I just had a look at your Flicker photos. What wonderful pictures of beautiful dogs.
David
Thank you
The Lab, Goldie, black German Shepherd and Border Collie in some of the photos belong to friends; the two ginger working Cockers and the liver working Cocker are mine! The little liver roan working Cocker is a foster dog I had for a while who was rehomed to a COL member. I used to post a lot of photos of my dogs on here but don't really find the time so much these days.
Kate, I would recommend that you take the dogs out individually as much as you can while you're working on Kiwi's chasing as you need to focus on her, and even if Lilly is well behaved there will be times when your attention is on her rather than on Kiwi and her environment. Plus that way Lilly also gets equal attention when she's out.
My dogs are all trained for working and/or competition, but when I get a new dog, regardless of if it's a very small puppy or a bit older, all of their out and about time is one on one just me and them until they have reached a level that I'm happy with. I don't do 'walks' with my puppies/young dogs, I take them out for 4-5 10-15 minute sessions a day but it's a mix of training and play with me, and I keep their focus on me at all times. I do not want them getting bored and learning to go and look for their own amusement, it's up to me to amuse them hence the short sessions and keeping the whole thing as a big fun, unpredictable game; there's lots of running around in random directions clapping my hands encouraging them to follow me, calling and talking to them in a very high pitched happy voice and getting down on the ground with them to play - I spend an awful lot of time kneeling, sitting or lying on the ground with puppy climbing all over me. I want them to learn that I am the ultimate fun a puppy can possibly have and I am the source of all enjoyment, but they never quite know what fun thing I'm going to do or bring out next so it pays to focus on me. The rule is that if I don't look and sound like a total idiot then I'm not trying hard enough
At no time do I ever let them go more than a few yards away from me. I would do the same with an older dog that had chase or recall issues. They get downtime/playtime/mooching around time with the other dogs every day but only in an area that I can totally control such as the garden or a very 'boring', completely animal free, smallish, securely fenced area, and they mix freely in the house, but when out anywhere else for exercise/training it's just me and them. I posted this thread shortly after I got Caoimhe, she was about 5 months old and we were working in an enclosed, gated park in Edinburgh city centre. This was where I did all of her initial training, she was made up to Field Trial Champion at 3 years old and her controlled start did her nothing but good:
http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/index.php?topic=61372.0
