should I incorporate ring craft into training

Handy for exemption shows
Good to be able to stand and move your dog so that you can check for abnormal gait/injuries
See how hard showing can be

Hi Shona,
I think thats a great idea, but I am from a showing background so I'm a bit biased. I think the ideas you've had so far are great. I always start checking my dogs teeth from an early age so that they aren't spooked by the judge once they start showing, this is also great if they have to have them looked at by a vet as it comes as second nature to them. The same can be said of standing still and having a stranger touch them all over, especially their rear ends as some dogs are upset by that whereas a show dog, normally, won't mind as it's used to it. This is another experience that comes in handy at the vets or when doing stud work. (that was my dogs face the first time I used him at stud, lol).

Do it! Quite apart from the fact that it's just another discipline, it'll be great fun I'll bet they've all watched a bit of Crufts on tv, and even if they wouldn't dream of doing it themselves, they'll have a right laugh practicing it round the park with their dog-walking mates. Also, if you take away the mystery of these things, you might just encourage somebody to take it a bit further, and you could be responsible for opening up a whole new dimension for them.

Hi Shona Remember at shows the smaller breeds are what is known as table dogs and have to be gone over standing on a table. This is also good for when they go to the vet and have to be up on a table.

thanks all, we gave it a go ( and it was an eye opener ) lol but will keep it up as it seems to have advantages. We could not use the table for the little dogs tonight as I will need to get some rubber mat first, but definatly will be adding it in to training now as a dog that will stand still and be happy to have someone go over his body, mouth and so on. I was shocked to see how many owners can't do this, and they seemed to think it was alright for the dog to object, like well thats what the vets for, so we ended on a lecture about dogs cutting paws, geting something lodged between there teeth,
so looks like we will be doing a bit every week from now on, along with care and maintainance grooming and so on
X shona X

Thanks for the update, I'm glad that you felt it was of benefit, even if it's just the fact that the dogs will let their mouths or ears be looked at then it will be worth it. Good luck for future classes.

thanks scorpio with any luck it will be useful to dog and owner oh and the vet

thats a great itdea i have been doing the puppy foundation class and we was shown how to do a daily inspection on our pups and its great, it means the dogs get used to the handling for vets ect and we can see if there are any lumps ect before getting to bad. so good luck it is a great boninding time as well i think.

Hi Shona Glad it went well and thanks for keeping us posted. Good luck for the future I am sure it will prove to be a benefit to many of the dogs and their owners.