focus of the book, continually barked. I understand he was a working line border collie, but all the same.....................

Could you tell us why you were surprised LL. It is not ususal to hear a lot of dogs bark their way around an agility course. Personally it does not bother me too much, depends on the reason for the barking. If it is caused from my bad handling and hence I am frustrating my dog, then I work harder to be a better handler and try to make my language clearer to my dog. If the dog is barking from sheer joy and excitement then I think it is a delight.

Greg Derrett, a very well known and successful UK agility trainer/competitor has competed with a dog who barked her way around a course, his view on this was that if he took the bark out of the dog, he would also lose some of the speed - therefore he was happy to accept the barking.

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Barking drives me crazy. I can tell that I will have to put a lot of work into Tia, to stop this. Whilst herding she got a bit over excited and let a yip go. When she tries to herd Josh a yip will go now and then. Josh and Moses hardly bark at all, even at flyball. But Moses did let out something that sounded similar to a Toller scream last Monday when he thought a dog was going to hump him.

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Will have too track this book down, i dont read that many books i learn quicker by watching, but i might try this one.

Argh i hate barking dogs too at competitions!! It would drive me nutty too have a dog barking the entire way around, at flyball our team is one if not the quietest team there the whole day. We all feel the same way about barking :o

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I think it depends on the reason why the dog is barking - don't mind it as long as the dog isn't barking AT me.

(Garrett has also stated that she did try to stop Buzz from barking but wasn't successful - I have heard that she always warmed him up with a toy in his mouth to stop distracting others outside the ring)

My first agility dog (BC cross) sometimes barked when he ran and those runs were always our best ones. (It was a pain having to stand so far away from the ring when we were warming up tho'- the toy in the mouth would have been a good idea.)

My kelpies and ACD don't bark when they work and I kinda miss it in a way.

Anyone who has enjoyed 'Shaping Success' might also want to check out 'From the Ground Up' by Kim Collins. :o Really comprehensive foundation training program, one of the best I have read, written more as a training manual with techniques very similar to Garrett's.

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Barking drives me crazy. I can tell that I will have to put a lot of work into Tia, to stop this.

Hi

When I quietened my BC down with very few barks in the ring - I lost all the speed. Gave him back his bark & at 9 1/2 he is still as fast as he ever was. My BC goes feral - just feral if my handling is off. He really tells me off, where, where are you trying to navigate me to - show me!!!!

My older dog retired last year at 12 1/2. He stopped barking & that told me he was only doing it because I asked him to do it.

So barking versus no barking in the ring..... IMHO if the dog is a natural barker with excitement, that is what you have. My third dog does not bark in the ring and I have to say, what a joy she is to run... she just puts up with my bad handling.

I think my pup is going to be a barker. Oh no, but I think true.

But you know, none of my dogs bark in the obedience ring.

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Can I reread the book next week before I reply. I am so over this heat. For some boring information, I was supposed to have already left to go to a retrieving trial, my first for months, but after training, while packing the caravan, I decided it is not worth the dogs being hot, after we arrive, in a non powered paddock.

Barking dogs, all the same, drive me crazy. I go to so much effort to stop my dogs vocalising. At the very least, I feel barking while in their crates, may affect their overall obedience. Many steps to build a staircase type of thing.

If anyone has suggestions, how to stop a dog drooling (as I train my other dogs, NOT WHILE TRAVELLING), in their crates, AND I MEAN disgusting drooling, let me know!!!!!

Edited again: My cellulite is burnt. My head aches and I am sweating, again. LOL. The dogs are fine, they swim while training. Heck more often than not I cannot wait until my dogs deliver an article and shake off the excess on my legs. And trust me, wearing shorts is not a good look.

Edited by Lablover
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I have to agree Lablover, I have trouble tolerating barking.... luckily I ended up with a dog who just doesn't bark, haven't heard her bark for months and was shocked when she gave a quick warning woof at training the other day. According to Darcy, strangers aren't allowed to come to training halfway through agility class :banghead:

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I recently had a force/avoidance trainer visit from the US. She observed my dogs over a couple of weeks. Her timing was excellent!!!!

I applied her non force methods........well a few avoidance also.......and higher leadership to good advantage. My dogs stopped barking as a result at training. Training partners were gobsmacked with their overall improvement.

I must be lowering my standards, as recently, a couple of my dogs have been vocalising again, while I train others. Not happy!!!

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But Moses did let out something that sounded similar to a Toller scream last Monday when he thought a dog was going to hump him.

Heh - the only time i've heard Ranger make something close to a scream was our second time at puppy school - I tied him up cause he'd done a poop, and it was quicker than dragging him to and from the pooper scooper...So he was sitting there watching me walk away and screaming his little head off...so embarassing...and then he didn't stop when i got back because he could see Sally in the distance in her class....

He hasn't done it since, and he almost never barks.

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I have not read that one but I have read her other book and lots of her training notes and been to her seminar.

I'm pretty sure she would not tolerate barking but Buzz was a dog she had lots of trouble with and a dog that she thanks for teaching her the most about training.

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i Have read the book and loved it has some great training tips, i love the way Susan tells of the good and bad things that happened whilst training Buzz, i have been lucky enough to attend one of her seminars whilst she was in Aus 2 years ago with Greg Derrett and she is a great dog trainer, i am looking forward to attending my next SG seminar in a couple weeks

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if you want to see susan in action her latest dvd Success with one jump is also great, i would recommend it to any one, it shows susan in a workshop and you get to see her young dog Encore in action she was a 21mth old BC when the dvd was filmed and it is amazing to see how well the dog performs, she also uses her JRT - Decaff

It can be bought from the AgilityClick website.

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