# Ruby



## Poiuyt (Dec 14, 2013)

Hi, I posted here recently looking for a pup,

Please meet Ruby


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

:baby::welcome::baby2:

Hello sweet tiny girl 
Ruby is gorgeous. Tell us all about her - what mix is she? How is she settling in? 
We're here to say we've all been in that new puppy place - a mixture of ecstatic happiness and anxiety.... 
Hope it is going well, but don't worry if it isn't! Puppyhood is just a stage try and enjoy it, if it gets too grim pop Ruby in the kitchen or her crate, have some chocolate or a glass of wine, or both and tell us all about it


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## Poiuyt (Dec 14, 2013)

Hi, thanks for the reply 

She is almost 9 weeks now, her mum was a first cross cockapoo and her dad a min poodle (I think that makes her an F1b? - still figuring out all the correct 'terms'!!)

She's my first cockapoo but not my first pup, I'm used to border collies and GSD and my other current dog is a german shorthaired pointer (so I'm used to crazy puppies!)

I decided on a cockapoo for a variety of reasons... I have two children, the youngest whom has allergies to long coated dogs and I'm not 100% keen on pure poodles (not sure why!) and I also compete in agility (well I did until I lost my collies last year) so will hopefully do the same with Ruby when she is old enough.
She is such a character and so full of confidence, I love her to bits already (she's been with us 2 weeks now) the only thing I'm not used to is because she is so small she can crawl underneath the tv unit and into small spaces... Cue panic that I have lost her!!!


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## GorgeousGeorge (Jan 19, 2013)

Welcome to you and little Ruby what a sweetie so cute xx


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

She looks like a dream!  Agility sounds like perfection for a cockapoo. What age will you be able to start getting her ready for it?


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## Tinman (Apr 23, 2013)

Hello little ruby & welcome to ILMC, I look forward to hearing about your games of hide and seek x


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

She'll love agility 
Kiki, my poodlie cavapoo (F1b) loves to jump and took to agility like a duck to water... 
Dot, I suspect, will enjoy playing the clown 
Inzi is a total obsessive collie - which jump? how many times? can I do it again, please again again again!

Fairlie the advice is to not do any jumping until they are a year, they can't compete until they are 18 months. Prior to a year you can work on contacts, control, tunnels, low level equipment etc they love it - you should get some agility stuff for Rufus. He'd have a blast :jumping: It exercises their heads at least as much as their bodies.


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## Poiuyt (Dec 14, 2013)

fairlie said:


> She looks like a dream!  Agility sounds like perfection for a cockapoo. What age will you be able to start getting her ready for it?


I've already started 'preparation' training so things like teaching a 'touch' (I use a gravy lid) and getting her really crazy for a tug toy etc.
When she is about 4-5 months I will start teaching her directional commands and handling through jump wings (with no pole to start with)

She will be able to start 'proper' training when she is about 9/10 months but just with a pole on the ground and low impact things. Then we will 'up the game' and start properly training at 12 months. This is assuming she will like agility, if not she will just be a much loved pet


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

I have so many questions. What are jump wings and what is a touch? Does it mean touch it with her nose? Do you do directional training with voice or hand signal? I would love to get Rufus in agility or flyball but we are too isolated I believe.


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

Poiuyt said:


> Hi, thanks for the reply
> 
> She is almost 9 weeks now, her mum was a first cross cockapoo and her dad a min poodle (I think that makes her an F1b? - still figuring out all the correct 'terms'!!)
> 
> ...


You sound like you would get on with Marzi like a house on fire!! 

Congrats btw  Ruby is a gem!


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

I think Nina would be good at agility too.. But I'm not confident I would be good at it


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## dio.ren (Jan 18, 2013)

She is adorable!


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

Ruby looks gorgeous, cute button nose. I do agility with Dudley, had a naive idea that I could learn for a few months then start doing competitions! well, 10 months on and we are nowhere near!! I always forget the course half way through, Dudley runs much faster than me but wants to be by me, gets confused and frustrated then starts biting my arm (only place he ever does it now, wondering if we should stop for a bit - maybe see how we get on through the spring though), he should be jumping at large dog height but does it for a few jumps then starts refusing them so we drop them down again, but....he is always so excited to go there, it really tires him out for the day and its good exercise for me!!


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

I wonder if Dudley would enjoy fly ball...
I think agility is something a dog does better with an experienced handler. It is so tough when you learning too... kiki is the fifth dog I've done agility with...
Don't give up. Forgetting the course happens. Go to a show and you'll be surprised how many 'e's there are.


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

Marzi said:


> I wonder if Dudley would enjoy fly ball...
> I think agility is something a dog does better with an experienced handler. It is so tough when you learning too... kiki is the fifth dog I've done agility with...
> Don't give up. Forgetting the course happens. Go to a show and you'll be surprised how many 'e's there are.


I know I always think I would love to see how he would do if an experienced person trained him for a few weeks, shame I don't live close to you! we did a 6 week flyball course, he loved it and was good, except he is not good at catching the ball!! it was only a fun thing and they never did it again, there isn't any others local to me.


