If you remember, Coral is a few months older and working through similar stages! At 18 months old she was trying really hard to stop herself from running off and most of the time did..........unless there's something to chase!
Progress from the last update is that The weekend before the bank holiday she took part in a scurry competition and was completely rubbish!
However, she did retrieve and hunted beautifully, recalling on the whistle but scurries are supposed to be high-speed retrieve games
I found it amusing simply because she did what I've been training her to do for a year - hunt for a dummy and bring it back, which she did (until he hedgrow looked more interesting for about a minute and then came back
)
She still chases. That's a work in progress and will take a long time to embed with Coral but to be fair, at 19 months old that's a very big ask for a working cocker spaniel of trials lines. It would be easy to give up and "live with where we are" but I have plans for this puppy! She's enrolled on an agility course from October and in the meantime I will keep (positively) reinforcing brakes
Coral stops on a pin now - each and every time I blow the whistle with the exception of mid flight after a cat.....or other small furry creature, that will come with maturity and perseverence. At every opportunity I use the stop whistle, before food - mid way to food - out walking to heel, before getting out of the car etc..........she does run in on some thrown balls/dummy's which she didn't do as a younger phase 2 pup but does now (not helped by my neighbour playing ball with her
) we are now working on steadiness to thrown items which is all part of stopping the chasing.
The same weekend as the scurry competition we attended the last of the Gundog training "summer school" - hunting in woodland, stopping on a starting pistol and a retrieve - out of 11 dogs running, Coral was placed second best (she was a bit excitable on the first firing of the pistol). The wood was full of rabbits and squirrels but Coral was far too interested in me and the game she was playing......
So yes, there is hope but it's a long haul! I was told at the start of the year that dogs develop in three stages: puppy, aka the cockerdile stage followed by a hint of the nice dog your pup will be before the teenage phase kicks in......in Coral's case that been the best part of 10 months! We are now starting the third phase of maturing into an adult, another hint of the future dog followed by sheer battle of wills as they become fully grown/mature.......hence starting agility as it will bring in more obedience!
My best advice is to keep doing what you are but up the level of mind training and reward with exercise off lead - get some "brakes" the more you practice the more it becomes intrinsic and if all else fails, find a Gundog trainer with a rabbit pen
Jayne
X
