The journey of Cash - my Hovawart Photos

Yes, I'm happy with his placing again, but the judge commented about his movement again and that he's 'paddling' on the move. Asked me to go around again, but I'm not sure it made any difference.

Richmond is already up on Dog World, but I can't access it unfortunately. I wish all judges were as quick as getting them uploaded! EoE hasn't been released yet, no, and NWPB Cash came third so didn't get a critique.

Well done on Merry's wins! Frustrating though isn't it when you don't get the critiques?

Here you go...........
OD (1) 1 RBD, Nichol’s Bergenhovs Jackpot, b/g, well marked, good wither height but at over 2 years of age I would have expected more body development, especially in ribbing where he is rather narrow all through. I liked his head pattern, eyes & ears, very good neck & head carriage & correct tail carriage. Moves out well in profile but hocks weak & need to firm up & to gain width in chest.

Thank you Jackie!

That's better than I was expecting to be honest. I think body wise he's just naturally narrower than some of the others. He has more of a sporty look to him I guess and I'm not sure I can broaden him out or help further develop him.

Chances are that if he is just built narrowly his frame won't change that much.
I find that ball chase exercises on a soft sand can do wonders to strengthen the overall musculature of the dog and helps with weak hocks/pasterns, if you cant get to sand grass will do, Tug of War is also good’ it helps build some muscles in neck & shoulders and in their rear end from bracing, up and down hills/sand dunes/grass banks.
I also used to walk over ploughed fields if they had soft soil, Swimming, pulling up hills all help, but it has to be done every day gradually building up distance ect:

There's not a lot you can do about the fame, but as said you can build up muscle tone, which can help, time may strengthen his hocks, but remember no dog will be perfect. It will all depend on what the judges criteria of importance will be, head, movement and so on .

East of England Ch. Show '16
Working NSC.

BD. Nichol's Bergenhovs Jackpot, 2 years Hovawart, nice size, balance & overall shape in profile, good head with kind eye, good length to muzzle, correct topline, moved really well.
Sue Searle.

Nice one Cash!

Brilliant, thanks Carole! Was waiting for that one. Nice his movement was commented on too as that continues to be an issue for us. The club show was last week and the judge commented that he missed out on a higher placing because of his pacing. But it seems some judges pick up on it more than others.

If he is pacing, try slightly increasing the speed at which you move him. This usually works, and can add a bit of pzazz too, - not too fast though or he will start to go close behind. Re. narrowness - your WT agility training should help develop his front, (it certainly made Eddie's front broaden). There's not a lot you can do about spring of rib, but a little extra weight might help complete the picture.
Let me know if there are any write ups you need.

Haven't updated here for a while. Not much news on the training front. We still train in WT's and now have a full set of jumps/scale in my parent's garden for use But we haven't got the scale completely set up yet. But he's easily clearing the clear jump and does about 7/8ft on the long jump - has done 9ft a couple of times.
We're also training in Rally and are looking into Scentwork. Currently in the middle of a platform course. So busy busy really

Had him DM tested last week and his results came back yesterday as N/N clear, so really pleased with that.

Showing is still hit & miss. Haven't been to one since LKA, but have one this weekend local to us. I have been practising hard on his pacing! And Jackie recommend a lady who puts on workshops that may help with our issue. However, currently I've discovered that allowing him to hold a toy seems to get a lovely trot out of him. Just trying to keep that level of focus with the toy in my pocket instead as obviously in the ring I don't think it would be great to have him holding a toy. I'm due to start ringcraft on Wednesday with him with a lady who holds classes informally at her own home. We attend training together & I ran him for her the other day and he was great! Very showy in fact I've noticed that when he does pace, a quick circle on the spot seems to help but unsure how often I'd be permitted to do those in the ring.

Anyway a picture of him having mastered his 'head down' trick

Happy new jumps! I have been looking into scentwork too, as there have been a couple of WSDA Level 1 courses held in the North West this month. As there seems to be at least 3 groups each with their own format, I do wonder which club's scheme is going to emerge as THE qualification to hold, - but if it's only for fun, I don't suppose it matters, and I'm sure my OAP's would love doing it.
Is your platform course one for using the obedience platforms for positioning?
Good news about Cash's DM result. Lovely photo.

