D'Artagnan's SAR Evaluation

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evergano

Inactive Member
We made it!!!!


I couldn't be more tickled! :D

As for the smelling under water...well they smell underwater objects from above the surface. The scent wells up to the surface and creates a "puddle" of aroma that can vary dependent upon wind, weather, current, and of course, duration under water.
 
Annie Milliron

Annie Milliron

Alpha Goddess
Awesome Awesome Awesome!!! Congratulations to the both of you!!!! And thank you for undertaking something so very important and beneficial to your community.



[ 06-05-2003, 12:20 PM: Message edited by: Annie Milliron ]
 
alexmaddy

alexmaddy

New member
How wonderful! Congratulations to you and your wonderful Newfie. I'm sure you will make the entire newf community very proud.

MJ
 
E

evergano

Inactive Member
I just wanted to tell you all thank you so much for the support and encouragement. Participating in this activity is rewarding enough, but to get encouragment here is gravey.

Initial trials show that D'Artagnan is a natural. He loves playing hide-and-seek and I have managed to work down the size of his reward toy to something I can carry in my pocket.

I see the only obsticals now as being that of his endurance. We did an eight mile hike this weekend to begin our conditioning. I wound up with blisters galore thanks to my poor preparation, and his pads seemed sore. I may post this under a different topic to get advise.

Thanks all!
 
sarnewfie

sarnewfie

New member
YOWZA!!!
first off how old is your boy?
remember, it is hard for me to remember this myself. start out gradual and work your way up.
he may have stressed his joints doing eight miles right off the bat. that is hard on a youngster.
make sure you tell the unit that your boy is young and thus has limitations to how far you work him until he is a year or more of age.
i would start out with one mile, than go up to two miles after a week ,than three, but only if he can handle that.
remember, that his growth plates still may be open and you do not want to damage those by overworking him.
when i started in SAR we did our puppy runaways, walked a mile, worked on other aspects of SAR and walked two miles. but never have i walked a young newf more than three miles and only if they could handle it.
good luck, and keep those feet pads shaved out, he will sweat thru his feet and the less hair to trap in the heat and moisture the better.
 
E

evergano

Inactive Member
He is eleven months old and we have done many two and three mile walks. This just happened to be a loop that wound up including a one mile detour to find a leash I accidentally dropped.

The SAR group are exceedingly professional and apprised of his age and condition. In fact...they expressed concerns over the limitations of a large dogs endurance and desired to prepare my expectations to be realistic. His training will not even begin until I attend six classes. This was more of my own initiative kind of thing because of my physical condition not his.

He wasn't too fatiqued at the end of the walk, but I did have concern over the warm sand and lots of boulders we walked on. Even though he has walked on asphalt, I don't think his pads were tough enough for something so rough.

Plus I carried ALL the water!
 
sarnewfie

sarnewfie

New member
That is good that they are professional, i had no doubt they are, but many are not aware of the growth stages a newf or nard or any giant breed go thru that they are delicate and cause damage to themselves if they overdoo.
glad to hear all is well.
 
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