Tuesday 31 March 2009

Micro chipping and health tests.

I have been meaning to tell you all:
The Kennel Club now says that all dogs that are to go through health checks such as Hip scoring, eye Testing and Elbow scoring must be identified by a micro chip or Tattoo. Something to bear in mind when your next at the vets. It is quite a good idea so there can not be any substitutes for hip scoring and the like, at least this way it will be the correct dog that is tested. Not sure it ever happens in our breed but have heard of it happening in other bigger breeds.
Really great photos, Evie is really pretty and all the puppies are very cute.

Monday 30 March 2009

Mazy is soooo cute! Love the video of Elsa and Maggie, they play just like Bailey and Cassie. Started teaching retrieve with Bailey over the weekend. He picked it up really quickly, trouble was Cassie and Louis kept trying to interfere - I need to give him some one-on-one.
Elsa is pretty Karen.

Yes, daffodils are poisonous to dogs especially the bulbs, Mazy hasn't tried to eat any yet thank fully.
It is a lovely picture of Mazy with the daffodils. A word of warning though, I've been told daffodils are poisonous to dog - we have a lot in the garden too so constantly having to tell her to leave them. She just loves to have something in her mouth all the time!
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Thank You

Ali for the pic of Mazy on http://www.photos.thelargemunsterlander.com/ today. No she doesn't flatten the flowers or not many of them, we do have a lot and a very big garden, so it's difficult to destroy too much, she's too busy exploring. She still tries to escape through the fencing, it won't be long before she's too big to get through, she's growing at an amazing rate. I'll post some more photos later.

Sunday 29 March 2009

Great Video of Maggie and Elsa - looks like they are best pals already. Love the way maggie jumped on the trampoline then Elsa tried to - bless!!. Beautiful pictures of Mazy she is very pretty. Very impressed with the new lawn Sarah - it looks very real doesn't it and the dogs looks as though they are enjoying it. We have spent this afternoon going aroun the garden and field blocking up any hole or gap as Evie has escaped a couple of times. We thought we had got it all secure but she just seems to have an obsession with getting to the other side of any boundry and squeezes herself through the tiniest of spaces. We had a lovely walk with my friend Win who has Freddie (Evies brother) and a flat coat. It was such gourgeous weather and they all enjoyed a dip in the stream. The most impressive thing though was Evies recall - it seems that having other dogs to compete with made her focus on me a little bit more. Maybe the answer then is to get a couple more dogs!!!

Lovely photos everyone

I have been really enjoying all the photos and puppy chat recently. Not much doggy news going on here so i've just been reading and soaking in the blog rather than posting.
All the puppies look fabulous, Elsa, Mazy, Bailey, etc are growing beautifully, i could take them all home :D
She's beautiful and it would eb lovely to meet her someday.

One thing i have been busy doing is laying our new artificial lawn. Which, by the way, is a massive hit with the dogs, they just love it - they keep taking themselves out to play on it and we dont need to worry about them churning up the dirt. I would highly recommend it to anyone struggling to keep a nice lawn. The photo below was taken this morning - we have yet to lay a new patio and path and then we can finish off all the lawn edges etc but we love it so far.

Who is the puppy?

Maggie us such a puppy herself still which is why she loves to play with Elsa I think. She was really showing off today running circles around Elsa.

Enjoying the sunshine



Maggie and Elsa have been playing for the last 2 hours in the garden. I will try and upload a video later - not sure who is more the puppy Maggie or Elsa! Now both warn out.

Tessa, I somehow missed the pictures of Evie yesterday - she looks very pretty in them - love to see all the Munster pictures so get as many as you can!

Karen, lovely pictures of Mazy too - she looks like she has grown in those pictures. I'm sure Elsa has as I'm having problems carrying her down the stairs in the morning. She can climb up ok but cries at the top to come down. I have put a stair gate up now because she kept going up and then crying for me to carry her down again!
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Saturday 28 March 2009

Ali thanks for letting Carol know about Oscar been on the blog at least she will get to see him grow up (if your reading this Carol he is a little star and loved to bits by us). Lins love what you wrote about Bailey really made me laugh!!!. Lovely pictures of Evie Tessa, really happy that you are getting their with her, lovely Mazy pictures Misty and Oscar have get on a lot better this weeks Misty has attempted to play with him it was only for a couple of minutes but we are getting their, I have also been taking Oscar out in the car and so far so good. Oscar went for a play with my Sister's cocker spaniel pup today, she is 15 weeks old and is so tiny compared to Oscar, they loved playing with each other and when we got home he has just done lots of sleeping think it tired him out. Me and Misty have just been on a long walk about 5 miles through the woods with my friend and her labrador and now Misty is also crashed out.

Mazy




Mazy is much more confident than Domino has ever been. I'm sure Domino's reluctance to interact with Mazy is fear. She is so much better this week though and they're often sniffing each other, Domino wouldn't let Mazy near her last week. Mazy is eating like a horse, gobbles down every meal.
The car journey's are almost fine now, she only whimpered a bit going down to school yesterday and was quiet on the way home. She is sat on the back seat with a harness now and hasn't been sick since being in the crate. I just put her in the crate if I leave her, then I know she's not chewing the car! Today on the way to Domino's training and back, both dogs were quiet and almost sat on top of each other.

Thank fully she hasn't destroyed anything yet, a hide chew or a tripe stick (don't they stink?) keeps her busy. Or I play with her for 5 minutes, retrieving toys, then she forgets that she was chewing something of ours. She's really naughty when she's tired (a bit like a child), so I put her in the utility room and she climbs in the washing basket for a snooze, so sweet.

