Another New Video

CollieMan

Experienced Member
You have no idea how happy I was to be notified this morning that my absolute favourite handler and dog had put a new video on YouTube.

I really admire Yolle555. I think she has such a natural way with dogs, hence the stunning level of cooperation she is able to receive from her dogs.

When you watch the video, you'll be sat thinking, so what, any dog can walk around on its hind legs. Then the second half of the video comes along. :) Enjoy...

[MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS9d2Q1_jHM&sdig=1[/MEDIA]
 

CollieMan

Experienced Member
It must be my Birthday today, as another trainer who I admire also has a new video.

Here, she is training a 7.5 week old puppy. Yes, remember that as you watch, it's 7.5 weeks old. She gave me a lot of tips a while back and I'm really grateful to her. It's thanks to her that my dog doesn't have set mealtimes but works for every morsel of food.

[MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB6b33lC5hg&sdig=1[/MEDIA]
 

Jean Cote

Administrator
Staff member
Hey thanks for sharing the videos, I like the first one. I should really teach this stuff to my dogs! :dogsmile:

I gotta stop being so lazy! :dogsmile:
 

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
That girl never ceases to amaze me. I would love to learn a thing or two from her!!! (First vid) She really does a great job. That second one is good too. Think I'm fixing to start hitting YouTube pretty hard, lol...^^ Thanks for posting these, CollieMan.
 

bigboytex

New Member
U know its amazing what dogs can do if u take the time to teach them right she really has a natural talent for this. Thanks for Posting
 

xsara

New Member
CollieMan;1350 said:
You have no idea how happy I was to be notified this morning that my absolute favourite handler and dog had put a new video on YouTube.

I really admire Yolle555. I think she has such a natural way with dogs, hence the stunning level of cooperation she is able to receive from her dogs.

When you watch the video, you'll be sat thinking, so what, any dog can walk around on its hind legs. Then the second half of the video comes along. :) Enjoy...

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS9d2Q1_jHM&sdig=1[/media]
Silvia Trkman is an incredible handler (she was agility world champion two times with her pyr shep La)! She trains in our club and we had lessons with her for two years. She's only teaching puppies now so we train with her friend Polona Bonac who is also incredible. We are trying out some of her two legged tricks, we are lifting right paws now. It's really fun :doglaugh:
 

l_l_a

New Member
Xsara you train with Silvia Trkman?! Woww!!!

Ever since Collie Man posted one of her vids on this forum a couple months ago I've seen most if not all her YouTube vids, they are amazing. I also read the interview with her published in Clean Run magazine. she is a really talented trainer, I get so inspired when I see her training videos.
 

xsara

New Member
Yes, she is amazing! We are very lucky to have her in our club. She is an incredible person, she really understands dogs. We really look up to her, I can never say this enough ...
 

CollieMan

Experienced Member
You have no idea how envious I am or how much I'd give up to spend just one day watching her at work. :) You're extremely fortunate.
 

xsara

New Member
I know, we are really lucky! She teaches seminars all over the world, maybe you could catch her sometime. And she does a lot of trials all around the world.
 

CollieMan

Experienced Member
I recall reading her view on starting ages for Agility.

She is another one who, if we all blindly followed popular and fashionable opinions, would be pushed out in ridicule, despite her amazing accomplishments.

Certainly, here in England, if you dare to start your dog on agility before a year old, you will have people tutting at you and giving you all sorts of warnings. And giving a puppy jumps, even low jumps? You may as well grab a noose...

I'm with Silvia and I treat agility like I do mental training for a dog. I think that the earlier you start, the more prepared (both physically and psychologically) and able your dog becomes. Ellie jumps over some tree trunks each and every day on our walks, and I think if I tried to prevent her from doing it, I would have a doggy rebellion on my hands! :)
 

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
Oh, jealousy!!! Lol. Since CollieMan started posting her vids here I've become addicted to watching as many of hers as I have time to watch. ^^ LUCKY! Good luck with your dogs. =) And have enough fun to cover the rest of us who wish we could learn a thing or two from her. ;D
 

xsara

New Member
CollieMan;1701 said:
I recall reading her view on starting ages for Agility.

She is another one who, if we all blindly followed popular and fashionable opinions, would be pushed out in ridicule, despite her amazing accomplishments.

Certainly, here in England, if you dare to start your dog on agility before a year old, you will have people tutting at you and giving you all sorts of warnings. And giving a puppy jumps, even low jumps? You may as well grab a noose...
We attended a seminar with Gwyn Roberts from England who also told us a little about agility there. I think ground work is very good for puppies. But I know some people are upset with her because she works with young dogs. Her dogs however are one of the heatlhiest and happiest dogs I know, Lo is almost 11 years old and she is still running - and fast. Not fast like La, but nobody is that fast. I came to her agility class when Xsara was already one year old because I was told by other people to wait. That is my biggest regret! If puppies can run on their walks, why couldn't they run over a plank on the ground or through channel weaves far apart or over bars placed on the ground? It's the same thing! Why would it be bad for a puppy to learn how to put a bowl into another bowl and stuff like that - since most of her agility work even with adult dogs is done off course with tricks ... I admire how concentrated she is to her dogs, she always gives them her full attention. Her dogs are lucky.
 

