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Military Working Dog Puppy Program


gsdog2
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There's one lady there with her 19th foster - that's dedication :)

Gawd! I was going to say that I thought the TV presenter & husband were up to their 8th foster. But I thought....that sounds a lot, maybe my memory is playing tricks on me! It's only a trickle compared with 19 !!!!!!!!! :)

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I have the highest repect for those who put the time into those dogs, And most of all their breeding, I believe personally sheps are becoming so rounded on their back' you look at old army photos, those dogs dog have their hips half off the ground unless there are in the stance, dogs these days just always curve. and they are for the most part daintier. JUST MY OPINION :o But give me a well proportioned shep that actually has some power in his back legs.

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You've done a brilliant job and now there's 2 ways he could go, the school may train him or one of the boys or girls on the base may take him as an extra while their out doing there jobs (so they'll train there own dogs and then train the pup). If he passes or fails it has nothing to do with how you trained him (from the sounds of it you did a brilliant job), some pups are just suited to the job and others aren't. Thankyou for making my Hubby's life easier, have some fun, dip your feet in again. Another program people might be interested in is puppy play a friend of mine doesn't own her own dog, but she goes out to the base and does this and it's exactly what it sound like. Puppy play and a bit of puppy walking.

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You've done a brilliant job and now there's 2 ways he could go, the school may train him or one of the boys or girls on the base may take him as an extra while their out doing there jobs (so they'll train there own dogs and then train the pup). If he passes or fails it has nothing to do with how you trained him (from the sounds of it you did a brilliant job), some pups are just suited to the job and others aren't. Thankyou for making my Hubby's life easier, have some fun, dip your feet in again. Another program people might be interested in is puppy play a friend of mine doesn't own her own dog, but she goes out to the base and does this and it's exactly what it sound like. Puppy play and a bit of puppy walking.

Wow, thank you so much :o . My ultimate wish is that he ends up with a great handler and that they make a great team - that's my wish anyway :) . He has done well at the monthly visits and everyone seemed happy with his progress so I'm taking that as a good sign and as Clyde said I'll just keep my fingers crossed that he graduates

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Here's an article from the Qld Times, last March, showing Rhino, a 15 week old pup at the Amberley air base, just prior to going to a foster-home. Great pic of Rhino, posed in front of a Hornet jet. Seems he also had a pile of siblings, all names starting with 'R'.

http://www.qt.com.au/story/2011/03/08/meet-rhino-the-new-raaf-recruit/

Looks a lot like my foster - he was the 'U' litter

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If he doesn't graduate (which I'm sure he will :) ) are you given the option to adopt him?

I'm not really sure SK - I'm in two minds as to whether I would want to adopt him as I've not trained him in the same way I would if he was mine. If I did take him on there's a fair bit of work to be done and I have other breeds in mind if I were to get a working line ;)

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I have really enjoyed this thread. I miss that the RAAF dog training was moved from Regents Park in Sydney to Amberley. When the RAAF trained their dogs at Regents Park I used to go out weekly to see the dogs and watch training, and learn a lot.

I am suprised though that people dodn't realise showline shepherds actually need the same about of walking as workinglines. My 2 year old girl gets approximately 10 k's a day minimum as well as all her show and obedience training.

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What a great thread to read!

gsdog2 it's really such an amazing thing that you did, I think it takes a strong and caring person to be able to foster a puppy and care for him, and then to give him back. Even though knowing he quite possibly has an exciting time ahead, I would be a blubbering mess at the end. I think there are definitely special people who are made to do these kinds of things (Like the lady onto their 19th foster.. wow! Certainly dedication).

Look forward to hearing if the little man graduates! I'm sure he'll pass with flying colours! :)

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That's right fh, showline shepherds need to be walked as well, but I've never walked such a young dog the distances I've walked my foster.

Thank you so much minimiss :) - I hope I've inspired others to give fostering MWD puppies a go. Everything lined up for me and it was the right time to give MWD fostering a try ie. we live on over an acre of land, my youngest is now 20yrs and we have our own business so I can work around the pup. I lost my male shepherd earlier this year so having 3 dogs is nothing new and my other two dogs are reasonably easy-going so I was fairly sure there wouldn't be any issues there either.

I should add I have a VERY understanding OH who has put fencing around the no-go area's AND left his car outside :eek: the garage to give more room for the pup and his bed ..................... and my OH loves his car!!!!!

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Good thread.

Looks like you did a great job. I love the darker working GSDs.

If the dog doesn't graduate, it won't be your fault, that largely comes down to genetics (and given that the dog was bred from working lines, the genes are probably as good as you'll get from a probability POV).

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His colouring is similar to a Malinois but I was told he's a German Shepherd and I have no doubt he's a pure Shepherd. I've seen their Mal's and there's no mistaking the difference. A lot of the shepherds I saw were really quite big (which surprised me) - I had thought if they like the speed and agility of the Mals they wouldn't want the BIG shepherds, but believe me some of the shepherds were large!

Having said that, I must admit when walking around the kennels I found it a little difficult to tell the difference between the Mal's and some of the younger and therefore smaller shepherds as there colouring and size/build was almost the same.

post-10374-0-24556900-1322479962_thumb.jpg

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gsdog2 - thankyou so much for your reply. Yes, actually silly of me to think they cross-breed. I can see now he must just be a 'darker' and perhaps more lean (though that's a good attribute in a large dog) variety of GSD, the type I assume they select for as MWDs. What a beautiful dog!!!

Well done on his fantastic upbringing... :thumbsup:

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No, not silly at all - when I took him to the local markets I heard a dad telling his son that I was walking a Malinois (so you're not the only one to see the likeness :) )

He was definately lean but as he was such a fit/active boy there was never a risk that he'd be carrying too much weight (even with the amount I was feeding him) when I returned him.

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  • 2 months later...

Spoke to the RAAF Liaison Officer today to find out how Uno's progressing. At this stage he's doing really well :cheer: ....... although apparently they'll be doing a lot more work with his litter over the next 5-6 weeks. He suggested I ring again (end of April) and he'll give me another update.

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