Toffee’s Deer Chasing Training

Location
Norfolk
An interesting first training session today. Firstly I had to get there, the quickest route is over the chain ferry (20 minutes) this doesn’t always run as it’s tide and wind dependent, plus I’m a bit scared of it, the other way takes over an hour, so I braved the ferry and consequently arrived 40 minutes early. We sat in the car and waited, as instructed, and a blimmin muntjac wandered past :shock: which didn’t give me much confidence in the training field.

Anyway eventually the trainer, Katy, arrived. First of all we discussed Toffee’s previous training, his normal behaviour and the deer problem. We also talked about my training experience, including Ripple’s gundog and agility training ( :facepalm: ) . It turns out Katy is also a 'positive / force free ' gundog trainer.

We are going right back to basic clicker training with Toffee to try and get his focus back on me and away from the environment, I can understand why this is useful as although he is very attached to me I do have problems with him suddenly dashing across me to sniff really intently, and I can’t get his attention until he has finished his 'sniff' . She commented on his puppy appearance and puppy behaviours - which I think can be part of the problem as loads of people think he’s a puppy and want to say hello to him.

Katy was also helpful discussing the problems I’m having with my hands, suggesting a different way to hold the lead, and possibly doing some training with a head collar so I have a backup if my hands are particularly bad.

The hour really flew by, Toffee was pleased with all the treats he got from using the clicker, and, although we hardly moved from the car park, he was really tired by the end - a good sign that he had been working his brain hard. Everything we did will be sent to me by Katy online, together with any additional training materials she feels will help. I’ve also got loads of things to practice at home over the next week.

The only thing left to do after that was brave the chain ferry home :nod: .
 

HAH

Moderator
Location
Devon, UK
That sounds really promising @SteffiS , thanks for the write up. I’m really impressed with your attitude to the whole thing - hopefully this will help with success, and the trainer sounds well chosen too.
Well doing on mastering the chain ferry! Sounds like you’ll both sleep well tonight :)
 
Location
Norfolk
Yes. there is a campsite there @Atemas - the ferry, pub and campsite are all run by the same family. I don't know much about campsites but it seems very popular in the summer, although I don't think you can rely on the pub for meals as they seem to have a fairly relaxed attitude to opening times .
 
Location
Norfolk
Yes I’m pleased with the trainer @Loraseal , I was originally a bit :shock: at the cost but I’m obviously out of touch with 121 training costs.
I use a grippy lead with Ripple and I really like it with him, OH has suggested I get one for Toffee as well, but I’ve already found the method she’s given me for holding an ordinary lead helpful so I shall persevere with that for the time being.
 
Location
Norfolk
Katy has suggested the dogmatic head collar if I want to use one, I think @chrisc831 mentions having one, I’m a bit confused by the sizing as it suggests different sizes for a male or female labrador. I don’t really know where the adjustment is on them but as Toffee is quite small I’m thinking the size for a bitch might be right, his neck is within that range at 18” but his nose (assuming I’m measuring the right bit of it ) is nearer 11½” which would be the next size up, which would then be too big on the neck part :veryconfused: .
 
Location
Norfolk
I don’t think Pets at Home stock the dogmatic brand @Cath , seems to be on-line only. I could try and measure him up against another brand though, that might help 🤔.
 
Location
Norfolk
2nd training session yesterday, lots of new things to learn and lots of errors from me - apparently click, drop treat, take two paces forward, click (when Toffee follows), drop treat and so on , is too much for my brain to process :facepalm: . Clicked at wrong time or not at all, fed treat directly rather than dropping it, forgot to walk forward, I’m sure Katy began to despair of me.

We did manage to move on to some whistle training (me not Toffee :rolleyes: ) , I’ve done all this before with Ripple and gundog training but my methods have got a bit “personalised” and needed sharpening up, plus it was apparent that I’ve got stuck with the stop whistle and need to use a hand signal as well for it to work - not ideal when your dog is running away from you.

I need to practice lots of things this week but also to do this when Toffee is not in 'training mode', as we’ve identified how he switches into this when he recognises certain cues from me that I’m not aware I’m giving. Obviously to prevent unwanted behaviours, eg deer chasing, I need him to respond to me whether he is in active training mode or not.
I’m also continuing to incorporate lots of the things she’s suggested in to normal walks, using the clicker as a reward marker.

Katy marked my homework giving lots of additional suggestions to how I solved problems, but the one bit I was really not sure of so I put down an answer followed by lots of question marks, she marked as YES! , so I obviously understand something of what she’s teaching.

I can’t believe how tiring the lessons are though, both me and Toffee come home exhausted even though it’s only one hour, mind you he has a couple of hours sleep and is raring to go again, whereas I’m tired for the rest of the day :sleepy::rofl: .
 
Location
Norfolk
Also bit fed up with Dogmatic, rang them Monday, gave them the measurements and they suggested the 3L, I said I felt this would be too big but they assured me it would be correct. It arrived Thursday and even adjusted to the smallest sizing it’s loose on his neck and face, Katy took one look and said 'far too big, needs the next size down'.
So now I have to return this (and pay return postage) to get the size I thought was right in the first place.
 
Location
Norfolk
@SteffiS, sounds a very good, if exhausting lesson. Dogs do seem to learn some behaviours in context, Rourke will sit to the whistle promptly if we are doing gun dog work, but doesn't think it necessarily means stop at other times!
It’s also amazing how they pick up on really subtle cues for some things and other times they have no idea what we want - although I suspect they say the same about us :cwl: .
 
Location
Norfolk
Third training session this week, having missed a week thanks to storm eunice.

Katy had given me some back up over the week on whatsapp as I felt I had got stuck with the training, so I was really pleased when she said she thought we had made a lot of progress. Once again there was a lot of operator error (whistle when it should have been click and vice versa :facepalm: ) but we had a really good session. Katy chatted to me whilst using distraction for Toffee and I had to keep his attention and keep up the conversation with her, another instance of Toffee doing really well and me losing the thread :rofl: .

We spent quite a lot of time practising the stop whistle - throw treat behind Toffee, toot whistle - Toffee should then sit without creeping towards me - click, throw treat behind again, and repeat, gradually moving further away. (This exercise seems to be mostly testing my throwing skills and Toffee's ability to catch :cwl: ). Actually I was really surprised how well he did, I've been practising indoors but hadn't had any success moving it outdoors so today was a definite step forward.
We then did various recall exercises, ping pong recall between us and then some on my own with Toffee.
We also worked on strategies for diverting Toffee away from the environment and bringing his attention back to me.

Although a lot of this seems basic stuff it's really making a difference reinforcing desirable behaviours, I can reward him both with treats and giving him opportunities to sniff, and I've certainly noticed our walks are more pleasant as he's more tuned in to what I want, and its easier to get his attention away from distractions.
This is all working towards hopefully preventing the deer chasing, but I understand that is so rewarding for him that it's a difficult ask.

Next weeks session is our last in this block but I have decided to book another 4 as I think it is helping in lots of ways, and anyway I'm enjoying getting back to training. Also hoping to join Katy's beginners gundog training at the end of April, its a maximum of 6 dogs so we're on the waiting list as I think it will be a good next step for Toffee.
 
Top