LOL! No, my beagle purchase hardly counts as impulse buying. I've struggled with it for over a year now. It was however, a snap decision. A decision borne of frustration and pain. The only decision was which breed to buy. I rescued two GSPs (refer to that thread fo the entire boring story). Unfortunately, they are great bird dogs and i'm hunting squirrels and bunnies this year
I can relate to your skepticism about large kennels. I have never seen a large kennel that had the staff to properly socialize the dogs. I have known many people who had the money to buy lots of good quality dogs, build beautiful facilities and hire the best vets... so, why couldn't they afford proper staffing? I never did understand that.
Oh I know about your dog shopping Just referring to your wanting a spaniel and buying a Beagle *LOL*
All of my dogs have come from small breeders. They may have 1 litter a year if that. Usually only breed when they need a new pup. Of course in Whippets there isn't a huge market. But even a small breeder can be bad. I rescued my 'zoi from a wanna be show breeder. She didn't know his name and had to look on his papers and she only had him and his sister in the back yard. She'd had 6 adults and sold them. 2yrs old and he'd never been on a leash or off the property except to go to the vet. He was my first show dog.
Spaniels need lots of socializing. They get very shy and weird without it. Submissive peeing is normal for many cockers. You can teach them not to. Some just never do it. I knew one who did it till he was 3yrs old. I gave the owner some tips and the dog immediately got better. Am. cockers are the worst if they aren't raised right, tho I've had Cockers and Springers try to attack me. Eng. Cockers never. Field Spaniels, Water Spaniels, rare breeds have been mostly fine so far.
" Insanity takes its toll..........please have exact change"
Hey Bob sorry I haven't gotten back here for a while. No he's more energy than brains at the moment. He gets on a trail and just goes. I'm looking into some training for myself and Coppper. He's a great dog though and is getting quite large. He's up to 25 lbs and only 7 months old so I don't hold a lot of expectations at the moment. I've been told they take around three years inorder to get realy come around. He shows lots of potentional. He finds things very well andwhen my wife takes him out for walks he's every where and gets estactic when I let him stay out when Marry's out. This spring is going to be great. I'll start him on actual hunting skills training. Hopiing for the best and if not he's still a great family dog which was first and for most. Thow my Wife was hoping he'd stay small like his mom ( I guess I should have taken the runt..........NOT!!!.)
. He's a great dog though and is getting quite large. He's up to 25 lbs and only 7 months old so I don't hold a lot of expectations at the moment.
Hopiing for the best and if not he's still a great family dog which was first and for most. Thow my Wife was hoping he'd stay small like his mom ( I guess I should have taken the runt..........NOT!!!.)
Not Bob, but thought I'd chime in.....
He should be about done growing. Most smaller breeds are done by 6 months as far as height. As far as size you have to look at both parents and grand parents for better ideas of what size to expect. And a "runt" won't necessarily end up small. I had one small male in my last Whippet litter and warned the owners that I refused to use the word "runt" and that he was just as strong and healthy as the others but was just a little behind the rest. Sure enough he ended up too tall to show or race but he was a fun dog on jacks.
I'm sure Bob has experience with this stuff as well with his show dogs.
And in Sighthounds 7 months is when they may get weird or shy about things. If something startles them you need to act like it's no big deal or say "wow what was that" with a pleased tone. A lot of dog owners make their dogs noise shy as when the puppy startles they pick it up and comfort it and make a big deal so the pup decides maybe it really was something to be afraid of.
