CockersOnline Forum
Cocker Specific Discussion => Behaviour & Training => Topic started by: Hurtwood Dogs on July 09, 2009, 10:19:23 PM
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Why can't I get both my two being hassle free at the same time??? I don't get it :lol:
Normy has been dream dog recently she doesn't go far from us on walks at the moment and is listening to me really well and just being lovely :luv: :luv:
Dave, seems to have just discovered hunting at 2.5 years old ::) ::) I've lost him twice this week for 20 mins each time. This is particularly infuriating as I've put lots of extra time into training him recently too so he can do lots of extra tricks, his lead walking is superb and recall when he wants to is marvelous. 'Hunting' is definitely something he's seen Normy doing and is trying his hand at, only he's rubbish at it and just gets himself lost then doesn't have the skills to find us again when he needs to ::)
Think he's going to have to go on a long line for a bit which I really could do without at the moment - can't wait until that gets tangled around the buggy ::) :clapping: :clapping:
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oh Hannah, I've no advice I'm afraid, but I really for you :luv: You must have the patience of a saint :luv:
I'm sure someone will come along with sensible advice soon, but just wanted to say good luck.....I couldn't help but chuckle at the title btw...at least you've not lost your sense of humour :005: :005:
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You have my utmost sympathy. Hunting is my one real problem with the dogs. Recall is otherwise spot on but the minute they catch a whiff off a bunny/squirrel/deer etc I'm stuffed and no amount of livercake helps. Krumble and Arwen dash off for no more than a few minutes so they dont bother me too much but I've been losing Lyra for anything up to 40 minutes so she spends a lot of time on lead and Ive just invested in a bell for her collar so I can at least hear where she is >:(
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My sympathies too. (Am now so nostalgic for the days when I had a lab trundling 4 paces behind me at all times.)
I never worry about Mollie as she charges around being busy but keeps us in sight. Alfie likes to go birding as we all know. TBH they've been restricted to the beaches for exercise for past 2 months as all the fields round us are sheep or set-aside and it's just not right for me to let them go off where so many birds of species that are in decline are trying to nest/raise their young. On the beach I get him to "leave" crows or scorries about 60% of the time (I think it depends how tired he is). Not great. (Off to hide from Nic now.)
Alfie once bogged off for 40 minutes when out with OH, but most he's ever been gone with me is 5 minutes or so maybe and that's always in woods. If we're just walking off-lead I sound like a parrot as it seems he needs reminding all the time. In fact I could do with a parrot on my shoulder - just teach it the right words.
What I can't figure out is: you're not supposed to keep shouting or whistling for them to come back as it becomes background noise. But how long are you supposed to wait (panicking) before you whistle again?
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My sympathies too. (Am now so nostalgic for the days when I had a lab trundling 4 paces behind me at all times.)
What I can't figure out is: you're not supposed to keep shouting or whistling for them to come back as it becomes background noise. But how long are you supposed to wait (panicking) before you whistle again?
Often wondered about this myself :shades: ;)
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My sympathies too. (Am now so nostalgic for the days when I had a lab trundling 4 paces behind me at all times.)
What I can't figure out is: you're not supposed to keep shouting or whistling for them to come back as it becomes background noise. But how long are you supposed to wait (panicking) before you whistle again?
Often wondered about this myself :shades: ;)
I've always taken the view that once they're out of sight lost ph34r, it's best to keep calling regularly. But I don't do it if they can see me, I always try and catch them on the return - makes me feel good, makes them feel good, we're all happy :lol2:.
He did make me laugh the other night though. We'd been yelling, at dusk in the forest for him for about 25 mins. Normy who's usually pretty good at finding him was fed up and refusing to go and look for him and huffing quite a lot so OH and I were about to split up and take separate paths to give us a better chance of finding him. When suddenly, he appeared :luv:. There he was charging up the path to me, tongue flying in the wind white flag tail in the low spoiler position, running back to me as fast as his little legs would carry him. My heart melted and I armed myself with a handful of treats, arms out to him, praising his socks off...........
