Pat Hastings

Pat Hastings is presenting "The Puppy Puzzle" Seminar - an approach to evaluating the structural quality of puppies - in Wellington NZ in late January, and in Sydney Aus, in early Febuary.

Another Piece of the Puzzle is a collection of articles, by authors including Pat, Brenda Aloff and Karen Pryor, on puppy development from the pre-natal period to maturity. The book has lots of practical information and advice including invaluable Tips and Tricks for breeders and owners. In the puppy training issue of Clean Run (V10, N5) Pat talks about structure in the agility puppy.

The Puppy Puzzle video and evaluation forms provide a framework for assessing the structure, presentation and temperament of puppies at around eight weeks old.

Tricks of the Trade discusses all of the elements that go to make up a winning performance in the show ring, which is the sum of effective breeding, evaluating, rearing, teaching, conditioning, nutrition, grooming, care and presentation. Again, what I love about this book are the dot point tips such as "To give your dog an advantage in the ring, always lead it through a stretching exercise before showing" and "When bathing a dog that has stains use only lukewarm water. Hot or cold water will set the stains."