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Performance Puppy


Vickie
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Oh and just for the record my non-retriever thinks that she can only heel looking at where the DB will be thrown if I do a ROF and heel forward to get her ready. If I am only doing the heelwork before a recall though she heels looking up at me. So plenty of other cues that they use :rainbowbridge: . She is a wee bit DB focused but at least has the courtesy to wait until she is released before going to collect it LOL.

Edited by ness
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For those of you who have trained more than one dog for competition, what things are on your "TO DO" list with your puppies to prepare them for training?

Some of the things I want (in no particular order):

to not lick! :rainbowbridge:

to not steal food from the bench! :rainbowbridge:

Think Trim and Shine failed this requirement. :rainbowbridge:

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From my current litter on the ground (3 weeks old tomorrow) I have an enquiry for a performance puppy. :laugh:

As a breeder, what should I look for to ensure that I send the right puppy to the buyer?

At this point my greatest idea is to play 'chase the ball down the hallway' and see who's the most interested and who wants to keep going and going. :shhh:

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From my current litter on the ground (3 weeks old tomorrow) I have an enquiry for a performance puppy. :laugh:

As a breeder, what should I look for to ensure that I send the right puppy to the buyer?

At this point my greatest idea is to play 'chase the ball down the hallway' and see who's the most interested and who wants to keep going and going. :shhh:

For a dog to be really active and compete sound/balanced conformation is a good start. There are a few tenprament tests out there, I am sure poodlefan has links. I would say a combination of sound struture and mind will make a good pup.

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From my current litter on the ground (3 weeks old tomorrow) I have an enquiry for a performance puppy. :laugh:

As a breeder, what should I look for to ensure that I send the right puppy to the buyer?

At this point my greatest idea is to play 'chase the ball down the hallway' and see who's the most interested and who wants to keep going and going. :shhh:

The best advice I've heard (just over the past weekend, actually) was to select a dog that doesn't just have good drive but good nerve. Take the puppies out on their own and play with them in an area they've never been before (neighbours yard, waiting room at the vets if you're paying a visit etc) and see which pups play the best in a new environment. If a puppy who was keen to play in the yard but shut down and couldn't cope being in a new environment, I'd rule it out as a potential performance dog.

Edited by huski
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From my current litter on the ground (3 weeks old tomorrow) I have an enquiry for a performance puppy. :laugh:

As a breeder, what should I look for to ensure that I send the right puppy to the buyer?

At this point my greatest idea is to play 'chase the ball down the hallway' and see who's the most interested and who wants to keep going and going. :shhh:

That's only part of it though, does the pup bring it back? Run away with it and refuse to give it back? I would want a puppy that brings it back readily (though I have retrievers so may be a different reaction in a toy breed) but generally would want a pup that wants to be with me, bounces back from loud noises and is willing to give anything a go as well as the usual sound body/mind stuff.

fast & reliable recall ( to the hand presented, not in front)

tug on command, release on command

to accept food as well as toys as a reward

to be able to call my puppy off playing with another dog to play with me

for my puppy to find playing with me more fun than plating with another dog

to become operant early on

to be happy in a crate

to associate a word (ready) with focus & fun

to be able to handle my puppy all over, including collar

to put maximum effort into everything

to learn positions, ie sit down etc from my side as well as in front

to make activities rewarding enough that they can be handled by anyone

to perform activities in different environments

body awareness

My "to do" list is similar and I am currently training my puppy these things, as well as driving back to me with a retrieved ball for either a tug or treat and getting her used to me holding her in a starting position and getting her focussed and wanting to drive forward for the ball when I say go, as in Ready, Set Go! :laugh:

I also want them to not only be happy in a crate but quiet as well.

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I something like this might be helpful paptacular ( from http://www.volhard.com/pages/pat.php ) They have a scoring table on the website.

Here are the ground rules for performing the test:

• The testing is done in a location unfamiliar to the puppies. This does not mean they have to taken away from home. A 10-foot square area is perfectly adequate, such as a room in the house where the puppies have not been.

• The puppies are tested one at a time.

• There are no other dogs or people, except the scorer and the tester, in the testing area

• The puppies do not know the tester.

• The scorer is a disinterested third party and not the person interested in selling you a puppy.

• The scorer is unobtrusive and positions him or herself so he or she can observe the puppies’ responses without having to move.

• The puppies are tested before they are fed.

• The puppies are tested when they are at their liveliest.

• Do not try to test a puppy that is not feeling well.

• Puppies should not be tested the day of or the day after being vaccinated.

• Only the first response counts!

Top Dog Tips: During the test, watch the puppy’s tail. It will make a difference in the scoring whether the tail is up or down.

