Lablover Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 I have been wondering as I read some threads. Those who bought puppies with a particular interest in mind, apart from: (1) learning how to train for the end "dream" result (2) choosing a good breeder? have you found your dog suitable to your requirements, from a training succes point of view. Health/injury can muddy the waters, so I will simplify and keep to this subject. Does your dog have sound nerves and good drive? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lablover Posted September 6, 2006 Author Share Posted September 6, 2006 Another question: Would you buy another breed the next time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lab and poodle Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 Another question:Would you buy another breed the next time? Answering both. We got our first dog together a lab as a pet and occasional hunting companion. He is a high drive dog, (Prey, fight remarkbly for a lab ,and Pack) and it took me ages to learn how to use it. Which is why I got involved with dog training in the first place.Structually, he leaves something to be desired.He couldn't meet his ability becuase of his structure. Dam. Quite hyper for a lab. We will be buying another lab some time, I have things to do with a Lab. I will be looking for lines that have tons of energy and drive and good structure. I have only seen a handful of dogs that get close in Victoria. We could well move in the wrong circles though, as I would think they would be in rural circles. I could not imagine having a low energy dog ever again. Our little poodle is very very good. For a poodle she has strong prey drive and that is pretty strong. (Poodles were originally hunting dogs)She is very fast,confident and elegant. Nothing seems to spook her. She is very well bonded to me. Structually she is very sound and strong and has a lovely face. She is very smart and has very good duration between rewards already. She is a good tracker. Our next dog will be a Standard poodle (size difference to avoid the perpetual status jostling). We have an eye on the sire but you know how things go. if she doesn't get right to the top, it won't be her fault.(jeez that makes my life hard!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsD Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 (edited) I have been wondering as I read some threads. Those who bought puppies with a particular interest in mind, apart from: (1) learning how to train for the end "dream" result (2) choosing a good breeder? have you found your dog suitable to your requirements, from a training succes point of view. Health/injury can muddy the waters, so I will simplify and keep to this subject. Does your dog have sound nerves and good drive? First 3 dogs were GSDs, 1st one was when I got interested in Obedience (after I got him) , then got the second a couple of years later specifically to trial. Quite a bit of a break before I got our 3rd which is the one we have now (Ebony). Unfortunately I got sick & couldnt train her as actively as I would have liked. She certainly has strong nerves & has strong prey drive (if trying to chase chooks is any indication ) but she has had little play as a puppy to bring it out ie she wont chase a ball or a toy etc. From the small amount of training I have given her (hubby is training her now), yes she is suitable to requirements, but nowhere near as "switched on" if you like, as my first GSD (don't think any dog will ever live up to him for me ). Jonty is turning out to be very good training-wise, he has a strong prey drive &, for a Sheltie, very good nerves. I specifically chose a small breed as I can no longer handle a large dog easily, however he is nowhere near as "hyper" as any of my shepherds have been & I find that I need to use different training methods. I definitely like hyper dogs, working dogs suit me very well. As for your other question, would I buy another GSD? No, because I keep comparing them to my first boy & none even come close. Would I buy another Sheltie? Possibly, but I think Im going to have a similar prolem with shelties as I have had with GSDs - I doubt any future ones will stack up against the one I have now. So the answer has to be a maybe for now ;) . Edited September 6, 2006 by MrsD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J... Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 Did I get what suited my requirements? Yes absolutely - so far. Still only a young dog really, we will see how she goes when it comes to competition age for agility (18 months). But she's keen and quick to learn so far. Sound nerves and good drive? Well there's not much that scares her - very accepting of new situations. If she does get a fright she will investigate. Good drive? She's not bad - would do much better if I went 110% on drive training. But I'm reasonaly happy with her drive. She works well for agility and obedience. Would I get the same breed? Well given she's a xbred, kelpie x lab, probably not. Would probably look at pure kelpie for speed in agility, plus drive. Will be quite a while off yet - Darcy still has a lot to teach me before I get a higher drive dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 Once I get my puppy, I'll let you know, LL. ;) ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayreovi Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 With Nova, no, i knew before i got a Toller that they were a challenge to train, but he is ridiculous. He has taken years to train to just start competiting so im wishing never to go down that route again. Nova is intelligent and this is where he has become a pain lol Darcy however is extremely easy to train and is what i wanted in temprement from the start. However to be fair on Nova he is the most out going dog, has great nerves and has good drives, Darcy has weaker nerves and isnt exactly happy to be fawned over by strangers like Nova likes to be (though Tollers are supposed to be reserved with strangers) Too be honest i probably am not Novas ideal owner because he is such a full on dog but i do do my best. With Darcy i do believe that he really suits me. Another question:Would you buy another breed the next time? I am already planning on what bloodlines i want my foundation bitch to have, so im not going to plan to buy another breed at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clover Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 I have been wondering as I read some threads. Those who bought puppies with a particular interest in mind, apart from: (1) learning how to train for the end "dream" result (2) choosing a good breeder? have you found your dog suitable to your requirements, from a training