huski

Oh ST I totally agree - I think that for companion pets often the breeder picks well. But that's not what I would be looking for and I am very upfront and honest about what I am looking for in a puppy when I talk to breeders. Again I am not saying I think the breeder's opinion is irrelevent, just that I would not take a puppy I had no input in choosing. If I went to look at the whole litter and found nothing that was 100% what I wanted I would walk, even if the breeder felt a puppy would be suitable for me. ETA: I also agree with others that you can be making it hard on yourself competing with a low drive dog. Especially if you want to go further than Novice - how many low drive dogs can do and would enjoy doing a full UD or CDX run out?

Well, yeah, but you have to be in it to win it and it's still a freebie AND you have 12 chances to grab something. So far not one of the entries has gone close to 100 people entered. Of course, no one is pushing you to enter if you don't want a chance to win something for free. We don't have to do giveaways after all but enjoy it and want to make it as fair and fun for everyone as we can.

I'm not saying that I must have my choice out of the entire litter but if a breeder said to me "this is your puppy" and I had no choice in the matter at all I would walk. I want to make sure I am getting the right puppy for me and at the end of the day I'm not going to be willing to rely 100% on the breeder to know exactly what I want and how to look for it.

RV - I wouldnt go to a breeder I didn't trust but to give you an example when I got Daisy I asked the breeder which pup was most outgoing and she said "I think they are all pretty much the same" - this was a woman who had been breeding for 30 years. Especially if you are looking at a breed not commonly used in obedience or dog sports, I am not going to ever rely 100% on the breeder picking me out a puppy. At the end of the day, they are breeders not behavioral experts. I am not saying they are clueless but I wouldn't go to a breeder who didn't give me a choice of which pup to take home.

Personally whilst I think some breeders are great what one will think may make a puppy suitable for obedience can differ completely from what the owner may think is suitable or what a trainer would think is suitable. I wouldn't rely solely on the breeders opinion when picking my puppy. I agree Mas first and foremost needs to get a dog she can live with.

Just in case anyone hasn't seen it and wants to grab some freebies - K9 Pro are doing a 12 day giveaway on Facebook at the moment http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/K9-Pro-The-K9-Professionals/118920428118492

So sorry to hear this

That's true, though you'd hope the breeder would be a little flexible, even if it's just the front yard or somewhere on the property the dog hasn't been before. Even the vet surgery where they have their injections etc. You could say the same thing about beagles though I can say with confidence I see quite a huge variance in drive just within the breed... I would never assume that because my puppy was X breed it would be guaranteed to be high in food/pack/prey drive. I never said that it would be the deciding factor or that would be all you look at, that's just one thing I would look at - but I am sure you agree with me Sally that you wouldn't take a puppy that shut down in a new place home with you.

I disagree. I think you can definitely tell a lot about a pup if you know what to look for. The best advice I've ever been given was once you have a puppy you like take it somewhere new (ie the neighbors front yard) and test how well they respond to you and your rewards etc there. A puppy that chases a tug for ages in it's own environment but shuts down in a new environment is not a puppy I would consider taking for a second. For a performance home I would want a puppy who wants to chase tug for hours or shows a strong food Drive.

He doesn't. Unfortunately he is a very long way to go for just fine tuning of basic manners. K9 Pro do house calls. Best to contact them and ask what options are available [email protected] Personally I would travel for a reputable trainer anyway.

Can you check your browser history to find the website?

Hi Yesmaam K9 Pro are designing a training jacket at the moment - we'll release details on our website/facebook page once we have it available for sale

I am not sure where you got the idea that anyone here is saying that dogs should only have 'restrained leash greetings' IMO, the kind of people who would want to 'neutralise' their dogs are not Joe Public who get a puppy from a pet store and then stuff it up by failing to socialise and neutralise their dog properly. Neutralised dogs are not dogs that never interact with other dogs. They are dogs that have been taught that other dogs are of a low or 'neutral' value and aren't anything overally exciting. Missmoo: As an obedience instructor I can tell you that if I started to explain the concept of neutralisation I'd lose the majority of people in my class in the first few seconds. What I do explain to them is that socialisation is not just about letting your dogs play with other dogs but it is about giving your dog a new experience, teaching them how to deal with new experiences, and assigning that experience with a value. A lot of people in my classes have a lightbulb moment when I explain how we often set out to do the right thing by socialising our puppies but often teach them that other dogs have a higher value than us and the rewards that we control. I'd also suggest that a fair chunk of people who come to the club I instruct at are there because they struggle to walk their dog down the street without it pulling their arm out of it's socket to try and get to another dog. These are majority of the time dogs that were socialised extensively with other dogs from a young age, but whose owners missed the other crucial points of socialisation. I would never tell anyone in my class to never let their puppy be around other dogs because that is not what neutralisation or socialisation is about. I first read about neutralisation on DOL and I admit the first time I read about it I thought it was too extreme and not for me. But the more I have become involved in dogs and dog training the more I can see the benefit and the more converted to the concept I became. Since then I've talked to trainers and behaviourists about it quite a lot.

