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Hi Everyone:

I just joined and I am trying to figure out a couple of things. I really don't know anything and don't want to get a dog yet until I can find the answers to the questions below.

I would like to use starter dogs, I know dumb idea, and go mostly into obedience for now until I can get some good results with my bottom dwelling little darlins happy

1.) Do I need to start them off with high quality food? (original adults)
2.) Once I have my first litter or two, should I go find me a good stud and outcross the starter pups and then be able to use their offsprings to breed back to the 2nd gen starters?
3.) What can I do with the excess I don't want anymore and if I have to put them into the retirement couch am I still needing to feed them.
4.) Since Obedience doesn't require perfect specimens, is it possible to be able to win the titles once the pups are old enough?
5.) The 5 sessions I have now as a basic..is that for each dog or just for the whole pile.

Thanks

Welcome!

I can't answer obedience or source breeding questions but I can help answer some.

1) If you aren't showing males, no. However, if you are breeding bitches, I recommend a high quality food, especially for high condition, as poorly conditioned bitches will pass their poor condition on to their puppies.

If you are showing at all, you want your dogs to be on a high quality food to improve and maintain their condition, muscle tone, and coat condition.

3) You can retire them but you can also "Forever Home" the dogs you don't wish to keep. More about that here:

https://www.showdog.com/help/topic.aspx?id=44

5) I was under the impression that basic kennels get 20 sessions per day? Either way, it's one session per action.

I'd give this a read, too, it's a great How To:

https://www.showdog.com/forum/read.aspx?id=391848

Hopefully, someone more versed can answer your other questions and if you have more, ask!

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posted by Landreth Kennels
Hi Everyone:

I just joined and I am trying to figure out a couple of things. I really don't know anything and don't want to get a dog yet until I can find the answers to the questions below.

I would like to use starter dogs, I know dumb idea, and go mostly into obedience for now until I can get some good results with my bottom dwelling little darlins happy

1.) Do I need to start them off with high quality food? (original adults)
2.) Once I have my first litter or two, should I go find me a good stud and outcross the starter pups and then be able to use their offsprings to breed back to the 2nd gen starters?
3.) What can I do with the excess I don't want anymore and if I have to put them into the retirement couch am I still needing to feed them.
4.) Since Obedience doesn't require perfect specimens, is it possible to be able to win the titles once the pups are old enough?
5.) The 5 sessions I have now as a basic..is that for each dog or just for the whole pile.

Thanks

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Some insight answers:
1. I know most kennels around here use a custom feed, 1777. This is known as the conditioning feed in my kennel for a custom ration.
2. I would suggest out source breeding from the start. Depending on the breed you may have to ask a few kennels if they are still actively breeding and showing if they have any up at stud.
3. You can sell (less likely to bite form source dogs, aka people like higher SOP) or forever home dogs. Forever homing means they are going to pet homes out of your kennel. They can't be retrieved or reclaimed.
4. Yes, obedience titles go based on skill training. Your sessions will improve there performance in the trails. They can start trails at the age of 14 days and go until the pass away.
5. You will get more sessions the more dogs you have, you will have a limit on how many dogs you can have a basic but I would be happy to help in any way.

Which breeds are you looking at getting into?

Our source breeding:

I would look at your females and breed them to a higher SOP (quality) dog to improve your starter lines. Make sure to check for COI (related blood), when you source from other studs you can improve your lines but you can also use your own males to start off as well. If they are 6-10 SOP they can produce lower or higher SOP dogs.

I can give some tips and advice if you would like anytime. I started with my Plott hounds the same way and now I am starting to get my third litter this week. I can't wait to see your hard work pay off.

For obedience:

I started my Dalmatian at 14 days old, the first few trails they will not place and have NQ in their "show results" portfolio. I would suggest having 10 on Heel on Leash, Stand for Exam (Moving Exam), Heel Free, Long Sit and Long Down. These will get you through Novice A. Depending on how many dogs are entered you can get more or less points.

I can cover more of the short abbreviations for the sport as needed. If you need anything, I am always free throughout the day a.k.a. I don't have a busy schedule.

Ok..I made my first dogs..West Highland White Terriers. The male’s (Buster) SOP really sux..it’s only 4.95; Addy’s is 25.1; Betty is 8.4 and Cassie is 11.7. At this moment I have them all on “Pet House for Adult Dogs”. I had 20 sessions so I did all the Health, Obedience and Training first and then added Heel on Leash and Recall to use them all up.

I did check on other kennels and found 3 that still breed and have stud service. [Arundelrose2 and Tollers N Terriers] I can afford to pay stud service for. Now I may be wrong but I think I should FH Buster and give Betty one chance to see what her offsprings will look like. She does have one perfect score.

Guess I will have to wait until the 17th before I can breed them. Won’t let me do them today. So if the owners allow it…I was thinking Betty x GCH AUCHENLECK RAGING BULL (SOP 97.10); Addy x CH TNT NATHANIEL(SOP 96.5) and Cassie x CH TNT ELWOOD (SOP 96.3). Does that sound about right?

Looks like you have it planned out. When you breed to a higher SOP you usually are more likely to get a higher SOP more than the Dam. All three are great and I would not have picked any better sires for the litters. Make sure to ready the kennels Bio as they might have posted about if you keep a male to put him in the stud when he is 30 days old.

All dog can't breed until they are 30 days old. In the mean time keep focusing on better the condition (food) as the dams will past that score down to the puppies. Pet house food will do just fine but some dogs end up doing better with a 'higher quality' food such as conditioning or show adult. I haven't had the breed so I can't help much more than my advice from starting my source dog program.

I know you plan on obedience for titles, there should be four novice trials, one for each day. It should usually take two to three trials for them to start passing and getting points. You will start in Novice A, it will take 15 points to get into Open A. If your dogs don't start doing better in Open A you can go down to Novice B which will help them prep from Open A. Same goes on for Utility A and B. Utility points will finish your title off.

Any additional questions, feel free to ask away I will be on and off all day.

P.S. All results are out at 12 Central Time. For me that is an hour before 12.

Just to let you know, as this does not seem to have been brought up.

As a basic kennel you will only be able to breed during the first month. After that if you still want to breed, you will have to become a paid up subscription.

You can still buy and sell dogs, and show and do obedience, but breeding will stop being an option.

Also the custom rations that have been suggested are only available to paid subscribers, unless you purchase a pup already on a custom ration.

Hope this makes some things a little clearer.

Well, I done it....I upgraded to Standard and thanks to everyone's advice I am hoping I will be off to a good start...

First litters are due May 22nd

Well, I done it....I upgraded to Standard and thanks to everyone's advice I am hoping I will be off to a good start...

First litters are due May 22nd

I do have one more question..would it be advisable to see if I can find a pup of a different breed to learn the show circuit? And if so..any advice on a breed?

Nice - welcome aboard

Do you want to stick with terriers? If so, this user has two almost fully sessioned Welsh Terriers for sale. You can jump right in:

https://www.showdog.com/dog.aspx?id=18756798
https://www.showdog.com/dog.aspx?id=18756807

Or, I'd just check here and see what's for sale:
https://www.showdog.com/dogsforsale/

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posted by Comet Poodles
Nice - welcome aboard

Do you want to stick with terriers? If so, this user has two almost fully sessioned Welsh Terriers for sale. You can jump right in:

https://www.showdog.com/dog.aspx?id=18756798
https://www.showdog.com/dog.aspx?id=18756807

Or, I'd just check here and see what's for sale:
https://www.showdog.com/dogsforsale/

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Well your little poodles look pretty darn good too. Like the looks of DOG #18792235 the little red one. Will you sell it to me?