We are currently having a week's holiday in a lovely little cottage in the woods in Wales. But we are having some problems with Indie the main problem is that the 'enclosed garden' of the cottage is not enclosed, so she can easily get out into the forest. And it seems like the garden and surroundings are full of very exciting animal scents. This morning, she managed to push open the back door and got out into the woods. She was running around completely out of her mind with excitement, nose on the ground and sprinted off out of sight. Out of desperation I blew my recall whistle, stop whistle, recall word and she ignored all of them. She was running towards the track that goes to the road, and there are loose sheep about. She kept coming into sight, seeing us then running off again having a great time. She finally stopped to have a poo and I recalled again and she finally ran back really fast straight to me, completely wild eyed and foaming at the mouth. I was scared and upset that my recall had completely failed and I have no control over her at all in these situations, even though I walk her on a long line, never let her hunt, keep her close and work on her recall every day at home in as many different situations as possible. I thought I was doing the right thing, but it seems like restricting her hunting and free running just made her completely wild with excitement when she finally got some freedom. Now I can't even take her into the garden for a wee, on the short lead, without her pretty much strangling herself dragging me about in a frenzy of excitement. When indoors she is now pacing about whining constantly trying to get out the door our relaxing holiday seems to have turned into a really traumatic struggle because of Indie. I know my recall failed because I haven't taught her to recall whilst she is hunting yet. But I still have no idea how to do that. She will recall in the sight of bunnies now at home in the fields, but this seemed not to transfer at all to running around following a scent. Is there anything I can do this week, in this setting full of animal scent, that could help her training? Should I take her outside on the long line with some chicken and practice recalls from a close distance? Maybe hold her in an area using the long line, let her sniff until she is bored of that area, then practice some recall? Despite asking many questions in the past on this forum about this, I still don't know how to go about it. Getting the recall to be an automatic response seems completely impossible for us. She either is not madly hunting and will recall, or she is madly hunting and won't. No halfway house to gradually increase difficulty. I'm just a bit depressed, and my picture of lazy glasses of wine and picnics in the beautiful garden with the dog ambling around calmly has been turned into being shut in a dark house with a manic whining frustrated dog that we have to get dragged around the garden by for five minutes to week before shutting her in again.
Hi, I'm afraid I've got no idea how to respond on the training question, but just saw this and wanted to reply quickly as I've seen your posts about Indie in the past and thought what an amazing job you were doing with such difficult issues. So I'm sure you will figure out a way through this. If it was Jess, I think I'd be trying to find a way to tire her out in the hope that that would take the edge off her excitement and frustration. Have you tried looking for a secure field or paddock in the area? There are sites like this https://www.hireafield.com and https://fieldlover.com/ or paddocks/dog-training fields to rent on gumtree. You might be able to find a fully fenced site where you can let Indie off-lead - I've seen a few lately that are intended for people with dog-aggressive dogs so that they can be sure it's safe to let their dog off-lead. If you're lucky, there might be one somewhere near you. I've also been looking at flirt-poles as recommended by @snowbunny on other threads - would something like that entertain Indie and tire her out? Snuffle mats? Puzzle games? A local dog trainer that you can take her to for an hour or two to tire out her brain? We had something similar happen with our 'dog-friendly' holiday cottage last year - the garden wasn't secure and we couldn't let Jess off-lead, and when we used the private wood that I'd thought would be wonderful for dog walking she stumbled on a wasp's nest and we both got stung multiple times, and the roads around the cottage were a horse/cow/sheep poo-buffet which Jess gorged on every time we went out the door! A bit of a disaster basically so I feel your pain. Good luck!
I too feel your pain and whilst it's no consolation we had a similar experience today on the beach with Red totally ignoring my recall and DH's! I too have been training daily at home but I knew it would be difficult - not this difficult. We were here a month ago but our week was cut short by the gales destroying our tent - Red was much easier a month ago but now her senses are totally blitzed by smells etc and she is OTT every time we leave the tent (fortunately she is ok inside). She is so much stronger and being pulled about on a lead is tough. Even going past people and dogs is a challenge as opposed to a delight at home. Red has eaten rabbit poo, sand, grass and seaweed so far today in vast quantities!!!!
We are on holiday in a farm cottage for two weeks with our older dog and our four-month-old puppy, and the garden is in no way enclosed. I knew this already, however, as we have stayed here several times before. I thought of keeping Merlin on a long line, but actually our routine has become that we take both dogs out for a walk and play in the fields, then we let the dogs sniff around the farmyard for a while (supervised, of course), then we feed the puppy and settle him down for a rest, while we sit out in the garden and read. When he wakes up we repeat the cycle... As for cow/horse/sheep/rabbit poo - well, it's the country and I basically just let him get on with it. He'll get a worming tablet when we get home! Could you do similar, maybe let Indie hunt a bit under controlled conditions, for instance in a field on a long line, taking the opportunity to recall her from time to time with very high rewards? You want her to get the idea that recalling to you doesn't mean the end of her great game, that you send her off again, but that she gets the added benefit of roast chicken (or whatever) when she comes to you. Then when she is tired, take her home for a rest, and you can enjoy your glass of wine in the garden while she snoozes??
Are you anywhere near the coast? If so, I would find a nice beach and drive the dog there and give her a run. I wonder what it is that's driving her wild? Are you near a shoot? Is she catching the scent of pheasants? As for your problem with the recall from hunting, first of all you need to teach the dog a more controlled way of hunting, but that's something I would tackle when you get back home on to more familiar ground.
