Foundations of Canine Behaviour Management

Having grown up with dogs, enjoyed showing and training them for the field, grooming them as a living and taken a passionate interest in their health and nutrition, I suppose that an interest in canine behaviour was going to be a natural progression.

As such, it has been one of my amitions for a long time to study canine behaviour and obtain some formal qualifications in this area but it has been a long time in the planning, since anyone who is interested will know that there are hundreds of study programs out there but which one to follow?

However, in recent years I have had the good fortune to befriend a lady who herself shares this passion and has herself studied in this field and was able to give me some well appreciated guidance as to the courses that I should follow. The result of this is that I have finally posted my registration to study the Foundations of Canine Behaviour Management Diploma in preparation for studying the Advanced Diploma in Canine Behaviour Management which I hope will eventually lead to a degree. 

I am really excited at the prospects of getting my teeth into this as I feel that health, nutrition and behaviour are all closely linked.

Waiting for dinner ...

Flash has decided that his place is at the head of the table although he hasn't quite worked out how to use a knife and fork :-))

Fund Raising For GWP Rescue

Raising funds for GWP Rescue - the GWPC is holding a photo competition with fantastic prizes. The competition closes on 16 April. Entries taken 'online' or by post.
Download the form here - http://gwpclub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/GWP-Calendar-Photo-Competition.pdf
There really are some fantastic prizes and all proceeds go towards GWPs in need.

Crufts 2012

Well it's that time of year again and I have spent the last two days at the NEC in Birmingham attending Crufts. This year and for the first time in a long time, I went to Crufts on Gundog Day without a four legged friend - my own fault, since would you believe I missed the closing date! Our judge was the well respected breed specialist Mrs Diana Durman-Walters who is currently the President of the German Wirehaired Pointer Club and our Health Co-ordinator (with the Kennel Club). Diana had an entry of 39 wires which for such a well respected judge and at such a prestigious show was nothing short of shocking but of course as a breed we are now suffering the effects of the docking ban which means that many of our quality youngsters who by virtue of the fact that they are docked are 'Docked and Denied' and are unable to attend even if they have 'qualified' to be there. There were no entries in Special Puppy Dog, Special Puppy Bitch, Special Junior Dog or Special Junior Bitch.

Despite all of this I had a lovely day helping to man the German Wirehaired Pointer Club stand and meeting up with old friends.

Best of Breed was awarded to the very beautiful Timo - Sh Ch/Ir Sh Ch/Am Gr Ch/Int Ch Timo II v Bockenhagen at Kimmax NAVHDA UT1 Euro Winner 09 (IMP Deu). Well done to his owners Maxine and Peter McCullough and handler Courtney Bastian who had flown in from the States for the privilege of handling this lovely boy at Crufts.

Today I went back to the NEC to watch the Border Collie judging and whilst I don't own another breed you could call this my 'second breed' since my best friend and formerly my business partner has owned and bred border collies for a number of years and as much as she shows and interest in 'my breed', so I show an interest in 'hers'. I would go as far as saying I have learnt a lot from following this breed - not only about conformation and movement but about health conditions too, since in my opinion Border Collie breeders are far more open about conditions which affect their breed than I have found in wirehairs. I didn't envy the task of the two judges - one for dogs and one for bitches - given the quality and number of the dogs and bitches which had entered. In Open Bitch there were 34 bitches entered which nearly numbered the total number of wires entered in the Breed yesterday! There were some lovely dogs and bitches there and I must confess I could have been tempted to bring one or two home.

My bargain of the day at Crufts was a book on raw feeding produced by Honey's and entitled Natural Feeding Handbook for Dogs. Retailing at £7.50 this little gem was available for £1 on production of your Crufts catalogue. I haven't read it yet but looks like one to put in my next puppy pack and they have said that they are happy to produce certificates for free samples for breeders to issue to puppy buyers too. For anyone interested, Honey's are in Hall One.

Winnie's visit to the Cardiologist

Recently the subject of Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) has been a topic of coversation in the GWP community following a number of cases of confirmed and suspected DCM involving a small number of GWPs. The GWP Club recommends that anyone planning a litter or planning to use their dog at stud test for this condition using the Echo-Doppler technique. Whilst the test is not definitive it can give an early indication of abnormality. Today we took Winnie along to Sarah Smith who is a panel cardiologist based in Derbyshire. Winnie was such a good girl and slept on the table through most of the proceedure - I think the highligh of the visit for her was the treats that Sarah gave to her at the end. Sarah said that everything looked perfect and she was happy to give Winnie a clean bill of health. Obviously we are delighted that Winnie has tested clear of the condition, we would have been devastated at the thought of her suffering from this condition and if we have a litter from Winnie we want to make every effort to ensure that her puppies are fit and healthy and of sound temperament. The results that Sarah has recorded today will be sent along with a copy of her pedigree to Joanna Dukes McEwan BVMS, MVM, PhD, DVC, Dip.ECVIM-CA(Cardiology), MRCVS of the University of Liverpool Small Animal Hospital who is a leading authority on DCM and has kindly offered to undertake studies into this condition and how it is currently affecting our breed.

The Cost Of Raw Feeding

Okay, I am being boring now (no change there then) but have you worked out what it costs you to feed your dog per week? I did a quick sum tonight... My dogs are fed a raw diet and they are fed twice a day and Ollie and Flash are fed three times a day. They get a breakfast of raw meaty bones (predominantly chicken carcasses and occasionally breast of lamb or pork shoulder ribs or pigs tails or rabbit) and supper is mince - beef, tripe, lamb - with added offal twice a week (heart, liver, kidney, lungs), eggs twice a week, sardines twice a week and veggie/fruit slop at least twice a week. It costs me roughly £6 per week to feed my dogs this diet ... and of course a little effort since it doesn't just fall out of the bag :-))

Training with Nigel Dear

We are very fortunate that Nigel Dear of Llanforda Gundogs (www.llanfordahpr.co.uk) lives a short journey from us. We have trained with Nigel in the past and very much like his gentle but disciplined approach to training. Since Flash is now six months of age, we feel that Gary and Flash would now benefit from some structured one-to-one training with Nigel and as such, we have booked their first lesson together the aim being that Gary and Flash may appear at some working tests this summer and Gary can then begin working Flash on the shoot next season.