| AGILITY & JUMPERS HOME |
 |
| The Australian Cattle Dog is a working dog, out on the land they are valuable workers and are stimulated with their every day work loads. In suburbia this breed can be kept if they are given daily stimulation. This breed needs a challenge - or they will become a challenge. Puppies need to be trained at an early age. Puppy preschool is an excellent grounding, it not only teaches the puppy the first step in social graces but helps the new owners to train their dogs in a positive and consistent method. ACD's are a dominant breed and can easily become aggressive towards other dogs, so early training is a necissity. ACD's excel at a number of canine sports. AGILITY & JUMPERS, currently there are only a handful of Australian Cattle Dogs competing in Agility and Jumpers in Queensland. They are an easy breed to train as they are eager to please. As an Agility Instructor I have had a lot of different breeds of dogs that come up for training, we have not had a dog that could not be trained, some take a little longer to train, the main focus when starting off is that the team (dog and handler) must be having fun and enjoying it If there is a dog that is having problems, usually it is because they are lacking confidence and after the intial 6 weeks training taking things steady, making it a game and fun, things start to fall into place. You have to take your blinkers off and remember that each dog is different and that each handler is different. I give guidelines to the teams that I train and then work with the handler to adopt these methods to suit their dog. The training method must be positive and rewarding for the dogs as well as the handler. We train with accuracy forth most, the dogs are taught the individual articles of equipment so that they recognise the name and associate it with the equipment. After the dog and handler have mastered the basics and are comfortable then turning commands are introduced, . If you get the ground work (I call this the foundation) solid, then you can start to build upon it. If you do not have a good foundation you will find that once you get up in the higher levels you can experience problems as some courses require left and right handling, sending ahead and working from a distance Being able to work your dog out of traps with body commands and voice, rather than yelling and screaming at your dog. If you take your dog steady through the training period and they are consistent negotiating the equipment, and you are consistent as a handler, your dog's speed will increase as their confidence develops and their muscles, ligament and joints get use to this type of physical activity. Out of control dogs run a higher risk of injuries. Remember keep the fun in the training and the trials, your dog is not interest in the Titles and the trophies, you are, they enjoy the outing with Mum or Dad. South East Queensland- Chris Sherlock and her bitch Gradwell Abbey UD ET ADM JD have been competing for a number of years, Abbey was the first Australian Cattle Dog to get her Masters Agility Title in Queensland. Willawen Skeeta ET ADM JDX has represented Queenaldnd in 1999, 2000 and 2001 in the National Agility team Challenge. Diggaden Blue Suede Shuz ET ADX JDX was the first to get a Jumpers Title. |
 |
| Click on me and I will take you home |