blithespirit

Whoops, sorry, I'm too used to posting on Melbourne-specific forums! I'm in Elwood, which is inner south Melbourne. Cheers, blithe

Hello all, I'm hoping you can offer me some advice as I am finding the notion of my first dog show very intimidating. My obedience trainer mentioned that there are classes you can take which help you and your dog learn what you'll need to do (standing for inspection, walking on lead, etc). I wondered if anyone here could recommend such a class? Prefer south of the city as I'm in inner south Melbourne (Elwood), but I expect I'll need to travel a bit. My golden retriever is now nearly 11 months old. He's the first dog I've owned and trained myself - my parents used to show their dogs but I was a kid and wasn't involved in any of the hard work! I have been doing obedience classes with him, but they are just focused on normal behaviour rather than show behaviour. Would appreciate being pointed towards some classes aimed at showing your dog. Thanks, blithe

Hello, I'm bringing home my new golden retriever puppy in 2 weeks. I am planning on crate training him, and I decided to buy a travel crate to suit his adult size (as recommended elsewhere on these forums, I'll block off the back half of the crate while he's little to keep it an appropriate size for him). I'd like to buy a crate which is suitable for air travel as well, because I'm planning to fly home for Christmas with my dog. I hoped that someone familiar with goldens can advise me on what size crate they use for flying their adult goldens. Thanks in advance. blithe

Thanks for all the responses everyone. I am looking at breaking my lease early so I can get a place with a courtyard or yard. I'll also be sharing with a friend who's studying so hopefully the pup will have company for at least part of the day while I'm at work. I think this will be a much better situation for the pup.

Hello DOLers, I am doing some research into getting a new pup. This is something I've been looking forward to for a long time, and I want to do it right. This is a lifetime companion I'm talking about. I live in an apartment and work during the day. I exercise each morning and when I have a dog my plan is to walk/play with the dog before work, and again when I get home. However I know that particularly for a pup, being left alone for 8 hours a day is a lot, and will take some getting used to. I have friends who have a happy and well adjusted Staffy who is left during the day, and they said when they adopted him as a puppy, they were advised to go straight back to work on the Monday, so he got used to their routine right away. I'm not sure how practical this is - I don't want to traumatise the pup, and I don't see how she could go with out a toilet break for 8 hours! Can anyone share what breeds they've succcessfully reared this way? ie what age they got the pup, how they trained it to be alone during the day, etc? I am leaning towards a cocker spaniel (One day when I have a place with a big yard I hope to also get a retriever). But if you have any advice on other breeds which might be better suited, please say. If it's just not possible to leave her for a full work day, I'd also look at getting a dog walker to visit during the day. When my lease runs out next year I also want to move to somewhere with a yard so the pup can be outside during the day. Thanks in advance for any advice or stories you can share. blithe