but he ran straight past me and off up another path at high speed - it was as if we didn't even exist. It was only sheer luck that we'd seen him as the scent trail he was following just happened to take him past us ::) :005: 15 minutes later he did rejoin us but by then, my heart was firmly unmelted and treats very much back in my pocket >:D :005:
You have my utmost sympathy. Hunting is my one real problem with the dogs. Recall is otherwise spot on but the minute they catch a whiff off a bunny/squirrel/deer etc I'm stuffed and no amount of livercake helps. Krumble and Arwen dash off for no more than a few minutes so they dont bother me too much but I've been losing Lyra for anything up to 40 minutes so she spends a lot of time on lead and Ive just invested in a bell for her collar so I can at least hear where she is >:(
SO feel for you, she sounds very like Normy was.. if it's any consolation at 4.5 years old (and quite a few more grey hairs for me) Normy is now brilliant and only occasionally disappears for 5 mins max and as I've only had her two years, with any luck Lyra will settle before that age. I'll keep everything crossed for you that she does anyway :luv: :luv:
Hannah xxx
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He did make me laugh the other night though. We'd been yelling, at dusk in the forest for him for about 25 mins. Normy who's usually pretty good at finding him was fed up and refusing to go and look for him and huffing quite a lot so OH and I were about to split up and take separate paths to give us a better chance of finding him. When suddenly, he appeared :luv:. There he was charging up the path to me, tongue flying in the wind white flag tail in the low spoiler position, running back to me as fast as his little legs would carry him. My heart melted and I armed myself with a handful of treats, arms out to him, praising his socks off...........
but he ran straight past me and off up another path at high speed - it was as if we didn't even exist. It was only sheer luck that we'd seen him as the scent trail he was following just happened to take him past us ::) :005: 15 minutes later he did rejoin us but by then, my heart was firmly unmelted and treats very much back in my pocket >:D :005:
Almost choked on my coffee laughing at this ph34r :005: :005: Chloe did exactly the same thing in the forest yesterday, charging towards me as I'm kneeling down, arms outstretched, livercake at the ready, squealing in a silly high-pitched voice good girl, good girl, and she belted straight past me. I felt like a complete numpty - anyone watching would have laughed their socks off ;)
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He did make me laugh the other night though. We'd been yelling, at dusk in the forest for him for about 25 mins. Normy who's usually pretty good at finding him was fed up and refusing to go and look for him and huffing quite a lot so OH and I were about to split up and take separate paths to give us a better chance of finding him. When suddenly, he appeared :luv:. There he was charging up the path to me, tongue flying in the wind white flag tail in the low spoiler position, running back to me as fast as his little legs would carry him. My heart melted and I armed myself with a handful of treats, arms out to him, praising his socks off...........
but he ran straight past me and off up another path at high speed - it was as if we didn't even exist. It was only sheer luck that we'd seen him as the scent trail he was following just happened to take him past us ::) :005: 15 minutes later he did rejoin us but by then, my heart was firmly unmelted and treats very much back in my pocket >:D :005:
Almost choked on my coffee laughing at this ph34r :005: :005: Chloe did exactly the same thing in the forest yesterday, charging towards me as I'm kneeling down, arms outstretched, livercake at the ready, squealing in a silly high-pitched voice good girl, good girl, and she belted straight past me. I felt like a complete numpty - anyone watching would have laughed their socks off ;)
:banana: :banana: :005:
They're gits aren't they? ph34
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Oh Dave, I would swap you for Rufus sometimes. I can't tell you how good it is to learn that someone else is confused by the hunting recall. I fully understand Topbarks advice not to call Rufus if I know he won't come because it is reinforcing the disobedience. But yesterday was the limit with an hour in the maize with his Norfolk terrier friend Bubbles. The other dog owners kept saying "oh you poor thing have you lost your dog?" No, the little blighter is up to his old tricks. Rabbits in all directions and squeals of delight. He even comes to within about 10 feet, sees I'm ok and b*****s of again 3 times! If I don't call him I get funny looks; if I do, I am ignored. So it was the beach at 6.30 this morning. One very subdued cocker, no seagulling, no interest in the ball, walking close to mummy, I thought he was ill. He did run off to go in the posh gardens at Aldwick , but there was a new wall thing and he couldn't get in so I called once and ignored and walked off. He did come back, but I am not sure what he would have done in his normal beach state. All this because he is addicted to bunny chasing in the maize. It makes Dave look angelic. As for Normy, well she is wonderful. And no, he is not ill, because as soon as we drew up outside he was hyper cocker, and the cat has been relocated several times. But.. he is clean.
