poodlefan

I do roadwork with the Whippet and the poodles. Come winter, when the snakes have gone to bed, it will be back to bush bashing up and down hills. I'm fitter than I used to be.. I no longer go pale and clammy if the judge sends us round for a third or fourth lap.

Handled my first Dachie (Standard Smooth) yesterday.. that was "different".

I think you're wrong there Idigadog.. as far as Peta is concerned these dogs are being "exploited".

I think there have been a couple of Aussie mushers do it with other people's dogs. Of course if PETA has their way, the race will be banned.

And good on you for being prepared to step and say it. There is no need to be embarrassed about having a dog with a few control issues. If you are committed to doing something about them, my guess is that you'll be feeling a lot better about walking her quite quickly. Perhaps a private trainer can help you on the road. Its you and Lola that need to work on this if you are going to be the one walking her. A trainer can also meet Lola and recommend and fit any harness or collar. You'll get much better advice than from a pet shop. Few petshop staff know the first thing about dogs or dog training.

I think you need to start thinking about this from the dog's point of view Alison. One of the reasons she "mucks up" is that she doesn't appear to have had much training and she doesn't get enough exercise. Those are two issues that you can start to remedy today.

_________ I try to walk her as often as I can. Lately, she goes for walks on Saturday and Sunday. We take her to the beach on the weekend which normally tires her out for a day or two. So she's only walked twice a week? Frankly Alison, I think that's a fair bit of your problem right there. She's a cross of breeds bred to RUN for kilometres day after day. She needs to be walked every day.. for at least an hour. You'll be amazed how a dog will calm down when a walk becomes part of their daily routine. You need to get into a routine of long daily walks. She'd be nearly jumping out of her skin with over excitement if she only gets weekend ones.

Don't SAY no.. make her work for it. She can learn that she only gets what she wants if she works for it.. and that she only gets it when you say so. She is a gundog.. they live to put things in their mouths. That could be channelled constructively into retrieving if you wanted to try obedience or gundog working tests.

Does Lola get walked every day? If so, for how long?

_____________________________- Thank you! We tried a halti yesterday, major fail. We got to our corner and had to turn back because she ripped through it. My partner was walking Lola, and he said that she wasn't pulling but you could tell it was freaking her out! She was up on her back two legs, and trying to get the halti off of her face. I will have a look around for a harness that prevents pulling. Thank you for your advice. Alison, a no-pull harness won't help you with Lola's reaction to other dogs and she will learn to pull on it if you don't know how to use it properly. I agree with the other posters that both you and she would benefit from attending some training classes.

I'm devastated BMB hasn't asked me to handle a Hav. Perhaps its because I beat her one time. A dog trailer.. you lucky thing!

It might be intimidating/threatening to the dog? I suppose handlers can always stop a little further back. Or maybe judges know it will give you a dodgy back.

I think its safe to say that I'm benefitting as much from roadwork with Howie as he is.

What a fantastic result - I bet there's one breeder who's a very happy lady today!

Ah, but to be REALLY successful in the conformation ring there is a LOT of training/effort which goes into getting those wins. There is a partnership between the dog & handler and it's evident outside the show ring which handlers/dogs have "it" and which don't. Yes, the judge is in control of who wins, but it's not just a stroll around the ring. You must be aware of so many things and what you can do as a handler to bring out the best in your dog. It's beautiful to watch a skilled handler/dog team in the show ring. It's extremely painful to watch one that hasn't practiced or just thought they would run around the ring together because that's all they thought conformation was. When I first came to showing from obedience/agility, I looked at the classes and thought "how hard can that be"? I know now! The improvements in my handling are all down to more experienced handlers taking the time to give me tips and lessons.. and constructive critiques from my fellow exhibitors watching ringside. I had a judge tell me yesterday (not the one in my ring) that my dog and my handling had come a long way in 12 months. Just goes to show that people are watching and evaluating, even when they aren't actually judging you. I think to be really REALLY successful, there's also a lot of effort in physically conditioning the dog so that it can move as well as its conformation allows.

We had our family poodle on a check chain when we started training her, she completely shut down and to this day is unwilling to do anything. I'd rather have poor timing on a reward than a punishment. I see people jerking their dogs around for no reason all of the time, the dog doesn't understand why they are constantly being punished. Very sad to see That's not the fault of the training method, but the fault of the handlers using a method that they don't understand how to use properly. Which is why many clubs prefer reward based training for pet handlers. The consequences of not getting it right aren't as severe for the dog. There's a very good reason why you're starting to see different kinds of breeds go well in trialling.. there's a wider range of training methods out there and some suit some breeds/dogs/handlers better than others.

I personally think dogs benefit from raw meaty bones in their diet - whether they have a raw or a processed one. I'd be adding some chicken wings as a substitute meal. Perhaps at least 1 meal in three. You could vary the RMBs too. I think chewing bones is important for mental as well as physical wellbeing. I'm not a fan of all kibble diets.

Do they make one big enough for Pointers? I also have a fold up cargo trolley that does a great job on gazebos and crates.

Corrective action is NOT always necessary and will cause some lower drive dogs to totally shut down. No one method will be successful for all dogs. You need a few tools in your tool box for this and most other training challenges. Do you disagree that the concept Nekhbet suggested won't work in the OP's situation???. Personally I think it will with adjustment to suit the requirements as I mentioned. Naturally the corrective force would be differently applied to the OP's dogs than it would be from the same misbehaviour from a working line GSD or Belgian Malinios which a good trainer will easily determine the necessary level of correction required. Given that I've not met the dogs and don't know the owner, I recommended reward based training rather than correction. It seems to be working. The biggest issue I've seen with a lot of handlers is that their timing is off - they can't get the reward in the right place to show the dog what they want. If the issue is the handler's skill, rather than "disobedience", then why should the dog suffer for that? I've seen "chronic pullers" walking on a loose lead very quickly once they understand that the loose lead profits them. I'm not "anti-aversive" but I don't think it needs to be the first tool you dust off, particularly with some hounds who will mentally pack up and go home if you apply them. Try jerking a Whippet around on a lead - with some dogs, what you'll end up with is a dog that refuses to move at all.

It's a great method of muscle building. Hills are good too. I've had 90kg of dog food (won by various friends) in my show trolley and a motivated Golden Retriever hitched to the front (following his owner) as supplementatry propulsion before. I'm not sure I'd try repeating that with any trolley other than a Ccrates one.

Longcoat: Corrective action is NOT always necessary and will cause some lower drive dogs to totally shut down. No one method will be successful for all dogs. You need a few tools in your tool box for this and most other training challenges.

Depends on how much junk you put in them but mine's never been bogged.

Congratulations!

I can recall reading an article featuring a professional taxidermist in Dogs Life many years ago. He strongly discouraged pet owners from having their dogs done - said in his experience too many live to regret it. No matter how good a job is done, it's still a stuffed dog. Pets deserve a more dignified end than ending up in the garage when the novelty wears off IMO.

Sounds like we're going to have a decent Hound entry. I think there's at least a dozen Whippets