succes point of view. Health/injury can muddy the waters, so I will simplify and keep to this subject. Does your dog have sound nerves and good drive? I am going to answer for Elvis (working bred Border Collie) as he was bought into my life as a sporting dog (Companion aswell). Has he lived up to my expectations? well yes and no.. He has high drive and willingness to learn and "work". But if something scares him he shuts down, so i would class him as weak nerved. His sister can handle almost everthing but lacks drive ... if we could just combine the two i'd be right . Would i get a dog of the same breed again? Most definitely, but all will be rescues from now so i pretty much know what i will be getting with and adults, with pups i am happy to try my luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FHRP Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 Interesting questions I must state first that my dogs are purchased as pets first and formost and the breeds/dogs I choose I must be able to live with as well as compete with. OK. When I purchased my second Vizsla I definitely had agility in mind. I selected from a 'proven dam', having previously produced good agility, obedience and tracking dogs. For the sport I had in mind I can not complain one bit in the result I got with the pup I got. He has exceeded my expectations in this area. However, as I have ventured into retrieving, he is certainly not a pup I would have chosen for that sport. I don't believe he has the nerves or drive for the sport, but he sure is teaching me heaps! As for structure, he has faults which point to him being unsuitable for agility, but it has not slowed him down one bit, or seemed to have caused injury. I guess I may see some effects in the future, but as I don't trial him heavily and he is regularly chiro'd etc. I hope these are minimal, if at all. Would I buy the same breed next time? Well, I have a pup of a different breed on order, so this next time, no! But, I'm still not going to a retriever breed ;) I'm sticking with the utility gundogs ;) Would I buy the same breed again?? Most definitely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoBella Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 Excellent question lablover. I have two GSPs as pets, Bella nearly three and Bruno 6 months. Bella is soft - takes time to get her used to new things (except for people). She is more than I expected from a dog (she was my first ever dog). She has a very high prey drive which Steve has been teaching me to drive! She also has a high pack drive. Bella was so wonderful by the time she was two, I ordered another pup from the same breeder. Bruno has very sound nerves (he is afraid of almost nothing and will try things by himself). He is also now developing a good prey drive and, combined with his excellent nerves, I know he will be perfect. If I had more room in my house I would keep buying! Have I answered the question correctly?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Australdi Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 My first dog was a dobe x GSD and was a rescue dog..he was great, but had some behavioural "issues" (probably due to maltratment when he was young) my second was a bull terrier x bitch & she was fantastic. (unfortunately someone baited her!) I waited quite a few years before I got another dog & this time I bought a pure bred Dobermann from good breeders (in fact excellent breeders!) with a superb bloodline. I couldn't have found a better dog if I'd tried! conformation, temperment, drive & nerves. He was entire, but on limited register & my biggest regret is that I never got to breed from him...he was an amazing dog! If I had of planned it, I would have gone back to the same breeders to replace him eventually....but we adopted Zillah 2 weeks before Daims suddenly died. Zillah (although a rescue dog) is also pure bred dobe with good bloodlines (although Daim's was probably a better example of the standard conformation wise) as Zillah's desexed, I'm not too worried about that though, he's just going to be a companion dog..but he's training quickly & is turning out to be a lovely dog. I would definately stick to PB dobermanns....I couldn't imagine owning any other breed now, I just find them to be everything I want in a dog! Aus ...mind you...they're not a dog for the fainthearted or timid...you need to be a really strong alpha to have a "good" dobe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidoney Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 (edited) Would have liked higher drive in the Kelpie but don't know how much of that is her and how much me making mistakes when she was younger, suppressing drives when around me. Still she is great in almost every way and I think I will get what I want from her, might take more effort from me though. Nerves are not "police dog" good but they are pretty good, and as the environment I compete in is fairly stable (changes of venues but other things are pretty consistent) that's OK. I would get another Kelpie, yes, possibly puppy test possibles myself first. And raise with a better idea of developing and maintaining high drive. With my Vizslas, I breed them myself, and I am working towards my ideal, so it's a work in progress. Nerves and drives going well, now I know more about it, I can incorporate it better. However I do have to keep in mind that most of my pups go as pets (although quite a few compete in obedience, agility and tracking and have just had notification of the first dual champion ) so I have to keep drives to a level that pet owners can handle - a balance between performance and pet. Edited September 6, 2006 by sidoney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogdayz Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 (edited) For the first dog (collie rough) i wanted a pet, but having been around collies all my life in england, i wanted the english style of collie, and also wanted to avoid the nervy temprements that were becoming too common. After almost giving up on finding those two elements together, i found a pup, though she was neither male or blue which had been my preferred choice. She has the looks i wanted and a very large dose of independence. It was only after she arrived i realised i lived so close to KCC and all its dogsports, so we try to fit her to that. What i have learned over the past year though is that her prey drive is high, and we are using that now instead of food bribery. She is scared of nothing and very dominant, but understanding that more and learning to hold her motivation rather than losing it and her then deciding she isnt going to do something. If i had her again as a pup i suspect she would have been trained very