Karen, Mazy is retrieving quite well too, but only certain toys, the soft toys she just sits and attacks, doesn't bring them back. She has put on almost 2Kg in weight over two weeks, I can't believe how fast she's growing. When she came home from Ali's she could get through the holes in the sheep fencing here, today she nearly got stuck, she's too big to go through now.

Ali, I can't wait until you get some land and we can come over in the summer, and a training day with Peter sounds fab.

Two totally different Munsters

The difference between Maggie and Elsa is huge. Maggie was such a shy nervous little thing when she came to us. Elsa, what can I say - she is not worried about anything. I was hoovering last night and Maggie as usual ran off to hide but Elsa kept getting in my way - trying to play with the hoover! Maggie was watching Elsa practically climbing on top of it in disbelief! She is a smelly little thing though - especially at night! She has decided she likes to sleep right beside my bed as she likes me to dangle my arm down as she is falling asleep and the pongs I get during the night! You wouldn't believe such a little thing could make such smells)lol. She hasn't been distructive but she does like to carry things around - she drags the broom around and my boots are never where I left them. When I come back from walking Maggie the kitchen has often been rearranged! She plays with Maggie constantly and they wear each other out. I'm amazed at what Maggie will put up with. Sometimes in the morning if they are awake before me - I look over and Elsa is on top of Maggie and Maggie's hair on her head is sticking up all over the place where Elsa has been chewing it. I have to step in quite a lot as Maggie won't.

I bought a puppy dummy last week and today Elsa retrieved it for me - such a clever little thing. I held her back and threw it a little distance and then told her to fetch it. She darted off had a few problems trying to pick it up but when she did she bought it back and gave it to me and I gave her a treat - I was thrilled and left it at that. I have also started teaching her the leave it command. I put a pile of treats on the floor and blocked her when she tried to get to it. After a while she sat and looked at me puzzled and I clicked her and gave her a treat. I did it twice and then bought in the command. The third time I put the treats down and said leave it and she came and climbed on my lap - couldn't believe it!

She is such fun to teach

Lins: LOL - really made me laugh!
Evie with best friend Murphy
Running free




looking beautiful Favourite pastime.




Lins - loved the summary of Baileys world (sounds familiar).
Meant to say that I agree completely with Ali when she said that the first port of call with any problems should be the breeder. Christine was the first person I contacted for advice which was helpful but the nice thing is that a lot of traits are passed on and it seems that Evie has her Mothers drive and characteristics. Those of you who have met Eva will know that she is a real sweetie and sure enough this is something she passed on in abundance.
Have finally got around to downloading the pictures off the camera today so here are few taken of Evie 3 weeks ago.
The world as defined by Bailey......
Flower pots - items to put on your nose and race around the garden with, whilst making noises like "sat on my piano the other day"
Newspaper - great percussion instrument which can be turned into confetti
Logs in the basket next to the fire - floor covering
Mum's handbag - treasure trove
Louis - big, noisy thing who guards all the toys and tells me off a lot
Cassie - big, noisy thing who has long furry things on the side of her head which make great swings
Laundry - stuff that flaps about in the wind and I can't catch it, unless Mum very kindly takes it off the line
CD's - another form of floor covering
Louis's bed - my bed
Cassie's bed - my bed
Mums feet - my bed
Broom - dance partner
Cuddly Elephant, Teddy, Dragon, Monster, Snake, Moose - items guarded by Louis
Kitchen - best restuarant in town
Microwave "ping" - alarm clock telling me that food is coming
Noise of cupboard door opening - alarm clock that tells me food is coming
Mum in kitchen - alarm clock that tells me food is coming
Bags rattling - alarm clock that tells me food is coming
Mum saying "bed time" - alarm clock that tells me food is coming
Mum - someone who loves me so much she could eat me!

Oh to be a puppy!

Friday 27 March 2009

I think recall depends on where you are walking them. Maggie was off lead as soon as she could go out and never left my side until she put up her first pheasant at about 5 months old. If I walk her in a non gamey area she doesn't ever wonder far but the smell of game is what takes her away from me. It is a tender balance I think of letting them loose and holding them back. Elsa will be let off lead in our fields and places where I know there is not much scent around but come October when the shooting season starts and they release all those baby pheasants she will be kept on lead in those areas - I don't want to make the mistake I made with Maggie.

At 6am this morning I was out in the garden taking Elsa out for her morning pee and Maggie spotted an injured green finch hopping across the lawn. She pointed, like I've never seen her point before - quite beautiful. Long straight line, her tail straight out, her head low and she held it when I said leave it. I don't think I have every seen her point like that before. She also left the bird alone - so I was really happy with her.

Tessa, glad Evie is dry now.

Ali - I'll definitely be up for a BBQ and training session with Peter - love to!

Belly, recall and bbq

Love Bailey's belly in that pic, when's the bbq i am always up for food !!!!
Recall i must say that i have not had a problem with this with my dogs. They are off the lead has soon as jabs are done and safe to go out.
Puppies are agoraphobic so in a big safe field they dont tend to go to far from mum. If you keep taking them out off a lead everyday it becomes normal, so they always return to you.
Hope everyone is ok and the pups seem to be coming on nicely. Got a big week in work next week, big audit on Monday/Tuesday so i have to have all my paperwork and the hygiene (mill not me) up together. But i have worked 2 days overtime in the last week, so money is handy.
Just relaxing with a bottle of wine, think i may go and get another one, from the kitchen !!!
Well done Tessa it sounds like Evie is coming on and really glad you have cracked the house training, and so quickly it just shows how a few tweeks here and there can sort it all out.
We will see what we can do for a meet up and get it sorted, how about finishing the day off with a BBQ! Well we may as well enjoy ourselves!! Anyone with a tent or caravan can always spend the weekend, we wont have room until the building work is done. but lots of room outside!!

