BH, almost ready - Page 2

How many dog have you trialed and titled? Becasue I have seen wors and they did just fine. Do you have anybody there to guide you, tell you what is going on, spot for you? I really dont think you are as bad as you think you are.. you just need a little help and you will be just fine!

not many around here to help, maybe once a week, but the drive for ob help is about 2 hrs each way. i know a trainer that really good and closer, but he's about 50$ a session.........tracking help is much farther....bitework help is alittle closer. we love on the other side of houston from all the dog stuff and have to drive from the outskirts of the east to the outskirds to the west/north west. - traffic hell

I have only BH'd 2 other dogs, never a SchH1.

You know I will be very honest with you. Tracking is not that hard. If you find a friend who will be able to tape you you can do tons of OB on your own.
If you dont care that maybe this dog will not be in high 90ties. I would do it myself. You will learn and she will work for you.

I do tons of OB by myslelf. Very rarely I can find somebody to do track for me and I made it to FH2 in two different clubs. Actually I dont even belong to a club. I do have help here and there but since there are more people my helper can yell at me very rarely to fix my shoulders. LOL

It sucks when you have limited help but do you need high scoring dog or do you want a dog you trained and trialed yourself? I have no pity for people who have to travel to trials as I do 8 hour trips to trail dogs all the time. I learned I like meeting new people and getting to know the region..

Try and see.. maybe you will not get 99 in all three parts but you will get hell of an accomlishment done!

I'm not much into the stress of competition. To me its too similar to giving a speech......on stage and with everyone watching. I was even stressed when my husband was videoing me.......and he's family. I'm sick the night before a trial, cannot sleep, puke my breakfast....... shake the whole time on the field......... forget what part of the pattern I'm supposed to be doing. Get faint from not breathing. I enjoy working with my dogs, teaching them all the basics, but the actual trial is pure hell. Poor dogs.......... the don't have a chance to look good! 

I received some tracking DVD's for my birthday, I'm studying them right now, soon I'll get to work with tracking.

I'll keep working with her and when the time is right we'll get the BH and AD. Then I'll most likely send her off for SchH1, Show title and breed survey. Then if I can get more comfortable, I'll continue to trial and show her at club level with much less stress of having to pass. Maybe I'll be able to get over some of my limitations...


I think I'll invest in an inexpensive metronome - and practice walking faster - shoulders back and head forward, arms comfortable swinging by my side.....talk about starting at square one!

GSDPACK - what is "stop turn the shoulder and point."?

"also the AKC hand.. hand needs to naturally follow the body."

I read that i'm not to be in contact with the dog, but if my arms swing naturally at my side the I touch her ear and sometimes head. How do I get around this?

Turning the shoulder. You dont stay put.. You have taught your dog to follow the shoulder. You turn the body and Jayota follows it. You also point fingers at "fussing" and when you wan to fix her position. I used to do the same.

AKC hand. learn to have the hand freely I know it is weird but with practice you will learn to have the hand above the dogs head, along the dogs head and you will not effect her with that. Practice.

I will see if I can find a good example of fussing with a short person.

 Sitas,
One quick question. How is your dogs food drive? Reason I ask is the toy is not working for you, actually working against you.  Bh, Sch these titles are all pattern training.  Using food you and your dog will be more accurate and less sloppy in the routine. Even if you have to skip a meal before training try to use food instead of the toy. Slice up some hot dogs about the size of a niclkle and place it between your fingers of your left hand while your wrist is approximately on you r left hip. Let the dog drive you for the food then go into your pattern.  Vary your speeds, try to keep the dog pushing you.  Thats my own 2 cents anyway!

I applaud your efforts and hope you do well.

thanks everyone, i can use all the help i can get!

sitasmom,personelly,i love the way she heels.as she gets older she will get sharper.jack heels like that.at a year old i think  she did real good.bear in mind i am a novice and i'm sure these critics are telling the facts.she should be fine,she sure is pretty!

sitasmom....you'be done bh's before,third time should be your charm!at this point you've visualized what you want your routine to look like.....try watching some of "MICHAEL ELLIS,BART BELLON,or IVAN BALABANHOV on youtube,your pup's still young and there are other elements of the BH that weigh pretty heavily,behavior when pressed in a group,neutral behavior to non aggressive dogs and overall "TRAFFIC BEHAVIOR"...surely you'll want your o/b to look good,but you have time...with a good solid DOWN(honoring) and heeling in the same zip code,you should be able to get your BH with this dog .....good luck,you'll do well