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Sympathies here two - Roly, now nicknamed "jack the lad" was a complete mummy's boy never going very far from me at all, and my main concern used to be Misha going off on a trail. However in her defence, she always came back. Roly though has changed overnight and has definitely discoved hunting - this week having killed two squirrels, the third rescued by me as I managed to get hold of Roly - so no more walks in the woods now. I think its the time of year where there are loads of baby rabbits & squirrels around to tempt them.
Mine are trained to whistle and as I was quite close by Roly and his latest catch, I could see how much notice he was taking of the whistle - absolutely none. By contrast Misha was an absolute saint. I'm really hoping that its just a phase, but I think I'm on a losing bet with that one, doesn't help that he is incredibly fit at the moment, and will happily run around for a couple of hours without pausing (even when its been so hot).
Separate dog walking at the moment to see if that will help - might even go to the beach more often (strangely mine seem to find the beach a bit boring???), but at least they can't disappear.
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He did make me laugh the other night though. We'd been yelling, at dusk in the forest for him for about 25 mins. Normy who's usually pretty good at finding him was fed up and refusing to go and look for him and huffing quite a lot so OH and I were about to split up and take separate paths to give us a better chance of finding him. When suddenly, he appeared :luv:. There he was charging up the path to me, tongue flying in the wind white flag tail in the low spoiler position, running back to me as fast as his little legs would carry him. My heart melted and I armed myself with a handful of treats, arms out to him, praising his socks off...........
but he ran straight past me and off up another path at high speed - it was as if we didn't even exist. It was only sheer luck that we'd seen him as the scent trail he was following just happened to take him past us ::) :005: 15 minutes later he did rejoin us but by then, my heart was firmly unmelted and treats very much back in my pocket >:D :005:
Almost choked on my coffee laughing at this ph34r :005: :005: Chloe did exactly the same thing in the forest yesterday, charging towards me as I'm kneeling down, arms outstretched, livercake at the ready, squealing in a silly high-pitched voice good girl, good girl, and she belted straight past me. I felt like a complete numpty - anyone watching would have laughed their socks off ;)
:banana: :banana: :005:
They're gits aren't they? ph34
I'm with Top Barks, I have never called and called and called - just do it once and then nothing. Although Dave has the worst sense of direction ever known to doG so that may not help him :dunno: When he's full of adrenaline and can't hear you it's not easy to break through to them - you have to not introduce any level of approval for the chase, and to turn quietly away and walk off in the opposite direction. I think you have to stop him before he starts, so this means whistle training, and keeping them CLOSE to you ie within about 30 feet. There is a natural distance for each dog and once they're through that you have little hope of getting them back if they're on a scent. If Jarvis ever went too far, once I got him back to me, he went on the lead so his cognitive awareness was back on me (and the sossij in my pocket) and we started again. Once he was focussed, back off the lead, stop whistle and recall whistle for the rest of the walk. And although I'm all for positive training I will use the VOD to get focus back on me, sometimes it's the only thing that will break through the trance.
And Sue, don't let her do the flypast! She'll interpret a recall as coming 'near you' not 'to you' or as if you're encouraging her on. Once she's on the way back and has eye contact with you, sharply change direction and walk quickly and call her again firmly, and ONLY give her lots of praise when she's performing the behaviour you want and that is right back at your feet, not 20 feet away coming towards you.
McPhee, put him on a long line if you have to go near the maize or just don't walk there if he's uncontrollable. I must admit I find his antics frustrating and I don't even own him :lol2:
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. When suddenly, he appeared :luv:. There he was charging up the path to me, tongue flying in the wind white flag tail in the low spoiler position, running back to me as fast as his little legs would carry him. My heart melted and I armed myself with a handful of treats, arms out to him, praising his socks off...........
but he ran straight past me and off up another path at high speed - it was as if we didn't even exist. It was only sheer luck that we'd seen him as the scent trail he was following just happened to take him past us ::) :005: 15 minutes later he did rejoin us but by then, my heart was firmly unmelted and treats very much back in my pocket >:D :005:
The way you wrote that really did make me laugh :lol2: :lol2: BUT I agree with Helen that you can't let them do that. Alfie tried to do it once with me and I nipped it in the bud pronto. I started recalling him (when he was nearby and focussing on me) with my back to various walls, trees, hedges etc. so he couldn't get past me and on the couple of occasions he tried it again I knew he was going to do it from about 10 feet away and he got a full on VOD and I stepped out towards him which brought his focus back onto me sharpish. He got praise and fuss when he was sitting at my feet looking at me as I'd asked him to do.
