Eli

Last September, I was visiting with my good friends, Gene & Lona Kluck from Watertown SD. I asked Lona "Which of your dogs is the very best?" She pointed to a black Drahthaar female named Enid vom Sodak.

I only keep females but, for several years, had been considering a male puppy to train. The Internet and magazines are full of great stud dogs, so I never felt the need to keep my own male. But, with travel, shipping and other costs increasing, I thought it might be smart to develop a male for my own use.

Eli arrived via airplane in March. Drahthaars are primarily braunschimmel (brown ticked) but a few come as schwarschimmel (black roan). The German registry prohibits breeding blacks to blacks to avoid the eventual solid black dogs, so the black ones are less common but Eli is certainly black.

In an effort to train this puppy "right", I dragged out all my old training books and made a spreadsheet with dates and tasks that he'd have to learn. We started with the basics: "Here", "Sit", and "Heel". He proved quite smart...maybe a bit too smart. Over time, he showed a willingness to learn and has been fairly easy to train so far. BUT, he is a rambunctious, ripping and running, wild one! (You will notice that I have the grip of death on him for his picture!)

I did not want to take his desire out of him but eventually, I just had to get a handle on him. Finally, at age 8 mths, I put the Dogtra Remote Training collar on him. He's grown a lot since the pic and is maturing into a beautiful, solid looking dog. These Drahthaars, to be bred, must be evaluated by experienced judges on their coat and conformation. So far, he looks like he might be special in the looks department.

Oh, he's a great responder now. But, I don't won't to get too dependent on that e-collar. This breed, if nothing else, is intelligent to a fault. They figure out quickly when the e-collar is on thier neck. I had an old retriever trainer tell me to put it on him every time I took him out of the kennel and the only day he did not have it on was during his breed tests. Maybe that is a good idea. I am not sure. I did that with Aggie, my older female and she still knew, after months and months, that the collar was absent.

One of the best investments I have made is George Hickok's training DVD's. About $50, and you get all four volumes. If I did what George says to do, I would have a well-trained dog. But, as everyone knows, it all comes down to time (and the right gear).

Sept 1 is "D-Day". After that, I hope to be less busy at the clinic and have some cooler weather. Then, we will step up the training to a more intense level. (I have seen 14 snakes around my house this year and killed two of them in my quail pen!). Plus, we have seen more snakebites in dogs this year than any I can recall. I have been cautious with my dogs as a result. Regardless, it is time to start serious work.

More on Eli later.....