MishB

My Hubby (Wharfie, hunter, redneck) baby talks both our dogs. I have video evidence of him snuggling & babbling to 2 tiny white baby bunnies that I have threatened to put on facebook :rofl:

Well done, congratulations! :clap:

I have a real issue with these comments. The dog was there before the child and as such, the dog's owner needs to do everything in her power to ensure the dog remains in the home so long as it can be done with the child's safety as a priority. The dog didn't ask for a child to be introduced to the family and we don't know what if any strategies were implemented to prepare the dog for the new baby or what has been happening in the past 16 months to push the dog to the point where it has felt the need to bite. If a dog is too dangerous to keep because it is biting children then it is extremely irresponsible to rehome this dog and hand the problem over to someone else and unless exceptional circumstances exist, probably needs to be PTS. It doesnt matter that the dog was there first,or it didnt ask for a child to be introduced! if it is biting my kids for whatever reason then it would go. Im not prepared to risk my childrens safety with a family pet simply because it was there first. I hope that the behaviourist helps, but for me the risk would always be too great. I definately wasnt intending to suggest that the OP rehome the dog to just anyone, it would have to be to someone without children who knows why the dog needs rehoming. If that is not possible then yes PTS.

I would definately be keeping the dog completely seperated from your daughter, she is only 16 months old & doesnt have the understanding of a dog growling means you stay away from it.I hope the behaviourust helps. Im sorry to sound a bit harsh but if it were me Id be rehoming the dog, my childrens safety in their own home is first priority, no matter how much I love my dogs, if they bit one of my children once they would be gone.Twice and its a no brainer.

I am trying to do a little training before breakfast ( 5 minutes) but I am not a morning person at all, so it is a struggle. I do a bit either mid morning or after lunch depending on what times I am working or doing Mum duties. Can be a bit unpredictable due to my child having special needs.Some weeks I am flat out with Doctors, therapys or school volunteering so poor dogs can get a bit neglected especially if my hubby is away.If he is away when Samuel is having a flare up then I cant walk them but they get a fair bit more playing & trick training at home these weeks.I try to walk them when the kids are at school when they are both well, or evenings when hubby is available. I feel like I should be keeping a bit of a diary about what Im training especially with my pup, Im very forgetful & it would be nice to see the progress written down but I never get round to actually doing it.He is only 19 wks, Im not sure how he is going in comparison to othr dogs his age & am curious to know. I know you shouldnt compare yourself to others though but I am still curious. My friend who is a vet reckons Im a bit anal with my dogs, & they are way better trained & mannered than pretty much all of the dogs she sees.I did remind her that most of the dogs she sees are not being trained to do competitions so a bit of pulling or not being able to stand for exam absolutely still isnt necessary, she just smiles & nods. I always tell my clients to keep a diary of their food & training, it is a proven motivational tool & is a great reference to look back on. I should take some of my own advice with my dog training hey! Interesting that a few other ppl feel like they should keep a diary too. What is the usual age of dogs going in their first obedience trials these days? I am not familiar with CCD, my previous & only trialling dog was in the 90's when we did CD & CDX. CD was quite hard I seem to remember, it took me ages to get his title. Then CDX was fairly quick after that because I was training for it while trying to pass CD. I dont know how tough judges are nowadays, I was marked down for crooked recalll sit in fronts & a bit of lagging in the off lead in CD back then. From memory Beau was probably about 2 & 1/2 when we got our CD, maybe a bit older, but it only took 4 trials to get our CDX after that.

What does COP stand for? Im not up on the shortened versions yet sorry.

Yep its bucketing down here ATM although Im NOR, but my guess would be that we will be undercover. I bought a new top yesterday(slight shopping addiction, any excuse will do) Im a PT so Lorna Jane,adidas,nike are pretty much all thats in my wardrobe except the odd girls night out type thing. So I am now the proud owner of dress pants & top, I havent felt so 'office dressed' in years lol. I am glad that ppl do generally wear flat shoes tho, I cant walk in heels at all, let alone walk a dog in them! Im thinking at this point only me & Jackson coming along(my eldest son, he's 12 & wants to show dogs himself). That way I wont need to worry about how bored hubby will be, as well as keeping an eye on my younger son (he is 9, & not that keen on the dog show thing). Obi was a little star at the handling class last night :) so Im no where near as worryed as I was after the last time when he chucked a paddy the entire time. He must have been having a crappy day cos he hasnt behaved anywhere near that horribly since. He was a silly little boy but he was happy & generally did the right thing so Im really pleased. Im a bit nervous but also excited about actually getting to finally get in the ring, it feels like Ive been waiting for ages for the day, is that weird? And Im happy to be finally meeting some of you in person. So over and out til tommorrow

