General Dog Chat 4

[geekone]

Apologies I just noticed the thread was running out so I am going to repost.

I pay £8 per session for agility but the scent ones work out at £10 a session.

Maybe both you and steppedog need to do the 'sad face' at your DH

actually, the agility class starts at 6:30, and I teach a student until 6:30.
Dh said maybe he and steppedog could go along and have a go, so I might encourage that, as it will be good for him to learn how to train steppdog instead of undermining all my training

Since Christmas SD has mastered the 'down' command, and now properly brings the ball back to me. He will even now go and find the ball in the house. We are now working on 'leave it' to get him to drop stuff he shouldn't have.

Funny how they learn in cycles, I gave up before Christmas because he wasn't doing anything, and since then he has picked it up really quickly, and we are making lots of progress. His lead walking is better than it has ever been.
I do wonder if the steroids he was on for a couple of months made such a huge difference.

I do wonder if the steroids he was on for a couple of months made such a huge difference.

I am certain the steroids contributed to BiteyDog eating the rag which got stuck. His behaviour was erratic and he wouldn't settle when he was on a high dose.

grumble, grumble.
emailed the cheap agility class and asked her for more details about her wednesday agility class (no website, dh found he through a facebook link)

reply
yes I do agility, its on wednesdays, you are welcome to come.

details, like cost, venue, time, size of class.......

I know some people are just pants at communicating with people, doesn't mean her dog class is rubbish but I am losing confidence already

Arghhh yes I hate that when you have to go back and keep asking

I pay £9 for an hours agility class. Maximum 6 dogs in an enclosed paddock with lots of equipment. Every time we go the field is set up differently. We work individually practising different exercises and then as a group taking turns to complete a run. Be careful, I have heard of ones where it is just a bit of equipment and a free for all.

Mine sounds similar to yours thegirl

Send DH to agility so he can ‘bond’ with Steppedog and deal with annoying disorganised agility woman.

Tell DH that what really, really helps with developing concentration and focus for agility is ScentWork. You’ll be happy to put yourself out and take Steppedog to scent classes since DH is working so hard at agility. Don’t mention the price. Sorted.

Yes go with Squirrels approach

Feeling very guilty today. Work was so busy I didn't even get many breaks to throw a ball around for BiteyDog and he's been very bored today. I have though made up for it by feeding him lots of biscuits although his belly may not thank me for that later.

I’ve been feeling bad about poor Bluepuppy and his lack of walks / activities lately too. To be fair, the weather has been absolutely brutal with a hideous heatwave that culminated in my city’s hottest day on record - 46 degrees

Yes, I hate this weather and dream about moving somewhere cooler. Luckily for me I’m currently in the UK on holiday. I’m writing this at 3am from my Kensington Hotel room (Premier Inn so it’s not really posh at all ). Have seen some lovely dogs being walked around here. Have to laugh at the clothes the owners are wearing though which bear no resemblance to the cheap workout clothes I wear to walk Bluepuppy at home. I know if I see a whippet out and about I’ll have to bail the owner up and ask for a pat.

I was pleasantly surprised that after I dropped a Bluepuppy off with his boarder I really did miss his presence in my house. When I went on holiday at this time last year I just felt greatful to have a break from him. My boarder, who hasn’t seen sim for nearly a year told me he is looking wonderful and has filled out and muscled up nicely. She’s a whippet person so I appreciate her feedback. He’s still on puppy food so I guess he can stay on it for the foreseeable future if it’s working.

Oh and in case anyone is wondering why I’m posting at 3am if I’m in the UK jet lag is my enemy right now. I’ve just realised all the places I want to visit today don’t open until 10am

Hey blue I always give in to jet lag and usually just make myself a cuppa and surf the internet. Much better than fighting it and makes going home easier . I am an early bird as well hence being up now and really hate that most museums etc don't open until 10. That's most of the day gone by then . If you are in a premier inn it is one attached to a restaurant, if so I would be counting down the time until I could get one of their breakfasts

Well it's certainly a lot colder here than at your home blue . I have been letting BiteyDogs fur grow and he now looks all scruffy with tufts of fur sprouting out everywhere. He needs a bit of a tidy up at the groomers next week.

I love my holidays but really miss BiteyDog. It's amazing how quickly you become attached to them.

What are you hoping to visit today?

Hi Bitey I’m at breakfast right now

I’m going to the British museum, Museum of London and somewhere called the John Soane Museum which my early morning googling found. Apart from that just wander, maybe explore some of the parks.

Sounds lovely. Hope you have some good walking shoes on as the British museum is huge and I always have tired legs after.

SquirrelDog passed his latest ScentWork level. His inside searches were great (although he managed to flip the bag containing one of the scents over onto his head. ) His outside searches were dreadful (BIRDS!) but redeemed when I said to the judge at one point ‘I’m not sure it’s worth carrying on with him like this’, and he obviously heard, promptly switched his brain on and found both scents in about 30 seconds. Too clever by half, he is...

Well done SquirrelDog . He was probably just teasing you with the birds

Hi, may I join in? I have LOM (Little Old Man - JRT, aged14 & increasingly frail & pottery) & BGSS (Bloody Great Soft Staff), aged 18 months - not frail at all). BGSS disgraced himself today - after doing really well at these off-lead runs, he decided to go deaf and ran off & harassed a little Westie who screamed blue murder. Great with dogs his own size & bigger, who romp around with him, not so good with little dogs who want to be civilised. So back on the lead for the time being, certainly in the local park, which does tend to have more little civilised dogs. Maybe ok across the fields, where the clientele is more robust. In the meantime LOM has done 2 miles today, which is very rare these days, & is still awake! 😮😴❤️

Welcome freddiethegreat. Oh dear it's embarrassing isn't it when they suddenly turn deaf.

We went for a nice walk ball throw this morning and all I got was loud embarrassing whining until I threw the ball. However, BiteyDog is now doing his usual 3pm pestering for more ball play.

welcome Freddie and LOM and BGSS!

Loving squirrels solution to the classes. (is is very practical, but seems to be getting softer and softer where steppedog is concerned, he is the one who sits ont he floor with the dog upside down on his lap!)

Found a few more scentwork places. I emailed loads of people and they emailed back saying - we don't do it, but have you tried.... and none of those seem to come up of searches, but look really good.
The one I like most (apart from the £90 course) is one where it is a long session on a Saturday morning. Just not sure if steppedog will have the stamina!

Whilst I would prefer the long Saturday morning BiteyDog has a habit of switching off after a while. Even at agility towards the end of the hour he sometimes just faces the gates and does a 'can't we stop now' whine and I know we are 'done'.

hmm, yes that was what I was thinking Bitey.
I think we might try some thing else, and if he likes it, then we can always do the longer Saturdays later (maybe in the summer, as they are outdoors!) Get him used to what he is doing first!

They can only do so much concentrating, I find. Hope you find a class, steppemum. We were due to meet a trainer this weekend, but she was ill. I need to get BGSS working again - haven’t done any classes since October. LOM is past all that now.

BGSS had a lovely (dog free) run across the fields this afternoon.

What training are you looking to do with BGSS freddie?

Hello everyone. Been very busy of late so behind on everyone's news but will catch up. Ddog has discovered the joy of demolishing the recycling bin if left for more than 20 minutes so yet another thing we have to come up with an alternative storage location for... no idea why it took her 5 months to work it out! Managed to just leave her briefly without incident though as she is knackered after our walk - she was having to kangaroo jump through the snow and then "swim" through it when she got too tired. I've never tried to do a picture on here but will give it a go.