I think Jess has entered adolescence - or there is a forum curse whereby things that I have bragged about on here mysteriously deteriorate.... I'm sure it's the latter I've been quite proud of Jess's off-lead behaviour, as she has been totally reliable off-lead and with the odd exception of running up to another dog will stay close to me and keep a very close eye on me. This has been deteriorating a bit since we moved and for the last week or so she's been getting quite wild - running up to other dogs, stealing tennis balls, zooming far away from me etc. Her whistle recall response is still really strong but obviously I don't want to rely on that. So, clearly we need to take some remedial training action. I think my main goals are to strengthen her focus on me, bring back her zone of control to a much smaller distance (5-8 metres), and to stop her running away with other dogs' tennis balls. Here are my current ideas - please give any more suggestions that you think might help. 1. On lead much more (especially with OH, who does no training with her at all), and using a shorter lead rather than the flexi lead even when she is in the park. Maybe alternating 5 mins lead/training/play. 2. More lead walking around streets where I click for looking at me and reward focus on me. 3. Start again with the clicker retrieve training with the goal that she will bring the tennis balls to me rather than burying them! 4. Lots of games when she is off-lead. I actually already do a lot of this but will start using much higher quality treats for a while, and maybe bring along a tug toy too. The games we currently play are: find it, treat tree, paws up on tree, jump onto logs, sit/stays, bits of heel walking. Anything else I can include here? 5. Stop her running up to other dogs. We had actually done very well with this so I don't know quite why it's started again (though will choose to blame OH ) At the moment my only solution is to put her on lead before she sees the other dog. I tried LAT with her in the past and didn't really get anywhere with it but could possibly try it again. Maybe better treats will be the key? 6. Build in calm/settles during our walks so that she isn't getting more and more worked up as the walk goes on. Ok, that's all I can think of. Please do suggest better ideas that might help.
Can you keep her on a long line trailing on the ground to prevent her running off to greet other dogs? I'm not a fan of flexi leads at all. Also 8 metres is too far away from the handler for a young spaniel finding its feet. I try and keep mine within a metre or two at that age. So walking with a young spaniel is never in a straight line but zigzagging all the time with the dog changing direction as I do. Also lots and lots of periods of just standing still and watching the world go by. If your OH doesn't do any training I would ask him to keep Jess on the lead. Allowing her to free run will undo all your efforts.
My comments are much the same as @heidrun. I don't just dislike flexi leads but actively ban them with my clients. As they are under tension it can encourage a dog to pull. The only useful time is in a park and locked out to allow greater freedom but with the weight and risk of causing damage with the cord it is better to use a long line
Thanks Heidrun. It’s difficult to answer this without a long explanation of our circumstances and where we live and where we walk Jess but I’ll try. I also dislike the Flexi – this is OH. Getting him to change his approach will be just as difficult as training Jess but I will try to impress on him that he really needs to keep her on a lead. At very best, I think he will concede to keeping her on the 8m flexi. And I can't just go back to doing all her training on my own as I need him to do her evening walk at the moment. I'm worried about trying to use a long line as she is so fast that I'm afraid I would catch the line round her leg and break her leg. Our other problem is that we don't really have good training sites at the moment. The park where I currently walk her is massive - 100+ acres - but does have lots of dogwalkers so she finds it quite exciting. I have limited other options as I walk her at lunchtime and need somewhere within 10-15 minutes drive. Do you think finding a private field would make the difference? I can try to do this. I can definitely implement lots of standing still and waiting for calm, and much more zig-zagging and change of direction. Is there any way to encourage her to stay within a smaller zone of control when she is off-lead or is it just about keeping her on a lead?
Thanks JoJo. How should I use a long line in a busy park? I'm really worried about injuring her with it. She is a very fast dog and I'm not sure that my reaction times are faster than hers!
OOH -I think Jess might be coming into season. Just saw a bit of spotting on the sofa (tmi?). It's only 5 months since her last one, but that might (partially) account for her change of behaviour. Will be watching closely... May need recommendations for training games that we can do without leaving the garden!
When I first read your thread the thought crossed my mind -- Cassie definitely has had a very intense desire to interact with other dogs of either sex in the days leading up to her season, both times I've thought my recall was breaking down. She does like other dogs, but there is something different at that time. Not that I'm obsessed with my dogs hormone cycle, oh no, not at all
Having the use of a neighbours fully fenced paddock for a year helped me no end with Charlie. I used it to let him have free running, recall whistle training, playing, follow me, retrieving, stop whistle and sitting calmly for all of a few seconds with Charlie general fun and games. If you could find something like that I think it would help x P.S. another non fan of the flexi lead, I used a long training line for 3 years on Charlie.
If she is coming into season then that could well be the reason for her behaviour becoming a bit erratic.
thanks all. I'll keep a close eye on her, while also exerting some tighter training control. I've been a bit lazy lately, and taking it for granted that the hard work was done. But the last couple of walks with her I've really not enjoyed so need to get back into training mode. It would actually be quite good timing if she has her season now as we are going away over Christmas and New Year and that's when I was expecting it. I'll look through the forum for tips on using a long line. @charlie, did you use the long line in busy walking places as well? How do you use it to stop a dog running up to another dog (i.e. at what point do you react?)
