Whippets

[gilliwigs]

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After reading Julie D's response to markE, about her puppy and training classes, I wondered what other people's experience of obedience training is. I remember reading a couple of posts from people whose puppies/dogs had obtained Citizenship certificates but wondered if this was usual for whippets.

I am curious because I took Muffin to classes for a few months and he was a complete nightmare! Like Julie D's puppy he was fine for 10-15 minutes and then after that he wouldn't do anything he was told. :rant: He was far more interested in the floor and it's contents - we met in a riding school so the floor was very tasty! :x I was completely embarassed as all the other dogs were so well behaved. :b Even the trainer's couldn't get him to lie down which made me feel a bit better! By the time I got home from classes I was absoulutely shattered! :sweating:

I read somewhere on the web that whippets are very intelligent and like to invent their own games, but can't see the point of continually repeating things and therefore switch off after a few minutes. :- " Muffin will come when called now (as long as he's not off chasing something) and will sit when told - just - so I'm not too concerned but I wonder if I ought to try classes with him again now he's calmed down a bit.

Here he is on the eve of his 1st birthday. I'll post some pics of him with his pressies tomorrow! :wub: :wub:

 

[fallenangel]

Indy whent to her firts class as soon as her injections were complte we had looked at a few classes and found an ex police dog traner. no treets just cuddels and fuss as rewards and every exrsise is done only for a few minets and then change so Indy can do 1 1/2 class no problem and she has been showing the alsations and wrotwilers a thing or 2 the classes are done outsifde in a bust nosey area so they get uesd to distractons ahd it seams to sute indy just have a good look at classes in your area and fined one that suits your dog. we just wanted socilisation and basic odideance and reacall

 

[05whippet]

I must say we have a male Whippet here who would put most field trial dogs to shame!! (w00t)

My OH used to have springers and weimaraners for shooting so when we got our first Whip he was trained in exactly the same way :teehee: He is as all of them are now trained to the whistle.He sits at any distance to one blast,will sit and stay until you've thrown two dummies then will retrieve the first one thrown, on command and bring it to you then go back and get the other one.He will also blind retrieve and retrieve in water too. :thumbsup:

Everyone told us that Whippets were'nt very trainable and liked to do their own thing but I have to say that from our experience they are very trainable and bidable we now have five and would'nt have any other breed!! :huggles:

And our Whips show as well as work,so it's not as if they are solely from working strain. I think if you let them have their fun as pups and just make the training seem fun.... it works We need our dogs to be odedient as they are working dogs,but not everyone needs or wants an ultra trained dog it just depends on what YOU want.

Good luck :luck: anyway whatever you decide to do with Muffin,he looks like a very handsome chappie :wub:

 

[Crystal]

I do obedience classes with my whippets we have lots of fun, have done the Bronze good Citizen and am now working for silver. The good thing at our classes is that the trainer doesn't make the show dogs sit she gives you the option of standing instead. I can definitely say my whippets will match any of the other breeds in the class and they are always attentive.

 

[~whitecross whippets~]

my whippet bitch gypsy has just got her citizenship certificate at 15wks and was house trained by 12 weeks....but i would never let her off coss she only comes back most of the time which is not good enough and she jumps on the bed and refuses to get off! oh well we cant have it all!

 

[jools]

I have always enjoyed doing obedience with my dogs, Brodie my Lab X and Tizzy, my CollieX both got their gold Good Citizen without any trouble. Fern, my middle whippet passed her bronze at 5 months and her silver at 8 months, she absolutely loved it and was so eager to please. I just haven't had time to do her gold. Then there was Sky!!! Full sister to Fern, but a repeat mating so 12 months younger, couldn't keep still for 2 seconds never mind 2 minutes, she has no concentration at all, she drove me mad, she got her bronze and retired from obedience!!! I went to a good training class, no harsh methods, it was all reward based. Sky loved going, but sadly she just gets bored very quickly. It all depends on the dog, some love it and others don't.

Give it a try, but make sure you can go and sit in for a lesson without your dog. If you see anything you aren't happy with, don't go again!!

Good luck.

 

[Liz Third]

I do obedience with my whippets and they are mostly very good. The dogs better than the bitches who find it boring after a while. Some of them do the retreive and some just say"get it yourself"! But we all have good fun on the whole, but I do think you have to find a good trainer who understands hounds and breeds other than border collies.

 

[Strike Whippets]

I trained my Whippet's in a simular way to my collie and collie x ........They are all very responsive and eager to please, but like a collie it has to be fun for them :thumbsup: .......They need gentle training and a reason to want to do it ........All of my dogs (bar my old girl) retrieve frisbee's, ball's, rabbit's etc...... to hand .......and Inca and Connie put my obedience collie to shame ............

BTW Happy 1st birthday for tomorrow Muffin :huggles:

 

[alilemur]

I think I am in the same boat with Willow (5 months). After a few training sessions she is not quite the worse one there :b , but all she wants to do is play with the other dogs. She is much more of a 'free spirit' than the collies and german shepherds there (and more beautiful!), but I do watch them walking to heel and jumping the jumps with a little envy! I thought maybe we'd got a duff one (bless her heart!!) but maybe a combination of whippetness and puppyhood means 1 step forward, 2 steps back for a while. My friend has a springer spaniel of the same age who doesn't need classes as she is so well trained already (depressing). However, I have just discovered that willow will do recall from most things at most distances for 'chicken roll' which is a major breakthrough :thumbsup: Still haven't cracked being able to leave her alone though... :blink:

Alison

 

[Janimal]

Im taking Kobi aged 7 months to training classes on a Thursday evening for a couple of hours, he is doing very well and is very responsive especially with other dogs around and is especially good at recall.

I wish I had taken Oscar now - and I cant manage two on the same night, but will try to alternate them occassionally. Having two dogs for the first time brings new problems when you are out with them, so I find the classes brilliant, especially with the socialising and the other dogs and smells. :thumbsup: plus dont forget you cant expect miracles overnight - obedience takes TIME and PATIENCE

btw..... [SIZE=14pt] Happy Birthday to Muffin[/SIZE] :cheers:

 

[Julie D]

We've recently discovered a new treat ours likes- raisins so will try them at puppy class, and we also sussed out that Ella would prefer to perform 'down' on a fleece rather than the hard wood floor understandable if you're a skinny ! so the teacher said it was alright to teach her on a fleece.

When not getting much response this week whilst practising I used a leg of lamb bone with her - still not much undivided attention, although she coveted it on her bed later........what a funny girl :blink:

[SIZE=14pt]HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MUFFIN[/SIZE]

she would certainly give HIM her undivided attention :*

 

[gilliwigs]

We've recently discovered a new treat ours likes- raisins  so will try them at puppy class, and we also sussed out that Ella would prefer to perform 'down' on a fleece rather than the hard wood floor    understandable if you're a skinny ! so the teacher said it was alright to teach her on a fleece.

Josh would never sit down on a hard floor although Muffin seems not to mind. I've discovered that he walks perfectly to heel when out if I've got a little biscuit in my hand. o I can even get him to walk past other dogs still giving me his full attention - quite amazing really what a bit of bribery will do! :- "

By the way, a word of caution with the raisins. I've read that like chocolate they can be dangerous to dogs, though I think they would have to eat quite a lot of them, but if you have the little boxes it might be a good idea to keep them well out of the way just in case. :thumbsup:

Here's another picture for Ella to admire! :*

 

[debbiem]

I'm glad I'm not the only one! Lottie has been to classes a few times and and is proving to be very difficult! She absolutely refuses to lie on the floor (I read that Whippets are fussy about where they lie) and spends most of the time licking it and tying my legs up with her lead. she is getting a bit better at walking nicely, when she wants to! but has a short attention span.

Also she hates the car and is usually sick going there and back so I am pretty shattered by the time we get home! Still, I will keep going as it is good for her to socialise with the other dogs.

 

[fallenangel]

We've recently discovered a new treat ours likes- raisins  so will try them at puppy class, and we also sussed out that Ella would prefer to perform 'down' on a fleece rather than the hard wood floor    understandable if you're a skinny ! so the teacher said it was alright to teach her on a fleece.When not getting much response this week whilst practising I used a leg of lamb bone with her - still not much undivided attention, although she coveted it on her bed later........what a funny girl   :blink:

[SIZE=14pt]HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MUFFIN[/SIZE]

she would certainly give HIM her undivided attention  :*

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be carefull of you must give your dogs raisins. heres an artic i found quicky but there are lots more

http://www.drweil.com/u/QA/QA345319/

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_toxic_raisins.htm

 

[Janimal]

We've recently discovered a new treat ours likes- raisins  so will try them at puppy class, and we also sussed out that Ella would prefer to perform 'down' on a fleece rather than the hard wood floor    understandable if you're a skinny ! so the teacher said it was alright to teach her on a fleece.When not getting much response this week whilst practising I used a leg of lamb bone with her - still not much undivided attention, although she coveted it on her bed later........what a funny girl   :blink:

[SIZE=14pt]HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MUFFIN[/SIZE]

she would certainly give HIM her undivided attention  :*

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

​

be carefull of you must give your dogs raisins. heres an artic i found quicky but there are lots more

http://www.drweil.com/u/QA/QA345319/

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

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I was thinking exactly the same when I read that Wendy - well done for pointing it out to JulieD. :thumbsup: