Re: Obi's obedience class Obi looks like he is having SUCH fun! really enjoyed looking at these, I'd love to do this sort of thing with my two, think they would really enjoy....working on Miss Cuillin's nervousness around dogs for a bit then we hope to have a go - I also really liked Obi's Hopeful Paw on the Board pic...bless him....
Re: Obi's obedience class Thats brilliant! Its totally different to what I imagined (at least before you explained it ;D ) jac
Re: Obi's obedience class Today we had our obedience exam to see if we are able to move up into the next level of class. We have just finished 'Advanced' and were hoping to move into 'Transition'. The next level after Transition is Novice, which is competitive obedience. The test is done one dog at a time, with the judge following you round the ring. First you do all the heeling, position changes, recall, stand-for-exam, and loose lead walking. Then all the dogs go in the ring together for sit and down stays. For this exam we weren't allowed to give food rewards during the test, though we were allowed to have food on us somewhere. I was so happy with how Obi went - and we got second place The only significant mistake we (i.e. I) made was during the sit stays - he started with a very sloppy sit and half my brain went "he's going to lie down during the stay if you don't find that up". I didn't listen to myself and didn't fix the sit and of course he lay down right at the end of the sit stay : Oh well - lesson learned A few hours later we were back for flyball training and he made some great progress here too. We progressed to jumping 11 inch jumps (up from 7 inches) and also going over a single jump to turn on the box and get the ball before bringing the ball back over the same single jump. That's a great breakthrough as it means we've managed to put together two things we have been working on separately up until now - goings over jumps and turning on the box. Now it's just a matter of building up the numbers of jumps he has to go over to retrieve the ball and (separately) building up jump height. And proofing it all with other dogs running about. The added bonus of our big day is that we now have a very sleepy doggie!
Re: Obi's obedience class What a successful day ;D well done to you all,lots of hard work and patience has gone into your classes and Flyball training so it's fantastic to see it paying off with success ,go Obi....you enjoy your snooze clever boy x
Re: Obi's obedience class ;D He does get called that sometimes - King of the Fairies ;D To put the obedience test in the right context - it's just a club test, not any kind of recognised, public thing. Think local Pony Club Gymkhana, Under 5's Division. Still, I am really pleased with how he went ;D
Re: Obi's obedience class Ah don't play it down Rachael,I think everyone on here invests in their dogs at whatever level and every success and achievement should be celebrated....,its a lovely recognition of the time and devotion you put into Obis well being .Hes a handsome ,clever one for sure ;D
Re: Obi's obedience class Aw, thanks so much, Angela ;D You are so kind. I really am proud of my little man. I just feel so encouraged by how we went today.
Re: Obi's obedience class That is one big successful day out! Well done Obi and you too all your hard work coming to fruition.
Re: Obi's obedience class Very well done Rachael , to both of you, loved all the wonderful photos too , great fun,, wishing we had something like this in our area x
Re: Obi's obedience class I am very pleased to report that today at Flyball training Obi did his first ever full runs! That means being released, jumping over all four jumps, getting the ball out of the spring-loaded box, then bringing the ball back to the human over the four jumps again ;D ;D ;D I didn't get to see it because I was at home building our new chicken house. Damon had taken Obi to Flyball today. They both did a great job and I'm so proud of both boys ;D ;D ;D
Re: Obi's obedience class That is brilliant ,well done Obi ,the chickens will be grateful but bet you wished you were there x
Re: Obi's obedience class We've missed quite a few training sessions over the last month or so as the Flyball instructors have been away at comps or the whole club has been shut due to public holiday weekends or we've been away. But we've managed to keep the flame burning, just I thought I'd put up a couple of videos of Obi doing full runs yesterday at training. He is soooooo sloooow ;D but he is reliably going over all the jumps, getting his ball without fumbling it, passing an incoming dog without distraction and bringing the ball all the way back. The speed will come once he works out it's all a race. His turns on the box are quite good though these will also improve with more speed which will force him to swing his butt up and get both back feet on the box (currently getting at least three feet on but only sometimes four). In this first vid you can see Obi (yellow Lab....with me in the yellow t-shirt) and Albert the Corgi. http://www.flickr.com/photos/93962102@N05/10532570943/ In this second vid is Caper the BC doing a recall from the box (she is very new and not up to full runs yet), then Tango who is an Australian Cattle Dog and who is at competition level, then Albert, then Mr Slow (Obi). You'll notice that Obi turns to the right while Albert and Tango turn to the left. The box has a hole in each side to accommodate dogs' preferences and the person loading the box puts the ball in the correct side for each dog. You can see me holding my arm out to the right to tell the box wrangler (our instructor, Jess) to put the ball in the right hand side (right hand side as I look at it that is). http://www.flickr.com/photos/93962102@N05/10532324475/ Hopefully before too long we will be ready to go to a competition - fingers crossed!!!! Usually at a first comp the dogs don't actually compete but are put in a team and have a practice run when the team goes in the ring, before the actual race starts. A competition is noisy and exciting and it usually does most new dogs' heads in
