poodlefan

So you want to buy a puppy? How does a person actually go about buying an ANKC registered purebred pup? It would be great if it were as simple as going to the puppies available section here on DOL and buying the closest available pup but sadly it ain’t. The right dog, takes time and effort and knowledge to find. A pup also takes time, effort and knowledge to raise. I'd like to start this thread to help people determine what breeds to look at and what breeders to source from. Here are some thoughts, to which I hope people add. 1. Which breed for me? We all have ideas about the kind of dogs we like and much of that attraction will be based on looks. However to buy a family pet that will live longer than many relationships last, you need to do your homework about two things; what are you intending to do with your family pet and what sort of dog will best suit your situation. Issues like yard space, where the dog will live, how much exercise and grooming you're prepared to do and what training you intend to give the dog (all dogs need some) should be discussed and established as your first point of reference. BE HONEST with yourself about this. Don't be aspirational. If you're a couch potato and you're thinking about an active working breed because it might encourage you to exercise then its probable that things aren't going to go well. If you can walk for 2 hours every day for two months without a dog though, you might start to think about that. Have a look at a few general breed books, browse the breed pages here or visit a dog show and you may see breeds you'd not considered before. Once you have a short list the homework begins. Hit the internet and research breed history, temperament and health issues. Look at breed club and breeder websites for more info. Buy a breed specific book or two or join a breed forum online to ask questions. Ask them in the Breeds 101 threads here too. Talk to a breed club contact person and research what its like to live with that dog. Understanding what a breed was developed to do can often be a useful guide to what one will be like to live with. Once you've got a breed picked then its on to step two. 2. Where do I find the right pup? Open the Trading Post and you'll see pages of ads for "pure bred" dogs available right now. This is not the place you'll have a high degree of luck finding the right breeder though. You are looking for someone experienced in the breed who takes great care raising puppies and most importantly who carefully screens and health tests their breeding dogs. Often word of mouth is a good way to find a breeder. Find someone who has a nice dog in the breed you're interested in ask where it came from. You can look up breeders in links to club breed websites (they often maintain a register of who has litters available or expected) 3. Finding the Right Breeder Many knowledgeable dog folk will tell you that finding the right breeder is just as important as finding the right breed for you. Talking to breeders can be a bit intimidating but once you understand that they are evaluating homes for puppies its easier to understand why they want to know so much. Once you are ready to start the puppy search you should arm yourself with a check list. Some breeders prefer the phone to email so that's worth asking about before asking too many questions. I'd suggest the following questions as a minimum 1. Are you an ANKC registered breeder? Do not buy from anyone else. These breeders are required for conform to a code of ethics. 2. Do you show your dogs? Not every breeder does but if they don’t its worth finding out why not. In popular breeds here, the listings are full of breeders who don't seem to do much more than mate purebred to purebred. Their dogs have no conformation or performance titles. I'd suggest that you would do well to find a breeder who exhibits or trials their dogs or one that has dogs out there being handled by others. There's more to a good dog than titles but committed breeders tend to do something with their dogs other than just breeding them. 3. What health tests to you have done on your breeding dogs? If you've done your homework on breed health issues, you'll have an expectation of what should be tested. Don't fall for the "not in my lines" response. Responsible breeders health test. Don't take verbal assurances as gospel - ask to see results. 4. Do you temperament test your puppies? Good breeders spend a lot of time evaluating litters. The more they know about their puppies, the better the chance they'll pick one to suit you. 5. What terms do you sell your puppies on? You should be aware of the difference between Main and Limited Register, any desexing terms and conditions relating to return of the pup or dog if you cannot keep it. Any health guarantee given should be read carefully for what's included and what isn't. 6. What comes in your puppy pack? Many breeders provide an information pack with their pups that includes feeding instructions and other advice designed to help you settle a pup into a new home. Some will also provide ongoing support to owners and take back dogs they have bred that require rehoming. These are all evidence of a breeder's commitment to their dogs. 7. When are you expecting to have pups available. You may have to wait for pups. Good breeders don't have pups available 365 days of the year. A pup from the right breeder is worth waiting for. However breeders that don't have pups due often know others who might. Expect a good breeder to ask just as many questions of you as you have of them. They'll want to know about the homes they send their pups to and to be comfortable that those homes are knowledgeable and committed enough to raise pups well. If you have intentions to show or trial a dog, then you should definitely let the breeder know. As a general rule, a breeder whose dogs have a proven record in what you want to do is the way to go. Statements you 'd probably should think carefully about before you say them: 1. 'I want to pick my own pup '. Good breeders spend 8 weeks evaluating their pups. Many will prefer to select pups for families rather than let people pick for themselves. 2. 'I only want a brown girl ' Good breeders understand that we have colour preferences but know that temperament is more important in matching pups with new homes. Similarly good breeders are happy to take a preference but will ask about why a particular gender is required. 3. 'I want to breed '. This will ring alarm bells for a good breeder. They know how much time and effort is required to breed responsibly. If you are asked about being willing to show and co-own dogs or breeders don't want to sell you a breeding dog, don't be offended. I hope people find this useful.

