5.5 months and starting to try it on...

[Alpha]

Hi,
over the past few days I have notice a slight change in Lilly, she is getting more adventurous whilst on her morning run on the local fields and is starting to go further away chasing birds, she still comes back when whistled but seems to take her time rather than like greased lightning! I don't plan to work her or trial her so I personally don't have an issue so long as it stays at gulls and pigeons and not any form of livestock.
She is also (and always has been) reluctant to do the down command and will only grudgingly do it for a treat.
But the big difference I have noticed is she is now starting to ignore my sit commands, at first she would ignore my handle signal, so i would have to verbally ask her to sit. Now the minx is even ignoring them. If you bribe her with a treat she will sit, but surely she shouldn't need a treat all the time now.  I have tried just using really high value treats occasionally but the devil seems to know when i have them.
I had wondered if it was her anal glands, but i am telling you for a piece of hot dog she drops like a brick so i don't think it is them.
Any advice as I don't want to have to go back to treats all the time or a battle of wills.
BTW she is a working cocker.

[lyn]

alpha, its called the "kevin" phase she is about to turn into a teenage hooligan it gets worse before it gets better i have had some trouble with ellie and the sit command lately. it is usually only when i serve her her dinner. she is supposed to sit and wait but she has taken to just standing there looking at me. she doesn't get her dinner until she sits. i tell her just once and if she decides to ignore me then i walk away, believe me she soon sits down when i walk
its back to the basic training for you and lily

[emilyjw]

bracken is definitely in the kevin phase... Her recall was pretty good but recently she has become too confident. We were walking her the other day, using treats and a ball and at one point, it was whooosh and she was off.

We now have a long line and we're working on it again, but sometimes you give her a command and you get a look of contempt....

[Nicola]

Alfie definitely went through a phase at around this age. His recall was pants, he would always come back but only when he felt like it. He is a very thick skinned and stubborn dog and it was a real battle of wills to get him to do anything. He did the 'sit' thing as well, when I asked him he'd ignore me or else I'd get a very reluctant hover. He was also obsessed with birds and would chase them at every opportunity he got plus he'd definitely have gone after sheep and other livestock as well. If he saw any he would bounce along the fence in a frenzy of excitement. For the recall and the chasing I used the gundog training method - run after them. You will need your running shoes on but it does work. The first time Alfie took off and then found me right behind him I could see the surprise on his face. I would bring him back to the spot he was in when he first ignored my recall command and make him wait there for a while then we'd do some heelwork or something before letting him go again.  

I didn't use treats with him, I try not to use them if at all possible in training the dogs. They do get treats but not for sitting etc. I expect them just to do that when I tell them to. Basically I stayed firm with Alfie, I did the same as Lyn - if he didn't sit for his dinner first time then I put his bowl back on the shelf and left it for 10 minutes. If he didn't sit and wait at the front door when we were going out then I went and sat down again and re tried it in a few minutes.

To be honest most of the stuff Alfie did at this stage was my fault for letting him get away with it earlier - I let him chase birds when he was a pup and boy did I then pay for it later   He was (still is!) pretty spoiled. Rodaidh has not had the same amount of freedom to chase that Alfie did, I am making him stay a lot closer on walks etc. and now at 7 months he is showing no signs of anything like this. I'm hoping it stays that way!!

[Joules]

Coco hit this stage at 7 months and it went on for about 6 months.  You will need the patience of a saint to persevere and stay calm through adolescence.  You just need to be firm and consistent and it will all come together again in a few months    That is if you haven't strangled the little darling by then.  Coco was infuriating and defiant and would look at me as if to say "Of course I know what you are saying, I just don't feeling like doing it"  Recall in particular was a nightmare.  She is much better now though but she certainly knows how to push my buttons  

[cazza]

OOOOOOOOhhhhhhhhhhhhh Alpha i don't envy you, Fern was (is) a blinking  'I know what you're saying mum but i aint ready to come back, I'll do it when I'm ready'      (I've just gone back to basics with her  )

It is a very trying time but keep calm and focussed on her when out for walks as they soon know as soon as you take your eye off them and then push it etc

 

[Alpha]

Left a message for a guy at the local agricultural college who has a couple of spaniels that he works, to see if he has a spare 5 mins to have a look at and see what I am doing wrong and what I need to be doing in the future.
The last 1 I trained was 11 years ago and BF at time had had working gundogs most of his life so it was a lot easier as i had someone who could correct any mistakes straight away  .
It is extremely unlikely that she will ever work but I know how important it is to get this right as it will keep her mind occupied and be more fun for both of us.
Thank you for all your advice please let me know if you are planning a boot camp and i will make sure me and Lilly are there. Any time from mid Aug is OK with me.   

[Cazzie]

Sweepie has always been a little selfwilled rascal, we could not keep her in the kennels, she would jump out and over anything to be with you. I have only had her in the house for around 3 months and she is now 18 months old, she is much better out on her own with me and will stay by my side ish, but with the other dogs she is harder to control. I do though however have to be constantly on her case reminding her of her boundaries for hunting. She wont ever go too far away but its far enough to ignore me. She would not sit on command when I got her, but with months of repetative training, she will sit when told, she wont stay there very long though but we are working on that infact she new pretty much nothing when I got her . My dogs are never given the down command when out working, but will go and lie down when I tell them in the house. Ask me more when Im on my 5th or 6th cocker and I might have more answers