Tell me about your GSPs and your daily routine

dressagelove

dressagelove

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Me and my partner are almost, finally in the position to get a couple of dogs. We move out of our flat into a lovely country cottage later this summer.

My partner works shifts, usually he is out in the mornings, and evenings. He is in, during the middle of the day about 3/4 days out of the 5.
I am a postgrad, and will (hopefully) by the time we move into the new house, be in full time employment! So I will be out all day, but in at night. We were thinking that for the days where we are both out all day, we could get a walker to come in and take them out...

We absolutely love GSPs. We went to meet a local breeder who had four, and they were just gorgeous. The breeder was lovely and well gave us lots of information on the dogs.

We have a big garden in the new place, and thinking we might get an outdoor kennel / area where they can go while they are out. We have had it drummed into us about training, and how we must get the recall command taught asap before they learn they can leg it off, and how it would be easier not to have two puppies together, but wait until one is about 12 months old before getting the other one.

Tell me more about your GSPs, what are they like, how long are they left during the day, how easy are they to train, and so forth? Do they get bad separation anxiety, or is this something we can train out of them while they are young?
Thanks, pics would be lovely too :)
 
What a great choice of dog :-) mine does suffer with separation anxiety and very badly but this is due to him being blind in one eye and our lack of crate as a pup which he being trained at the age of 5 and is going well. But that is his only fault.

He is the most special dog. He's gorgeous, loyal, graceful.

Digger is very set in his ways, he knows who feds him his routine, on a week day he goes to the yard with my mum 7.45 till 1, he runs the fields on the yard and not off our land, plays with our other dog, or sleeps, comes home and sleeps till back to the yard 4-7, running around, we do dog training, play ball, cycles or hacks besides me. When i am off work we go dog training and agility which he enjoys.

At night he has a play with his toy and then sleeps the whole evening and night.

His recall was a bit slow to understood and i would say from a pup it's something i would do straight away and i would crate too.

I will post some pics soon
 
Harley wakes up at 7am (he is crated as he can also get SA and he loves his crate!). He then gets into bed with me till I drag him out to go up the yard for 9!!! He would and does stay there all morning if he had the choice (we have found he won't get up till 2pm on his own routine!!!!!!!)

We are up the yard for 1-3 hours. He is not allowed to wander off on his own and is either playing ball with me as I walk horses in and out or he is tethered in the yard. We usually try and do 20 mins of agility training 3/4 times a week while at yard.

Then he goes home where he will just sleep and will be there till about 5 when we go back to yard and have a similar routine for at least an hour.

Once home he had dinner and then he crashes on the sofa until bed time when we take him out for a 10 min lead walk.

If he hasn't a good run up the yard I will take him for an hours walk. He does agility class one day a week. We compete another day at least once a month at the moment and he goes doggy swimming once a month.
 
His separation anxiety goes in peaks and troughs to he honest, we make an effort to leave him regularly. We have definitely found the crate his answer. Out if the crate he paces and winds himself up. When in his crate with a kong he settled.

If you work full time I would say you'll have to work hard at it. It is not a breed of dog that likes being left at all.

Personally I found H easy to train.... We went to a puppy class and moved up to the advanced adults group by the time he was 6 months old!!!!! He loves to learn and do training and he is at his best when I am teaching him new stuff all the time. That's why we took up agility and LOVES it!!!! He is very driven by his ball and my friends always comment how well behaved he is (although I see his faults!!). But we seem to have a lot of deer up the yard at the moment and I have recalled him perfectly off 2 in the last week so he can't be that bad??!!! (Touch wood!!!!)

I will post some photos tomorrow when on computer! :)
 
Great choice of breed! GSP's are awesome dogs! I have two, litter mates, although we got the first at 16wks, & her sister later when they were a year old. I'd agree with the breeder re getting one first, & then another about a year later - much easier to train one! I do find they are very easy to train however - in fact they thrive on it! I find they don't need loads of exercise, so long as they get the right kind of exercise. Mine get to run free in the fields, & also train in harness once or twice a week, which they love. They love to "work" & i find it hard to get them switch. We do clicker training too. I haven't had any issues with SA, but they are never alone.

Click on the link for a piccie of my girls: (it was showing up huge when i put the photo on directly!)

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e344/gilli5/67903894-fa0d-4024-97a6-2602241841cd_zpsb573ee3f.jpg

If you decide to rescue as opposed to buy from a breeder, take a look at this site. The lady who runs it is lovely & tends not to have loads of dogs for rehoming, but those she does home are very carefully placed. I think she has reps & fosterers all over the country, as she has rehomed GSP's far & wide.

http://www.gsprescue.co.uk/shop/pag...ZCVDVGd129ehFQlmebEcLnzmrOmRDBMYL&shop_param=
 
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