Dogs

[Bob]

We had a dog on the farm that was scared of cows (actually he was pretty nervous about most things), if you were trying to round up sheep in a field with cows in he'd disappear and come up behind you and bite you on your backside! Let's just say he wasn't the only one that was nervous

In more recent times we had a Lab and the vet, who knew we were keen on fell walking and being outdoors, advised that we didn't take him on the fell until he was a year old to give his skeleton time to develop and firm up. He ended up being a brilliant fell dog and did lots of my BG training with me - cue comments of "It's a Labrador ... running!", he would even come out mountain biking with us and would run by the back wheel when on the road. When he was about ten we noticed him struggling, it turned out that his spleen needed removing so we took a lot of care of him after that as he had a habit of passing out!

Be patient and you'll have many years of fun.

[Josh W]

Don't worry too much about coats and jackets if the dog is a naturally tough breed. I have a Border Terrier and he just wears a Ruffwear Tracker coat (basically a high-viz back cover). It's mostly so I can see where he is! Sometimes sticking a coat on them every time it steps outside can make it more of a softy and less "fell hard". Bear in mind though that sight hounds (greyhounds etc) are not suited to mountain running as they don't carry much weight and get cold very easily, hence why you usually see them wearing a coat. In horrific weather though, you'd be doing your hound a favour if you put a protective jacket of some sort on them where's Clyro.jpg

[sbrt]

What a lovely looking dog Mathew. How are you getting on together?

Wow some excellent info!

Aye Rosie is chipped (rescue dog), I'll be getting her next week. She's coming up to 7 months (next week).. Going to get a recall lead, introduce her to some gentle hills (round warton / silverdale) do 30 minute walks, train her to stick by my heel or run off on command.

Found out she's not German Shepard, no one is quite sure.. Obvious Collie