CollieMan

Experienced Member
But I know some people are upset with her because she works with young dogs.
That doesn't surprise me in the least. I've seen and heard the very same attitude several times. Though, I do think that people like Silvia and Gwyn are having a positive effect as more and more training classes are relaxing a little on introduction to agility.

xsara;1709 said:
That is my biggest regret! If puppies can run on their walks, why couldn't they run over a plank on the ground or through channel weaves far apart or over bars placed on the ground? It's the same thing!
I think you're absolutely right. With Ellie, our Border Collie, we decided from day one that she would lead us in her training. We wouldn't push her into jumping, but nor would we wrap her in cotton-wool if she wanted to. Basically, if she was curious about anything, we wanted (and still do) to encourage that as much as possible, by not preventing it. I think we have a much better and much more responsive six month old dog for it too.

As it turned out, there are several fallen trees along our daily walking route, and she quite quickly learned to to jump over them, after first scrambling over them. (She now runs ahead in great relish to hear the "over" command, to jump them.)

The way I saw it, she was more at risk from climbing the stairs in our house, which we also allowed her to do. I believe that we underestimate dogs much of the time. They are very capable of judging for themselves what is possible and what isn't. And, like us, they learn what is too difficult through failure. But, they remember that failure on the next attempt, and build upon it. So, as long as you're not physically forcing the dog to do anything, then it's as safe as taking the dog for a walk.

Regardless, I'm sure all here, particularly Jean, will be pleased to know that Silvia advocates teaching tricks to your dog above almost all else. There are just some people whose advice should be taken very seriously!
 

xsara

New Member
I think the most problematic obstacles for a puppy are teeter, dogwalk and A-frame, but with the plank on the floor that's fine even for a puppy. The jump itself is not as problematic as the landing, but if you do only a few very low jumps that's no problem. There is not really much need to do a lot of jumps with a puppy, there is a lot of groundwork you can do before that. Jumps are not that dificult to teach, you can do that later. Silvia and Polona also teach puppies things like touching the teeter with a paw and staying calm when it bumps, to get them used to it the sound of it. That's absolutely no pressure on the joints, but it's good to get the dog used to the equipment. But teaching tricks is absolutely essential for her method - it has several advantages. Not only do dogs learn how to think, some tricks improve their orientation skills, body awarness and muscle flexibility, plus it really connects the dog and the handler. They learn how to understand each other better and how to communicate. Silvia only teaches puppy classes in the club now, and all of her students do tricks, even those who will never do agility.
 

CollieMan

Experienced Member
Silvia and Polona also teach puppies things like touching the teeter with a paw and staying calm when it bumps, to get them used to it the sound of it.
Ellie hasn't even seen a teeter yet, let alone used one. But that's a damned good idea as an introduction.

Whatever Silvia's beliefs are, I am a strong supporter of them. As I mentioned in my original post, I don't think that I have ever seen someone who handles dogs in a more natural manner. There are plenty of people who you can see have read all the books, attended all the classes, and so forth, and it serves them very well indeed. But, as an observer, it lacks that natural look and feel.

Sylvia is the only person who I've ever watched and felt has that really quite unique quality. The fact that she manages to gain as much cooperation from her dog(s) as she does, bears witness to her strong relationship with the dogs. Heck, can you imagine how many people would buy her book, and yet she states that she's not interested in writing one, because her philosophy is so simple that it wouldn't be worth writing. This alone tells me how genuine she is.

Anyway, I'm at risk of sounding like a one-man fan club now so I'll shut up. :)
 

xsara

New Member
Don't worry - the fan club is actually quite big, I'll let you know when the supporters t-shirts come in LOL. I absolutely agree with you - she's very natural with dogs. If you read her website you know she started teaching tricks to stray dogs when she was 7, even stopped eating meat because she used it all on tricks. And if she didn't find any stray dogs - she switched to cats!
 

bipa

New Member
Just to correct a misconception. Newer training styles encourage owners to get out there with their puppies early. Old-fashioned, traditional trainers insisted on holding dogs back until they were older. Some even said that a puppy should remain in the house without any exposure to other dogs until all shots were done and puppies were several months old, thus missing out on the most important socialisation period. Unfortunately, many puppy owners are still getting this bad advice from uninformed trainers and vets.

Today we better understand how important it is to allow puppies to meet with other dogs and experience things like stairs and ramps early, so as to get them used to situations that they will have to deal with in daily life.
 

CollieMan

Experienced Member
xsara;1720 said:
Don't worry - the fan club is actually quite big, I'll let you know when the supporters t-shirts come in LOL.
lol I'll look out for them. :)

If you read her website you know she started teaching tricks to stray dogs when she was 7, even stopped eating meat because she used it all on tricks.
You know you've got it bad when you donate all your meat to your dogs!

And if she didn't find any stray dogs - she switched to cats!
Lord only knows what happened if there were no cats around! :)
 

xsara

New Member
bipa: I wasn't really talking about socialisation. Many agility handlers feel they shouldn't introduce their dogs to agility equipment too soon because they feel it would be harmful for the puppy's health (too much pressure on the joints, weaving is bad for the vertebral column, ecc). Since Silvia starts training her dogs as soon as they come to her home, they feel that's wrong. I just wanted to explain that in my opinion her working methods with puppies were very safe for the dogs. But since this isn't really an agility forum, I'm sorry for the off-topic!

Collieman: cats are always around!
 
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