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

I'm sure Dudley would always work best for you - relationship is vital  
Sadly I just don't have enough time to train the dogs really. What with OH's long working hours, Lizzie and caring for my mum.
Hopefully there will be more time in the future, in the meantime I enjoy them and doing stuff on my own and then teaching the Dodgy Dogs for light entertainment.


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## Poiuyt (Dec 14, 2013)

Thankyou everyone for your replies 



fairlie said:


> I have so many questions. What are jump wings and what is a touch? Does it mean touch it with her nose? Do you do directional training with voice or hand signal? I would love to get Rufus in agility or flyball but we are too isolated I believe.


Jump wings are what the holds the pole up- they are positioned either side of the pole.
I train directional with both hand and voice, i start by teaching a 'spin' in either direction and build it from there.
A 'touch' is just that- but with her nose. I teach a feet 'on' a bit further on (when she has a bit more body awareness!!!)


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Thank you. How high should Rufus jump? He loves jumping. My neice sets up horse jumps (laundry baskets) for him in a circuit all around the house and he sails through like he is at...can't think of the name of that horse race where they jump and all the jockeys fall off and land in the mud..., but like that! 

I will definitely start working on touch and directions. Spinning in either direction sounds daunting though.


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

The grand national?


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Right, is it a steeple chase in the generic sense?


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## Poiuyt (Dec 14, 2013)

fairlie said:


> Thank you. How high should Rufus jump? He loves jumping. My neice sets up horse jumps (laundry baskets) for him in a circuit all around the house and he sails through like he is at...can't think of the name of that horse race where they jump and all the jockeys fall off and land in the mud..., but like that!
> 
> I will definitely start working on touch and directions. Spinning in either direction sounds daunting though.


How tall is rufus? the best thing is to start quite small.

Spinning is easy, lure it with food first (so he follows your hand in a circle) then praise and add in a command.


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Not too tall, he is twenty pounds. Do they measure form the head or shoulder? I'll work on the spinning. 

I tried directions this morning. He already knew to follow my pointing hand, I guess from pointing with his ball launcher. Should I say left and right? His left or my left when I say it? Or would it be easier to go straight to a whistle?

Thanks for your help!


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

Good luck with the direction thing. In theory it is the dog's left or right.... Of course you may be brilliant - but by the time I've worked out which way I want the dog to go and the necessary command it is usually too late 
I use _out_ or _back _for my left command, back for a tighter turn, out for a wider one.... _in_ or _right_ for the right command. In truth dog's read body language much better than following verbal instructions and generally they go the direction that your shoulders point - wierd, but true.
With Kiki I leave her at the imaginary point of a traingle and place a retrieve article on either corner of the base line. I then stand either behind her or at a distance in front of her and send her to pick up a particular item - shoulders and command. A stop command can be handy as then you can redirect if they go the wrong way.
Also when chucking a ball, chuck left or right and as the dog goes that way say command.
As well as spin exercises, which I call twist...


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

I have some severe directional challenge which involves having to hold up my hands to find the L in my fingers for left or needing to think about which hand I write with to find right. I think I better go with in and back like you Marzi.  

Though I noticed last night that Rufus walks straight backwords too, I wonder if I should label that?

Should he be able to see what he is retrieving or is it best hidden? Or should I place several objects for him to get and then direct him toward the one I want?


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

Depends how brilliant he is!
Inzi will search for an item she cannot see and did not see hidden. The stop command is vital for her- because otherwise she'll just do a random search pattern and ignore my directions.
Kiki needs to know what exercise we are doing so I place two while she watches - it is not a search exercise it is a follow directional commands exercise. Keep it simple to start with, then make it trickier. Easier for the dog to go to the last item you placed first because that is where their focus is. Where you stand will also help your dog - more difficult if you are behind him, as he can not see your body position and arms without glancing back
I use back as my left command because that is what I do when doing heel work left about turns: the dog needs to take a step back to keep close to you. In keeps them right on your leg as you about turn to the right...
But honestly in agility it all happens so fast  good job my dogs are brilliant and put up with me being rubbish.
Reverse is a handy thing to be able to do - particularly for send aways if they stop short of the target. 
I'm afraid I think that the words matter very little - dogs pick up on all our non verbal language so well. 'Banana' works well with Inzi for anything, she watches my body and eye directional clues so well.


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

I can't wait for better weather so I can get started with this. In the meantime I will label his reverse and work on stop. Can I say "stay" for stop do you think and then ok to have him move again or will that confuse the issue? Rufus will watch my cues intently too. 

I love watching the well trained border collies working to the farmers whistles. It is like poetry in motion! Thank you Marzi for explaining all this to me!


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

Stop is better than stay. As actually it may morph into a steady, whereas stay is always stay until told to move...
You can do it to begin with running with him on lead and stopping - then you can build in a Go! as well.
Next you want a Go on! - Go run Stop Go then throw his ball and send him Go on while you are standing still.
You've got long corridors in your house, you can practice these inside.
Inzi I can get really excited by just saying Ready ready! ready! By the time I say go - she explodes forwards


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

I can see this going over very well with the people I live with, me shouting directions as Rufus leaps about the house.


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