Yes I believe that's a common expectation but not a fair one. All dogs should have manners. I think "small dog syndrome" can often be fear aggression. No, it's not alright that dogs are put in positions where they behave aggressively, regardless of the situation. The onus should be on OWNERS to prevent such situations and to protect their dogs if necessary. Aggression, regardless of its cause is something that needs to be addressed, not explained away. Who says they're not allowed to react? They shouldn't have to tolerate aggression from any dog. However, when was the last time you saw a large breed dog confronted by another dog that weighed more than 10 times what it did? No dog should be forced to defend itself but the frequency that larger breeds feel the need to may be less than for small dogs. I personally believe that if every dog owner took responsibity for the control and safety of their dogs, we'd have a lot fewer of the "small dog vs big dog" threads we see here. They're all dogs and sometimes people need to remember that.

Don't cook it. You'll destroy some important protein enzymes by doing so. If the mince contains bone you shouldn't cook it anyway. Why not just feed a better quality dry food and lots of raw meaty bones? Chicken frames would be great for your larger dogs and wings for the little guy You need to ensure that you new pup gets a well balanced diet. I'd suggest a premium kibble and raw meaty bones. You have no way of ensuring that home cooked food contains the right balance of calcium and phosphorus for a growing dog.. and that balance is contained in RMBs and in premium food. Talk to your pup's breeder about what they feed their show dogs - you should probably feed something similar.

Natural colouring You probably could have sold them for a bomb!

Just out of interest, how common (or uncommon) is the fox red shade of the yellow Labs?

Stop hoping and start taking responsibiliity for the accidents. If she goes in the house its because you've not done enough to get her out when she needs to go. You need to understand that if she goes inside its YOUR fault, not hers. Every time she goes inside it reinforces the message that its OK to do it. You've got one of the smartest breeds going and she WILL do the right thing once she understands what's expected of her. Its up to you to teach her. What's depressing is the possiblity that she'll end up an outside dog through no fault of her own. :p

Not for agility at my dog club.

I'd suggest puppy on lead and cats free or behind the baby gates. A caged cat cannot escape and may be more stressed/reactive. Most baby gates are easy to open and close. .your partner need not have to climb over them.

Ignore the warning Corvus.. I'm sure you will. But if you allow Kivi to mouth small dogs that are running, it may end in tears.. possibly yours.

A dog freaked out and frightened by being mouthed.. and you want the owner to "hold it still". Crikey.. you're dead lucky you've not had a dangerous dog report made out on him. Kivi will experience the end of someone's boot one of these days or be DD declared if you don't train a better recall Corvus. He clearly has good bite inhibition but that's simply not good enough. He'd certainly get my boot in his ribs if he ever put his mouth on any dog near me. Frankly if one of my dogs did that to another, it would most certainly be "corrected" for it and hard. It wouldn't be off leash and allowed to get into that situation again either. You might want to consider a muzzle while you resolve the recall issue. The fact that this appears not to have been an isolated incident concerns me more than a little. Anyhoo.... I think your average (read not professional dog trainer) person probably needs to spend far less time on the theory of dog training and more on the practical, myself included. All you really need to know surely is that behaviours you reward will increase in frequency and behaviours you "correct" will decrease. No amount of understanding of the theory makes for a good trainer or a trained dog. I know people who wouldn't know one side of the quadrant from the other who train well because they simply do what works. They don't overthink it. In the end, I don't care how well you can explain anyone's theory of anything.. I do care about the sort of manners your dog has and the level of control you have over it. Your dog certainly doesn't care either. Tricks? Who cares? As I've said in other threads (and Tassie has in this one) it's dead easy to stay rewards based when their are no consequences for failure to comply. When dogs lives are at stake (as in stock chasing, car chasing, unreliable recalls) then you need to do what works. When those unwanted behaviours are self rewarding to the dog, then you need to figure out how to discourage them.. and that usually means aversives. The proof of a good trainer is on four legs, not an opinion on a dog forum. That's how I judge handlers and its most definitely how I'd find a professional.

You should take her to where you want her to go in the longer term. She's allowed to get distracted. Its what puppies do. You have to stay out there longer until she eliminates and praise like crazy when she does. That's for as long as it takes. Yes, pups have tiny bladders. She won't learn anything except how to soil a crate unless she's taken out regularly, frequently and always after waking, eating, drinking or play. That takes a lot of supervison and hard work initially. Get it right straight away and the worst will be over in about two weeks. Get it wrong and you'll have another outside dog. I recommend you read this link carefully Errorless Toilet Training If you succeed in training this puppy, then you could try again with your older dog. He'll at least have better bladder control.

My pleasure. I don't have an active agility dog at the moment (three retired, one too young) so I have to content myself with stewarding. Amazing how easy all those courses are to walk if you don't have to run them afterwards.

