Anyone ever felt like you've inadvertently trained your dog to do the wrong thing?!
So, mine is now 15 months and still pulls like a flipping train on the lead. I mean I am strong and she pulls me off balance sometimes.
I have deviated from my method a couple of times, just briefly, just to try something that someone reckoned was a dead cert (haha) but have otherwise been absolutely consistent with my training. If you can call it that!:
When the lead goes tight, I stop. My dog, who knows what 'close' means, comes in next to my leg and off we go again...For about 4 steps!! Sometimes when the lead goes tight, she even walks backwards into position and off we go again..for about 4 steps.
Repeat and try not to scream.
I have been doing this since she was 9 WEEKS OLD. She doesn't seem to understand that she is meant to STAY in that position while we are moving.
Once we are out on the lead she's not really Interested in treats any more. I did and still do give her something every time she appears at my side, just to remind her that's a good place but when she's on lead she just wants to forge off..I would like to say forwards- that would be heaven, but oh no,she will yank sideways and backwards sometimes too. She has jerked so violently in a sudden direction before that all 4 of her feet ended up off the floor when she reached the end of the lead! I have gone back to using a harness because I can't believe she hasn't broken her very strong neck by now!
In some respects she seems quite smart, but there are a few things ( like this) where she just doesn't seem to understand! She seems to struggle to generalise things. (We also have it with 'leave it'- Shell leave a biscuit under her nose, a ball I've thrown into the woods, but not something she's picked up that she shouldn't have. You still can't put anything down in my house.) I'm honestly starting to wonder if there is something slightly wrong. This is certainly not the 'biddable, easy to train, do anything to please' dog that I read about when I did hours of wide research into this breed. I seem to be able to train everyone else's dog I know but mine is the most difficult to train dog I have ever met!
Any ideas on this would be very gratefully received. Maybe I am doing something glaringly obvious that I haven't realised!
I would like to get her seen by someone who knows the breed but they seem to be rare and I nearly booked to see a local gun dog trainer recently but then heard awful things about him so didn't. If anyone knows someone who's good with working cockers in my area I'd be really interested. We're on the Suffolk/Essex border.
Thanks in advance for any ideas.