The work is never done! Training, a spaniel in particular, is an ongoing thing all through his or her life. I posted a little clip of my 9 year old springer Caddie demonstrating the hunt whistle yesterday. She is a very hard working gundog but in between the shooting days I still do lots of training with her, and all my other spaniels, to keep everything fresh and sharp and also to keep them physically and mentally fit. Engagement between dog and handler is everything. That's why the free running on a walk is so destructive to everything you are trying to achieve. So, if you are opting for a long line you will need to pick up the end of the line the very moment you feel her focus is slipping and you are no longer in the forefront of her mind, when her engagement is on the way out. It requires great knowledge of your dog to 'read' her and to know all the little telltale signs. A securely fenced in field would definitely be better than the park for training and exercise.
I've found a bookable 2 acre field 20 minutes away, so we can start using that a few times a week (I used to do this in Warwickshire but it stopped being effective when Jess began a love affair with the owner's dog and our "training" became a 2-dog hoolie round the field and therefore the most overstimulating part of her week!) Obviously there isn't a simple answer for this, but if you were trying to rein in a young spaniel, how would you go about encouraging it to stay closer to you? There is something encouraging about this though, which is that I'd started to think all my training had been irrelevant - that the crazy puppy had just needed a bit of time to grow up. So the deterioration in her behaviour, though obviously not a good thing, does at least show that I had been doing quite well with her previously! I just hope that we can get that (mostly) good dog back again (and should also note that OH is totally on board with trying to improve her behaviour, including keeping her on-lead. Just thought I would add that, since I've been more-or-less blaming him for this situation )
This is an interesting thread @blackandwhitedog , I feel like most of my problems are ‘spaniel problems’ too! And I too have banned OH from letting her off lead, as well as our dog walker. I figure any time she has a chance to remember how fun free hunting was, is a big step backwards for us. I have used a long line for a year now. But, I don’t use it in busy parks where there are other dogs around. You can stop your dog running up to another dog with the long line, but you can’t stop another dog running up to yours and the mad chasing that would ensue is too dangerous with a long line attached. I just put her on her short lead. Regarding stopping her running off to something, I think the idea is that you can read the body language and their shift of attention and there should be a brief warning moment before they bolt where you can grab the line, and hopefully if you have been successfully keeping the dog close before that moment, they won’t be at full speed and far from you before they are stopped. Regarding keeping close, I am probably not the best for this advice but I know the difficulties! I spend a lot of time throwing bits of kibble into the grass for her, hiding her dummy for her to find, bits of heel, bouncing about asking for hand touches, getting her to chase me for a hand touch then I throw some kibble on the floor for her to hunt. Then a stop whistle, then throw her ball, then run in the opposite direction and throw some more kibble when she catches up...you get the picture! She generally eats 80% of her daily meals in this way now, rather than from her bowl. But, if I ease off and let her hunt about by herself and get on to a scent, all our problems come back. So I have to be 100% on it, or I put her on the short lead. It’s hard and tiring, but I am hoping that some day this will pay off! Or, I will give up and get a pug-in-a-jumper
Thanks @Lara, that was very helpful! An update from bootcamp day 1 : Instead of our usual 1 hr off-lead walk through park and woods, we did 30 minutes in a small local park that doesn't usually have many people, followed by some on-lead heel walking along the streets. I took hot sausages and rewarded Jess for staying close, for looking at me, for coming to heel, did a few find-its etc. I also tried out @snowbunny's previous suggestion of the rucksack walk https://dogidogblog.wordpress.com/2016/06/20/the-rucksack-walk/ Jess is a nosy dog at the best of times, so she definitely wanted to see what was going on and was intrigued by the things in the bag. And sitting down exploring things slowly together did have a noticeably calming effect. So I'll do this again, or some version of it. Inevitably we were interrupted by an off-lead dog, but this is impossible to avoid for us so I just have to accept it as part of urban living and keep dreaming of that house in the country.... Then we did a bit of lead walking along the street, which we don't do much of these days because it's a busy road and neither of us likes it much. Jess was great though and was heavily rewarded with sausage and cheese so maybe I will start doing that more often, and building up her exposure to the traffic and noise. So that's it. I don't think either of us enjoyed it as much as a long tramp through the woods, but hopefully it had a bit more training value!
@blackandwhitedog that sounds like a really good start and thanks for sharing about the ruck sack game I missed that first time round from @snowbunny. I’ve just read the article and I’ll definitely be having a go. @Lara all the things you describe about keeping your dog close I have done and still do many of them now. Mabel is three on Monday and I am definitely seeing the benefits. Okay we have some very bad weeks when I still wonder if I can swap her for a goldfish but these are getting less and less. I watched her today when we were out and she was desperate to run and play with a particular dog who is far to rough and has an owner who basically couldn’t care less what her dog does. I managed to get Mabel focused on me and walk to heel. To say I was thrilled was an understatement. I agree it is hard and tiring, you’ll get there.
I've just read about the rucksack walk, it's a great idea. Thanks @blackandwhitedog for sharing. I think anything that engages us with them is really beneficial and I am finding more and more that I want to do things like that with her just because I enjoy doing it, not necessarily to change a behaviour.
Bootcamp day 2 I have toothache today (impacted wisdom tooth) so we kept things very easy. A lead walk, and Jess braved the scary wood across the street. I used the flexi (sorry all, sometimes it's the only practical option) but encouraged her to come close with little "what's this" and "find it" and hiding treats in trees etc. So no progress but also no more back-sliding. I hope to rent the field tomorrow lunchtime and do more intensive training then.
