Saturday 16 March 2013

Seminars at Crufts

This year I attended three days at Crufts, it was heaven although the distances driven were pretty awful, just under 1000 miles....the things we do for an education.
The seminars were:
Temperament testing by Nathalie Ingham (Battersea dogs home)
Rearing a Guide Dog litter by Wendy Adams and Caroline Peacock (Guide Dogs for the Blind)
First Aid in the field by Gill Simpson (retired vet)
Taking Canine Research to Business as Usual the Guide Dog way - not sure the names of the speakers.
and the best of all for me was:
The Canine mind- How Puppies learn by Professor Peter Neville Dhc BSc(hons).

I could have listened to Peter Neville for hours, I am a bit of an anorak over dog behaviour and he was talking puppies and behaviour so a winning combination.
Now one thing I will share:
The fear factor in young puppies, on average starts at 49 days but with different breeds a huge difference has been recorded.
Wolves 19 days
GSD 35-38 days
CKCS 55 days
yorkies 33 days
labradors (might have been Golden Retrievers!) 72 days.
So where does the Barbet fit in? hopefully based on one litter (so fairly non conclusive) I will be able to tell you in about 10 weeks, although my testing will be a bit Heath Robinson as I will not have heart rate measurements or saliva checking equipment but I will enjoy it and the pups will only benefit.
  

The KCAI get a thumbs up for organising the seminars