dlmckay

Time zones are hard to get your head around aren't they? I've just woken up to a rainy Sunday morning and our Open Home is at 2pm today - so approx 2 or 3am for you tonight. Um, well this is my street... and this is an old pic of the dogs on the beach I have been slack in not taking photos... I shall attempt to remedy that!

Oh wow... do you want to know something freaky? You know those swirls in your garden plan? They are like koru - symbolic of new growth and beginnings! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koru Congratulations on the new you

Hey Melp! Hey Claz.... you know, he runs like a bullet - maybe I can blame his stupidity on being part greyhound instead of my failing as a dog trainer Hmm, that's wierd... try the professionals website and then search the ID# SP11440 Tell him to start looking on www.britishexpats.com - the best resource for Brits heading overseas to anywhere! I'm on there too First he'll need a job they want or have bags of money - they don't let just anyone in you know

No, that's the one we're moving FROM.... this one is the one we're moving to.... http://www.professionals.co.nz/profile.asp?reference=SP11440 bigger house, more land

Wow! Sri Lanka! You were halfway to my house last month! You should have come on over Grouchy Cat's blog isn't loading... sloooooow dialup. Well, I'm off to bed... it's late (11pm) and we have an Open Home tomorrow - where our house is open for public viewing! Hopefully we get to sell it as a result!! Here's my house here http://www.harcourts.co.nz/pcQSearch?qst=MY080801 wish me luck! Tomorrow morning I shall be mostly cleaning... sigh Ah, reference to moving was that my thread got moved but we are actually moving too! From Auckland to Wanganui - leaving 1,000,000 people for 40,000 - bliss! Bigger section too - more dogs! Glad to hear your WITH ME is still working! I've refined this a little with EYES when Raven's at close quarters and then BACK (shuffle back a step so you don't lunge). It's so rewarding when your waffle works! Shall I put the kettle on for your imminent arrival? One sugar or two?

I've been helping out at the dog club still - got my own class to teach now - although I prefer to help out the people who are really struggling and advise on a one to one basis. Learning heaps and heaps. Went to a meeting of prospective APDT (NZ!) people in Taupo and watched some fantastic video of Sue Sternburg on dog to dog behaviour and her bite-o-meter - very informative! Tui is starting to slow and can only manage one agility run (heart issues), so we're doing competitive obedience - she's not bad when she decides to work Raven is just peaking in her agility career and I'm hoping to win out of Starters by this time next year. Jet is just useless. What a dumb animal... seriously! I've had him 18 months now and can't get him through an Elementary course in either flygility or agility. Wondering if he might have immaturity issues, so am giving him another year of foundation training. Otherwise, he's just going to have to be a pet and not a competition dog! And so, because of Jet's uselessness.... lol... I'm on the lookout for a fourth dog... can you ship me one? Nothing here that I like, gets on with Raven and isn't a bully cross *waves at Ange* hope the post above answers your question If your summer is miserable, we've had one very wet wet wet winter... my garden is currently doing an impression of the everglades... looks like grass until you step on it and then you realise that the water's seeping into your slippers... oooo I got moved! Was it good for you?

of course you get a prize... you get to be the second person on this thread! LOL How's you and yours? Whatcha up to? I have a cat keeping my lap warm and the dogs are all tucked up for the night.

Anyone here still remember me? Or am I bleating away to myself! What's new? I haven't been around on this site since May apparently (whoops) and am feeling bored on this Saturday evening in the cold... anyone around??

Haha, I'm still working on "trust me" with Raven. But I have to say it's getting better - have you read Control Unleashed? There's some good tips in there. (apologies if you've already been given this advice, I haven't been here since May!) I found the "look at that" game a real winner. Raven actually met a new dog yesterday and offered play behaviour. Unfortunately the other dog thought she was the scariest darn thing he'd ever seen and didn't want a bar of her oh well...

Our hurdles currently stand at 675mm for maxi dogs, 570mm for midi dogs and 380mm for mini dogs. Our A-Frame (which is Raven's nemisis) is 1.9m high at the apex with ramps between 2.75-2.9m long. Very steep, very high. Very hard to teach down contacts with a 35kg dog! Her bottom tips her front forward - she has terrible trouble with it...

Thanks for that information Pam... I'd probably stick with the KC shows then... I'd have to choose one or the other as hubby would want to have some weekends for going to football... I don't believe that NZ runs under the FCI rules as we have higher jumps and steeper A-frame than anywhere else!

Sure does... particularly as I so nearly gave up I honestly thought she was just too much for me to cope with... The muzzle stays for sure, and I would hope that anyone else considering whether their dog should wear one, takes my experience on board. She has had to react differently because of the muzzle, but this has been fantastic as far as I'm concerned. She's still a tiny bit frightened, most of her aggression is fear based, however, she also has a slight tendancy to bully, so I never knew which dog would set off a reaction from her! It's just been fantastic. I've stuck with her because even though start lines are a bit of a nightmare (mostly because others aren't watching their dogs), when she's in the ring and in the zone, she just a joy to run. She runs on ahead! She turns in mid air!

