What Her Owner Says:
Winnie is a Portuguese Water Dog. We welcomed this sassy little pup into our home in August when she was 8 weeks old. Even though we were experienced dog owners, in the past we had made some wrong decisions regarding training and didn’t want to repeat this, especially as the breed is rather opinionated, stubborn and very mouthy!
I was recommended to K9 TAC and just assumed I couldn’t start training with Madeleine until Winnie had completed a puppy class and be much older. I was so wrong!
Training started at home the week after we got the pup. As we already have a 6 year old PWD, we initially focused on positive behaviours between them. At 12 weeks Winnie joined the adult group classes. The first session she mainly just sat and observed her new surroundings, watching the other dogs and saw chickens and a cat for the first time. After the hour she was a rather tired, happy pup to say the least.
She is now 24 weeks and absolutely loves all her training at K9. It’s built a great bond between us and I am her favourite person ….. at the moment !! She can do many skills and we are working on ‘perfect’ heal work. She has done Meet & Greet and Recall Master Classes which I would highly recommend.
As Winnie’s coat is pretty high maintenance, she goes The New Forest Spa on a regular basis. Rani does an excellent puppy package which mean Winnie has taking the grooming process in her stride.
What Madeleine Says:
My favourite part of training are those very early weeks. Given the opportunity I can help new Puppy owners avoid many mistake and help smooth the path to a well mannered dog. I just love a confident dog with a bit of something going on. Winnie does not fail to deliver in the Sass she ooozes. Her owner is doing a great job of harnessing that wonderful confident temperament and moulding Winnie in to a fabulous family member. I anticipate boundaries will be push as Winnie hits adolescents but her owner has put in the hours early on and she will reap the rewards of this. I look forwards to watching Winnie grow.