poodlefan

To me a "professional handler" is a person who is paid to handle dogs for others. In the USA its probably someone who does it full time for a living. Not sure that's possible here. I don't see it having anything to do directly with experience or wins but its unlikely you'd pay someone to handle for you if they weren't good at it.

Or a letter confirming her vaccination status.

The reason I suggested a female was to minimise any conflict with Mason. Like you though, I prefer males. I think two males can work out fine but its not where you'd start if minimising conflict was the aim.

For me it would depend entirely on who was doing the picking. ;) Howie was picked for me. I had never seen him before he arrived in his little crate at the airport.

Mason, there's one more thing you could think about. You've got some of the best obedience trainers and triallers in the country over there. Why not pay someone like Sue Hogben to help you pick a pup??? Or Ptolemy?? If you take a trainer that you're intending to train with, that would be ideal. LISTEN to what they say if they say "no, not this litter" walk away.

Join a dog training club - it will be full of "strangers" willing to help you with this AND you'll get a lot of practical assistance with training it. In the meantime, put puppy on lead when guests come. He can't jump on them if he can't reach them.

Personally I think its a bit of a myth that high drive necessarily equals hard to live with. The highest prey drive dogs I know are total couch potatoes. Its what drive you engage and how you manage the dog to satisfy that drive that matters. If the dog has stable temperament and receives adequate mental and physical stimulation, it shouldn't be a problem. Some of the highest drive dogs I know are not nightmares around the home. Personally Mason, if you are here and keen on obedience, I think you'd find it far more rewarding to get a really top quality obedience prospect and adjust your lifestyle to the dog than to put in a lot of time and effort on a lesser pup. The lesser dogs take just as much (if not more) effort to train. You have a Labrador so you know the basics of the breed. What you're talking about may be a step up in drives but not totally new to you. I would get a bitch though. Even if she's bossy, Mason will be happily hen pecked.

The issue of course is whether any dog can: * do it well * make in an enjoyable experience for both dog and handler * have the temperament to cope well in a trialling environment. * warrant the amount of time and effort the handler will put in to make it worthwhile. Those are subjective issues but I can tell you that some dogs are a lot more work and heartache than others. If you want to do competitive obedience and do it well, you can make it a hell of a lot easier for yourself as a handler with the right puppy/dog choice.

This is less and less the case. More and more dogs are sourced from proven scent detection lines - dogs specifically bred for function and commanding big prices. Customs has its own kennels. Working line English Springers are now also being brought in and bred - by NSWPOL. Given the huge training investment each dog represents, law enforcement agencies the world over are increasingly breeding and buying from proven lines, often bred by agency kennels and buying dogs for particular purposes. Wonder what the RSPCA will have to say about THAT. :rolleyes:

Very true.

Labs from show lines are quite capable of the retrieving side of things, too ;) Even rescue BYB Labs show potential. Perhaps but its the usual story - if you want a dog for the job, buy from proven lines. Customs, the AFP etc all use dogs from working lines for scent detection. They are gorgeous Labs.

Awesome!! You'll probably pick up a lot of southern NSW/ACT exhibitors too. Most Canberran's like wine!

Mason, you could always read up on the Volhard Puppy Aptitude Test and offer to test the whole litter at 7 weeks. Besides being a lot of fun, you do get to learn a fair bit about a pup's social confidence. And do go for the demon!! Howie was an absolute monster at puppy pre-school, tearing around, playing smack down with 3 boxer pups and having the time of his life. I nearly died of pride.. an outgoing, socially confident Whippet is a joy to live with and manners and self control can be taught. However, if you've not got the basics of very sound, resilient temperament AND an inate interest in people, many things become a struggle. If you are deadly serious about obedience, you could consider going for a Lab from working lines. It would also give you the option to branch out into retrieving ability tests and perhaps on to retrieving.

"NO" means nothing to a dog. It's far easier to teach a dog what you want than to teach it what you don't want. Substituting the behaviour you want for undesired behaviour works way better than "no". If you don't want him in parts of the garden, I suggest you fence them off.

The breeder should still be able to assist you with your choice. The demon of the litter isn't necessarily the pup I'd want in every breed but I'd be happy with that in a Lab.

Sounds to me like the pup returned the level of attention the new owners had shown to it - NONE. Hope they either stepped up and put some effort in or found it a better home. Somehow I doubt it. They got the dog they raised. Sad that the pup has to pay the price for it.

There are Labrador breeders who compete in obedience and plenty of Labs with titles. I would be looking for a resilient, people focussed pup with an interest in retrieving. Personally I think 6 weeks is a bit young for assessment. 7 or 8 weeks would be preferable and I'd suggest you be guided by the breeder if they have any experience in the sport.

The only reason you require is "because I only want my dog to have a C3" End of story.

this Ditto.

SC: I would do this first. It's far easier to figure out where you're setting up and sort that, then get your gear/dog sorted THEN go get your catalogue. It also means there's someone to keep an eye on your gear and dog at all times.

On concrete? Never Into water? As soon as possible!!

I wouldn't be doing that at all.

Hope you're working on going to the next Nationals though Oso.. it will be a big Otherwise, despite your farm, children and other commitments, I shall start to question your dedication as a breeder

You need a "training bag" which you can swap things out of and replenish treats from. That said, I usually look like an oversize toddler at training with a big plush toy on me somewhere. If he's done something really good, grab his best toy and rush off to the separate area for a game. He will learn to look to you to initiate that rather than doing that himself. Bolting away does work for people focussed dogs. Count your blessings he's one of those.

Of course anyone living in WA, Tasmania, the NT or remote from metro areas and specialty locations should have to haemorrhage financially to attend specialties - where they exist. Otherwise they lack "dedicaton". I find that patronising in the extreme.