Blue and I spent the day with a dog trainer on Wednesday this week, following a recent incident where he took off after a flock of sheep which unexpectedly appeared whist I had him off lead.
Although initially looking for help with stopping him chasing livestock, we spent a full day covering all the aspects of basic good behaviour training.
She was magnificent, actually, and had Blue nailed down within minutes of meeting him. She showed me where I've been going wrong - which seems to be pretty much everywhere - and we now need to go right back to basics.
I've been told to practise loose lead walking, in areas with progressively more distractions, and not to take him on normal walks until I have cracked this - she reckoned it would take a couple of weeks max.
He also needs a much more solid 'leave it' command, which at the moment is hit and miss.
Recall and staying close need a lot of work. Armed with a long line and a whistle, we will be tackling this too.
I've not to use a harness or lead with bungee stretch for lead walking anymore, a normal collar and lead is recommended, and I invested in a lead marked TRAINING to stop people interrupting or otherwise putting him off.
So far, mixed progress. His 'Sit, stay' has improved a lot already, and I've finally got him to sit at the door and let me out first - although when I turn to release him, he anticipates the signal and launches himself out of the door like a rocket.
Loose lead; very mixed, sometimes awful - mouths the lead and is determined to play, rather than concentrate.
He doesn't listen or respond to my commands consistently, so I'm struggling to get him to co-operate.
The trainer was very firm with him from the start and he immediately responded to that, but he's running rings round me and I'm not sure how to progress?
We're both really missing the walks and I need to be able to take him out again asap, for both our sakes!
Any advice welcome please. I will update with (hopefully) progress.