I don't agree with calling and calling either, my lot get called once and if they don't obey I go after them. I don't ever let them ignore me, it was the big mistake I made with Alfie at the beginning and it was a dear one. The key to this is not letting them go too far from you; for new pups like Caoimhe the limit is about 10 feet; for Alfie who knows what recall is but chooses to be selective about obeying it it was about 20 feet to begin with as any further than that and my influence started to wane. For Tills and Ro who have pretty much perfect recall they can go to 40-50 feet in general hunting and I will send them further if they're working, neither of them will go too far from me anyway though unless I send them.
It is tiring and frustrating keeping on top of them all the time, I had to watch Alfie like a hawk and I knew what his 'I'm offski' signals were so as soon as I saw them I was able to intercept. If I missed it by that split second and he started to trot off he got a very loud and very sharp 'AH AH!' and I was right after him to bring him back - all this involved was running towards him to get his attention and then calling him back to me, usually while then running backwards to encourage him and once he'd done that I would do a short heelwork session with him to get the focus back on me and then the magic tennis ball would appear and he'd get a game of fetch. If he knew I had a ball on me he was generally much better at sticking close. Also as Helen says he NEVER got praise unless he'd done exactly what I'd asked him to, if you start lavishing praise on the dog when they're 15 feet away from you that's as far as they'll think they have to come.
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He did make me laugh the other night though. We'd been yelling, at dusk in the forest for him for about 25 mins. Normy who's usually pretty good at finding him was fed up and refusing to go and look for him and huffing quite a lot so OH and I were about to split up and take separate paths to give us a better chance of finding him. When suddenly, he appeared :luv:. There he was charging up the path to me, tongue flying in the wind white flag tail in the low spoiler position, running back to me as fast as his little legs would carry him. My heart melted and I armed myself with a handful of treats, arms out to him, praising his socks off...........
but he ran straight past me and off up another path at high speed - it was as if we didn't even exist. It was only sheer luck that we'd seen him as the scent trail he was following just happened to take him past us ::) :005: 15 minutes later he did rejoin us but by then, my heart was firmly unmelted and treats very much back in my pocket >:D :005:
Almost choked on my coffee laughing at this ph34r :005: :005: Chloe did exactly the same thing in the forest yesterday, charging towards me as I'm kneeling down, arms outstretched, livercake at the ready, squealing in a silly high-pitched voice good girl, good girl, and she belted straight past me. I felt like a complete numpty - anyone watching would have laughed their socks off ;)
:banana: :banana: :005:
They're gits aren't they? ph34
I'm with Top Barks, I have never called and called and called - just do it once and then nothing. Although Dave has the worst sense of direction ever known to doG so that may not help him :dunno: When he's full of adrenaline and can't hear you it's not easy to break through to them - you have to not introduce any level of approval for the chase, and to turn quietly away and walk off in the opposite direction. I think you have to stop him before he starts, so this means whistle training, and keeping them CLOSE to you ie within about 30 feet. There is a natural distance for each dog and once they're through that you have little hope of getting them back if they're on a scent. If Jarvis ever went too far, once I got him back to me, he went on the lead so his cognitive awareness was back on me (and the sossij in my pocket) and we started again. Once he was focussed, back off the lead, stop whistle and recall whistle for the rest of the walk. And although I'm all for positive training I will use the VOD to get focus back on me, sometimes it's the only thing that will break through the trance.
And Sue, don't let her do the flypast! She'll interpret a recall as coming 'near you' not 'to you' or as if you're encouraging her on. Once she's on the way back and has eye contact with you, sharply change direction and walk quickly and call her again firmly, and ONLY give her lots of praise when she's performing the behaviour you want and that is right back at your feet, not 20 feet away coming towards you.
