Shouldn't be counting my chickens but .....

Loraseal

Loraseal

Location
The Hague, The Netherlands
I was also thinking of the the recall challenge @Selina27. It was a good refresher for us and has definitely helped.

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We still use the front, bump to nose and ready steady go. As @Heidrun said I guess she has mainly been on lead and her off lead situations were probably in small controlled areas? A huge field full of wild life must be an incredible sensation for her.
The long line was also a big recommendation for the recall.I remember there were also some good video tips about making it fun to put them back on the lead and using scent toys for the recall.
I think the long line is a good way to keep her in check and remember it does takes time for you to get used to using it too.
It is still early days but you have already made so much progress with her.
 
David

David

Moderator
Staff member
Well I've applied to join the Connect with your Dog group. Need to find out about what on earth you are all talking about!

We do have a couple of secure fields nearby for hire. I haven't used them yet but we have been talking about it and we plan to try them out soon with a view to getting Poppy and my son's dog Nina used to each other. We are babysitting Nina for 4 weeks shortly. :hungover:

I used a long line with Lady in the early days and it proved marginally effective for assisting with various aspects of training but was hampered by the way she never really was able to ignore the line and get on with the job. Poppy seems to be well used to it. When I attach her to the line she immediately calms down and stays relatively close. I've just used it as a walking aid up to now. I really need to put a plan in place and I guess now is the time to do it. The only immediate serious issue, I think, is the bolting. After that I think we need to address livestock. I haven't even begun to think about gundog work yet. That may be a step too far.
 
Beanwood

Beanwood

Administrator
I am pulling together an on-line adolescent programme to work in tandem with the the group classes I am running later this month. I think I am a week or so away from launch. It will include video tutorials on recall games, focus, connection, games such as hand touch, loose lead walking and lots more. If you feel it might help I can add you to the programme. :)
 
Emily_Babbelhund

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
Location
Regensburg, Germany
Jacqui-S said:
You might be surprised.
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This.

The dog you brought home will not be the dog you have in two years. Hopefully every stage will be interesting and fun getting to know, but two years from now (or three or four) you'll probably look back and today's Poppy and think, "Who was that?" because things will have changed so much as you get to know each other and grow together. Or that could be just me and Carbon, but hey. 😉
 
Lisa

Lisa

Moderator
Location
Alberta, Canada
The long line was a saviour for me when we first got Simba and he had zero recall. That, plus the whistle training, plus the scattering random treats along the way to keep him interested in staying close, were my go—tos in helping with the running off issue.
 
David

David

Moderator
Staff member
We had Poppy on the long line this morning and no issues of course then we met a dog walking friend with her two spaniels. The dogs all seemed fine so I let Poppy off the lead and all that happened was she played nicely with the elder Spaniel, Banksy, who is 8 years old. This mainly involved play bobbing, the odd snarly, snarly pushing of heads together, running shoulder to shoulder and MUCH swimming in the river. So all around a good experience.

As folks have said it's step by step and not a five minute job. Looking back, Poppy is actually in many ways easier than the SBD was at that age. Lady was an absolute nightmare of a hoot if you get my drift. I also think I recall she on occasion would run to the horizon after rabbits.

:pull: :squirrel:
 
kateincornwall

kateincornwall

Location
Cornwall , UK
I think we often forget the naughty things our previous beloved dogs did , I use to think that Sam was almost saintly until I remembered him chewing the kitchen rug , legging it after deer , removing an swallowing all the cooker switches , on and on the list goes :facepalm: It sounds to me like you are doing amazingly well with Poppy in what is a very short time, onwards and upwards xx
 
Atemas

Atemas

UK Tour Guide
Location
North Cambridgeshire
David said:
I also think I recall she on occasion would run to the horizon after rabbits.
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This reminds me of Sky at a young age. One vivid memory is of walking her in the winter when it was dark. She had a light on her collar. She took off and we saw the light twinkling way way across a huge field. She was totally beyond calling distance and heart in our mouths, we had to wait until we saw the light heading back our way. Phew. She gave us many a scare like that.
 
David

David

Moderator
Staff member
Atemas said:
This reminds me of Sky at a young age. One vivid memory is of walking her in the winter when it was dark. She had a light on her collar. She took off and we saw the light twinkling way way across a huge field. She was totally beyond calling distance and heart in our mouths, we had to wait until we saw the light heading back our way. Phew. She gave us many a scare like that.
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Yes! Black dog in a black field and no moon. Wonderful.
 
David

David

Moderator
Staff member
Jacqui-S said:
How are things coming along with Poppy @David ?
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It's going reasonably well, thanks. It's all pretty routine stuff really, but I suppose might be of interest to anyone else with the same situation. Poppy is a lovely dog and she's starting to fit in well and the first real signs of bonding with us are coming out. This mainly means she's learning fast how to manipulate me. :giggl: But also we are both starting to be able to interact with Poppy and understand what she's trying to tell us. For example it didn't take long to realise that when she sat in front of one of us and poked us with her nose it meant "I need to go out for a wee, please".

When we picked her up she was still on puppy food (Royal Canin Maxi Puppy). She's well past that age wise and we are transitioning her over to young adult kibble. We've stuck with Royal Canin at the moment. The feeding advice when we picked her up was 2 x 160g per day. She seems to have lost a little weight on that so I've upped it a bit. She's currently 25kg + . When we picked her up she was 26kg +. Looking at her shape and feeling along her ribs she looks spot on and is carrying a little fat so not going skeletal. So we'll carry on and just keep an eye on her lines and energy.

She's really well behaved in the house and doesn't beg for tit bits at meals and so on and we can actually leave stuff within reach and she won't try and steal it. She needs to chew and I need to get her some chewy things to keep her occupied. So far she has destroyed ALL her toys. Thankfully she hasn't shown any signs of attacking furniture or her bedding.

I'm trying to keep her on a pretty much steady routine for the time being while she settles in. So for example she has breakfast at 07:00 and supper at 17:00 as near as I can keep it.

Training is the basics just now. Small steps. We are making good progress with walking at heel although I use the word "close". She's good in street locations - not so good on lead in the countryside but that will come. We're spending a lot of time on her recall. She's what I would describe as red hot in calm situations but still stone deaf when there are rabbits around. Even so we are making progress with the rabbits as she gets used to having them around and she realises she can't catch them (mainly because I clap my hands to get them gone). The field with the rabbits is secure. I'm also working on the "stop". When we are walking together on lead I stop and get her to sit with a raised hand and a pip on the whistle followed by lots of praise. I'm getting her to wait at the kerb, and then "get on" when we cross. She's got the hang of "wait" and " get on" at stiles and foot bridges as well just need to keep on proofing that in different locations.

I've got to keep a real eagle eye out for livestock as she's be off like a shot and chase whatever it was. This is a potential nightmare. I've got enquiries out locally for some assistance in getting her used to livestock.

So that's pretty much progress to date.

Funny stories
- she found the chalybeate spring in the rabbit field and plunged in as a yellow Lab and came out as a black Lab with a yellow head.
- We got accosted by a suspicious man in the street who was clearly trying to read her dog tag. Poppy quite suddenly sat in front of him staring and wagging her tail. I said she's a police sniffer dog and I'm looking after her. The man trotted off at speed.
- We found the end of a spliff in a flower pot just inside the wall of someone's front garden. Poppy went over the wall - hmmmm!
- The rat and cat problem in the garden has gone away!
- She follows me everywhere. As soon as I move she's up and behind me ALL the time - it's like having a minder.
 
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