A New Beginning...

Wendy Beasley starts training her home bred Border Collie puppy, Venus.

No matter how many dogs I have, a new puppy is always both exciting and slightly daunting. This blank page is waiting, and everything you do from the time it comes into your life will have an effect on the finished article. 

I have recently started out on this journey again, and although it is only four years since Lunar was at this stage it seems a lifetime ago when faced with this new pup Venus.  Nevertheless I have started the puppy training and she is showing herself to be full of confidence and quick to learn, even though I am beset with doubts and analysing her every move.

Venus is home bred and so we have had no difficulty building a bond, in fact she, more than any other dog I have had, decided very early on that I was “her person” and so recall has never been a problem, and she will come immediately when called even when running with our pack, which is very impressive. However, she is only five months old so let’s hope it lasts. She also learned a distant drop almost immediately, but I put this down to her strong sheepdog lines so take no credit for it. That said though, she doesn’t show any sign of “eye” other than a bit of cat stalking which is pleasing for me, but may well be a disappointment to her sheepdog ancestors. Most of all she is a bold and sunny tempered youngster that gets on with everyone and everything and is very willing to please, so the rest is really down to me.

So far we have done a bit of basic searching, a short sendaway, little bursts of heelwork, a good wait and the beginnings of a  stay, and she does have a very good spontaneous “speak.”  All of this is done at puppy level with no pressure and lots of reward and she appears to love the games we play so it is looking good, but the only worry is that she is not too fussed about articles.

As we are aiming for working trials I always start my pups with a “toy box” full of bits of “rubbish” that comes out only when we play together, and usually within a very short while the pup is obsessed by these things and willing to search diligently for them when they are hidden around the house and garden. Not so Venus though, while she is happy to play with me and an article, and will pick up and hold anything from wood to metal to cloth, she seems only to be interested in them when I have got them and we play tug or tease.

Once I throw or hide them she loses interest and waits for me to do something else exciting. This is not something I have come across before and at only five months old it is not really a problem, but I will have to put my thinking cap on to figure out how to get through to her that it is the articles that are exciting and not me! As this is the basis for all nosework in trials we will need to crack it, but strangely enough she shows good signs of searching for a toy on the field when we are playing and she loses it, and she definitely uses her nose to find it, so I don’t see it as a problem just a matter of time. 

Heelwork at this stage is just a few paces and then a play, and she is beginning to look quite stylish so this is not a worry. I am amazed at how quickly she has caught on to sendaway and she will already do about 30 yards flat out and wait when she arrives, so this is a very good start.  Speaking has never been a problem so we don’t work too much on this for fear of it becoming a nuisance, but she will bark spontaneously on one command and is happy to do this anywhere in any surroundings, which shows amazing confidence in one so young.

All in all she is coming on well and sometimes shows great maturity, but for the most part she is just a little pup with a super temperament and willingness to please, and if she doesn’t turn out well we will know who to blame – so no pressure!

Venus
credit: Beginning to look like Heelwork

(posted: Tuesday, August 14, 2012)

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