Have fun with your puppy and it's never too young to start training, just geared to the short attention span. I'm sure ya'll know that, just have dealt with owners waiting till the dog is older and then complaining that it won't listen. I had someone tell me my Sheltie puppy was too young to be doing obedience work at 10 weeks old and then I showed them she knew sit, heel and come already and they shut up. Shelties of course are obedience stars compared to many breeds so YMMV. But even my Whippet pups start young as they start showing sometimes by 8 weeks in conformation. And I start running them in practice by 6 months, short runs. I think it's so great that you guys are letting your Beagles be Beagles and actually hunt. I've known lots of frustrated "pet" Beagles.
regards
" Insanity takes its toll..........please have exact change"
Thanks for te insight. As for growth I only expect now that he will get heavier and not much taller. I took one of the larger pups not because of it's size ut because I went to see them when they were nine days old and mostly had to go on the fact that Coppper kept ending up on top of the pile. His obediance isn't all that bad has more to do with the amount of energy he has and trhe amount of time we have to exercise him. He goes out for a walk with my wife almost everyday(that's in the morning ) and if I have time after work I'll throw the ball around the yard. We is also out and runnig about when the bird is out too, Though that is when he lissen least(too much excitement) Smart well that can be debated depending on when your trying to see how smart he is. If he's in a quiet mood he is very smart if he excited and hyper he's walk into walls stupid. Like I said before he's got more energy than brains or manners at times. As for training he's good he sits ,lies down, stays for a while even when you leave his sight, Hey he even falls to the floor when I point my fingers at him and shout BANG. he responds to some hand signals teey might be the wrong hand signal. Two fingers stroking down to the floor and he'll lie down or sit. Ya he's smart he nows if he jumps on me enough and chews at my hand or just gernally annoying I throw him outside and more times than not I'll throw a biscuit out there for him to find just so he's occupied. No he's far from stupid I jusat need better lessons on how to train someone smarter than myself.
If a puppy puts my hand in their mouth I grab their tongue. They tend to spit my hand out fast. Or I press their tongue down. A good punishment is just to stop playing and walk away and ignore them also. Putting the dog outside is fine, but not with a biscuit. That's a conflicting signal.
You can always use a check cord so they can get some distance but still get a reminder if they forget to listen.
I don't like to let them off leash till they listen well. So when they are off leash I don't use my "official" commands.
Hope I'm making sense. Sleepy, long day at the faire.
" Insanity takes its toll..........please have exact change"
I use a check cord, too. I usually let the dog have at least fifty feet. But this beagle doesn't range very large and he comes on command so i'm running him off lead. I'm on the search for a make dog for him. I've found some ppl south of here that gun hunt rabbits and have several fine dogs. I'm hoping they'll let Beagle run with them. I know an avid bird hunter who used to field trial his GSPs. He really likes Buddy and wants to take him hunting. No problem, i told him! Chris, have you considered trying that? The old standby book Gun Dog, by Wolters is still a good reference for training. If you haven't read it, do so. You can probably get a copy at the library. Beibhan, i started my coursing hounds on white plastic bags at about six weeks. I've had ppl tell me that dogs are untrainable until they're a year old. Nonsense! I tried to have my dogs in the ring by 3 months and definitely by 6 mos. I don't know why they say things like that.
IBeibhan, i started my coursing hounds on white plastic bags at about six weeks. I've had ppl tell me that dogs are untrainable until they're a year old. Nonsense! I tried to have my dogs in the ring by 3 months and definitely by 6 mos. I don't know why they say things like that.
Dogs learn every day of their lives and if they aren't learning good habits then they are learning bad habits.
I don't expect my puppies to act like grown dogs. I do expect them to pay attention for at least a short time when I ask them to.
I tell my dogs to sit or down and stay in the vet's office, I get people telling me I shouldn't be correcting them if they don't obey. I tell them my dogs should obey no matter what the situation. (as their out of control little doggies bark their silly heads off and the owners make excuses for the dog's behavior).
And a make dog sounds like a great idea. I know my Whippets benefited from hunting with my friend's pack.
" Insanity takes its toll..........please have exact change"
OK Bob 8" presh powder and and a 18" cocker spaniel does make for a bivy of entertinment. He likes to chase marry from her perch to my hand when we are exersicing and and then back to the perch.( Iknow I shouldn't let her fligh to the perch but it was a habbit formed before i new better and besides I'm lazy) Poor dog it's even harder now for him to keep up but he tries. Dumb dogs going to get footed one day. Until then he'll just keep nagging her. Great fun to watch though.