WHEN 2 START WITH WHIPPETS?

[mike@NYorks 1]

i hope my whippet/beddy doesent yap but if she does and still catches one a night i dont care it will only be ferret food or for the pot.

 

atb liam

 

 

well said mate

 

atb mike

[wirral countryman 2,110]

i hope my whippet/beddy doesent yap but if she does and still catches one a night i dont care it will only be ferret food or for the pot.

 

atb liam

I have owned a first and second cross beddy/whippet and both slaughted fox,good hard working dogs but need to be kept disciplined around livestock once they have taken a fox,not bad rabbit dogs and great ratters

[brambo1938 9]

JAKEY To train a whippet not to yap you first need to train him to obey the "stop what you are doing now" command. Every time he does something "wrong"(biting the furniture-pissing against the door-jamb,whatever) you say his name followed by "Ah".This will distract him and hopefully he will stop what he's doing.if he dont stop say"Ah" again but louder and gently pull him away from what he's doing.When he stops give it 5 seconds to sink in then say "Good dog" and fondle his ears-whippets dont need "treat training" they are eager to please and as trainable as a poodle.He will soon get the message.

 

Never raise your voice above a normal level and dont correct him so much that he becomes nervous.

If you keep in mind that the "Ah" command is NOT a bollicking but simply a message from you to him that you want him to stop what he's doing then you will convey that to the dog and make all his other training that much easier.

 

When you are sure that he understands what you require (be patient - it may take a week or longer-) take him along to a whippet race meeting where he will hear other whippets yapping. Park out of earshot of the other dogs and walk slowly towards the noise.At some point he will hear them and become excited and start to yap-stop and give him the command.Depending how well you 've trained him he should stop.If he dont then go back out of earshot and try again eventually he will stop yapping.Immediately he stops you sit down,give the dog a cuddle and pull out a packet of crisps or sandwiches and spend half an hour "sharing" them with him.

 

This is not treat-training , its distraction training--he can hear other dogs yapping but is too distracted to respond.After half an hour move forward 20 yards closer and sit down again -if the dog yaps give him the command -he WILL stop.Just sit there for 20minutes or so giving him the command whenever he gets excited.Dont go any closer-you have just trained him not to yap.

 

If you cant get to a race meeting you can provoke him into yapping by not slipping him when the other dogs go when ferreting and then giving him the command but that will take longer or you could try a dvd with yapping whippets on it.

 

In your place I would give the dog two more months to see if he grows out of it -if he dont you now know how to cure it.I have trained at least a dozen whippets this way and it works every time.

 

Let me know how you get on ? cheers Brambo

[chriselvis5 0]

Nice advice........would it work on the mrs

[brambo1938 9]

"work on the missis" It did in the 1950's I doubt it would now !!http://www.thehuntinglife.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif

[chriselvis5 0]

Ive just got hold of a whippet x beddy bitch 9 wks old this weekend, ill keep your advice in mind just in case she yaps

[brambo1938 9]

chriselvis 5

 

 

Good luck with with your whippet x beddy ,cracking dogs ,those I've seen !

 

 

Even it it dont yap you might wanna teach it the "stop it" command.

 

I train my dogs(or used to when I was young enough to run behind a running dog across big land )to the silent whistle== one "peep" for "stop it ", two "peeps" for recall.So "peep" pause "peep-peep"means "stop whatever you are doing and come back to me" which is a much more powerful command than "come 'ere you b&stard".

 

If you get the training right and constantly reinforce that training you can actually override a good dog's prey drive at least to the point where it will slow and see the barbed wire its about to run into. .I've seen so many good dogs killed or injured for want of a positive recall that I wont work a dog untill it has both those commands down pat.

 

atb