The drop at the bottom of the A-Frame is a "four [as in paws] on the floor".. people will train it if they think stopping "two on [back paws] two off" is too hard a stop for the dog. Because they teach the dog to do it right at the bottom of the A-Frame, that ensures the dog travels through the contact zone to get to that position. The reason a stop on a contact is taught is to make sure the dog gets the contact reliably. Whilst it can be handy for the handler to position themselves while the dog is stationary, all stops cost time. This is why some handlers prefer running contacts. Most handlers will train the dog to work ahead and away so that they don't need to "catch up" with the dog. Dogs are faster than we are anyway!!

Handlers use different strategies for getting contacts on equipment. Some train their dogs to stop in the contact (you'll hear expressions like "two on, two off" and "four on the floor" for foot placements) and some use a "running contact" where the dog keeps going. Some will train the stop independent of any handler cues, some use a verbal cue or body language to assist and some don't train anything and just hope for the best.. Lots of different ways to the same end.. some more effective than others!

My vets advice is that if the baby teeth are still there a week after the adult teeth have erupted, the baby teeth should be pulled. Retained baby canines are pretty common in smaller dogs.

Yep, Goretex is the go.. I've got a jacket and one of these days I'll get pants too.

If you're going to feed raw, make sure most of his meat is fed on the bone. Chicken necks and wings are a good size for pups. He needs the calcium from bone to grow properly.

Hehehe Bubby does that and all he gets for it is a ratbag puppy who gets away with murder and sits on his head! Bub the day will probably come when Bub decides he's had enough of that. The licence adult dogs grant to pups doesn't last forever. When he roars at the puppy, don't panic and don't tell him off for it ... he'll just be using a balanced training approach.

Are you saying that you've started a thread to ask a question that no matter what answers are given you won't take them on board anyway? You sound surprised Erny.

Well then Corvus, this is shaping up to be yet another pointless thread where people will express a bunch of views in response to your question and you'll hold to your original viewpoint. Where's that "futile" emoticon? Until you've actually trained your dogs to do something other than be manageable pets though, your view is based on quite limited experience. Bear that in mind when you evaluate the views of others. If you never actually needed your dog to behave reliably on cue, you can stay in the reward quadrant. Why? Because there are no consequences for you or the dog for non-performance. Personally I think you need to broaden your views of "correction". Your dog uses them, even if you can't see it.

Ingrained stock or wildlife chasing. Try being more interesting than a fleeing rabbit. Corvus, I'll ask you the question I ask anyone who wants to discuss training theory.. what complex sequences of behaviour have you actually trained your dogs to do? Is there any occasion when you need those behaviours to be performed reliably? Kivi is not human and isn't trying to train any dog to perform complex sequences of behaviour. Even so, disengaging and walking away is negative reinforcement, even if you don't recognise it as such. It's "game over" and you'll see many an agility handler do exactly the same thing when their dog ignores their cues and does equipment without being asked to. You don't need to use aggression to be using a balanced approach to training. There are far more sublte ways to discourage a dog from doing something than flogging it, screaming at it or stringing it up. There is no place for temper tantrums in dog training regardless of what quadrant you're using.

I agree. I think most self-styled positive trainers don't consider voice corrections corrections. Which is a problem. I had to be hit over the head with it to get it myself. However, I doubt most people describing themselves as balanced call themselves balanced because they say "UH UH". "Balanced" is not code for a positive trainer who doesn't realise they're being negative. Yep, few trainers are "purely positive" even if they describe themselves that way. Corvus, I don't know why you feel the need to have people convince you about this. It would be far easier to convince yourself. Take up a dog sport. The test of any training is in the results. I am of the view that shaping and rewarding behaviour can only take you so far. Why not test the theory yourself. I'm a mostly positive trainer but I do believe that appropriate corrections or non-rewards have their place in training. That does not mean I condone abuse in any form.

Not all corrections need to be physical though Anita - the voice is a very effective training tool be it for encouragement or correction. It's very hard for the average handler to effectively physically correct a dog that's not within arms reach. Ask any agility trainer. "No reward" is also not a physical correction but is definitely negative reinforcement.

I'm not a breeder but IMO environment does play a part in what a dog's genetic potential achieves. Overfeeding and over exercising are practices simply begging for a pup to have skeletal issues. Most Lab pups I see are way too fat. I know of a Golden Retriever whose owners failed to follow the breeders guide and let their pup play all day every day with their young Border Collie. Result was OCD - vet said most definitely bone stress induced.

Simply put, because a balanced trainer has more tools in their tool box and because dogs learn faster with a balanced approach. There are some dog behaviours that IMO can simply not be modified by a purely positive approach. You will never get the best out of others with a more corrective approach. Handlers of all dogs deserve to have access to a trainer that can help them, not throw their hands in the air and tell them to simply 'manage' the behaviour. And lastly because dogs themselves use a 'balance' of responses to communicate with one another. Using what dogs use, it stands to reason they should understand us better.