Exactly! For me it comes down to risk. Yes it could work out fine but why chance it? The number of dogs I meet that were always run with other dogs and always taken to dog parks etc that are 100% reliable around distractions are incredibly rare.

AD - now you stop typing what I'm thinking! LOL Ness, daisy is much the same in that I think she'd be fine but how can you know for sure? Not worth the risk IMO. Besides I think she'd get fed up being stuck with a pup all day too.

AD, especially agree with your last point. IMO a lot of general dog owners seem to think socialisation begins and ends with other dogs, when from my perspective, it makes up so little of what socialisation is about to me. Agility Dogs touched on it but for me my reasons are: - Safety. I don't feel that it's safe to bring a new dog or puppy into my house and leave it unsupervised with my current dogs - who knows what could happen until I know for sure they are all comfortable around each other. I especially would not want a baby puppy running with adult dogs purely for the size difference. - Independence. It is important to me that ALL of my dogs especially young puppies learn to be happy on their own. It is rare I take all of my dogs out together and I don't want any of them becoming reliant on having dog company all the time. - Value. I don't want my puppy bonding more to my adult dogs than to me, and I don't want them developing a high value for other dogs which could happen if they are left to run with adult dogs constantly. - Also, I don't want my puppy learning bad habits from my older dogs and if I'm not their to supervise their interactions I have no idea what my puppy is and isn't learning. As for how long, I guess it would depend on my puppy and my adult dogs. Certainly not in the initial few months.

I don't see anyone saying that your dog should never be socialised with other dogs, when I get my new puppy she will be around other dogs all the time but the key for me is that the focus will be on teaching her that they aren't something overly exciting, valuable or rewarding. No puppy that I bring into my home will be run with my adult dogs either. I think that may be true in some cases but it's not always the case. I can tell you right now that the dogs in my classes that are the most distracted around other dogs and are coming to obedience because the owner can no longer control their excitement around other dogs, are dogs that have been allowed to develop too high a value for other dogs and it has a higher value for play with other dogs than it does for the owner. It's taken to the dog park daily, was allowed to play with every dog it came across as a puppy and young dog and now expects that the sight of another dog = time to play. I can't stress enough to the owners in my classes that socialisation with other dogs should be about teaching your puppy that yep, that's another dog, and yep you can greet it if and when I say it's ok to, but other dogs will never be as exciting as what I offer.

If it's done properly you can't over socialise. IMO you CAN socialise your dog to have too high a value for things other than you and the rewards you have i.e. other dogs etc.

Well you've inspired me to go and find out what all the fuss is about. I've never had a leather leash... Oh you must have one! The only time I use anything that's not leather now is when I use a long line. After using good quality leather going back to nylon or anything fabric is awful! I got mine from K9 Pro like a lot of people have recommended.

I got my first leather leash about five or six years ago and they are all I use now and all I would use in the future (and I still use that original leash I bought). IMO every dog owner should have a good quality leather leash

Happy birthday Kyojin! He looks very handsome in his new birthday collar too :D

Jules I am so very sorry to hear this

Ok I need some help... I haven't done much scent discrim work in the last several months (by much, I mean none ) as we have been focusing on different things, and as of late, have been doing some SB work. Daisy picked up SD in three or four days and has been 100% consistent on wood and metal (I lost my leather set) since then regardless of how frequently or infrequently I've been training it. We've always used the same set but I alternate the scented article every time. I thought I'd bring out the SD articles today to mix it up, they had spilled out of their box and were hidden at the very back of the cupboard Anyway I pulled them out and despite being keen D has COMPLETELY forgotten how the game works. She is grabbing anything she sees even if I only have two articles down. This has never happened to her before! Could it be that it's been so many months since we've bought them out? She's gone a long time without training them before and has never had this problem before. Could it be that the articles have a weird scent on them from being kept in the back of the cupboard? Could it be because she's been working on SB lately (our SB article is the same shape and size as the SD articles) so is confused? She has worked on SB and SD at the same time before with no issue so I really don't know what's happened to break her SD ETA: Tonight when I bought them out I started her on just two metal articles. She normally works a full set of metal and wood.

Yeah my (limited) understanding of inbreeding is that it solidifies whatever traits already exist in the lines be it good or bad.

Ice-cream? Daisy says, "what about donuts?" :laugh: