I am very tempted to keep a puppy from my bitch's litter, but my husband isn't keen....:(...obviously we'll have to sort this out between us......
However, I remember when I had 2 Cavaliers - litter brothers- they were a nightmare to walk together & I never really cracked it. My bitch is very good on the lead, but would she be disrupted if there was a new dog as well? I realise it would be important to walk them separately,for training purposes, but there would also be times when I would want to take them out together. I don't want to spoil the good behaviour we have now with the bitch. Any ideas? Thanks.
Cathy.

I walk four and shortly will be walking five (though pup wil get some indidvidual lead training first). I am often complimented, and people wonder how I get four to walk so nicely together all in line. Actually it isn't as hard asa it would seem, as except in the youngest two there are 3 years between each in age. They are now nearly 12, nearly 9, 6 and four years of age. Because the older one was already good on the lead I only have had to concentrate on teaching the new one the rules, and the older ones also help by being most disaproving if the youngest does not co-operate.

Now walking two the same age that really would be a nightmare.

These are 20kg Norwegian Elkhounds.

I walk 4 dalmatians at once. Like Brainless, I find that as long as the older one is good on the lead, there aren't too many problems, because you only have to concentrate on the younger one. The older ones have never regressed training-wise when joined by a new one.
:)

Just out of curiosity jeangenie do you walk them all on the left, or two by two. I find I can't get on with having them split but prefe having them all on one side, this allows me to use my6 body to block them in to let people pass etc.

I have 3 on the right and Piglet on the left, because he's the one who needs more control - the others just fall into their usual places without a problem.
:)

I would love to be able to walk my 5 together but 5 bouncy springers , no way. Maybe when they get their brains at 14 I will be able to. Although I have to say off lead they are faultless.

Sandie I know just what you mean.  I only have the two but it seems like walking on a lead is a totally different thing to them than walking without which they do faultlessly.

slightly off topic I know...but you are planning a litter with no intention of keeping one???? :( Whys that then?
Incidentally iI walk 5 together....infact when all the pack are out we walk 48 between two of us!!!

I walk 5 dogs daily and occasionally 6. They are Golden Retrievers and could be a problem if they were not kept under control. I have 2 on the right hand side on a dual-trace and one on a single lead. I have the other two on single leads on the left.
I hold all the leads in my right hand.

When I introduce a new puppy to the morning walk at 12 months, I decide whether they will be a 'righty' or 'lefty' in order to keep the balance.
The youngsters soon learn from their older relatives and do not pull for long.

My pet hate is dog owners who are walking towards us with a dog off the lead, they seldom bother to put their dog on a lead and the dogs always seem to lunge at mine when we meet and this is really annoying. If I ever see another dog approaching, I always put mine on a lead to avoid any potential conflict, I sometimes wonder how many people really understand their dogs and how they might react to a pack of dogs.

I didn't plan the litter - I bought a bitch who'd had a clandestine liaison with the resident stud dog about three days earlier.....something of a shock for everyone concerned! However, all has turned out well although my husband & I have had, at very short notice, to put our lives on hold for the immediate future! Like unplanned babies, once over the initial shock, it doesn't mean unwanted. These pups are much loved.
Cathy.

<slightly off topic I know...but you are planning a litter with no intention of keeping one???? Whys that then?>

Why not?

If there are potential owners seeking a well bred, carefully reared puppy, why shouldn't someone breed a litter to supply the demand?
In the breed that I own, there is always a shortage of well-bred, home reared puppies and it gives us great satisfaction to occasionally breed a litter even if we do not keep a puppy due to the pleasure they bring to their new owners.
We have at least 3 homes available for every puppy that we breed and it is very frustrating when we cannot pass on the names of other breeders due to the high demand.

Believe it or not, but some of us actually ENJOY raising puppies whether we keep one or not. The nights of deprived sleep, becoming a vitual recluse and the mess is all worthwhile when we receive e-mails and photos from the puppies owners all claiming to have the best puppy that ever lived.

If the demand is not supplied by responsible breeders, we all know who will step in and supply sub-standard puppies at inflated prices.

We cannot preach to the public to 'buy a puppy from a reputable breeder' and then not give them the opportunity!

snomaes

I agree with you Snomaes. There is also the fact that you may want to keep a pup from the bitch, but not right now. There could be several reasons, the main one (for me anyway) being lack of space. A couple of years down the line, when an oldie has passed on, would be more convenient. Why, then, go and buy in from another line when you have a healthy bitch who, if you hadn't already bred a litter from her, would be too old to breed. Most breeders want to carry on a line, but don't want too manydogs in the pack. :)

Absolutely - then there is also the possibility that you have a bitch (particularly in rarer breeds perhaps) who is an excellent example of the breed and can contribute to its future development. Just because you may not be able to keep another dog at the time should the bitch not be bred from? As long as there is enough demand from suitable homes for puppies and the litter is carefully bred and well reared I see no problem in breeding without keeping a puppy. Not everyone can keep large numbers of dogs - and with large breeds in particular, the limits for an individual can be reached very quickly. That doesn't mean that these people should never breed on from their dogs if they are of appropriate quality etc, surely?

Janet

Also it allows you to see what your bitch can produce to different studs so as a better decision can be made as to what dirtection you wish or should take your line. You cannot do this with just one litter per genearation.

I too get immense pleasure in seeing how my erstwhile pups are doing in their new homes, and feel a lot of pride if they do something in the ring for their owners too, or watch a new breeder start out as a new custodian for the breed.

snomaes
thats fine if you feel the need to "supply and demand" your puppies. However I personally only breed when I want something for myself....any other puppies in the litter are then available to carefully vetted homes where a hound of such proportions would be suitable (i.e not many!) and its my H.O that that is the responsible thing to do. its a free world.

Getting back on topic of walkin more than 1 dog at onece, I find a coupling relly helps with not letting them tangle. I often walk 2 or 3 American Cockers at once, and up to 4 Pugs (No dont mean all 9 together!) In fact sometimes 5 pugs as Puglet comes too in her pooch pouch. It is important to get the basic idvidual lead training done singly, of course.
bye
Gwen

Sam - you should of course do what you consider appropriate but your comment sounds like you are suggesting that any other way is *not* the "responsible thing to do" - hope I am reading more into it than you meant. Several people have given perfectly good reasons why they might breed without keeping a puppy. Are they being irresponsible? I certainly don't think so.
Janet

<snomaes
thats fine if you feel the need to "supply and demand" your puppies. However I personally only breed when I want something for myself....any other puppies in the litter are then available to carefully vetted homes where a hound of such proportions would be suitable (i.e not many!) and its my H.O that that is the responsible thing to do. its a free world.>

As I said previously, if puppies are not made available to pet homes by responsible breeders, where are the potential owners supposed to buy them from?
The only way that puppy farms will ultimately be closed down is by making them financially unviable. If the supply of well bred, healthy and home reared puppies matched the demand, there would be no market for the inferior product.

We are also extremely careful about where our puppies go and it is not unusual to have to wait over a year for one to become available.
I know of some breeders that only breed every two or three years and their puppies are very poor examples of the breed, while others may breed three litters a year and most of them are excellent specimens.

It is not the quantity that is bred that is the issue, it is the quality.

snomaes

It always surprises me that on a board such as this- ie for dog lovers, so many people seem to be totally anti-breeding. What can be better than a carefully planned litter bred by a knowledgeable breeder & sold to responsible owners with after-care for the rest of the puppy's life? Would it be preferable for people only to buy unplanned/unwanted puppies that come from people who haven't a clue?

I have often wondered the same, but maybe we in the minority breeds don't see the horror of the over exploitation of the popular breeds for profit only, with the so called breeders not knowing or caring about what they produce.

Disney has a lot to answer for! :(

Dulux, Andrex and to a certain extent Hush Puppies also!

And now, of course, Citroen and .... is it Coronation St, or was it Heartbeat?

erm...Getting back on to the subject-
GO FOR IT! Most of these people have more than 2 dogs, and are getting on fine. It takes time, but it is really worh it. If you don't do this now, you will always wonder "what if..." but it will be too late. Think how nice it could be to have mother(you, mother(your girl) and daughter... it fills your heart with warmth. You have been with your girl all through pregnancy, so you And your girl deserve a piece of joy from it to keep... good luck.

