Dynamite Tess Again

Zebbie, I had to do agility for a year with a frozen shoulder. At one point I could barely raise my arm, but it did get better. I do know how you feel. If it helps you feel any better there is a lady in our club who has MS and she works her dog from a motorised wheelchair. Now, she does have problems as she started out fit, then had to use crutches and is now chair bound. Not only does she have that to contend with but some competition organisers won't allow her to take part in trials. I do appreciate that to each individual their problem is the worst, but at least you and I will be 100% again. love, Val and the girls

Joy Can I please endorse what Julie has said about keep finding things for your dog to do. Agility alone is not enough. Overtrain and they will switch off. My little Isa loves using her brain so at the moment we are teaching her to pick the things up we want and place them in our hands. She watches, listens and she learns. In fact I'm thinking how wonderful it would be if I could teach her to recognise the numbers from 1 through to 18, so I can just run round an agility course shouting out the numbers......now there's a thought...... love, Val and the girls

Karen, I don't know how often you are able to get to this board, but I would just like to thank you for the Nursery Agility Class at Ash today 29.7.00. Although Tess was faulted on the dog-walk I was really pleased with this course as it's the first time in a long time she has completed one with me. Since my pup's arrival she seems to have lost interest in this sport and I was beginning to think I would have to stop. Today I saw the old spark back there again. Once again many thanks Love, Val and the girls

That's right Barb, our ABC classes are for all dogs except Border Collies and their crosses. Regards, Val and the girls

Can I please also suggest that you take along a toy. If your dog loves chasing a ball you have it made. I am taking Isa through her pre agility training with the use of a ball only, although Zebbie is right about the treats. The only reason I am trying not to use them for Isa is that I found it hard to phase them out with Tess, and she is incredibly hard work going round a course. Regards, Val and the girls

The top two are links to rosettes, the bottom two are of a pup, but sorry I can't tell if it's BC or not.

Hi Jewel As I understand it, the clicker is used to train any animal and is used by the folks who train them for films etc. A friend of mine trained her rabbit to do something, but I can't remember what. I would imagine you could easily train obedience with it. I taught Pepsi the retrieve with the clicker. The only thing I haven't been able to do is stop Tess barking with it. But then I haven't been consistent enough. Regards, Val and the girls

Zebbie I practice this all the time. When we go for walks I wait until the pavement is clear then I trot with Isa [she is on the leash]. Fortunately she doesn't jump any more so I now use the trotting to bring her to a 'wait' at the road side. Isa also loves her food and two nights ago my husband ate something hot which momentarily took his breath away. Whilst he was fighting for breath Isa seized the moment to leap on his dinner. Once we saw the funny side we told our trainer who asked us why we didn't tell her to leave. She has obviously never nearly choked before. Danny, my husband uses the turned back to stop Pepsi barking at agility. It sounds like you and Dakota are going to go far. I sincerely hope your dedication pays off. Please keep us in touch with her progress. Regards, Val and the girls

Zebbie I did not intend for you to feel bad. It's just that when someone gives advice it does get to you a bit when you see the member who posted the question ask another if she should take it. Maybe you didn't mean it that way and I have read your post wrongly. If I have, then I apologise. It is not my intention to make you feel bad. I have met Karen briefly, am totally in love with one of her excellent BCs and have every respect for the posts she has left here in the past. In fact it is the owner of this BC who is my pre agility trainer. Regards, Val and the girls

Zebbie I appreciate you want to do well and train well, but please could I ask that you don't ask another member to okay or dismiss advice given by somebody else. I have given advice, with the best of intention, on what worked for me and always do, it's up to you whether or not you try it. I don't want to get to a point where any advice given has to be approved by another member. Regards, Val and the girls [This message has been edited by Dynamite Tess Again (edited 06-26-2000).]

Sorry Zebbie, but I feel Dakota is still too young for the equipment. Because of the contact points you have to control his descent and that can put a lot of stress on 6 month old limbs. My Isa is 8 months and all she has done is the tunnels and a few hurdles set at just 6 inches. I know he has a lot of zip and energy now but you have to think to his future health and well being. At our club we use a warm up exercise to try and stop the jumping up, and that is simply running with the dog on the leash and stopping the moment the dog jumps. Regards, Val and the girls

Hi David It is never too late to start training your dog, however it is a fairly large issue to cover in just one message. I have written my own training tips which may not be everyones style, but they worked for me. The address is http://www.geocities.com/darlingbud_99/training.html I'm still writing the 'down' page. It is mainly written with the puppy in mind, but it should be just as helpful to anyone wanting to know just a few basics for starting off. If there is an obedience class in your area, pop along and enrol. These classes can really help you bond even more with your dog. If you haven't done anything with your dog yet, then I strongly suggest the first thing you work on is the 'come when called' Regards, Val and the girls

Can I please add that if you are going to use a prong collar and any jerking method that you seek advice from a trainer before using. Regards, Val and the girls

I'm sorry but I can't even attempt to answer this one because it is so serious. However what I would like to say while you are waiting for advice to come in to help you make a decision is this. I am in no way excusing what your dog did, but children seem to have this fascination for staring into a dog's eyes. I had two kids making a fuss of Isa recently and I noticed one of them staring directly into her eyes and pulling silly faces. I asked him to stop and explained that dogs don't like being stared at. I turned my back, looked round and the little devil was still doing it. Right in front of his mother I told him off. Thankfully, she backed me up. I do hope you can get help for Rex. Regard, Val and the girls

Zebbie When you are out with your dog take a ball. With your dog facing the same way as you throw the ball slightly to the right and as you send the dog after it give the command 'right'. Do the same with the left. For straight down the middle use something like 'go on'. Try not to do what I did in the early days with Isa. I got my left and right muddled up, so I now use 'away' for left. Regards, Val and the girls