I was going to suggest the same thing as @heidrun. When we went to Scotland we specifically chose a cottage on a Loch so Charlie had the run of a very private beach, he subesequently spent a whole week swimming and retrieving and not getting up to any mischief, which is quite difficult for Charlie Hattie really enjoyed it too, which meant we did. I hope you might be in easy reach of a beach. Please try to enjoy your holiday and don't be depressed it's still very early days for Indie and a whole new exciting environment to deal with. xx
@Lara I know it's difficult but take a deep breath and get some comfort that it has happened to many of us. I remember my girl's holiday last year in Wales, no rest for me she spent the whole time on a frenzy sniffing fest or barking at people on the beach and generally being stressed plus I was away for a little over three weeks in a beautiful little cottage over looking the beach. I too imagined lazy days and evenings drinking wine. It got much better by the end but I had time on my side. I wondered how old is Indie? As @heidrun suggests you will need to tackle the recall from hunting on familiar ground and then move on to proofing the cue in other situations. It's the proofing a cue that is so time consuming and eventually gets the results you are looking for. Pippa's Total Recall is a very good book if you fancy something to read when you get home. I hope you manage to enjoy the rest of your holiday. Xx
Thank you yes that is a good idea. It is very rural here and I haven't yet found a field without sheep in it, but I will check on those websites. Annoyingly I forgot her flirt pole, but there is nowhere that I could use it - as well as not being enclosed, the garden is made up of rockeries and steep drops which was not evident from the website! I think you are right, we will drive round and find somewhere where we can really tire her out and then won't feel bad when we shut her in the house and have that glass of wine outside...
thanks I know it's bad that you are having similar problems but it is comforting that others aren't having picture-perfect holidays with their pups either! we were away a while ago and Indie was actually really good, but obviously this is a step up in terms of wildlife around and it's tipped her (and me) over the edge...
That's good advice Karen. We actually did that this afternoon - first I ran her up and down the lane on the long line, turning her on the whistle and throwing a treat past me. That took some of the edge off her hunting excitement although still was occasionally pulling away into the bushes onto scent. Then we went on a long walk on her short lead, but in a few fields I quartered her down them on the long line and she was quite good, and she responded to a stop whistle and a recall. But I think there wasn't much animal scent there so she was back to normal Indie. As soon as we got back to the lane where our cottage is, her switch was flipped and she was a mad pulling sniffing frenzy again... but, she is tired now so at least we get a break...
Unfortunately we are the east edge of the Brecon Beacons which is all forests and sheep fields and bracken. A beach would be great but far away! I don't know what is driving her wild specifically, she is not normally this bad with rabbits but she is with pheasants and partridge. I am a little worried it is also sheep - OH thinks he saw a sheep run past the cottage before Indie managed to open the door and go awol, and she got very very excited when she saw some sheep running away in a neighbouring field (on her short lead). I did some Look at That with them which went well and she calmed down. You are right about teaching controlled hunting - if she is on scenty ground at home but with no visible creatures I can get quite a nice quartering, turning her on the whistle and this is much easier to get her under control than trying to stop her completely and come back to me. But she is not good enough to do it without the long line yet. I guess more work on that in the future might help. But there seems to be something that switches her sometimes into a frenzied mad deaf thing on occasion and despite my efforts, when this happens I can't get her out of it
Oh that sounds lovely Helen, I'll have to get the name of the cottage from you! A private beach would be a dream now Indie has finally learned to swim unfortunately no beaches near but I will try to find a field with no sheep that I can at least do some stuff on a long line in. Thank you I will try to not let it ruin my holiday - I think it really scared me seeing her run off flat out of sight towards the road with big lumberjack JCBs on it (it's forestry commission land). The door she opened is now locked with a chair in front of it!
Thanks indie is two now, it was her birthday last week. We've had her for just over a year. So still young I suppose, but I thought her recall was better than it obviously is I have Total Recall and was working hard on it, and I understand from the book how to proof against other dogs, people, food etc...but I could never work out how to proof against hunting or when she'd got on a scent that drives her mad! I'll read it again, maybe I missed something...
It is so scary when they run off. Sounds like you had a better rest of the day. Red totally zonked this afternoon. We managed to have lunch out in a lovely restaurant here and she just lay down with our older dog whilst we ate . She had exhausted herself by going totally loopy on the beach and embarrassing us by ignoring us . We have just had a reasonable on lead walk and she is zonked again. I reckon it's the long lead now for the rest of the holidays and more work needed . Hope you enjoy the rest of your holiday. Boy do we all need it .
It's been a long time since I read Total Recall but I don't think there is anything to help with proofing against hunting. I wonder if @heidrun videos of keeping Amy focused on her especially the one where she ignores what's going on in the bushes, a scent or rabit can't quite remember. I am sure they would help you, they really are great. Amy is a rescue Clumber that is an absolute star. Hopefully Heidrun will link them to you. All of her dogs are very focused on her and Spaniels are VERY hunty xx
Incidentally, I think we on this forum should start our own Dog Friendly Holiday Cottages website. There are loads of websites claiming to do that, but 'dog friendly' means that they will accept a dog, and 'enclosed garden' apparently often just means 'garden for sole use of the cottage' and doesn't necessarily mean enclosed! So many times I have found a 'dog friendly' cottage which turns out to have a garden open to the road, will accept one small dog, and has 'free range chickens and ducks' not a recipe for a relaxing holiday for a lot of dogs!
Great idea Lara and as we own the craziest dogs I think we should go and check them out with Indie and Charlie. If they can't get out NO dog can x
