# Helping a beginner



## runfast (Jan 1, 2019)

Hi Everyone! I have fell in love with IPO about a year ago, but have waited for the right time to get a pup. I think that I am ready to get one, but I really don't want to screw this up so I thought I would come onto here and ask my questions to make sure. If you can answer any of these I would really appreciate it!

1. Can you give me a daily schedule that you use
2. How much of your training is "official," and how much is making them work for dinner etc
3. How much straight up walking/running do you do for them?
4. Any tips that I should know so that my puppy can have a super solid base?
5. Beginning protection tips?
6. Crated overnight as an adult dog?
7. Raw food diet?

Thanks so much!


----------



## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

runfast said:


> Hi Everyone! I have fell in love with IPO about a year ago, but have waited for the right time to get a pup. I think that I am ready to get one, but I really don't want to screw this up so I thought I would come onto here and ask my questions to make sure. If you can answer any of these I would really appreciate it!
> 
> 1. Can you give me a daily schedule that you use
> 2. How much of your training is "official," and how much is making them work for dinner etc
> ...



Hi. Sorry no one has answered you. I didn't even see your post. 

First and foremost, find a good club. 

1. The schedule varies dog to dog and also what level of training the dog is at. Our club meets 2-4 times per week and I try to make it to at least 2 if not all of the sessions (depends on my schedule). Then I track 3-4 times per week, do obedience a couple of times outside of the club so 4 - 5 days per week or so. 

2.I don't work my dogs for their meals. I pick puppies that have very high food drive. If we are tracking that day, I do feed a smaller breakfast. I also do try to keep my dogs lean so they aren't bored with their food.


3. They need conditioning so if they will swim I swim them 3X per week in the spring/summer/fall. Otherwise we do a lot of walks around my land up and down the hills. Maybe some ball play, but I try to be very careful with that. I also will bike. Sometimes I do things like run blinds. 



4. Get them out to see the world. They don't need to be touched by everyone or play with other dogs, but they do need to learn to function around them. No dog parks. Let them be puppies, but also get a good foundation on them. Look into Dave Kroyer's videos. He has excellent videos on teaching your puppy to think and learn. 
https://www.davekroyer.com/


5. Find a club. As an inexperienced person, you can do far more harm than good. No work is much better than bad work. First, though, get a pup with the right genetics. If the genetics are excellent, there isn't really much that you would need to do. 

6. My adults rotate sleeping on my bed. My current dog sleeps on the bed at night unless she is in heat. My puppies are crated. They are crated while at club and usually before we do any training on our own. 

7. I am a very long time raw feeder (almost 20 years). It can be a huge pain for traveling and if you are going to use meals for training and tracking. I use hotdogs for tracking and sometimes a bit of kibble (junk food, LOL) or I have cut up cooked gizzards and hearts too, but the hot dogs are so much easier. I use cheddar cheese for obedience.


----------



## Steve Strom (Oct 26, 2013)

> 5. Find a club. As an inexperienced person, you can do far more harm than good. No work is much better than bad work. First, though, get a pup with the right genetics. If the genetics are excellent, there isn't really much that you would need to do.


Just to add to this runfast, see the dogs in person and doing as many different things as you can. Don't get singularly focused on drive, nerves are the most important part of the dogs.


----------



## runfast (Jan 1, 2019)

Thank you so much! This was super helpful! I really appreciate it!


----------



## Chip Blasiole (May 3, 2013)

I think it is important to try to narrow down what traits you are hoping to obtain in your next pup. If you are new to all this, you probably don't have a good understanding of what the different traits are or what they mean. Then you need to find people who know something about the dogs in pedigrees you are looking at and what they know about what kind of dogs have been produced by the dogs in the pedigree along with health issues. Have you considered how much you are willing to pay for a pup? What kind of arrangements do you have to house the pup/dog when you are not there? Are you looking at show lines or working lines? It sounds like you are putting the cart before the horse a little. I would invest more time trying to learn about different traits and dogs/lines that tend to produce those types of traits. Finding the right club that is within reasonable traveling distance is also important and not all that easy in the states because of the size of the country. Like Lisa said, try to find a pup with the "right genetics." There can be some consensus as to what that means, but you can tailor things more by knowing what different lines tend to produce.
Here is an informative link for you to read.
https://www.schutzhundvillage.com/arminhome.html


----------