Thanks for that! That's how my heart feels! :) :) :)
Cathy.

Nearly three months later - today I feel despondent and wonder if I can really cope! The pup is fine, doing well at his classes and just a normal, mishcheivous puppy - but my quiet, docile obedient lab bitch has:-a) turned into a greyhound!!! b) is much less reliable on recall than she was before....and c) really pulls at the beginning of walks, although we're persevering with walking backwards, changing direction etc. In addition she's so excited when getting in and out of the car that I can't manage her on my own.

I can't imagine I'll ever be able to walk them together, which isn't a problem now as Luke only has short walks, but will be when he's older and bigger. Help!!!!
I should add that OH helps at w/ends, but I'm alone during the week.
Cathy.

Dont worry.It'll come!! my 3 gsds get walked together but only occaisionally all other times they are walked seperately to get training done and too give them some individual attention. I do this by myself 2x daily and it can sometimes a pain but only when there are irresponsible dog walkers about. My 14 month old has just started being walked with the others and she is really testing my patience . I ve stopped taking her with the other 2 and have started taking her with the older one. She is fine when she is by herself but when shes with the others she feels the need to compete therefore the others start pulling more, but I'm conquering it slowly it just takes time, patience and a bit more training
good luck

Thanks!
Cathy.

Hi

I have a choc lab bitch (Luna) on 10 months and my friend, Kamille, has a gsd bitch (Bella) on 8 month. They are often walked together, by me or by Kamille - it depends on who comes home from work first.

The problem is that Bella pulls!!!!!!!! I have her on the left and Luna on the right side, because Luna doesn't pull. Well she is starting now, because Bella does it.

It isn't really that long we have to walk before they can get of the leads, but I don't trust Bella as much as Luna, so some times Bella is on a leash while Luna is of.

I can't connect with her on the walks. I've tried talking to her in a light tone, giving treats etc etc. She is not very foodmotivated and it seems that she shots of her hearing, when she is on a lead.

Do you have any advise?

Jeanette

Does Bellla walk well, and recall well, for her own owner?

Karen

Fortis,we have 4 akitas and 1 boerboel(just a baby).The akitas all walk great by themselves but if all 4 are together the pack thing takes over which is very hard work,so now we walk 2 at a time and then the pup,Phew!!!Sandra.

Hi

Bella does not walk well with either me or her owner.
The recall is average also both with me and the owner. Bella will come, if we put the hard voice on.

She is really curious and wants to say helloo to everybody she meets. The problem is, that we have a lot of immigrants from Turkey living here, and they are ALL very afraid of dogs. And a GSD running towards them barking is not so good.

She is very talkative!

The big thing here is, that my friend is living alone with her daughter who is 4 years old. It was probablely not a GSD she should have gotten, but she have had a black GSD before. She is an ex-trainer, so she should know better, than letting the dog go without training.

Not completely without training, Bella can sit and stay. But the pulling is a nightmare. I tried after my own traininglesson last sunday, but she is not interested in my extra good treats. So help!

Jeanette

my two labs are 4 and 2 and there walk on the lead together, the dog will sometime break line, to have a sniff, and wee, but the bitch wont leave my sided to i tell her, just practice, i started just walking around the block, on seperate leads, now there on a coplu and are fine, soon it will be three!!!

Clare

Sorry to be so dim- but what's a coplu?
Cathy.

Typo for a 'couple' (for attaching two dogs together rather than on separate leads) I think, Cathy. ;)

but don't you think they look lovely together?
i know i know that not everything....................... i have two staffs. father and son. i walk them together, baileys jabs were all done by 9 weeks, so he has been out walking since then. he's now 15 weeks on wednesday (today actually). The older one was just like yours pulling slightly more - i think to maintain in front of the youngest. just stay firm and in control and walking seperatley will give you control over the pup, and when you walk them together you should then have full control over them. When i walk bailey together with taz he is different a liitle less attentive, (free running that is) but on the lead he is the same.
good luck xx just think of those bisceps!!!!