Tetra and Darcy have been angels today, outside in the rain for the toilet, out in the car for an hour without too much stress, no sickness from Tetra and Darcy was a little but not until I was parked up outside the house!! I feel like I am a week behind all of you as until Willow left I have not done anything much as I didn't want to bond with Willow and didn't want to leave her out, and at the end of the day they are only 9 weeks tomorrow. Last night they disappeared on my at 9:45 little monkeys got through the barrier up the stairs and put themselves to bed in Jamie's room, they had decided it was bed time and gone for it, James joined them and didn't hear a peep until 7am, bless them.

Oscar is a gorgeous handsome boy, I have emailed Carol and suggested she kept an eye on the blog to see Jasper's son, she thinks he is gorgeous too!
As for chunky monkey Bailey he looks so well Lins, very content and happy, lovely for me to see thank you.
Count me in for the summer meet up Ali if it goes ahead -as you say much better for Peter to see the individual dogs in action however have found is advice very useful. I agree with you about Evies lack of exposure to cars being the source of her problem - this is my main priority with Evie at the moment so we will be spending a lot of time car watching and visiting car parks (what fun!). As for the recall well we have got to work hard on that - she is fine on a long lead but as you pointed out once they are off the lead then all goes to pot. Its a difficult balance to achieve as I don't want to restrict her to lead walking as I think she would explode with frustration and pent up energy but I need to get her to focus on me. I think though that I have allowed her too much freedom too soon. I dont have horses (yet!!!- working on that one) but we do have our own land and she does go off hunting when I am out with the children. We have restricted her access now so she is only allowed in the field when I am with her. I am sure patience and perserverance will pay off. The good news is that Evie is now clean in the house - I kept her on the brand of food she was on but put her on to adult food as you suggested along with the cranberry. That along with your other tips as just transformed her so thank you Ali.

Bailey







More pictures of Bailey, the one with the elephant was taken today, the others earlier in the week......






added..........

a slide show of Goldie puppies to www.news.thelargemunsterlander.com relevant? well - the same remarks re. socialising and rearing apply to all dog breeds not just munsters! so - yes, relevant I think! and although we all love our munsters - I think there is room to love other breeds too!!!!

Well I said we......

needed you Peter!!!!
Peter and I have known each other for years, both hailing from the same part of Devon, (may explain a lot!!!). We have spent many hours out in a field with Logi or one or other of my family. When Peter said Diva owns him, he was not exaggerating, when Pete came to see the babies, Diva sat on his lap, when we were talking she would block his view to me and facing him she talked directly to him, she also warned Summer to stay away!! I may already of told you all this, if I have ignore me, I am old and blond!! no hope for me!!
Pete's training has helped many people, but as he says each dog is individual and it's hard to read a problem without seeing the dog, so....................
if our land comes off how about a meet up in the early Summer, I will twist Peter's arm to come and train us, we can club together and book a days training for us oh and the dogs!!!
I handle my recall similar to Pete but also slightly different, I have a training field/area and a let your hair down and go for it field too. Both are thoroughly fenced and in both places the dog has to come to me when called. It's the only thing they have to do when we have our play time. I let my babies have free running now but I practise my recall at home in the house, every time I see the puppy committed to coming to me I call her and lots of praise and sometimes a treat. once they get the hang of it, I then start to call them when I want them, again once I get 100% success rate we move outside to the garden and then outside to the field, it sounds a long drawn out process, but in reality it isn't and only takes a week or so. I just feel if you keep dogs on a lead for too long, as soon as they get freedom they bog off. I also am in the habit of thundering towards said dog with a look of fury if they don't immediately bomb back to me when recalled, it tends to work for me and my lot. At the end of the day when exercising 9, I can't afford for them to bog off. I will also say Peter's training tips has helped me enormously too.
Lunging at cars - Tessa I think it is because Evie has not been exposed to enough traffic since you have had her, I take my babies to Town, as soon as they have had their jabs, we go somewhere where I can sit with one of the babies and watch traffic go by, I have a big supply of treats on me and spend time doing it, we also visit shopping centers or busy places like car boot sales so the babies are used to a sea of legs and strange people stopping to speak to them. If Evie is still lunging I wouldn't walk her along by traffic anywhere go back to basics and find a place to sit and watch, it's too dangerous having a 5 month old lunging before you know it you will both end up in the road.
With regards to Evie's recall, do you tend to take her out with you and let her run around whilst you sort out your horses? If you do I think it may be that she has learnt to go off and hunt and entertain herself, if that's the case go back to basics.
My final word on this is we are all happy to give advice and our opinions, but the best person to seek help from is your breeder, this goes out to everyone. Every breeding line in Munsterlanders is different they all have different traits and characteristics and the best person to turn to is the one who knows them best and that's the breeder. So ask away on here but if it's a major problem that you are concerned by please speak to the breeder as well. That goes to all owners not just mine!!!! Those of you who have dogs from different breeders will know exactly what I am trying to say.
I am really please that you are finding the blog useful and helpful Tessa, you are a very welcome member and please join in as often as you want, that goes to Many as well, in fact all of you, If I drop off the radar for a few days it is usually for a very good reason such as the death of my computer, it is definitely not due to indifference.
Anyway off out for a drive with Tetra and Darcy to view some land, it's really quite cold here so Andrew has insisted on starting the car so it is warm when the puppies get in!!!!!!
Hope my waffle makes sense if not don't read into it ask me!!!!! All is good here!!
Actually I have just made a very basic mistake, Andrew came home and then dissapeared to the Kitchen, Tetra then started creating at the door so I told her off thinking she just wanted to be with Andrew, two minutes later she wet herself, she was actually telling me she needed to go out and I totally misread the situation, doh what a bad owner!!!
Peter thanks for answering my question, by coincidence today I am planning to drag a bit of a roe hind up a field (that my Dad shot the other day) to see if Ilka will track it as I've noticed her following where birds / people / things have moved around so she might (not saying it will happen and can't say I know allot about it) have another use with my Dad out stalking as well yet, let us know if/when you have success with you muster would be interested to know. And think I will find your advice on stopping for older dogs useful, Ilka sometimes does the slow motion or take a step or two before sitting.

