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Originally posted by LICrottie
I haven't thought about working with her basically because I don't know what it entails. I have never formally trained a dog beyond basic commands. I was originally looking for a great companion dog, but the Sire's owner encouraged us to work with her because of the quality of the litter. I am already plan on basic obedience lessons at 4 months and moving on to the next level from there, but how do I get started with tracking and ragwork (especially indoors for another 6 weeks). Any recommended reading?? |
There are so many books out there and I will list a few, but frankly, I would find a good working club and join. I have a bitch that I cannot do bitework with because she does not have the drive, but I still do OB and Tracking with her. My male has nice drives and right now I do tracking and ragwork because he is too young to seriously work beyond basic OB.
It really depends on what style you want. AKC offers Agility, Herding, Carting, Competitive Obedience, Tracking, etc. Or you can do Schutzhund and join a working club. If you don't feel comfortable with bitework, then DVG offers just tracking and obedience trials. Just be careful. There are a lot of clubs out there, but you still have to be choosy.
As far as tracking, I started Disel at 8 weeks. Yes, I know he did not have all of his shots, but frankly I tracked him in feilds where other dogs are not likely to roam and he was only tracked once per week. Definitely avoid walking him and letting him down on floors right now, but no reason you can't track him. I will post to let you know how to get started after this post.
I notice you are in NYC. I work with a really good working club in Middletown, NY. We drive 3 hours to get there as we are from Reading, PA area, but there are quite a few club members who drive in from NYC. They train eveyr Saturday. If you are interested, PM me and I will get you details. We are going up this Saturday if you'd like to come observe. Tracking starts at 8 a.m.