I'm interested in what breed of dogs you all have and what sort of activities you and your dogs are or have previously been involved with.

To kick off, I have one dog - Sam, an 8 week old Labrador. No outside activities so far, but plan on taking him to a puppy socialisation followed by field trial training or obediance classes.

Hi I have a nearly 1 year old pointer and we do obedience classes ( in the loosest sense!) with aspirations to gundog/working trials if he ever learns to retrieve. Mostly we like running through the woods. :)

"Hi I have a nearly 1 year old pointer and we do obedience classes ( in the loosest sense!) with aspirations to gundog/working trials if he ever learns to retrieve. Mostly we like running through the woods. "

Pointers aren't used for retrieving in this country so it's not really in their instinct to retrieve. It can be done but only on their terms ;-)

Helen

Oh well thats that then back to the woods.

Lorelei,

If a Bedlington Terrier can be trained to flush game for a Hawk (Britain) :), and to retrieve in the field (Germany) :) then don't despair, it may take a while but it may not be impossible. Some retrieving dogs are useless at retrieving but good at other things - it all depends on the dog and the trainer. Good luck with your retrieving Pointer.

Regards

Dill

Thanks Dill, he does fetch things in the house and garden but outside hes more interested in exploring, getting lost, pointing and sniffing. I am reliably informed by the local expert that pointers also do not walk to heel - hello!- he does when I ask him to, so we'll just keep trying. I cant afford to shoot and havent a handy grouse moor, so will have to do non standard pointer things to keep his brain ticking over. :)

"I am reliably informed by the local expert that pointers also do not walk to heel - hello!- he does when I ask him to, so we'll just keep trying. "

I've got three pointers who will walk to heel no problems and one that will retrieve but usually leaves it to our springer. It can be done but will take time so don't get too frustrated when it takes that little bit longer.

You could try and get into the pointers & setters field trial scene. If you can find someone who will help you, it will open a lot of doors for you. Try and do a search for working pointer owners on the internet or join one of the pointers email groups.

Helen

Hi Helen, I have done a wee search and wound up on a gundog site with a pointer section which was interesting,( but scary as I dont know what theyre on about, and it seems soo serious) and have a field trials contact who has a GSP. It is funny what people tell you about any breed isnt it? This expert keeps nagging me about the amount of exercise Morse needs and sending him away to a gamekeeper for 6 months to be trained, only shooting will give him enough stimulation etc etc. In contrast we meet a lovely man who has kept pointers for years, Morse could be his Jack's double and he takes a kindly interest in us, rarely offers advice and is just so helpful. I think Morse could be good at field trials as he dosent chase birds now, holds a point longer, isnt scared of guns and can search fields well with some directions.:) Hows Milly getting on?

I would be interested to know which site it is as I haven't found many pointer sites.

Your GSP contact won't be a great deal of help as they do different things. There are quite a few hpr gundog training classes around but none for pointers (that I know of). Is he the expert who is "helping" you?

As long as Morse is happy, it doesn't matter what you do. I imagine the majority of pointers aren't worked and lead very happy lives. I can't remember if you were planning on going to that agility club in edinburgh? There is a woman who goes who does work her pointers. It's all about getting contacts and getting known. It will open a lot of doors for you.

Morse sounds like a cracking dog.

Milly is coming along very nicely. After a few weeks of going back to basics with her, we seem to be back on track. We were walking the other dogs out the back when Goldy and Lucky (pointers) went on point. Five partridges flew up and landed further down the field. WE brought the dogs back and took Milly out on her own. She scented them from quite a distance and walked in very slowly. I didn't see if she went on point before she flushed them but she certainly didn't bump them (I was down a dip). She watched them fly off and loped off down the hill for about 20 yards and stopped to watch them again. She then went back to the cover where they flew up from and started hunting around. Today, she's doing well ;-)

Its mentioned here ref to retrievers but has a pointer board. The GSP owner is a lady, and the local expert is a pain. Jacks owner would die if he thought I regarded him as an expert, but he is a lovely man with a beautifuly trained dog as a result of much patient effort. Broxburn agility didnt work out as the class occurred at 5.30 in the evening and my husband isnt home from work until 6 to look after the kids so we just left it for now.