Lovely photos of Osca he is cute and looking well yes his marking are similar to Ilka.

Thursday 26 March 2009

Thanks Karen, I have also been and bought some thin rope and attached a little clip to it, so going to take both when we venture into the field, luckily with having horses I have access to a very large indoor school which I am going to take advantage of when I start practising my recall away from home (he is very good at recall at home, but that might change when we go else where) then I will progress to the field as they are enclosed as well.
Thanks for the warning Tessa ): I cry at any animal films so will wait for the DVD to come out I think so as not to make a complete ass of myself. The book made me sob too!

Mandy - Oscar is a handsome boy and getting so big! I was going to say a lunge rope might be a bit heavy for him to drag around but not sure - he certainly looks strong. It maybe that lunges have changed a lot since I used them too but the one I remember was long and heavy - but then I was a young girl and that was a long time ago)lol - sorry it's getting late .... Think they are a good idea though but be warned - I used one on Maggie last year - bearing in mind she was an adult by then. I had her in the middle of the field Iwanted to do some training in and had attached one end to her harness. I was busy unravelling the line when she took off after a pheasant - in the blur of the moment for some silly reason I held onto the rope and it was dragged through my hands at quite a rate - leaving me with a very nasty rope burn - taught me a lesson though - don't try and hold the rope when they are in full gallop!
Hi all.... again!
It was so much easier reading this blog over the years, Ali what have you done? ( only joking)
The Gundog Club training guide is a well written piece and will hold most of the basic building blocks for your dogs training. There are a few other books that are now available (not when I needed them!) that take into account the differences of HPR training rather than general gundog training. One I found very informative with answers there in black and white, to problems I had with my first munster, that took me years to find out for myself, and lost a lot of hair in the process! Is `The Versatile Gundog' by Guy Wallace, he also brought out a follow up `The Specialist Gundog'. Both go a little deeper into the mental processes of the HPR and will give the trainer a little more insight into why these dogs need a different approach.
I have written a fair bit on other sites, and always mean to copy and file them away for future compilation, but at the end of the day I always think others write training tips so much better, and my skill, for want of a better term, is not in the training but in the `reading' of dogs, and I wouldn't know where to start in putting that into words. I have written the WAPSUK, which is a natural ability testing scheme, similar to what they use on the continent, and this is now moving into practice.
As I put in my introduction post, I showed, worked, tested and trialed my first munster,in the search for knowledge, but we had reasonable success, given I was swimming against the tide and not knowing how to swim! She won several tests right up to and including Open, and had several FT awards including ALL Aged. My second munster died at a young age just when he was doing well in tests ( I use GWT's as personal training assessments not as competitions) There then followed a period where I had no dog to compete, so I was more involved with Judging and NAT's, which drifted into the period that our FT's were in turmoil and I was not prepared to participate in them. My next munster had to cope with me moving alot and starting my own business, but she still managed to win the working munsterlander of the year trophy two years running. ( GWT's had now become a chill out day and get away from customers day, but I still keep my eyes and ears open ) My latest dog has done well in tests but I decided to spread my wings and train him for deer work and learn how to make these dogs truly `versatiles' ( its work in progress) I do like the Trial circuit though and the crac, so I guess my next one might just have to be trained properly!!
Teaching the SIT/STOP at a distance:
The sit is taught from day one, remember this is a `command' initially it is taught as fun and must always be rewarded, however once the command is given it must always be acted upon, the dog must sit. I teach three signals for my two commands, vocal, hand and whistle, The voice and hand or whistle and hand are taught simultaneously by me ( although most novice trainers teach one at a time). You want to practice the sit and the signals as much as possible when the puppy is young, what your aiming to achieve is an instinctive response from the dog. i.e. the dog acts without first thinking about it, and this can only be done through repetition.
Remember to increase the distance from you slowly and stay within your ring of control. Also don't repeat too often in one session, as the dog will start to preempt. If the dog disobeys the command, DONT repeat it, quietly go to the dog put the lead on and take it back to the point where the dog was when you gave the command, then repeat the command and make the dog sit and reward. Normally I walk the dog on the lead and give the command a few more times to reinforce the lesson.
For older dogs that start to `resist' the sit, be it the `slow motion sit', or the `I'll just finish what I was doing before sitting if you don't mind!' sit, or the I'll just take a few more steps before I'll sit. I will start keeping them sitting longer, usually as a multiplier of three. i.e. the time taken for their arse to hit the floor from when I gave the command, multiplied by three before I release them from the sit ( this focuses the mind beautifully of a hunting dog, especially if you then walk past them onto unhunted ground!) Note this is often a symptom of the dog being at the limit of your control ring so pay attention to the distance, work the dog closer and give the command, if it gets quicker release immediately and the dog soon learns that a quick sit gets a quick release and again your well on the way back to it being instinctive. I forgot to mention, you must release a sit command, don't let the dog decide when to break it, and you won't need the `stay'.
Can I have my tea now?
Peter
Lovely pictures of Ilka and Oscar - he is going to be a big handsome boy Mandy.
Thought I should just warn anyone planning to see 'Marley and Me' at the cinema. I went with a friend on Friday night planning to have a good laugh -not so -we spent the last half hour of the movie sobbing. It is very touching - would touch a nerve of anyone who has loved and lost a dog.
You have been warned!!!!

Good write up Peter very interesting to read, recall is something that I know I have to get right, I know with my Springer the learning never ends, my next purchase is going to be a long line or will use my horses lung line I think that will do the job just as well.

