huski

Most people are pretty good when I take my pup out. I get a lot of questions about what she is being trained for and 99% of the time if someone says something, it is something positive like 'what a clever puppy' 'wow she has great focus on you' 'she's so well behaved etc'. For some reason (perhaps the breed) I hear parents telling their kids as they walk past "you can't pat that puppy, it's being trained" lol.

You are so cute Ginny!

It is really important to remember socialisation isn't just about exposure, but teaching the dog how to respond to new environments and distractions. One of my favourite places to socialise pups and train dogs under distraction is the local shopping centre. Head down at a busy time (like Thursday night shopping) and train outside the entrance where people of all ages, shapes and sizes come and go. Another place I frequent a lot with pups is the train station.

I don't see the benefit in any way to giving a dog access to a new born. I think it makes the owners/parents feel sentimental and think the dog and baby will become BFFs - there absolutely no reason to give a dog access to a newborn IMO.

I don't think this sounds like a situation where rehoming the dog is the only viable option. It's an extremely common problem.

Giving her a positive outlet for her drive won't make it worse, it will mean she feels satisfied and is less likely to look elsewhere for drive satisfaction. It will also mean she will be more obedient to you because she has more motivation to comply to commands. There's endless benefit. I have two very high drive working line Mals, with more prey drive than any other dog I've met. But they live with my cat, they recall off live prey mid chase, they are easy to live with and don't destroy anything. More drive doesn't mean less control if you can use it properly. Shoot me an email to [email protected] and I can send you through some info on Monday morning. :)

Unfortunately that's the problem. You aren't giving her mental or drive stimulation and she's finding her own way to provide it. Going for a run will make her fit, which will means it will take more to tire her. In her eyes there is no difference between "going after" a possum or your cats. She needs a way to channel her prey drive that is positive. She needs more mental stimulation so she doesn't need to look elsewhere for it. :)

How exciting, I love training heel work! I would start by watching heaps of videos of heel work and choosing some that inspire and show you a heel style/type you like and would like to train to your dog. I would then train rear end awareness and positions, there's some of foundation work we can cover in your lessons but what really helps is knowing what you want and how you want it to look.

She needs an outlet for her prey drive. What do you do with her to satisfy it?

Could you post a video for us to show us what you are trying to do? I train a fold back down, so I don't train the down from a sit, I train it from a stand often as the pup is on the move. Push the treat down and sort of into their chest area so they drop their head, and push backwards. Sometimes it helps to put your hand on their back and gently push them down, then as they hit the floor, release the food. If I really want the positions to be sharp and precise I train them in a control box which can also help with the pup learning to down neatly.

Thanks guys, I think she is super cute. I am super lucky to have such a lovely puppy Issy :)

I don't have all that many (yet - our photographer has gone on maternity leave :p ), but here's one from a few weeks ago :)

LOL She loves a cuddle! Those bloody ears... I am sure she will grow into them eventually :D Yes I think so too! I love watching them grow up

I get super nervous, and I had a lot of people tell my I needed to get my nerves under control. That's easy to say but next to impossible to implement if you are really nervous! So instead, when I train my dogs I try to embody the person I am in the trial ring. There is no point being 'loose' and relaxed with your body language in training if you aren't that person in the ring. For eg - I don't yell READY? Excitedly, I just say 'ready' like I would if I was standing nervously at the start post. When I release my dogs to reward that is when we have a big party. So my dogs will never look at me in the ring and think 'that nervous nelly doesn't look like the person who usually rewards me'. When it comes to entering a trial, I don't give myself a specific time frame, I just wait until I look at my dogs and go 'you are so ready to trial' (I had this moment with Wiz just before she came into season and had pups, lol). If your biggest concern is how she will work in a new environment, I would be training her from now until the trial only in new environments. Look up the trial schedule in your area, then take Willow to the next obed trial and act as though you are going to enter her. Set up her crate, run through your trial prep routine with her to find what works best for her and you. I do this a fair bit because I find getting the right trial prep/warm up really important for my dogs.

Your baby puppy is a baby no longer

I noticed on their FB page that just this morning they posted photos of 15+ dogs running together, though their public statement said they don't run more than 5 dogs together at a time. It seems like they aren't learning from the incident with Wags

That is the other factor that would concern me, I would want the owners of the dog/s who caused the death to know. it may have been accidental, though from the injuries on the x-ray it seems more likely that Wags was attacked. If I owned a dog that attacked and killed another dog I would need to know about it.

It honestly makes me feel ill to think of that poor little dog and the trauma he must have suffered when he died

It is a high risk situation and inevitable that there would be an incident when dozens of dogs run together like that. I feel for the owner as they obviously trusted a professional establishment (though as others have said I would never leave my dog at a place like that). Many owners don't realise the danger of running a group of dogs together, that's why dog parks can be so dangerous.

The dogs are trained to stay in their crates even if the door is open, Wiz is very reliable with this. However since it has been cold, a couple of times around about the time I go to bed I have been finding that she's been sneaking out of her crate, through the house, into my room and going to sleep on my bed. I go to put my jammies on and finding a sleeping Malinois on my bed. Cracks me up!

I would definitely read up on the benefits of early socialisation vs risk of disease like parvo - I definitely wouldn't recommend not taking them anywhere until they are vaccinated, you will miss their most critical development periods where socialisation is critical.

Realistically most dog owners work and of those working dog owners most work full time. IMO it is about quality not quantity of time spent with them :)

I would talk to breeders and see what they say, and meet their dogs too. I tend to find a lot of the dogs like Viszlas, Boxers, GSPs etc often don't have heaps of drive but are 'busy' dogs who enjoy running around and being active. IMO any dog can learn to enjoy their own company, and every dog no matter the breed should get used to having some time alone. Re-reading your posts I missed the part where you said you didn't want a dog that may be territorial etc. If that's one of the stronger criteria I think gundogs are the better fit temperament wise as opposed to herding breeds, or even terriers who can be a bit more fiery.

What about a Viszla?

I don't see anyone lab bashing I don't really understand why it becomes a personal offense for people to say they don't like x/y/z breed. Plenty of people don't like or wouldn't own my breeds, and there are plenty of breeds I don't want to own either. Who cares?