differently and been much better for it. second dog the weim was chosen for showing and obedience, but fate thought otherwise and with some early eye and digestive problems he was desexed. A couple of incidents at young age with aggressive dogs have added to an already soft and nervy dog. We have now discovered he is an excellent tracking dog (somewhat wasted on a novice handler like me), and when he is going out to track all signs of his nervousness dissappear, he is totally focussed. That has given hope that with the right training combined with a little 3year old maturity we will overcome his nerves in other fields and his obedience plans are being dusted off. Agility wise he can do it, but i am not sure i will go there, i find i am heart in mouth all the time in case he does himself some serious damage with his overenthusiasm. But both dogs are excellent pets so yep they are what i wanted and while we may not excell in any field we have a lot of fun and a little success. Togther the two have definitely helped me learn the various sports. Would i consider another breed, the answer is yes, while i will always have a collie rough, i would love to have a dog physically suited to agility and a stronger herding instinct, and i think the aussie and coolie are high on the list of possibles. Aside from the aussie though, i like the brittany for agility and tracking, and have even been softening to another weim. the only thing definite is that it will be fun choosing . In the meantime my OH wants another staffy and Im sure i can make plenty of use of a staffy too Edited September 7, 2006 by dogdayz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 I have been wondering as I read some threads. Those who bought puppies with a particular interest in mind, apart from: (1) learning how to train for the end "dream" result (2) choosing a good breeder? have you found your dog suitable to your requirements, from a training succes point of view. Health/injury can muddy the waters, so I will simplify and keep to this subject. Does your dog have sound nerves and good drive? Definitely, We learnt from experience with Tolkien but as I have said before Gem is bombproof, unfazed and focused on the task at hand, be it obedience ( she has retired from the ring but I do some work with her now and again for her own stimulation ( no jumping) or play, she is intense. Lawson is from a line of workers and even a UD dog, he is very switched on and motivates easily for a task, he learns very quickly and I had to be careful not to instill/ encourage mistakes with him as he tends to pick up on them fast. Right now, I have crooked sits on returns on recalls to correct...need some broad jump beams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogdude Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 My experience has taught me that if you want traits in a dog for obedience purposes like being "fast" etc is that is can be beneficial to choose a dog that is around a year old to have a good look at his energy levels and motivation etc. I have found it almost impossible to train train exercises which I think could have more speed in particular, and it would be much easier to shape an exuberant, fast one, than a slow one. Dogs often start to mature at around two years of age and it's an ideal time to think about trialling, giving you a full year to educate the dog. I have trained a number of Bull Terriers and have observed the vast differences between dogs in these areas and think that "the perfect picture" regarding an exersise, are more to do with the individual dog, rather than a different breed although I conceed that some breeds will be quicker to train, and be more structually able to acheive a perfect score. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lablover Posted September 7, 2006 Author Share Posted September 7, 2006 Thanks all I appreciate your comments. From a personal point of view, I was very interested reading of the dogs with high drive, which are a pain to live with sometimes. I have a youngster at 14 months of age, who had a terrible teeth chatter which was resolved, but man oh man, he is EVER an active dog. I often wonder if he were kennelled when not being trained, what he would be like. In the house he is rather over the top. Mind you, I did encourage him by praising him when he brought me presents, so made a rod from my own back, so to speak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonElite Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 You are scarying me Julie, I praise the baby for bringing stolen stuff........... only about 20 times a day ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lablover Posted September 7, 2006 Author Share Posted September 7, 2006 LOL, Myszka, aahhhhhhhh dogs train us so well, I should imagine gaining their satisfaction feels like, a good wine, chocolate or seeeeeeeeeexxxxxxxxx. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavik Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 Well, to be nice and confusing, yes and no ;) With Diesel I wanted a dog for competition obedience but also a break from Kelpies after Zoe, I wanted something more laid back and social. I got the laid back and social bit anyway His nerves are pretty good, drive I would like more but I don't know how much of that was my mistake when he was a pup. When he gets going he is good but at times his energy level is lacking for the performance I want. He works really well at the training ground, so I guess it is there somewhere. Would I get another GSD - yes I would! But I would do more research first. Even if we don't make it to competition he is a great pet and fanstastic house dog. With Kaos, it is going well so far. Nerves seem good although he can bark at unexpected things, drive is good but he gets distracted in new places, something to work on. He has the makings of a great agility dog! I am more used to the way they work than the GSDs so that is an advantage with me working with them (fast, fast, fast! LOL!). I would get another Kelpie! Although they do take a while to become good house dogs . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helen Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 (edited) I really believe you get out of a dog what you put into it. A couple with a Rottie told me that at a tracking trial recently and that is the truest thing I have heard about training. Apart from that, yes, the dog did live up to expectations and had even more drive than expected, wish I had have known about tracking back then and I would have started when Bella was much younger Edited September 7, 2006 by helen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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