What a clever Milly! Shes been watching Goldy and Lucky carefully hasnt she? :)

I have a 16 month old akita bitch and a 11 month old black lab - we mostly like walking and lying on the duvet :)

Oh and playing chase, fetch, eating and did I mention that we like to sleep on the duvet :)

We used to do puppy socialisation and basic obedience training aspiring to have a dog that will more or less what I want which is not much - recall and heel would be fine :)

Currently I have 3 dogs, Staffs. The mum, Lily and two of her pups...Marmaduke and Beetle. They are now 8 wks old and little hooligans!

No plans for them other than just having them as part of the family.

I used to show Flat Coats, Bassets and Petit Basset Griffon Vendeens but don't show anymore...might like to go back to that eventually.

i have tess a 4 year old lab bitch, she is currently in charge of pest control for anybody who requires her services, as well as keeping the other dogs in touch and keeping an eye on the kids when out and about, we also want to take agility up once she had her litter.
jack a 9 mth old sprocker pup loves retrieving and swimming hope to do agility and/or trials, also keen gardener and one of them people who dig things up that belong in history :) (cant for the live of me think how to spell it :) )
and finally
toby a 6 year old lazy bones of a cavalier king charles, retired stud dog and currently emplyed by victor meldrew :D .Hes a right old grouch
if thats not enough we have 2 cats to keep the dogs in check, and 3 goats in the garden that have become very useful in alerting us if we have any escapees in the form of jack and tess, (toby looks and thinks that it too much hard work escaping :) )
and then the birds that provide a nights entertainment for the dogs.
thats without the dogs im in charge of at work, 14 i look after, but 40 that i monitor the health etc of,
phew thats me done
tanya

Hi there,
I have five dogs. 2 x G.S.Ds Rhona a nd Ellie, 3 and 6 yrs respectively. One does obedience, the other has done obedience, agility and tracking, but now does mainly showing. 1 Belgian Malinois, Storm, 3 yrs, who started agility last year and loves it!! 1 Staffie, Buster, 1 yr old yesterday!! Who does a bit of obedience and companion dog shows. Last, but not least, is the "old man" Rex, 13 1/2 year old rescue x breed, who used to do a bit of obedience and agility, but has now retired.

Sarah.

hi
I have three dogs.One Shih tzu bitch who thinks she's a princess,one male shih tzu who is a hooligan and a bad influence(5 yrs & 2 yrs respectivley)and my 9month old dobe bitch who runs around mental with the male and torments the living daylights out the bitch when she's sound asleep.
Was hoping to do something with my dobe but because i have no transport i found it hartd to try and take her to training which i desperatly need now as she is getting too protective when walking with me but fine when hubby has her.....causing a problem as i used to take her every where but now i only go out early mornings and late at night as she jumps at everyone and anything.....

:( pamie

We are owned by 2 newfoundlands-1 black the other landseer, that make my kitchen a water park, P.J. can now turn the tap on. 2 Dogue de Bordeaux,2 Tibetan mastiffs, the kids call it the ark,1 yorkshire Terror (not a typo error)and a Tibetan spaniel. and I enjoy taking them to remote beachs, and caravaning but not with all of them at once

i only have a yorkie :( and i dont do any training with him :D, I have 2 great kids and a tall husband

I have 4 Spanish Water Dogs that live with me. One does heelwork to music, one does water training and show training, so does his great grandmother. Lydia my nearly 10 year old doesn't do much, just sits around and decides which of my friends she does or doesn't like and she keeps the young ones under control:d

We also all do occasional obedience, gundog training and agility. There's a new pet shop opening about 20 minutes away and there going to have loads of different things going on so I can see that I'm never going to be away from the place.

ive 2 shar-pei, mother and daughter. -the younger of which im showing at the minute, :)

Dont forget to mention your hubby and his 2 lovely dogs dizzy :D

must i !!!!!!! husband has two working springers [STINKERS] outside ,

:D :D @ dizzy

Hiya, I have Baillie a 6yr old golden retriever (oh incidentally he doesn't retrieve anything :D) and Diesel, a currently 6wk old great dane puppy, who's not home with us yet.
Baillie is pretty much laid back, well horizontal - breathing sometimes seems like a bit too much effort for him ;) so guess agility and the likes are out of the window. And as for Diesel, who knows - I suppose he'll be a bit of a landscape gardener :D maybe a spot of decorating in his spare time