OKay thanks, what time on Saturday are you getting there & how do I figure out where to set up my stuff? I was thinking I would get there about 8am so I have time to find where the ring is, put my crate up and get puppys early morning crazies out of the way, I would think I am first in the ring with a baby Brit? Do you know if it is in the undercover area or outside? I guess I will soon find out when I get there lol. 8am is a good time to get there i try get there an hour before show to allow set up and relax and i have an R breed very rarely we are at the beginning lol. when you pull in the gates there is a billboard it will have the ring numbers on it and the layout. so i might have up the top 1 2 3 which means opposite side near canteen closest to canteen ring 1 then ring 2 then ring 3 bottom of board is office side same rule applies first is closest to office and then each consecutive ring. (think i got the top and bottom bit right i haven't been to a show in ages lol) Look for your ring if lost go to office and ask they normally all to willing to point out your ring. You need to set up 2m from the ring to allow a pathway and esure there is a 1m walkway between multiple gazebos. Remember to collect numbers if they haven't been sent to you and have a great day yes i have to take one of mine on sunday my 9month old the other two are being babysat at the grandparents otherwise i am on constant watch alert :D Thx I did wonder what the billboard meant I know what you mean about being on constant watch alert with the kids too, just cant turn it off if they are there :)

Oh yes baby puppy class is so much fun :) Always good for a giggle. I understand the travelling to get there it takes me 30 mins or more depending on traffic and my hubby works away as well so with three kids it is hard :) The other brittany exhbitor if its who i am thinking it is is lovely and she will be very helpful :) Good luck on saturday and just remember to have fun :D Thx Emery, yes she is lovely. Im pretty organised now, just got to figure out what Im wearing! I think I need a new top (any excuse will do). I dont know if the hubby & kids are coming, he is home this weekend but Im not sure if I want the distraction of watching the kids at my first show? Have to think about that, trying to keep it as low key as I can. First show is probably nerve wracking for most people I would think.

OKay thanks, what time on Saturday are you getting there & how do I figure out where to set up my stuff? I was thinking I would get there about 8am so I have time to find where the ring is, put my crate up and get puppys early morning crazies out of the way, I would think I am first in the ring with a baby Brit? Do you know if it is in the undercover area or outside? I guess I will soon find out when I get there lol.

Sheena, Id love to live on a bit of acreage, I grew up on a farm. How good is your OH? thats fantastic. :) Mine did get us a hydrobath when I was pregnant with our first child (we had 2 GSD's & he said it would make it easier for me to wash them in the hydrobath).

:laugh: I never get that far down the page anyway. I am now wondering though, I never actually 'sign out' so am I here all the time?

Im interested to find out what kind of routine you have for training your dog/s.This is mainly for the people who are bringing up new dogs, or currently competing. Do you do any training before you feed breakfast if you are giving them breaky? Do you do a session at the park? on a walk? do you do training on a regular basis eg once daily? more than once daily? a few times a week? Do you work on one or two things only during a session, or more? do you keep working on the same behavior until you are happy with the standard you are getting eg repeat the same exercise for a few sessions in a row to perfect it, or move on to something different? How long on average does a session last? How do you keep track of what you are teaching? Does anyone keep an actual diary of what they do, do you have a mental plan? how far in advance have you thought your plans out? What goals do you have in mind when training? Are they super specific like getting the perfect retrieve/ flip finish or whatever? Or a broader goal? How old is the dog you are training & the level they are at? Im curious about how differently everyone trains or doesnt train.

Interesting poll! I try not to but its a hard habit to break.

My pup is a Brittany, so we are in the gun dog ring. Im entered in the Gun Dog Show on Saturday. I have met the only other Brittany exhibitor already & I have arranged to sit with her, but thank you so much for your offer, thats so nice :) It sounds like the baby puppy class can be quite entertaining at times, I was at the agility today for a look, a lovely lady said as long as he didnt bite the judge in the ring we'd be all good. He was a perfect little angel down there this afternoon, he is so unpredictable at the moment! So different to my older dog when he was a pup, he went through the usual forget everything at 7/8 mths but didnt have all this moodiness that I remember. I have gone done to Jenn (Wolfproud) for 2 handling classes so far, she is lovely. She does them on Thurs nights at the cawa too, during school term is a bit difficult to get there tho, its a 40-45 min drive & kids need to be in bed a bit earlier. I get there when my hubby is home, he works away a fair bit, so its a juggling act.I will go along to as many as I can, I have learnt heaps already. I am able to get to her class again this week and Im doing short fun trainng sessions with him like suggested, so we will get there eventually. My eldest son has seen that there are childrens handling classes and wants to do them he told me today too!So after I learn, I guess I will be going with him lol

but that would have been an interesting breeding... :p You can actually abort an unwanted litter. Why have dogs like this, undesexed and on heat, running round together. It sounds extremely irresponsible to me, from the dogs' point of view. Why would you be breeding this sort of crossbreed deliberately in the first place? Why is my biggest question, why breed these crossbreeds, why not be more careful and obviously if the parents have attacked another dog(s) this is not an owner that is responsible in any way. Actually, that is a really good point. I agree completely!