McPhee, put him on a long line if you have to go near the maize or just don't walk there if he's uncontrollable. I must admit I find his antics frustrating and I don't even own him :lol2:
Livercake. I do own him and I am beyond frustration. I assume you mean the 30 feet line, not the retractable. The main problem maize field is next to all our favourite walks, and they do not cut it to the end on November! It has ruined my life since they ploughed the field last year- the first time in 20 years. There are several other fields locally too, so I use the retractable when I know I cannot let him off. Do I hold the line all the time, or let it go and tread on it if he starts to go in? Mind you the little s*d usually has a terminal sulk when I put the line on, so he'll probably mope round the walk this pm. >:D
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Still peeing myself at that post hannah :005: that sounds just like what lily would do.
I try not to call out more than once with mine but Lyra has very poor sense of direction so I do tend to call her more but only use the come command when she's in view and then recall her as normal. She only gets a treat if she comes back quickly.
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He did make me laugh the other night though. We'd been yelling, at dusk in the forest for him for about 25 mins. Normy who's usually pretty good at finding him was fed up and refusing to go and look for him and huffing quite a lot so OH and I were about to split up and take separate paths to give us a better chance of finding him. When suddenly, he appeared :luv:. There he was charging up the path to me, tongue flying in the wind white flag tail in the low spoiler position, running back to me as fast as his little legs would carry him. My heart melted and I armed myself with a handful of treats, arms out to him, praising his socks off...........
but he ran straight past me and off up another path at high speed - it was as if we didn't even exist. It was only sheer luck that we'd seen him as the scent trail he was following just happened to take him past us ::) :005: 15 minutes later he did rejoin us but by then, my heart was firmly unmelted and treats very much back in my pocket >:D :005:
Almost choked on my coffee laughing at this ph34r :005: :005: Chloe did exactly the same thing in the forest yesterday, charging towards me as I'm kneeling down, arms outstretched, livercake at the ready, squealing in a silly high-pitched voice good girl, good girl, and she belted straight past me. I felt like a complete numpty - anyone watching would have laughed their socks off ;)
:banana: :banana: :005:
They're gits aren't they? ph34
I'm with Top Barks, I have never called and called and called - just do it once and then nothing. Although Dave has the worst sense of direction ever known to doG so that may not help him :dunno: When he's full of adrenaline and can't hear you it's not easy to break through to them - you have to not introduce any level of approval for the chase, and to turn quietly away and walk off in the opposite direction. I think you have to stop him before he starts, so this means whistle training, and keeping them CLOSE to you ie within about 30 feet. There is a natural distance for each dog and once they're through that you have little hope of getting them back if they're on a scent. If Jarvis ever went too far, once I got him back to me, he went on the lead so his cognitive awareness was back on me (and the sossij in my pocket) and we started again. Once he was focussed, back off the lead, stop whistle and recall whistle for the rest of the walk. And although I'm all for positive training I will use the VOD to get focus back on me, sometimes it's the only thing that will break through the trance.
And Sue, don't let her do the flypast! She'll interpret a recall as coming 'near you' not 'to you' or as if you're encouraging her on. Once she's on the way back and has eye contact with you, sharply change direction and walk quickly and call her again firmly, and ONLY give her lots of praise when she's performing the behaviour you want and that is right back at your feet, not 20 feet away coming towards you.
McPhee, put him on a long line if you have to go near the maize or just don't walk there if he's uncontrollable. I must admit I find his antics frustrating and I don't even own him :lol2:
Livercake. I do own him and I am beyond frustration. I assume you mean the 30 feet line, not the retractable. The main problem maize field is next to all our favourite walks, and they do not cut it to the end on November! It has ruined my life since they ploughed the field last year- the first time in 20 years. There are several other fields locally too, so I use the retractable when I know I cannot let him off. Do I hold the line all the time, or let it go and tread on it if he starts to go in? Mind you the little s*d usually has a terminal sulk when I put the line on, so he'll probably mope round the walk this pm. >:D
his love is bunnies, and this time of year it's incredibly self-rewarding for him and incredibly frustrating for you.
is there anything else Rufus loves (food, squeaky toy etc?)