Hi, I have 4 boston terriers and a hybrid. Our hybrid likes to laze around or go for about 2 block walk he's getting old. Junior I was doing agility just waiting for another class to start up the last one was full so we missed it. Tiva, T-Bone and Dozer like to go for walks or I have all 4 cuddled on me watching t.v. I have put all of them through an agility course except Dozer and Junior really took a liking to it as well as flyball. Tiva was to interested in being petted and getting treat and she would bark at other people unles they gave her a treat :D, she's a bratt.

ttfn :)

hi

ive got 4 dogs sadie a 14 year old staff x jack russell, ben a 7 year old tri colour border collie
milly a 5month old yellow lab and bella a 4 month old chocolate lab

sadie and ben are just pets but i hope to do something with the labs when there older just not sure what yet

Hi I have a 10 1/2 week old black lab bitch called Skye, a big koi carp pond in the garden, several guinea pigs and an old budgie called Bengi !!

We haven`t been to any puppy socialisation classes yet because she doesn`t have her second injection until Saturday. I am hoping to get her started with puppy training classes when I find one near (ish) to home.
I am partially disabled and walk with a crutch and I am looking forward to the day (or year) that I won`t need an escort when walking Syke in the local woods (but only when she has a very reliable recall!!!!)

Until then I will give her all the company, training and games during the day (we have a very large garden for plenty of good games) and leave the walks for hubby and kids in the evenings and weekends!!!

Hilary

Hiya
I have a 17 week old cocker pup called Dylan. I cant imagine life without him now he is soo gorgeous. We have been taking him to puppy classes for about a month & he is doing really well. He loves going to the park & we can happily let him off his lead & so far have had no problems with his recall.
We also have a cat called Brum, who is gradually getting used to having a dog round the place. I think as the weather gets colder she will spend more time indoors & hopefully they should become friends.

We have 2 wonderful largish Crossbreeds, one of which loves agility, both do some obedience though find it a bit boring since doing the agility. We are hoping to get an Australian Cattle Dog in the next few month, so I can do more more agility and perhaps have a go at working trials

Just the two dogs - liver and white 5yr old springer and 17 month blue roan cocker. They are both working dogs (my 19yr old son has trained them both and works them too) - , we have yet just how reliable the cocker will be - shooting season here we come!

Hi All

I have a 9 1/2 year old springer called Fergie, a 16 month old springer called Rosie, and now 2 pups called Lucy and tiny Tim, 9 weeks old from the aboves litter, Dont do anything with them except enjoy them as pets. Oh and continuosly throw balls.

Brinny

"I have 4 Spanish Water Dogs that live with me. One does heelwork to music, one does water training and show training, "

What does water training involve?

Helen

HI Helen.

My colds going to my head, when I read "I have 4 SWD's, I thought I don't know anyone called Helen with SWD's:d !!

Here goes. Water training, retrieving any objects seen or unseen. Jumping out of the boat to retrieve an article and say, take back to another boat, or to the owner on shore. SWD's are brilliant divers, so they will retrieve under water, and they can stay under for quite some time. My 6 month old boy who hadn't really done any training except for me taking him and getting him to retrieve dummy's etc. took him water training last Sunday and he actually pulled a dinghy back to shore, he didn't just leave it once he touched land he made sure that the dinghy was on high ground too, I was totally amazed and so were some of the people there. His 11 year old great, great grandmother did exactly the same and she hasn't done any water training for about 6 years!!

I wd. love to do search and rescue training too, as a no. of Spanish are now doing this full time but I unfortunately don't have enough time for this as well as I work full time. There just aren't enough days in the week for this wonderful breed to show me how many brilliant things they can do.

"There just aren't enough days in the week for this wonderful breed to show me how many brilliant things they can do. "

They do seem very versatile. Thanks for explaining, it sounds like fun! What other breeds do water training?

Helen

They are also herding dogs and used as guard dogs in their country of origin!!!

Really, the only working dogs that do water work are Newfoundlands. Of course you have many other water dogs, lets face it that's what the poodle was there for first but I've not seen one work.