Surely you're not seriously suggesting this dog should never be let off leash outside its property because one of its parents has been involved in some sort of attack??? What do you know of the socialisation and training if the parents? What do you know of the socialisation/training of the dog in question? I didnt take Greytmates comments to mean that Rocksteady should NEVER be off lead outside his property, I took it to mean that he shouldnt be just let out of the property without being under his owners direct control. Rocksteady sounds like he is a sweetheart. However,simply because of his sheer physical size and strength has the ability to do a lot of damage if not under her control.Even during a play he could cause damage if not settled back down to a more acceptable state by his owner.It could happen in the blink of an eye, and is what it is. I know there are exceptions to every rule, but bully type breeds are more likely to dog aggression.Same as greyhounds are more likely to chase, kelpies to herd etc.If it were my dog I wouldnt let him out if I wasnt in control of him regardless of what his mother has done.

:rofl:

Im in my first show next w/end, pup will be 18 wks old. I need a bit of general advice on a couple of things. We have been able to get to 2 show handling classes, first time he was great, let the lady touch him, trotted around, & Iwas even able to stack him for a short time. The second week complete opposite he wouldnt let her anywhere near him, did not want to be touched at all, no idea why as she was gentle the previous week. He seems to have developed a dislike of being touched anywhere near his head, & I know that he hasnt been mishadled by anyone so hoping its teething and a stage he is going though. He was also dreadful to lead ( I used a soft martingale the first wk, changed to a slip collar & lead all in one the second wk cos I found the martingale difficult) he refused to move, then tryed to run off, then decided that he wanted to bark at the other dogs, then didnt want to know me at all which is really unusual for him, he is so attentive to me usually. I have gone back to the soft martingale now which has seemed to fix the refusal to walk with me at all, he didnt like the other lead obviously! I am doing a lot of hand feeding him now too, and click treating for letting me near his face. Hoping this helps. Hopefully the judges will be understanding of our lack of manners for a while, is it better to go in more Open shows while he is little, a bit of a brat & Im so new to this? Because he wont be up for any points will the judge perhaps cut me a bit more slack, I dont want to get berated by a judge at a Championship show for him not being better behaved, or is there not a lot of difference? Also is it a generally done thing to send a SSAE when I send my entry forms in even if its not stated in the shows details?

Thanks, I am definately going to enter as many shows as I can get to because I could definately use the experience. We have been able to get to 2 show handling classes, first time he was great, let the lady touch him, trotted around, & Iwas even able to stack him for a short time. The second week complete opposite he wouldnt let her anywhere near him, did not want to be touched at all, no idea why as she was gentle the previous week. He seems to have developed a dislike of being touched anywhere near his head, & I know that he hasnt been mishadled by anyone so hoping its teething and a stage he is going though. He was also dreadful to lead ( I used a soft martingale the first wk, changed to a slip collar & lead all in one the second wk cos I found the martingale difficult) he refused to move, then tryed to run off, then decided that he wanted to bark at the other dogs, then didnt want to know me at all which is really unusual for him, he is so attentive to me usually. I have gone back to the soft martingale now which has seemed to fix the refusal to walk with me at all, he didnt like the other lead obviously! I am doing a lot of hand feeding him now too, and click treating for letting me near his face. Hoping this helps. Hopefully the judges will be understanding of our lack of manners for a while, is it better to go in more Open shows while he is little, a bit of a brat & Im so new to this? Because he wont be up for any points will the judge perhaps cut me a bit more slack, I dont want to get berated by a judge at a Championship show for him not being better behaved, or is there not a lot of difference?

I don't think I've ever seen a brown pug? And anyway I would have thought that a pug being a pug is fairly obvious? (to me anyway)They are rather unique! I assume by brown they mean fawn ;) But know you, you get those "experts" who have seen one pug in their life and therefor know everything about them! Just sitting in Melbourne outside a supermarket for 10 minutes one morning, waiting for my OH to come out, I had 3 different people ask me what she was crossed with, and one refused to believe me when I said she wasn't a cross, she was pure. She is so sweet. I know this is silly but everytime I see a pug I half expect it to talk!! (the result of watching Men in Black movies one too many times)

Best welcome home eva

Hi, Im brand new to showing. I have my first show coming up on 5th May, my pup will be 20 wks old (5mths). I have been to a couple of show handling classes and all is going well. He is a very excited & happy puppy and loves everything and everyone. I am wondering though how often should I show him before he is 6mths? I know he is not eligible for points until he is 6 mths, hence my question, but how well behaved is he expected to be at that age? Should I be getting in now & getting experience or do the judges still expect a bit of inexperience when they are in minor? Im going through my diary at the moment and wondering if I should be entering more or not worry too much about it? I will have only done 2 shows when he gets to minor puppy class, is it worth me entering only championship shows or entering open shows as well? What would the more experienced show peeps recommend for a newbie? I dont want him getting 'over' the showring but I also want to learn as much as I can I would also like to add that as a completely new person to dog showing, that the advice & offers of help I have had already by everyone so far has been fantastic!! You are a very welcoming bunch so thanks :D

Woo hoo go the long coats!!! I wish I could be there, lots of pics please!!!

Gosh, that sounds awful,Id hate to have ppl being able to waltz into my yard!Thank god my shepherd is very good when it comes to that sort of thing, although he would quite happily welcome any of the local kids in but never any adult without my okay. I agree with showdog on this one, I hope it all works out for you