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Thanks guys, I do know the theory and it's how I dealt with Normy and I do only call him regularly when he is 'lost' not on normal recalls and generally they don't get praised until they are right where I want them. A lot of Dave's trouble is (and I'll freely hold my hands up here) that I've had to focus so hard on Normy because she was/is the more dangerous and the one with the more extreme problems so he hasn't had as much work put into him as he should have. He's always been very easy and generally bumbles along near me.
He's caught me out to some extent as unlike a dog with a naturally high hunt drive and high energy, he still is most of the time, pretty chilled out and bumbling and doesn't stray far from me. He doesn't get excited or show any of the normal focused hunt signs, when he goes, there is very little, if any warning.. you'll just suddenly realise he'd not there and he'll have quietly and slowly slunk off into the undergrowth and disappeared. He doesn't chase stuff - for example if a deer/squirrel/rabbit is right in front of him, he just looks at it then gets back to bumbling. About the only thing he does chase is Normy, much to her utter annoyance :005: and obviously scents but that's a slow burn before he gets going.
He's an odd little dog, I've had him checked but I'm still not convinced he has the best eyesight or hearing he's also very hard to get focused on me. A lot of the time it's almost like he's on another planet even when he's in the same room as you :luv: I don't think I'll ever fully understand him but we're definitely going back to basics for a while I think ::)
Jo, I forgot to mention, I had a proper cow bell (the sort your granny buys you as a souvenir when she's on holiday in Austria) on Normy for a while and it was absolutely brilliant. It also seemed to put her off hunting too as if she knew there was no way she could sneak up on anything whilst sounding like Daisy redbull :D ;) And also helped us find her a lot more quickly when she did bog off :lol: :lol: :lol:
xx
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Just adding a comment on the calling and calling front... I again, will never recall repeatedly - I have on occassion repeated once, when a fresh distraction appeared mid-recall, or when it was obvious she genuinely hadn't heard (another noise at the same time or something). But when she is off exploring in our local woods (she never goes far, but can get herself a little distracted at times) I will give repeated calls so she knows where we are - this is never a recall, but a combination of her name, little whistles, "this way" and other little pet names... this is not to try and get her to us, but so she realises that we are still continuing to walk and if she doesn't catch up she'll be left behind... :shades: It works for us, but we do have a very solid recall.... ;)
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. When suddenly, he appeared :luv:. There he was charging up the path to me, tongue flying in the wind white flag tail in the low spoiler position, running back to me as fast as his little legs would carry him. My heart melted and I armed myself with a handful of treats, arms out to him, praising his socks off...........
but he ran straight past me and off up another path at high speed - it was as if we didn't even exist. It was only sheer luck that we'd seen him as the scent trail he was following just happened to take him past us ::) :005: 15 minutes later he did rejoin us but by then, my heart was firmly unmelted and treats very much back in my pocket >:D :005:
Had me in stitches too.
Alfie tried to do it once with me and I nipped it in the bud pronto. I started recalling him (when he was nearby and focussing on me) with my back to various walls, trees, hedges etc. so he couldn't get past me and on the couple of occasions he tried it again I knew he was going to do it from about 10 feet away and he got a full on VOD and I stepped out towards him which brought his focus back onto me sharpish. He got praise and fuss when he was sitting at my feet looking at me as I'd asked him to do.
I reap the rewards. Only one time has Alfie blatantly disobeyed me - he (unfortunately for him) was mid-bogging-off when he had to stop for a cr*p and as I went to collar him he took off again pronto. Apart from that, when he realises he has to return and actually sees me, it's like I'm the biggest thing since Christmas and he's been waiting his whole life to get back to me.
I don't agree with calling and calling either, my lot get called once and if they don't obey I go after them.
Have a heart. I'm 61 and used to be athletic but ain't no roadrunner no more. Alf is 3 fields away in 3 secs.
I don't ever let them ignore me, it was the big mistake I made with Alfie at the beginning and it was a dear one. The key to this is not letting them go too far from you; for Alfie who knows what recall is but chooses to be selective about obeying it it was about 20 feet to begin with as any further than that and my influence started to wane. . . .It is tiring and frustrating keeping on top of them all the time, I had to watch Alfie like a hawk and I knew what his 'I'm offski' signals were so as soon as I saw them I was able to intercept. If I missed it by that split second and he started to trot off he got a very loud and very sharp 'AH AH!' and I was right after him to bring him back - all this involved was running towards him to get his attention and then calling him back to me, usually while then running backwards to encourage him and once he'd done that I would do a short heelwork session with him to get the focus back on me and then the magic tennis ball would appear and he'd get a game of fetch. If he knew I had a ball on me he was generally much better at sticking close. Also as Helen says he NEVER got praise unless he'd done exactly what I'd asked him to, if you start lavishing praise on the dog when they're 15 feet away from you that's as far as they'll think they have to come.