Great pictures of Ilka Sophie, Oscar's markings are very similar to Ilka's, really nice to see Maggie and Elsa getting on so well, Misty still will not play with Oscar he tries but she tends to walk away, although she did play with him today for a couple of minutes so we are getting there. Hope Jumble has settled in Cat and Mat I am sure she has. Its been really hard going back to work need to win the lottery!! Cant believe how quick Oscar is growing, he can start going out on Tuesday for little walks cant wait.


Few photos


Not that great but thought I'd put a few up
Thanks Peter for answering my recall question so thoroughly and thanks Elspeth for the tip on cars. I actually feel like I have some direction now to work to with Evie and although I have my work cut out I am actually looking forward to it especially as we have the longer evenings ahead and hopefully a nice summer!!! Really like the three rings principle Peter ( definately one to publish) - I think I will use a long line initially as Evies circle of focus when out in the fields doesn't extend to much - I guess I gave her too much freedom early on. Have you written any books Peter or do you run any training courses? If so I am ready to book my place!
I don't intend to work Evie but what I want to achieve is an understanding between us so that I can take her anywhere and know that we can have a safe and enjoyable time. It has only taken 6 years but now my Flat Coat Murphy trots along the side of me the whole walk and isn't distracted by anything (except a nice pile of fresh horse manure). I'm hoping it won't take quite as long with Evie but like you pointed out it is an ongoing thing. Thanks again - loving this blog Ali!

Hi

Peter just being nosey I guess but what do you work your dogs on and do you do any FT's or SPT's or anything and your post was yet again interesting, Ilkas not got a bad recall or stop at the mo but I know I'd definitely have problems if she came across a hare.

And lovely photo Karen.

My two girls / recall / stop training


Maggie and Elsa are becoming the best of friends.

Peter - thanks for that. When Maggie was about 5 months I bought the Gundog Training Guide - grade one and it is full of useful information. One of their Golden Rules - think there are nine altogether is 'Never give away your greatest secret'. That secret is that you cannot catch your dog in open country if he does not want you to. So never chase your puppy. Luckily common sense when Maggie was young told me not to do this anyway but I also had to tell my kids not to either.

The three rings is similar to something I read in it also. Having a certain distance where you have control and training to make this distance further away. I know the distance I have control with Maggie and like Elspeth when I lapse and she is out of that ring there is no way I can get her back. If she is in that circle though she will stop even when chasing deer.

The sit/stop at a distance I found difficult too Elspeth. I got advice and Maggie will stop at quite a distance now although not half a mile away. To do this when I asked her to sit I ran towards her to start with at the same time as blowing the whistle shouting stay and using my hand signal so that she knew I was coming to her and I didn't want her to come to me. I had to be quite forceful but she soon got to know that the long whistle meant sit and don't move. Don't think I have ever got her to do a somersault like Peter though! I agree though training obedience is an ongoing thing and with every walk I do with Maggie I always do at least one recall and one stop and also some heal work off lead. To be honest it makes the walk more fun for me and Maggie.

The Gundog club also do a book called The Right Start for puppy training which I have ordered.
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Thank you for the introduction Peter, you should write a book on training tips! I know most munster people would probably buy it. Especially first time owners. Your advice on control (Three ring) is fantastic, sitting here now thinking of the once every 2-3 weeks that Ceilidh bogs off and doesn't listen. I know it is completely my fault as she will be wonderful on walks for a while then I get too relaxed about it and that is when she grows cloth ears, entirely my fault. They are so clever and push all boundaries. Do you have any advice on training to sit at a distance? I can get Ceilidh to do it at a few yards away but any further and she will come to me first which I know can be dangerous in certain circumstances if you need them not to move from where they are. I can get her to "wait" at a distance but she will not sit. I do use a whistle and also hand movement, not word for sit.

Lunging at Cars: Ceilidh used to do this as a pup, I was advised to distract her when cars went by, treats, a toy, a bit of sit/trick traing. Anything that will distract them from the cars. It worked after only a few walks, I do still keep an eye on her just incase.

Sorry i have been off and not put pics up yet, been so busy at Uni, rather manic so exhausted this week, bring on the weekend!!!
I will get pics up on Saturday morning, I have deliberately not made plans so I can get them up. Hope everyone is well and dogs and puppies too. Sorry I have probably missed loads but I have got to run to a lecture.

