And baby makes three!

[diamondlil]

Yep, Bertie was in need of a trim! Just a general clip all over and his topknot reduced from its epic proportions. a lovely long walk in the Autumn sunshine today, and our little friend Toby has a lookalike! (The blue pacifier? Flash stole it from Toby)

 

[MegF.]

Ahhhh, much more stylish!

 

[diamondlil]

Flash now has a crate upgrade. As he's already slightly taller than the others I've bypassed the medium crates they have and got a 'large'. I found an ancient money voucher that was a Christmas bonus from work about 8 years ago, with no expiry date. Persuading the store in question to honour it took a bit of work because they now issue swipe card gift vouchers with an expiry date on..but I did it!
The positive training and clicker is giving us a lot of fun. I'm building distance and time into 'wait' in slow steps, and changing up the rewards from small pieces of food to giving a toy or just effusive praise, with good results. Getting Rosie (and now Flash's) attention has never been hard, the challenge is to get Bertie to pay attention when I want and in more distracting situations. Chaining from simple sit to sit-wait-paw and leave it........take it! is great fun with all 3 dogs really engaged in the games.

 

[MegF.]

He's growing fast!!!

 

[Buzzbee]

He's getting so big now! Bless!

 

[diamondlil]

He's eating almost twice what the others do! His legs are ridiculous. I'm now wondering if there's a bit of greyhound in him. I'm also wondering if his parents were smaller than they could have been, judging by how huge he is compared to his 2 littermates I've seen a few times that I know aren't on very good diets for growing pups. It's a bit of a grey and miserable morning today but I'll try to get some comparison photos of him alongside Rosie and Bertie to show how big my 'baby' is already.

 

[diamondlil]

Of course, would all 3 dogs stand together looking in the same direction? No!

 

[diamondlil]

Today, some more free-running time for them. Just like the long walks, too much fast running would be bad for Flash at this stage, but letting him off-lead for a few minutes to run with the others gives him the exercise he needs to strengthen up and to learn to coordinate those legs!

 

[MegF.]

Free running on soft turf is just fine...it's pavement and hard surfaces that can hurt them...It's good for them to run...my puppies get the run of the farm and they take full advantage!

 

[diamondlil]

I beg to disagree on that, running full-pelt for extended periods, even on the softest turf, at this young age could ruin Flash's joints. Off-lead, my dogs don't amble, they race like the loonies they are, either chasing each other or something they view as potential prey. Flash certainly hasn't the stamina for any extended running yet, after a few bursts of acceleration he's tired enough that I call a stop to it. I'll follow the same advice I had from lurcher owners and breeders when Rosie was a puppy and keep exercise sessions short and sweet for now.

 

[MegF.]

Most of the time they won't run so long they injure themselves..straight line running on soft turf generally won't cause harm. My dogs will have spurts of running but then they stop, investigate things, walk around....trot a lot but they don't run for a really, really long time.

 

[diamondlil]

Most of the time they won't run so long they injure themselves..straight line running on soft turf generally won't cause harm. My dogs will have spurts of running but then they stop, investigate things, walk around....trot a lot but they don't run for a really, really long time.

Your dogs are ridgebacks though, mine are running dogs with the speed that outruns their brains. Many lurchers come to sorry ends because they don't see the fence they run into until they hit it, or are killed on roads because their chase instinct overcomes any training. Flash already has the overriding desire to chase, it's my job as his owner to protect him from himself. He doesn't know a 15 mile walk every day would affect his joints in later life, he'd happily trot besides me. He doesn't know racing full tilt after the others could cause lasting damage either.
I have no idea how early racing greyhounds are encouraged to run, I do know they retire with arthritis and injuries at about the age of 4 though. By limiting Flash now I'm hoping he'll mature steadily and be able to run for many years to come.

 

[MegF.]

True enough....although I think you underestimate a Ridgeback's prey drive...they are sight hounds just like the greyhounds, just aren't as fast...the are designed to run long distances though not short sprints. Mine were generally worked on leash or went on short trail rides or just hung out around the ranch where I kept my horses so they weren't going long distance. The rest of the time they ran and played at the house in the yard which was large, but not super large....

 

[diamondlil]

Whippets have been clocked at over 35 mph over short distances and have the shortest acceleration time out of all dog breeds. I'd dare say your dogs have a bit more of the brain to speed ratio, certainly they were bred for stamina, not for out and out speed like my loonies!

 

[MegF.]

Sometimes I think they have TOO much brain!!! I actually had to work to outthink them when I was training them for obedience competition! They come up with some creative ways to get out of having to do anything...

 

[diamondlil]

Holy Moly! Flash is now my biggest dog. He seems to have had a growth spurt and is suddenly taller and longer than Bertie.
Good news on our recall progress. There was an incident last night. Rosie darted under a shrub (I suspect she was following a rat trail) and instead of backing out was so excited she got her lead all tangled. While I was patiently extracting her, I let go of Bertie and he dashed off. The area this happened in has fencing to 3 sides and a busy road on the other, I never let the dogs offlead there. With my heart in my mouth I was calling Bertie back and he turned and ran straight to me away from the road. I don't think I've ever hugged and praised him so much as I did then!

 

[diamondlil]

As a reward for Bertie's excellence at recall yesterday, a good run today. Heelwork first, then off and away!
Flash got 15 minutes until he went back on lead and settled at my side for a rest, Rosie and Bertie got to bomb about the field in the long grass. Again, when Bertie recalled, big hugs and tons of praise. He's getting the idea and was very pleased with himself!

 

[MegF.]

Looks like fun!!! I want to run too!

 

[diamondlil]

The grassy rough area is literally rotten with fox earths, so no chance of Bertie running away from there. We found a stinky dead fox in the bushes, luckily the leads were back on by then so no rolling occurred!
While I was uploading those photos, Flash had tried to get comfortable in Bertie's crate, but he's just too big! So now the boys are cuddled up on the sofa and rosie is in her chair

 

[insomniac101]

J9, I really enjoy seeing pictures of your outings! I'd love to live in a more rural area - I have to drive quite a way to get to open land like that. Your dogs look so healthy and happy, and Flash has really grown!

My 3 dogs seem to have an aversion to touching each other. They never lay together like that on the couch; they will sleep next to me, no problem, but not each other. They need their personal space, for whatever reason. If they took advantage of each others body heat, they wouldn't have to suck all of mine from me!

Kathy