Agility IGs

Probably the same IG his name is Lido. I am in Florida, but she is up North.

I know someone who does weight pulling with an Italian Greyhound and has beaten some of the big bully breeds so you could certainly do it with a BC!! It looks like a lot of fun, I wish I had more access to the sport down here!

Just wanted to add that I have a friend who has a Sheltie x Pappilion who looks very much like the two dogs you posted. More like the second one as it has a lot of coat. She was an intentional breeding I think she was just some BYB try at cashing in on the desire for hybrid mixes. But, she is a pretty good little flyball dog and does look like a mini BC, so they could be that...

Hello, I normally lurk and don't post. But, I felt the need to as I think I have some advice. We have a two year old son and when we was born we had 5 dogs, we now have 6. Our Aussie, who weighs 50 lbs. Is not child friendly. I would not trust him to be help by a held, petted, walked...nothing. He was like this when our son was born already due to a bad experience with a trainers unruly son when he was puppy. And probably poor socialization on my part when he was young as we had 4 IGs previously and they are just happy go luck dogs. We were very nervous about what Boomer the Aussie would think of our new child. Anyhow when Tristan was born and we came home from the hospital we actually stopped at KFC on the way home, not intentionally to distract the dogs but because we were hungry! Everyone was in crates. We came home and Tristan was sleeping in his carseat so we put it on the kitchen table. One by one we let everyone out of their crates to investigate the baby. The were torn as to smell and beg for chicken or check out this new thing. We did feed them all pieces of chicken and I think it helped to make first introductions easy. From that point on while Tristan was an infant we never had any problems with the dogs. They all took turns laying beside him to steal his warmth. Also wanted to mention that while we were in the hospital my mother came by the house to care for the dogs, she brought home a used piece of clothing that the baby had worn and left it in the house for the dogs to smell and check out. Crying noise were never an issue. They heard it and they saw it came from baby and they understood. I think tapes and CDs confuse the dogs more than anything. Just think how it drives your dogs crazy when you pay a video on your computer with barking or meowing. They just thinks its crazy and they try to figure out where it comes from. My mother has a very noise sensitive Chihuahua and she watches my sisters daughter while she is at work since infant stage and she has never had a problem. As Tristan grew and started to become mobile our IGs just got our his way. Boomer would get nervous and start to growl or bark. At this point we just helped him to understand what was going on by petting him and reassuring him everything was alright. We encouraged him to get up on the sofa or the couch and watch and lots of food was involved. Boomer loves food, so it helps to make any situation a good one for him. As soon as Boomer figured out crawling he was fine. In the meantime Tristan was starting to eat some solid foods and dropping them all over the place. Tristan also learned how to feed the dogs his food very early. So I think that just helped to make them love him all the more. When he began to walk we had to work with Boom all over again to get used to the situation. He doesn't have a place to go like a crate. Well, he does have a crate but would never go in it to get away from Tristan as that would also seperate him from his family. Anyhow, we have just always encouraged him to get up on the sofa or go lay on the bed. We have always praised good stuff with Tristan and Boomer. It is bound to happen that the baby will pull tails or tug on ears, open mouths to look at teeth. We we saw that stuff happen we told Boomer how proud we were of him and lavished him with love. We have never had a problem. I still can't trust Boom with other people's children, but he certainly sees Tristan as one of his pack. He grumbles everyonce in a while if he was to move because Tristan is coming. Not growling, but grumble. We allow it because he has to have a way to show his displeasure about something, but he always moves and he never stands his ground if he doesn't want to interact with the baby While it is a scary prospect to introduce baby to dog. I was reassure by so many people that it will be alright. Dogs just figure it out, especially when they are provide reassurance from their Mom's and Dad's. We always made sure to remember that prior to Tristan the dogs were our children. So make sure not to neglect the love and affection on Hudson when you bring your new baby home and include him on family time. We have always let the dogs sniff and lick the baby thats how they get to know them. Oh and Congratulations!!!! Being a mother is soo much fun and so rewarding. Now that my son is two and I am chasing him around the house. When I finally sit down at night I think back to when he first told me he loves me and it just melts me heart!! And since I proud of my son and my dogs I will leave you with some photo proof of how much they all love each other.

From my understanding ASCA sanctioned conformation trials existed many years before the Australian Shepherd was an official AKC breed. And ASCA is the official breed club of the Australian Shepherd. Their breed desciption on their website says it is effective 1977 and it appears the Aussie became an AKC breed in 1991. I haven't taken the time to check the two breed descriptions against each other, but I would be curious to see what AKC has changed about the breed standard from the original standard adopted by fanciers in 1977.

Just curious. But, isn't CGC an AKC sponsored test? Or is there another one? It seems from the other thread regarding ILPs that no one would support an AKC sponsored event. Kathryn

It is true that he adverstises in local newspapers. I have seen his ads in the Tampa Tribune here in Florida. And I know a woman that runs one of his dogs in agility.

Boomer and I compete in Rally and we also have problems with sitting far away from me and crabbing when he heels. When I practice at home I do a lot of heel work in hallways, or along a wall. When we step away from the way and he maintains the close heel I click and treat to let him know that is what I want from him. Kathryn

There seems to be a couple of CPE events in OR coming up http://www.k9cpe.com/events.htm as well as NADAC http://www.nadac.com/afrm/trial-calendar.asp. Those are both really fun venues for agility and similar in style as far as there are lots of games which are fun for dog and handler and you can train in the ring. I have never done UKC, but know of people who have and said it is fun. CPE and NADAC are great organizations! You can probably find a club near you on their website, or go and check out a trial. Watch people run and when you find you like the way someone runs, treats their dogs etc, ask them who they train with. Good Luck

I would suggest that if he doesn't go when you go outside, especially at time when you know he should, like first thing in the moring, to go inside and put him in his crate. Wait 5 minutes or so and then take him back out. Also, a good run helps to work the poo out. So maybe have him on a long light line. That way you are hopefully setting him up for success, by not allowing him to go inside. Another trick used a lot my IG owners (who are notoriously difficult to housebreak) is to leash your dog to you, if you are unsure about their potty habits. The more freedom you give him before he is ready the more difficult it is going to be to help him understand the rules of the game. Good Luck!!

Besides from the obvious reasons behind not presenting a bilaterally deaf dog as an agility prospect. Several venues, including AKC, will not allow a deaf dog to compete.

I have heard a rumor that Border Collie bitches are snippy. It was suggested that one would not be a good addition for me since we have so many dogs already. We currently have 2 bitches and 3 males and no problems in the house. Any opinions? I know this is a rather broad statement. But, what gives the girls?

I suppose if we were willing to part with a member of our family we would of turned Boomer, our Aussie in to rescue. As he has snapped and growled at our son. We worked very hard letting Boomer know that the kid rules the roost around here. If he wants to be someplace he has priority over the dogs and if the dogs don't like it, well, they can get up and go someplace else. Boomer's initial reaction was to allow himself to get backed into a corner so to speak and then get growly. Now, if you see the baby coming and you don't want to be part of it, MOVE. Of course, we also train our son to have proper doggie manners and no tail or ear pulling. We look forward to joining the BC world!!!

Thanks for everyone's super fast replies. And you said what I wanted to hear. My husband and I really like the bitch and based on the videos I had seen of her I never would of guessed that she was a lower drive dog. Agility is a pretty big thing in my life. I trial 2-4 times a month and try to keep it going year round, otherwise I get a little stir crazy. But, it is hard to find trials in the summer when you live in FL!!! We considered rescue, because we are a foster family for IG Rescue. But, we have a lot of things to consider in our home, 4 smaller dogs, 3 cats and a young son. Our Aussie has child issues that we have diligently worked through with him. And it makes us a little leary of adding an adult dog into our house. Also, I enjoy the training process of a younger dog and since we are already trialing 3 dogs, we aren't looking to rush into competing with our BC. We will probably have to retire one of our other dogs before we start the BC, just to keep expenses down. Here is our website if you want to take a look. Agility IGs

Hello all! We are adding a BC to our pack. We currently have 4 Italian Greyhounds and an Australian Shepherd. I compete in agility with 2 of the IGs and the Aussie. We would like our BC to be a manageable member of our family, since we have small dogs and a toddler and be able to use it in agility. The litter that we have a deposit on has 2 males we are interested in and a female. The drive and temperment is being evaluated by the breeder. The one male is super high drive, but will probably be chosen by the person ahead of us. The other male is a 6-7 on the drive scale and the female a 3-4 according to the breeder. Based on looks alone we really like the bitch. But, the breeder says she is a slow learner and has a short attention span. How accurate are puppy evaluations done at 7 weeks? Aren't all BCs smart? I am just looking for some help, because while I know lot of people will say not to pick a puppy based on looks alone, face it we are all drawn to a certain type of dog. Any chances that as the puppy matures she will improve a little? Thoughts? Thanks! Stacey