OSoSwift

I would be very proud. I have seen more than one Beagle on "Nose Drive" and it is as if their ears have fallen off! The most important consequence of training is not how well you do in the ring or how many passes you get. It is have a dog obeying a command in an instant and saving a life.

Agreed that more information is required? Sorry for the loss of your dog.

I got lots of good stuff with Rommi! I sent her crate up by courier to be flown back. I put in a fleece baby wrap so her and her mum, littermates could sleep on it and then have it put in the crate. She came with a 1.5kg bag of the dry food she was having, a toy that she particularly liked as a baby - I still have it, but she doesn't play with it any more or it would be very dead! Her info book had lots of stuff, a copy of her pedigree (they were being changed into my name so had the copy from the breeder)her normal daily routine, her feeding routine, a puppy data sheet including date/time of birth, wight, any notes or worming vaccination done up until she came to us, info on crate training, house training, and many other things. What the breeder recommended for flea, heartworm and worming products, a worming tablet and when it was due. Discount vouchers for the vet the breeder used - which I couldn't use, but those closer would have had some great deals. ETA all the food and the book were sent in the crate, wrapped in waterproof stuff under the bedding. The crate was a reasonable size so there was heaps of room left still. Nothing was distrubed, she was happily laying on her blanket ontop of her slightly thicker mattress! Even though initially I wasn't going to have Rommi I was going to have a baby from a subsequant litter- I had been in contact with the breeder for a while, I had some photos of the babies from birth up until she came to me, I had the opportunity to have Rommi at around six weeks of age, so had lots of individual photos from then. What other things would I have liked?????????? Well anything is good Maybe a collar would be a nice touch, but really what I got was everything I needed. I think a toy the litter have been playing with is a good idea, something that looks and smells familiar. I had all the info I needed for the future, breeder was an email or phone call away - and still is I email her often!- So anything else I needed I needed to get myself, eg bedding, food/water bowls, collar/lead, a gazzilion toys!

I have seen dogs with broken teeth from bones, but usually from beef femur bones. Usually the softer ones are okay. I feed chicken carcasses, lamb flaps, necks etc for this reason. I don't brush my dogs teeth, but you can get very easy to use three sided brushes so they brush all sides of their teeth at once. You do need to do it religiously every day to make sure you keep ontop of any plaque on the teeth. My old Stafford has some missing incisors from having a terrible bite, but has all his other teeth so can't he;p you there either. Good luck. Maybe just try sticking with softer bones and not using the shanks to see how they go. Hopefully you get enough of a clean from the softer bones.

I finally managed to get a bag of turkey necks, dogs thought they were very yummy. But a turkey neck then lamb flaps the next day had the little Whippy looking a little porky, so she was on small dinners for a few days!

Thats great, congratulations!

So sorry for your loss of your handsome Fraser. Taken too soon, run free young one with your friends. My Angel will help you when you get there. Hugs to you and your family.

FranCQ, Try not to stress. We did our class one graduation on Saturday afternoon. Rommi is very very good as a general rule, but as we had missed the first graduation due to her season, I was hoping she would pass. Even though she did go a little blode a couple of times and forget her automatic sits, and there was some irresistable smeels eminating from the football oval kitchen over the other side causing her to miss some about turns she did very well. Her recall was spot on and her stays were very good even when another dog moved and tried to jump on her head! It didn't get to, but it was leaping around a lot! Anyway not only did she pass, but she won the class - not at all what I was expecting. Remember they are in class one, the examiner will not expect trial standard obedience. Oh and a stiff alcoholic beverage of your choice may not go astray either. Seeing I don't drink anymore means I didn't, but I have had a stiff vodka before! Goodluck, I am sure he will be great.

Aww he looks like he was having a great time All the best from all of us, I haven't read his whole story, but if determination, love and will power would make him better, than he would be be cured. Good luck and I hope he continues going well.

I did both with my Dobe. She was trained in both from the start. Angel ended up with her champion title - including a Best In Show, a month after her highest in Trial at The Darwin Royal, which she gained around two months after her ET title. My attitude was why not - dogs are smart, we can have it all! I used different leads in the show ring compared with obedience, used different commands, moved differently myself and wore different clothes. Lots and lots of cues for a doggy to work from! Good luck with your new endeavours and I am sure you will both have a great time and love it.

Thanks Rubystar. I thought that may have been the case. I think that I will train for that and leave the dumbell for Open

It has been a little while since I trialled in Novice(well trialled full stop really) and when I did we trialled under the "old" rules. In novice now you can have a retrieve of the dumbell on the flat or a change of position. I know what the change of position was in UD, but all I can find in the new rules is that there is one. What I would like to know is.. Is it always the same - ie drop from a stand for example, or one change from a position you choose to a position you choose? Sorry if it is in the new rules somewhere and I haven't seen it.

