Products Page Four

	Grooming Tools
	Going To A Groomer
	Shampoo

	Crate
	Ex-Pen
	Collar & Leash
	Food Dishes
	Toys

Dog Food

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Page Five

	Club Membership
	Obedience Classes
	Information Online
	Links

Books

Club Memberships

There are many different dog clubs available to join. 4 times a year the Bearded Collie Club of Canada publishes the Bearded Colleague, a publication with articles, club news, and advertising, which is mailed out free to club members. Information is available on the BCCC website. The Bearded Collie Club of America publishes their magazine The Beardie Bulletin, also 4 times a year, formerly free with club membership but now requiring an additional subscription fee. A slick, professional looking publication, it is used by many breeders to regularly promote their dogs in attractive ads, but it also contains many informative articles. Along with this the BCCA sends out their bi-monthly newsletter, which contains minutes of meetings and other club business. Membership information is available on the BCCA website.

The Canadian Kennel Club is a national all-breed club, and is the registering body for Canada. Members receive the monthly Dogs In Canada magazine, including the official CKC pages containing show results and club business, which are not in the newsstand editions. Members also receive the Dogs In Canada Annual, a comprehensive guide to choosing, raising, and training a new puppy, with an extensive list of dog breeders across Canada. Membership information is available at the CKC website, and information about the Dogs in Canada Annual, along with breeder listings from the magazine, can be seen on the Dogs in Canada website.

There are also many local all-breed dog clubs (such as the Ottawa Kennel Club where we live) that you might wish to belong to. These clubs can be a good place to gain information on problems you might be having or questions you’d like answers to, and can help you find things like reputable groomers or boarding kennels should you need their services. They can also be a great place to make new friends and get you started on many new dog-related activities with a personal touch not always available from a national club.

Obedience Classes

We highly recommend obedience classes as a way to help your puppy develop into a confident and well-behaved adult. Most classes allow pups as young as 3 or 4 months, and puppyhood is definitely the time to begin training - before problems start! Look for a class that emphasizes motivation and praise rather than force. Beardies are a sensitive breed and do not do well with harsh training methods. The instructor should be willing to adapt the style somewhat to suit different breeds and different dogs, rather than expecting every dog to respond identically. A sense of humour helps with a Beardie in the class! Look for an instructor who likes to see happy obedient dogs, tails wagging and eager to please. Ask if the instructor has had experience training different breeds. An instructor who has trained only a succession of Golden Retrievers or Shelties may not be able to deal with an independent thinking, easily bored Beardie. Some classes are geared specifically for obedience competition with emphasis on perfect sits and precision heeling; areas where slight deviations can cause lower marks. Most classes however are mainly geared towards creating a bond between dog and owner, and developing a well-behaved family pet, with the option to go on to higher levels should you become interested in competition. This is the type of class to look for. ‘Clicker Training’ or ‘Operant Conditioning’ seem to have become the latest buzzwords in training. It is a wonderful, non-force method that is beautifully suited to smart, sensitive Beardies. If you find an obedience class which uses this method we highly recommend taking it.

Another type of class that is highly recommended is agility class! Agility is a wonderful sport which is basically an obstacle course for dogs. Agility is a wonderful confidence builder as the dogs learn to approach and walk on new and strange objects, and have fun doing it. Some places offer puppy agility classes for dogs under a year old (often as young as 4 months), where the obstacles are kept VERY low and there is no jumping so as not to stress growing bones and joints, and these are wonderful for socializing and building confidence in a youngster. Make sure in any agility class that it's taught positively and safely, and that the dogs are never corrected or forced onto an obstacle if they show fear or reluctance. We have been going to Dreamfields Dog Agility Training Centre with Danni, our youngest Beardie, since she was just 15 weeks old, and she just loves it. We're very fortunate to have such a great facility nearby. More information on agility and how it is taught can be found on Dreamfield's website at www.dreamfields.com.

Information On-line

If you have a computer with a modem, and have an E-mail account, you can subscribe to BDL, a mailing list devoted to Beardies. BDL began in March 1995 and has quickly grown to a very active list with over 1000 subscribers from all around the world. Basically this is how it works: a subscriber sends an E-mail note to the list. It in turn is sent to all BDL subscribers. Then other subscribers can respond to the note, again sending it to the list, which then forwards it to all subscribers. It’s free and can be a great way to exchange information, get help on certain problems, or learn more about Beardies. Post a note asking a question and you’re sure to get several answers. There are breeders, pet owners, those who show or do obedience or agility ready to help. Keep in mind that not everyone on the list is an expert, and sometimes those who know the least are the first to respond, so don’t expect every answer to be accurate. Also you’ll find that much of the posts are cutesy ‘what my doggy did today’ type messages, which can get tiring if you’re hoping for more serious topics. Information on how to subscribe can be found on Yahoo’s groups website at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BeardieList.

Another email list devoted to Beardies is BCL, an offshoot of BDL. It’s a much lower volume list but many topics not allowed on BDL (eg. puppy mills, or club matters) are welcome on this list. To subscribe, send an e-mail to: majordomo@bearded-collie.com. The text of the message should be only:

There are a whole host of other email lists on a wide variety of topics – clicker training, cooking for your dog, health, etc. Many are under Yahoo’s banner and the information can be found on Yahoo’s groups website at http://groups.yahoo.com/.

There are many websites which contain wonderful information on a variety of subjects. Here are some I recommend: