agilbordrs

HI guys, I think what also may be confusing, is that Val is in the UK, and waht you call the excersizes is different than what we say here in the US. Of course to anyone not doing any kind of obedince its all confusing! The "present" to you, we call "front". As for the fast down,like everyone has said, it is a great idea to have no matter what you do with your dog. The first thing out of my mouth when dogs are running, playing or chasing somehting is LIE DOWN! Even if they don't actually down, as long as they stop is fine with me! kelli

And another good thing about these flyball teams is that most of them are linked to an agility club! so if you contact them they can point you to agility also! good luck kelli

What i've done when everything else didn't work(treats, toys, luckily my last two "visitors" were small no dragging!) is set them up. I use a dog, that i know will not hurt them ,but will put them in their place. I let them go visiting, and when they get harshed on i call them back to me, and say "what happened!" i give them atreat for coming, and praise. It doens't take long for them to realize not everyone wants them! After i can get control i add a command. With my last face sucker, it was "no visiting" When ever we went to class,i wouldtell her no visiting, or when ever we met a dog somewhere, no visiting. she learned that unless i told her she could go play that she wasn't allowed to suck anyones head! I would rather be harsh on my dog for running to strange dogs, than to have them seriously hurt by a strange dog. Kelli

She's just happy to see you! What you need to do is not make a big deal when you come home, it will be less exciting. It seems mean, but don't say hi, no pets, just go in, and let them out to potty. If htye are crated, wait a few minutes, not forever they are still babies, but don't go to them right away. What i always do is make a clear path from puppy do door, open the crate and run outside! That way there is no stopping, and thinking about peeing! Good luck kelli

The thing about prong collars, is the size doesn'tmatter,its how you use it, and if you use it correctly. Most big name obedience people use prongs for fine tuning in heelwork. And most of them use micro prongs, which have to be special ordered from an obedience supply company. To get the bestuseout of a prong, they have to be close fitting and worn right behind the ears, like a properly fit choke chain. And i did read that articlecomparing the two colaars, its truemore damageisdone by choke style collars- from the popping and jerking. The prong- or pinch(i like to call them pinch)does just that, it pinches,the dog learns real fast- i pull,i get pinched! And the smaller the link the better result. The big huge "manly" pinch collar you see on big "manly" dogs serve NO purpose and if you watch the dog still drags them where ever it wants! The latest thing is a head collar, there area few brands but the one that works the best is the Gentle leader. I usedto go tothe pinch for pulling, but with the younger dogs i have worked with, i used the gentle leader. I've even used iton the older dogs. The gentle leader gives you more control, where the dogs head is, his body has to follow! It also gives you more of that fancy heads up heeling. Most trainers that work with gentle leaders are also clicker trainers, which someone suggested already. CT is also a fabulous way to happily train your dog! The club i used to be with had more people getting out of begginer classes, and WANTING to go on with Obed using the clicker method. You have to find someone that really knows how to train with the clicker to get the most out of it. kelli

You sure are asking a lot of a 7 month old pup! And five weeks is not a long time for instruction. The reason he isn't paying a ttention to you is that you are no fun! He's a puppy! And he is a bc. Bc's hate repetition, especially in obedience, its soooo boring to them. You have to be more fun, and more interesting than whatever is going on in the class, or at home, wherever you train! Using food is one of the best ways for teaching heeling. My older dog didn't have a training(or choke) put on her untill i was ready to compete. She learned to heel on a regular flat buckle collar, with food, fun and lots of encouragment. Becarefull how much force you put on training. By the time i went into competition, my dog was so bored of obedience, she didn't want to show! I worked so hard with being precise, a doing it right, she hated it and boy she let me know. This wonderful, fabulousworking dog "fogot" how to sit during the heeling excersize, or thought it was much more fun to run paston the recall and stick her head throught the gates. I took the hint, and stopped pushing her. She doesn't(or won't)do obedience anymore,for competition,just for fun. It was such a humbling experience, that i didn't forcefully teach my second dog to heel at all, and i hate obedience! We do agility and fyball, much more fun- say the dog and the people! Kelli