The tests are simple to perform and anyone with some common sense can do them. You can, however, elicit the help of someone who has tested puppies before and knows what they are doing.

1. Social attraction - the owner or caretaker of the puppies places it in the test area about four feet from the tester and then leaves the test area. The tester kneels down and coaxes the puppy to come to him or her by encouragingly and gently clapping hands and calling. The tester must coax the puppy in the opposite direction from where it entered the test area. Hint: Lean backward, sitting on your heels instead of leaning forward toward the puppy. Keep your hands close to your body encouraging the puppy to come to you instead of trying to reach for the puppy.

2. Following - the tester stands up and slowly walks away encouraging the puppy to follow. Hint: Make sure the puppy sees you walk away and get the puppy to focus on you by lightly clapping your hands and using verbal encouragement to get the puppy to follow you. Do not lean over the puppy.

3. Restraint - the tester crouches down and gently rolls the puppy on its back and holds it on its back for 30 seconds. Hint: Hold the puppy down without applying too much pressure. The object is not to keep it on its back but to test its response to being placed in that position.

4. Social Dominance - let the puppy stand up or sit and gently stroke it from the head to the back while you crouch beside it. See if it will lick your face, an indication of a forgiving nature. Continue stroking until you see a behavior you can score. Hint: When you crouch next to the puppy avoid leaning or hovering over the puppy. Have the puppy at your side with both of you facing in the same direction.

Top Dog Tips: During testing maintain a positive, upbeat and friendly attitude toward the puppies. Try to get each puppy to interact with you to bring out the best in him or her. Make the test a pleasant experience for the puppy.

5. Elevation Dominance - the tester cradles the puppy with both hands, supporting the puppy under its chest and gently lifts it two feet off the ground and holds it there for 30 seconds.

6. Retrieving - the tester crouches beside the puppy and attracts its attention with a crumpled up piece of paper. When the puppy shows some interest, the tester throws the paper no more than four feet in front of the puppy encouraging it to retrieve the paper.

7. Touch Sensitivity - the tester locates the webbing of one the puppy’s front paws and presses it lightly between his index finger and thumb. The tester gradually increases pressure while counting to ten and stops when the puppy pulls away or shows signs of discomfort.

8. Sound Sensitivity - the puppy is placed in the center of the testing area and an assistant stationed at the perimeter makes a sharp noise, such as banging a metal spoon on the bottom of a metal pan.

9. Sight Sensitivity - the puppy is placed in the center of the testing area. The tester ties a string around a bath towel and jerks it across the floor, two feet away from the puppy.

10. Stability - an umbrella is opened about five feet from the puppy and gently placed on the ground.

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Ralleyvalley I think i must take you with to choose my next puppy :shhh: I got lucky, I chose Mas as he loved retrieving and bringing things to me and to this day he still loves retrieving. He is also very submissive, the breeder did something to him and then said to me this one will be submissive and he is. I had a very dominant dog before and I would not want one again - interestingly she would never ever lick a human or another dog and I believe this is a sign of very dominant behaviour. My next pup I will make sure likes to lick!!

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I was just going to concentrate on obedience, try and get at least CDX and CD and then switch over to agility.

Is there going to be any problem with this? Should I be training her for agility as well now?

she is a bright spark but now I'm getting confused and worried :shhh:

I sort of had the same plan as you onsntillnflash, but a little different. I only decided to try agility when my dog was 15 months, so we didn't do any puppy agility foundation type training, only obedience school. The year I decided to start agility was the year we started obedience trialling. I was scared into thinking that by doing agility, I'd muck up all her obedience work (which was false, she is a total different dog in the different sports), and should wait until she had at least a CD title before starting agility. So I believed it and waited.

Now I look back on it, all I see is time wasted that could have been spent doing agility!! So with my next puppy, I'll start training with both sports in mind :laugh:

So if I was you, I wouldn't worry about getting a CD and CDX first... there's nothing wrong with doing both sports at the same time :laugh:

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Ralleyvalley I think i must take you with to choose my next puppy :shhh: I got lucky, I chose Mas as he loved retrieving and bringing things to me and to this day he still loves retrieving. He is also very submissive, the breeder did something to him and then said to me this one will be submissive and he is. I had a very dominant dog before and I would not want one again - interestingly she would never ever lick a human or another dog and I believe this is a sign of very dominant behaviour. My next pup I will make sure likes to lick!!

The breeder should run the test and let you know :laugh: When ST has a litter I am helping with the temprament testing so I have been reading up on this stuff :laugh:

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I would look for a dog that likes to run with me, enjoys being close to me, is confident in lots of situations, loves to play, likes to chase a ball.

No sign of nervousness or anxiety - you can train with an anxious dog (I have one) but it is harder.

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