Further to this incident here, Raven was fitted with a muzzle which initially she only wore in "happy" places - on the beach, bush walks, etc... Then I got her to wear it at the flash point place - agility training. She has been the victim so many times, always whilst on lead and always at agility training Anyway, the idea of my training was to get Raven to come to me, look at me, totally trust me to protect her from other dogs and not to let her take the initiative and lunge in first. She's a big girl and capable of a lot of damage (as my knee will tell you). In the meantime, I had the muzzle on her so that if she got away from me or did something unexpected, I had the insurance that she couldn't do any damage. An interesting twist happened... when she was wearing the muzzle, Raven started to warn. Before there was no warning, she just lunged. Now, she's started grumbling under her breath... wonderful! This gives me a heads up to get her attention back on me and everything's lovely and positive. She must have realised that she couldn't bite with the muzzle on, so had to react another way. We had a wonderful moment at agility club last Friday... Raven was wearing her muzzle, but something happened with her lead and she got off There was a Marama Sheepdog loose too, quite a lot bigger than her, and she went over to it I called Raven, she started to come back, but then the Marama sniffed her again, so she stopped and went stiff. I called her a second time and she came back to me! Oh joy of joys! No grumbling, no scuffles, no fight! I'm so happy right now, I could cry. Raven has been such hard work. At times I wondered what on earth I'd done taking on such baggage, particularly when I also wanted to compete with her. I really hope that, at 3 years old, we've turned a corner and we can just enjoy being together in the company of other dogs instead of this huge battle that I have with her. She's just gorgeous and has been such an education

Watch out! I may take you up on that! Now.... can anyone answer me this? As my dogs have achieved a set level in NZ, how would this translate in joining agility competitions in the UK? Also here, there are only two types of competition - Ribbon Trials (non KC members can join in) and Championship Shows (KC members only). There are three types of competition in the UK that I can make out? Is it best to join the UKKC or not? What's the deal? The websites aren't particularly clear...

Hi, well, we're looking around Somerset way atm... not sure exactly where just yet... Final location may well depend on proximity to an agility club! I've had a wee look on agilitynet, but there doesn't seem to be any clubs with internet sites? This normal? Just about every club in NZ has a site ... including the one I'm currently at! NorWest Dog Training Club

Well done with your accomplishments with Tiz. She sounds similar to what Raven's behaviour is and I've found a muzzle piece of mind for me. Before she just used to lunge and bite, now, because she can't bite, I've actually now got growling to warn me that she's not happy - this gives me the opportunity to get Raven's attention back on me. If you like, PM me with your email address and I can help you with my WITH ME command that I helped Kathy with. It's just a command that lets them run free whilst walking, yet retain a level of control when approaching people and dogs.

Whilst we're on the subject, does anyone know of agility and/or fly clubs in the south west?

We're now the proud holders of Canine Good Citizen Gold Award :thumbsup: She's such a good girl!

I would honestly think that if he's crated and there's a calm dog in the room with him, he'll eventually figure it out to calm down and go to sleep. SA activity generally only lasts for the first 15 minutes or so of the owner leaving in most cases. I'd make sure that the crate truly is boxer-proof though - I left Jet in the car crate (he'd been happy in his house crate) and the little so-and-so broke out of it!

That does sound chaotic! But I guess it must work otherwise no-one would be able to enter/run/win!

That sounds like how we do it in NZ too - except we're not nearly as efficient as to have 5 dogs ready on the line! more like 2 or 3 in front. Depends on the caller though, a good one will have 5 in her eye, but mostly you are called up 3 dogs away

That's interesting - you get your own tickets? In NZ, we are allocated a number for the day - it is written on a piece of card and we have to wear that card for the day - some people pin it to their chest, but a lot of people have a clear plastic wallet with an elastic armband so that we can wear it on our arms - much better when you have multiple dogs because you just flip the cards around until you have the correct one visible. You shout your number to the scrimer and when they nod that they've written it on the scribe sheet, off you go! How does it work in the UK then?

Thank you! I already knew she was a Good Dog - but now it's official One of the tests is worrying me though... she has to return to me and drop half way back on my command. I've never taught her this before and it'll be a challenge to get her to do this in two weeks! Any hints or tips?

Sucks, doesn't it? I got pinged for a missed contact when I was 100% certain she'd got it ah well, them's the breaks.

Totally agree! When the maxi's run, I can see that I'm in the ribbons, but then the mini's run and I can kiss my ribbon goodbye! The mini dogs are very, very fast! In relation to their height, a lot of them aren't jumping as high as the maxi dogs need to and it's rare to see a mini drop a rail. Tui is a slow dog and I can always be in the right place at the right time and I know we'll pick up a clear round. Raven however, comes out like a bullet out of gun and it's a mad scramble for me to keep up! Tui is definitely the nicer dog to run! Agilitymad, if you're getting upset at competing and training, take a break. When you come back, you may notice your dog has "freshened up" and enjoys it again. Try another sport? Tricks and clicker training to get that focus back on you?