Page 125 - K9News_Issue12_July2020
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As luck would have it, or maybe it really was       has unfortunately been me. My lack of skill and
           fated to be, we found a breeder with a recent       knowledge has held Dexter back with agility,
           litter. We were looking for a male with black and   though we continue to endeavour on.
           tan markings. When speaking to the breeder we
           discovered there was only one within the litter.    Though we have been avidly involved with field
           At every turn it was feeling more and more like     sports for many years, many of the gundog
           this was meant to be.                               breeds were not suitable to our situation. With
                                                               the German Pinscher being such a versatile
           Just a month later I was picking up the newest      working dog, we hoped that working with
           member of our family. The moment he was in          beaters would be a suitable challenge. Though
           the car with me, I knew it was the best decision I   I can honestly confess that retrieving is not
           ever made. Of course, like any good dog owner       Dexter’s strong suit, he is an excellent flusher.
           knows, from that moment on our lives were           He is agile, extremely fast and surprisingly quiet.
           never the same. Though 3 years later I can          Having Dexter with us during the winter months
           happily report they have never been better.         of wind, rain, mud and snow has made it so
                                                               much more enjoyable, even if he does dislike
           As a breed the German Pinscher might not be         the rain. He has been coming with us since his
           for everyone, but for us, they are more than        first winter. If you could see him in the car as we
           perfect. For anyone that wants a dog to enjoy       approach the shoot, no one can deny how much
           life to the fullest with. To take part in as many   he loves it there and how much he loves the
           activities as you can think of. A dog that has      work.
           huge amounts of character and an intellect that
           is so evident you can see them thinking.            From the moment that we got Dexter home we
                                                               have kept in touch with his breeder. Throughout
           Since Dexter joined our family, he has brought      the first weeks he was always available to
           so much more to our lives. As I am sure             answer any of our questions and was always on
           many dog owners before us have, we tried            hand with advice. It was thanks to him that we
           to ensure we were as prepared as possible.          were introduced into the world of competitive
           We researched all the things that were              dog shows.
           recommended to do with a new puppy. Though
           we started some training at home from the           I have watched Crufts since I was a child and
           start, we knew that we wanted to
           join puppy training classes and
           socialisation early on. It was clear
           as soon as we started training how
           intelligent he really was. We quickly
           moved through the basic training
           and worked our way up through the
           classes.

           At this point we knew that we
           needed to be doing more with him.
           He was so quick to work things out
           I knew I needed to look for more
           areas of stimulation. Here we turned
           our hands to agility. A fantastic
           pastime that we found Dexter
           thoroughly enjoyed. I am slightly
           ashamed to say that we are still in
           the basic stages. Dexter of course
           being perfectly made for this sport,
           picked it up very quickly. The holdup

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