SO what HAS Daz been doing to prepare for the life I hope she has ahead? Aside from being a wonderful part of our family, I'd like to have her be a wonderful little agility dog and a confident show dog. We may add Rally and/or Obedience down the road as well. And still would like to try out coursing in the future!
Things I did with she and Vettel together, way back when they were Yin and Yang can be seen on our early blog entries. Check out March/April blog But basically, I exposed them to different surfaces, sights and sound on a regular basis. They were handled constantly and taken to various spots in my house from early on. I think this is SO important for ALL puppies, no matter what they are destined for.
After Vettel left, it was time to really begin working with Daz. In the May entries you can read some of the stuff she did. Pretty much I just started a lot of different things. She learned clicker, started a contact behavior and started some conformation training. Then we just sort of played over the summer while Neat and I did a lot of agility work. I did start handling lessons with her over the summer.
I know some people especially performance folks, can think that showing in conformation is easy, just walk around and look at a cookie. Anyone who has done it knows better. <g> Daz and I have been taking handling lessons for a few months now from Sami Simons here in Central Ohio and it has been SO helpful! We used a Sami exercise to get her past the wet grass bit at the show yesterday morning, got her focusing on something else instead.
I showed in conformation with my Portuguese Water Dogs years ago, but have never done a small breed, or worked on a table, and haven't been in the ring much in recent years. So going back for lessons again was a must. Sami was amazingly good for me back then, so no question I was going back!
Daz has NOT been in an agility class yet, and likely won't be for some time. I am fortunate enough to co-own an agility school with some friends and can take her to the building to train on our own whenever I want. I also take her down while other classes are going on so we can work off to the side, with the distraction of dogs around. Check out the Podengo Agility blog in the next day or so for Daz's agility progress.
Things I did with she and Vettel together, way back when they were Yin and Yang can be seen on our early blog entries. Check out March/April blog But basically, I exposed them to different surfaces, sights and sound on a regular basis. They were handled constantly and taken to various spots in my house from early on. I think this is SO important for ALL puppies, no matter what they are destined for.
After Vettel left, it was time to really begin working with Daz. In the May entries you can read some of the stuff she did. Pretty much I just started a lot of different things. She learned clicker, started a contact behavior and started some conformation training. Then we just sort of played over the summer while Neat and I did a lot of agility work. I did start handling lessons with her over the summer.
I know some people especially performance folks, can think that showing in conformation is easy, just walk around and look at a cookie. Anyone who has done it knows better. <g> Daz and I have been taking handling lessons for a few months now from Sami Simons here in Central Ohio and it has been SO helpful! We used a Sami exercise to get her past the wet grass bit at the show yesterday morning, got her focusing on something else instead.
I showed in conformation with my Portuguese Water Dogs years ago, but have never done a small breed, or worked on a table, and haven't been in the ring much in recent years. So going back for lessons again was a must. Sami was amazingly good for me back then, so no question I was going back!
Daz has NOT been in an agility class yet, and likely won't be for some time. I am fortunate enough to co-own an agility school with some friends and can take her to the building to train on our own whenever I want. I also take her down while other classes are going on so we can work off to the side, with the distraction of dogs around. Check out the Podengo Agility blog in the next day or so for Daz's agility progress.
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