Wednesday 25 March 2009

Problems with recall:
What you always have to remember is that training the recall ( and the STOP) never ends, for those who say there dog is trained to the recall ( and the STOP) your either a liar or delusional. Unless your dog has experienced every eventuality in life how can you ever say that something someday will have a stronger lure away from you than your authority to bring it back in the same instance. As an example, my dog has literally done a somersault when I gave the stop when he chased out a roe deer a yard in front of him ( his brain told him to stop, but nobody told his back legs!!) But I do not consider him trained on the stop as he took twenty yards to stop to a hare!
As others make up names for training techniques, and seem to make money out of it, I think I should start one myself ( I can but hope the cheques will follow!) This is the `Three ring principle' , when I had my own web site I did a cartoon that shows how this works, but I'll try to explain it.
Both you and the dog and a distraction have a ring some distance around you all. Your ring is that of control, the dogs ring is that of self interest and the ring around the distraction is that of temptation. When you have trained a dog to do something and it is succesful, it is because your ring of control and the dogs self interest are overlapping and the distraction ring is beyond the dogs interest ring or weakly overlapping. As the dog moves further away from you your control ring and the dogs self interest ring start to move apart, as the overlap of these rings becomes less so does the likelihood of the dog not responding to your training command. If the dogs ring then starts to overlap the distraction ring the lure becomes stronger, and there comes a point when the temptation exceeds your control and the dog breaks away.
The object of training is to constantly increase the size of your ring of control until it can cover both the dogs ring AND the ring of temptation, in this way no matter how close the dog gets to the distraction he will always obey your command.
In order to increase your ring of control you need to first realise how far around you it actually is, for some it is on the end of a lead, or dare I say it, less! and for a grouse hunting dog it could be 1/2 a mile or more with an experienced handler, and of course everything in between.
Your ring of control is where the dog obeys all its training without hesitation, the moment the dog wavers its on the edge of control. ( This is without any distractions) You should always train within your ring of control and once you are gaining success then and only then start to increase the distance between you and the dog. Remember as soon as you change the environment of your training, you must shorten the distance once again as the rings of distractions will be bigger and stronger.
Thus if your dog recalls in the home and garden, you must visualise those distances when out in the fields/parks and not exceed them until the dog is compliant. It is very important never to give a command unless you can enforce it, and this is where a stop becomes essential. ( A dog will always consider you stronger smarter and faster until you prove otherwise, so never chase your dog to catch it unless you can!) A simple exercise would be to sit the dog and walk the distance away and then call the dog to you and do this before letting your dog run free, thus the dog remains focused and has no distractions, this also means that not only does the dog get rewarded as you deem fit at the point of success, but more importantly in the dogs mind that compliance ultimately gets rewarded with a bit of free play afterwards. Of course non compliance can be quickly checked and free play can be withheld and training on the lead could be substituted. This method also allows for the use of a long line so the dog is not free to bog off if you have really over estimated your control!!
I can't help with the `lunging at cars' senario, as its a behavioural issue, and is one that you need to see first hand, and find the trigger to get the correct solution. I would add that of the dogs I've seen this in, both being collies and terrier breeds, those that were not sorted ended up under the wheels of a car!
Peter

Hi

Good luck with the race for life Karen, I did one of those with my Mum, a friend and her Mum when I was at school.

Peter that's another interesting post thank you, and that's is pretty much what my Dad has said to me that the most important things are to teach the stop and recall as they don't come naturally to hprs so that's what I've had to focus on, but the rest should pretty much come though their instincts (if there instincts are strong enough).

Elle think it was me who commented on the puppy photos from Ulrike, they are cute and so are the ones on here so would love to see some more photos (love the one of Elsa and Maggie that Elle put a link of) and I'll put up a couple of photos of Ilka on here tomorrow, Sid and Ilka are in love at the mo (Ilkas in season) Sids been done and is to short but he still loves her.

links and stuff.

Thanks Karen for doing Dog of the day yesterday at short notice (oh and todays!) lol http://www.photos.thelargemunsterlander.com/ I love the pic of Maggie and Elsa today.

Jo has just added a couple more Crufts photos to the above site, that we have the permissions through for, she has "inserted" them in the Crufts section though!!! so - to anyone wanting to see them - go to the photo spot - link above - then go to Browse on top right hand side, and choose Crufts 2009 as the category...

also - someone (?) commented on the puppy photos from Ulrike in Austria on http://www.owners.thelargemunsterlander.com/ - we have added some more cute puppy pics to Ulrikes' page - and - there are still pups available from that litter. Anyone interested - I will pass on their enquiry.
Thank you Karen, I'd best start training tomorrow!
I'd love to sponsor you Karen - great cause and well done - I'm impressed!!!

Race for Life

I've just entered the Race for Life at Sherborne this year. I ran the race two years ago and raised money for Cancer Research. So I'm doing it again, to motivate me to get running again and to raise some more money for the charity. Please don't feel obliged to, but if anyone would like to sponsor me, my fundraising page is here:

