mum24dog

Could we perhaps have a more advanced project each week as well for those of us who have already done a bit?

I'm not sure what you are concerned about. Is it that you intend to teach him to lie down from a sitting position? I never do, as dogs don't tend to do that naturally. Teach a straight drop from a standing position. I find the best way is to anticipate when your dog is likely to lie down and C/T thereby capturing the behaviour. It means that you have to be very aware of what your dog is doing initially, but it does work. When I was trying to teach my youngest the down, I had real difficulty getting him into a situation where he would go down, so i went off for a little walk to think about it. I got back half an hour later and my daughter had got him lying down on cue. She'd noticed that he lay down when he got on the couch (duh) and started him off that way. Made me feel stupid. You may find that the standard of behaviours your dog has already learnt goes off a bit when you start to teach something new, but it only takes a little bit of "revision" to get it back.

But it does help if the person who's written the list out for you has legible writing, doesn't it?

Back up would work for Ross as that's walk backwards in any direction, but Cedar decided it meant walk backwards away from me so I have to use a different cue for him and I'm trying to be consistent with my commands between dogs.

Three of our training club members have been on a training session with Mary Ray and we do have our own weekly challenge. Last week's was a grapevine with the dog weaving through the legs but the dog doesn't have to do it every time and I can't work out exactly what we're aiming at so I'll need a demo tonight. Ross will do it easily, I know, if only I can work out what it is I want him to do! Funnily enough, I'm the only one of the five who have tried to teach their dog to lie down with paws over their eyes who has succeeeded. The others are all having great trouble using Mary Ray's method of putting a scrunchie round the muzzle and clicking when it tries to paw it off. They all seem to find it too distracting to catch on to what they are being clicked for. I've done it in a much gentler way - prompting the behaviour by a very gentle blow (air not fist) on the muzzle and shaping with the clicker.

I just use right and left for a full circle in either direction irrespective of where my dog is in relation to me. If the dog is facing me and I want it to turn and reverse through my legs it's right/left - reverse, but the timing has to be spot on. I've had many bruised shins from training clumsy but enthusuastic Cedar to do that. To come to heel either side I use close for the left and side for the right. Apart from the reverse, they're the same commands I use in agility. Not that I do HTM - I just like training the moves.

--- Sadist. Christine R and I both have to read out the results at the presentations at our respective shows and we won't appreciate having to get our tongues round that one at all.

------- A few years ago I was working both my lurcher and my collie cross in the Beginners/Novice class at our an Exemption show. It was held in a park and there was a wooded area just behind where we were doing stays. Not surprisingly, my lurcher decided there may be squirrels in the trees so legged it to have a look. Ross would have been OK in a sit stay OOS but I didn't know how long it would take me to catch Charlie so I pulled him out as well. Really annoying as he would have won the class otherwise.

------ That's good - Mariz Royal Guardsman (Jack) from the 2004 Show is my friend's dog (2 1sts and a 2nd place - no Es amazingly.) The red staff in the bottom right of the composite picture at the end might be Jack - hard to tell.

OK Penny - Miss Penny (not our choice). Ross - Ross the Rug because he's always under my feet. Hazel - Half Pint Hazel because she was smaller than the others and reddish brown even down to her nose and nails. Eddie - Odd One Out as he's the only one of ours that isn't ginger. (Penny doesn't count as she's borrowed.) Cedar - True to Type as he's another ginger and white one and is so like my first dog in many ways.

As Patch says, some staffs are very good, although it helps to like the "bull in a china shop" style of agility. (No pun intended.) No pics but a friend runs a Senior Medium staff - was Midi, then measured Mini, now back up to Medium. Not the most reliable of dogs, but you can't fault his speed or enthusiasm.

Just at the moment it's stretching a point to say I compete because my daughter is running all the dogs and I'm just the support system. It keeps her quiet and stops her wanting another dog of her own and will only be temporary until she goes to uni in 2009. Between us, the dogs are: Penny - Novice Large collie x aged 12. Ross - Novice Large collie x aged 7. Hazel - Advanced Medium mongrel aged 5. Eddie - Novice Medium JRT aged 3. Cedar - Novice Large Trailhound x aged 2. I do run Hazel and Eddie sometimes still and Cedar is supposed to be mine but he's still getting over a traumatic event and it could be a while before he settles down. Eddie is a problem - he likes running for me more but he needs someone who will keep with him and push him on at a constant speed, and that ain't me. I'm the sort who likes to send the dog on and cut all the corners. Works well with Hazel, but not Eddie.

And me. Trainer Pam Dogs Ross, Hazel, Eddie, Cedar History Clicker training for over 7 years. Bits of allsorts - obedience (competitive any day to day), agility, HTM, tricks. Main fault Wanting to train something new before perfecting the last thing.