Very helpful. Am taking it all in. (I just wish my hobby was dog-training.................) ph34r ph34r :005:
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When suddenly, he appeared :luv:. There he was charging up the path to me, tongue flying in the wind white flag tail in the low spoiler position, running back to me as fast as his little legs would carry him. My heart melted and I armed myself with a handful of treats, arms out to him, praising his socks off...........
but he ran straight past me and off up another path at high speed - it was as if we didn't even exist. It was only sheer luck that we'd seen him as the scent trail he was following just happened to take him past us ::) :005: 15 minutes later he did rejoin us but by then, my heart was firmly unmelted and treats very much back in my pocket >:D :005:
Jo, I forgot to mention, I had a proper cow bell (the sort your granny buys you as a souvenir when she's on holiday in Austria) on Normy for a while and it was absolutely brilliant. It also seemed to put her off hunting too as if she knew there was no way she could sneak up on anything whilst sounding like Daisy redbull :D ;) And also helped us find her a lot more quickly when she did bog off :lol: :lol: :lol:
xx
:005: :005: Sorry Hannah......i know it's not funny at the time (Livie is the same, hense the enrolling in gundog training for the both of us) but you make it sound hilarious .....and the bit about Normy & the cow bell is :rofl1:
I don't agree with calling and calling either, my lot get called once and if they don't obey I go after them.
Have a heart. I'm 61 and used to be athletic but ain't no roadrunner no more. Alf is 3 fields away in 3 secs.
:rofl1: :rofl1:
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Have a heart. I'm 61 and used to be athletic but ain't no roadrunner no more. Alf is 3 fields away in 3 secs.
I know exactly what you mean...when Chloe bogs off it's usually into the dense forest and it would be physically impossible for me to go and bring her back :shades: ;)
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Have a heart. I'm 61 and used to be athletic but ain't no roadrunner no more. Alf is 3 fields away in 3 secs.
I know exactly what you mean...when Chloe bogs off it's usually into the dense forest and it would be physically impossible for me to go and bring her back :shades: ;)
Perhaps we ought to have a separate category for "bogging off little b*****s" (but politely titled), where we could all share our inadequacies.Rufus would be the oldest member. I'm 53 and played hockey for 30 years and I can't always get there either. The description of the feeling of relief then fury as he comes hurtling back and then rugby dogdes me as an unnecessary inconvenience is dreadfully familiar, although luckily less common than it was. They just move so quickly; even at nearly 5 if he decides to go, Rufus gets to places I could not possible access, like the middle of blackthorn thickets. Skye Sue and the forest reminds me that we have not been back to Eartham Woods since Sir found the gap under the perimeter fence and did a runner in the private bit after the deer. He came back, but couldn't get back through so my friend's hubby had to climb over and pick him up. This is why we have a restricted repetoire of walks, and the dreaded long line is in use again.
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Have a heart. I'm 61 and used to be athletic but ain't no roadrunner no more. Alf is 3 fields away in 3 secs.
I know exactly what you mean...when Chloe bogs off it's usually into the dense forest and it would be physically impossible for me to go and bring her back :shades: ;)
Alfie didn't exactly bog off into the middle of grassy fields :lol2: I wish!! In the times I went after him I nearly got ripped to shreds by brambles, stung to death by nettles and had my face whacked and eyes almost taken out by more branches than I care to remember; I just got my bull head on and was so determined to get him back I'd push through. It was far from enjoyable but once I'd done it a few times the message began to sink in that no matter where he went I'd be after him so it was pointless him trying to ignore me.
And you have to be quick, that's why you have to watch them so carefully for their 'bogging off signals' (which they all have) so you can be on them before they have a chance to get too far for you to get them back. It really is hard work, tiring and frustrating to begin with but once they start to get the idea it gets easier.