Doggy brags

Emily_Babbelhund

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
Location
Regensburg, Germany
I was very proud of Carbon on our walk today. He's really enjoying our "Sucht" (search) game for treats and today I started placing the treats on top of big rocks on the beach so he had to climb. He may hate mud and rain - and not even think much of the beach - but he was loving the rock climbing.

But the real reason I wanted to put a doggie brag here was that he did VERY well with greeting other dogs and staying close to me. No shouting today for the first time in a long time. Plus we saw a retriever across a field: he looked at me, got his LAT treat, then when I saw the retriever wanted to play, I told Carbon "Go play" and he ran off to play with her. I realised it was the first time that I'd said "Go play" for him to run to a dog, and he LOVED it.

They had a good play, but then the retriever's human walked off the beach on to the road and Carbon followed. Slight panic on my part and I pipped that whistle even though I couldn't even see Carbon. Pip, pip, pip...and then Carbon comes careening around the path and straight into me. GOOD. BOY!
 
kateincornwall

kateincornwall

Location
Cornwall , UK
I went to Golitha Falls this morning ( there is a toilet there, you will be pleased to know ! ) . I havent let Reuben off lead there for ages, due to his habit of legging it , he always comes back after a few minutes but up to now, he hasnt responded to my whistle or call , just to add that this is the one place he has been shocking ( squirrel city ) . I`ve been working really hard rewarding him with tennis balls at other places , so this morning with trepidation , I let him off . He looked straight at me and then at my bag so out came the ball , not once did he run off, he stayed close to me retrieving his ball from the rough and coming back with it, well pleased with him and told him so xx
 
kateincornwall

kateincornwall

Location
Cornwall , UK
At Golitha again this morning and I was bursting with joy and pride . I met two gentleman friends with their dogs , all keen to play but because of the ball , Reuben just sat by my side and waited . The remarks ranged from Is this really Reuben ? to What a difference , then one of them said that I was maybe running the risk of him becoming ball obsessed , I replied that I never ever bring the ball into play anywhere else , and that if he becomes ball obsessed at Golitha , bring it on as its better than him disappearing to chase small furry things :happy:
 
SteffiS

SteffiS

Location
Norfolk
@kateincornwall can you give me a bit of advice re training this please. Toffee is ball obsessed and ignores everyone and everything when I’ve got the ball in my hand, however one day last week he took off after a deer which he spotted as he had just collected his ball. He kept the ball in his mouth and chased the deer right across a field until he was out of sight, I saw a car on the lane stop, presumably as the deer and Toffee got to the lane. Toffee then came running back, still with his ball in his mouth, but I actually have no idea whether he went in to the road or not, and if it happened again he might not be so lucky with a car stopping.
Obviously this has really frightened me and I don’t want to risk this happening again.
 
kateincornwall

kateincornwall

Location
Cornwall , UK
I`m sorry to hear this , as it is exactly what Reuben was doing too . The trigger for Reubs seems to be the ball chucker , I dont send him running mindlessly , but it gives me better aim to send a ball into the rough for him to find . I did keep Reuben on lead at Golitha for some weeks , a long line and just reinforced recall over and over , the ball being the reward . I honestly cant say if Reuben will revert and leg it out of sight and can see why you are so worried , has he done this since his escapade ? I just took Reubs back to basics , and didnt let him off until I felt sort of comfortable to do so . Its only at this one place that he does it but like you , it scared me to think that I had lost control . I also worked on the STOP cue , which again has helped . I have him on a long line , I walk slowly with him ahead , then I stop and call Stop , only when he is walking away from me , then ask him to sit and stay ( still working on this ) and then recall him pulling him gently to me , much praise and a ball as a treat . Hopefully this was a one off for Toffee , you might also find some good advice on a FB group called Gundog Training for Novices , I gathered loads of help on there re the Stop x
 
SteffiS

SteffiS

Location
Norfolk
I’m now being really careful where I walk when I’m intending to throw the ball (I’ve never used a ball chucker) , so I haven’t had a repeat of him taking off. I can’t really use my long line at the moment as I’m walking both the dogs together, but once OH is back perhaps I will try it.
The trouble is Toffee has been really good at recall, the stop command and sit stay (far better than Ripple) so I guess it really took me by surprise. I’ll have a look at the FB group, that sounds good, I’m also considering going back to taking more than one ball which is something I did initially as Toffee was so ball obsessed he wouldn’t give the ball back in case he didn’t get it again
Many thanks Kate for your help.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top