Tuesday 24 March 2009

Hi all, thanks for all your welcomes, I should warn you that I'm not always online during the summer, and then tend to `speed read' posts since I was last on. So please don't be offended if I miss a question by not answering it, it will probably be that I genuinely didn't see it.
Before I start giving out advise, I must stress that without seeing your dogs first hand there is a limit to the advise I can give online, because of the risk of misunderstanding of all the circumstances which will effect your individual dogs. The onus is ultimately down to you as the dogs owners whether you first understand exactly what I mean, and whether or not you want to take the advise given.
There are umpteen methods of training a dog, and it seems every year a new trend, or rather a new name or title is given out and about for what I would have been doing for years but not called it anything specific. There are some methods that raises a smile from me and others that appal me, but they do work! ( I personally would like to think that I could get the same results using a different method!) But you should all remember that in training a dog you should never limit your knowledge and dismiss training methods out of hand, as they all give you an insight into how the dogs mind works differently to your own. Putting your principles, reasoning and morality into the dogs mind and therefore in its understanding or your perception of its understanding is inherently dangerous and misleading during training. Which ever method you use will be personal to you, you will not gain a partnership with your dog if you are unhappy ( and therefore inconsistent) with a particular training method, but this must be balanced with reality when something clearly is not working.
All my training ( and writing) is geared towards a working gundog, but those who are not interested in attaining this level should still pay heed, as with a Munster like it or not the dog WILL be working when off lead to some degree, the difference between a `working' munster and a pet munster is basically a level of control and whether the dog is working for you or itself!
Some of you already realise that these dogs pick up things quickly, and think they are `smart', they are but not in the way you think. They are smart in communicating, not directly in learning a task/command. The first people realise this is usually some months down the line when Fido bogs off after something that has caught his attention, and doesn't respond to any of the commands flowing from its handler in ever increasing volume! Ring a bell does it?
The dog has only actually learnt an action to a signal, it has not learnt that the signal is a command to be obeyed. Similarly people often think that when a dog disobeys a signal/command but then obeys one given in a harsher tone it is learning the difference between the signal and a command, its not! its only actually teaching the dog to ignore the first signal!
I actually only teach two `commands' The first is the SIT ( which in later training flows into the STOP). Remember if a dog is sat, unless its scratching its arse, it has to be stationary, hence the sit/stop effectively being one command. The second command is the RECALL, where the dog must return to me without hesitation. If you have these two commands, clearly understood by the dog, you have control, if not should you really be letting your dog off the lead?
That might sound a bit harsh but believe me when you see your four month old puppy heading for home with a prize myxy rabbit he just caught, and between him and home is a busy main road which he has no comprehension of, and only a last ditch launch through the air after an exhausting wide arc run to cut him off at a gap in the last hedge, the shock of which was enough to make him drop the rabbit and stop! You may just begin to realise that running free, which munsters do relish, is a privilege not a right! and as such has to be earned through training and obedience.
This all may sound like I am a disciplinarian and do not let my dogs have fun, far from it, I would argue that my dogs have far to much fun ( often at my expense) and they would be much better workers if I was more strict with them. The difference is I'm consistent in my handling, there is no grey area when a command is given, especially from the dogs perspective, they understand things only in black and white ( very appropriate for a munster!). I don't constantly control my dogs actions but I do set their boundaries, and when they push for more ( as they do) I reduce them to make them appreciate what they had and this keeps them honest and respectful!
I haven't answered the specific questions put for me yet, I'll do that later this week...I hope, as I thought it better to set out the basic principles on which I operate.
Peter
Thanks Karen and Sophie for the advice - will try some of your ideas. I don't want to overload Evie as she is only 6months but I also don't want to let bad habits set in. I can remenber Murphy my Flat coat going through a crazy stage when he was about 9 months old and he would run off and ignore me but he grew out of that so I guess Evie will grow out of lunging after cars etc (hopefully). I suppose it is easy to forget that it is a big scary world out there for these little ones.
Anyway is anyone else a fan of the Dog Whisperer ( it is on the TV as I write this) - I think he has an amazing understanding of dogs and dog psychology. We had a few issues with our old flat coat Jack which was all our doing in hindsight - we treated our dogs like humans and gave him too much status as a result. I then read the Dog listener (similar principles as the dog whisperer) and realised that I had got it all wrong - I was not being an effective pack leader. We changed a few simple things which transformed his behaviour. We have now lost our wonderful boy but his legacy will stay with me forever and all the dogs that we will share our lives with - he taught us so much!

Tessa

I had a cavalier King Charles that used to lunge towards traffic - used to frighten me to death. I'm afraid to say I never did get her over that. The funny thing was though she only ever did it when she was on the lead and when I used to walk down the road here - which is a quiet village she was often off lead and never looked at a car going past. Very odd. Maggie was the opposite and used to shy away from traffic. I got her over this by taking her in the car to busy places because like you we don't get much traffic here. So I'm not sure I have any advice for you on the car and bike issue except maybe if you take her to where there is a lot of traffic and sit her down near the road and distract her when cars are passing with treats. I'm sure she will get better.

As for recall - Peter is the best person to give you advice on this. He will probably want to know how old she is - I can't remember. I do remember though Maggie being great as a puppy and then when the hunt instinct kicked in - fairly early if I remember - I lost all control. To be truthful it was a battle up until the last few months when I now feel more confident with her re-call. Maggie wasn't interested in treats - especially if there were pheasants around. If she got into that hunt mode - I put her back on the lead and did some basic training like asking her to sit and go down - just to get her focus back on me. My only other secret weapon is her ball as she will do just about anything for a play with it. So even now I keep it in my pocket and it comes out if she has come back instantly to recall. Her reward is a chuck or two of the ball and then it goes away again. I'm sure Peter will have some better advice - but it worked a treat for Maggie. So if there is any toy Evie likes best of all - take it away from her and only take it out when you are playing with her - this way you will make it more special and then you can start using it as a reward. Hope that helps. I will look forward to Peter's advice though as I'm sure I will have the same thing again with Elsa.

Tessa

I am not the most experienced but, have you tried a stopping (getting to her sit) her to the whistle or tried to make her sit with voice as shes coming towards you before she loses interest? Think that's what I would try with loads of fuss and rewards when she gets it right, then she might get the idea she has to pay a little more attention.
Ilka used to go towards cars and things quite a bit when we walked down the road when she was younger but shes grown out of it and has lost interest in them and has got used to standing up against the hedges while they pass (narrow country lanes)
Love the photos of Jumble and the one on lm photos.

Monday 23 March 2009

Advice Please........

Yes its me again looking for advice on another matter. Evie has developed a dislike for cars and cyclists and lunges towards them whenever she sees one. She has not had much exposure to busy places and doesn't see many cars etc but when she has she literally lunges towards them on her lead. We are doing a lane walk with her now in the evening to get her used to being on a lead and seeing cars,bikes,horses etc but she is really dreadful. Once we have mastered the lead walking I will take her to strange places, around town and car parks etc but I am concerned about this habit she is developing. Has anyone else experienced this behaviour?
Evie is a true country dog but I still want her to feel confident when out of her home environment (and safe). One more point of training I am struggling with is the recall. As a young pup she was wonderful at the recall and still is in the house and garden but when in our field or out on a walk she will never come back right to me. We worked on the 'with me' command to whistle and voice which she responds to every time - by this I mean she has to change direction and be with me not come right to me. When I ask her to come to me she will head towards me but can not actually stop as she is just too busy, she is not interested in lures/treats or me on bended knee calling her excitedly. Evie has to run the whole walk.
Would appreciate any tips as I am rapidly learning that HPR's seem to need a different approach to training and I am very keen to learn so that we can work well together. My Flat Coats have never had the incredible hunt instinct that Evie has - she is very intelligent and I don't want to let her down. I think this may be one for Peter with all his experience (please).
The pups all look very happy in their new homes - lovely pics.

