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Comment
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Jean
Jan 9, 08 - 4:17 PM |
Obedience Websites
The agility world has a few really useful websites for information and schedules.
Are there any similar for Obedience? I was thinking it would be helpful for newcomers to the RSCTA if we could link to these sites for schedules & show information. Also perhaps about the scheme for putting pre-B Ex, B Ex etc after a dogs name, as this is a really encouraging move by the KC.
Thanks, Jean
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Joan
Jan 13th, 2008 - 6:38 PM |
Re: Obedience Websites
Hi,Jean, I and most of my friends use www.obedienceuk.com and Dog Training Weekly(weekly publication) - neither carries all show dates/schedules etc so for the smaller open shows we still depend on info from those in the know and schedules being brought to clubs,training weekends etc. Maybe someone out there knows other sources?
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Jean
Jan 15th, 2008 - 1:46 PM |
Re: Re: Obedience Websites
Thanks Joan.
I am wondering about giving it a try with Ross! But then I only want to do relatively local shows (that don't clash with good agility events). I wonder how to find out about open shows which don't use obedienceUK.
Jean
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Joan
Jan 16th, 2008 - 10:02 PM |
Re: Obedience Websites
Hi,Jean, great to think of Ross having yet another string to his already varied bow(breed Champion,Agility Warrant(Gold) and KCGS(Gold)as well)!You shouldn't have too much difficulty finding obed schedules for shows in your area from obuk - I know if I lived with my daughter near Nuneaton I could get to twice the shows I manage in Scotland!Don't be put off entering Ch obedience shows because the same people enter both Open and Ch - it's in the highest classes that it really bites. Go for it!
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Jean
Jan 18th, 2008 - 10:32 PM |
Re: Re: Obedience Websites
Thank you Joan.
I must say I'm very tempted, though I must remember that I've promised myself that this year belongs to young Sheltie, Scott, and his agility career. Last year was Ross' - to aim for his show title, and the year before Sheltie Louis', to achieve his AW before retirement.
If only petrol was cheaper, and free time was infinite!
How are you getting on with your new obedience hopeful?? And would you recommend rough-coated Smooth Collies to other obedience handlers? I do sometimes hear of rough pups in Smooth litters, and of course they must be registered as Smooths.
Jean
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Joan
Jan 19th, 2008 - 5:50 PM |
Re: Obedience Websites
Hi again! For various reasons I haven't got as far ahead with Flight as I'd hoped, but this month a lot of the little things I've been doing have started to look like 'joined-up' writing, partly,I suppose because I've been doing more training(always helps!)and partly because she's growing up - she's nearly 18 months now. If things go smoothly she should be able to put in a respectable Novice round when our shows start in April,though I do worry about the stays. She did a 6 minute Down at dog club the other night without any bother, but her Sit only happens after she has stood up and been told to sit again,so all marks would be lost. Needless to say, she never does that at home!
Rough or Smooth? Well,I like a dog with coat, but over the years that I have loved Rough Collies(met my first in 1945 though I didn't get my own till 1962) they have changed from upstanding,free-moving glossy-coated dogs to a breed which certainly in Scotland in the late 1980s seemed to be bred for as much coat as possible without much concern for movement or character, with people opting to keep quieter ones because then they could keep more! Obviously not all breeders did this but I didn't know where to look for my next pup and that's when I started looking at Smooths and ended up with Flicka(bred by Bev White and her father) who had enough character for half a dozen dogs! She had a 'half coat',glossy shaded sable, about Border Collie length,and had been destined for Sweden before she grew too much hair, and totally converted me to hairy Smooths where I get the best of both worlds.Florin has more coat but it's shiny and easy to keep and Flight could be her ancestress Flurry(a sparkling Rough tri born in 1962 of whom we have snatches of cine film). My collies are,of course, bought as family dogs first and foremost, but obedience has always been my main activity with them,and each dog has seen me move higher up the ladder, but that is probably because I am learning new ways of handling them! Yes ,I would certainly recommend hairy Smooths for obedience,agility,HTM,Pat dogs etc, but you can't depend on them being available off the peg - I waited 17 months for Flight!
BIG BUT--- I'm sure there are still good Rough collies out there - Paul and Penny are enthusiastic about them in Agility and Pat is thrilled with Tanni in obedience so it's really a case of looking for a line that you like .Incidentally, a lot is made of choosing a puppy carefully, looking at the litter in the nest,testing them for dominance etc - well, I haven't chosen a pup since 1973, it's been a case of 'take it or leave it'and they've all been wonderful!
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Joan
Feb 15th, 2008 - 6:22 PM |
Re: Obedience Websites
I've been rereading your question,Jean,and don't know that I really answered it,in that I don't know that I'd recommend a hairy Smooth to everybody,mainly because a lot of people who love Border Collies for their 150 per cent commitment are not always happy about the mind set of even the very good types of Roughs,Smooths and Shelties working in Obedience.They tend to see the slight reserve or 'pulling down the blinds' if one of these is a little unhappy or unsure as sulkiness or even defiance-'You'll need to sort her out!'- that is why so many people give up or resolve to get a 'proper' working breed so that they can win more easily.You need to be in sympathy with sensitive breeds like ours and understand that blockages in communication can be sorted out without 'mumsying'them. I use the same training methods as my B.C./G.S.D. friends do and Florin has shown that even such a sensitive ***** can hold her own in all-breed competition but I know that I have to work so much harder and more carefully than they do.BUT, this is the breed I love to live with and have done for 46 years(I'm not against B.C.s,in fact I got my first one in 1955 and they have been in and out of our family ever since, with our son's two treating our house as their second home)so I'm prepared to accept that I'm never going to whiz through the classes and come out with an obed.ch., but that won't stop me trying!
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