The Spotted Devil

I bought it too... but didn't buy the puppy :D If Miss Emily keeps up her high pitched bark whilst in her crate I might send her over as an added bonus! My goodness, but she is funny. Mr TSD tells me I have a short memory and Zig went through a bad patch too.....he's so beautifully behaved now I forget what a Spotted Devil he really was

I've just been shaping hand touches with pup - I think I'm going to die of cute overload Watching the "cogs turn" at such a young age is so amazing! She has just discovered her VOICE (:D) - crating has resulted in a few (HUGE and LOUD) tantrums over the last few days so she has redeemed herself ETA: Tiggy, you and I clearly bought the same book (free shipping) from Clean Run!

BB - is this not organised through the breed clubs? Otherwise I might be able to make it.

Ziggy did demos with this toy at the last pet expo. He had so much fun with it the stand completely sold out - someone even bought the one Zig was using so he didn't get to take one home

Poor Shine indeed :rolleyes: Please pass on Ziggy's condolences as he is going through a similar thing with Miss Emily at the moment....although he has never shown such an interest in toys and sticks before :D What a sweet little dog she is! And looks like a great match for your Chloe too - well deserved for both parties, I'd suggest

I don't think Dalmatians are traditionally seen as 'obedience' dogs.......having a working line pup in the house makes me appreciate the challenges of training a Dally but I hope he has made me a better trainer. Once you work out what makes them tick, they are eminently suited to agility They can be athletic and fast. You just have to work on the focus!

Oh how I love Beagles :p

Tiggy - he's just lovely I've decided that puppies and blank slates are THE BEST learning curve and THE BEST fun

Do you shape/clicker train with her huski? Not sure what's caused it but that's how I'd fix it

My puppy's crate is beside my bed. Older dog's crate is at the foot of the bed. Several cats on the bed at night plus humans so pup is never lonely. She has a toilet break at around 6am before she makes a sound (cats are fed too) and then back into her crate. We all go back to sleep I still haven't seen the Dalmatian yet - he loves sleep ins. I can hear pup playing quietly with her toy so will say good morning very shortly. I had my Dally in the laundry as a pup and he coped very well (it was nice and warm and practical for us) but this is so much easier. Always make sure pup is tired BUT had some calm down time (I have a cuddle with her and no more wrestling the older dog), then she gets a treat to go to bed with. Ignore all barking - they are very funny and will protest loudly before completely passing out. We just laugh quietly and remember "This too shall pass"

Wow - that's impressive! Zig would have given me a look of derision and gone home I suspect

Thanks for the responses thus far - really interesting Even more interesting when the bitches aren't living together!

Do you think it can be trained relatively well with a drivey food driven dog AD? Or does the dog really need to be toy/prey driven? Definitely food here! Or the other option, for ease of use is to use a food pouch tug toy - helps drive the dog forward and they still get the food reward.

Vickie, perhaps a little of human psychology too? You only run as fast you need to run to win (if that's what you're aiming for - not all of us are) so you're only as good as your competition.....make sense? Do you think there are more agility only competitors internationally? That would affect training methods too.

Damn - wish I'd known!!!

She's a doll - why did you not introduce yourself??? ETA (again!): I suppose at the end of the day I feel VERY responsible for the experiences my pup/dog/kitten/cat has - in the past I have let things go that make me feel uncomfortable (in terms of handling or allowing other dogs to monster Zig) and I am now determined not to let something happen that I'm not happy about it. Otherwise I have no one to blame but myself for not having the guts to speak up.

Fair enough JulesP - just not my experience or, perhaps, my perception. Personally I still don't like the idea of pass the puppy (and yes everyone was sitting down). ETA: I don't have a problem with socialising puppies but I also think it should be done once the pups have had a chance to absorb their new surroundings, rather than first thing. At the end of the day, puppy class is probably just not for me.

Another here who's not a fan of "pass the puppy" in a puppy class full of unknowns . A couple of other people who take my puppy class when I'm away at a trial or something, will do it, but to me it goes against my idea that the foundation of training is the relationship between handler and dog. (Of course, I will in the right setting, hand the puppy off to trusted and savvy friends, so that they do get used to being handled by someone else - but not in a random puppy class.) I thought that went out with the Dark Ages, Tassie! I ended up chatting with a long time breeder of Working GRs at the session and I asked her to restrain Em gently so I could practice a recall - after meeting her I trusted she knew what she was doing! wuffles - my concern is that there is a lot of non dog savvy people in the average puppy class (not to mention a lot of kids!) - easy for a puppy to be dropped, frightened, corrected inappropriately in the blink of an eye. Observing how other owners handled their own puppies made my mind up. Miss E. was quite overwhelmed initially so a free-for-all socialisation session was the last thing she needed. So I didn't think the instructors wanting to stuff her face full of food when she just wanted to observe quietly was going to help at all! I picked her up as I was fed up and the looks of derision I received were priceless My role is to know my dog and to protect her. In fact, by the end of the session she was making 'play bows' at the bouncy (and gorgeous ) Vizla puppy next to us so we let them meet on lead - much more positive experience for her.

No, I don't have another 100 at home. Yes, they are very intelligent. Generally more so than the owner. Which is why they can be difficult to train No, I didn't get one just because they are cute puppies.

Speaking of allowing others to handle your dogs.....last night I took Emily to puppy school - mainly as an opportunity to practice focus under distraction and see how she responded in an unfamiliar situation. Imagine my surprise when they not only wanted to have a puppy free-for-all "socialisation" but wanted to play "pass the puppy" I politely declined and did my own thing.

When my Dally was a puppy I bought him a Snooza D1000 bed - stopped him in his tracks Not particularly cheap but still going strong 4 years later and he snuggles in with a big blanket. The day before my new pup came home I bought her one too. She has an old rug to snuggle up on and I make sure she is well and truly tired and winding down by the time she goes to bed so bed time = sleep time. In her 'day crate' where she naps, there is lots of lovely newspaper to shred as well as another blanket. She also has 2 special toys that she only gets when in her crates so they get a lot of attention

I'm so sorry Kirty I have no doubt it was one of the most difficult decisions you've ever had to make but you know that I support you in it. You did the right thing - she had every chance at life and it just wasn't to be. Run free lovely girl - may you find peace at last.

Ziggy's first night at home... Chunky puppy And the pup who started poor poodlemum's addiction.....Miss Emily

I get the sense from reading a bit in here that there appears to be a familial link with regards to bitches in season i.e. how young they first come in, how often they come in, the pattern of their season etc. Mothers and daughters and grandmothers seem to follow a bit of a trend. Is that the experience of breeders? I ask mostly out of curiosity and interest. It's something I have discussed with the breeder of our baby bitch puppy too as I don't want to spay her until she is physically mature (because of dog sports). I am ultra cautious as I really, really, really don't want want a litter of Springmatians and my Dally will remain entire. I may consider putting him on the implant for 12 months just to guard against it. Thanks in advance

I can do a fairly decent lead out with Ruby, but I've been told by my instructor that she runs faster if I am running with her, so not to do too much of a lead out with her. I think I'm the one who needs the fitness training to do this, though! ;) Goes for a lot of us! In my limited experience, running with them certainly does build speed and I did it for about 12 months even though Zig is rock solid on a lead out. Now I lead out and he is like a coiled spring and I need the lead out just to keep up with the bugger ETA: Interesting to hear the different judge responses on setting the dog up. In the cases I mentioned previously the judges specifically said they didn't want the dog positioned physically by the handler even before they said they were "ready". Probably differs state to state and from judge to judge.