Help - Rhodri found a dead rabbit!

[Rhodri0311]

As you may be aware, Rhodri has been restricted to lead walks for a couple of months but the specialist vet has now suggested increasing his exercise and gradually letting him have more off lead time.

Today my daughter and I took him to the nature reserve, a place we've taken him regularly since he was a pup. There is a large green area where we let him off lead and practised recall as I was concerned that he may have forgotten what the whistle meant. All was going well until we wandered off to another area and he went off to have a sniff. I blew the whistle and nothing, he wasn't far away but he would not come to me. I walked over and he run off into the bushes and point blank refused to come out. I was afraid to go after him as I feared he may just run off. When he eventually came out he was carrying a dead baby rabbit. Now I'm sure he didn't kill it, it was already dead and he just came upon it but it has really unnerved me and now I feel really apprehensive about letting him off lead again. I know it's in their nature but had anyone got any advice. I'm terrified of him running off as he knows he's done wrong and then getting lost.

Thanks x

[bizzylizzy]

Its unlikely he'll run off because "he knows he's done wrong",  I don't think their minds work like that, he'd only run off again if he thought you were going to take his prize away or if he thought you were going to punish him. I imagine the excitement of the rabbit just got so much of his attention that he just shut you out. It might be a good idea to go back to basics for a while and practice the recall in places where there's little distraction so that there's no risk of him failing and then OTT praise and rewards etc. The other alternative would be to practice the recall on the long lead for a while. It is a hard one, I can usually manage to stop Humphrey before he gives chase to anything because we constantly practice stop/sit at distance but finding a ready made meal is obviously a different ball game  , I'm not sure how he would react but we've been training "leave" and I'm hoping that might work. Do you use a whistle? That would be very useful if he did run off further.
Upside is that he's obviously on the mend and his little skippity hop isn't bothering him!! 
(Humphrey says Hi and thanks for his birthday wishes! ) x

[Rhodri0311]

Its unlikely he'll run off because "he knows he's done wrong",  I don't think their minds work like that, he'd only run off again if he thought you were going to take his prize away or if he thought you were going to punish him. I imagine the excitement of the rabbit just got so much of his attention that he just shut you out. It might be a good idea to go back to basics for a while and practice the recall in places where there's little distraction so that there's no risk of him failing and then OTT praise and rewards etc. The other alternative would be to practice the recall on the long lead for a while. It is a hard one, I can usually manage to stop Humphrey before he gives chase to anything because we constantly practice stop/sit at distance but finding a ready made meal is obviously a different ball game  , I'm not sure how he would react but we've been training "leave" and I'm hoping that might work. Do you use a whistle? That would be very useful if he did run off further.
Upside is that he's obviously on the mend and his little skippity hop isn't bothering him!! 
(Humphrey says Hi and thanks for his birthday wishes! ) x

Thank you - I know you're right, he was so pleased with his new found treasure and he knew that I wasn't going to let him keep it so he refused to come back, even the whistle fell on deaf ears and he's normally pretty good. I was just so scared that he was going to bolt off with it rather than face having it taken off him.

I think we'll have to rethink his training - I do have a long line but I struggle to use it on my own, will have to try when hubby is with me. I certainly won't be venturing near there again any time soon, at least not off lead anyway.

Hope Humphrey has had a lovely day, I'm sure he's been thoroughly spoilt!

[ips]

He is a dog and even the best trained can have there moments so I wouldn't worry to much about it. The thing to do in the rabbit scenario is whistle him in and praise for presenting it to you. I never ever shout at eze for bringing me stuff even it I didn't want it such as my reading glasses. If you do this the dog will play keep away. As for chasing well again all dogs are capable of ignoring recall one can only try to maintain it in different contexts. Like BL says lots of stops lots of recall lots of praise....

[JeffD]

He is a dog and even the best trained can have there moments so I wouldn't worry to much about it. The thing to do in the rabbit scenario is whistle him in and praise for presenting it to you. I never ever shout at eze for bringing me stuff even it I didn't want it such as my reading glasses. If you do this the dog will play keep away. As for chasing well again all dogs are capable of ignoring recall one can only try to maintain it in different contexts. Like BL says lots of stops lots of recall lots of praise....

Yes perfectly normal for a spaniel to grab a rabbit, next time lots of praise and encouragement, might be a good idea to buy a rabbit skin dummy to hide for the dog to find get him used to bringing furry things back to you. Unless always on the lead or in area where there are no rabbits chances are it will happen again. Spaniels are hunters by breed and it will be near impossible to stop him hunting  especially now he has pegged a rabbit so better  to train and control his hunting so he does not feel the need to run off.

[TheAdventuresofBarnaby]

Re not responding and your fear of him running off:

Barnaby is starting to get to the willful teenager stage.  If we walk him just one on one he's very well behaved and responsive to the whistle.  But if my wife and I, together, take him on the same walk the wilfulness shows up straight away.  No reaction to the whistle and he's off exploring far and wide, apparently completely out of control.

We've come to the conclusion that either its because he's not the centre of attention,  or most likely as he can keep track of us from the sound of our continuous conversation.

We've been experimenting a little.  When he's off hunting in tong grass/ wheat and goes further away from us than he's supposed to,  I give him a sharp recall whistle,  and then we both crouch down and stay silent....... guess what,  he fairly flies back looking for us.   This is not an occasional response, it works every time.

Cockers are smart little Bs and will have you running rings if you don't stay one step ahead of them.  Behaving unpredictably also's good for retaining their attention.  So, if in the nature reserve its safe to do so,  when your boy decides to go a-wandering,  whistle him a single recall and then hide out of immediate sight and stay completely silent...... with luck he'll come looking for you very quickly.


Good luck

[ips]

Funny you should mention that . Eze is brilliant when its just the two of us, off lead, on lead, beating, dogging in etc BUT when the Mrs is there she is not so good. We have concluded that she hears us chatting and thinks "hey if you aren't working with me as a team I shall jolly well work on my own" I see no other explanation for it.