BeagleBoys2

Yeah, it has some good info.

After having Beagles for so many years it has been a real treat having Quinn our GSP pup. Since being introduced into the wide world of dog sport...we have met a lot of interesting people and groups. Having fallen in with retrieving enthusiasts we started looking at retrieving breeds. This is when Quinn became a member of our family. Before a show I have to remember to check her feet as they are often muddy from afternoons in the field just being a GSP. She's a bit silly out on the obedience paddock but she's only 7 months old. But gee for someone nearly 6 feet tall it's really nice having a tall dog to train for once. She's amazing and heaps of fun!

Clicker training is fantastic for one-on-one work. When you get into a class environment it can be confusing for other clicker trained dogs. So for this reason club's do not use the clicker in class. My dogs get some clicker training at home but we attend a dog club for awhole other pile of purposes. Where are you from?

I agree!

It's pretty simple. If your brother is not willing to put in the training and the dog has been an outside dog... Well the answer to me is obviously put it outside when they no longer wish to keep an eye on the dog. That's a training tool in itself.

FANTASTIC! When I lost Bailey I was devasted and had a strong feeling that my work with Beagles in the obedience world wasn't finished. It is my hope to dispell the myth that they are disobedient clowns. So the more Beagles competing and competing well out there the better!! I don't have any videos of a full run out but my dog club did a training video and there are a few clips of one of one of my Beagles working. I'll see what I can do. Unfortunately, our current oldest Beagle, Potter trials only if he must. I don't trust his performance so I don't work with him anymore...my husband does. But I am currently working with Nuevo who I hope will be my rising star in the ring. He's 20 months old and nearly there. I've attached a pic of Nuevo on lead in the show ring. The lead is rather tight in that shot but he works well on a loose lead. Talk about getting great stand for exam experience...the show ring has been fantastic in that regards! Nuevo's recall always gets a laugh because he generally throws in a little leap along the way which is so cute. At one trial, with Bailey, I had a judge nearly miss telling me to do the drop in the drop on recall exercise. She apologised afterwards and explained she was just so mesmerized by his movement and the ears. :D

I've trained all of my dogs through a club. With dogs that are a breed of an independant nature the club environment has been a huge value adding experience in their training. The focus I am seeing with my youngest Beagle is the best I have achieved yet! He should be a lot of fun in the trialling ring shortly. I've missed the trialling experience since the loss of my Bailey. Of course being a more experienced handler than the everyday Joe at a club he started his training at 8 weeks of age. The bulk of training as every good handler will tell you is done away from any formal obedience class. It's important to get that one-on-one training to create the necessary bond to see achievements. And I've learnt that you need to take advice from everyone and store it for that rainy day when you may need to put it into use...no two things work the same way with every dog you may have. The ring run out sessions are a MUST. At my club we help new trial members to improve their ring etiquette and judges have commented on it. I also now have a younger pup going through Class 1. The instructors are doing a good job stressing getting exercises right. My current instructor continually explains to the class the reason he is teaching something a certain way. Should anyone decide down the track that they want to trial they are already to standard and do not need to re-train their dogs. The club also encourages the instructor to break up the classes and allow the dogs to have breaks. This allows handlers time to have a bit of a play or pat. Plus by being a member of a club you have the opportunity to volunteer at trials. I think being in the ring with a judge and hearing their comments and seeing first hand the competition is all valuable experience. I know for me nerve wise getting to know so many judges has help minimise the nerves in the ring. As we all know failures at trial are generally handler related and the old nerve factor plays the huges part.

Why do I compete? Well I have been competing with Beagles for 6 years now. I remember when I first started getting into obedience and agility. People would make comments like, "Oh a Beagle!" or "I'd rather train a zebra than a Beagle." The second comment being my all time favorite. Anyway, those comments spurred me into proving a point. A Beagle like any other breed can succeed at anything with a bit of committment and understanding of the breed. After reaching Open Obedience with my first trialling Beagle the comments changed. All of a sudden I "didn't know how lucky I was to have a food motivated dog". Imagine that! Because my dog could be trained using food motivation I was lucky...of course has nothing to do with the work I put into my dogs and the fun we have together. In short, I compete to raise the ideals of the merry little hound, the Beagle. To raise the bar of expectation. But the trophies and the sashes are really nice too! (I type that as I gaze at the full trophy cabinet next to my desk) HAPPY TRIALLING!!! :D

My very first obedience trialling dog was Bailey, an amazing Beagle. I made a lot of mistakes with him and he forgave me for every single one of them. He entered his first obedience trial at 3 years of age under the old rules. Trust me doing heeling on lead, followed by heeling off lead was incredibly boring for a Beagle. But bless him he got his Sweepstakes after a number of attempts and got his CD Title quickly. Open he found incredibly fun and enjoyed the dumbell and jumping. Of course at this stage he also had titles in Agility and Jumpers. Unfortunately before getting all his legs in Open he was diagnosed with cancer and we lost him way too early. In our hearts he will always be our Open Dog. So I am now training Beagle number 3...he doesn't realise it but he has huge paws to fill...great things are expected of him. :D