When you are stopping and you want them to sit are they on the concrete or bitumen foot path? Think about how boney a Whippets legs are, Rommi will sit on surfaces like that, but she certainly doesn't like it, she only does it as she does as I ask. Also as the others have said, think about walk v's training. I am sure you train on grass and walk on a hard footpath. Some people believe if the get their dog to stop and sit at each crossing if it ever gets free then that is what it will do. But unfortunately that is not the case. As for automatic sits, as you are stopping, not once you have stopped, ask them to sit - when they do highly re-inforce. If they offer a stand or down, ignore, heel off and present them with another opportunity to get it right, if they do, highly reinforce. Over time it becomes second nature. If they are not offering the automatic sit much at all then do lots of short sessions of sit only's until they start to offer the sit when you stop. Once the automatic sit becomes second nature then ask for the other things, again as you are stopping, not once you have stopped.

That is great. Good effort and now you are reaping the rewards. What a brave little boy you have as well, those ears are just down right sore. Well done

Vet definately, She may have a small but deep cut that has lacerated a blood vessel. Good luck

Slap her round to make her listen????? No one slaps beautiful gentle Charlotte around Maybe LucyCharize should have said well hold still for a minute whilst I practice on you! - Some people defy logic! Yep my dog is really going to work after I have beaten it around - not - poor Rommi would just die!

Honestly it is very hard to say, especially now I'm so used to the hair LOL! Our guys are groomed once a fortnight (if we have a show if not its once a month) and hair gets blown out with the dryer and I have also started using and old school stripping brush that seems to get alot of the hair out. Even with all that they still loose hair just not as much as some. Would be more hair lose than a whippet but far less than a husky LOL! Thank you for your reply! I am a little worried I might have base ball sized fluff bunnies running around the floor like My British Shorthair cat likes to leave behind! I never notice Rommi's hair, if I get some on my clothes I attack her with a zoom groom outside in the sun. I have never noticed her hair on the floor. The good thing is a fawn pug's hair ia about the same colour as my tiles, and I have a leather lounge so no concerns there. We are planning to try and visit some breeders soon so as to get a better idea, oh and to get snorted at and sneezed on as well!

Whoops! That is too funny Yeah it is, especially if you're not the one pretending to be the victim! It's just frustration, and I'm hoping she'll stop doing it when she fully understands that it's way more fun to come back and collect me & take me to the victim for the tug game, than to attempt to satisfy her drive by chomping on the victim himself. We're getting there slowly. In the meantime, I have to ask my long-suffering training partners to do their best to ignore the enthusiastic malligator puppy chomping on their legs when they get "found". That is very funny - Norty Malligator!!!!!!

But training with food doesn't produce reliable service I know - must have been a fluke me thinks - she was also doing most of the exercises for UD but had to retire due to Spinal Spondylosis. ALso all done with me as a very NOVICE trainer who had never done the exercises before and was self taught. Definately a fluke!

Not sure about Huski, But my dogs end up working for the period of time a trial requires for one treat. If you get the treats away from your body, the dog is used to working for a period of time then being released for their treat which may be sitting many metres away, on the edge of the training area for example, or in the back of the car. I have successfully trained my dog to CDX using treat based training.

Okay - the Pug fits everything my hubby likes in a dog (we have researched a few, but always come back to the Pug) He likes Braccy breeds, like a solidly built dog, smaller, fun loving, medium exercise, inside lounge hog etc - except the coat. That is the only thing that is of concern - Just how bad would a Pug be if it was washed say fortnightly and brushed with a Zoom groom every second day/weekly etc?

I have training pants specifically for training. Then if the pockets gets ikky I am not worried. They are yoga type pants in darkish colours with pockets

Tell the nasty lady to bugger off! Well done one your first trials. Okay so you didn't pass, but hey neither did I in my first ever trial either. Looking back my dog should bever have been entered. I also fail to see how your dog laying flat would be an excuse for her dog to get up. Fooey to her. I think that maybe she thinks that anything her dog messes up will always be someone elses fault! We did a stay in a mock trial yesterday and the dog next to mind decided to get up and was about a step away from her as he wanted to play, he got grabbed in time, she was reminded to stay - good proofing I think. If my dog was pounced on or menaced by another dog then yeh I would get cranky, as anyone would have the right too, but I have seen people try and convince the judge that a dog moving up to 5 dogs away was the reason for their dog failing. Training I say! Good luck The 4th of October sounds great, something to train towards, and I am sure you will both improve greatly as you know what you need to do now.

Totally agree Huski. I know my dog doesn't like an ahah in a growly voice. It did however stop her from running after a cow and potentially getting killed. I know what I would prefer.

I do not like to use adversives either. But life sometimes is about getting growled at and not everything going your way. My puppies get handled from day dot, yes they may wiggle and carry on a bit- never had one actually try to bite or growl though-and I wait them out. as soon as they are still or quiet they get a reward - well actually 2 or 3 really. A pat, voice and a treat. Then I do it again and again and again, until I, for example, bring out the nail clippers sit cross legged on the floor and get a very enthusiastic Whippet slide into my lap and put her feet in the air for a manicure. Yes I guess it could been seen I use an adversive as I do not let go of the puppy until it is calm. It has always worked and I have never been bitten or growled at yet. Sometimes I think people over analyse too much and get too caught up in the must only use positive training methods as any for of negativity is awful and nasty - nope it's life. I most certainly do not advocate abusing a dog, but a growl at them or hold them until still at times is appropriate.