They are a very versatile breed but they pick things up quickly so if you train them incorrectly it will be hard to work this out of them:d

Hi,
I have a one-year old working cocker and and three year old springer, both of which do obedience, they are also starting agility next month which should be fun. I also have a 13 year old springer who does nothing except sleep and then when she is out she likes to frighten me to death by getting washed away in rivers or following people home because she has cataracts and doesn't bother to check who she is following.

Hi,
I have 2 springers 2yr old litter sisters Bella and Jess who are being trained at the moment, Bella loves swimming and would probably swim the channel if you let her, Jess is more moody and loves running marathons, I also have 2, 1yr old litter brothers Barney and Jake, Barney has retinal dysplasia and is blind in one eye and partially sighted in the other, he is adorable though and keeps up with the others, he is always glued to his brother Jake who is alot smaller and excitable, Jake also loves running but is very good and always comes back to the whistle, and finally I have 11mth Sam who is totally hyper and lives up to the springer name, he is very small for his age but again very good on the whistle, he loves running and would run 24 hrs a day if you let him.

I have two springers, three pointers and a wirehaired pointer. They are all pets foremost but...

The older springer (8 years) does the odd bit of rabbiting and we will be training the younger springer (9 weeks) to the gun and use her for beating as well.

The pointers, one of them is retired, one is working and the other one will be working, they are 11, 6 and 6 months. They work on the grouse moors doing grouse counts.

The gwp, works on the grouse moors as well and are thinking about using him for the gun this season as well.

Keeps us busy!

Helen

I have a 19 month old border collie called Megan, who goes to obedience training and is working for her silver kennel club good citizens award, and is due to start agility in November. I would love to do flyball with her but lack of time, money and a local club have put a stop to that so far! I also have a 5 1/2 month old golden retriever called Ellie who goes to puppy obedience and is working towards her foundation cirtificate. I would like to do heel work to music with her one day. If only i could spend all the time in the world training them!

I have a 19 month old cocker currently just lazing about the house :D
im trying to learn how to groom her, i recon they must b one of the hardest breeds to groom what ya thing janes? haha you should see what i did with her head hair i got annoyed and got the clippers out( just for the head) i gotta say it looks pretty natural looking;) better then the mop head look anyway. but i wil try harder next time . promise:D

Hi, I've got two beagles, one who's 6yrs who we do agility with and the other is 12 months who we show (or attempt to). We've also started doing agility with her.

Hi,

I've got a seven month old Golden Retriever (photos on my webpage - see my profile). He's passed his bronze KC Good Citizen test, and we're working on silver. I've shown him at one companion show (where we got RBIS :) ), and we have just started ringcraft. We're at a limit show this weekend. When he's older, I'd like to try agility with him.
He loves his walks in the fields and swimming in the river. Oh, and playing with Guinness, his Rottie best friend who is 3 weeks older than him.

Sarah

Take a look at this link to see a Golden doing heelwork to music. I've watched it loads of times :)

Sarah

That is briliiant Sarah, HTM always puts a lump in my throat

They work on the grouse moors doing grouse counts

How does that work? I have visions of pointers with clipboards. :)

"They work on the grouse moors doing grouse counts

How does that work? I have visions of pointers with clipboards. "

lol, would be easier if they did and then we could stay at home ;-). It's the same as if you were walking up to shoot them but we just count them instead. Gives an idea of how many grouse are on the moor before the shooting season starts.

Helen

Thanks for explaining, its like another planet to me these country sports - so Im ordering Derry Argue.:)

Hi
I have a 14 month old male Basset hound called Dexter, and a 5 month old Yorkshire terrier called Demeter, and she rules our home and Dexter, he really lets her get away anything, at the moment she likes to chase his long ears and try to catch them.
They are never apart and sleep together.
Carol

Hi Pottie
I currently have 2 boxer boy Charlie and Harry, the best breed in the world in my eyes!!!
We love going on long walks and having recently attended a boxer bash in Sheffield where my boys won best puppy, puppy judge wants to take home and best pair!!
We are also planning on attending training classes very soon.

Sarah,

I watched your link saying "WOW" to myself over and over again, isn`t that fantastic?

Hilary xxxxx

I have a 20 week old brown beardie who has been going to puppy classes since he was 14 weeks old. He doesnt understand the word "sleep" and finds the duvet more interesting if he kills/eats it. Actually everything is more interesting if he eats it!!!

Sam x