Hello! I have a Cornerstone, Too! My Kai is from the lovely Rita! What agreat breeder... I spoke with Rita the other day about Kai and had to tell her what a great dog he is - even now 7 yrs later. Best dog I've ever had. Kai's a b/w, but I also have a blue - different breeder that Rita helped me find - my Blue is the crazy Luna. Your dogs are beautiful!

Hi! No, I am a big loser and have never put a single agility title on my dogs, much less a MACH. My Cardis came from Betty Ann Seeley at Pecan Valley in Arkansas.

Awww I see you have a corgi named Basil!!! I wanted to name my corgi Basil soo bad but my hubby wouldn't let me. I think that name is so awesome for a corgi. My hubby and I fought over a name for the pup. I wanted Basil and he wanted G.I.R. We finally decided on Igor. I'm glad a corgi out there is named Basil. :D

I didn't want to hijack the thread. :-) I'm curious: do you have cats? Because I have yet to meet a cat food-oriented enough for it to be a reinforcer. I've seen hungry cats walk away from favorite treats because of some perceived slight. It is well-known among cat rescuers that cats will go on hunger strikes severe enough to cause health problems--- cat rescuers I know have equipment to force-feed reticent cats. I've seen and known cats that were almost dog-like in their cheerfulness towards strangers. My recently departed cat Alice, however, would sniff suspiciously at favorite treats and walk away if she thought I was trying to get her to learn a new behavior. Treats were worthless in training her to climb her stairs when she got too old to jump on the bed; I finally gave up the treats and trained her by "walking" her paw-by-paw up the steps, which she initially resisted but ended up learning in one night what treats had not taught her in days of trying.

I've seen clicker-trained cats, but am deeply suspicious that the videos are heavily edited to show the success and edit out the countless times the cat twitched her tail and headed the other way. Again, I'm not saying they dont' exist but the cats I know are not that food-motivated, and many a cat will one day just refuse to eat a food that was favored the day before.

Take care,
Beth

Hey, np, thanks for your response.

Hi Katie, we met at one of the meetup's picnic. I am thinking about getting Mac one of those collapseable crate or the "pop-up" crate that I saw at the picnic..I think it was yours. Could you tell me where you bought it from? Thanks!

Hello! I just wanted to drop in and say that both of your dogs are absolutely beautiful. It sounds like they have quite a fun and wonderful life. Basil has the same birthday as me!

Hi there. I read one of your replies about training. i am just curious if you have any thoughts. My boyfriend and I do not believe in using harsh methods whatso ever. We do sometimes "submit" maggie if she is getting too out of control on her side or on her back, but we talk calmly and pet her as we do it so it can be associated with being petted and calm. Maggie has all her adult teeth in, is 6 mo old and still bites at us if we do not play with her. we will redirect her, sometimes ignore her too. But then she barks. We then sometimes will submit her if she is too rough. I am curious at your thoughts. Any methods? Those are really the only two things she has trouble with. We went to an obedience class and the trainer said she is not aggressive, just needs lots of play time to let out her energy. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Thanks for sharing your training videos. They were very interesting. Both of your dogs are gorgeous! And apparently very smart!