Brilliant photo

on http://www.photos.thelargemunsterlander.com Looks like the dogs are having a proper tea break with Mum. Where are the dogs coffee cups?
Lovely photos of Jumble, she is one of my favourites, she looks very happy.

Elsa looks as if she is having fun in the paddock, Mazy loves our garden which is a kind of landscaped paddock and has been exploring all weekend. Will put up some more photos later or tomorrow. The weather has turned colder here now, so not so nice for playing outside.

Peter, I have now managed to read your intro, lovely to know more about you.

Jumble

Lovely pictures of Jumble - especially like the one of her in the box! So sweet. I'm glad she has settled in well - she looks very happy in the photos.

Started back at work this morning - which was very hard after a week off. I was worried because I didn't know how it would go with Elsa here now but in fact she was a little angel and slept most of the time I was working. The weather has taken a turn for the worse and is now howling a gail and raining. I got caught in it while out with Maggie so glad to be home and dry again. Elsa, who is always very excited to see us return even helped was Maggie by laying next to her and licking her - sweet.

My daughter has gone for a week's holiday with the school this morning too so going to be very quiet without her and I'm going to miss my little helper. The trip is in Wales so I hope they have better weather there.

jumble




More pictures

JUMBLE




Hi everyone,
We fetched Jumble on Saturday and has been busy playing ever since!She has settled in so well and has met our horses, sheep, goats hens and ducks. She has not been fazed with any thing except perhaps our 2 cats. They are all treating each other with respect, but i am confident they will be good friends soon. Matt loves her and she loves him and follows him every where.
Yesterday we were going swimming and she decided to get into the swimming bag! We left her for an hour and no crying or problems.
We are all so happy to have a dog again.

Hi

Meant to say in my last post great intro Peter, I am being trained by Ilka at the mo hoping to do some spring pointing tests with her, Ilka knows whats shes doing (I think) but I don't always lol but my Dads helping me.
Lovely photos of Maggie and Elsa and been looking round the lm website and saw these cute puppy photos http://www.owners.thelargemunsterlander.com/ulli-austria.html

Sunday 22 March 2009

Born Free Elsa

Well as soon as you said OK Ali - off we went - Elsa loved it - you were right she didn't go to far away from us
and Maggie looked after her.

We didn't keep her out there long but she is zonked out now fast asleep. Maggie loved having her out there and I can't wait until they are two big girls together having a run around.
Posted by Picasa
Karen it should be fine, they have had their Parvo jab and as you say it's dog free, I am doing exactly the same with the three i have, out in our dog field. They love it and need it, and to be honest if they don't have free running a little now it will be a nightmare when you do let them off, there is no way the babies will look to leave you so get on enjoy it. This weather is so gorgeous it's a shame not to.
Hope you Mums are all having a lovely day and being thoroughly spoilt.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY DIVA




Elsa is worn out from 'helping' daddy do the gardening.



This morning while I was waiting for an opportune moment to take Maggie on a walk Maggie shot off across the garden at some speed and then jumped the 4 foot fence at the back of the garden! She has never jumped it before. She then shot off into the distance like she was on some sort mission. I ran up the garden and called her back and she came. But thinking am I going to have problems now keeping her in - hope not!

Later when I was coming back from the walk and Frank was looking after Elsa I was coming across the field and saw Frank with Elsa in the field. She was really excited when she saw Maggie. I hope it's ok to take her out in to the paddocks Ali - but I can't see it's much different to our back garden and we don't get any stray dogs in there. Do you think it is ok? She stayed close to Frank and just sniffed around for a bit. Trouble is now she keeps going to the gate as she knows what it lead to.
Just to say HAPPY MOTHERS DAY DIVA FROM ILKA
and love all puppy videos and photos and really love the one of Bosco on http://photos.thelargemunsterlander.com/ fantastic photo.

More Mazy pics

on a mission!
why the biggest ball?
Marcus and his new friend

Happy Mothers Day Mummy Diva!

love from Mazy xxxx

Hi Mummy Diva.  Just to wish you a Happy Mother's Day / Mothering Sunday from your boy Ludo!  xx
Stella would like to wish her mum Summer HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY.
Keisha & Strider, also for Majik xxxxxxxx

Happy Mothers day

To all Mum's, and especially My Mum!
but not forgetting Diva and Summer and Tarka too! and remembering Mother earth Leah.

Saturday 21 March 2009

Practicing Re-call to name

Elsa is such a bright little thing - already mastered sit and starting to retrieve things for me and she is getting better at coming to call now too. From the video you will see that Elsa would rather go through things than round them!

Lovely photos Ali - looks like they had a great time. I've thought about taking Elsa out into our paddocks as no other dogs go in there but want to be sure she will come when I call her first - she is very fast!

Best Dog and Bitch at Crufts.

http://www.photos.thelargemunsterlander.com/ I have now put up the photos of the Best of Breed winner, and the Best Dog - plus various other photos from Crufts. I will add more tomorrow, but if you wish to have a look, please go to Browse, and select the category Crufts 2009 or - just keep flipping back on the previous button, I have tried to add "parentage" and past achievements - but - let me know if I have made any mistakes!!! (politely please!)

Puppy Pictures

Firstly happy birthday Looby Lou - Can't believe your 18, I now feel very old, just not as old as your Mum!! ;-)
Have a lovely pamper session and a great night out, our shopping spree day must come soon!
Mummy Diva enjoys a bit of time out Hunting Wilow / Stripes enjoys her ball

Arnie helps Uncle Logi dig!

Now Darcy gets in on the act too!!

Worn out Tetra

Also a digger - Tetra
Darcy begins to slow down!!
Flying ears from Darcy already, Tetra ready to pounce
Worn out at last