The Art of Natural Dressage

Just a reminder from Stella to stop and smell the flowers...or roll in the hay!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRI2H1LP ... annel_page

Enjoy!

Brenda

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http://www.youtube.com/user/Lucy04574
http://www.youtube.com/user/Jack04574

Stella is STELLAR! What a lovely dog! I've just been watching some of your other videos with her.. very intstructional. Making me think I should make time to train with Sweetie Pie.. I've only taught her a couple of things but she's got a HUUUUGE urge. What breed(s?) is Stella.. She looks like a big Staffie.. or a small boxer with a long tail. Whatever.. she is deliciously cute and talented!

Sue

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I have not sought the horse of bits, bridles, saddles and shackles,
But the horse of the wind, the horse of freedom, the horse of the dream. [Robert Vavra]

Hey thanks Sue!!

Stella is a Staffy, taller than most as she is more of the terrier lines than the bully lines! That of course makes her way more agile! She was my first clicker baby, and my best agility dog, put the BCs to shame really!!

I really should do more videos of my dogs!! They are really fun to train! I'll put together a trick video of Stella and Bronco maybe??

Brenda

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http://www.youtube.com/user/Lucy04574

http://www.youtube.com/user/Jack04574

Oh, she IS a staffie. She's gorgeous! I'm enormously fond of Staffies.. I used to own and breed them years ago.. but mine were more the British looking ones.. shorter legs.. I know the American standard breeds them a bit taller doesn't it. I thought i recognized that joyous and boundless tenacity and exuberance as she rolled in the hay though! Loved the leg on the basked training vid.. fascinating! Interesting that she's up there ahead of the BCs.. People often have this idea of them being bull-headed and hard to train. Hooray for CT.. I'd love to see a trick vid...

Cheers,
SUe

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I have not sought the horse of bits, bridles, saddles and shackles,

But the horse of the wind, the horse of freedom, the horse of the dream. [Robert Vavra]

Cool that you know the breed! I LOVE them!!! I had a few rescue pit bulls before her too!

Oh man!! She IS the smartest dog I have ever had!! And the quirkiest, which made her a 'good' teacher <G>! She is VERY sensitive, afraid of loud noises, big dogs, EXCEPT when she is in drive on the agility course, which I worked on diligently, to make her tough and resilient, and that she was!! And many other folks started to get them after they saw Stella in agility, and they all were quick to learn! I guess it' s in the 'how' you teach them, eh?

Sometimes the BCs drive gets in the way if it is not compatible with what you want them to do?? and they just fly over the details! Stella is into details!!

And I even worked her on sheep, but she had a bit too much bite for any real work <G>

http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/jj12 ... sheep4.jpg

I'll get a trick video together soon!

Brenda

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http://www.youtube.com/user/Lucy04574

http://www.youtube.com/user/Jack04574

Oh what a FAB sheepdog she is! I'd never thought about them doing agility training as such, but yes, I know that Staffies are super agile! Mine could do all sorts of tricks.. mostly not quite on cue though. A couple of my favourites were setting Jekyll bouncing.. he used to bounce like a basketball,... for hours if I encouraged him.. then when I wasn't around, he took up the habit of bouncing under the mandarin tree just to bop the mandarins with his nose. Occasionally he'd pluck one in mid air, then settle down to eat it, very delicately nibbling out all the inside and leaving the peel. Our last dog in NZ, who was a mix of bull terrier, blue heeler and Smithfield, but totally terrier in nature.. was incredible on flies. He could amuse himself for hours on end turning backflips and somersaults, literally, and catching them in his mouth. Yep.. I can imagine staffies at being better at agility than a BC. (My mum has BCs..) And they're just such Happy dogs.. and how could you not love the gargles and warbles that they speak in?

Was Stella a rescue? I'd love to find a staffie to rescue.... They're pretty rare here. We have a rescue Pitbull though.. Mac.. who is an elderly gentleman, and my most recent addition, DaTou (big head ) that you probably saw running round and barking at the horses in my last videos, is an English Bull Terrier mix with the local breed.

Sue

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I have not sought the horse of bits, bridles, saddles and shackles,

But the horse of the wind, the horse of freedom, the horse of the dream. [Robert Vavra]

Better at agility than sheep tho <G>!! Stella was feared in agility!! We were very progressive in our training and did things that most others could not, making our runs fast and accurate! Our 'claim to fame' was winning the 2001 USDAA Agility Nationals in CA! A fellow competitor from Holland, who also ran a Staffy, commented that day "You shocked the world!". Staffies just don't win stuff like that!!! And we also got to run on the US team in Moscow, Russia, winning the Team Championship there too! So I am a pretty proud mama!!



All agility is is a bunch of fancy tricks really!! Too funny about the mandarin game!! And the fly game too! I know a BC that chases and catches raindrops!!



Oh yes! They make the most wonderful noises!! We call is pigeoning! Or sometimes, especially in the AM, she sounds like there's an alien living inside her!!!! I can get that on video maybe?



No I 'shopped' for her <G>! We have lots of pits and pitX here, and even more in the cities, including more and more Staffies. The breeders tried to keep a tight rein on their popularity, fearing that their size and temperament would be attractive to puppy mills and 'bad' breeders.

I am working with a Pit Bull Terrier now at our local shelter, and man is he catching on FAST!! He is HUGE and handsome and obnoxious of course so we are working on building a bit of self-control and atention! Yesterday I found out that a super reinforcer was snowballs!! So we played recall games for snowballs!! Too cool!!

Here are a few other photos of Stella from an older thread:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1607

Thanks for the chat!!

Brenda

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http://www.youtube.com/user/Lucy04574

http://www.youtube.com/user/Jack04574

WOW! You guys are really famous!!! Too cool! Staffies take over the world!!! (Had to laugh at this though :
......I was trying to picture a sheep doing agility trial..Hmmmm )

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I have not sought the horse of bits, bridles, saddles and shackles,

But the horse of the wind, the horse of freedom, the horse of the dream. [Robert Vavra]

Wowza, Ms. Brenda! I should say you should be a pretty proud mama!

That's fabulous!!




Leigh

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"Ours is the portal of hope. Come as you are." -- Rumi
www.imaginalinstitute.com

Hey thanks Leigh!! Stella is a 'once in a lifetime' dog, and sometimes that's a great thing, and sometimes it is a curse as she is sooooo quirky! But I love her to death!!!

Brenda

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http://www.youtube.com/user/Lucy04574

http://www.youtube.com/user/Jack04574

And Sue, here it is! Sheep agility...clicker style!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NKK53dInzw

Brenda

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http://www.youtube.com/user/Lucy04574

http://www.youtube.com/user/Jack04574

And here is another one! Too cute! Luring with the feeding bottle!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC76cgkr ... re=related

Brenda

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http://www.youtube.com/user/Lucy04574

http://www.youtube.com/user/Jack04574

Oh Brenda! Hush my mouth! I will never laugh at the expense of a sheeps dignity again! That was superb! Inspiring! What a happy little sheep! Love the long tail! Thanks!

Sue

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I have not sought the horse of bits, bridles, saddles and shackles,

But the horse of the wind, the horse of freedom, the horse of the dream. [Robert Vavra]

And the second one.. personally I feel that there should be bonus points awarded for pronking! I bet Stella pronks too if she feels like it!

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I have not sought the horse of bits, bridles, saddles and shackles,

But the horse of the wind, the horse of freedom, the horse of the dream. [Robert Vavra]

That is so cute. I wish the 4-H program had kids teach their sheep agility rather than raise them for market.