Well, our first show of the year today. He did fantastic! I've been practising so hard on his pacing and today it paid off as he was brilliant in the ring. I was gobsmacked. We had one stretch of pacing but the judge asked me to start again and he corrected himself. I made sure I turned at every corner just to keep him on his toes and honestly, I was just happy with that as a result to be fair. Couldn't fault his performance today, which is just as well as he still placed 5th out of 5! Fingers crossed we may have turned a corner though.

A trainer in my club has just qualified as a fully accredited Scentwork UK instructor so that's he one I'd be doing. I understand there is TD Scentwork too, but not familiar with any others. Your Beagles would surely be a natural!

Yes the platform course is about precision heels/positioning etc. Quite interesting. Has me thinking more than Cash I reckon.

Don't tell me you were at Wood Green! I was there today. The main reason was the Bouviers but I took Merry along too. Not a good day for us either, I rushed her into her breed class without realising that she needed more than a quick wee, but she showed her socks off later in Veteran - to no avail - there were four Champions in the class though.

Yes Carole I was! What a shame we missed each other. I arrived much to early so sat back in the car for a while & came back just at the very tail end of the Bouviers.

Sorry to hear you didn't have much better luck with Merry. When you've got to go you've got to go, right? Are you at Isle of Ely next week?

Noooo! I'm getting far too old for long journeys and early starts. This was a one off. Stafford is more my style these days, just 30 minutes from home.
Cold draught in that Working ring wasn't there? Good luck next week.

Ah that's a shame. Understandable though.

Crufts done & dusted and I've decided to concentrate on his training more than showing this year. I just don't think showing is entirely his thing.

However, training is frustrating me I must admit as he almost constantly has his nose to the ground. This means I can't easily regain his focus and have to pull on the lead etc. This has been an issue for a good couple of years now but I'm yet to find a workable solution to reduce him sniffing/stop it entirely. I've even contemplated using corrections but really don't want to resort to that & make things worse and dampen his spirit.
I give him plenty of opportunity to sniff/toilet etc before we train and have tried using it as a reward, especially during walks around the village where I practice. I ask him to watch me and then release him to 'go sniff'. But in a training environment? Not successful.

Look for the positives, he should be good at tracking!
Seriously, I have exactly the same problem with Merry. I can lure her into a decent 'on the hand' position - though she is inclined to break into a collected canter - but unless I give her lots to think about, (like sits and varying the pace), the head will go down and she starts scanning for scent.
I have started to verbally click and reward a 'Head Up' command, and am now trying to extend the duration by using the '300 Peck' method.
http://www.pawsitivelydogs.co.uk>300peck (and some other refs. on Google).
Yes, you do feel a little foolish counting as you walk, but it does seem to convince them that the reward will come - eventually - without your needing to hold the treat over their nose. I'm not expecting miracles with my veteran dogs, but it does seem to help them focus on the job in hand when they lack concentration.

Yes that's true Carole. I have a training day booked in May for blood tracking which should be interesting. Lets see if given the chance to indulge in his obsession he will take to it well.

Very interesting about the '300 peck' method. Am just off out in a minute but will be back later to read through the link provided. I'm willing to try anything.

Have books/DVDs on focus games etc to hopefully give us new ideas too.

The wildlife is so active at present, badgers, foxes and bunnies, you haven't a chance with a scent mad dog. All our disused railway cuttings look as if they have been used for target practice - they will have to fight it out for lairs soon. I wouldn't say that Merry runs away, she just gets intoxicated by the trails.
I set my two a dry boot track on the rugby pitches last week. I was really pleased as it was the first this year - and they were only on plain collars. They shared a start point, but Eddie's track had a larger perimeter, and more legs. Mez spotted her branch off, and stuck to her line like glue - so stuck in that she almost tracked over her end reward. Bless!